Free Quit Your Witchin' by Dakota Cassidy Page A

eyes!” Win directed, ever ready with helpful spy tips.
    Falling into Maggie, I threw one arm around her waist and used my hand to cover her eyes. Somehow, I managed to position her so she landed on top of me. We hit the newly installed wood flooring with a thwack of grunts and tangled limbs.
    Rolling Maggie to her side, I shoved her under the table, meeting Bianca’s accusatory eyes before scurrying away.
    Shielding my own eyes, I stood up, catching a piece of flying glass in the arm, which, by the by, infuriated me. I might not have my wand, but I sure had a big mouth.
    “Knock it the fudge off!” I bellowed into the swirl of chaos, helplessly watching the ultimate in snow globes fly across the room and smack into the wall.
    While my favorite Christmas snow globe with Yukon Cornelius slid down the wall in pieces and Rudolph broke into tiny reindeer parts, my blood pressure spiked at an all-time high. Even someone like me, who didn’t get too overly crazy about much, had a limit.
    Limit-Reached Achievement: Unlocked.
    Stomping over the glass and puddles of water, ducking when another of my smaller globes came straight at me, I stormed the nearest snow-globe shelf, yelling my ire into the room. “That was my favorite Yukon Cornelius and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer snow globe, you holiday-hating heathen! I said eeee-nough !”
    Everything stopped then.
    There was nothing but the sound of our ragged breathing, the trickle of water sliding down the wall and the settling of debris.
    “Win?” I called out, knowing panic laced my tone, knowing the Bustamantes probably thought I was crazy. But I didn’t care.
    “I’m here, back on Plane Limbo. Also, for verification purposes, you have a lot of snow globes, Stevie Cartwright.”
    Letting my head hang, my chin at my chest, I began to laugh. As water pooled on the new floor and spattered down the freshly painted walls, shards of glass littered the floor, Christmas trees, snowmen and my beloved Yukon Cornelius lay smashed to smithereens, I laughed.
    In relief. Win was still here. That was almost all that mattered.
    But I didn’t laugh for long. As the Bustamante boys helped Maggie, Bianca was up off the floor and headed directly for me, her finger pointed in accusation. Water permeated one leg of her tight jeans and she had something stuck in her hair.
    “You are loco, and you’re not getting one thin dime from me! You understand? I bet you think you’re pretty clever, and I don’t know how you orchestrated this, but I don’t give a damn! I won’t pay a single penny for that freak show you just put on!”
    Pushing my crooked, damp turban upright, I shrugged. “I think I can manage without your pennies. Oh, and may I?” I reached forward and tried to pluck a tiny reindeer from the length of her hair. “You have something that belongs to me.”
    Bianca slapped my hand away, her eyes flashing. “Don’t touch me! You could have injured us all with that stunt, you wingnut!” she screeched in my face.
    But I kept my cool. Not that it was easy, but she was, after all, the customer. “I’m sorry that happened. Sometimes the spirits can be volatile and something about your father riled—”
    “Don’t you give me your crap about spirits ! There were no spirits. This whole thing was rigged just so you could bilk me out of some cash!” Bianca bellowed, her eyes wide, her skin a mottled red.
    “Stevie? I don’t care how stunning Miss Bustamante is. By God, give her some hell! Tell her mother what Bianca wanted you to do then boot her out on her arse!” Win encouraged, outrage clear in his voice.
    Squaring my shoulders, I looked her directly in the eye. “If you’ll recall, Bianca, I told you I wouldn’t lie to your mother. I wasn’t able to contact your father, so there’s no charge anyway.”
    Maggie’s dark eyes turned angry when she looked to her daughter. “You ask Madam Zoltar to lie to me?” she squeaked. “Bianca! You bring me shame! You bring our