Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (30 page)

She scoffed. “That’s where you’re
wrong. You had the necklace. Therefore, no matter what you say, you
are in charge. You are technically the coven leader.”

I wished Karyn had never given me that
necklace. But she’d said everyone in the coven needed me. No
pressure there. No pressure at all. I wasn’t sure how I would talk
myself out of this situation. I could barely breathe. The dark
feeling within me was bursting to get out. I needed to try to break
the magic spell again.

“
What can I do to get rid of
her, Larue?” Elvis asked.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he
could do to help me.

Mr. Fine and Candy Cherry appeared
midway down the sidewalk. Maybe Elvis would draw some of their
energy and fight off the bad spirit. When they neared, Candy and
Mr. Fine took position behind Jane and smiled. That was when I knew
they weren’t there to help me. I’d suspected it for some time, but
it was still creepy to have the confirmation.

“
You betrayed me. I knew you
were evil.” I glared at Candy Cherry. “But you, Mr. Fine, I thought
better of you.”

Candy Cherry snorted. “I was trapped
in that ball. If helping Jane meant I could escape, then so be
it.”

Jane directed the attention back to
her. “You must die because of your friendship with Karyn. You seem
like such good friends, it’s a shame it has to end this
way.”

Whoa. Die? That was a bit drastic.
Couldn’t we just agree to disagree? “We weren’t all that close,
really. I’d only just met her.”

No, no. I couldn’t throw Karyn under
the bus. That wasn’t the type of person I ever intended on being.
My mama raised me right.

“
Why come after me? You have
the necklace. End of story… time to move on.” I gestured with my
hands, hoping she’d follow my command.

She scoffed. “I have to get rid of you
first. I came after my sister, Karyn, but then I discovered you had
the necklace.”

“
You came after your own
sister?” Mindy asked.

I shook my head at the nastiness that
was Jane Howe. “Couldn’t you just have asked Karyn for the
necklace?”

“
Do you really think she
would have given it to me?” She shook her head as if I was the
stupidest person ever born.

“
Well, no, but you could
have at least asked,” I said.

“
Whatever. I’m tired of this
conversation. I have to get rid of you in order to get the coven
leader position. It’s my right and Karyn took it from me.” Her
expression told me she was tiring of the conversation… and
me.

“
So you’re willing to
destroy me in order to get the coven leader position?”

“
Whatever it takes.” An evil
grin spread across her face.

I had a way of attracting all the bad
witches. Lucky me. I had just about had it with the black magic.
Enough was enough already.

“
Did you cast a spell that
conjured up the demon?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“
How was I supposed to know
you’d have a demon waiting to pounce on your ass? I should have
known though. It wasn’t my fault you got involved in such evil
things. I cast the spell so you would want to give up the magic and
give up the necklace. If the necklace was gone, then the coven
would fall apart. But that didn’t happen, so I guess I’ll have to
kill you instead.” She shrugged her slender shoulders.

I was not going to let that happen.
“Well, you can’t control what other people do. And now look what
you’ve done. I think deep down you really are evil.”

“
You take that back. You
really are possessed by the devil.” Jane pointed.

The ghosts stood in their guard
positions—Elvis on my side and Mr. Fine and Candy Cherry on
Jane’s.

“
Maybe you’re the possessed
one. Why else would someone do something like this to their very
own sister? You should be ashamed of yourself,” I
scolded.

She glared at me. Clearly no one had
ever given her a piece of their mind before. Well, it was about
time someone did and I was glad to be that someone. I wouldn’t let
her get by with this evil.

“
I’m only doing this to help
my sister. She can’t handle the coven leader position.”

Mindy stood to my right; I felt the
tension shooting off her in waves. I hated that I’d involved her in
more of this crazy world of mine.

“
I think she was doing just
fine for a long time. You’re not supposed to hurt your family, and
that’s exactly what you’re doing to Karyn.”

“
I suggest you stop right
now. I won’t let you lay this guilt on me. I know what I’m doing.”
She shook her fist.

“
My point exactly. You know
what you’re doing and you don’t care if you hurt Karyn. All you’re
worried about are your own feelings.”

“
You have no idea about me.
I’m sick of hearing about sweet, precious Karyn. She can do no
wrong.”

Jane stepped forward, but froze after
two steps. Her face turned to a scowl and she held her
head.

“
Stop doing that,” she
yelled.

I looked to Mindy. She
shrugged.

“
What are you talking
about?” I asked.

“
Stop casting a spell
against me. It won’t stop me. Ouch. Stop it.” She stepped away.
Candy Cherry glared at me. Jane turned and ran. Then Candy Cherry
and Mr. Fine followed after her.

“
What was that all about?”
Mindy asked.

“
I don’t know, but I’m glad
she left.” I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

“
We need to call the
police,” Mindy said.

Karyn stepped from behind the
building. “There’s nothing the police can do to stop her right
now.”

“
Karyn. What’s going on?” I
asked.

“
That’s my sister. Isn’t she
lovely? Apparently she’s come to Magnolia looking for trouble.” She
folded her arms in front of her chest.

“
How did this happen, Karyn?
How did your sister get to this level?”

“
About five years ago, the
decision for coven leader came up. It was between the two of us. I
don’t know why they decided to pit sisters against each other, but
they did. Not that we’d ever gotten along well anyway. There was
always a level of competition between us. She felt as if she always
had to compete with her older sister. I tried to get along, but
ultimately she didn’t want any part of it. When the coven decided
to make me the leader, she kind of went off on a tangent, throwing
black magic around everywhere on a whim. She was famous for casting
spells to change her appearance. She loved doing that.”

That was when it hit me. It made
sense. Jane had changed her appearance to look like Karyn. She had
been at my house that night. I knew something wasn’t right about
that.

“
What else had she
done?”

“
I never thought she’d be
back. She changed her appearance so that when I went into High
Fashion yesterday, I didn’t even recognize her.”

“
Wow, she’s good,” Mindy
said.

“
Too good. That’s why they
wouldn’t allow her to practice magic anymore.”

“
So what happened? Why is
she back?” I asked.

“
I suppose she served her
time. It wouldn’t have been my decision, although I guess they’ll
rethink their decision now.”

We walked back toward Book Nook as we
talked.

“
Can I ask who are
they
?”

“
The Order of the Covens.
They oversee all covens and keep order within the witchcraft
world.”

“
Is that what happened to
Brianna and Becky?”

She nodded. “Yes. And I’m afraid
they’ll take my sister back again. I wish it didn’t have to be that
way, but there is no choice. She decided years ago that she wasn’t
going to practice white magic. She went over to the dark side. When
she cast spells on the entire coven, that was when they put a stop
to her magic. I guess she came back for her revenge.”

“
I’m so sorry, Karyn,” I
said as I opened the store’s door.

“
No, what are you sorry for?
It’s my sister. I’m sorry that she did this to you.” Karyn followed
toward the counter.

Had Karyn known that her sister was
coming back? Was that the real reason she’d left town and wanted me
to be the coven leader? No one had wanted the necklace. It was as
if they’d just wanted to get rid of the thing.

“
Did you give me the
necklace because you knew that she would come back for
it?”

Karyn paused and looked out the
window. I had my answer. I’d thought I could trust her. Obviously I
had been wrong.

Finally Karyn turned to me. “I didn’t
think she would do anything. I figured if she knew a non-witch had
the necklace that she wouldn’t bother you. After all, you weren’t
the coven leader.”

“
But you asked me to be the
coven leader.” I searched her eyes.

“
I knew you wouldn’t do it.”
Karyn studied her high-heeled shoes.

“
So that was all a scam?
What about that stuff about me having natural talent?”

“
If you had decided to be
the leader I wouldn’t have let you keep the necklace. I would never
put you in danger, Larue. I like you and I care about you. You’re a
wonderful person and a great friend. I hope you won’t hate me.” She
pleaded with her stare.

I tried to process the revelation. My
thoughts were muddled. I wasn’t sure what to think. Karyn seemed
sincere, but I had no idea who I could trust anymore.

“
How did she find me?” I
asked.

“
Jane cast the spell that
would lead her to the necklace. Once she found you, she cast a
spell that would draw upon any weakness or fear you might have. If
a demon had been around or in the background, she opened the path
for it to come through and attack you.”

So the investigation for the TV show
didn’t start with the demon, the demon came after. It had been
trying to attract me to Jennie Blake’s home.

“
So if Jane hadn’t cast the
spell the show wouldn’t have been that complicated? The demon
wouldn’t have been there?”

“
No. I’m sure you can ask
the woman and she’d tell you that things became a lot worse when
the demon showed up. It would have been a few weeks or a month
before the show actually called you. That demon is the one that
made the other psychic sick in order to get you there.”

“
So I guess the letters from
Callahan’s ex-girlfriend had nothing to do with the demon?” Mindy
asked.

Karyn shook her head. “No, I guess
that was just a coincidence.”

“
What are the odds,” I
said.

“
I made some calls before I
came here. Anyway, apparently another bad witch gave Jane the
witch’s ball and she sent it to you. She knew it had a bad spirit
inside. Jane also knew she could get that bad spirit in your house
to be the eyes and ears behind the scenes.”

“
A ghost spy?” Mindy
said.

“
Yes. And Mr. Fine was
involved too. They knew he was always looking for trouble. He never
did anything really bad, but he liked to be mischievous. That’s why
he broke the ball.”

“
I knew I didn’t like him.
And I definitely knew I didn’t like Candy Cherry either. What a
sneaky plan. They set us up.”

“
They like to think they’re
clever,” Karyn said.

“
Did you cast a spell back
there? Is Jane gone for good?” I asked.

“
I cast a spell to get rid
of her for the time being, but I’m sure she’s not gone for good. It
was only temporary. The spell is still on you, so you’ll have to
break it.”

“
That’s what I was afraid
of. How do we get rid of it?” Mindy asked.

“
That’s where it gets
tricky.”

“
Our only other option is to
get the necklace back from her. We need it for you to get rid of
her spell,” Karyn said.

Mindy stood. “I’m going to get that
necklace back from that bitch right now. I’m tired of playing these
games. Witchcraft or no witchcraft, she’s going down.”

I pulled on Mindy’s arm as she moved
toward the door. “Mindy, you can’t fight this by yourself. We have
to think of a plan first.”

Karyn nodded. “Larue’s right. We can’t
go into this without a plan. But I think I have an idea. Since Jane
has the necklace now, I’m not sure how we’ll be able to counteract
any spell that she places. She obviously knows that we know what
she’s doing.”

My head was swimming with thoughts. I
had to get rid of this demon or my life would be ruined—or
worse.

“
Come on. I have a plan.”
Karyn motioned for us to follow her. “I’ll drive.”

Forty minutes later and we were parked
in front of the charming bed-and-breakfast that Jane had made her
home for the past few days. I felt so bad for the owner, not only
for having to deal with Jane but for what was about to happen in
her living room. I just hoped things didn’t get too
violent.