Halfway Hexed Read Online Free PDF

Wouldn’t that be nice?” Mindy said, sweet as a Stepford wife.
    I flailed until they dropped me again. My left butt cheek was going to be one big bruise tomorrow.
    Jenna leaned over and grabbed my arm, squeezing hard. “That’s enough,” she hissed.
    I glared at her.
    “You brought this on yourself, you know,” she said as they lifted me again. “We’re taking you into custody on behalf of DeeDAW.”
    Who? “Uutt?”
    “Defending Duvall Against Witchcraft. DeeDAW,” Jenna said triumphantly as they dropped me into a car trunk. “Now be quiet in there.” With that, the lid whumped shut and plunged me into darkness.
    My very first chocolatier’s commission, and the clients turned into witch-hunting kidnappers! Apparently, my plan to keep my regular life as a pastry chef separate from my new life as a witch wasn’t going to work out as well as I’d hoped.

Chapter 4

    I rolled around the trunk, curling into a ball, trying to get my duct-taped hands around my butt and legs so I’d have them in front of my body. It was like a Cirque du Soleil contortionist audition gone wrong.
    Sweating and cursing behind the duct tape over my mouth, I wasn’t in the best mood for company when a greenish orb of light signaled the arrival of Edie, former flapper, former witch, and full-fledged family ghost.
    “Surely not,” she said dryly and eyed me with those almond-shaped peridot eyes.
    I wriggled like a fish on a hook, some strands of hair plastered to the side of my face, as I tongued the tape over my mouth. If Edie was planning on mocking me, I had to get the tape off so I could get in a retort or two. I continued trying to wrestle my arms to the front of my body.
    “What do you want?” I garbled against the tape. I knew it was unintelligible, but it made me feel better anyway.
    “Kidnapped by the PTA brigade? Several of whom are dressed in bad shoes and worse lipstick,” Edie said, clucking her tongue. “No part of the face should ever be painted yellow-orange,” she said with a phantom shudder. I did agree that Sue’s lipstick had been kind of pumpkinish. “Someone at the department store really should’ve intervened.”
    I stopped to pant as I finally got my bottom wedged between my forearms.
    “And them getting the best of a McKenna.” She shook her head, her waved black hair gleaming in the metaphysical light. “Now that you’ve come into your powers, we really have to get you properly trained.”
    I dragged my straining arms around my legs, twisting painfully to get my wrists past my ankles. I groaned, jerking my arms forward.
    “Well done,” Edie said with a smile. “That can’t have been easy for someone with your flexibility . . . or lack of it.”
    I rolled my eyes and yanked the tape off my mouth. “I’m the normal amount of flexible for a human being who still has a skeleton.” I gnawed at the duct tape around my wrists. “I need to carry a knife,” I mumbled, making faces at the unpleasant taste of the adhesive.
    “And perhaps a spell or two,” Edie said mildly. “In my day, I’d have brought them to their knees. I must try to remember that Depth of Despair spell, so I can teach it to you.”
    “Whythehelldoesducttapehaveto be so sticky?” I complained.
    “As interesting as your Houdini routine is, I did have a specific reason for visiting.”
    I rubbed my arms together furiously, loosening the tape bit by bit. “What’s up?” I asked before chewing again on the tape.
    “I saw Melanie.”
    I froze. My momma and her twin sister had been incommunicado for months. “Where is she? Are they okay?”
    Edie waved an elegant hand toward mine to encourage me to continue trying to escape. “I suppose that depends on how you define okay . She’s healthy, but she’s neglected her powers terribly.”
    “What about Momma?”
    “I’d like to let Melanie explain everything. Before she can come home though, she’s rather in need of my help.”
    “Then go help her! What are you doing