A Witch Before Dying: A Wishcraft Mystery by Heather Blake Page B

had been married to my next door neighbor Terry Goodwin (not at the same time, thank goodness). Ve first, then Cherise. Both had divorced the man, which left me wondering why. My gaze slipped to his house. I hadn’t met Terry, a Numbercrafter, yet, though I had been told—many times—that he was an “interesting” man. I had no idea what that meant.
    Cherise sighed. “I cast a spell, Darcy. That it didn’t work is perplexing.”
    “Shouldn’t all your spells work?”
    “Of course, Curecrafters cannot cast spells that do harm, but there are other reasons why my spell might have failed.”
    Her voice held a note of alarm that had panic threading through me. I was almost afraid to ask, “Like what?”
    Missy suddenly growled low in her throat, snapping my attention away from my growing dread. She was staring across the green at all the tents, but her focus seemed to be on one spot in particular. I, however, couldn’t pinpoint what. Her ears flattened and she bared her teeth.
    Suddenly, goose bumps rose along my arms. I felt eyes on me. Staring. Assessing.
    I could barely focus on Cherise as she said, “Well, there could be another Crafter at work.”
    I scooped up Missy and set her on my lap. Whatever had caused her distress had passed. She flopped down onto my legs and set her head on her paws. Still on alert, I rubbed my hand over her head, her ears. My gaze sweptthe green, searching for anything out of place. I found nothing. “How so?”
    “If someone didn’t want Ve to get well and cast her own spell, a recantation spell.”
    “A recantation spell? What’s that?”
    “It’s basically a spell that nullifies my spell.”
    I was shocked. “And anyone can cast it?”
    “As with all spells, anyone who knows it can cast it.”
    “And who knows it?”
    “Just about everyone. It’s a common spell.”
    I couldn’t believe my ears. “But what about ‘do no harm’? How could a spell that makes Ve remain ill be cast? Doesn’t that go against everything Crafters stand for?”
    Missy lifted her head, yawned, and put it back down. I was still on edge. I could hear the brittleness in my own voice.
    “You need to look at the shades of gray, Darcy,” Cherise said. “Imagine this scenario. Someone out there, a Crafter obviously, believes Ve is better off being ill.”
    I couldn’t hold in a disbelieving laugh. “Who on earth would want that?”
    Her tone was serious as she said, “I can think of only one reason.”
    “Which is?” I really wanted to know, because I couldn’t think of one. Ve was clearly suffering.
    “If Ve remains under the weather, there will be no choice but to postpone her wedding. My guess is that someone doesn’t want Ve to get married. Someone who truly believes her spell is keeping Ve from making a big mistake. In that person’s eyes, there is no harm being done. And obviously, if the spell worked, then there really is no harm being done.”
    I let the repercussions of that statement sink in. What I deduced from what she said stunned me. “Does that mean Ve
shouldn’t
be marrying Sylar? That it’s a mistake?”
    “That’s the conclusion I came to.”
    “Wow.”
    “But…,” Cherise said.
    I almost didn’t want to know what came after that “but.”
    “As I explained to Ve last night when I called to check on her, there are two other reasons why the spell might not have worked.”
    I pulled in a deep breath. “Go on.”
    “One of my limitations is that I can only cure physical ailments, not mental issues.”
    “Are you saying that Ve might be making herself sick? That it’s all in her head?”
Why
also went through my mind, but I wanted to hear Cherise’s explanation. “How did Ve feel about hearing that?”
    Cherise laughed. “She mentioned how many people already thought she was a bit touched in the head.”
    Ve’s eccentricities didn’t go unnoticed in this small village.
    “The brain is a powerful organ. It is a theory that cannot be ruled out; however, I