Page 115 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

“A hole?”

It nodded.

“Okay a hole. Enid is going to hide in a hole somewhere? She’s going to dig a hole to bury the townspeople in?”

Godwitches, that got dark real quick.

Vine shook its head again, and I shoved a hand through my hair, growing increasingly frustrated.

“He’s saying she’s going through a hole,” a voice said, and I turned to see Fiona standing in the doorway.

“Yes, I think that’s right,” Margaret chirped from a painting. “That was definitely what Vine was trying to say.”

“Through a hole,” I murmured, not even able to summon shock at their appearance in my lab. “Through a hole.”

Fiona shrugged. “She’s probably going to the Otherworld. I read about how you have to crawl through a hole to get there.”

“Oh,” Margaret said. “You’re good at this.”

All the color drained from my face, and I whirled toward Vine. “Is that it? Is she planning to go to the Otherworld?”

Enid had told me all about it the other night. Once she went through a burial mound, she couldn’t come back. I pressed my hands into the counter and dropped my head, taking deep breaths, panic filling me.

“Is he okay?” Fiona asked.

“I don’t think so,” Margaret said.

I lifted my head. “She’s going to leave. Forever. That’s her plan. She thinks if she leaves it’ll solve the problem.”

Fiona’s bottom lip jutted out. “But she can’t do that. What about all of us? Doesn’t she know she’ll never see us again?”

Never see her again. I felt sick. This couldn’t be happening.

Fiona pointed behind me. “I think Vine is trying to show us something.”

I didn’t care anymore. I had no idea how long I’d been passed out, but I knew it was long enough that I’d never catch up to Enid. By this point, she had to be across the bog and to the town limits. I had no hope of catching her.

Margaret squinted. “Isn’t that Enid’s?”

That got my attention, and I slowly turned, finding Vine dangling Enid’s amulet in the air.

“Where did you get this?” I snatched the necklace from it and looped it around my own neck.

Vine lifted it and tugged.

“You took it from her?” My eyes bulged. “Why would you take this? This is the only way she can use her magic and protect herself—” I stopped abruptly, understanding hitting me.

“I think he just had an idea,” Fiona said.

“I think you’re right,” Margaret responded.

The amulet was cold and glassy between my thumb and forefinger. “Vine took it because it was the only way to keep Enid from leaving our world forever. Without her amulet, she can’t get to the Otherworld. If Vine hadn’t taken this, Enid would be lost to me. To us.”

Fiona’s eyes welled with tears. “So she’s not in the Otherworld yet? There’s still hope?”

I shook my head. She couldn’t be.

“Then where is she?” Fiona asked.