Halfway Hexed Read Online Free PDF Page B

here? Wait. Just tell me. Did she find Momma? Does she know if she’s okay?”
    Edie gave an exasperated sigh. “All right. I’ll tell you. Marlee found what she was looking for.”
    “Her lost love?” I asked excitedly.
    “So she calls him. Though how any witch worth her salt could fall in love with a member of the fae is beyond comprehension.”
    I smiled. “Well, the fae are awfully pretty in some cases,” I said, thinking about Bryn and his one-quarter selkie genes.
    “In any event,” Edie said tightly. “Marlee’s in Faery, and she can’t come home if she hopes to keep him. So she’s stuck there . . . by royal decree.”
    I gasped. “How long does she have to stay?”
    “I don’t know. Time passes so differently there. Melanie had no idea they’d been gone so long. To her it felt like a couple of weeks.”
    “Huh.” I got my right hand free of the tape. “Is Momma happy though? Did Aunt Mel say?”
    “Yes, apparently she’s pleased with her descent into—”
    “Well, I’d like to meet him. My dad.”
    “Absolutely not! They must never know about you. The fae are extremely possessive. Narcissistic. Petty. Nasty.”
    “Hey, I’m half. Remember?”
    “You’re a witch,” Edie said firmly, making me think that it wasn’t only the fae who were possessive. “Did you know that in the Never, no other magic exists? So Melanie depleted all hers when she went in after Marlee. Now she’s risking life and limb doing a series of power spells just to get back to normal. And that’s why she needs me. I can do the sort of research that she can’t. Ghost gossip. No one knows history better.”
    “Okay, go help her.”
    “It’s not that simple. I need to stay with her. You’ll have to mail the locket.”
    “Mail the locket! To where? What if it gets lost?” Edie’s soul had been attached to an antique family heirloom since she’d died, and the locket had to stay in the possession of someone in the family for her to come out of it safely.
    “It’s either mail the locket or take it to London yourself.”
    London , I thought with a thrill. Wouldn’t I love to go there? Absolutely. Too bad I had to face the Conclave with Bryn.
    “I can’t go right now.”
    “Then you’ll have to send it. You’ll have to bind the locket with a spell. I won’t come out until it’s lifted. When you mail it, you’ll need to insure it, of course. Take every precaution.”
    “I will, but why didn’t Aunt Mel call me? I want to talk to her.”
    “Everything shorts out. She’s not staying in a place that’s magically grounded, so doing the power spells leaves phone and computer services out of order a great deal of the time.”
    “Oh, right. Well, where do I mail it to?”
    “It’ll be in her letter. She’s sending you several packages. I told her about your powers. She’s very excited. Her letters will arrive separately to protect us from discovery, in case the packages should be opened before they get to you.”
    “The brooch? My gosh, I almost forgot. Who’s the girl in the vision attached to the brooch? Am I supposed to help her?”
    Edie cocked her head. “I don’t know about a brooch, but then my conversation with Melanie was really focused on other things.”
    “Could you ask her to call and let me know? Or to write I guess. In the meantime, it can’t hurt for me to try to see a little more of the premonition attached to the brooch. What’s the best spell for divination?”
    “I never did that type of spell. Lenore saw more than enough for both of us. I know flame-gazing is supposed to work well for some witches.”
    “And you’re sure you don’t remember anything about why the Lyons family is on the List of Nine?”
    “I’ve told you a dozen times, I can’t remember. Lenore had hundreds of premonitions. The only ones I paid attention to were the ones that had to do with me.”
    I pulled my right ankle loose of the tape and shook it triumphantly. “Free!” I whispered