Page 81 of Autumn L.A.W

“Bleeds.”

“Of course it does.”

“And Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid,” Joell finished. “Borneo. If you can’t find it, you can buy one for five thousand dollars.”

Victoria dropped the pen onto the paper. “Absolutely not. I already owe you all. I am not adding ‘botanical bankruptcy’ to this situation.”

Joell planted a hand on her hip. “You’re taking the money. You’ll have to freeze your assets if you haven’t already.”

Victoria opened her mouth.

“No argument,” Joell added. “We’re funding this. You’re fixing this. End of discussion.”

Victoria stared at her. Then sighed. “Fine. But I’m writing you all into my will.”

“Uh… One more thing. The spell also requires you to capture the witch who put the curse on you in the first place.”

Victoria’s head spun, overwhelmed by the task that lay ahead of her. “Mon Dieu! All I wanted to do this week was write my next erotica novel.”

“I’m sorry, dear friend. I’m sure we’d all be willing to help as much as we can, but all we have is this one week, while we shelter in place and PMS influences our emotions. We’re super-women, but as advertised, we are women! Prone to the same biology as other women.”

Lioness quickly changed the subject. “Do tell, Victoria! What will your next best seller be about?”

Victoria smirked. “You know how every author on the planet is writing Christmas stories, probably hoping Hallmark will fall in love with their unagented submissions?”

“Ah, yes...” Magda said. “Some of them are positively off their Kadoovas, if they think they'll make it out of the slush pile.”

“Don't tell me you're competing in that game,” Sahara said.

“Certainly not! I'll write about Yule, Ostara, Beltane, or Samhain.”

“Oh!” Joell exclaimed. “Crowe and I can help you with Beltane.”

“That's right! Crowe, you gave up your feline body right before the Beltane celebration,” Sahara reminisced.

“And I've never regretted it,” he said as he lifted Joell's hand and gave it a lick. Everyone chuckled.

“So, it wasn't a cat-tastrophy?” Lioness asked.

“Don't make me groan,” Victoria said, but laughed with the others anyway. Lioness might be full of bad puns, but she never failed to lighten the mood. And Victoria needed a moment of levity badly.

She was determined to break the curse, so she agreed to do whatever it took. She thanked them for their help, even if it was only what they could do from the mansion. Soon she'd set off on her journey to break the curse and reclaim her body. After about twelve hours of sleep.

Victoria woke to a rooster crowing. She forgot where she was for a few moments. At last, she remembered she was not at her Montreal apartment or at the mansion on Long Island, NY, but in the mountains of Tennessee.

“Fantastic.”

She pushed herself upright and swung her legs off the bed, already making a face at the effort. This body did not spring. It negotiated.

Two problems loomed, neither polite enough to wait their turn. First, she had to find seven rare ingredients, scattered across the globe like a sadistic scavenger hunt. And then capture one body-stealing lunatic currently living her best life in Victoria’s skin.

Victoria dragged a hand through her hair. “Fine. Ingredients first. Surveillance later. I can multitask my vengeance.”

She shoved herself into the same nasty, stained clothes and marched outside.

The sun had just started climbing, all golden and optimistic, as if it hadn’t noticed her situation was a disaster. “I do not have time for your cheerfulness,” she told it, squinting.

She cut across the grounds and headed straight for the conservatory. If she was about to globe-trot for magical plant nonsense, she was at least going to confirm they didn’t already own half of it.