JB Lynn, Author at Cursed Chicks Club

Chapter 3

3 Times a Charm

Chapter 3

“I have to find Richie,” Karen said as I gulped down the rest of my coffee, scalding my esophagus in the process.

We left the Gus Bus and looked around. Not surprisingly, Richie was nowhere in sight.

“Don’t you have a secret signal to summon your dragon or something?” Karen asked.

“He’s not my dragon,” I was quick to point out.

Marco, who stood to the side, smoothed his mustache. “There is a dragon whistle.”

“So use it,” Karen told him.

“I don’t know it,” he admitted.

I squinted at him disbelievingly. Having been a wizard’s assistant, he was usually a fount of knowledge. He’d even known to use the call of some obscure bird to save me when I’d been battling the Cullers, who had wanted to steal Richie’s power. It seemed unlikely that he didn’t know how to whistle for a dragon.

“Fine,” Karen huffed. “Richie!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, like all mothers have since the beginning of time. “Richie, you get back here right now.” She wandered off, shouting.

Ben, the old man, a Wind Eternal, walked toward us. “Is the boy missing?”

The concern in his tone triggered a low-grade amount of panic in my belly. Ben had joined us in our battle against his own kind to protect the boy. He seemed to know more about Richie and his abilities, but so far he’d refused to reveal much besides being worried about a balance of power.

“Richie’s fine,” Marco assured him. “He’s off exploring with Sol. Karen just wants him to come back.”

“I guess I should help her.” Walking in the opposite direction of Karen, I cupped my hands to my mouth and yelled, “Richie.”

“You’re calling the wrong one,” Marco said from behind me.

I turned to face him. “Do dragons have superior hearing?”

He tilted his head to the side. “There’s a better chance that Sol will hear you. He’s the one you should always call for.”

I sucked in a breath and shouted, “Sol!”

Ben frowned. “She doesn’t know how to call him?”

“They seem to have communication issues,” Marco replied.

Ben strode over to me. “I’ll help.” He put a hand on my elbow and offered a reassuring smile. A light breeze caressed my face. “Say his name.”

“Sol,” I murmured softly.

The breeze kicked up slightly and then was gone.

A moment later, we heard the beating of wings overhead. We all looked up to watch Sol, in all his violet dragon glory, soaring above.

Richie, riding on his back, let out an excited whoop as they landed. He hopped off, glowing greener than usual. “We flew!”

“I thought I told you no dragon riding,” I berated gently as Sol morphed into his human form, complete with his top hat propped on his head at a rakish angle.

“What’s wrong?” the dark-eyed magician asked.

“Karen’s looking for her son,” Marco explained. Turning in the direction she’d disappeared, he bellowed, “Karen!”

Sol focused all his attention on me. “But I heard you.”

“I gave her a boost,” Ben said. “But you should really—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sol waved a dismissive hand at him.

Ben raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it your duty?”

The heat of Sol’s anger stole my breath as he turned on the other man. “I know what my duties are.”

“If you say so.” The older man raised his hand, signaling his acceptance, before turning and walking away.

Sol swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he curled his hands into fists.

“Am I in trouble?” Richie asked worriedly, sensing the tension but not understanding it.

He wasn’t the only one.

“No,” I assured him. “We’re going to go into town with Marco.” I glanced at Sol. “You can come with us.”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. I need you to put Becky into something for me to carry. We found a pond.”

I nodded my appreciation. “Great. Link will be relieved.”

“I’m sure,” he muttered. “It can’t be easy housing a thief.”

I frowned at him, wondering if he was trying to be difficult or if it just came naturally to him. Without a word, I stalked toward my pink RV.

Becky isn’t your normal talking goldfish. Not that I know what a “normal” talking goldfish would be like, but I assume that most aren’t like me, quelled. Becky and I have both had our magical abilities suppressed, along with our memories.

Because Becky is actually golden, not orange like a regular goldfish, Sol and Marco have determined that she’s a thief. But why she took what she stole and why she was quelled is anyone’s guess, which is why I’d refused to leave her behind.

“Good news,” I said with false cheeriness as I stepped into the camper. “Sol found a pond.”

“Fan-freakin-tastic!” Link bellowed in his metallic voice.

“A pond? A pond?” Becky leapt out of the copper cauldron excitedly and then splashed back into the water.

“You shouldn’t trust him.” Sol took off his hat, stepped into the camper, and pulled the door shut behind him.

My cheeks prickled as his heat filled the small space. “I have no problems with Ben,” I replied, pulling out a plastic cup to use to transport Becky. “Whatever your issues are—” I turned to take her out of the cauldron and found myself crashing into Sol.

The moment we touched, every nerve in my body caught fire. I’m not sure which of us moved first, suddenly our mouths were fused together in a kiss so hot that it burned up the air. Our hands seared paths as we explored each other’s bodies in a demanding frenzy.

“You two should get a room.” The petulant teenage voice of Glory, the cast iron pot that belonged to a wizard name Clay, piped up from the bed where she was tucked in among the pillows.

Dragging his mouth from mine, Sol muttered, “This is a room.”

“Do not take the hod’s advice,” Conroy interjected. “You should definitely not use a room. You’ll burn it down.”

Embarrassed by my owl pendant’s observation, I leaned back from Sol.

He smiled ruefully. “He’s not wrong.”

“I never am,” the owl muttered. “You’re lucky you didn’t boil the fish.”

I glanced nervously at the cauldron and was relieved to see there was no steam rising from it.

“Also,” Erich, the top hat that was Sol’s hod, complained, “just because you’re all hot and bothered, you shouldn’t drop me on the floor of this place. There’s cat hair everywhere.”

“Sorry.” Sol scooped him up, along with the cup I’d dropped. “I didn’t mean to submit you to the maddener’s mange.”

“I do not have mange,” Mildred meowed from her hiding spot beneath the passenger seat. “Just like you haven’t mastered the art of foreplay.”

Cheeks hot with mortification, I groaned. “Have any of you ever heard of giving people some privacy?”

“I closed my eyes?” Becky announced in her annoying upspeak.

“She did,” Link, the cauldron, confirmed. “She keeps crashing into me.”

“Thank you, Becky,” I said. She might be a thief, but at least she has a sense of decorum.

I snatched the cup out of Sol’s hand and scooped up some water, and the fish with it. “Be careful,” I said as I handed her over to him.

“You be careful,” he lectured. “Try not to let anyone attract attention while you’re in town. We don’t need to alert any Cullers or Eternals to our presence.”

I nodded my understanding. It was good advice. We didn’t need any more trouble.

“And find an instrument,” Mildred meowed.

I peered down at her. “What?”

She narrowed her blue feline eyes at me. “Like a flute. You know, one of those silver things that people huff and puff into and sound comes out of.”

“Why?” I asked.

“To make music, you fool,” she grumbled.

“Is this part of the love song?” Conroy asked.

“Of course,” the cat hissed at the owl.

Sol scowled down at her. “What love song?”

“I have to find the perfect love song,” I told him.

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah?”

I shrugged. “That’s what she says.”

Sol eyed the cat suspiciously. “And what will this perfect love song do?”

“Right a wrong,” Mildred muttered. “Save your girlfriend from eternal damnation.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Sol muttered.

I winced. Sure, I’d just told Karen that he and I weren’t dating, but it still stung a little to hear him be so dismissive of our relationship. Whatever status it might be.

The Siamese let out a scoffing noise that sounded more like a coughing fit. “Okay, find the love song and save your hottie hook-up from hell.”

It was Sol’s turn to cringe at the label being put on our connection.

Delighting in our discomfort, Mildred stretched indulgently, flexing her claws. “Instrument. Music. Voice.”

“Those are the ingredients for the spell?” Conroy asked.

I made a mental note to thank the owl afterward for making an effort to keep this careening conversation on track.

“Yes,” Mildred hissed. “Find them. Put them together. Perfect love song. She gets another charm.”

“Will it be silver?” Becky glub-glubbed from the cup in Sol’s hand.

“Yes,” I replied distractedly. “The charms are silver.”

“I love silver?” she exclaimed excitedly.

“Is that what you steal?” Sol asked her.

I glared at him, but the fish was blissfully unaware.

“I stole a silver cup?” she admitted freely. “So pretty? So shiny?”

Sol squinted down at the cup. “What kind of silver cup?”

“I don’t remember?”

“But—” he began.

“Instrument. Music. Voice,” Mildred interrupted. “Those are the priorities. No silver cups.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Where am I supposed to find a flute?”

“Break into a school and steal one,” she suggested.

“I’m not stealing from kids,” I told her. “I’m not a thie—”

Remembering Becky, I interrupted myself. “I’m not someone who steals from kids.”

“Well then, be prepared to be with me forever.” With that, the cat turned her back to us, signaling that her participation in the conversation was over.

“Perhaps we’ll find one for sale,” Conroy soothed.

“Whatever you do, do not attract attention,” Sol reminded me. “That’s the first rule. No attention.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him away. “I got that.”

I understood the importance of not doing anything Cullers or Eternals might notice.

I understood that I shouldn’t break the rule.

But I was about to.

Get your copy of 3 Times a Charm now to find out what happens next!

Chapter 2

3 Times a Charm

Chapter 2

I followed Karen to the Gus Bus, her camper that had belonged to Jeval, Richie’s father, who had disappeared.

As pink as my camper, Princess, was, the Gus Bus was green. Green tile, green counter, even a green mini-fridge. I’d become accustomed to the pinkness of my place, but the greenness of Karen’s caught me off-guard and I just stood there, blinking against the sight.

“What do you think of homeschooling?” Karen asked as she busied herself with making coffee.

“Um…I guess a lot of people are doing it?” I winced, realizing I sounded like Becky.

“Richie needs a more formal education.” She glanced over at me. “Sit. Sit.” Ever since her son had magically healed her from whatever had been killing her, she’d had more energy. Now, despite the long drive, she was practically bouncing.

I slid into a seat at the table. Like everything else, both were green.

“Did you have a normal education or just a magical one?” Karen asked.

I sat back in my seat, knocked off balance by the question. “I don’t know.”

She looked over at me.

I shrugged helplessly. “I don’t remember anything about most of my life. One day, I just woke up in the hospital and was married to Orville.”

While the coffee maker gurgled to life, she sat down opposite me. “Orville?”

“My husband.” I clenched my fists. Just saying the words made me want to retch. “He’s the reason I’m in this mess. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be haunted and driving around in Princess, trying to retrieve magical charms. I—”

“Hold up,” Karen interrupted, leaning closer. “You’re married?”

I shuddered at the thought. “No. He’s dead.”

She squinted at me. “Did you kill him?”

I winced. “It’s kind of complicated.”

Her eyes widened. “Whoa, you killed your husband?”

I shook my head. “No. No, I contributed to his death, but I wasn’t responsible for it,” I told her hurriedly, repeating what my redia, my magical aider Conroy, had told me.

“For the record,” Conroy, the owl pendant hanging around my neck, said, “I don’t think you should go around telling people you contributed to anyone’s death.”

I glanced down at where the necklace hung. Conroy had been silent for the entire ride today, probably because the fish had talked so much.

Karen, who can’t hear objects talk, must have thought I was hanging my head in shame. She patted my hand and soothed, “I’m sure he deserved whatever happened to him.”

I jerked my head up quickly to meet her gaze. “I—”

“You have amnesia?” she asked before I could disabuse her of the notion that I’m guilty of offing Orville. “That must be hard.”

“Confusing sometimes,” I admitted.

She gripped my hand. “Do you think he Overboarded you?”

“Huh?”

She nodded emphatically, warming to the conviction of her theory. “I bet he Overboarded you.”

I held my breath, hoping Conroy would explain what she was talking about, but he stayed silent.

Karen let out an exasperated sigh. “Overboard. The original. Not the remake. Remakes suck.”

I shook my head. “I’m not following you.”

She scowled. “It’s a classic movie.”

“I don’t…”

She slapped both her hands over her mouth. Her eyes bulged. She let out a scream, which was muffled by her hands but was still startling. Dropping her hands onto the table, she leaned closer. “I bet he prevented you from seeing it so that you couldn’t figure out what was going on. Goldie Hawn falls off a boat and gets amnesia and Kurt Russell convinces her that she’s his wife and so she has to cook and clean and take care of his kids. Classic.”

I nodded slowly, trying to follow her logic. “So you’re saying…”

“You weren’t really married to this Orville guy!” she crowed triumphantly as she jumped up to get the coffee. “He took advantage of your amnesia and tricked you.”

Her words ignited a spark of hope in me. “Is that…? Could that be true?” I asked Conroy. It sounded crazy but considering how repulsive I’d found Mildred’s son to be, I wanted it to be true. It would mean that I hadn’t been a total idiot before my bout with amnesia.

“Of course it could be true,” Karen continued, not knowing that my question hadn’t been directed at her. “Did you cook for him? Clean for him? Raise his kids?”

I shook my head in response to each of her questions.

“Well, you must have had something he wanted.”

Suddenly, I felt cold, chilled to the bone. “Valentina,” I murmured.

Karen slid two mugs onto the table and sat back down. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she got into solving the mystery of my past. “Who’s Valentina?”

“My…” I hesitated, unsure of how to explain since I was still struggling to understand it myself.

“Tortoise,” Conroy helpfully supplied.

“Tortoise,” I repeated so that Karen could hear.

She shuddered and looked away. I couldn’t really blame her. First, she, Richie, and Marco had been sucked into my hod, Link, in his penny form. Then Valentina, in order to protect them from the threat of attack from the Wind and Fire Eternals who were after the kid, had swallowed the coin. It couldn’t be pleasant to know you’d been swallowed by a tortoise, even though Marco had assured me that he couldn’t remember any of it.

“Why would he want to steal a turtle?” Karen asked.

“Power,” I muttered, a shiver snaking down my spine. I didn’t need the owl’s coaching to tell me that Orville and his mother had been after my magic.

My friend across the table nodded. “Greed and love, those are the two things that make the world go ’round. That’s what my Jeval says.” She deflated at the mention of Richie’s missing father. “Said.”

Not knowing how to respond, I picked up a steaming mug, grateful for the warmth it provided.

“And he’s haunting you?” Karen asked suddenly. “Orville’s haunting you?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s his mother, Mildred. And if I don’t right her wrongs, I’ll be cursed with her company for eternity.”

“Whoa,” Karen gasped. “That sounds terrible.”

I nodded and sipped the coffee. It was bitter, but hot. “That’s why I’ve got the cat. It’s possessed by Mildred.”

“The cat’s haunted?”

I nodded.

“Wow…you’ve been Overboarded, you’re being stalked by a demonic mother-in-law, and you’re dating a dragon?”

I choked on my coffee. “I don’t think she’s demonic,” I sputtered. “And I am not dating a dragon!”

She rolled her eyes as she handed me a napkin. “Well, what do you call what you’re doing with Sol?”

I dabbed at my chin, looking away. My relationship with Sol was complicated. I let out a heavy sigh. Everything about magic was always so damn complicated.

“Hey,” Karen assured me, a smile in her voice. “I’m not judging. I fell for Jeval and he broke all the rules to be with me. I mean, he wasn’t a scaly, fire-breathing mythical creature, but hey, if that’s what you’re into…”

“Oh, shut up.” I chuckled at her good-natured teasing.

She winked at me.

It really did sound ridiculous when she put it that way. What was I thinking getting involved with a guy who regularly turns into a rabbit and a dragon? I put my head in my hands. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“No one else does, either, sweetie. We’re all just winging it. It’s just that not everyone is dragon-winging it.” She burst into giggles.

I shook my head but found myself laughing, too.

“Ladies?” a voice called from outside.

“None of those here,” Karen yelled as she got up, opened the door of the camper, and ushered Marco inside.

Marco stuck his head in and smiled at us both. “I am going to take a sojourn into town and was wondering if either of you would be interested in accompanying me.”

“Yes!” Karen and I replied simultaneously.

“Excellent. Whenever you’re ready.” He backed out.

“An adventure!” Karen said with an excited gleam in her eye.

Personally, I’ve had enough adventures. I hoped this trip into town would be uneventful.

“What do you think of homeschooling?” Karen asked as she busied herself with making coffee.

“Um…I guess a lot of people are doing it?” I winced, realizing I sounded like Becky.

I slid into a seat at the table. Like everything else, both were green.

“Did you have a normal education or just a magical one?” Karen asked.

I sat back in my seat, knocked off balance by the question. “I don’t know.”

She looked over at me.

I shrugged helplessly. “I don’t remember anything about most of my life. One day, I just woke up in the hospital and was married to Orville.”

While the coffee maker gurgled to life, she sat down opposite me. “Orville?”

“Hold up,” Karen interrupted, leaning closer. “You’re married?”

I shuddered at the thought. “No. He’s dead.”

She squinted at me. “Did you kill him?”

I winced. “It’s kind of complicated.”

Her eyes widened. “Whoa, you killed your husband?”

I shook my head. “No. No, I contributed to his death, but I wasn’t responsible for it,” I told her hurriedly, repeating what my redia, my magical aider Conroy, had told me.

“For the record,” Conroy, the owl pendant hanging around my neck, said, “I don’t think you should go around telling people you contributed to anyone’s death.”

I glanced down at where the necklace hung. Conroy had been silent for the entire ride today, probably because the fish had talked so much.

Karen, who can’t hear objects talk, must have thought I was hanging my head in shame. She patted my hand and soothed, “I’m sure he deserved whatever happened to him.”

I jerked my head up quickly to meet her gaze. “I—”

“You have amnesia?” she asked before I could disabuse her of the notion that I’m guilty of offing Orville. “That must be hard.”

“Confusing sometimes,” I admitted.

She gripped my hand. “Do you think he Overboarded you?”

“Huh?”

She nodded emphatically, warming to the conviction of her theory. “I bet he Overboarded you.”

I held my breath, hoping Conroy would explain what she was talking about, but he stayed silent.

Karen let out an exasperated sigh. “Overboard. The original. Not the remake. Remakes suck.”

I shook my head. “I’m not following you.”

She scowled. “It’s a classic movie.”

“I don’t…”

I nodded slowly, trying to follow her logic. “So you’re saying…”

“You weren’t really married to this Orville guy!” she crowed triumphantly as she jumped up to get the coffee. “He took advantage of your amnesia and tricked you.”

“Of course it could be true,” Karen continued, not knowing that my question hadn’t been directed at her. “Did you cook for him? Clean for him? Raise his kids?”

I shook my head in response to each of her questions.

“Well, you must have had something he wanted.”

Suddenly, I felt cold, chilled to the bone. “Valentina,” I murmured.

Karen slid two mugs onto the table and sat back down. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she got into solving the mystery of my past. “Who’s Valentina?”

“My…” I hesitated, unsure of how to explain since I was still struggling to understand it myself.

“Tortoise,” Conroy helpfully supplied.

“Tortoise,” I repeated so that Karen could hear.

“Why would he want to steal a turtle?” Karen asked.

“Power,” I muttered, a shiver snaking down my spine. I didn’t need the owl’s coaching to tell me that Orville and his mother had been after my magic.

Not knowing how to respond, I picked up a steaming mug, grateful for the warmth it provided.

“And he’s haunting you?” Karen asked suddenly. “Orville’s haunting you?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s his mother, Mildred. And if I don’t right her wrongs, I’ll be cursed with her company for eternity.”

“Whoa,” Karen gasped. “That sounds terrible.”

I nodded and sipped the coffee. It was bitter, but hot. “That’s why I’ve got the cat. It’s possessed by Mildred.”

“The cat’s haunted?”

I nodded.

“Wow…you’ve been Overboarded, you’re being stalked by a demonic mother-in-law, and you’re dating a dragon?”

I choked on my coffee. “I don’t think she’s demonic,” I sputtered. “And I am not dating a dragon!”

She rolled her eyes as she handed me a napkin. “Well, what do you call what you’re doing with Sol?”

I dabbed at my chin, looking away. My relationship with Sol was complicated. I let out a heavy sigh. Everything about magic was always so damn complicated.

“Oh, shut up.” I chuckled at her good-natured teasing.

She winked at me.

“No one else does, either, sweetie. We’re all just winging it. It’s just that not everyone is dragon-winging it.” She burst into giggles.

I shook my head but found myself laughing, too.

“Ladies?” a voice called from outside.

“None of those here,” Karen yelled as she got up, opened the door of the camper, and ushered Marco inside.

Marco stuck his head in and smiled at us both. “I am going to take a sojourn into town and was wondering if either of you would be interested in accompanying me.”

“Yes!” Karen and I replied simultaneously.

“Excellent. Whenever you’re ready.” He backed out.

“An adventure!” Karen said with an excited gleam in her eye.

Personally, I’ve had enough adventures. I hoped this trip into town would be uneventful.

Chapter 1

3 Times a Charm

Chapter 1

You know you’re an unhappy camper when you’ve heard nothing but upspeak for hours. You know, where every sentence sounds like a question? From someone named Becky?

I was really starting to regret my decision to not follow everyone’s advice and leave the talking goldfish behind. She’d been prattling all day and now I had a headache.

“How much farther?” I asked Mildred, the Siamese cat perched on the dashboard of the RV I drove. We’d been on the highway for hours.

The cat’s blue eyes gleamed with pure evil. That’s not surprising, considering she’s my maddener, a feline possessed by the malicious spirit of my witchy former mother-in-law, Mildred Bloodworth. “Hours,” she hissed.

I shook my head. “Nope. Not doing it. I’m tired and I’m sure everyone else is, too.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror at the caravan of recreational vehicles behind me. The seafoam green monstrosity carried Karen and her son, Richie; the white and yellow one was driven by the newest addition to our traveling team, Ben; and Marco was bringing up the rear in his silver Airstream.

“I’m stopping at the next available superstore lot,” I announced.

“Last time you did that a tornado tore through the place,” Mildred reminded me.

“Yeah, but she’s permafrost now,” I countered. The Wind Eternal who’d destroyed the store had been buried in treacherous grit and then Ben, another Wind Eternal, had blown cold and hard, turning the material to permafrost.

I glanced again at the reflection of the green RV. My life is pretty complicated, but at least I don’t have magical Cullers and Elemental Eternals after me like the boy, Richie, does. I still haven’t figured out exactly why so many magickind are after the poor kid, but I’m determined to keep him safe.

As for me, I’m just trying to right some of Mildred’s wrongs so that she doesn’t haunt me for eternity. That, and I’m romantically involved with a magically-compromised wizard who’s also a dragon.

Okay, yeah, my life is pretty complicated.

“Fine,” Mildred sighed, flexing her claws. “The campground you want is at the next exit.”

I gave her the side eye. “You couldn’t have just told me that?”

“Is there a stream?” Becky glub-glubbed. “It’s kind of boring swimming in circles?”

“Please let there be a body of water,” my hod, Link, muttered in his metallic voice.

I glanced sympathetically over at him, buckled into the passenger seat. In his copper cauldron form, he was the one holding Becky. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to be rid of her.

Seeing the sign for the exit, I turned on my blinker to signal to the rest of the caravan that we were getting off the road.

I looped around the exit ramp and found myself on a bucolic country road.

“Follow the signs to Incanto,” Mildred instructed.

A couple of miles later, I turned down a gravel drive and pulled into a lovely flat field. There were no other RVs in sight, but it seemed the perfect place to spend the night.

A large violet dragon landed in front of my vehicle and then morphed into human form. Sol, his top hat at a jaunty angle, strolled over to my window. “Nice find.”

“Mildred’s suggestion,” I admitted. “Do you still want us to try to park in a triangle?”

“A triangle has three sides,” Mildred snapped. “You have four vehicles.”

Sol shrugged. “She’s not wrong. We’ll go with a square. You stay put. We’ll move the others around you.”

Mildred snickered, which sounded like a sickly wheeze coming from a cat. I knew why she was laughing. I’m a terrible driver. I once even ran a man over (thankfully, he’d been dead before I got to him). No one trusts my parking skills.

With Sol’s direction, waving his arms like he was on an airport runway, the others formed a square. Once everyone was parked, I hopped out of the pink RV I drove, eager to get away from both Mildred and Becky.

“How’d you find this place?” Karen asked, emerging from her green camper.

“I just followed the signs.”

“What signs?”

“The ones that said Incanto,” I told her.

“I didn’t see any signs that said Incanto,” Marco revealed as he walked up to us.

Richie waved his arm overhead and jumped up and down. “I saw them! I saw them!” He’s a cute kid, but the green light glowing from his eyes was a little disconcerting. It seemed brighter than usual.

I looked to Karen to see if she seemed tired or weak. I suspected that Richie had been pulling energy from his mother and that had been what had been killing her. Then, he’d healed her. I studied her closely now, searching for a change in her energy field. I was relieved to see that her shimmer was a strong orange, as it should be with non-magical people.

“They were magical signs,” Sol told everyone as he joined us in the middle of the square. “This is a magical place.”

“Magical how?” I asked suspiciously. I was starting to embrace my magical identity, but I still wasn’t totally comfortable with all the magic stuff.

“Incanto means charm,” Marco supplied helpfully, tugging on his mustache.

I didn’t bother to ask how he knew that. He seemed to know a little bit about almost everything.

“Can I go explore?” Richie asked hopefully.

Fear flashed in Karen’s gaze, and I knew she was going to turn down his request. She was worried, rightfully so, about her son’s safety.

“I’ll go with you, buddy,” Sol said quickly, offering the boy’s mother a reassuring smile.

She nodded slowly, knowing her son would have a dragon protecting him. “I guess so, but don’t go too far.”

Richie and Sol wandered off.

“Look for a stream or pond!” I yelled after them, remembering that I owed Link a break from Becky.

“Where’s Ben?” Marco asked, looking around for the owner of the fourth side of our square. Focusing on the white camper with the yellow racing stripe, he strolled toward it. “I’ll go check on him.”

Karen surveyed the area. “Pretty spot. Want a cup of coffee?”

Something in her tone told me that she had something on her mind. I nodded, wondering what our newest problem was.

Chapter 3

2 Spells Too Many

Chapter 3

I opened my mouth to ask why an Eternal would be after us, but Sol shook his head slightly. His gaze flicked to Karen and Richie, watching us with wide eyes. I nodded, knowing that it was dangerous to talk about magic with those that really don’t understand it. Hell, I don’t understand it (or like it) so I’m the last person who should be talking.

“We won’t find out where we are by sitting here,” Sol muttered. He picked up his top hat. The lack of headroom forced him to bend at almost ninety degrees as he headed for the corridor that was connected to the cavern where we sat.

Richie scrambled after him.

“Wait!” Karen called, hurrying after him.

Marco motioned for me to follow. “Ladies, first.”

It took longer to get out of this hole than it had the one at the Raven’s Nest campground, and I was tired of walking stooped over by the time I emerged to stand beneath the gray sky.

“Good job, Erich,” Sol said, slapping the top hat on his head. “Most excellent.”

Looking around, I realized why Sol was so pleased. We were standing in the center of the triangle formed by our three RVs. The vehicles appeared unscathed, yet all around us there were fallen trees, downed poles, and even an overturned car (though, to be fair, it was one of those tiny smart cars that look like sardine cans on wheels).

“How?” I wondered aloud.

“I installed a Shield Field,” Sol said.

“Clever,” Marco approved.

I squinted at him, confirming he had a non-magical orange shimmer. “You know what that means?”

He shrugged. “I told you I was a wizard’s assistant for two years. A student of the world can learn a lot.”

“Does this mean I’m not getting pizza?” Richie asked.

Considering the roof had been pulled off the superstore, and how dark it was quickly getting due to no electricity working in the vicinity, that seemed like a good guess.

“Afraid not,” Sol told him.

“But I’m starving,” Richie complained.

“We’ll get pizza and ice cream tomorrow,” Karen promised.

“Can I watch TV?” the kid asked, pushing his luck.

“Yes,” Karen replied, obviously too tired to argue with him. “But quietly,” she warned. “I need to lie down.”

“Why don’t I feed the boy some dinner?” Marco offered. “He can watch television at my place while he eats, and you can get some rest.”

Karen nodded her thanks and shuffled toward the green RV.

Not liking the look of her extreme fatigue, I murmured, “I’m going to help her get settled,” and hurried after her.

I made Karen drink a glass of water before she crawled into bed and then suggested, “Why don’t I have Richie stay in my camper overnight? He’ll get to have a sleepover and you can get some uninterrupted sleep.”

She managed a weak smile, pulling the covers around herself. “Thank you, RV.”

“Ravena,” I corrected. “My name is Ravena.”

She nodded. “Don’t get involved with him. It’s dangerous.”

“With Richie?”

She shook her head, her eyes drifting closed. “Sol. The cost is too high. So high.”

Her words made the small hairs on my arms stand on end. “What do you mean?” I asked.

But she was already asleep.

I didn’t understand her warning, but it unsettled me. What did she know about Sol that made her think he was dangerous?

I let myself out of her camper and found myself face-to-face with the man I’d been worrying about.

“We have to talk,” he declared solemnly.

“You look better,” I told him, walking outside the triangle of vehicles to look at the superstore. His lavender shimmer, which had been scarily pale, was normal again.

The store was surrounded by vehicles with flashing lights and crowds of people milling around. I wondered if there was something I could do to help.

“Nobody’s hurt or missing,” Sol said, as though he’d read my mind. “I talked to the fire chief.”

“That’s a relief.” I began to walk in a loop around the RVs.

Sol fell into step beside me. “How are you?”

I shrugged. “Those trips down the rabbit hole are disorienting.”

“That one was particularly rough,” he acknowledged. “It’s not designed for five people. If you hadn’t helped…” He trailed off.

I glanced up at him. “I didn’t help.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, you did. I had to siphon some energy off you to hold it together.”

“You can do that?”

He nodded. “I didn’t mean to the first time. I don’t have that much control in rabbit form. But I intentionally took it to get everyone away from the storm. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

He stopped walking and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “For not being any better than the Cullers. For stealing magic.”

I put a hand on his elbow. “You took it in order to save everyone. That’s very different.”

Dropping his hands, he sighed and looked down at me. Eyes dark, he traced a finger down my cheek, branding me with his touch.

My breath caught and I fought the urge to sway toward him.

“You have no idea how much power lurks in you,” Sol said, his voice husky. “You used a basic summoning to pull three people to you.”

“I think that was adrenaline,” I told him, remembering the force that slammed into me when I’d pulled Karen, Richie, and Marco to me. “I was afraid.”

He nodded slowly.

“Nightway said I’m quelled,” I confessed softly. “What does that mean?”

“Suppressed. Your power has been suppressed.” He raised a hand and rested three fingers on the side of my head. “Your memories, too, I suspect.”

I wondered if my hair would singe from the heat of his touch, but I didn’t smell anything burning.

“And I do not believe that Mildred Bloodworth possessed the power to do that,” he continued.

“Mildred!” I jumped away and hurried toward my camper. “I forgot to check on her.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Sol called, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

I opened the door of Princess and the cat bolted right out.

“You left me!” she yowled indignantly. “You left me to die.”

“I—” I didn’t finish because she raced off into the night.

Sol chuckled. “She appears to be unscathed.”

“I hope she doesn’t get herself run over,” I muttered.

“I doubt that would kill her.”

There was something in his tone that made me stop. Looking over at him, I asked, “You don’t think she can die?”

With a shrug, he said, “I think that, as a cat, she’s got nine lives.”

I gaped at him. “That’s a real thing?”

“There’s a hint of truth in most commonly held beliefs,” he replied with a smile.

From a discreet distance away, Marco cleared his throat.

We turned to look at him.

“The boy is asleep,” he explained. “I made enough dinner for all of us, if you’d like.”

“That sounds great,” I told him, suddenly hungry.

“I thought we could dine al fresco,” Marco said. “But I only have two chairs.”

“I’ve got one.” I quickly got my folding lawn chair and carried it over to the Airstream.

Marco had a small table set up with three bowls of chili, a bowl of chips, and three bottles of water.

“Thank you,” I said, slipping into my seat.

“I once judged a chili cook-off,” Marco revealed.

Sol rolled his eyes, but the other man seemed unaware.

“And I do believe my recipe has all of the winning components: color, consistency, aroma, and of course, taste.”

“It smells wonderful,” I told him.

“Mangia, mangia,” he urged.

We ate in silence for a few minutes and I silently agreed with Marco that he had an award-winning recipe. It was delicious.

After a while, Marco cleared his throat nervously. “I think we need to talk about the danger we’re in.”

To find out what happens next, buy your copy now!

Chapter 2

2 Spells Too Many

Chapter 2

A giant funnel cloud was headed straight toward us.

Dust and debris began to blow through the air.

There were shouts and shrieks of panic. People stampeded toward the store, trying to get out of the path of the tornado.

Marco picked up Richie, grabbed Karen’s hand, and began to lead them toward the building.

A horrible chill seeped into me, like I’d jumped into an ice bath. “No!” I screamed. “Come back!”

But they couldn’t hear me over the wind.

Without thinking, I extended my hand, shouted my name, and magically summoned them.

The biggest thing I’d ever summoned before was a spear, and I was certainly not prepared for the force three bodies would deliver as they flew through the air and slammed into me. We tumbled to the ground, a collection of tangled limbs and surprised grunts.

“What happened?” Karen asked.

“We flew!” Richie cried. “That’s so cool!”

“Crosswinds,” Marco supplied quickly, shooting me a nervous look. “Never underestimate the power of crosswinds.”

I flashed him a quick smile of gratitude for offering an excuse to explain away my having used magic.

Sol, somehow keeping his top hat in place, yanked everyone to their feet one at a time, pulling me up from the bottom of the pile last. “Get between the campers,” he ordered as the winds swirled closer.

Karen and Richie stared open-mouthed at the storm, unable to move until Marco shoved them in the direction we were to head.

“That won’t be enough protection,” I yelled over whipping winds.

“But it will provide shelter from prying eyes,” he shouted back, grabbing my hand and dragging me with him.

Karen and Marco were hunched over, trying to shield Richie from the whirlwind. The boy was sobbing in terror.

“Pick him up,” Sol ordered Karen.

She did, the boy burying his face in her shoulder.

“Everyone needs to hold on very tight to each other,” Sol shouted. “Understand?”

We nodded. Standing behind Karen, Marco wrapped his arms around her waist.

It was getting dark quickly as the tornado closed in on us. Streetlight poles began to snap and I saw a shopping cart fly through the air.

I hoped that Sol had a plan other than standing here, because we were about to be demolished by the fury of the storm.

Richie, keeping one arm looped around his mother’s neck, reached for me with his other. I grabbed his hand with one of mine, interlocked my other arm under Marco’s elbow, and squeezed Karen’s shoulder.

Sol hooked his arm around my waist and nudged my foot with his, and I knew what his plan was.

“Don’t let go,” Sol shouted so everyone could hear. “On the count of three, everyone close their eyes and hold their breath.”

I put my foot on top of his.

“One.”

He threw his hat on the ground.

“Two.”

I held my breath.

“Three.”

We stepped into the hat and went down the rabbit hole.

The ride seemed even bumpier than the last time we’d done it. We were lashed by updrafts, doused simultaneously with hot and cold, damp and dry, bright light and total darkness.

We hit bottom with a jolt, but no one let go. Even as we lay on the ground, gasping for breath, we hung on to each other, waiting for whatever was next.

And then Sol released me.

Nothing happened.

“I think we’re okay.” I disentangled myself from Marco and Karen and tugged my hand free from Richie’s grasp. “It’s okay.”

Slowly, the others followed suit, sitting up and looking around.

Richie’s eyes were wide as he felt the dirt that made up the walls. “Whoa, cool!”

Remembering that Sol would be in white rabbit form, I turned and carefully scooped up the hare’s limp body. “Ravena Renata Valentina. Ravena Renata Valentina.” As I murmured my name, heat filled my body. Eventually, the bunny stirred, but he did not change back into his human form.

“Where are we?” Karen asked fearfully, clutching Richie to her.

I couldn’t blame her, the first time I’d gone down Sol’s rabbit hole and ended up underground, I’d been freaked out, too.

“We’re safe,” I soothed.

“Were we buried alive by the storm?” Richie asked.

I chuckled. “No, sweetie.”

“It’s a sinkhole,” Marco offered. “Perfect protection from the wind.”

Karen arched her eyebrows, clearly not believing his lie.

“Where’s Sol?” Richie asked.

“Resting.” I stroked the soft white fur of the rabbit. His lavender shimmer was lighter than I’d ever seen it, and I swallowed hard as panic rose in me that he was dying.

Karen glanced all around. “What if we suffocate?”

“We won’t,” I assured her.

She did not look convinced.

“Are you okay, Marco?” I asked, realizing he’d been uncharacteristically quiet.

He nodded but remained silent, seeming to be lost in thought.

Richie scrambled over to me and stared at me angrily. “Are you lying to me, Smoosher lady?”

I drew back, surprised. “No. Why would you think that?”

“Because grown-ups lie to kids all the time.” He scowled at me with such ferocity that his eyebrows practically touched.

“What is it you think I’m lying about?”

“You said Sol’s resting, but he’s not. He’s dead.” The boy’s lower lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears.

“No,” I told him gently. “Sol’s not dead.” Instinctively, I clasped the limp rabbit tighter to me, hoping the magician wasn’t stuck in Leporidae form permanently.

Richie wasn’t about to let the assertion go unchallenged. “How do you know?”

I hesitated, unsure of how to respond. None of them knew about Sol’s magic and I didn’t want to be the one to out him. I wasn’t worried about Marco. Not only had he been a wizard’s assistant before, but he’d also witnessed me dispatch the Culler, Nightway, who’d wanted to take Richie, with a sparkling feather, and it hadn’t fazed him one bit. But Karen and Richie didn’t know.

And I thought they’d be better off never knowing magic exists. I was pretty sure I would have been.

Before I could come up with an answer for the kid, heat flashed through me and Sol morphed into his human form…as was becoming usual, with his face squashed against my breast.

“Whoa!” Richie’s eyes were wide. “How’d you do that?”

I gently shoved Sol off me. The boy was his problem to deal with now.

Richie turned to Karen. “Mom, did you see that?”

Her response was to pass out.

None of us were quick enough to catch her, but, thankfully, she’d been sitting down and didn’t fall far.

Marco fussed over her, feeling for her pulse on her wrist and putting his ear to her lips to listen to her breathe.

Richie scowled. “She’ll wake up in a sec. She does that when she’s afraid. A couple of weeks ago, a snake slithered past and she did the same thing.”

“It was pretty scary,” I told him.

“It was cool!” Richie declared. “Do it again, Sol.”

“I can’t right now, buddy.” Sol slowly sat up and surveyed our surroundings.

Karen groaned and stirred.

I let out a sigh of relief as Marco helped her sit up.

“Told ya,” Richie said.

“Nobody likes a know-it-all,” Sol gently scolded. “Give your mom a break. She deserves a couple of moments of peace.”

Richie crossed his arms over his chest and hung his head, sulking.

At the mention of the elusive goal of peace, I remembered Mildred. “Oh no.”

Sol’s gaze flew to mine. “What?”

“We left Mildred. If she was killed by the storm, I’ll never be rid of her.” The thought made me sick to my stomach, or maybe that was a delayed symptom of the rough ride down the rabbit hole. Either way, I sucked in some deep breaths, trying not to puke.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Sol soothed.

“Me too,” Conroy piped up.

“Really?” I asked them both.

Sol nodded.

“How do we get back and check?” I asked eagerly.

Sol hesitated, running a hand through his hair as he looked around.

“Sol?” I didn’t mean to sound so demanding, but he was scaring me.

Looking back at me, he said, “I’m not sure where we are.”

I frowned at him. “What?”

“There wasn’t time to set a destination,” he admitted.

“So we are going to suffocate down here,” Karen moaned.

“No,” Sol replied sharply. “There’s a way out. There’s always a way out. It’s just that I don’t know where we’re emerging.”

“Can’t Erich tell us?” I looked to the beat-up top hat lying a few feet away.

The hat remained silent.

“He can’t,” Conroy explained. “The hod is as drained as his owner. Sol only recovered quickly because you shared your energy with him.”

Watching the faces of Richie, Karen, and Marco, I realized they couldn’t hear my necklace talking.

“So we’re lost?” I asked Sol.

“In a manner of speaking. The important thing is we’re alive and unhurt.”

Suddenly, Marco, who had not spoken the entire time we were in the rabbit hole, blurted out, “I was a storm chaser for a season.”

Sol rolled his eyes. “Of course you were.”

Marco lifted his chin defensively. “I am a man with an intense sense of curiousity.”

“Which is wonderful,” I quickly soothed. “Your range of expertise is amazing.”

Mollified, Marco nodded and returned to his original train of thought. “My point is that I know the science. That was no ordinary tornado.”

I felt Sol tense and glanced over to see he was clenching his jaw.

“Don’t say it,” the magician warned.

Marco frowned and twiddled an end of his mustache. “You can’t ignore the possibility.”

“What possibility?” Richie blurted out.

“An Eternal could be involved,” Marco said quietly.

“What’s that?” I whispered to Conroy.

“Legend,” Sol spat out, having heard me. “Bedtime stories, nothing more.”

“Like a Keeper?” I challenged, knowing that he thought I was one of the mysterious and magical Keepers of the worlds.

He looked away.“An Eternal,” Conroy explained, “if it, in fact, is one, can be way worse than a Culler. Much harder to hide from. And more difficult to fight.”

Chapter 1

2 Spells Too Many

Chapter 1

You know you’re an unhappy camper when you’re stuck in traffic behind a truck filled with manure. At least I was. That stench!

“How much farther?” I asked my navigator, trying to only breathe through my mouth.

“Another few hours,” she hissed.

I should probably explain: my navigator, the only one who has any idea where we’re headed, is a Siamese cat possessed by the spirit of my witchy ex-mother-in-law, Mildred Bloodworth. She is, in magical lingo (which I’m just learning), a “maddener”. It’s an appropriate name considering she drives me crazy.

You’re probably wondering why I’m traveling with her considering I can’t stand her company. Basically, it’s self-preservation on my part. If I can right some of her wrongs, she won’t haunt me for eternity. Talk about motivation.

“I’m stopping within the next hour,” I told her, glancing in my rearview mirror. I was being followed by a beat-up seafoam green RV and a sleek silver Airstream. “We’re stopping.”

“You can’t,” Mildred argued. “We need—”

“I am not parking this monster at night.” The last time I’d done that, I’d run over a body. Thankfully, the guy was already dead, but still. I didn’t want a repeat performance.

“What if there are no campgrounds?” the cat challenged, her blue eyes flashing.

“I’m not opposed to boondocking.” Boondocking, since I’m not only learning magical lingo but that of my fellow RV drivers, is when you camp somewhere that’s not a campground…like in a rest stop or superstore parking lot.

“Fine,” Mildred huffed, turning her back on me and curling into a ball.

“That’s a wise decision on your part,” Conroy, my helper, piped up. He’s a metal and stone owl pendant that hangs around my neck. “Look what happened the last time.”

A lot had happened last time. I’d been a murder suspect, met a hot magician, Sol, who was really a magically castrated wizard or something; realized I possess and can use magic (though I’m still not sold on the whole idea of my being a Royal); performed a ritual on a tailless squirrel so he could become human again and reunite with his love; and almost been killed not only by a regular human, but also some magic stealers called Cullers.

The Cullers had been at Raven’s Nest campground to get a young boy, Richie, who now rode in the green RV directly behind me. We’d barely been able to stop them. We being myself and Sol, who, when drained of magical energy has an unfortunate habit of turning into a white rabbit on the verge of death. If it hadn’t been for Marco’s well-timed distracting bird calls, I could have died twice. That’s who was in the silver Airstream, bringing up the rear: Marco, a former wizard’s assistant, and Sol.

Seeing a sign for a superstore at the next exit, I put on my blinker and led our ragtag caravan off the highway. I needed a break from Mildred, and I was pretty sure Sol needed one from Marco’s endless stories.

I maneuvered slowly through the crowded parking lot until I reached the outskirts, where there was room for all of our vehicles to park. As I turned off Princess’s engine, I sighed with relief. Driving the camper van was stressful enough, but doing it while constantly making sure the other two were keeping up was downright exhausting.

I opened the door, ready to climb out and stretch my legs.

“You have to turn.”

I let out a startled yelp as Sol appeared beside me wearing his top hat. He does that a lot, seems to pop up out of nowhere. Normally, I wouldn’t mind an attractive guy appearing in my orbit, but he does have a tendency to piss me off with his know-it-all magicness.

“I’m in the lines,” I said defensively. I’d taken care to pick a pull-through spot so that I didn’t have to back in and embarrass myself.

“We need to circle the wagons.”

“We don’t have wagons,” I felt the need to point out. “Plus, I’m no geometry whiz, but I think the best we can do with three is make a triangle…no circles for us.”

He frowned at me, the magical lavender shimmer that surrounded him pulsing with annoyance. “You know what I mean.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I made the mistake of looking into his dark gaze and a hot flush rushed through my body, incinerating nerve-endings.

His gaze narrowed. I wasn’t sure if it was due to my flippant response or if my shimmer was darkening from the heat that filled me.

He took a deep breath, then let out a slow controlled sigh. “Look,” he said in an overly patient voice, “I get that Bloodworth has been driving you nuts all day, but could you please just do this one thing for me? I have reasons for making the request.”

Crossing my arms, I said, “And if you’d shared them…or if you’d said please at the outset, I would have gladly cooperated.”

“Ravena, would you please turn your vehicle where I direct you?” His smile was so fake and tight that I thought it might crack his face.

“Gladly,” I responded in kind.

He stepped away, and I slammed my door shut and undertook the difficulty of maneuvering the camper where he wanted.

“You are a terrible driver,” Mildred mused as it took me a dozen attempts to do what Sol wanted.

I considered grabbing the spray bottle I kept handy and giving her a squirt just to be spiteful.

When I’d finally parked to Sol’s satisfaction, I hopped out of the camper and closed the door, glad to be away from the cat’s commenting.

“Hey, Smoosher lady!” Richie yelled, jumping out of the green camper.

That’s the nickname the little boy had given me for running over the body. Smoosher lady. Classy.

“I told you not to call her that,” Karen, his mother, told him. She offered me an apologetic smile for her son’s antics.

“It’s okay,” I assured her.

She looked drained, but Richie was full of energy.

“Let’s go!” He grabbed her hand and tugged her in the direction of the store.

“Wait,” she snapped at him. “The adults are talking.”

Marco emerged from his Airstream and surveyed the scene. “Not the most ideal camping spot, but it does offer a kitschy suburban milieu.”

Shrugging, I said, “I was getting tired.”

I felt Sol’s eyes on me, assessing.

“Me too,” Karen murmured.

“We’re getting pizza!” Richie announced excitedly.

“Birthday pizza,” Karen explained, taking her son’s hand. “We’ll bring back enough for everyone.” They began to walk toward the store.

“I’ll come with you,” Marco announced, hurrying after them.

Sol and I watched them go. Then he said, “Walk with me.” He quickly added, “Please.”

We began to stroll around the lopsided triangle formed by the campers. I didn’t understand why he wanted me with him, or why we couldn’t just talk standing still.

“Where are we headed?” he asked.

I shrugged. “She won’t tell me. All I know is it involves kissing a frog.”

He gave me a strange look. “A toad?”

“Nope, she specifically said a frog.”

“Why?”

“That she specifically did not say.” Noticing a black feather on the asphalt, I bent down to pick it up. The last one I’d found had come in really handy in my fight against a Culler, so I stuck it in my back pocket.

Sol watched me curiously but didn’t comment. Instead, he asked, “What color is Richie’s shimmer?”

I frowned. “Orange.” All non-magical people had orange shimmer. Most magical people were blue. Sol was lavender. “You can’t see it?”

“I can see it, but he’s on the cusp of the change. I thought maybe you’d spot it first.”

Not liking the sound of that, I asked, “What change?”

We started another loop around the campers.

“Your redia hasn’t explained?”

“She’s a terrible driver,” Conroy, my pendant, said. “I didn’t want to distract her.”

“Shut up,” I told the owl. “You try to drive with a maddener yowling at you.”

Sol chuckled. “Why do you think the Cullers wanted him?”

“I dunno. They sacrifice little boys on an altar or something?” I guessed.

“It’s his birthday,” Sol said, shaking his head. “He’s coming into his power.”

An odd feeling shot through me at his words. I stopped walking, forcing him to do the same and face me. “What power?”

“His—”

The rest of his sentence was drowned out as a half dozen engine-revving motorcyclists pulled into the lot, close to the store.

Their shimmers were neon orange, indicating their emotions were high.

I glanced nervously at them.

“They’re harmless,” Sol said.

“They’re coming back.” I pointed to Karen, Richie, and Marco headed toward us.

“I bet Marco forgot his wallet,” Sol muttered.

My skin prickled and suddenly it was hard to breathe. I swayed unsteadily, trying to catch my breath.

Sol grabbed my shoulder, the heat of his touch scalding me through the fabric. “Ravena?”

“Something’s wrong,” I gasped.

Frowning, he studied the bikers. “They’re not doing anything except acting like idiots.”

As I bent over, hands on knees, desperately trying to take in air, I dimly heard Richie yell, “Is Smoosher lady sick?”

I glanced up long enough to see the three hurrying toward us, concern on all their faces.

The pressure on my lungs doubled just as I heard another roar over the engines. Everyone in the parking lot turned, searching for the source.

That’s when the screams of terror began.