Witch's Bell Book One

we're talking magic. I can feel it in you, Ebony, feel it crackling away in your bones like a fire in dry brush.'
    Ebony looked down at her hands, then at her bracelets. 'What are you talking about, Harry? I don't have any magic any more, they took it away, remember?'
    'Ha!' a book exploded open with a rush. 'Take magic away? I'd like to see them try. They can't take away your magic, Ebony! They can only contain it. No one can reach into your soul and take what's rightful yours. Magic isn't some fancy ring, a catchphrase, or a special element zapping around in your blood. It can't be removed and taken somewhere else. It's a part you, Ebony, as much a part of you as your name, your identity, and your whole.'
    Now she took the time to actually think, Ebony realized, with a pained sigh, that Harry was right. Magic just wasn't something you could steal from someone else, stash in your sack, and run away with. If it's there, it just means that the person can understand and interact with the world differently. It doesn't mean they have some kind of extra juice circulating in their veins.
    'They're just like dams, Ebony,' Harry let a soft breeze shoot through the room. 'Those bracelets hold back the tide of your magic, like walls holding back a crowd.'
    She kept staring at her hands. So, all she needed was to break the wall. But how? These were given to her by the Coven, for crying out loud, and they had more power combined than Ebony could ever dream of.
    'Oh, it's not going to be easy, but you'll figure it out,' the closed-sign over the door moved as if it was nodding. 'I know you will.'
    Ebony bit into her lip. Things were starting to come together, in the oddest and most curious of ways. Still, things were swelling. It was like watching the clouds gather before a storm. Everything Ebony needed, or seemed to be lacking, was slowly drawing together in the same place. She now knew what she wanted, and the vague beginnings of a plan were poking their way through the darkness.
    She was going to end this situation, rather than the situation finding a way to end her. She was going to lift this Grimshore spell, drag the rotters to prison, get back her friends, find a way to swell her magic until she could break through her bracelets – and then, well, she was going to win Nate, even though that sounded like something the hero from a 50's b-grade horror film would be trying to do. But it was true. She wanted to fight off the bad guys and win the guy.
    Cliches aside, that was all that Ebony Bell really wanted.

Chapter Twenty
    S o here was what she had to do. Ebony Bell had to find a way to break the Grimshore spell.
    Ebony patted her hands on her skirt. Let’s see, she thought to herself, what else? She had to somehow get rid of the police and wizards trying to smash down her door to grab back the Gold. She had to arrest the Grimshores. She had to get these darn bracelets off. And last, but not least, she had to find out what Nate's secret was, and then, well, take things from there.
    Ebony swelled her chest, taking in the deepest of breaths. 'Okay, Harry, we need a plan.'
    'Are you telling me we need to think? You trotter, that's my line!' Some candy rolled out of the bowl by Ebony's elbow and trundled along the table to the tune of Harry's voice.
    Ebony spied the bowl, grabbed at a lurid purple lollipop, and pulled off the wrapper with a tug. 'I know. I get that now. But, seriously, this is the time,' she popped the lollipop in her mouth and rolled it around for a bit. 'So, what's our plan?'
    'Blast them,' Harry said triumphantly.
    'Yes, but that's an outcome, not a plan. How do we get from being surrounded by police and wizards-'
    'Nancy wizards,' Harry clarified.
    'Whatever. How do we get from being surrounded, to finding the Grimshores, taking their spell, and smooshing it all in their faces? There's got to be some steps here, Harry, and we'd better start taking them before those police go and lease themselves a magical bazooka.'
    'Like I said, Ebony, I'm friends with most of this street, if need be we can make our stand here.'
    'Yes, but the Grimshores aren't here, and their book isn't here, and neither are very unlikely to come to us, are they?'
    'Hmm,' some thick dust-clouds erupted off the top of a bookcase, 'a good point.'
    'We need to be creative, Harry, we need to be original. We need to do something the spell can't contain – something fresh, something forthright, something important.'
    'Atta girl.'
    'But what do