Love Sugar Magic by Anna Meriano

Love Sugar Magic by Anna Meriano

Author:Anna Meriano
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-11-26T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 12

CRY FOR HELP

Caroline bolted for the kitchen, and Leo was right behind her, ears ringing with her sister’s words. She banged her shin against the coffee table, barely registering the pain as her mind hoped that somehow this was all a silly misunderstanding and the spirits would be sitting at the table eating Toaster Strudel when she arrived.

By the time Leo skidded to a stop on the linoleum kitchen floor, Caroline was already there, shaking her head slowly back and forth. “They’re gone.”

Leo yanked open the back door. “Come on,” she said, “We have to catch them!”

Isabel and Tía Paloma stayed in the kitchen doorway, faces tight and worried. “Do you see them?” Isabel asked.

Leo shook her head.

“I think running down the block after them would look more suspicious,” Tía Paloma said. “The last thing we want is to cause a scene.”

Leo stared at the kitchen table, still ringed by seven empty mugs and one half-eaten bowl of shredded wheat. She traced the trail of petals out the back door and down the driveway, where it scattered in multiple windswept directions. Fear settled into its familiar spot at the bottom of her stomach, spreading out all its wiggly tentacles and shoving her breakfast into a lump as it made itself comfortable.

Where were the spirits going to go? How could they avoid a scene while all six of them were running around town?

“You were supposed to be watching them.” Isabel spoke the accusation softly, but Leo wanted to cover her ears. Isabel tugged the hem of her shirt and smoothed her skirt, fingers picking away viciously at invisible spots of lint.

“Settle, Isabel.” Tía Paloma held out a hand. “Leo? I don’t understand. You just turned your back for a minute and they all decided to run away? That doesn’t make sense.” She stared out the kitchen window at the trail.

It’s not my fault, Leo wanted to say, except this time even the thought felt like a lie. She wanted to say, I’m sorry.

“I know why they left,” she said instead. “I was about to tell you.” She freed her finger from the thin magic book and spread it open on the counter. “I think the spirits are in danger.”

“Danger? What kind?” Isabel leaned to read the book, but Tía Paloma snatched it away first, her fingers skimming down the page until she slammed the book back onto the counter.

“Of course.” She sighed. “You had that hunch, Isabel. Their energy is being depleted by being here. So if we don’t get them back, they’ll—”

“Disintegrate,” Leo said. The world sounded even scarier spoken aloud.

Tía Paloma pursed her lips. “Did you tell them about this, Leo?”

“No!” Leo hunched her shoulders, cheeks burning. “I mean . . . just Abuela. And Mrs. Morales saw the page too. But they’re the ones who told me not to tell anyone, and to go get you so you could—”

Oh. Mrs. Morales had sent her away on purpose, and she had fallen for it. She hugged her arms across her stomach, where the fear tentacles mixed with embarrassment.



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