Hex on the Beach (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

that is?”
    “Our niece wasn’t cooperating.” Trinket, though her voice remained firm, averted her eyes with a sheepish expression. “What should I have done?”
    “I’m not forcing Lily to come live with us,” Mimsey snarled.
    Even Trinket, with her stuffy, humorless personality, looked a bit terrified.
    Mimsey pointed in Trinket’s direction. “You have no right to threaten our sister’s daughter. How dare you?”
    To my complete and utter surprise, Trinket’s cheeks turned red. “I’m sorry.”
    “You better be.” Mimsey crossed her arms, huffing as she turned back to Jesse. She whispered another phrase, touched Jesse’s shoulder, and poof! Jesse was dry.
    I blinked. “How did you do that?”
    “Do you honestly not believe in magic yet?” Trinket asked. “You’re being unreasonable.”
    “ Trinket! ” Mimsey positively roared. “Use your manners. The girl has spent twenty-six years thinking she’s human. It’s not going to happen in a second. We’re already lucky she didn’t throw us out.”
    “Magic?” I said weakly, still in shock.
    “Magic.” Mimsey turned to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. “Now, the choice is yours. We both desperately want you to return to The Isle with us, even if my sister doesn’t know how to show it.”
    I focused on inhaling and exhaling and trying to listen to the words I found impossible to believe.
    “Our people need your services. However, we will not threaten you. You must decide for yourself if you’d like to join us. To be part of the culture you were born into.” Mimsey’s eyes implored me to agree.
    “I was born here in St. Paul,” I said after a pause.
    Mimsey shook her head. “No, you were born on The Isle, darling.”
    “But my dad…” My back stiffened. “Wait a minute. My dad, does he know?”
    “ Hmm , how to put this…” Mimsey began.
    “It’s complicated,” Trinket said, the shortness still prevalent in her words. “Now, your decision?”
    I twisted to look at Jesse and realized he wouldn’t be helping me anytime soon. His eyes darted between the three of us, his expression as dazed as if he’d been knocked on the head with a brick.
    “Let me take care of him,” Trinket said. With brisk steps, she strode across the room and removed a pencil from her purse. Or at least, something that resembled a pencil. When she reached Jesse, she grabbed his arm. “Hold still, boy. This won’t hurt.”
    “Stop!” I cried, leaping toward Jesse as Trinket lifted the pencil and pressed the eraser to the center of Jesse’s forehead.
    “It doesn’t hurt him, dear,” Mimsey said, grasping my waist and holding on with the full force of her plump body. Though I was younger and arguably more agile, I found myself stuck in place, running as if I had a bungee cord tied to my waist. “Hold still, dear. It doesn’t hurt !”
    “What does it do?” I stopped struggling, but Mimsey didn’t let go of me.
    Taking hold of my biceps instead of my waist, she held me steady, gesturing toward Jesse. “She’s just erasing any memories of magic.”
    Jesse’s eyes remained open, staring straight at me with a blank, unseeing gaze. My spine prickled with the eerie sensation of being watched. But Jesse didn’t move as he looked intently at a memory nobody else could see.
    “It’s literally an eraser?” I asked, looking around for another pencil. “I never knew a number two pencil was so powerful.”
    “No, of course not, dear. It’s enchanted with a spell. We witches try to enchant things that don’t look out of place in human culture. Things like lipstick cases, necklaces—”
    “Pencils,” I finished. “Huh.”
    “We run a supply store on The Isle,” Mimsey said, hopefulness lacing her voice. “Would you like to come see it?”
    I gasped, ignoring her question as Jesse sagged against the bar. Trinket—thin, bony arms and all—somehow managed to drag him onto a stool.
    “Do witches have superhuman strength?” I asked.