“That’s amazing, Iris!” Greta exclaimed, and Iris blushed.
“Ridley, you’re up,” Binx said.
“Right.”
Ridley performed the spells, and a moment later, Socrates pulled his head back through the window and was gone. Half a second later he started barking, and then a pink object appeared where he’d been.
Penelope’s backpack. It flew out of the window and floated toward Greta and her friends.
“Yessss!” Binx pumped her fist.
Greta glanced around, wondering if they should cast an invisibility spell on the backpack. If the neighborhood wasn’t as deserted as it appeared, someone might see it flying through the air and—that would not be good.
But she decided there wasn’t time, especially since invisibility spells were complicated. Instead, she stepped forward, reached up, and caught the backpack as it descended toward them.
“Nice catch!” Iris said.
“Thanks!”
Greta unzipped the backpack as the other three gathered around. A faint rose fragrance wafted out, and she could feel a subtle shift in Ridley’s aura… surprise, remembrance, grief.
“Ridley, you don’t have to stay for this if you don’t want to,” she whispered.
“I’ll be okay,” Ridley whispered back, although she didn’t sound too sure.
Greta rifled through the backpack. Folders. A notebook. A makeup bag. A glittery purple pen. She handed the items to the others, then proceeded to search through the zippered inner compartments.
“No shadow message here,” Binx said, flipping through the notebook. “Some cool drawings, though.”
Ridley held up the folders. “No shadow message in here, either.”
“There’s nothing in the makeup bag, except some really pretty lipstick. I didn’t know there even was a color called Revenge of the Strawberries!” Iris piped up.
Greta unzipped the last compartment. “Wait, what’s this?”
She plucked out a square cloth and brought it into the light. Embroidered on the fabric was an image of a cage burning over a bonfire.
An Antima shoulder patch.
“What the?” Binx said. “Why would she have an Antima patch?”
“Maybe it was her boyfriend’s?” Iris suggested.
“But what’s it doing in her backpack?” Greta asked.
“Maybe she found the patch—found out about him—just before she… before she…” Ridley stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. Binx leaned against her and put her head on her shoulder.
Someone’s phone buzzed.
Binx straightened. “I think that’s me. Uxie, who is it?”
“There is a new text message from Mira Jahani,” Uxie reported.
Ridley pulled her phone out of her pocket. “It’s a group text. I got one, too.”
“Me too,” Greta said, glancing at her screen.
Mira had written:
Guys, Div disappeared and we can’t find her anywhere. We think she might be in trouble. Can you help?
“Crap! This is not good,” Binx declared.
“W-what’s happening?” Iris asked nervously.
“Div’s missing,” Ridley explained, then turned to Greta. “What should we do?”
Greta touched her raw amethyst pendant, trying to still her racing thoughts. Div was missing. Was she in danger? What if Penelope’s murderer was at the party and they’d done something to her?
Be strong, she told herself. You need to be a leader.
“Okay. All right. Ridley, can you and Iris stay here and deal with the backpack and the window, make sure we leave everything exactly as it was? Binx, can you drive us to the Jessups’ house and… Binx?”
But Binx was already running to her car, smart key in hand.
Fifteen minutes later, Greta and Binx reached the Jessups’ house. Mira had texted them again, warning that there was a security guard posted at an electric gate and also a couple of “greeters” inside the house checking off guest names on their iPads.
Binx managed to magically hack into both and add her own and Greta’s names, which enabled them to get past the guard and the greeters. Mira and Aysha were waiting inside the house; they stood by a long antique table in the entryway, pretending to check out JAHANI FOR MAYOR buttons and bumper stickers. The sounds of conversations and live music floated in from another room.
Greta and Binx joined Mira and Aysha. The two greeter girls were having a conversation about college applications and seemed oblivious to the witches.
“Calumnia,” Greta whispered. “What’s going on? Tell us everything!”
“So, we were hanging out with Colter and his brother, Hunter, and their dad,” Aysha said quickly. “Div slipped away during the political speeches. She wanted to find hair samples.”
“Whose hair samples? What for?” Binx asked, puzzled.
“She wanted to figure out if one of the Jessup guys wrote her shadow message,” Aysha replied. “It’s this, uh, spell she does.” Mira clucked her tongue, but Aysha ignored her. “That was a while ago. She hasn’t come back, and she’s not answering her texts. Mira and I tried a couple of quick scrying spells to find her, but no go.”
“You’ve been here before, right, Mira?” Greta asked Mira.
“Of course! Lots of times!”
“Can you take us through the house? You could pretend you’re giving us a tour.”
“Got it! Follow me!”
Mira started down the hallway and began pointing to random paintings and furniture, tour-guide-style, as Greta and Aysha and Binx trailed behind. As they passed the French doors to the living room, Greta could see a big crowd of guests. Colter and—was that Hunter?—were hanging out in a secluded corner, speaking with Brandon and Orion and Axel from school. Their heads were bent close together.
Greta felt a frisson of alarm. Were they discussing Antima business? Did they do something to Div? She grabbed Binx’s hand and pulled her along so they wouldn’t be spotted through the doorway. She considered using a distraction spell on the five guys, but at the moment, she was too distracted to remember how to do it.
Mira waved them into a room on the left.
“And this is the TV-room-slash-den!” she said in a high, cheerful voice. “They used to have family movie night every Friday! I’ve been to a bunch.”
As Mira stood guard in the doorway and jabbered on about movie night, Greta, Binx, and Aysha searched the room for any sign of Div. Greta also tried to sense Div’s presence, connect to her aura and her emotions, but came up empty. Her
