Perfectly Wicked by Lindsay Lovise

Author:Lindsay Lovise
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

CHAPTER TWENTY

“He knows,” Holly said. She’d called a family meeting in the library, which was a former sitting room that had become so overtaken with books that at some point over the decades it had transformed into a library. The two aunts were seated together on an old-fashioned settee upholstered in crushed velvet, while Missy, egregiously hungover and still wearing her pajamas and a pair of sunglasses, slumped in a stuffed armchair. Winter leaned against a bookshelf, dirt on the knees of her jeans and work gloves tucked in her pockets. Someone had lit a cranberry candle, and Prickles was curled on Aunt Daisy’s lap, her black gloves stroking his tiny head.

“Who knows what, dear?” Aunt Rose asked.

“Connor thinks she’s a witch,” Winter said in a flat voice.

Holly turned on her. “You knew this would happen!” she accused. “Why would you ever push us to sign the contract?”

Winter glared at her. “Believe it or not, I don’t know everything.”

Holly didn’t back down. “Do you know what this could mean for our family? I knew he wasn’t here for some stupid ghost story. I knew he had to be here for some other reason because there are a hundred haunted houses in Maine. He’s here to expose us.”

“He won’t be able to.” Winter gave an unconcerned shrug. “He doesn’t know what we are, and even if he did, no one would believe him because he doesn’t have any proof.”

“She used power in front of him,” Missy said, and took a swig of Gatorade.

Aunt Daisy and Aunt Rose paled.

“It was an accident!” Holly yelped.

Missy flinched. “Oh my God, keep it down, will you? Some of us are still rum-ified right now.”

Aunt Rose tutted in sympathy. “Dear, you know I can make a potion to fix that. I wish you girls would let me help more.”

“So your hands can cramp up for a full day afterward in karmic retaliation for helping someone? I think not. I pickled myself, and pickled I’ll stay.”

“What happened, Holly?” Aunt Daisy asked. Prickles lifted his head; looked around the room; and, content with his position in life, immediately fell back asleep.

Holly briefly explained the incident at the pond, and when she finished, her family sat in thoughtful silence.

“Well, it’s not ideal,” Aunt Rose finally admitted.

Holly plunked onto a footstool and dropped her head into her hands. “That’s a generous way of telling me I messed up and we’re screwed.” She lifted her head again. “He’s already putting together the pieces. He correlated my migraines with usages of power. He’ll be watching us like a hawk, even more so than before. I wish we could break the contract and get him out of here.”

Aunt Daisy patted her shoulder with her gloved hand. “We’ll just need to be extra careful. I don’t have to remind you what happens to women like us when others discover what we are.”

No, she didn’t. History had made sure that families like theirs stayed hidden.

“Or what will happen if you girls draw too much attention to yourselves,” Aunt Rose added solemnly.

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