Page 32 of Of Poison & Pumpkins (Of Witches & Men #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Rynn

P alooza’s employee office door doesn’t magically swing open for me like it’s supposed to. I grab a pen like a dagger and try to shove the tip into the lock. Twist it. The only thing I accomplish is snapping off the top.

“Damn it!” I scream and kick the door. Slam my fist for the hundredth time. “Brooke! Let me out!”

Panting from exertion, I don’t want to take a deep breath since it smells like rotten fish from the trashcan.

Gagging, I scan the office for any tool that could get me out of here.

Along my desk, diseased items, all gray, are starting to vanish before my eyes. A sharp tightness squeezes in my chest.

“No, no, please, stay,” I beg, rushing around the room, trying to hold on to the random stapler until it slowly disintegrates into nothing in my hands. “Please …”

Is this what will happen to the people who have been Dazed? How has my sister destroyed so much in such a short duration? What does she even want? To create chaos? Devastation? Because she has achieved that! So she can get the fuck out of my town.

I scream at the ghost of a mirror. From the edges of the glass, my reflection slowly evaporates as the mirror disappears.

Soon, there will be nothing left. And it’s all my fault.

I created the poisoned paint. I let my guard down and kept my apartment window open that night.

If I hadn’t trusted my town and settled into comfort here, this never would’ve happened.

This is the consequence when someone lowers their guard and lets others into their safe space.

Deflated, I slump to the floor and drop my forehead against my forearms. The images of Oakmar, desolate and gray down the entire street, will haunt me until the day I die.

Three faces I care about the most roll-on repeat like a slideshow. Tinsley. Maya. Elias. A tear slides over my cheek. I have no idea where they are. If they’re safe or Dazed or locked in another room.

Suddenly, the door flies open, slamming against the wall. Hudson is shoved inside before I can stand, then the door closes again.

“No! Wait! Let me out!”

Hudson wears the same milky eyed trance. His red shirt fades into a colorless gray halfway up and he stares at the wall where the mirror used to hang.

“We need to get out of here. Do you have a weapon that can serve as a screwdriver?”

He doesn’t move. Doesn’t respond. I want to scream at him, slap his face to snap him out of his stupor. There’s no point. It won’t work. Nothing will work.

“Wait!” I dig in my pocket for the baggie of the antidote candies. “Here! Eat this.” I place it at his lips, but he doesn’t open his mouth.

“Hey,” I say quietly, rubbing his arm slowly. “This will help you. Please open your mouth, Hudson. It’s me, Rynn. I won’t hurt you.”

His lips part slightly and I take advantage by slipping the candy in.

I watch him absent-mindedly swallow and take a relieving breath.

He’s a cop, so saving someone with authority and power could help drastically.

It’s too bad he’s not carrying his gun, otherwise we could shoot our way out of the locked door.

I wait for the antidote to take hold. Minutes pass. Nothing happens.

“Come on,” I speak to the Goddesses above. “Help us, please.”

A loud bang and screech rumbles down the hallway. I pace. Why isn’t the medicine healing him? By my side, I crack my knuckles compulsively, the sole thing I have control over. I’d be willing to do anything to break free.

Maybe I made a mistake with the ingredients. Had I mixed only nine berries instead of ten? I drag my nails down my cheeks, leaving marks, but who the fuck cares at this point. Hudson stands unaffected. There’s no more time to recreate the potion. Maybe it takes longer to activate.

Elias’s voice shouts in pain somewhere on the other side of the door; his voice distant but clear.

“ELIAS!” I pound on the door until my hands burn, clinging to the hope that he can hear me.

I grasp for any chance that he’s okay. “Please,” I pray to Luna, the strongest goddess, “put me in his place instead. My sister hates me, not him. Please.”

Alone. There’s no point in fighting for the impossible. I cry out in anguish and sink to the floor again. My head rests against the door, racing heartbeat, dry mouth, throat sore from pleading. I never had the chance to tell him I love him, too.

I love him. His heart-stopping, golden smile. His witty banter and silly nature. I love Elias and maybe always have.

“Rynnlee!” Elias sounds closer, louder; enraged and determined. “Stand back!”

On hands and knees, I scramble away, then pull Hudson down with me. He follows without resistance. The door explodes as Elias bursts through, sweaty, on a rampage.

I gasp, pulse in overdrive.

Elias’s entire body glows a bright purple. His eyes are alert, wide with terror. The rest of his body is stiff, unnatural, like a soldier.

“Thank Luna!” I move a piece of wood off my lap and rush to him, but stop halfway.

The fear in his eyes gives me pause. I glance behind him, where a shadow lurks in the hallway.

“Brooke, stop all this. Now!”

“No, Sissy. I’m finally at the good part,” she says, stepping around the corner.

The rage in her expression snatches my breath away. She gave me hell when we were teens, but this is another level.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Your magic.”

“What? Even if I agreed, I can’t give you my magic. It’s genetic. In my DNA. You know that.”

“It took me a few years of planning, but it finally all came together. I heard the rumors all the way in Indiana of a Fuzer handing out poisoned revenge curses,” Brooke says as she licks her ruby lipstick. “ All I had to do was find a na?ve Fuzer pawn, poor Noah, and use his power.

“Well, imagine my delight when I figured out it was my sister after breaking into your apartment. I mean chef’s kiss, am I right?” Her laugh is deranged, almost possessed. “Plus, I had no idea everything would come full circle and Noah would be the father of your boyfriend. Small world.”

“I can’t give you my magic.”

She leans forward and taps my chin. “But I can take it.” Brooke points to Elias, who is huffing and puffing by the door, eyes wide.

He glances back and forth at Brooke, then down to his body, Brooke, then down to his body.

What is he trying to communicate? I don’t understand.

His muscles bulge and are tense, with veins sticking out like he’s battling some force.

Why hasn’t he joined me? The Elias I know would already be by my side or standing between us as a shield. Then it hits me.

“How are you controlling him?” I lunge forward to grab Brooke’s hair.

But Elias jumps in front of Brooke, in protection. His eyes plead for forgiveness, which means he’s aware of what his body is doing but has no choice in the matter.

“I fed all the passion of this town into one soul. My purple monster.” She pauses to laugh. “Oh, that’s a great name. After finally finding a strong enough spell, this purple monster has the strength to suck out your essence, too.”

“No. He’ll never hurt me,” I say, stuck in place, unsure if I should attack or flee.

“He will if I tell him to.” Brooke’s smirk is distorted, twisted like something has corrupted her. “You were always put on a pedestal, cherished, treated like a saint, given the bigger bedroom and extra privileges. I’m done waiting. It’s my turn!”

Either she or I have a warped sense of reality.

I swallow, preparing to calm her down by mentioning good memories, the ones before she despised me, when we were only young kids playing in the backyard.

There’s no chance before Noah steps around the corner into the office and snaps his fingers.

Out of my control, I’m flung off my feet and float in the air flat, eyes to the ceiling.

I writhe against the hold, but it’s useless.

He has me trapped. Caged. I’m at my sister’s mercy and nothing can get worse.

I admit defeat.