Div shrugged.
Aysha strolled over to the bed and sat down. “We don’t need that laptop witch. If you want to expand our coven, I have a better idea. Two ideas, actually.”
“Oh?”
“What two ideas? You didn’t tell me, Aysh!” Mira complained.
“I wasn’t sure. I’m still not sure. But there might… might… be two new witches at the school.”
“What?” Div was surprised to hear this. Besides themselves and Greta’s coven, she knew of no other witches at Sorrow Point High. The arrival of two new witches could be huge. Fantastic, actually. “Once again, is there any proof?” she asked Aysha.
“Not exactly. Well, sort of. So, there’s these two girls in my English class. Iris something and Penelope something. Iris was sitting across from me. She was wearing this moonstone pendant, and I saw her holding it and whispering to herself like a couple of times during class. And the other girl, Penelope, she was sitting in front of me, and her backpack was hanging from the back of her chair, kind of open, and I thought I saw a deck of tarot cards inside. I used a quick mobilus spell to move them into the light a bit”—Aysha was talented at telekinesis—“and yup, they were definitely tarot cards. Handmade. Really good art, actually.”
Div considered this. If these new girls, Iris and Penelope, were indeed witches, and Div could convince them to join the coven, that would increase their ranks to five. Group spells with five witches would be so much more effective than with just the three of them. Five witches, combining their powers, might give Brandon Fiske and any other Antima at their school—even in all of Sorrow Point—a run for their money.
And if she could convince Binx to join them, too, then maybe Ridley would follow. That would make it seven.
And then finally, Greta would have no choice but to come back to her.
The bedroom door creaked on its hinges, and Prada slithered in. Her stomach area protruded with whatever she’d caught and killed downstairs. She raised her head and flicked her tongue at Mira and Aysha.
Mira fluttered her fingers at Prada. “Um, hey, hi, gorgeous snake!” she squealed nervously. Even though Mira and Aysha had been coven-mates with Div for a while, Mira in particular was still skittish in the presence of Prada, who’d tried to bite her once for raising her voice at Div. (Mira had never made that mistake again.)
Prada slithered slowly toward the bed. She paused next to Mira’s snakeskin boots.
The color drained from Mira’s face. “Ohhhh! Yeah, these are fake. Pinkie-swear! Div, can you please tell her these are fake, please?”
Div sighed again. She knew Mira wasn’t lying; she often shopped for knockoffs and discount labels and used an enhancement spell to make them look designer.
“Come,” Div whispered to Prada. Prada obeyed immediately, slithering over to the vanity table and coiling herself at Div’s feet. Mira let out a loud, dramatic exhale.
Aysha turned to Div. “So what do you think? About Iris and Penelope, I mean.”
“Let’s come up with a plan to get to know them better,” Div suggested. “We can’t take any risks, in case they might be Antima in disguise, or whatever. But if they are witches, we should recruit them.”
“That’s a super-smart idea!” Mira exclaimed.
“So glad you approve,” Div said sweetly. “Now, back to business. We need to resolve this shadow message matter. First, let’s do a group aequo spell with these hair samples. I did aequo on my own, before you got here, but I want to repeat it with the three of us.”
Aysha stared at the jars. “Does that hair belong to—”
“Yes,” Div interrupted. “I don’t think that the shadow messages were written by their coven, but we should be certain. And if it’s definitely not them, it’s likely the Antima, and we need to try a different scrying spell that doesn’t require hair samples.” Or maybe get the hair samples somehow, she thought.
“Got it.” Aysha nodded and slipped down to the white shag rug and assumed a cross-legged position. Mira did the same.
Div went to her closet to retrieve some candles and gems that she kept hidden in a tampon box, then joined them on the rug. As she arranged the items in the middle of their circle, she felt a renewed sense of resolve and confidence. Everything was going to be okay. Her witches were here. More witches might be joining them soon. Not to mention that she herself had more power and practice than anyone she’d ever known.
The Antima didn’t stand a chance.
She had this.
8 OBFUSCATORS
A person of the magical sort may use her abilities to serve Justice as she sees fit.
But take heed of the consequences.
(FROM THE GOOD BOOK OF MAGIC AND MENTALISM BY CALLIXTA CROWE)
Ridley decided to take a shortcut through the new development on her way to Binx’s house. Greta had called an impromptu coven meeting to solve the mystery of the shadow messages, while Binx was still holding on to the slim possibility that Div and her coven had faked them and were lying about it. They were undeniably skilled at deceit and… what was that word? Oh yeah. Obfuscation.
Greta had also instructed Ridley and Binx to cast pleukiokus spells (Callixta’s book, Chapter 14) for extra protection. Ridley had done so in the girls’ bathroom right after lunch. Now, walking, she could still feel the spell’s effects; it was like the sensation of wearing an invisible cloak. Still, she made herself continue to think about the concept of protection in case the spell wore off; better safe than sorry. Especially now that the Antima had infiltrated her school—but Ridley didn’t want to think about them. Out of sight, out of mind (and vice versa).
Also, what was up with the new history sub, Ms. O’Shea? There was
