“Mew.” The cat sat up ahead. Looking at me, then at the wall. At me, and then the wall. Clearly, she was trying to tell me something.

As I tiptoed up to her, I could hear voices. My blood chilled when I recognized one of them as Carson Bates.

The gap in the boards in front of the cat looked different from the others. It was a door. A secret doorway that led into the room. Pressing my face against one of the slats, I looked into an ornate library.

Bookshelves lined the walls. Two tufted leather sofas sat facing each other in the middle of the room. A large stone fireplace filled the opposite wall.

Idris Bates stood at the end of one of the sofas. Hadn’t Derek said he was sick? He looked fine to me. Felicity sat on the sofa, her white, flowing dress spread out on the seat on either side of her. Carson stood at the fireplace.

“I can recreate these and we can turn things in our favor. We’ll own this town.” She pointed toward the coffee table, her wide sleeves fluttering around her wrists.

My eyes slid to where she pointed and my breath caught in my throat. The book Carson had taken from me lay on the table, the binding open to the middle, revealing the ink covered parchment pages.

“I don’t know, Felicity. Your spells have mostly backfired, so far.” Idris Bates looked at his daughter-in-law disapprovingly.

Carson coughed over by the fireplace, and the two other Bates’ looked at him. “We need to make use of what’s in the book if we plan to turn Mystic Notch to our side.”

My eyes slid from Carson to the book. I had no idea what he meant by ‘turn Mystic Notch to our side’, but I had a pretty good idea it wasn’t anything I would like. It all hinged on the book and I was the one that had screwed up and let Carson get ahold of it. If anything bad happened in Mystic Notch because of it, it would be my fault.

I had to make things right.

I was contemplating just how to do that when a hand clamped over my mouth and pulled me back down the passage, stifling the scream that tried to burst from my throat.

***

“Shhh … I’m on your side.”

Really? It doesn’t feel like it, I thought as I clawed at whomever it was, my eyes darting wildly as he pulled me into a little alcove.

“I’ll help you get the book.”

That got my attention. I stopped struggling and tried to turn to see who it was.

“Promise you won’t scream if I let go,” he said. “If you do, the rest of them will come running and it won’t be a good ending for you.”

I nodded.