Page 44 of A Spell for Midwinter's Heart
It was all she could do to keep herself breathing as she staggered into the changing room, visions of “Christmastown” dancing in her head, and plunged into the shower.
The revelations had been even worse than she had imagined. Not just replacing the festival but pushing out local businesses from downtown? Cutting down the old growth to build a resort?
What could Operation Holly and Ivy possibly do that would compete with that?
Mi Young had slathered her with a moisturizer that clung sticky on her skin, its cloying flowery scent burning her nostrils. As the flow of hot water hit, she did her best to clean it off, hoping her anxiety would go with it, even though she had been too long in its company to imagine this would be that simple.
But it was far from her only coping tool. This knowledge, shereminded herself, was what she’d come looking for: difficult to hear, but necessary in figuring out what to do next.
These things had not yet come to pass. In this moment, everything the Goshen Group threatened was still safe.
And she would do her damnedest to keep it that way.
When she emerged from the shower, the first thing she saw was Hayleigh, wrapped up in a terry-cloth robe, shifting through the contents of Rowan’s now-open locker. She held a pearl white iPhone up with poinsettia red nails, poised to document the locker’s contents.
“What a freak,” muttered Hayleigh, her free hand moving toward Grandmother Madeleine’s pendant.
Anxiety crystallized into fury as Rowan stepped forward and raised a pointed finger, shouting, “Don’t touch that!”
The locker slammed shut on one of Hayleigh’s hands and her phone went spinning from the other, torn free as if by a furious gust of wind. Yelping in pain, she stumbled back, clutching her reddening digits, and whirled.
“What the hell!”
The Goshen Group rep’s face clouded in confusion. She’d clearly been expecting Rowan to be standing right behind her. Instead, her mouth dropped as she took in the many feet of empty space between them, her gaze coming to land on Rowan’s outstretched finger, which still pointed in command.
“Did you…” Hayleigh glanced back at the locker, eyes wide. “Did you cast some kind of spell on me?”
“I…” Rowan’s cheeks flushed, betraying any pretense that she might have lied her way out of it.
“That’s what that was in there, wasn’t it?” said Hayleigh with a gasp. “That wasmybrush.My hair!You…you sicko!” She scrambled across the tile floor to where the phone had landed, keeping a wary eye on Rowan. “I knew it. Gavin said your family’s witchcraftwas just a ‘harmless self-actualization practice.’ But I could tell there was something wrong with you.” Her eyes widened. “You cast a spell on Gavin too, didn’t you?” With a cruel laugh, she added, “That explains it.”
“Explains what?” asked Rowan, finally spitting out some words. Every other time she’d attempted to form a retort, she’d ended up tangled in the mixed truth and lies of Hayleigh’s accusations.
“How you kept stealing his attention.” Hayleigh crossed her arms across her front with a flip of her hair. “Well, it seems your magic’s not that strong anyway.”
Uneasiness flitted through Rowan’s chest. “What do you mean?”
The other woman stared her down from beneath long, curling lashes. “Gavin and I went out last night, and we’re going out again today.” Hayleigh relished dropping each revelation as she stalked closer. “And when I see him, I am going to tell him exactly what you did to me…In fact.”Tap, tapwent a bright red nail against her phone. “I’m going toshowhim.”
No. No. No.
Already-racing thoughts intensified. Her field of vision constricted, so that the closer Hayleigh got, the more the woman overtook it.
“And what you did to him…”
The other woman was inches away then, close enough to smell the sickly sweet moisturizer and spearmint toothpaste. A sharp nail dug into Rowan’s chest as Hayleigh finished delivering her threat.
“And then he’ll realize exactlywhatyou are.”
A primal instinct tore its way free from where she’d worked so hard to keep it down, so that she could play nice, be accepted, and keep her head low, which had let bullies like Hayleigh run rampant around her. Taking what they wanted, doing what they wanted.
No. No longer, not when she had the power to do somethingabout it. The room blazed with lines of magic, power that called to her, and she drew it to her center in a single pull.
The best defense is a good offense.The pendant in her palm burned red hot as the spell came both from within her and from without.
Words to a spell bullied their way to the surface—A Spell to Forget—and she pictured herself scrubbing the last few minutes of Hayleigh’s mind, removing all evidence of spellcasting and of what she had done.
Keeping Rowan’s secrets, and Elk Ridge, safe.
