Page 74 of All My Witches
“No. I know what we’re going tofind.”
“How do youknow?”
“Because wells on soaps are a tried and true story,” I answered for Thistle. “They’ve been used multiple times. I think we all know what’s inhere.”
“And what’sthat?”
“An evil twin,” Thistle and I answered in unison, shuffling toward the lip of the well and looking down. Sure enough, sitting in the center of the papier mâché well – a structure she could break out of whenever she wanted – sat one of Aunt Tillie’s clones. I knew it wasn’t the real Aunt Tillie, because the woman was dressed in dowdy clothes and had fake grime spread from one end of her face to theother.
“How’s it going in there?” I asked, doing my best not to smile. Even though it was a fake environment, it shouldn’t have been funny. Being trapped in a well is neverfunny.
“Thank the Goddess you’re here.” The woman scrambled to her feet, which conveniently put her about a foot away from us. All she had to do was raise her arms and we could’ve lifted her out. Neither Thistle nor I made as if we intended to do that. “You have to get meout.”
“How long have you been in here?” Thistle asked, looking around. “It looks a little bleak, yet completely sanitary. What’s thatabout?”
The Aunt Tillie triplet furrowed her brow. “I have no idea what you’re talkingabout.”
“Which one are you?” Iasked.
“NikkiForrester.”
“Ah, the more evil triplet.” I flicked my eyes to Thistle. “I’m guessing that the most evil triplet did this. It’s the only thing that makes sense from a narrativeperspective.”
“Who are you talking to?” Landon asked, moving to my side. “And what are you talking about?” His eyes went wide when he caught sight of the woman in the well. “Hah! We’ve got you. What are you going to donow?”
He was a little too triumphant for my taste. I knew that would deflate fast enough, though. “That’s not Aunt Tillie. That’s one of the triplets we saw at thecabin.”
“The more evil one,” Thistle supplied. “The most evil one is still outthere.”
“Oh, man.” Landon pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I thought we were finally gettingsomewhere.”
“We are. We just have to figure out Aunt Tillie’s endgame. If she’s dusting off triplets, that means they’ll play into thefinale.”
“And you’re convinced we’re close to thefinale?”
Landon looked so hopeful I couldn’t deny him. “I do. I think we’re closer than we realize. I think we simply need to find Aunt Tillie, get through the final scene, and then she’ll send ushome.”
“Is that something you know or something youfeel?”
I shrugged. “A little ofboth.”
“I’ll take it.” Landon rubbed his hand over my back as he stared at the woman in the well. “So, are we supposed to get her out of there or leave her? I could go either way on thisone.”
I snickered. “I think we’re supposed to get her out, but first we need to come to an understanding.” I leveled my gaze on Nikki. She seemed agitated. I was fine with that. In fact, I preferred it. “If we get you out of there, you have to help us catch AuntTillie.”
“I don’t know who that is.” Nikki was stubborn as she folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve never heard that namebefore.”
“Alexis Kane,” I corrected, internally chastising myself. Aunt Tillie wanted us to play the game. If we expected to get out of here soon, we’d have to follow the rules. “We know what she’s planning. In fact … we know about the snowsharks.”
Nikki rubbed her hands together, gleeful. “It’s going to be glorious. We’re going to bring the world to its knees so the people will worshipus.”
“That was a little over the top,” Landon lamented. “We know about her plan. We’re going to stop her ... with or without yourhelp.”
I put my hand on his arm to still him before he said something else we couldn’t back up. “I have a feeling we’re going to need herhelp.”
Landon frowned. “Do you have to ruin all of my fun? I get to have so little fun in this world. Basically I’ve gotten to almost marry you and that’sit.”
I couldn’t help being surprised. “You thought that was the most funpart?”
