Tea and Turmoil (Wicked Witches of Spellcaster Creek Book 8) by Mara Webb

Author:Mara Webb [Webb, Mara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Astrid and I bid Mary farewell and kicked off from the cliff’s edge, the cool sea breeze sweeping through our hair as we took back to the skies. My broom felt buoyant and fast, and the fresh spray of salty sea air lifted my spirits despite everything else that was going on.

We had Dragon’s Whisker and a solution for the Broth of Yearning, even if the latter required someone permanently losing their magic. I’m not going to spend too much time thinking about that one right now.

Astrid sliced through the air beside me, her midnight hair trailing like a banner in the wind. “What’s our plan when we get back to town?” she shouted over the gale.

I thought about it for a moment while watching Bastille Bay shrink away. “We’ll hit the ground running,” I shouted over the hum of our flight. “Straight to Delphine’s tea shop.”

Astrid gave me a surprised look. “Tackle it head-on?”

“Kind of.” I nodded, gripping my broom tighter. “Let’s try to talk to her first. Maybe we can talk some sense into her without having to resort to more drastic measures.”

A heavy beat passed between us as we both contemplated the unspoken. “If we have to do the djinn ritual,” Astrid began, “I don’t mind being the one to⁠—”

I held up my hand to stop her. “Let’s deal with that later. Right now, we just need to focus on our first plan. We can try to reason with Delphine, and if we can’t do that, we’ll arrest her.”

“Use force?” Astrid asked in surprise.

“Why not?” I asked. “She has to stop giving out her tea. There are still people in Spellcaster who haven’t consumed the potion, and it’s our duty to make sure this madness doesn’t spread any further.”

The flight home took about an hour, and eventually, Spellcaster Creek appeared on the horizon. We tore over the lake, kicking up spray from our brooms as we dipped our fingers in the water.

Our shadows danced across rooftops as we came over the town itself, the whimsical buildings and jaunty rooftops bathed in the golden light of late afternoon. As we descended, my thoughts churned with plans and contingencies.

I headed toward the tea shop, and we brought our brooms down on the cobblestone street outside. We both touched down a few steps from Delphine’s domain and took breaths to steel ourselves.

An unexpected rush of nerves came over me, and I could sense that Astrid was feeling it too. “Remember, let’s try to reason with her first. If that doesn’t work, we resort to more drastic measures.”

Astrid nodded. “Got it. I’ll follow your lead. You’re more experienced than me with stuff like this.”

We started toward the tea shop, and I was just about to open the front door when a golden wall of light surged up from the ground. It swept across the shop front in its entirety and knocked us backward with an unseen force.

It knocked us a good five feet back from the shop and we hit the cobblestones with our butts.

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