Free magical cures 07 - a charming fatality by tonya kappes Page A

standing in the window overlooking the assembly line floor with the palms of her hands planted up against the glass. Her palms fisted and she screamed inaudible words while banging the glass.
    Over my dead body . Her words from earlier floated around in my head. Burt is not in charge of my company. I recalled her angry words from when Ronald had refused to let me in. And why wasn’t I on the list? Did Burt deliberately leave me off because of the bottles? What about that security guard? He was quick to blame me. Did he know more than he was letting on?
    My wrist felt warm and I glanced down at my charm bracelet. The liquid in the little potion bottle was bubbling again. I rubbed it with my other hand.
    “June,” Oscar spit my name out in a hushed whisper, “I asked you a question.”
    “I’m sorry. What did you ask?” I looked back up at Tiffany where she was on the floor completely in grief. There was a woman bending down next to her.
    “First off, did you get the magic in the plastic bottles?” Oscar was so cute trying to make sure our deal with Head To Toe Works went exactly as I had told them it would.
    “Yes.” I leaned over and whispered so no one would hear me. “Unfortunately, the guard did see me smudging.”
    “Smudging? I thought Aunt Eloise told you to do that this morning. First thing.” His face was a glowing mask of rage. I didn’t have to say anything for him to read my face. “And you wonder why he called you a voodoo witch.” Oscar ran his hands through his hair. “When are you going to learn to listen to our elders?”
    “I don’t know.” I shrugged.
    A veil of grey cloud hovered over the conveyor belt of the assembly line. Three faces appeared in the haze. My gut dropped. It was bad enough that Burt was found dead in the mortal world, but seeing The Order of Elders here was another thing, making an even more terrifying realization wash over me.
    “Why are they here?” I swallowed hard, trying to manage the answer to my own question.
    It was never a good thing when the Marys, the Elders, showed up.
    “Oh no.” His expression stilled and grew serious. “Don’t say a word here. Do you understand me? People are watching.”
    I did what he said and just nodded my head.

Chapter Eleven
     
    “Oh, June! I told you to smudge first thing.” Eloise wrung her hands together. The hem of her cloak swished against the hardwood floors of Full Moon Treesort. “I even heard Petunia had a black butterfly fall out of her hair. That was sign enough that you needed to smudge.”
    Full Moon Treesort was big enough for everyone to gather in the only hotel sort of shop in Whispering Falls. Full Moon Treesort had all the fine luxuries of the fanciest hotels in the world. It was owned and operated by Amethyst Plum. Her spiritual gift of Onerirocriticy (dream interpretations), perfectly fit with her being the owner of Full Moon.
    She was able to tell when one of her guests was having a dream, good or bad, and alter their stay to make it very enjoyable.
    “I was afraid my dream was going to come true.” Amethyst pushed her long black curly hair behind her shoulders and drummed her fingers together. She stood behind the bar top in the kitchen.
    I sat on one of the barstools along with Gerald, Izzy, and Chandra. Petunia was in one of the comfy chairs near the fireplace, nestling baby Orin in her arms. The Marys were huddled in the corner as though they were having a meeting.
    Mary Lynn stood in the middle of them and they were bent down to accommodate her four-foot tall frame. She wore a black dress that hung down to the top of her black pointy laced-up witch shoes. Her tight silvery hair was tucked under a small black pillbox hat with lace hanging around the edges. There was a fox stole wrapped around her shoulders and clipped on by the teeth of the creature. Only it wasn’t dead.
    She ran her hands down the fur and snapped her fingers. The fox uncurled off her neck and jumped down, finding a hook on