T*Witches: Double Jeopardy by H.B. Gilmour, Randi Reisfeld

She caught herself and, instantly, she was ashamed.
    Miranda felt sick, weak, stabbed, but she couldn’t let Ileana see it. That would have hurt the wounded young witch even more. She simply said, “I got a message from … from Camryn and Alexandra. They needed help —”
    “What? What’s wrong?” Ileana began to tremble. The twins had needed her, and she hadn’t even heardthem. But Miranda, who she’d just accused of being an unfit mother, had? That was how badly broken she was, Ileana realized with dread.
    “Their brother —”
    “Dylan?”
    “Yes,” Miranda said. “He’s disappeared, and they fear the worst.”
    “Has Karsh gone to them?”
    Miranda looked surprised. “No. I didn’t get the impression he was overly concerned. Anyway, I didn’t contact him. This is a chance for their uncle to prove his goodness. My girls needed help. I sent Thantos to them.”
    Furious, frightened, Ileana turned so abruptly, she felt light-headed. “We’ve got to go.”
    Miranda was puzzled. “Now? Why?”
    Ileana grasped her arm. “I have an appointment and I’m not leaving you here. End of story.” With that, she rushed her aunt out of the herb garden and hurried her down the steep path.
    Perhaps if Miranda had not been so surprised and Ileana not so panicked, one of them might have heard the commotion they’d left behind. Two creatures, struggling to break free of the clinging brambles and sticky vines encasing them, tumbled out of the bushes, with thorns poking out of their flesh and clothing at every angle.
    “Tsuris, you let her escape!” the short, fat cactus whined.
    “Me? I told you it was bad luck to hide in a cemetery!” the taller, spiny critter shrieked.
    “At least we found her!”
    “Past tense, Vey, you slacker! Let’s go. Sooner or later, she’s bound to go back to the old man’s shack.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    SALEM WOODS
    “I don’t get it,” Jason said again. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you all the way into town?”
    “No,” Cam answered, staring out the window, searching the roadside. “I’m trying to toughen Alex up for soccer this year.”
    “And you’re going to start her off with a fifteen-mile hike? Condolences,” the tall, dark, and studly boy called back to Alex, who was scanning the other side of the highway. “You have my sympathy. Personally, I think your sister’s crazy.”
    “Runs in the family,” Alex answered.
    “Alex!” Cam snapped. “That is so unfunny!”
    Alex shrugged, a little startled herself at what she’dblurted — even if it was true. A sudden chill drove Miranda from her mind. “I think we’re there.”
    “Me, too,” Cam said, twisting the patchwork quilt in her lap and sounding a lot less superior than she had a second before.
    “This is it?” Jason slowed reluctantly and pulled over to the side of the road. “It’s going to be dark out soon. Why would you want to do this now?”
    They’d run into the concerned hottie about a minute after their psycho uncle split — saying he’d done for them what he could and had to get back to their mother now. Miranda needed him, Thantos had suddenly decided. She shouldn’t be left alone.
    “I mean, come on —” Jason surveyed the thickly forested area around them and shook his head. “With Dylan missing and all …”
    “That’s just why we’re doing this,” Alex announced. Cam spun around to glare at her. “You know,” she said pointedly to her distrustful twin, “to work off some nervous energy.”
    Nervous energy became icy trembling as they trudged through the swampy woods. Cam wrapped Miranda’s shawl around her neck like a scarf. Alex hiked up the collar of her camouflage jacket. Neither of them spoke for a while.
    Eyes wide, senses honed, they moved slowly inwhat they hoped was the direction of the bay, looking for the sandy landscape Cam had described — and that they’d both seen through Thantos’s crystal.
    Alex’s nostrils were filling with the scent of