8
Yvette was so angry she could have spit nails. The overgrown garden was full of prickly weeds with exactly one live plant right in the middle. She stared at the tall sunflower and cursed its cheerful nature. It was like a slap in the face considering that she could feel magic was binding her to the earth. She was able to go right up to the wooden enclosure that surrounded the garden, but the moment she tried to grab on and climb out, the posts grew spikes that protruded from the boards, making it impossible for her to climb without tearing up her hands and bare skin.
The sun was beating down on her, and sweat started to sting her eyes. She had to find a way out of this magical enclosure and into that house where Marylin had taken her husband. She took a few steps back, cursed when a weed started to wind its way around her ankle, and then jerked back, ripping the weed from the soil. It instantly died, drying up into a brittle brown remnant of itself.
More vine-like weeds came for her, and suddenly she found herself yanking weed after weed from the soil, trying to keep from becoming tied up like a mummy or buried in the overgrowth. Horror filled her as she wondered just how many people Marylin had fed to the garden over the years. Had people come looking for her and then just completely disappeared?
The thought had her redoubling her efforts to pull more and more weeds until she found herself standing in a cleared area, breathing hard and sweating right through her T-shirt.
“Well, isn’t this a nice perk,” Marylin said from outside the garden enclosure, sounding pleased. “It’s been ages since the garden has looked that good. Maybe if you get it weeded entirely, I’ll let you clean the house next.”
“Let me out of here,” Yvette demanded.
“Why would I do that?” The witch looked completely perplexed.
“Because if you don’t, you’re not going to like what happens next.”
Marylin threw her head back and laughed. “You’re feisty. I like that. Just like your husband. You two are going to be fun to have around.”
Yvette curled her hands into fists and felt her magic simmering just beneath the surface. “Where is Jacob?”
“Oh, he’s comfortable inside. No doubt waiting impatiently for me to get back to what we started.” Marylin’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, making her look more like an evil demon than a witch. Considering the fact that she’d written a children’s book that actually cursed people, Yvette was definitely leaning toward soulless demon.
“What do you want from us?” Yvette tried, hoping that if she could get the woman talking she’d get some answers.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Marylin asked, tilting her head to the side as she studied Yvette.
“No. Not unless making us miserable is all you’re interested in.”
She shrugged. “That would be enough on its own, I suppose. Why should I be the only one who’s had to suffer? But that’s not what I want.”
Questions raced through Yvette’s mind. What had happened to this witch, and why was she so bitter? And what was her next move? Yvette softened her tone when she asked, “You suffered?”
Marylin let out a loud bark of laughter. “Isn’t it obvious?” She flung an arm out, waving around at her property. “At one time this was a glorious house with lovely gardens, and it was full of family. Now look at it. Look at me! Everything here is dying. But now you and your handsome husband are here. With him by my side and you cleaning things up, we could restore this place to its former glory. Can’t you see it? Me and Jacob, right there on a freshly painted porch, sipping lemonade as our kids play in the lavender fields.”
Yvette stared at her with her jaw hanging open. Was the woman insane? She thought she might be. “Jacob isn’t going to stay here with you, Marylin. And if you think I’m going to be some sort of servant, you’ve clearly lost the last of your marbles. We’re here to reverse a curse, not step into your delusional fantasy.”
“I’m the one with the power here!” the woman cried ominously. Lightning flashed through the bright blue sky as if to prove her point. “You’ll do what I say. Or else?—”
“Or else what? You’ll let your destructive garden eat me?” Yvette spat back.
“That’s exactly what I’ll do.” She waved a hand toward the garden enclosure, and suddenly all the weeds were back. They wrapped around both her arms and legs, binding Yvette to the spot where she stood.
Adrenaline took over, and suddenly fire poured from Yvette’s palms. She pointed her hands toward the ground, quickly burning the weeds back. As soon as her arms were free, she burned a wide circle around herself, causing the weeds to retreat quickly.
“Cute trick,” Marylin said dryly. “Fire witches are such a pain in my ass.”
“She’s not the only one who’s going to be a pain in your ass!” Jacob shouted as he held his arms out and send what looked like a gale force of wind directly at her.
Marylin was swept off her feet and thrown forcibly into the garden fence. She let out an anguished cry as she hit one of the beams and then crumpled to the ground in front of him. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Why did you do that?”
“Why?” he raged at her. “Why? You locked me in your sex basement and confined my wife in a torture garden. I’d think it’s obvious.”
She blinked up at him, looking confused.
Yvette snapped. “Drop the act, Marylin! You’re not fooling anyone. Let me out of here right now, or I’ll burn this place down. Understand?”
“I—I can’t,” she stuttered. “It’s not me. I—” Her face morphed into something truly terrifying as she spat out, “Shut up, you imbecile. Remember what happened the last time you defied me?”
“What?” Yvette asked.
“I didn’t do anything,” Marylin said in a higher-pitched tone, sounding both scared and a little angry. “It’s not my fault—” Her lips clamped shut as Marylin shook her head. Her eyes morphed from pale green to deep blue, and her features changed from those of the gorgeous strawberry blonde they’d first seen on the porch to a woman with wider-set eyes and unruly curly black hair. She would have been striking if it weren’t for the pure hatred that was pouring out of her. “Everything is your fault. It always has been. If it weren’t for me, you’d be in prison right now after that curse you cast.”
The woman morphed once again to the strawberry blonde, and this time there was fury radiating off her. “I did not cast that curse. You did! You ruined my life, and now here you are again, ruining this couple’s life because of your greed and jealousy!”
“Shut up!” Marylin stood, all traces of the strawberry-blond woman gone, replaced by the fiery dark-haired witch with the Medusa curls. She wore black combat boots, black leggings, a gray skirt, and a ripped black T-shirt. She could have appeared right out of an eighties grunge video. Then she turned on Jacob and crooked her finger at him. “You, come here.”
Jacob took a jerky step forward, his face red and his hands fisted.
“Not on my watch!” Yvette cried as she unleashed her fire magic. It burst from her hands and lit the post in front of her, instantly setting the dried wood aflame. Smoke billowed up, blinding her momentarily until she could direct the smoke away from her to clear the air.
As soon as the smoke dissipated, Yvette scanned the area for her husband but couldn’t find him anywhere. “Jacob!” she called.
The only sound was the crackling of the fire she’d started.
She stood in that forsaken garden, nearly going out of her mind as she waited for the fire to do its job.
What had she just witnessed? The only possible explanation was that two women were sharing one body. It was likely that the dark-haired witch had taken over Marylin’s body and was controlling her. But who was the dark-haired witch, how had she ended up in Marylin’s body, and which one of them was responsible for the curse? Was Marylin actually innocent and had been being tortured all these years?
There were no answers at hand.
Not until she could find Marylin.
Yvette paced in front of the fire, adding more flames, but no matter what she did, the wood wouldn’t turn to ash. It just burned and burned and burned, leaving her trapped in hell.
She spun around and then froze when she saw the sunflower staring right at her. Or more accurately, she saw Marylin’s face staring at her from the center of the sunflower. The strawberry-blond version with the pale green eyes.
“Marylin?” Yvette asked tentatively.
The sunflower nodded and then spoke. “My sister is more powerful than I am. The vines, those are her creation. This sunflower is my contribution to the garden. It irritates her to no end that her weeds can’t kill it.”
Yvette blinked at the sunflower, wondering if she’d lost her mind.
“She has control of my body now,” Marylin said. “That could only mean one thing.”
When the sunflower didn’t elaborate, Yvette said, “And what’s that?”
“The curse has been activated.”
Dread crawled up Yvette’s throat, nearly choking her. “What curse is that?”
“The one that was meant to destroy me. Find the broom, and you can end the curse.” The face in the middle of the sunflower vanished, and suddenly two more plants popped up from the ground and grew rapidly until there were three sunflowers tilting their petals toward the sun.
“Find the broom?! What does that mean?” Yvette cried. But then the image of the children’s book flashed in her mind. Was she talking about the broom on the cover? The one that Poppy said was there and then wasn’t? The one that was in the online photos but not on the book that had shown up at her father’s house? That had to be it. She turned back to the sunflowers and desperately asked, “Where would I even look for that broom?”
The three sunflowers were silent as they continued to soak up the sun.
“Well, it’s not in this desecrated garden,” she muttered. “First thing’s first. I’ve got to get out of here.” The fire she’d started earlier was still lit, but it wasn’t burning anything, making it useless. She walked over and imagined that the fire was extinguished, causing the flames to suddenly disappear. Just as she’d suspected, the only burn marks that existed were the ones on the ground. The weeds had been burned back, leaving a small gap between the wooden structure and the ground.
Yvette crouched down and dug at the dirt, finding that the burned surface was easy to move away from the fence. She slid her hand under the wooden frame of the garden enclosure, checking to make sure no magical barrier below it was keeping her in place, and then got to work on digging herself out.