Page 27

“I have been plagued, Grandma,” Daisy began, “by a spell I can’t seem to figure out.

I, the one who is supposed to be an expert at crafting spells and brews and tonics, can’t figure out the one that happens to rest on my shoulders.

” She shook her head with a defeated expression.

“How does that make me a brilliant witch?”

Grandma Lotta’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me about this spell.”

“It arrived at Fields’ Herbals in the form of a potion,” Daisy explained. “I was hardly paying enough attention and dropped it all over me. The next thing I knew, every time I dared to say ‘I wish’, whatever I said next would come true. Every single thing, Grandma. ”

Grandma Lotta glanced around as she fidgeted in her seat. “L-Like what?”

“Like Rebecca Mitchell, the -”

“The girl who ruined your Prom dress?”

Daisy pointed at her. “That’s exactly right!

I wished for her to have her fancy Chanel suit ruined and it happened -” she snapped her fingers “- just like that! And people just kept getting hurt. I did some good things too, but we all know that doing good doesn’t outweigh the bad.

Needless to say, this has been hanging over my shoulders for about a week now, and I don’t know how much more I can take.

One minute I’m fretting over what the Witch Council will think, and the next Tess and I are trying to track down the culprit. ”

“To no avail, by the way,” Tessa quickly added, the cherry pie remnants smeared across her lips.

Daisy breathed a sigh. Somehow, expelling everything that burdened her made her feel free from the stress, for the time being.

She was sure it would return the moment they left, but talking about it to a powerful witch like her grandmother was reassuring, in a way.

As she turned to meet her grandmother’s gaze, eager to hear what an expert like herself had to say, Daisy frowned.

“Grandma,” Daisy asked, reaching to place her hand over her knee, “you look entirely lost. What’s wrong?”

Grandma Lotta’s face grew flushed, her hands nervously messing with the hem of her shirt. “Well, I -” She paused to clear her throat. “How embarrassing this all is, Daisy. Just…how embarrassing!”

“I-I don’t understand. What’s embarrassing?”

The older witch hesitated for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.

“It is terribly tiresome to see someone as bright and talented as you, Daisy, not be dealt the hand of cards they deserve,” Grandma Lotta began in a very cryptic fashion.

“While I believe the things we are forced to face are meant to forge us into stronger people, I couldn’t help but think that…

well, that you, Daisy, were burdened far more than what was necessary. ”

“That’s kind, grandmother, but -”

Grandma Lotta raised her hand. “It seems, however, that I might not be the very capable witch I once was.”

Daisy blinked. “What are you trying to say?”

“ I crafted that potion, Daisy, in an effort to see you be given the things you want, the things I wholeheartedly believe you deserve,” Grandma Lotta finally said.

“Not that my intention was to have everything you wished for to come true, but you…” She waved her hand in the air, the embarrassment still prominent in her face. “You get the point.”

“ Grandma ,” Daisy whispered, her eyes wide. “I-If that really was you, why couldn’t Tess and I see that it was you who made the spell? We did a revelation ceremony, but -”

Fully embarrassed with herself, Grandma Lotta rose from her seat, still wildly waving her hands in the air, as if it would expel the conversation. “A silly old habit from my youth!” she exclaimed.

Daisy held her breath as she turned towards Tessa, who seemed to be wearing the same expression as her.

For a moment, they only stared, all the trouble they went through for the past week flowing between them.

But then, the longer they stared, the more their exteriors began to crack, and the easier it was to let the laughter flow through them.

Daisy’s laughs melted into gasps of relief, every bit of fear she once had no longer daring to touch her.

She rose, following her grandmother back inside the building.

“After all this time,” she kept repeating, shaking her head. “After all this time.”

“Hopefully this tells you to visit your elderly grandmother sooner!” Grandma Lotta teased as she looked through her books.

“What’re you looking for?”

“Well,” Grandma Lotta turned, one fraying book opened, “I thought you didn’t want the spell on you anymore, but if you’re so keen on laughing at your grandma, than I might as well -”

“Go ahead, grandma,” Daisy interjected, the genuine smile finding her face in an instant.

Her grandmother smiled. “It’s funny. For all the trouble the spell caused, a simple incantation is all the fix it needs. That’s how I create all my spells, especially now that my spells sometimes… go haywire.”

“That’s all?” Daisy asked, her mouth dropping open.

Most spells required an antidote… a potion that undid what the original potion caused. Only a very skilled witch could weave into the spell such an easy fix. As good as Daisy was with potions, her grandmother was still far superior, even in her old age.

“Well, show us how it’s done!” Tessa said excitedly.

Grandma Lotta stepped forward, taking a deep breath.

Her power crackled through the air before she’d even spoken her first word.

“Oh, great Mother Hecate,” she began in a low voice, “deliver your power onto me, deliver your compassion onto me, and -” the air grew heavy within the room for a moment “- reverse what you have already given!”

Daisy wasn’t sure what she expected to feel.

There was a light feathering of pins and needles up and down her arms before it turned to her legs, as if the magic was being pricked out of her, sliver by sliver.

Eventually, the feeling subsided, the air returning to its gentle flow throughout the room.

Birds landed on the patio outside, curiously peering into the room.

Daisy let her eyes close. The swirling that once rested in her stomach, the odd unease that had lived within her since the potion arrived at Fields’ Herbals , finally seeped out of her skin.

Daisy took in a deep breath, and she couldn’t have felt more at ease.

“All better?” Tessa asked.

Daisy grinned. “All better, though…” She paused, her mind traveling back towards Ethan and whatever their relationship meant now that the spell was gone. Her spirits deflated for a moment. “I wonder what this will mean for Ethan and I.”

Grandma Lotta snapped her book shut. “You two went on a date, didn’t you?”

Daisy nodded. “But he could’ve been affected by the spell.”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, how can you possibly know?”

Grandma Lotta shrugged. “Perhaps I just know.”

Daisy watched her grandmother waddle back towards the patio, shooing away the birds and returning to her half-eaten slice of cherry pie.

Tessa followed after her, immediately engaging in conversation about her upcoming empath tests.

Daisy watched them from within the little room, her heart feeling light but burdened still with the unknown.

She couldn’t believe it. All this time, all this stress, and the potion had been a gift from her grandmother.

She laughed, shaking her head.

Only in Willowbrook.