Hex Appeal: A Hexy Witch Mystery (Womby's School for Wayward Witches Book 15) Read online

  Hex Appeal

  WOMBY’S SCHOOL FOR WAYWARD WITCHES

  SARINA DORIE

  Copyright © 2019 Sarina Dorie

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1797953854

  ISBN-13: 978-1797953854

  NOT-SO-COZY MYSTERIES

  IN THE womby’s school for wayward witches SERIES listed in order

  Tardy Bells and Witches’ Spells

  Hex-Ed

  Witches Gone Wicked

  A Handful of Hexes

  Hexes and Exes

  Reading, Writing and Necromancy

  Budget Cuts for the Dark Arts and Crafts

  My Crazy Hex-Boyfriend

  Spell It Out for Me

  Hex Crimes

  Of Curse You Will

  Cackles and Cauldrons

  Hex and the City

  Wedding Bells and Midnight Spells

  Hex Appeal

  Safe Hex

  The Joy of Hex

  Other Titles To Be Announced

  Table of Contents

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Safe Hex

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  If you are reading this far in the Womby’s School for Wayward Witches series, I’m guessing you have read the other books as well. Whether you have stuck with the series because you love the quirky characters, you want to know if Clarissa will turn into a wicked witch like her mother, or you are waiting to see what happens with the potential love interests, I appreciate your enthusiasm.

  If you haven’t already signed up for my newsletter, I want to encourage you to do so. This helps me as an author connect to my readers, lets you know when books are being released, and gives me a way to gift you with free books and short stories.

  You can find the newsletter sign-up on my website: sarinadorie.com or you can go to: https://mailchi.mp/sarinadorie/authornewsletter

  Happy reading!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lost Little Lucifer

  Art Club was supposed to be a joy, the highlight of teaching. These days, I wanted to get it over with so I could be alone. I had just started my after-school art club members on their paintings when Hailey Achilles and Maddy Jennings walked into the classroom.

  “Let’s get this party started, witches,” Hailey said.

  I was ready to correct her language, then laughed, realizing she hadn’t used profanity. It was a first for her. Maddy rolled her eyes behind her friend and seated herself next to Trevor. Hailey grinned at me. It seemed some of my teen delinquents at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches were actually improving in their behavior.

  Hailey had tied her chestnut hair back in a messy ponytail that showed off pointed elf ears usually hidden by her long hair. The girls collected their paintings from the cubbyholes in the cabinet near the sink and set up easels next to the other students.

  Art Club was filled with a dozen of my favorite students. Too many for me to get away with sneaking off to practice clandestine magic. Most of the students, like Imani and Greenie, were naturally talented and enjoyed enhancing their skills. Some, like Maddy and Hailey, were there because they liked the social environment.

  This was Hailey’s last year at the school. She’d already been held back twice. She would be graduating in a month. I didn’t know if she was strong enough to survive in the Unseen Realm.

  If she went to the Morty Realm, she wouldn’t be able to use her magic. She would either have to be drained of her affinity by a skilled Witchkin who wouldn’t accidentally overdrain her and kill her, or she could choose not to use her magic skills and hope she didn’t cast spells accidentally. Knowing Hailey’s temper and attraction for trouble, I didn’t have a lot of faith in her following the rules. By Fae law, they could capture her and punish her as they saw fit if she used magic in the Morty Realm.

  I watched Hailey, my apprehension growing as I thought about what might happen to her in either realm. I wanted to protect her forever. For the first time, I understood my fairy godmother’s yearning to protect me from magic and all the monsters that came with it.

  Sorrow weighed heavily on my heart as I thought of my fairy godmother, Abigail Lawrence, the woman who had adopted and raised me. All my life she had tried to keep me safe from Fae. In the end, Mom was the one who had been snatched, not me. Tears filled my eyes as I considered all the ways the Raven Queen might be torturing my mom at that second.

  My husband, Felix Thatch, said she was still alive. Even Prince Elric of the Silver Court and Dean Khaba, the school’s disciplinarian, had assured me my bargain with the Raven Queen would keep Abigail Lawrence safe for another month. I had until June twelfth, the day after the school year ended, before the queen could harm her. My deal with Odette would ensure no one else in the Raven Court would harm her either.

  Yet, it didn’t make me feel a whole lot better.

  In the two weeks that had passed since my fairy godmother’s abduction at my wedding, Thatch’s sister, Odette, had sent a letter stating I should go to the Raven Court if I wished to see my mom. I would have gone to the Raven Queen and traded myself for Abigail Lawrence if the choice had been mine. But I didn’t know how to get there. I was still learning the protective magic necessary to keep the Fae from using my magic against me.

  I had vowed I would devote myself to increasing the magic I needed to free her. Thatch said I was progressing. But I knew I wasn’t learning fast enough.

  I sat down at my desk, determined to practice the spell Thatch had taught me for powering up my affinity at will—something I still didn’t excel at. Thatch hadn’t wanted me to practice in front of my students, but there weren’t enough hours in the day to fit in everything I needed to do.

  I closed my eyes and centered my awareness in my core. My students’ cheerful chatter distracted me. My mind kept wandering back to my worries. I visualized the Red affinity swelling.

  “Is that your face? Or did your shoulders vomit?” Hailey said too loudly for me to ignore.

  My affinity shriveled up.

  “Will you be quiet?” I snapped. “I’m trying to concentrate!”

  The voices of my students silenced. I opened my eyes to find a dozen teens staring at me in shock. I didn’t usually yell at them, especially not for being happy. What was wrong with me? I was becoming a horrible teacher.

  A warm hand on my elbow startled me from my dark musings.

  Imani stood at my side, her brown eyes worried. “Are you all right, Ms. Lawrence?”

  I smiled, trying to mask the guilt and frustration that weighed me down. “Everything is wonderful. Are you excited about summer vacation? Who doesn’t love summer vacation? You’re going to have so much fun!” I injected enthusiasm I didn’t feel into every word.

  Trevo
r, the underage student allowed into Womby’s under special circumstances, laughed uncomfortably. He glanced at Maddy. Greenie whispered something to her.

  Hailey winked, unfazed by my outburst. “Ms. L is just sad because she’s going to miss having me in her classes next year.”

  Greenie snorted. “Right.”

  Imani glanced at the students working quietly on their paintings. She leaned in closer. “Is everything okay with you and Mr. Thatch? Ever since the wedding you’ve seemed . . . sad.”

  “Fine. We’re fine. Let’s look at your painting.” She didn’t know about what had happened. No one besides the staff knew about the Raven Queen kidnapping my mom during the ceremony, Derrick, hex-boyfriend crashing the party with steampunk pirates, and the injuries and deaths that had occurred as a result.

  My students didn’t know I was a murderer. I drew back from Imani, not wanting to taint her with my wickedness.

  I walked over to Imani’s canvas, trying to make sense of the colors and composition. My brain was too overwhelmed by my inability to change this unfair world we lived in to want to make art.

  “Good. Beautiful. You’re doing great,” I said.

  Hailey coughed. “It’s upside down.”

  I blinked, noticing Imani hadn’t completed setting up yet.

  Maddy kicked at a wadded-up paper on the floor. “Mrs. Lawrence, I need your help with something. Can we talk?”

  Mrs. Lawrence. My throat tightened. That was my mom’s name, not mine. Why did everything have to remind me that she wasn’t here anymore?

  I headed toward where Maddy had set up her art. She exchanged a nervous glance with Hailey. Maybe it was obvious I was having trouble holding it together today. Some days were worse than others.

  Maddy lifted her canvas from the easel and slipped closer to the back stairwell where the closet was located. She cast a furtive look at her friends again. The moment I joined her in the corner, she whispered, “There’s something I want to discuss with you. In private.” Her gaze flickered to the door.

  I unlocked it, and we headed into the stairwell. I used the spell my friend and fellow teacher Josie Kimura had taught me to light the bulb on the landing below so that we could see. Maddy quietly closed the door behind me. Obviously she wanted to talk about more than her art.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything all right?”

  “I need your help.” She stared down at the stone steps. A sheet of blonde hair obscured the side of her face still scarred from the incident with the golem, though it didn’t detract from her beauty. “You remember my bargain with the King of the Pacific, right?”

  “Yes.” There was no way I would ever forget it. I was the one who had negotiated on her behalf so that she would be granted her freedom from the underwater Fae sovereign. He had only permitted her to go because she’d promised him her firstborn.

  I was the one who ensured the King of the Pacific gave her a couple of years to get through school and wouldn’t harass her until after she graduated and turned eighteen. She still had another year. Plenty of time to fulfill her contract.

  Maddy bit her lip.

  I knew what it felt like to have a Fae contract looming over my head. Instinctively, I touched the amulet Elric had given me. If I could have been free of it, I would have.

  I worried Maddy had done something rash. “Are you pregnant?” I asked.

  She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. “That’s the problem. I’m not.”

  I sighed. “That’s not a problem. You’re still in high school. You’re too young to have sex and get pregnant.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve probably had more sex in my life than you have.”

  I was almost ten years older than her, but she was probably right. She was a siren, and sex magic was part of her affinity, whether she wanted it or not. The topic didn’t faze her. Even so, I wasn’t comfortable with the direction this conversation was headed.

  She went on. “I’ve been trying to get pregnant all school year.”

  I covered my ears with my hands, wishing I could unhear her. “Why do you have to tell me this now? Are you using siren magic to seduce boys? We already had a talk about consent before.”

  “I’m not coercing anyone with magic!” Maddy held up her painting like a shield. “Why do you assume I’d do that? I haven’t done anything illegal . . . yet.”

  Craparoni. I had a bad feeling about this.

  “What do you mean? What are you planning on doing?” I asked.

  “I’ve had three consensual partners in the last eight months.”

  I groaned. If only this school taught a sex-ed class and gave kids lessons on sexually transmitted infections.

  “I haven’t gotten pregnant yet. That means there’s a good chance I’m infertile. I looked it up.”

  I could see where she was going with this. “You think you won’t be able to get pregnant when you graduate? You still have a little over a year. Let yourself finish your education first.” That was the pragmatic thing Thatch would tell her.

  Maddy set her painting down on the steps, the canvas tearing through a cluster of spiderwebs. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want to be forced to bear an heir for someone. I want the father to be my choice. Don’t you remember what Mr. Thatch said?”

  I did. I couldn’t blame her. Thatch had advised against the bargain, explaining that the King of the Pacific wouldn’t give her a choice in the father. The king might force her to try to conceive every night until she did so. But the bargain had been Maddy’s choice to make, not Felix Thatch’s.

  The fear in her eyes communicated her awareness of her impending doom. This wasn’t the kind of burden any kid needed.

  I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before letting my hand drop. I didn’t want my affinity to draw out hers and make it difficult for her to control her magic. The time she spent with Imani probably made it difficult enough for her.

  “What do you need me to do?” I asked. “Do you want me to try to renegotiate with the King of the Pacific?” I would need to convince Thatch to help me. We would need a plan, something to offer him in a baby’s stead. I worried the Fae king wouldn’t take anything less than Maddy’s servitude for the rest of her life.

  “No,” Maddy said, lifting her chin. “I want you to cure my infertility. We know you have the secret to the Fae Fertility Paradox. I want you to use it to help me.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Oh, Baby!

  “What?” I asked. The shock of her knowing I knew how to cure Fae and Witchkin infertility was overshadowed by the jolt her words sent through me at the idea of her getting pregnant now. “No! You’re too young.”

  “Stop telling me I’m too young!” Maddy’s voice rose, taking on an inhuman quality full of rhythm and song. Music danced in the air and tasted like the bitterest notes of chocolate. “Am I too young to kill? Because I’ve done that before. Was I too young to be captured by Fae? Was I too young to be molested by my stepfather?”

  She’d been abused and had lost her virginity at an early age. It pained me that so much of her innocence had been stolen from her.

  Maddy’s face turned to liquid before smoothing back into flesh. Her voice returned to normal as she calmed herself. “I’m old enough to decide what I want to do with my life. I can decide what I want to do with my body. I want to get pregnant so I can move on and stop living in fear that I’m going to be assaulted by mermen for the rest of my life.”

  I nodded. She was right. Who was I to tell her what she needed to do with her body?

  “I know you know about the Fae Fertility Paradox.” She lifted her chin. “You can help me.”

  “How do you even know about that?” I asked.

  “I get to read a lot of off-limits books in the library.” That was one advantage of being the librarian’s assistant. The corners of her lips curled up into a sardonic smile. “Your biological mother was the former headmistress
here. Alouette Loraline had discovered the cure. Everyone knows that’s why the Raven Queen wants you. It’s why the Silver Court made you an honorary member of Prince Elric’s household. The Fae want you to solve their fertility problems. Am I right?”

  She was more clever than I’d given her credit for. Or I was really bad at keeping secrets.

  “Well?” she asked.

  It was better if my students didn’t know about my secrets. It was less dangerous for them. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t know all the answers. I don’t have a cure.”

  She crossed her arms. “Miss Bloodmire was being taken care of by Imani’s grandfather, the king of the Silver Court, because she was carrying Prince Elric’s heir. You used magic to figure out how to solve the Fae’s fertility problems. I’m Witchkin. It should be easier to help me if I sleep with another Witchkin instead of a Fae.”

  If she was a Red affinity, it wouldn’t matter. I wondered who else had figured out that Vega, another teacher and my former roommate, had been pregnant. She had used a glamour to hide her belly. After she’d returned from Elric’s castle days after the attack, she looked as she always did: lean, mean, and deadly.

  “Miss Bloodmire isn’t pregnant,” I said firmly.

  Not anymore.

  “She’s why the Raven Court attacked the school. Because they’re enemies with the Silver Court. They won’t let Prince Elric have an heir.” Maddy scooped up her canvas and hugged it to her chest. “Imani said so.”

  I shook my head. “The Raven Court didn’t know. Vega was an innocent bystander who got caught in the crossfire. And don’t you dare repeat any of that about her.” Besides the fact that it would hurt Vega and Elric, it wasn’t true. It all had been my fault.

  I had been the reason the Raven Court had attacked. It was my fault Vega had lost her baby. It was my fault my friends had gotten hurt and my mom had been snatched. I had caused Bart the unicorn’s death. If I had never gone to Derrick, my hex-boyfriend, in his dreams, he wouldn’t have come to try to save me. Everyone would be safe, Derrick included.