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“Big words for somebody who’s trapped in a cage,” my cat quipped. “Why have you kidnapped my familiar? And what is this other one doing here?”

Dash’s hackles rose. “I don’t owe you—”

“Speak the truth,” Merlin said, breathing out what was left the shimmering potion fog. Whoa, my cat was a witch and a magic-breathing dragon. I’d have to remember to reflect on just how cool that was later. You know, after we got out of this alive.

The black cat strained in an effort to remain quiet, but one by one the words came out.“The… Only… One… Who… Can… Stop… Me… From… Fulfilling… My… Destiny.” She emphasized this with a long and angry hiss.

Merlin traipsed over to the cage and sat just out of Dash’s reach. “Oh, so this is some funny prophecy business? Strange, I thought those were outlawed.”

“Not prophecy. Lineage.”

As Dash choked and gasped for air, Merlin casually tilted his head to the side.“What does lineage have to do with anything?”

“My… Ancest—” Dash gasped and fell on her side, letting out a long pitchy yowl. “My secret dies with the two of you!” she shouted, no longer under his spell.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Merlin said as he stalked the perimeter of the ice cage. “Because we don’t feel like dying today. Do we, Gracie?”

I shook my head and mumbled,“No.”

Dash clicked from inside the cage and shifted into a tiny insect, flying easily between the bars. She transformed back into the black cat mid-flight and fell to the earth with an unsettling thud.

“Neat trick,” Merlin said, raising his back and puffing out his tail like a cat on Halloween. “Wait until you see what I can do with a little bit of static electricity.”

The sky darkened, and somewhere in the distance thunder boomed. I hoped the tree would shelter from me from the terrible storm that would soon be coming. Or that my cat at least had enough control to avoid hitting me with it.

“No! Merlin, stop!” a husky female voice shouted. A blur of white rushed onto the scene and thrust herself between the warring witches.Luna!

Virginia’s missing witch had arrived, and I doubted she’d be on our side. Merlin had put up a good fight against Dash, but there was no way he’d be able to win against two more experienced witches.

I silently whispered a prayer for the both of us as I watched helplessly from the shadows of the large tree branches. I hoped I’d already stored enough magic for Merlin to be useful, because I had nothing else to offer in this fight.

25

“I told you to stay away from my property!” Luna shouted at both me and Merlin, sweeping her searing gaze over each of us. “Now release my familiar at once!”

Merlin stared straight ahead with wide eyes, instantly complying with the garden witch’s command.

“No, Merlin. Don’t!” I shouted, trying to snap him out of whatever spell he was under.

“But I have to listen to Luna,” he told me with a blank expression.

Uh-oh, the spell she’d forced me to give to him the other day! It had now come into effect. I remembered how helpless I’d felt as I struggled against the directive to pour the potion into his water dish, as I attempted to warn him the next morning.

I hadn’t been able to stop myself from doing as it commanded, and now it seemed that Merlin couldn’t, either.

Ugh. We were so dead.

Luna ran to Virginia and did a quick check for injuries.“What’s going on?” she demanded of her familiar.

“I don’t know,” the stylish old woman sobbed.

“Lies!” Dash screamed, appearing completely unhinged as her eyes bulged from her head. She glanced straight up into the sky, then did that clicking thing that signaled a coming spell. A mirage took shape before us.

In the shaky, shimmering image, Virginia sat speaking with Officer Dash as they made the plan to kill off Harold and place the blame on me.

“But what of your witch?” Dash had asked Virginia.

“She can die, too, for all I care,” Virginia seethed in the mirage.

I couldn’t see Luna through the mirage, but I could hear her ask, “You would betray me?”

“She already has,” Dash announced, clicking her tongue to take the image away. Whether she’d shown us an illusion or a memory, I couldn’t say. Either was equally probable—and equally devastating.

Luna swished her tail and let out a keening wail. The massive magnolia tree behind me rose up from the earth.

Virginia tried to run, but the tree used one of its limbs to lift her high into the air and hold her captive.

“Why?” Luna cried, visibly straining from the effort of commanding the gigantic tree.

“You left me no choice,” Virginia bit out. “Magic used to mean something to you, but lately you’ve been such a lovesick fool that you’ve paid no attention to what’s really important. With his new familiar imprisoned, Merlin wouldn’t have been able to practice magic anymore, and you’d have to stop pining for him and shift your focus back to growing our power.”

Luna lowered her eyes, and the tree threw Virginia high into the air, then caught her again with its branches just before she crashed into the ground.

The wretched woman screamed the entire time both up and down.