The Curse of Dark Root: Part Two (Daughters of Dark Root Book 4) by April Aasheim Page B

threw up her hands and shook her head in bewilderment. “In his bassinet.”
    “That’s not possible! I tore that bed apart.”
    “I know.” She gave me a strained smile and brushed a loose piece of hair from my face. “I'm not sure what happened, but he's back and he's safe. That's all that matters.” She bit her lip and scanned the room warily. “For now.”
    “Do you sense any presences?” I asked.
    “No, not a thing.”
    I kissed Montana's head. He smelled like chocolate. And roses.
    Ruth Anne came to my side, her face grim. “Mags, you should know we found something in his crib.”
    I didn't want to know. I brushed past her on my way to the sofa.
    “It was in his hand,” she said, catching me by the arm.
    She opened her palm, revealing a tuft of orange cat hair.

ELEVEN
    Hello, Goodbye

    “GET IT OUT of here! All of it!” I pointed to the pile of junk on the coffee table, and to the stack of boxes near the door.
    We’d spent the morning collecting everything remotely related to witchcraft––baubles, trinkets, tarot cards, photos, pendulums, even Merry’s teas. As my final act, I stuffed the leather globe case into a box where I would never have to see them again.
    “You sure, Mags?” Ruth Anne asked, clinging to her collection of paranormal romance books and ghost hunting supplies. “If whatever took Montana comes back, we might need documentation, or a way to track it.”
    Merry nervously smoothed her ponytail. “Don’t scare her, Ruth Anne. We don’t know if something took Montana. All we know is that he disappeared.”
    “And came back with a big chunk of cat hair,” Ruth Anne countered. “That can’t be good.”
    All I knew for sure was that magick was involved. Dark magick. And all the stuff in this house was like a giant beacon, drawing it in.
    “Yes, get rid of all of it,” I said, opening the door.
    Ruth Anne blinked against the sun, then reluctantly set her equipment bag onto the porch. “Books, too?” I rolled my eyes and pushed an empty box towards her. Ruth Anne exhaled and gently placed her stack of novels inside.
    “It feels better in here already,” I said, breathing in.
    Merry looked dubiously around the near empty room. “If you say so, Maggie.” She lifted Mother’s spell book and placed it at the top of the heap. “This is all just temporary. As soon as we figure out what happened to Montana, we’ll come up with a game plan.”
    I put my son in his baby swing and wound it up. “Maybe,” I said, half-heartedly. “If spells only work on people that are susceptible, I refuse to be susceptible.”
    “How will that help Montana?’ Ruth Anne asked. “Howdy doesn’t know anything about spells.”
    “Don’t call him Howdy.”
    “Doody’s more accurate,” Eve said, entering through the open door. She turned to Ruth Anne and handed her a Styrofoam cup from a coffee cart downtown. “The only Goodwill I could find is in Linsburg.”
    “We are not taking any of this to Goodwill!” Merry threw her hands in the air, pacing. “This is our history. We’re not getting rid of any of it, understood?” She stopped, pointing her mom-finger at each of us in turn.
    “Yes, Ma’am,” Ruth Anne said as Merry stomped off.
    “What got into her panties?” Eve asked. “Not a man, I’m guessing.”
    “Not unless she’s got one locked in the basement,” I said, immediately regretting it. “Merry has a hard time getting rid of things.”
    “I don’t know why. It’s all clutter. And who knows from which dark corners of the world Mom and her coven-cronies dug it up? This stuff is probably dripping with dark magick.” Eve’s eyes wandered to my bracelet. “What about that? If anything has bad juju on it, it’s probably Mom’s bracelet.”
    I twisted the crystal bracelet on my wrist. I hadn’t removed it since I first put it on. But Eve was right––if anything was a magical beacon, it was Mother’s Circle. I pulled on it, but it wouldn’t slide over my