Read Online Midsummer Night's Mayhem by Lauren Quick - Free Book Online Page A

magical creatures and scenes inside of it that Oliver spelled to appear each year.
    The surface of the hedge undulated. Clover looked again. It was probably a bird or squirrel nesting inside. She heard a whisper, a giggle, but when she jerked around it was only Austin, appearing as if out of nowhere.
    “Curiosity killed the cat,” he said, his weary eyes locked on hers.
    Clover stumbled back and smiled guiltily. “I’m sorry. I was intrigued. The maze draws you in. It’s just so hypnotic.” She stepped toward the arched opening of the hedge. A ruffle of leaves rolled up the side of the thick wall of foliage as if it were shuddering.
    Austin grabbed her arm, his soft fingers sinking into her skin. “Please don’t go near the labyrinth.”
    “Oh. I won’t,” she said, startled. His grip tightened, burning into her skin like a vice. “Ouch,” she yelped and yanked her arm away. Maybe he was more like his father than she thought. “I was just admiring it. I thought I saw the hedge move. Are the spells active?”
    “Father was working furiously preparing the maze for the exhibition at the end of the summer. He said it would be his best one yet, but I haven’t had time to secure it.”
    Secure it. What an odd way to describe a garden. She’d never thought of the maze as dangerous, though it did have its tricks. “It looks locked anyway.” Clover pointed to the huge metal gate.
    “Yes, of course.” He straightened his jacket. “My father locked it up tight, and I can’t seem to find where he put the key.”
    “I’m sure it will turn up somewhere. Will you still have the unveiling? Sometime this summer, maybe?”
    He ran a shaking hand through his hair. In the bright sun, his face looked even paler, his cheeks drawn. She decided to cut him some slack for grabbing her arm. The events of the past two days were obviously wearing on him. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now. My father was working on some advanced illusions, and I don’t know what he was up to.” Austin shook his head.
    Now that sounds interesting. She fingered her amulet, but the stone was cold and still. Nothing to worry about. “I’ve always thought of the labyrinth as more of a game. A fun and entertaining maze.”
    “Mostly it is. Mostly,” Austin said.
    Oliver Yearling’s familiar, Cocoa, sauntered up to Clover and rubbed against her leg, but when Austin reached down to pet her, she hissed and darted off.
    “That cat really hates me,” he said and wandered back to the house.

6
    I n comparison to Oliver’s yard, Clover’s was an untamed wilderness, but it was all hers and that brought a smile to her face as she trudged home after the vigil. With the wagon, tables, and tents packed up and gone, her yard felt strangely empty, similar to the pit in her stomach. Derek was sitting on the porch swing, thumbing through the pages of a book. “I hardly know what to do with myself since we can’t get much work done. How’d it go over there?”
    “Not so good, but what would you expect? Austin seems to be holding up as well as possible. I think he’s still in shock, but at least he isn’t alone. There’s quite the crowd of witches gathered.” Clover kicked out of her shoes and plopped down on the swing next to Derek, sending it sailing back and forth.
    “That was fast even for the locals. But I’m sure the circumstances spurred them on. It’s a tragedy. He’ll need the support.”
    The lost-and-found basket was once again stationed on the front steps for this year’s loot. After every solstice party they found loads of stuff that had been forgotten, lost, or just plain left behind after the party was cleaned up. The basket was created and placed on the porch for witches and wizards to drop by and check if they were missing something. Clover went by the honor code, trusting witches to retrieve their stuff only.
    Clover peered curiously into the basket, but as she reached inside, her hand bumped against a soft force