Battle of the Hexes Read online

  Battle of the Hexes

  A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery

  M.Z. Andrews

  Battle of the Hexes

  A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery

  Season Two - Book Two

  (Book Eleven in Series)

  by

  M.Z. Andrews

  Copyright © M.Z. Andrews 2020

  ASIN: B08272W55R

  ISBN: 9798601809948

  VS: 012020.01

  Cover Art by: Arrigo Verderosa

  Editing by: Clio Editing Services

  All characters herein are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is dedicated to a terrific fan, Elisa Rowe-Dye Mahoney, who not only named Sorceress Charise Delacroix, but made her jump off the page in my mind.

  Thank you Elisa!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Also by M.Z. Andrews

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Electric-green liquid swirled inside the round-bottomed glass beaker. A trembling hand held the beaker up high while magnified blue eyes blinked through plastic-shielded lenses. The potion inside the beaker began to bubble, forming a frothy white layer atop the liquid.

  The blue eyes grew wider.

  With her breath jammed in the back of her throat, Jax Stone’s intent stare lifted to skip across the room.

  At the table next to hers, Emma Raddack’s potion was bright red. Jax’s eyes darted over to Aurora Kimball, the ginger-haired girl sharing a lab table with Emma. Using only her mind, Aurora had her beaker suspended in midair. She moved her fingers gracefully and the beaker spun, tipping gently from side to side and making the liquid inside swirl. Aurora peered up at the glass against the light, eyeing it carefully like she was examining a fine wine.

  Jax’s heart sank, landing with a nauseating thud in the pit of her stomach. Not only was Aurora’s potion not bubbling, but it was also not green. In fact, it was almost the same exact shade of red as Emma Raddack’s.

  The small pink-haired pixie of a girl put her beaker on the table and adjusted the pointy black hat on top of her head. Feeling the first wave of panic settling over her, Jax sucked in her bottom lip and bit down hard to keep the tears at bay. Trying hard to be nonchalant, she looked over her shoulder at the two girls behind her table.

  The tall blonde in the short skirt and cream-colored leggings was CC Briggs, and the one with the short black curly hair, the tight black jeans, and the cute little upturned nose was Pepper Calloway.

  Over the course of the last month of school, CC and Pepper had easily become the first year’s most popular girls. Not only were they both smart, incredibly gifted witches, but they were also extremely well liked by the wizard school students next door. And unfortunately for Jax, neither of the girls seemed to like her very much. So much so, it seemed, that she’d found herself to be the butt of many of their jokes, hushed conversations, and disapproving glares. So it was no surprise that they paid Jax little attention when she looked back at them to see that both of their potions were red too, with nary a bit of froth to be seen.

  Now completely convinced that she’d conjured the spell incorrectly, Jax swung her eyes down to look at her beaker again. The bubbling had intensified. In the few seconds it had taken her to glance around the room, the once-green liquid had been all but consumed by frothy white bubbles. Her mouth gaped as the froth rose quickly inside the beaker. Now completely terrified, Jax lifted her gaze higher, searching out her professor for a bit of assistance.

  Sorceress Charise Delacroix was at the head of the room, speaking animatedly with another student and not paying attention to the rest of the class. Jax shifted uncomfortably. After a hard swallow, she opened her mouth to let out a plea for help but found her words jammed up in the back of her throat. While she wanted to holler, she also didn’t want to admit she’d messed up in front of her classmates, especially CC and Pepper, who already thought she was a joke of a witch. Plus, if she were being honest, her professor intimidated her immensely.

  Sorceress Delacroix was a tall, imposing woman with kinky black hair that fired out behind her head like she’d once ridden on a motorcycle too fast and her tresses had frozen like that. A pair of thick white streaks of hair radiated backwards from her temples like white lightning, giving her a skunk-like appearance. Despite her size, crazy hair, and commanding presence, Sorceress Delacroix had warm hazel eyes that, when seen in the right light, appeared to change colors with her mood. Though her eyes softened her otherwise stern face, that didn’t change the fact that Jax was too embarrassed and too afraid to say anything about her developing problem.

  Still unsure of what to do, she looked down at her beaker helplessly. The white bubbles had risen to the neck of the beaker now, like a shaken soda bottle about to explode. Taking a deep, centering breath, Jax tried to concentrate as Ms. Primrose, the new headmistress of the Paranormal Institute for Witches, had told her to do during one of her private tutoring sessions. Jax focused on the potion and the little box of supplies she’d gathered at her table for the day’s lessons. Inside was a little brown cork. Hadn’t Sorceress Delacroix said to cap the beaker if anything went wrong? Her eyes slid over to the beaker of white liquid next to the box of supplies. Or had she said to pour in a base solution?

  Jax tipped her head sideways. Panicking now, she couldn’t quite remember the instructions. She’d been so focused on the order of the ingredients and the chant that went with the spell that she really hadn’t been paying attention to all of the instructions. But it only made sense to cork it. After all, if it was a soda bubbling up like that, that’s what she would do. She’d close the cap tightly to keep it from exploding. Surely that was the right answer.

  Focusing all of her energy on the cork, Jax wiggled her fingers. To her surprise and tremendous delight, it bounced up out of the box and hovered in the air. The tiny movement brought an inadvertent smile to her lips and made her want to let out a little squeal. Even lifting something as small and insignificant as a cork was a big deal for Jax. It was something she wouldn’t have been able to do just a few short weeks ago. Not without touching it, anyway. Now she was actually able to lift it up off the table using only her magic. She’d have to thank Headmistress Primrose for the extra tutoring.

  Sure now that she knew what she was doing, Jax corked the frothy liquid before it could escape from the beaker. Sending an undercover glance around the room, Jax hoped that no one
had noticed her short-lived moment of panic and the fact that her potion hadn’t turned red like the rest of the class’s.

  As if they’d been waiting for her, Sorceress Delacroix rang the bell at the front of the room to get everyone’s attention. “Ladies! Time’s up. How did we do with the potion? If you did it correctly, everyone’s potion should have turned a cherry red.” Using her magic, she levitated one of the beakers a student had mixed at the front of the room to show the class.

  “Mine did,” called out one of the young women at the front of the room.

  “Yup, mine too,” began the chorus of girls’ voices around the room.

  Sorceress Delacroix gave a broad smile and nodded. “Good. Very good. Did anyone’s potion not turn cherry red?”

  Jax swallowed hard and felt her body go cold. She’d screwed it up. But there was no way she was admitting that out loud to the class. She made a mental note to add that to the list of things she’d need to ask about at her tutoring session that afternoon.

  When she heard no discussion, Sorceress Delacroix, shoved the sleeves of her robe back and clapped her hands together. “Very good! Then we’ll move on to the next po—”

  But before the instructor could finish her sentence, Jax and the rest of the class were startled by a loud hissing sound. Jax’s body froze when she realized it was coming from behind her at her lab table. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she shot a glance over her shoulder at her beaker and immediately her eyes bulged. It seemed that corking her beaker had only served to anger the potion, and now it hissed crazily in front of her. But just before she could flick a finger to pop the top off, the cork blew! It shot up into the air like a tiny ballistic missile, erupting with such tremendous force that it blew a hole through the classroom ceiling! The eruption was followed by a bright burst of green liquid spewing up into the air.

  Gasps and terrified screams filled the room, making Jax’s heart stop.

  All eyes in the room were on the gushing geyser as it rose to the ceiling and then came splashing down, covering Jax’s pink hair and hat with green goo, soaking her smock, and coating her safety goggles with the pungent-smelling liquid. Jax’s cheeks flushed hot and a horrible sense of utter humiliation coated her entire being.

  As raucous laughter began to fill the room, a burst of energy shot past her, catching the remainder of the geyser in midair and freezing it into long green daggers.

  “Silence!” roared Sorceress Delacroix from behind Jax. Crossing the room in mere seconds, the senior witch walked over to Jax. Her hands were still out in front of herself, holding those green daggers in place. With one easy swipe to the side, they slid sideways through the air and then, with a downward flick of her wrists, the daggers dropped into the wastebasket.

  Sorceress Delacroix’s color-changing eyes were now the color of coal flecked with glowing crimson, like twin embers freshly plucked from a fire. Her eyebrows were lowered and her brow creased while she scowled. When the laughter didn’t fade fast enough, Sorceress Delacroix roared again. “I said, silence!”

  This time, the class fell quiet.

  Jax’s slim body slumped forward and her eyes swung down to the floor. “Sorry, Sorceress,” Jax whispered. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “Did you or did you not hear me say that under no circumstances should you cork your potion?”

  Jax’s brows lifted. “Oh. That’s what you said?” She swallowed hard and fought back a trembling bottom lip. She couldn’t even try and look up. She was too afraid of the looks she knew she was being given.

  “Yes. That’s what I said. What did you think I said?”

  Jax let out a little uncomfortable sigh and then shrugged. “I thought you said if we had a problem we should cork it.”

  Sorceress Delacroix stared at Jax for a long moment, like she was sizing her up.

  Jax shifted uncomfortably in her black witch boots and scratched at the back of her hairline. Awkward. Can’t you stare at me when we’re alone and not when everyone else is staring too?

  Sorceress Delacroix clicked her tongue. She’d been a teacher at the Institute under Jax’s mother, Sorceress SaraLynn Stone. She’d been an amazing witch. Jax was sure Sorceress Delacroix was wondering how it was possible that Jax had any of her mother’s DNA in her. Maybe she was even going so far as to wonder if Jax had been adopted. “See me after class, Ms. Stone.”

  Jax’s head bobbed almost imperceptibly. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You may clean this up now,” she instructed quietly.

  Jax let out a heavy-hearted sigh as Sorceress Delacroix strode confidently back to the front of the room, her dark layered dress and robe rustling as she walked.

  “Sorceress Delacroix,” called out a bouncy voice behind Jax, “maybe this class is too advanced for her.”

  Jax’s heart froze.

  “Excuse me?” said the professor, now standing in front of the class again.

  Jax looked over her shoulder at CC Briggs, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I mean, we all know she doesn’t have any real powers,” said CC, to Jax’s complete mortification. “Her mom was just doing her a favor by letting her stay in witch school.”

  “Ms. Briggs, I don’t see how any of this is your—”

  “She’s wasting your time, and she’s wasting our time,” CC continued, cutting off Sorceress Delacroix’s rebuttal.

  “Maybe she should just go back to elementary school where she belongs,” Pepper Calloway added.

  While some girls in the room looked regretful that CC and Pepper had said what they’d said, a handful of girls snickered.

  “Silence!” Sorceress Delacroix’s eyes now glowed completely red. She held out one long pointed finger and aimed it in CC and Pepper’s direction. “Ms. Briggs, Ms. Calloway, and all of you that found this little disturbance amusing—you will all do well to remember that this is a higher learning institution. There will be no laughter when we make mistakes. And further, I do not allow bullying in my classroom.”

  “Bullying?” remarked CC, touching her fingers to her chest. “We aren’t bullying her. I’m just stating a fact. She doesn’t know magic.” CC ended her remark with a sly grin as she looked at Jax.

  Completely humiliated, Jax kept her eyes trained on Sorceress Delacroix instead of giving CC or Pepper the satisfaction of looking at them and letting them know how much their comments had hurt. And in that moment, Jax was pretty sure she’d never seen the sorceress look so enraged. She watched as the teacher drew in a deep breath as if to try and calm herself. Turning, Sorceress Delacroix leaned her wide bottom against the side of her desk and crossed her arms over her heavy bosom. “Let me tell you girls a story.”

  “Oh, great. Here we go,” said Pepper snidely out of the side of her mouth.

  “Have a seat, Ms. Calloway. You’d do well to listen.”

  Pepper and CC rolled their eyes, but as the rest of the girls around the room began to take seats at their lab tables, so did Pepper and CC. Jax, on the other hand, had a pile of green sludge in her chair, so with her eyes slung low, she moved quietly towards the back of the room to begin cleaning up the mess she’d made. As she passed CC and Pepper, her long lashes flickered back up just in time to catch them both staring at her with smarmy grins on their faces.

  Jax’s heart fell. She struggled to hold back the tears that dampened her eyes. She’d thought the year before was hard—going to witch school and not actually being a witch. But she’d never dreamed that it would be even harder to go to school being a witch.

  She knew her powers were there. She felt them. From time to time they even did what she wanted them to do, but they were far from consistent. And it was starting to become embarrassing.

  Tearing her eyes away from the girls, Jax began to gather paper towels and cleaning supplies as Sorceress Delacroix began her story.

  “Years ago, I was a first-year student at the Institute, just like all of you are now. I went to school with a young woman by the name of Lydia Caulfield. I didn
’t know Lydia very well, but I’d had her in several of my classes. She struggled with her magic, as others likely have throughout the years. And because of that, she was teased and taunted mercilessly for months by some of the other students.”

  Jax turned around to look at Sorceress Delacroix. There had been others that had gone through what she was going through? Just the thought of that made her feel not quite as alone as she had before. The sorceress met Jax’s eyes. They were their usual warm hazel color again, and Jax felt the tiniest glimpse of hope that maybe, just maybe, things would get better.

  “Did she just suddenly know how to use her magic powers one day and everything got better?” asked Jax hopefully, avoiding looking at anyone else but her teacher.

  Sorceress Delacroix’s eyes changed then. Now they were a funny shade of gray, as if a cloud had just passed across them. She lowered her chin slightly. “Sadly, no. I wish that was what had happened. But it wasn’t. Something—well, something disastrous happened to her, quite honestly.”

  Jax’s bottom lip quivered. She wondered if the tragedy had been that the woman had never learned to use her magic properly or something and she’d been bullied for the rest of her life because of it.

  “Oh,” she whispered, fighting back tears. Because just like that, that tiny of glimmer of hope was extinguished.