Page 19 of Hexes and Hiccups (Mystery In A Bottle #3)

Tessa gaped and stumbled. “ No way. Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

The empath shot forward, engulfing Daisy in her arms. The calming magic sunk into Daisy’s skin at the touch, overwhelming her for a moment.

“I can’t imagine,” Tessa whispered in her ear. “Tell me you’re okay.”

“It isn’t me who needs to be okay, Tess.

” Daisy pulled away. “Isn’t it odd? Fern’s been petrified, and her missing daughter was found in the same week?

” She shook her head. “It’s too odd.” Before she could spiral down a rabbit hole she might be unable to escape, Daisy snapped her fingers at the empath.

“What about the maps? Did you have any luck with the passageways?”

“Hate to disappoint you, but…” Tessa shook her head and nodded towards the dining room table, where the maps had been laid out. “None of the paths intersect where we found the rumors, or the petrified bodies, for that matter. I don’t think the two are connected.”

Daisy frowned. “So, another dead end.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Why?”

Tessa shrugged as she looked over the maps again. “Each time we did the tracking spell,” she began in a quiet but confident voice, “we were led to a torn piece from the Book of Gossip, not the actual book, right?”

Daisy nodded.

“What’re the odds that no more rumors have been placed yet, and if we tried, we’d end up with the book?”

Daisy hesitated. “We have no way of knowing whether or not it’ll lead us to another rumor.”

“Actually,” Tessa mused, “I think that the culprit isn’t active at night. At least, they haven’t posted any rumors when it isn’t broad daylight. They want them to be seen , Daisy. If it’s almost midnight, then, hypothetically –”

“We’d be tracking the book,” Daisy whispered, “not the torn pages.”

Tessa snapped her fingers. “Bingo.”

Daisy’s eyes glanced up to the clock hanging from the wall above the mantel.

It was past midnight by that point. Exhaustion nipped at her fingers, and judging by the bags beneath Tessa’s eyes, she felt it, too.

Who knew what might happen if they’d waited another night, or even had an hour or two of rest. Daisy sighed heavily, knowing exactly what needed to be done, despite not at all wanting to bother with it.

Daisy crossed the room and opened up a wooden case. It was filled to the brim with potions and tonics, all labeled and stacked accordingly. She reached inside and eyed a few, mumbling their names before slipping them within her satchel.

“What’re you doing?” Tessa asked.

“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now,” Daisy replied. “And something tells me that we might need some help, if your theory is right.”

Tessa pressed her lips together but didn’t argue, grabbing her own set of potions from the chest and gently packing her bag. “The amount of sleep I’m gonna need after this,” she whispered, “Is crazy .”

They worked quietly and diligently in packing as many potions they might need.

The last thing Daisy grabbed with the familiar little pouch, still full of pearl like balls to activate the tracking spell.

Rather than taking the torn pages with them, Daisy merely decided to focus on the Book of Gossip as much as possible.

The pair left the confines of Daisy’s house and entered the chilly evening.

Popping them in their mouths, Daisy grabbed ahold of Tessa’s hand, and let the magic pull them in whichever direction.

In the back of her mind, she imagined a book with gold tipped edges, Riven’s smirking face looming over it as he wrote down all the rumors he had heard throughout town.

Instantly, the magic jerked them forward roughly, and sent them flying through the quiet neighborhood.

While the magic did its thing, Daisy couldn’t help but think about Evelyn Harper, and her untimely demise.

Somehow, there was a feeling deep within her that wondered if the two cases were connected, though that seemed to be far out the box.

But then there was Fern, the one who brought the investigations together, and the stricken look that remained on her petrified face.

Daisy wrestled with her own thoughts as they walked long and far through Willowbrook, before arriving at the last place they expected.

“The medical examiner's office?” Tessa whispered once the magic wore off. “That can’t be right.”

Daisy pressed her lips together. “I’m not seeing any rumors written about. Are you?”

“Not a single thing.”

“Should we go in?” Daisy asked.

“Won’t they be closed?”

Daisy shrugged, already walking towards the front doors. She reached and tugged on the handle, and the door swung open. “Maybe this is the right place,” she whispered.

Tessa breathed in deeply, one hand already within her satchel full of defensive potions. “Lead the way, Flowers.”

Walking through the cold and quiet office, Daisy trailed down a few halls, not entirely sure where it was she was supposed to be headed.

A few lights illuminated out into the darkened hallway, a door opened slightly to let the light stream out.

Daisy inched towards it as her heart began to hammer like a hummingbird in her chest. Whatever was on the other side might be the answer they were looking for, the Book of Gossip along with the culprit behind all of the petrifications and rumors.

Daisy pushed the door open slowly.

Wesley Sharp, with the familiar hunch in his back, loomed over a young woman with bright blonde hair.

His face was warped into an aggressive sneer as he looked down at her.

The girl was Sasha Bright, the town’s only medical examiner.

She shook and trembled, the tears streaming down her face visible even from where they stood.

Behind her, covered with a long white cloth, was the body discovered at Lake Silverpine.

Sasha cowered beside the table, the dead body’s hand falling out from beneath the blanket.

In one of Wesley’s hands, a thick and ornate book was clutched between wrinkled fingers.

Gold edges shone out from the sides, triggering a gasp from Daisy’s lips.

The Book of Gossip!

And, in his other hand, sat a shimmering and pulsating red potion.

Daisy could recognize it from smell alone: pungent cherries, a roasting fire.

Perhaps it might’ve been a pleasant smell, but Daisy could only wince at the sight of it.

The potion was deadly and dangerous, capable of making a crater so large, it could collapse the entire building.

Daisy stared at Wesley until his eyes snapped up towards her.

Uh-oh.