The Mayhem Sisters Read Online Free

pouch was filled with broken things—shards of glass, shattered bits of bone, and chipped teeth. Vivi’s stomach rolled over. He’s going to kill her.
    Vivi could barely watch, but the reek of burning ash filled her nose. The magic pierced her skin like a hot needle pricking, pulling burning blackness through the thread of her soul. The witch’s eyes had gone vacant like a doll face with black buttons sewed on, as if the fear had drained her of fight. He was erasing the best part of her, and Vivi didn’t know how to make it stop.
    She tried to scream. A hot tear slid down her cheek. This can’t be happening. The visions aren’t real. Please let this be a mistake. But she knew it wasn’t. She had been lying to herself for a long time now, pretending to be something she wasn’t, and now she couldn’t turn away.
    The dark wizard advanced from the shadows with a wand of twisted black walnut clutched in his hand, a wicked spell pouring from his lips. Every witch knew defensive spells as well as some basic fighting magic taught for protection, but the young witch just shrunk as his figure towered over her and whispered wickedness that knocked the wind out of her, leaving her gasping on the ground. Her green eyes rolled back in her head, and that was when Vivi realized that the witch had nothing left to fight with. Her magic had been drained. She twitched uncontrollably, collapsing in a heap.
    Vivi could barely hold on to the scene. The edges of the vision shrank. The witch was slipping from her mental grasp. She focused all her attention on the sight. She was losing her. “No! Wait!” Vivi tasted blood in her mouth. Her eyes burned. The smell of ash and brimstone choked her nose and throat.
    The vision changed again. The woods were still. The wizard was gone. Vivi stood in a clearing. Ahead of her in the woods, she saw a familiar face.
    Sheriff Gardener was standing over the witch’s body, a magical crime scene ward glowing red, illuminating the woods where her body had been discarded like a paper cup. It was too late. She was dead. That was her fate. But the future was not carved in stone or made of soot and ash. It was yet to be lived. The future was a thing made of potential and purpose. Vivi clung to the hope that the future could be changed.

3
    V ivi woke drenched in sweat. As the fog of the vision lifted, she realized she was lying legs sprawled, body limp, on the floor of the back room. Pepper, with a look of concern on her face, pressed a wet washcloth to her forehead. Vivi leaned up and grabbed her pounding head while trying to regain an ounce of self-respect and process what had just happened. Her assistant leapt into action, quickly uncorked a tiny potion bottle and poured the contents down her throat. One of their most popular revival potions, the minty lemongrass mixture went to work within seconds, warming her body and refreshing her mind. Her headache receded.
    Vivi eased to her feet.
    “Take it slow. Here, sit down.” Pepper guided her to the table and chairs they’d arranged in the back room for a quiet place to sit and eat lunch.
    “I’m sorry.” Embarrassment mixed with anguish washed over her. She rested her head in her hands. “I must have fainted.”
    “Fainted?” Pepper released a long exasperated sigh. She brushed a sweaty clump of hair out of Vivi’s face. “I’ve known you for three years, since you opened the shop, right?”
    She placed a hand on Pepper’s arm. “Since we opened the shop.”
    “Then why do you keep hiding the truth from me? I thought we were friends.”
    “We’re more than friends. We’re family.” But the truth was, Vivi didn’t want anyone to know. She suspected that Honora and Clover had their suspicions, but they never said anything, waiting for her to confess, she guessed, but Vivi never did.
    “I know about the visions.” Pepper stared Vivi in the eye. “I know about your persuasion .”
    The words hung in the air between them. Her secret was