BooksBarbecue
Back Spells for Lost Things
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Prologue
  5. – 1 – Willow
  6. – 2 – Mason
  7. – 3 – Willow
  8. – 4 – Mason
  9. – 5 – Willow
  10. – 6 – Mason
  11. – 7 – Willow
  12. – 8 – Mason
  13. – 9 – Willow
  14. – 10 – Mason
  15. – 11 – Willow
  16. – 12 – Mason
  17. – 13 – Willow
  18. – 14 – Mason
  19. – 15 – Willow
  20. – 16 – Mason
  21. – 17 – Willow
  22. – 18 – Mason
  23. – 19 – Willow
  24. – 20 – Mason
  25. – 21 – Willow
  26. – 22 – Mason
  27. – 23 – Willow
  28. – 24 – Mason
  29. – 25 – Willow
  30. – 26 – Mason
  31. – 27 – Willow
  32. – 28 – Mason
  33. – 29 – Willow
  34. – 30 – Mason
  35. – 31 – Willow
  36. – 32 – Mason
  37. – 33 – Willow
  38. – 34 – Mason
  39. Acknowledgments
  40. More from the Author
  41. About the Author
  42. ALSO BY JENNA EVANS WELCH

My heart is in my throat, but her words calm me down. Of course, it’s one of the aunts. They basically invited me over. They’re probably waiting upstairs to ambush me with more hugs. “You’re right,” I say. But then the noise moves to a thud, thud, thud. Almost like jumping.

The aunts are energetic, but I’m guessing they don’t do a lot of jumping jacks.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s them.” My heart picks up speed again. “Maybe it’s an animal. It sounds like someone is jumping around on the roof. And…” Shuffling. A dragging noise. Then quiet. I take a deep breath. “Someone’s on the roof.”

“Oookay, so you’re leaving now,” she says.

“No, I’m not,” I say. I know I should be feeling scared right now, but instead of bolting, running for my absolute life, I find myself looking up. And then for reasons I don’t understand—maybe it’s my burning curiosity, maybe it’s the powerful-feeling book in my hand, maybe it’s the thought that I am the niece of a witch—I find my feet guiding me toward the staircase.

“I’m going upstairs to look,” I tell Bea. “If you don’t hear from me in five minutes, call my mom’s cell phone and tell her I’m at Sage’s house.”

“What? Are you joking? Absolutely not. I order you to—” Bea yells.

“I’ll call you back.” I turn off my phone and put my foot on the first step.

– 10 – Mason

It’s almost ten by the time I make my move.

I’ve been lying awake since everyone went to bed an hour ago, and I’ve been counting the minutes, willing the digits on my alarm clock to move faster. After dinner, we rode bikes to Sugar Bean Coffee & Doughnuts, with the girls shouting out helpful tips for my riding while I wobbled dangerously along the edge of the street. The only person who seemed less interested in the outing was Nova, who was forced into a helmet and then emitted a small dark rain cloud that followed her all along the route.

When we got to the shop, I ordered a salted toffee doughnut before joining the several tables the Morgans had claimed against the back wall. And when Emma saw my doughnut, she said, “Too bad it’s not a sugared jelly.” Which made me choke, because jelly doughnuts from Dunkin’ Donuts are my mom’s favorite food in the world. She liked to add an extra pack of sugar to the top, which is what made them sugared jellies, not just jelly, and of course Emma knows that.

It’s a reminder that Emma knows my mom, really knows her. And addiction or not, there is literally no one in the world like my mom. How could Emma have turned her back on her?