How to Stone a Crow (Witch Like a Boss Book 2) by Willow Mason (great novels txt) 📕

“And the old dentist,” Patrick added. “Remember Wes told us that, this morning?”

A bird landed behind me, giving an indignant squawk until I stepped aside to let it join its friends.

“What’s a group of these things called?” Jared asked with a nervous laugh. “A squadron.”

“A murder,” my aunt supplied in a dry voice.

“Do you think…” Patrick trailed off until I gave him a nudge in the ribs. “Sorry. It’s stupid, but… Do you think that’s the murder Andrew was talking about?”

“Given the number of times he mentioned a killer on the loose as well, I doubt it.” When his face fell, I jerked my chin at his meter. “What are they registering on your thingamabob?”

He turned the machine on, then snapped the switch off when it went crazy. “Uh, high.”

A new arrival landed to my side, then stepped forward and pecked at my sneaker. “What?” When the bird attacked it again, I kicked at its head, unease making me cruel. The crow swerved easily, keeping me in its sight until I relaxed my foot, whereupon it pecked at my shoe again.

“Raaahhhhh!” Jared screamed.

His efforts went unremarked by the birds but made me jump a foot.

“This is not right.” Genevieve stepped back, taking a photo of the birds on her phone. “Anyone got a scarecrow spell in their pocket?”

“It’s something about keeping the crops safe and…” My aunt rubbed her forehead. To see her so flustered made me more scared than the birds themselves. “Desdemona, can you just rustle up some magic and throw it at them?”

I obliged, sending out a ball of sparkles twice as strong as the one that had rolled Evelyn’s door up like paper. The magic hovered in the air as though uncertain what to do. “Move them on, for goodness’ sake. Get them out of here.”

It spread out in a layer, then the sparkles dissipated, some wafting away in the gentle breeze and the rest sinking into the ground.

“Good work.” My aunt pulled me back and stepped forward to take my place. “How about bibble, babble, bros, get rid of your crows.”

All the jazz hand flourishes in the world couldn’t make that spell stick. The birds continued to peck at the ground and the headstone, undeterred.

“This is nonsense. I’m a thousand times bigger than they are. Stupid things.” With a few hand gestures learned from old karate movies, I advanced on the group. “Get out of here, now!” I shoved my hand at the one perching atop the stone, recoiling as my fingers touched its feathers. They felt slick and oily, nothing at all like the soft feathers of a duckling I’d held as a child.

The bird cawed, then chased my hand as I withdrew it, pecking at the back and raising a talon to claw at my wrist. Blood spilled from the small line it drew in my flesh and I shoved at it, this time connecting with force.

“Protect your eyes.” Genevieve’s warning came in the nick of time. I threw an arm across my face just as the sneaker pecker decided to aim for a juicier target. The flutter of wings in the air made me want to cancel my subscription to hearing. I staggered backwards, reassured when Patrick caught me and guided me away.

“I can’t believe I’m being driven out of my property by a bunch of souped-up blackbirds.” Not that I let my disbelief hinder my efforts to run away. “What’s the number for the nearest exterminator? I want their best here, right now.”

My indignation was still strong when we reached the safety of home. I opened the front door with a shaking hand, drawing a deep breath to calm myself in case Gareth still lurked downstairs.

He didn’t. We stumbled into the dining room and I flipped a switch on the kettle. Coffee would deal mischief to my nerves, but a hot drink was the only solution my shattered mind could think of.

“That was freaky,” Patrick said.

The inadequacy of the statement sent me into a gasp of startled laughter. “You can say that again.”

“That was freaky,” he and Jared chorused.

“We need the entire avian section of the library,” Genevieve said. “I’ve asked Maribelle to pull anything that might be relevant.”

“Do you think they were possessed?” I turned to Patrick. “Is animal possession even a thing?”

“There’s stuff in the literature, though I’ve never seen a case of it myself. If a spirit needs to harbour in a body and a human isn’t available, they can take refuge in animal form.”

“So each of those crows was a potential ghost?”

This time, he shook his head. “I doubt it. It’s far more likely the spirit is too large to be contained in one form.”

Genevieve snapped her fingers. “That’s why they were acting in concert. Because they were one being.”

“One being who needs to get sent back to the grave, quick-smart.” I pulled a sticking plaster out of the drawer and awkwardly stripped the back off, applying it one-handed. “Do you think I need a shot?”

“Here.” Aunt Florentine leant over and cast a quick spell. The flash of sparkles that settled into my skin took away the worst of the sting instantly. That and a chocolate digestive put me on the road to recovery.

“Why are all these spirits attacking simultaneously?” I pushed my hair back and sat at the table, dusting crumbs off my top.

“Remember the dentist office smoke?” Patrick said, then quickly explained to the rest of the group. “Somebody or -bodies brought this forth. It’s not a natural phenomenon.”

“Who’d want to raise Benedict from the dead?” Aunt Florentine sniffed. “The man was a ruthless brute when he was alive. Apart from his vast fortune, he had no redeeming qualities.”

“How much of a fortune?” Jared’s eyes lit up. “Would there be a reward for solving this mystery?”

“I thought you didn’t want payment,” I said with a grin.

“Not from you and Patrick. However, a modest inheritance would go a long way towards making me more comfortable.”

“There was nothing modest