Page 16 of Nothing But the Truth

She weakly laughed, not completely dismissing her hope that they’d be able to figure it out with some internet magic.

He looked back at his computer screen and pointed to the picture of the candle in the water bowl. “Still got that cupcake candle?”

—

They hurried back to Lucy’s office, stopping by the kitchen on the way to grab a drinking glass, a lighter, and salt.

“This is insane,” Lucy said.

“Yeah, well, so is you telling Chase McMillan to choke on a steak and die.”

“I didn’t say die.”

“It was heavily implied. Damn, the candle is supposed to be black.” Oliver had transferred the curse-breaking instructions to his phone. He set the half-filled drinking glass on Lucy’s desk and scrolled his screen with his thumb.

“How is a tiny birthday candle going to stand up in there anyway?” Lucy leaned down level with her desk, and Oliver lowered the candle into the glass. As expected, it floated to the surface like a toothpick.

Oliver frowned. “Let’s hope it’s not an exact science.” He fished out the candle and handed it to her, then reached for the saltshaker. He sprinkled a shower of tiny white crystals into the water and scrolled farther down his phone’s screen. “Okay, now it says you’re supposed to visualize white light going into the water.”

Lucy arched a brow at him.

He waved his hands, telling her to get on with it. “Take deep breaths while you do it too.”

Lucy rolled her eyes before closing them and pictured a beam of white light passing through the glass like a spear. She breathed in her nose and out her mouth three times.

“Okay.” Oliver’s voice broke into her concentration. “Now light it and say your spell.”

“My spell?”

“Lucy, I’m open to other suggestions if you’ve got any.”

She grumbled and picked up the lighter. The flame licked close to her pink nails, and she thought, not for the first time, about how flammable nail polish was. “What am I supposed to say?”

“Dunno. Just ask it to go away, I guess.”

She took a deep breath and held the candle over the glass of salt water. “Please, Curse, please go away. I need to be free of you so I can make it through this very important day. Thank you.”

She met Oliver’s eyes, and he shrugged in approval.

“You’re supposed to let it burn down until the water puts it out, but—”

Lucy dropped the candle into the glass, and the flame snapped out with a hiss.

“Or you could do it that way.”

They stared at each other, unsure.

“Did it work?” Lucy asked.

Oliver pursed his lips. “What color is my shirt?”

“Gr—” She sighed in defeat. “Still pink.”

“Damn.”

She leaned back in her chair, surprised by how disappointed she felt considering how absurd it was that they just tried to cast a spell.

“Well, the next option is burning sage. And then things escalate pretty quickly to animal sacrifice.”