Free Charmed Ever After (The Halloween LaVeau Series Book 6) by Rose Pressey

book. Did she feel threatened that I would soon get it back? How had she traveled from the manor to here so quickly? Clearly she was using the spellbook. I’d known she would be dangerous as the leader and this just proved it.
    Without saying a word, my mother made a sharp right turn down an old gravel road. Dust swirled around the car as we sped toward the unknown.
    “Do you know where this road leads to?” Annabelle asked. “It’s not on the GPS.”
    I hated to break the bad news to Annabelle, but the odds were likely that we would soon be lost. My mother remained silent, focused on the road.
    “I hope they didn’t see us come down this road,” Annabelle said.
    I hoped so too, but they already knew we were on the road. They would figure it out soon enough. I looked in the rear-view mirror to see if anyone was back there. At first, the cars weren’t behind us, but then a black sedan turned onto the road.
    “They’re back there now,” I warned.
    My mother punched the gas. “I don’t know where to go.”
    Now she told us.
    “Just don’t wreck and send the car into a swamp. One of the gators will eat us for a snack.”
    If this road turned out to be a dead end, then we were in serious trouble. Annabelle and I watched as the car raced down the road toward us. My mother sped up even more. I was worried her Buick would blow a tire soon. Or maybe the engine would fall out.
    “Halloween, I need your help,” my mother said.
    “With what?” I asked as I continued to watch the rear-view mirror.
    “I’m going to do a spell.”
    Oh, I knew she didn’t mean for me to feel bad, but this was terrible. Magic ripped from me… a magicless witch.
    “Grab my bag. I have a bottle of spell sparkle in there. I’ll recite the words and you sprinkle the sparkle.”
    “I’m not sure about this. Remember my magic?”
    “I just need you to sprinkle the sparkle. I’m doing the magic.”
    Obviously she underestimated my disastrous magic even after all these years. My mother still had that false sense of hope. I reached for her big brown bag and rummaged through.
    “Why do you have eye of newt?” I asked.
    “Well, you never know,” she said.
    “There are all kinds of bottles of potions in here.”
    How was I supposed to find the sparkle bottle? She had everything in here but the kitchen sink. Candy wrappers, used scraps of paper, crackers, etc.
    “Is this a pickle?” I asked.
    I pulled out the giant individually wrapped snack.
    “You never know when you might get a craving for something.”
    I quirked an eyebrow and stared at her.
    “You or me?” I asked. “I don’t even like pickles.”
    “Or ice cream,” she said.
    “Okay, you’re not even making since right now,” I said as I shoved the pickleback into her bag . Finally, I spotted the pink sparkle and pulled out the bottle.
    “Got it, now what?” I asked.
    “I’ll recite the words and you toss the sparkle.”
    My mother spoke the words as she drove. I was pretty sure this wasn’t the way that magic spells were supposed to be cast.
    “Okay, now toss the sprinkles around the back of the car and that should make us invisible to them.”
    “Where did you learn to do spells like this?” I asked as I sprinkled the sparkles around the back of the car.
    The sprinkles immediately began to glow as they danced through the air. Annabelle laughed as we watched the magical animated dust shimmer and sparkle. It was almost hypnotizing.  
    “Oh, I have my ways,” my mother said.
    Annabelle tossed her hands up. “Don’t put that stuff on me.”
    “Oh, it won’t get you, honey, just the car. It won’t work on humans,” my mother said.
    Except it did work on Annabelle. Right before my eyes Annabelle became invisible. Slowly her legs disappeared and then her torso. Next thing I knew, poof… the rest of her was gone.
    I screamed out, “Annabelle, where are you?”
    “Very funny, Hallie, I’m right here.”
    “Oh, dear,” my mother said, looking in the