from shopping without any bags. We must have gotten so involved with the plan of getting to England that we forgot about how our parents assumed we were at the mall for the Black Friday deals.
“I’ll text you after I talk to my dad to let you know what he said,” Chelsea told me as she got out of the car.
“All right,” I said. “And remember not to let him talk to my mom until I’ve confirmed that we can go, too.”
“Of course,” Chelsea said. “Talk to you soon.” She shut the door and hurried into her house.
“She’s certainly gotten more agreeable,” Drew said once she got inside.
“She’s not that bad most of the time,” I told him. “It’s hard to tell from the way she’s been acting recently, but there is a reason why we were friends for so long.”
“She cast a curse for you to die,” Drew said. Anger flared in his eyes, and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “And it’s going to work if we don’t do something about it.”
“We’re going to fix this,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “She didn’t know what she was doing when she cast that spell. If she knew she was sending Death after me, there’s no way she would have done it.”
“You think so?” He sounded doubtful.
“I know so,” I said. “She’s upset that you dumped her for me, but she’s not evil. She doesn’t want me dead. It’s why she’s helping us now.”
“None of that makes it so I’m not angry about what she did.”
“I’m trying not to think too much about that until we have this sorted out,” I said, refocusing on the vial of clear potion in my hand. “I just hope this works and gets my mom to agree to go to England.”
Drew lifted a hand from the wheel and interlaced his fingers with mine. “It will work,” he said confidently. “And if it doesn’t, you’re coming to England with me no matter what. I’ll buy you the plane ticket myself. We’re going to get that ring, and then we’re going to fix what Chelsea did. Your mom will be angry with you for going behind her back, but at least you’ll be alive. That’s all that matters to me.”
I nodded, knowing he meant it. If this potion didn’t make my mom more agreeable to the trip, I would have to go without her permission. I didn’t want to do that—I’ve never gone against my mom in such an extreme way—but I wouldn’t have a choice. If I didn’t get to England and find that ring, I wouldn’t live to see the next full moon.
Hopefully the potion would do the trick.
“Call me once you get an answer from your mom,” Drew said as he pulled up to my house.
“I will,” I said.
“I love you, Elizabeth,” he said, his eyes locked with mine. “No matter what, we will find a way to get out of this. We just found each other again, and I don’t plan on losing you anytime soon.”
“I love you, too,” I said, tears forming in my eyes. “Always and forever.”
“We will have that,” Drew promised. “Once we manage to fix this.”
CHAPTER 18
Walking inside, I was painfully aware of the vial of potion in my bag and what I had to do with it in the next few minutes. At least Alistair had promised the solution was tasteless, so my mom wouldn’t know I’d added it to her drink.
“Did you have fun at the mall?” my mom asked from her study.
“It was fun,” I said. “Crowded, though. I’m exhausted. I’m going to make some tea—do you want some?”
“Sure,” she replied. “I just have to finish something up, and then I’ll be right over.”
I figured that’s what would happen. My mom thought Black Friday was a pseudo-holiday—a reason to get Americans shopping—so she didn’t consider it an appropriate reason to take off work. I figured she was in her office dealing with paperwork, or whatever she did when I was at school.
I went into the kitchen and took out my favorite mug with the word “cocoa” written all over it
Isabel Wolff
Juliet Gael
Jack Lacey
Susan Hertog
Iris Jones Simantel
C.t. Adams . Cathy Clamp
Robert D. Kaplan
Nicola Claire
Neil Gaiman
Zac Harrison