Something Wicked (Rushed, Book 3)

by Brian Harmon

Sylvia Dodd wasn’t dead. She was standing right in front of him.

“She didn’t know, of course. Sylvia didn’t even know.” “Sylvia didn’t… What?” She smiled at him. “Sylvia’s a wimp. A scared little girl, terrified of her own shadow.

She’d even made up an imaginary friend to try to explain all the bad things that happened

“A fractured personality.” “I’m the one who did all those things, not Sylvia. She doesn’t even know I exist.” Another memory flashed in Eric’s mind. The old drunk at the club. She doesn’t know! Sissy made a mocking frown. “She’ll be so devastated when she finds out.” “You’re a monster,” he realized.

“Exactly. One bad choice always leads to another. He saved her. She started saving others. There’s a reason the old witches are gone now. They were stupid. Like Del. They made bad choices. They could’ve lived like gods forever, but they wanted to live in peace with the rest of the stupid human race. And look what they got for it. They burned.”

Eric stared at the book. The image of the snake. He’d seen that before, too. Also in the

worlds and some kind of astrology crap.” “Bummer,” he said. But that part about mythical gateways sounded interesting. After all, wasn’t that what the fissure was that he explored last year? A gateway of sorts between two worlds?

Kids these days learned to make an army of monsters to follow their every command and suddenly they thought they were geniuses.

“They probably wouldn’t,” he agreed. “No, my only choice was to sever the locks. And there was only one way I knew of to do that.” “You had to kill them.” “Correct.” Eric shook his head. All of this was about a stupid spell book? She’d murdered four people! “I thought you were doing this because they were abominations.” “No. That’s why I hated them.” She lifted the book a little higher.

sought a hospital where she could volunteer. “You put that thing in the hospital basement,” he realized. “Actually, it was already there. I just…woke it up. You’d be amazed what you’ll find out there in the world if you actually go looking for it.” Eric shrugged. “You might be surprised how un-amazed I’d be.” She considered him for a moment. “Maybe I would…”

Finally, he understood. With no way to know that she was dealing with one of her own sisters, Delphinium couldn’t possibly understand why her spells weren’t working. She thought the magic man was all-powerful, but the truth was that her magic was working against itself. The spells meant to push the magic man away had to work against

Sissy stood there, staring at the countless, smoldering corpses of her once powerful army, her green eyes wide with disbelief. “What did you do?” Eric rose to his feet. “I’m pretty sure I just checkmated you.”

She looked up at him, her green eyes wide with fear, fat tears flowing down her cheeks. “Help me…” Eric’s heart broke. How could someone as cruel as Sissy possibly have been inside this poor, sweet girl? It wasn’t right. The girl shuddered. “Please…” she pleaded. “It hurts…” Holly knelt beside her and took her hand. Tears streamed down her face. “Just hold on,” she said. “You’ll be okay.” Eric couldn’t imagine how hard this was for her. His own heart was aching and he hadn’t even known her. Now Holly was watching her die for the second time in less than a day.

think Desmond Weizner really did know how to use magic. And I think he used it to augment the coven’s preexisting psychic powers and even to transfer new powers to them, like teaching Alicia to see in the dark.” “Wow. You can do that?” “I guess so. It’s only a theory. I could be wrong. But…” “You usually aren’t.” “Well… I don’t want to sound full of myself.” Eric leaned back against the barn wall again. “So the real magic is still out there somewhere?” “I’m sure of it. In fact, it might be right there in Grandpa’s spell book.”

“But even if we don’t, we’ll never forget you. And if you ever need us, for anything, we promise we’ll come running.”

“But first, Poppy’s been telling me of a remarkable woman living not far from here. I think she might be a kindred spirit.” “Clara,” said Eric. “I owe her a debt for taking such good care of Poppy these past few months. I’m going to find her and offer our services to pay for the damage Sissy did. And if she’ll agree, I’d like to help her in her cause.” “Finding women in need.” “I think we could work magnificently together.” “Sounds like another blessing in all this misfortune.” She smiled. “It does.”

“Before I forget, I wanted to tell you that we consulted the water about that voice you told me about.” He nodded again. The voice that spoke through the drunk at The Dirty Bunny and Mr. Hamblin at the hospital and again through Norval in the midst of the battle. It has to be you! “Yes?” “It told me nothing. Not even a murmur. It’s strange.” “How strange?” She frowned. “I usually get something, even if it’s nothing meaningful. But there was nothing at all.” “So…what does that mean? It wasn’t real?” “I’m sure it was real,” she assured him. “But it’s like there’s a void around that voice. It’s…unsettling.” It was unsettling. Delphinium’s

“And one more thing, too.” She stared intently into his eyes. “Tell her not to be afraid. I asked about you in my last spell. I caught a glimpse of your destiny. You and Isabelle are going to have a lot more adventures. You’ll see so many amazing things. You’ll meet so many amazing people. And although the future is always in constant motion and anything can change, it was very insistent that you’re always going to make it home to her.” Eric stared at her, surprised. “It told you all that?” “Very clearly.” “I’m sure she’ll be very happy to hear that.” She smiled. “She’s such a lucky woman.”

“My spell also told me that you needed Holly,” she explained. She was practically beaming. “The two of you were destined to work together. Not just here. Not just last night. But from

She shrugged her shoulders. “The magic never lies,” she told him. “Trust me.” He sighed. He did trust her. After all they’d been through together, he’d trust Delphinium