Page 77 of Wicked Warlock
“On some level, I guess he loved you? As much as a psycho can.”
“Ugh, ewww, Aunt Penny. No.” Zinnia made a fake gagging sound. “Dude did not love a thing but himself.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“I was nothing but a deadly obsession he couldn’t control.” Catherine dropped to her knees in front of the planchette.
Ophelia nodded. “Yeah, same. I’m totally deadly and out of control.”
Penny pointed toward the board. “Just put your hands on the planchette. I think once you touch it, something will happen.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “What kind of something?”
“In theory, it might lead us to the next clue.” Penny shivered and looked around the cave. “In theory.”
“I’m not going to unleash something or get possessed by something, am I?” Catherine hesitated with her hands just over the planchette. We locked eyes. “This feels like a bad idea.”
“Probably is a bad idea. But we have to keep going.” Dampness from the sand seeped into my jeans and pressed into my skin. Catherine reached for the planchette, and when she placed her hands on it, it shot across the board.
H-E-L-L-O-M-Y-L-O-V-E
Catherine yanked back her hands and shook from head to toe. “No, nope. Hard no. There is no way I am talking to him.”
“Mom. Are you okay?” Zinnia walked up behind her. “You don’t have to do this. There has to be another way.”
“There is no other way.” Ophelia hung her head. “We all know it.”
Penny dropped to her knees and placed her hand on the board. “I don’t think it’s him. I think it’s an ingrained message in the board. Kind of like how he trapped me in there.”
“You can’t be sure.” Catherine sat back on her heels. “There is no way I am taking that chance. He’s dead and he needs to stay that way.”
“I can be sure. I took precautions.” Ophelia pulled a long athame from the potion pouch and laid it on the ground next to the board. “I knew when we came back he needed to stay dead.”
“Um, O, what precautions?” Astrid stood over her watching her pull bottles from her potion pouch and placing them on the ground. Then she pulled out a small bag of stones and dropped it into the sand.
“The kind that trap shit. Though I’m pretty sure Penny is right; it’s not him. But better safe than making mistakes that last a lifetime… am I right?” She chuckled to herself as she set the stones in a perfect circle around the board. They were a shining black and silver combo. “Hematite. This will contain anything.”
Ophelia waved for Astrid to kneel beside her. “I need the elements.”
“I’m not Tabi. I don’t have elemental power.” She dropped down beside Ophelia. “But I can try.”
“I can do it,” Zinnia volunteered.
“Orrrr… you can keep your siphon power away from the crazy board.” Cross motioned for her to back up.
She narrowed her eyes at Cross. “Fineeeee.”
Ophelia ignored them both and placed four empty vials and used the sand to stand them up around the board just inside the crystal circle. “I need earth, fire, wind, and water.”
Astrid closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, then blew it out. She placed her finger on the edge of one vial and her golden smoke filled it. It swirled and twisted like a tornado. She moved to the next one and a small stream of water rose from the water’s edge and poured into the vial. At the next one, her power sparked, and a small flame flickered within the vial. When she hit the last one, particles of sand rose from the ground one by one and flowed into the vial like sand moving through an hourglass. Once all four were complete, the hematite began to glow silvery and bright. Lines of red, blue, green, and yellow crisscrossed over the board like a glowing web of protection.
Ophelia motioned to the board. “Okay, Catherine, you can touch the board now. No harm will come to you. I swear it.”
Catherine held her hands over the board then shoved them right through the glowing lines. The elements went crazy in their vials, swirling and shaking. Penny knelt next to Catherine. “You can do this, and he can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let him and no one else here will either.”
“Okayyyy.” Her fingers touched the planchette and it raced across the board.
It swung around in wild circles, sliding but never stopping. Catherine’s eyes widened. “What is happening?”
