Dewitched (Witchless In Seattle Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cracked.
    Uncle Ding bristled in my hand. “Who the flippity-flop was that?”
    I held him at eye-level. “You can hear him? How?”
    “Sonar, honey. Yeah, I can hear him.”
    How interesting. “That’s my British ghost, Uncle Ding. An ex-spy from the afterlife.”
    “Oh yeah?” he croaked. “I thought you couldn’t talk to dead people anymore? Rumors all over the place in Familiar-ville goin’ around about ya. What gives, hot stuff?”
    With a sigh, I made my way up the stairs and ran for my bedroom to bring Uncle Ding to Bel. “It’s a long story. Hey, where’s the rest of the family?”
    And then I heard another scream from outside, and someone’s panic-riddled yelp. “Look! There’s more of them!”
    “Uncle Ding? Rev up the old sonar and tell the family to fly into the open bedroom window on the second floor, please. And you all need to stay hidden. No one knows I’m an ex-witch. This isn’t like Paris, where you can freely fly around wherever you want,” I said, referring to my old hometown in Texas where everyone was paranormal.
    “Do ya think I just checked out of the crib at the maternity ward, girlie? I know the score. Keep your fancy dress on, I’ll send ’em a message.”
    Carrying him to my bedroom, I set him on the bed next to Whiskey and Bel and ran to the window to open it, just before the rest of the Bats flew inside in a cloud of white.
    They tackle-hugged Belfry, rolling him over the surface of the bed and making him squeal with feigned reproach. “Stop, you guys! Com, quit drooling! It hasn’t been that long!”
    “You c’mere to mama, my squishy love muffin,” Mom Bat—or Deloris, as I called her—squeaked with warmth.
    “Son, good to see you, boy!” Bel’s father, otherwise known as Melvin—or more lovingly, Bat Dad—nudged Belfry.
    The twins, Com and Wom, lunged for Belfry again, knocking him over with their roughhousing. A tumble of white cotton rolled across my pillow, making Whiskey groan his displeasure.
    The scene made me smile. They might be a handful, but they loved Bel, and he loved them. That was all I really cared about.
    Plunking down on the bed, I stroked Whiskey’s fur. “Okay, so guys, I need you to listen, please. Stay put tonight. You can get plenty of exercise once the party’s over, but if I hear another scream of sheer terror because one of you crash-landed in the punch bowl, it’s curtains for you. Got it?”
    “I got this, Boss,” Bel assured. “You go enjoy your party and tell me all about it when you’re done.”
    I stroked his head and smiled. “Thanks, buddy. Enjoy your visit.”
    Scratching Whiskey on the head, I’d turned to make my way out of the bedroom when I heard an all-too-familiar voice call out with enthusiasm, “Stephania! Where’s my girl?”
    Ugh. Momster in the house.

Chapter 3
    “ W hat was all the commotion with Hardy Clemmons?” Win asked in my ear as I skirted running into my mother for the third time tonight, ducking behind an ice sculpture of a castle and peering around it to see which way she’d gone.
    “A commotion? I missed the commotion. Is everything all right?”
    “You missed the commotion because you’re hiding. And I imagine everything worked itself out. I only came in on the tail end of Hardy stomping off in a huff. Seems calm enough now. Why do you hide from your mother, Stephania?” Win asked as I crouched lower.
    “Why does a chicken hide from a fox? Or a more current analogy, Taylor Swift from Kanye West?”
    “Now, Stevie. She can’t be all bad, can she? Stop ducking around corners and trying to make yourself small so she won’t see you, because we can see you. The invisible game doesn’t work in real life like it does when there are monsters under your bed.”
    I pressed my finger to my Bluetooth and whispered, “I’m not hiding. I said hello to both she and Bart.”
    “Yes. Indeed you did. Then you gave her the warmest air-kiss ever.”
    “You hush. Who do you think taught me to