Page 38 of Hex You

Hunter stifled a yawn and then picked at her thumbnail. “Nope. And worse than that, it was super obvious whatever killed Mrs. Stoll came from the Japanese Underworld. It actually left a slime trail.” She shuddered. “It was disgusting, right, Jax?”

Jax nodded and spoke around a bite of pizza. “Yeah, there was a tunnellike hole at the base of the tree and disgusting goopy stuff all over.”

Hunter picked up the telling. “The goopy stuff led to the creek. Whatever kind of creature it is, it’s definitely attracted to water. And Mrs. Stoll was killed at Goode Lake…” Her shoulders drooped before she tightened her ponytail. “The spell Amphitrite gave me—the one from the book—definitely did not work. I’m really sorry.”

“Hey, that’s not your fault. Amphitrite used you,” Mercy said, then sighed. “But this really sucks because not only is the banyan tree super sick, but something is going on in town—something bad.”

“That is not good news. Not good news at all.” Xena manically licked the slice of pizza she’d offered to Khenti.

“Could whatever escaped from the Japanese Underworld be affecting the town?” Jax’s golden-brown skin suddenly looked sallow.

“Yes.” Khenti spoke so definitively everyone turned to look at him. “We know a water creature killed the woman at the lake. Mercy, you said the humidity in the air was unusual, correct?”

“Yeah, it gets humid here, but not until summer,” said Mercy.

“After what we witnessed downtown today it is obvious thatsomething is affecting the townsfolk, and the unusual moisture in the air might mean that something is a creature allied with water.”

Hunter leaned forward. “What do you mean?”

“It wasbonkers!” Emily said as she wiped pizza grease from her hands on a napkin. “Adults—like, people older than my mom—were fighting. In public.”

“While the air was practically dripping with water,” added Mercy.

Jax’s brow furrowed as he shook his head. “Wait, you don’t mean fist fighting, do you?”

“Totally,” said Emily.

“Yeah, and that’s not all. People were yelling at each other. You know the Freeman sisters?” Mercy said.

“The two old women who have lived together forever down by the school?” Hunter said as Jax nodded.

“Right. They were literally screaming at each other. In front of everyone,” said Mercy.

“I heard the first sister say something about the second throwing water in her hair,” said Khenti. “So, again, a reference that could point to a water creature instigating the town’s aggression.”

Mercy nodded. “And Mr. Mitchell at the pizza place said he’d had to kick a bunch of people out of the restaurant today.”

Emily snorted. “He blamed it on a storm coming, which also is about water.”

Jax sat up straighter. “Hey, I swear I smelled water this morning during zero hour when Dillon tried to pick a really stupid fight with me.”

“Do you have a list of creatures that might have escaped from the Japanese Underworld and their attributes?” Khenti asked.

Hunter yawned again and rubbed her eyes before answering. “No. We have grimoires from our ancestors that note spells and weather and such, but for hundreds of years the gates have held. There wasn’t any reason to make a list of beings that could escape from them because they were contained.”

“Grimoires?” Khenti asked.

“A book that witches record spells and other information in,” explained Mercy. Then she turned to Xena. “Hey, are we the only witches in the world like us?”

Xena paused midlick. “Goode witches are unique. There are, of course, many others who follow The Path in this world, but I know of no other witches who draw the power of the ley lines into their spellwork. Why do you ask, kitten?”

“Well, Em brought this up, and I think she has a point.” Mercy smiled at her best friend. “She—and Khenti—wondered if some other witches might be hexing us, or the town.”

“Oh, kitten, were there other witches casting spells in Goodeville I would know it. I would feel their energy. I believe you would as well.”

“Well, also, why would another witch hex us?” Jax ran his hand through his hair. “Unless you, orwe,have done something really wrong.”

Mercy noticed that Jax looked unusually tense—and as she leaned against his recliner Hunter shifted restlessly. Both of them seemed exhausted and stressed, especially her sister.Wonder what’s going on between them?