Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County) by Heidi R. Kling Page A

done.
    Love Potion #9 spell.
    I grinned back, sheepish. Orchid would kill me when she found out, but at least we avoided something worse.
    Orchid’s fingers flitted up, and landed on Chance’s smooth chest, “My friend Lily here decided it would be fun to spend the day on the Boardwalk and dragged me along. Looking for a summer job if things don’t go well next week.” She giggled. Orchid never giggled. “What about you guys? Picking up applications at the cotton candy stand?” Her eyes rolled over Chance like his deluxe bod were custom made, just for her.
    And he was loving it.
    “I had my heart set on Hot Dog on a Stick. Much more my speed,” he said, stepping closer to her.
    Logan looked at me and shrugged, a grin playing on his lips.
    He hadn’t put a hex on his friend; Chance was rolling with Orchid all on his own.
    Oh boy.
    “Or the pretzel place,” Orchid said. “I prefer salty to sweet.” When she ran her tongue over her star-shaped lip ring, it was apparent from Chance’s expression that he was, at minimum, mesmerized—at maximum, already enraptured.
    I stepped in the middle of their almost savage physical admiration party before they devoured each other alive.
    “How about y’all keep us company on the Gravitron?”
    “Sure,” Chance said, without a contemplative beat.
    “Our treat. Lily here made us buy DAY passes. Unlimited rides. Oh joy of joy!”
    Logan’s eyes were on me, pressing into my skin.
    “I like amusement parks,” I said, unapologetic.
    “Another thing we have in common,” he said.
    “Really? I didn’t take you for an amusement park sort.”
    He glanced around at the Boardwalk. The humans, the noise, the smells.
    He shrugged happily.
    For the moment, Orchid and Chance were occupied and non-threateningly charmed by the other.
    If I could get him into the Gravitron, maybe with the spinning and the darkness, I could steal my stone back, and then, when Camellia and Iris found out that I had indeed met with Logan before their orders to do so, I’d have a legit reason why.
    “Sounds like a plan,” I said. “Let’s go.”
     
    “Have you ever had a butterscotch milkshake?” Logan asked as we walked along behind Orchid and Chance, who were literally all over each other and practically making out.
    I cringed with guilt. But it looked like they were having fun. And I did have a task to do. Obviously, I would intervene if things got really out of hand.
    “A butterscotch milkshake. Have you had one?”
    I wrinkled my nose searching for a double meaning. “Not that I recall. No.”
    It was one of those situations wherein you just know how the events are going to unfold before they begin to unfold. Logan and I immediately stepped into each other’s orbit as if we were a planet and a moon with no other choice.
    “You’d think you’d remember something like a butterscotch malt.”
    I could tell he was trying to talk to me about something else, something important—but he didn’t know how to bring it up. A group of moms pushing strollers came too tight to my left and I had no choice but to move into him. Our arms were swinging together like two pendulums in sync. When my fingers accidentally grazed his, I felt his whole body—all tense energy—snap like a rubber band. Logan quickly stuffed his hands in his pockets, leaving me offended and nonsensically disappointed that he wasn’t as enticed by me as Chance was by Orchid.
    I stepped out of his orbit. I don’t like you, either.
    “Untrue,” he said aloud with an eyebrow raised.
    He was Reading me again.
    “Well, I wish it were true.”
    “No, you don’t. Remember, Lily”—he leaned into me—“I can Hear your every thought. Even when you try to block me.”
    “No, you can’t.”
    “Yes. I can.”
    “No. Otherwise you’d know I’m not allowed to be talking to you.”
    “Of course you aren’t allowed to talk to me. That’s Spellspinner doctrine.” He met my eyes but his looked sad when he said it. “Everyone