Cozy Mystery: Cake Spell Disaster (A Haven Witch Woman Sleuths Book) COMPLETED

TWELVE

"Felicity!" Lincoln yelled, practically crashing into a nurse who was changing the bandage on my forehead. Grayson was sitting nearby, looking pale.

Lincoln drew my hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. I could tell he wanted to hug me tightly but was afraid he might hurt me.

"Lincoln, you're crushing my hand."

He looked down at my hand, which was turning white.

"Sorry," he said, letting go. A deep blush crept into his cheeks.

Lincoln cleared his throat and looked to my right, where my mother lay in her own hospital bed. When I'd asked Dr. Wallace if I could be put in the same room as her, he'd had no objection. She wasn't in ICU since her coma was not life threatening. No one could quite understand why she hadn't woken up yet.

"Dr. Wallace says you're going to be fine," Lincoln assured me.

I knew he'd been worried. It was sweet, and I felt bad about our last argument.

"I know. It was just a little bump on the head. I'm not sure the same can be said for my car though."

I had the feeling that my poor Corolla had taken a strong beating by the palm tree I'd hit. It was lucky for me that palm tree trunks were so skinny. It was unfortunate for my Corolla that the palm we'd hit happened to be one that grew Mammoth Coconuts. I'd gotten out of my car just in time to avoid being crushed by the two thirty-pound coconuts that had fallen onto my roof.

"I'm glad you're okay," Lincoln said.

"Me, too," Grayson chimed in from his seat. He hadn't spoken much since he'd arrived. I had the feeling that my being here had freaked him out. Having a mother and sister both in the hospital must have been stressful.

"Maybe we can go shopping for new cars together," I said to Grayson, a sly smile on my face.

Lincoln turned to look at him. "What happened to your old car? I thought you loved that Prius."

Grayson blushed and turned away. "I thought it was time for an upgrade," he mumbled.

I sighed, knowing that I what I was about to say would get me in trouble with both Lincoln and Grayson.

"Can one of you hand me my purse?" I asked.

Grayson got it for me and I pulled out the threatening note I'd found on my windshield days before. Grayson and Lincoln both paled when they read it.

"You should have told me about this," Lincoln said.

"I know."

"I can't believe you'd keep something so serious from your own brother," Grayson muttered angrily.

"I'm sorry."

Dr. Wallace came in just then and saved me from any further interrogations.

"Well, I have some interesting news," Dr. Wallace said, handing Lincoln a stack of papers.

Lincoln looked at them and his head shot up in surprise. "Fluffernutter root?"

"That's right," Dr. Wallace said. He turned to me. "I ran a cross check between your mom's baked goods and the snacks in your car. They contained Fluffernutter root. I'm assuming you didn't add that to your cracker cakes and fruit tarts yourself, did you?"

"No," I replied, my mind racing. Fluffernutter root. This simple, usually safe ingredient was responsible for so much destruction lately.

"I guess I'm lucky I'm not sick," I said.

"You have no reason to be sick. Your snacks contained Fluffernutter root... and just Fluffernutter root," Dr. Wallace said. We all looked at him. "We got the final results from your mother's cakes and pastries. The Fluffernutter root was mixed with demigone."

We all gasped.

Demigone was not only a dangerous herb known for causing illness, it was considered dark magic. It was illegal and good witches and wizards avoided it like the plague.

"Demigone," Lincoln murmured. "Are you positive?"

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Wallace said. "That certainly explains why so many people fell ill at Mayor Singer's party. The good news is that now that I know what we're dealing with, I can prepare an antidote for your mother. It's already in the works. She should be awake by tomorrow."

Grayson and I looked at each other, relief washing over us both.

"Felicity," Lincoln said. I'd never seen him look more serious. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you. And your mother. She would never have demigone in her shop. There's no way she could be responsible for what happened."

I could tell it was hard for him to say all this. Lincoln hated being wrong. He didn't know it, but he was scoring extra points right now for swallowing his pride and apologizing to me.

Grayson stood up. "We need to find out who on the island has demigone. It can't be more than one or two people."

"I'll call my deputies now and tell them to begin an investigation."

"There's no need to bother," I said, rising from the bed. Lincoln attempted to push me back down but I refused to budge.

"There's only one person on this island who would use demigone," I told Lincoln and Grayson. "And she's going to be sorry she ever messed with me and my family."

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