“What’s an apoplexy?” Darla sang out.

  “I think it’s some sort of pie with exotic ingredients,” Libby answered.

  Wanda kept her eyes trained on me. “It takes more than drinking a potion to kill a familiar, Poppy. They’re virtually impossible to get rid of.”

  “I don’t care! And I also don’t want to wait around to find out if you’re right—we should do something.”

  “Fine,” she answered on a sigh. “The next time Hellcat comes through, I’ll cast a tracking spell on him.”

  A hair-raising screech interrupted her from out in the yard.

  “Oh my God, now he’s outside!” I railed as I stuffed the Uncrossing Oil in my pocket and the five of us charged for the front door (Fifi was still passed out). In my eagerness to get outside, I nearly ripped the door off its hinges.

  I stopped dead in my tracks when I came face to face with Lorcan Rowe, who was standing on my doorstep. Lorcan passed himself off as a forty-something dentist, but he was really a two-hundred-and fifty-year-old vampire. And, well, he was a dentist too. And a good one, but that didn’t explain why he was standing on my doorstep, giving me an expression of someone who’d been invited.

  The light from the hall illuminated his Michelangelo good looks, shoulder-length blonde hair, and chiseled features. He was tall and stately, and even though he was handsome as all get-out, he and I were just friends. And that was just how I wanted things. I couldn’t imagine dating Lorcan—he was just… high maintenance.

  “Good evening, Poppy.” His deep green eyes searched the group and stopped when he saw Wanda. “Excuse me, but did I just see your cat at the top of the weeping willow tree across the driveway?” He pointed to the tree, which was maybe ten feet in the distance.

  Wanda narrowed her eyes at him as she separated herself from the rest of the group and took the few steps between the two of them. She didn’t look happy. “What are you doing here at this time of night?” she demanded.

  “Well,” Lorcan started and cleared his throat. “I heard sounds of revelry.”

  “And?” Wanda demanded. “You had better not be spying on us.” Even though Lorcan was the vampire who turned Wanda, she couldn’t stand him. Or at least, she pretended not to be able to stand him, but I’d seen the way she looked at him when she thought no one was watching. And Lorcan was as smitten with her as she refused to admit she was with him.

  “There’s no time for that!” I snapped. “Was the cat hurt, Lorcan? Did you see if he was okay?”

  He frowned as he turned his attention to me. “I didn’t smell any blood on him, if that’s what you mean? He was certainly making one hell of a noise though.”

  Bailey snorted. “Literally.”

  “Excuse me,” Lorcan drawled, “but could someone kindly explain to me what on Earth is going on?”

  “It isn’t on Earth,” Wanda returned, shaking her head like she was exasperated with the whole situation. Or, maybe that was just her reaction to Lorcan, in general. “Hellcat is going on a little journey to the Beyond.”

  “Oh, will you put a sock in all your snide remarks!” I bellowed and everyone faced me with surprise, Lorcan’s most pronounced. Yes, my usual cool demeanor was nowhere to be found, but this situation warranted it!

  “I did not believe our little resident gypsy could raise her voice,” Lorcan purred. “Interesting.”

  “She’s got a temper under that blasé exterior of hers, after all,” Wanda added with a smile in my direction.

  I plopped my hands on my hips and regarded them both with irritation. “Can’t you take this situation seriously for half a second?”

  “And what situation is that?” Lorcan asked, as he graced me with a wide smile that revealed his fangs. Then he faced Wanda, and the smile broadened. “And you both have yet to answer me how it is that your cat is suspended above a hundred-foot-tall tree, my dear?”

  “It’s complicated,” Wanda began.

  “It isn’t complicated,” Bailey interjected as she faced Lorcan and cleared her throat. “Hellcat swallowed an experimental potion that’s supposed to allow the user to transport his or her spirit to different planes of existence. So, Hellcat transported himself… well, we’re not really sure where and that’s why Poppy is going ape-shit.”

  “I’m not going ape-shit!”

  “Looks like you’re going ape-shit to me!” Darla called out.

  “Can everyone refrain from using curse words, please?” Libby asked.

  “Where do you believe the cat has got to?” Lorcan asked Wanda.

  She shrugged. “Through an interdimensional portal to some unknown world would be my guess,” she finished as she rolled her eyes and shook her head as though it really wasn’t a big deal.

  Lorcan furrowed his brow as he faced Wanda. “And… am I to believe the disappearance of your familiar was not intended?”

  Wanda glared at him. “No, it wasn’t intended.”

  I groaned. “Can we please stop talking about this? We’re wasting valuable time.” I faced Lorcan. “Can you help us find him? You can travel faster than any of us can.”

  Lorcan bowed like he thought it was two hundred years ago. “Consider me now your humble servant,” he started.

  “Humble?” Wanda laughed.

  “I will and can travel anywhere you would like me to,” Lorcan continued. “Though, I can’t guarantee I’ll find him, but I shall certainly try.”

  I waved at Wanda. “You about ready to whip out that tracking spell?”

  Wanda rolled her eyes. “Fine. All this fuss is ruining our night though and we still aren’t any closer to finding a name for ourselves.”

  “Don’t you all already possess names?” Lorcan asked.

  “Wanda means for our girls’ club,” Libby answered.

  “And what girls’ club is this?” Lorcan continued.

  “This one,” Libby responded.

  Lorcan faced Wanda with a wide smile. “I did not know you had it within you to join a girls’ club, my dear. Is this something like the YMCA?”

  She glared at him. “No.” Then she spun on her heel and called to us over her shoulder as she started for the interior of the house again.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  She shrugged as she turned to face me. “You all might as well come inside. Hellcat seems to be hanging around this house—for now, at least.”

  “What are you going to do?” Libby asked.

  “I’m going to cast a tracking spell to put PP’s mind at ease.”

  “PP?” Lorcan questioned.

  “Right,” Wanda answered. “It’s Poppy’s new nickname.”

  “Ah, I do love nicknames. What does it stand for.”

  “Prude Poppy,” I grumbled.

  Lorcan’s eyebrows reached for the dark night sky. “Are you really so prude, my dear, that you require a title saying as much?”

  “No,” I answered as everyone else said, “yes!”

  ***

  The grandfather clock dinged from the corner of the living room, announcing it was now two in the morning as Wanda and I sat across from each other on the floor. The others surrounded us, all with expressions of worry on their faces. Wanda appeared just as calm and collected as she had earlier and I still had to wonder if, inside, she was hoping Hellcat never returned from whatever parallel dimension she thought he’d entered.

  She placed a plastic bowl half filled with water between us. She’d scratched magical sigils and symbols into the bottom of the bowl for scrying purposes and after she waved her hand over the top of it, the water suddenly turned into a highly reflective surface, looking like a mirror.

  “Okay, everyone needs to back up because I can’t concentrate when all of you are hovering and breathing down my neck,” she said as she looked up and glared at everyone. Libby and Fifi (who was now semi-coherent) moved into the kitchen, and out of range. Bailey relaxed on the loveseat across from us while Darla sat down just beside her. Meanwhile, Lorcan perched on the arm of the couch. He watched us with a bemused smile gracing his full lips.

  “That means you too, Lorcan,” Wanda said.

  “Darling, I’m number three of the three musketeers, am I not?”

  “Musket what?” Wanda repeated, frowning first at Lorcan, then at me. “What’s he talking about?”

  “I think he means we need him to help get Hellcat back,” I answered with a shrug.

  “This is all rather complicated, isn’t it?” Lorcan asked.

  “It isn’t my idea of a relaxing evening,” Wanda grumbled. “I was all for waiting for the spell to wear off and letting Hellcat find his own way home, but some people…”

  “Just cast the spell and spare me the lecture,” I snapped. “Hellcat could be halfway to Hogwarts by now.”

  “Maybe we’ll all be blessed and Professor Dumbledore will decide to keep the little rodent and he’ll send me an owl instead,” Wanda grumbled.

  Fifi started laughing, but she cut it off when I shot her a withering glare. Wanda cleared her throat and took my left hand. “You know the drill.”

  Right. I was supposed to pour the Divining Oil with my right hand while Wanda spoke the incantation. I knew the drill, all right. Wanda and I had carried out this scrying charm a few times in the past with mixed results. The point of the whole thing was to send one of us—namely, me—into a magical realm where I’d be able to see hidden realities normally shielded by spells and hexes. If Hellcat was anywhere in Haven Hollow—and we had no reason to believe he’d left the vicinity yet—I’d be able to see him through the spell.

  But, there was just one little thing that bothered me about the whole thing. Every other time we had attempted this, Wanda combined her magic with Hellcat’s in order to make it stronger. But, now, Hellcat wasn’t here, which meant the spell might not work at all. Yes, we had my magic to rely on but my magic wasn’t witch magic. And I wasn’t doubting myself either—it was true. Gypsy magic was strong, but it wasn’t as strong as witch magic.

  But, we could only try. I tipped up the bottle of the Divining Oil and the oil spilled into the bowl. Wanda muttered the spell under her breath. She always spoke the incantation so softly, I could never understand her. Whether she did so to keep the words a secret or whether the spell called for whispering, I didn’t know.

  The sigils etched into the bottom of the bowl started to glow in an eerie green radiance. I focused my attention on them and felt the familiar vertigo of the spell taking effect. I prepared myself to float through the roof into the night sky beyond my house.

  All at once, the symbols flared to a brilliant, electric blue. At that instant, Hellcat exploded into view right in front of my nose. I pulled back and shrieked, and I was fairly sure Lorcan shrieked with me.

  Chapter Five

  A powerful burst of compressed air hit me in the face and flung me backward. I got half a second’s glimpse of the cat twisting and writhing in mid-air. The impact flung Wanda off balance, too. She pitched almost to the floor before she corrected herself by planting her arm behind her to stop from falling over. She had a fleeting instant to thrust out her other hand toward the cat. She yelled out something that sounded like another language and then, with another loud bang, Hellcat vanished from view.

  Lorcan raised his eyebrows at the empty space where the cat just appeared. “My word! I believe I just saw my life flash before my eyes!”

  “Did you get anything—anything at all?” I asked Wanda, too concerned with the situation to bother with responding to Lorcan.

  She took a second to catch her breath. “No.”

  “Did you get any reading on where he went?”

  “No reading, but I can track him now.” She picked herself up and ran her fingers through her hair as she got control of her breathing. Then she closed her eyes and extended her hands out in front of her. “Yep, I got him—I can feel a connection, which means I can track him.”

  “If you can now track the little twit,” Lorcan started. “Then does that mean…”

  “Yes,” I interrupted. “We need you to be the one to grab him, since you can move much faster than either of us can drive.”

  “Very well.” Lorcan shot to the door in the blink of an eye. I rarely saw him move that fast, except when he fought monsters or magical forces. He usually emulated human speed. “I am happy to assist.”

  I grabbed my handbag and my car keys, and Wanda was right behind me. “Let’s go. We’ll take the Jeep and I’ll drive.”

  The whole lot of us trooped outside. The instant we reached the porch, Lorcan levitated into the air. He then hurtled upward without flexing his legs or spreading his arms. He just… took off—like a rocket.

  He zoomed into the night so fast, I lost sight of him. The next moment, he landed on top of the weeping willow tree—and by the top, I mean the very topmost tip. He stood on the highest point, on the thinnest, frailest, tiniest branch that was nowhere near strong enough to support a grown man’s weight.

  “Showoff,” Wanda grumbled.

  The moonlight framed Lorcan’s muscular body against the starry sky. A subtle breeze made the tree sway and yet, he still perched there, waving and balancing to the same rhythm. His hair and eyes sparkled in the eerie light and he had the expression of glee written all over his features. Clearly, one of us was enjoying this.

  I raced down the steps and piled into the driver’s seat of my Wrangler. Wanda climbed into the passenger seat while Bailey, Darla and Libby started for the back. Then we all faced Fifi, who was still standing on the porch, holding onto the railing so she wouldn’t lose her balance. Clearly, she was still three sheets to the wind. Well, in her case, it was probably more like five… possibly even six.

  “I’ll stay here with her,” Darla volunteered. “We’ll hold down the fort.”

  “Thanks, Darla,” I said as she just nodded and headed back to the house.

  “We’ll be back,” Bailey called out as she took a seat next to Libby in the back. “Fifi, just sleep it off!”

  “Sleep it off?” Libby muttered, shaking her head. “That girl is so inebriated, she’ll be ‘sleeping it off’ for the next two weeks.”

  “Call us if Hellcat comes back,” Wanda added, calling out the window to Darla.

  Fifi waved her phone as if to say she was cognizant enough to know what a phone was and stumbled back into the house. She tripped over the doorsill and almost fell over, but Darla caught her in time.

  “If she doesn’t pass out in the next two seconds, I’ll be shocked,” Bailey remarked.

  I shrugged, figuring Fifi was the least of my concerns at the moment. I then wondered whether or not I should let Astrid know what was going on, in case we’d be home later than expected and figuring it was a good idea, told Wanda to text her. Apparently thinking better of arguing with me, Wanda did just that. Then I turned on the engine, put the SUV into drive and gunned it as I peeled out of the driveway.

  “How are we going to find Hellcat?” Bailey asked.

  “I have to stop by my store because I’m almost out of the Divining Oil,” I replied as I looked at my passenger, who still didn’t appear to be very concerned with the situation. “Wanda, you can use the maps in my glove box to aid with your tracking spell.”

  “Maps?” Wanda opened the glove box and rummaged through the tire-changing manuals and insurance paperwork. “Who bothers with paper maps anymore?”

  “Me,” I retorted. “They come in handy when you need to do location magic.”

  She shrugged. “Good point, I suppose, though GPS works just as well.”

  “Regardless, find the one for Haven Hollow… and hurry.”

  “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying.” She didn’t sound hurried at all. She sounded bored and indulgent, but that could change any second. Wanda’s attention span was notoriously short. I could only hope that if she thought for an instant that Hellcat was in real danger, she’d change her tone.

  ***

  I skidded to the curb outside my store, Poppy’s Potions, and hopped out. Then I raced inside, snatched a fresh bottle of Divining Oil from behind the counter along with a bowl. I’d used up most of the other bottle on the scrying disaster earlier.

  I charged back to the Jeep and pitched everything into Wanda’s lap.

  “What the….?” she spluttered.

  “Get the water bottle out from under the seat. Half-fill the bowl and put five drops of this in the water.” I shoved the Divining Oil into her hand.

  “I’m not used to you being so… bossy, Poppy,” she said, frowning at me.

  “Well, get used to it for tonight because someone needs to take charge!” I answered.

  “Don’t have to tell me twice,” Wanda replied.

  Then I floored it and careened around the next two turns, running a red light, but it was a silly red light that had no business being there because it was leading to a road that was blocked by a gate at the far end, anyway.

  “Wasn’t that a red light?” Bailey asked.

  “What’s your point?” I demanded.

  “No point. No point. Carry on.”

  “Goodness,” Libby said from where I could see her reflection in the rear-view mirror. “Someone is craaanky!”

  Wanda finally balanced the bowl on her knees, even with my frantic driving. “Ready, Poppy Stalin.”

  I looked over at her as Bailey giggled from the back seat. “Stalin? Really?”

  “Is that your last name, Poppy?” Libby asked, her reflection in the rearview mirror revealing that she was scrunching up her nose as if to say she didn’t think it was.

  “No, Libby, Stalin isn’t my last name,” I answered, flustered.

  She nodded. “I believe it belongs to Joseph Stalin?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  She nodded again. “And I believe your last name is… Morton?”

  “It is.”

  “Poppy Zedong?” Bailey said as Wanda laughed.

  “Or Poppy Mussolini?” Wanda offered.

  “Ha-ha, so not funny,” I responded, glaring at both of them in turn.

  “Poppy Jong-un,” Bailey said.

  “Okay, I need your attention, please!” I managed as I took my eye off the road only long enough to make sure Wanda had the right map. The bowl was perched over a map of Haven Hollow with my house, Wanda’s house, and the graveyard in the center.