Page 22

D aisy

“I think this level of disappointment requires three scoops of ice cream,” Tessa was in the middle of saying as they walked through downtown Willowbrook.

Daisy raised a brow. “It’s hardly even nine in the morning.

” Besides that obvious point, Daisy had a peculiar swirling sensation in her stomach.

Perhaps it came from her empty belly, or the fact that all she’d consumed by that point was a cup of ginger tea.

Daisy shook her head. It was all the fuss over the potion and the hectic life it brought.

“We’re old enough to choose to have ice cream for breakfast, aren’t we?”

Daisy pressed against her stomach. “I’ll pass on that one.”

“What’s with the frown and,” Tessa paused, waving her hand in a whimsical fashion around Daisy’s face, “that energy all over you?”

“I didn’t think I had a reason to be all that happy.”

“You heard me mention ice cream for breakfast, didn’t you?”

Daisy chuckled lightly. “This situation has got me too wound up for anything simple and nice,” she murmured. “You know what I realized?”

“Hm?”

“If Drusilla and Marigold passed the truth spell,” Daisy began, “Then that would mean there’s only one person left in Willowbrook who’d have reason and enough power to curse me like this.”

Tessa tilted her head, not a lick of recognition crossing her face. “I-I don’t get it.”

“Sebastian Crowe!” Daisy shook her head as she playfully bumped into Tessa’s shoulder. “Maybe some ice cream would help your noggin this morning.”

“My plan all along,” Tessa teased, though a serious expression was beginning to stretch across her face.

She twisted her arm around Daisy, pulling her close.

The calming energy wafted off of her in short bursts.

“That Sebastian Crowe. Always gave me a bad feeling, even before everything he did.” She shook her head, grumbling something beneath her breath.

Daisy didn’t need any reminders about Sebastian Crowe’s character.

Out of all three of the suspects they’d managed to think up, he was the most serious, the most powerful, the most inherently dangerous.

Maybe women like Marigold and Drusilla gathered the courage to act upon their anger, but it would never amount to the power of a curse.

Someone like Sebastian Crowe, who came from a legendary family of Willowbrook-born witches and warlocks, was more than capable.

“We can’t handle him like the others,” Daisy said.

Tessa’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Can you imagine trying to talk a man like him down?” She shook her head. “The only reason Sebastian ever listened to is his own. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I’d call him crazy, but I wouldn’t go so far as to think him capable of real harm.”

Daisy eyed her. “Is that your expertise as an empath, or as my friend?”

Tessa hesitated. Even if she didn’t say it, the look on her face proved it all. There was a sort of fear there, where Sebastian was concerned.

“We can get the Council involved this time,” Tessa said.

“I don’t -”

“Why not?” she blurted. “After everything he did, Daisy, how can the Council not be concerned? He is a magic user!”

Daisy pressed her lips together.

“All we’d have to do is tell the Elders what he did.”

“No,” Daisy said.

Tessa tilted her head.

“I-I can’t, Tess,” she murmured. “Sebastian was supposed to be my friend after Gary passed. The hurt, the betrayal, of how he tried to manipulate me…it isn’t a pain I’m ready to give away so easily.” Her stare hardened. “I plan on handling this myself.”

After a moment of silence, the pair kept on walking, Tessa’s hold over her arm growing tighter the further they went.

Daisy, then, grew overwhelmed with emotion at the idea of not having Tessa around.

Everything in her life would’ve been different if it wasn’t for her best friend, especially in these very moments.

Tessa steered them through downtown, but slipped past the local ice cream parlour.

When Daisy was about to ask where they were headed, they stepped into a courtyard, where garden benches and trimmed bushes lined up to create a cozy seating area in the shade.

The local animal shelter had turned the courtyard into an adoption expo, with kennels and roped areas to section off the different strays.

Dogs yipped from their kennels, standing over each other to get a look at the street.

Cats curled within their carriers, not caring for the noise too much.

At the center of it all, little old Anne wandered about the small path between the cages. She pushed around a tray of food and bowls, struggling to handle the excited animals and prepare their breakfasts.

“Changed your mind on the ice cream?” Daisy asked.

Tessa shrugged sheepishly. “Maybe playing with some dogs would help you feel better.”

The pair entered the courtyard eagerly, surprised to not see any interested patrons.

Despite being early in the morning, locals and tourists lingered in the streets, window shopping and slipping into cafes.

A few glanced in their direction, but didn’t pay the animals' attention.

Daisy frowned. Since when was adopting strays unpopular?

“Morning, you two!” Anne called out from within the pack. “Come to play with the animals?”

Tessa grinned eagerly, already stepping within one of the kennels.

She had a wondrous way with animals, which happened to be a side effect from the empath training.

Not only had she grown up with handfuls of dogs and cats, but Tessa’s inherent ability naturally drew them closer to her.

She knelt in the kennel, greedily swooping the dogs up.

Their frantic excitement settled into a need for human contact.

“Are you running all this yourself, Anne?” Daisy asked as she twisted around the cages to help the older woman feed the rowdy animals.

A few dogs, too mixed to know exactly what they were, leapt to lick at Daisy’s hands.

She gasped, holding back a loud laugh as the animals howled and barked for her attention.

“Well,” Anne breathed, “you know how things are!”

“Sure, but this seems like quite the feat for one person.” Daisy scooped into the kibble, filling bowls and lowering them into crates. “I remembered that you volunteer with the local shelter, can they send some more help?”

Anne shook her head. “Everyone else is quite involved in more important work, Daisy. Unfortunately for Willowbrook, there isn’t a great need for strays, it seems.”

“When is there never a need for strays?” Daisy shook her head and huffed.

“Only so many volunteers can be spared,” Anne continued.

“Especially for cases like ours. All these creatures are out of a home! I’m afraid for their future, if the event happens to go as poorly as suspected.

” Turning away, Anne began to push the cart through the pathway, her eyes kind but her smile heavy with sorrow.

Daisy raised her hands, overlooking the crowds beginning to gather as the shops and restaurants slowly opened their doors.

Her gaze landed on small groups of children, not too many adults with them.

Hope rose in her chest. If there was one thing children wanted to do, it had to be to play with as many dogs as they wanted.

And yet, Daisy watched them pass the adoption center by, not giving them a second glance.

Her hands tightened into fists. There were posters hanging around the courtyard, a few within downtown itself.

Why wasn’t there a crowd at the adoption center already?

The thought that came to Daisy’s mind was dangerous and foolish, though she couldn’t quite get rid of it.

While the spell resting against her skin was something with dark tidings, Daisy couldn’t shake the feeling of its power.

Anything she wished came true, it seemed.

What happened when she used it to her own will, shaking the curse into something more positive than negative?

She glanced over her shoulder at Tessa. The empath watched her closely, as if she could sense her thoughts from the energy wafting off her.

Daisy breathed in deeply. “I wish -”

“ Hey! ” Tessa hissed as she rose from the kennel, stepping over the rowdy animals to follow the path towards Daisy. Fur and stray hairs coated Tessa’s clothes, down to her feet. “You know you can’t say that, Daisy!”

“Why not?”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “That’s thinking that can get the Witch Council involved. You know that.”

“Does it make it inherently bad if I use the spell to get these dogs adopted?”

“I can’t answer that.”

Daisy raised a brow. “Why?”

“Because,” Tessa mumbled irritably as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest, “I would tell you to say the spell when we both know it isn’t the right thing to do.”

Daisy looked over the crates of animals.

They whined and howled relentlessly for some sort of attention.

Each sound broke her heart more. To her, there wasn’t a need for such despair, for the animals to be wallowing when they didn’t need to be.

Countless families lay waiting for them, unaware that a stray dog was what they were missing.

Was it so wrong for Daisy to help them find happiness?

She knew what she was going to do long before Tessa interjected and tried to get her to choose otherwise.

Daisy thought about her night with Ethan, and how he made the argument for harmful magic that affected others, and how there was a fine line between morally good and morally bad.

What she was set on doing was something good for everyone, from the smallest dog to Anne herself.

“I wish,” Daisy began, ignoring the feeling of Tessa’s hand clamping down on her elbow, “I wish all these animals could find good, loving homes.”

There was an eerie stillness all around them as Anne came back to the crates. She tossed toys into the pens, reaching in to scratch behind a few ears with a smile growing across her face. She waddled through the path till she came back to Daisy and Tessa.

“What are you two whispering about over here?” Anne teased.

Daisy had her gaze focused on downtown, waiting for the onslaught of people to arrive. A moment or two passed, Anne and Tessa deep in conversation, and not a thing had happened. The stillness remained, the animals beginning to settle down and curl up within their crates.

“Tessa tells me you’re disappointed in the turn out,” Anne said as she grasped onto Daisy’s wrist, pulling her over to them. “These sorts of things happen, Daisy. They happen more times than not.”

Daisy pressed her lips together. “Aren’t you upset?”

“If I was, would that help the animals any more?”

“I-I suppose not, but -”

Anne reached down into one of the pens and retrieved a golden puppy, whose paws were far too large for his small body. The rowdy dog yawned so widely that a sharp, high-pitched howl came out.

“These dear animals will remain, Daisy, even when the world seems to forget they exist,” Anne said in a gentle voice.

“Sometimes, all we can do is build the bridge, but we are incapable of forcing people through. You understand that, don’t you?

Whatever will be, will be.” She shrugged and held the puppy up in front of her face as he licked and nipped at her nose.

Anne laughed, the smile filling her aged face.

Daisy watched the old woman’s interaction with the puppy, and could only feel herself grow seeped in dread.

If the spell hadn’t worked at that moment, perhaps it had ill intentions only, and was so strong it rendered Daisy incapable of manipulating it.

As the defeat began to sink into her, footsteps grew louder from the direction of downtown, muffled mingling growing more and more clear.

Daisy turned, and her eyes went wide.

A crowd of people, families and singles, came rushing towards the adoption center.

The animals sensed their approach and grew rowdy once more, standing up on the sides of their crates, desperate to capture a bit of their attention.

Anne placed the puppy back in its crate before throwing her hands in the air, rushing to collect adoption forms and meet the oncoming crowd.

Before Daisy could offer help, Tessa snatched onto her wrist, pulling the pair away from the crates.

“You can’t pick and choose when the spell is good and when the spell is bad, Daisy,” Tessa muttered.

“Tell me this is a bad thing!”

Tessa shook her head. “You know I can’t. But I can’t tell you this is what we should be doing, either.”

Daisy’s spirits fell as Tessa turned back to the event, rushing forward to help Anne with her paperwork.

People were already picking out animals, already waiting for their adoption forms and leashes.

While the spell obviously worked, Daisy couldn’t ignore the growing unpleasantness in her stomach.

It was too much power, too much of an ability to stand between right and wrong yet not realize which was which.

Forgetting about her squabbling morals, Daisy pressed forward, determined to see Anne through with her volunteer work.

A few hours passed, and the kennels were wiped clean of every dog, cat, and bird.

There wasn’t a single stray left behind.

As they cleaned up the crates, putting the courtyard back to what it once was, Anne’s shoulders shuddered and trembled as she fought away her tears.

Daisy and Tessa were already reaching for her before they even realized it, feeling the change in her emotions almost instantly.

Anne waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about me,” she mumbled in a quiet voice, though the tears were already streaming down the sides of her face. “There isn’t an ounce of sadness here, believe that.”

“But you’re crying,” Daisy murmured, already pulling the woman into a tight embrace.

“Happy tears, dear.” Anne breathed deeply against her shoulder. “Purely happy tears.”

Daisy held the woman as she wept, one hand reaching out to grasp onto Tessa’s.

The three of them remained in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by empty crates, the sounds of once stray animals barking excitedly as they headed towards their new homes echoing in the distance.

It had barely stretched into the morning, and so much had already happened.

Daisy wrapped her arms around the woman, desperate to understand the power behind the spell, something she realized was extremely out of her league.

The danger of it still lingered, still frightened her.

Daisy only wished - no, only wanted to know the truth behind it.