Read Online Wicked Ways: Death at the DuMond (A Cozy Witch Mystery Book 1) by Ava Collins - Free Book Online Page A

exactly tied into the criminal underground. So, I had no idea where else to look.
    Ironically, if Otto was dealing in stolen art, he probably knew others who were dealing in stolen merchandise as well. But it wasn’t like I could go and ask him directly without raising suspicion. It’s not like he would admit to it, or tell me anyway.
    This was going to call for a bit of magic. I was going to need to do a location spell. I shuddered at the thought. I had promised Mom that I wouldn’t do any heavy magic. Especially after what happened in high school. My stomach fluttered with nerves.
    The last time I had done any real magic, that outcome was horrible. It was a stupid thing to do, in retrospect. But I was madly, desperately in love with my, then, boyfriend—in that dreamy, fluffy kind of way. The kind of way that makes the rational part of your brain stop functioning. Even if I hadn’t done something stupid, I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked out with Dylan anyway. Not past high school, at least. 
    I got jealous. And I’m not really the jealous type. But I saw him out on a date with my best friend. I reacted in a less than ideal way. Okay, so I freaked out. Instead of just handling the situation calmly, I took drastic measures. Measures that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.
    My heart was broken, and my stomach felt like a hollow pit. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I was frenzied at the thought of losing Dylan. So, against my better judgment, I conjured up a love potion. Something I had never done before. Something that I wasn’t very good at.
    To this day, I’m not exactly sure what went wrong. But it didn’t make him love me more. It transformed him into a hideous troll. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have given him the potion in the cafeteria during lunch. Chaos ensued. I think I put in too much eye of newt. 
    The transformation only lasted a few hours. Mom was furious. Grandma thought the potion was probably just bringing out his true personality. Who knows, maybe the potion worked just like it was supposed to. Perhaps every wrong choice gets you closer to the right one.
    Needless to say, Dylan wasn’t too happy with me after that. Especially given the fact that he says he was only out with my best friend in order to talk about me. He says he was afraid he was losing me and wanted the inside scoop from her about how to keep me. 
    Ugh. Boys.
    After that incident, I have been a little gun shy. I didn’t really want to do a location spell, but I had no choice. I would need something of Charlotte’s. But it’s not like I could tell Charlotte that I needed one of her possessions to perform a spell. She would think me crazy. And as a general rule, witches are supposed to keep their craft to themselves.
    I wracked my brain thinking about how I could acquire one of her possessions. Short of breaking into her apartment, I was at a loss. I had done enough snooping around already. Besides, I’m not very good at location spells. And stealing items to perform a spell is bad mojo. I needed to acquire the item legitimately.
    “Why don’t you just ask her to borrow a dress?” Bancroft said. “You both are about the same size.”
    “Banksy, you are brilliant.”
    I scurried to Elliott’s apartment and knocked on the door. Charlotte answered and looked a little perplexed. I don’t blame her, I didn’t ever really speak to her outside of social gatherings. I’m sure she was shocked to see me.
    “Hi, Charlotte. How are you?”
    “I’m fine,” she stammered.
    “I have a huge favor to ask.”
    “I’m sorry, but I can’t loan you any money.” She started to close the door.
    “No, I’m not asking for money,” I blurted out.
    Charlotte paused. “Then, what do you want?”
    “I have an event. And I have nothing to wear. I thought that since you are always so impeccably dressed, that you might be able to help me.”
    Her eyes surveyed me, wondering what I was up to.
    “We are relatively