Any Witch Way (The Witch Next Door Book 3)

by Judith Berens

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “It’s only one of the books from the reliquary. Would you like to see it?” He held it out to her, and she almost didn’t take it.

  The silhouette of a heron, it’s wings wide in mid-flight with the telltale, u-shaped bend in its neck, stretched across the cover of the Wisemen’s grimoire.

  Swallowing, she took the book and pretended she could focus on reading what was on the pages. “Is this the only book like this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With this kinda bird on the cover.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Nah. That image is all over everything in there. It must be some kinda order I’ve never heard of before. Have you?”

  “No.” She shook her head and handed the book back to him. “But it’s an interesting picture.”

  “Sure, sure.”

  When the man didn’t offer anything else, she smiled. “Did you come to find me only to say you were gonna do some reading?”

  “What? Oh.” He chuckled and scratched his beard. “No, actually. Sorry. I only…well, I remembered some of my conversations with Greta when she was here. Both times, you know? The first time, before things got really…dark, she kept going on and on any chance she had about this little pool on the other side of the temple. It’s honestly a tiny thing and there’s a little staircase to get down there, apparently. I never saw it myself, but she talked constantly about it this last time. Before she was—”

  “Before they took her.”

  “Right. You know, for a long time, I thought I’d dreamed the whole thing after everything they put us through down here. But now, I’m not so sure.” Joseph paused and licked his lips and his brows drew a little closer together. “I think your mom told me that if I ever saw you, if I ever met her daughter, I needed to tell you how much she loved that little pool.”

  For a second, Lily couldn’t move. “What?” She glanced hastily at Romeo.

  “Yeah. It sounds crazy, right? But I feel so much better without all those damn wards holding me back and this feels like a real memory so I figured I’d tell you. For whatever it’s worth.”

  “Joseph.” She took a deep breath and held his gaze. “It’s not crazy. Thank you.” She hurried toward the temple, intending to skirt around it to the other side, but she paused and looked back at him. “Where’s the pool again?”

  “Yeah, you can walk right around the building. It’s—”

  “Awesome. Thanks!” She flung a hand up in a vague wave and hurried in that direction. Romeo shook the other man’s hand quickly and followed her, grinning to see her hope flaring up again.

  The steps behind the temple were incredibly steep, and Lily almost flung herself down them in her haste. This is it. It has to be. She left me something here.

  “Hey, careful, huh?” Romeo skipped down the moss-covered stairs behind her in an effort to keep up.

  When she reached the pool, she studied everything as she paced the perimeter and searched for anything that looked even slightly off.

  “Do you think it’s here?” Romeo asked.

  “Yeah. There’s literally no other option.” She stooped even lower and scrutinized the grass and the flowers until she eventually noticed a collection of stones so overgrown, she almost missed them. When she brushed aside the long grasses that shielded them, she froze. “Oh, my God.” Three round, flat rocks had been stacked in a natural-looking pile, although the top stone had a crudely etched lily flower on its surface. “Yes.”

  She dug her fingers into the earth around the stones and yanked out handfuls of grass and whatever else was in her way. Finally, she removed all three stones, examined them carefully, and tossed them aside. The hole beneath them was barely deep enough to thrust her hand inside and find something stored in there.

  “Holy crap.” Romeo squatted on the other side of the hole and watched her with wide eyes.

  The first thing she withdrew was another brown drawstring purse at least twice the size of the last two her mom had left her. Its contents clinked together with the all too familiar sound of so many coins held in one place. She dropped the bag in front of Romeo, who peered inside quickly and snorted. “Did she have an endless supply of gold coins, or what?”

  Lily glanced up at him. “Has.”

  “Sorry. Yeah.”

  Her hand dipped into the hole again and located a plastic baggie with another note inside. She practically ripped the bag apart to get to it, and her breath caught in her throat when she read another message from her mom.

  ‘If you’re reading this, sweets, I’ve already been taken somewhere else. I’ve done everything I could to lead you down this path, to leave you the pieces of knowledge I knew you needed and could work out on your own. Now, though, I’m running out of options.

  They know I’m onto them, L. I’ve followed this black trail for years, putting all the pieces together, and now they know I’ve come too far to be turned back by threats or bribes. If you’re reading this now, it means you understand what’s at stake. You’ve seen with your own eyes the foul things brewing just beneath the surface. I haven’t found all the answers yet, and that’s why I need your help—because I know you can.

  Don’t judge anyone by who they say they are, my love. You can find everything you need to know by looking into the eyes.’

  She closed her eyes and released a shaky breath. “Mom’s still alive. If I didn’t already know it, I would now.” She handed the letter to Romeo and thrust her hand into the hole one more time.

  He read the note quickly, his lips moving without sound. “Wow.”

  Her fingers brushed against cold metal and something plastic. The object jingled in her hands when she lifted it from the cavity. Two keys hung on a simple keyring—one silver, the other gold. The plastic tag also dangling from the ring had her mom’s handwriting on it too and an address that clearly wasn’t anywhere in the United States—or Mexico, for that matter.

  “You gotta be kidding me.”

  “What’s wrong?” Her friend looked at her with wide eyes and she handed him the keyring. He glanced at it, frowned, and looked confused. “This…wait, what?”

  “I know. She left me keys to something. And that something, apparently, is in Bucharest.”

  He seemed to choke on his own surprised laughter before he recovered and a little smirk appeared. “Okay. It would definitely be cool to visit Bucharest. I’ve never been there. But it’s…you know there’s only one real problem with that, right?”

  “Yeah.” Despite the enormity of her mom’s note and the totally unexpected destination with this last clue, she grinned widely. “How the hell are we gonna get the Winnie to Romania?”

  Where will the clues Lily’s mom take Lily and Romeo? Find out in A Witch Apart.

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  Dark Is Her Nature

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  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  September 4, 2019

  It’s two more days till I turn 60 years old. That number sounds so weird. I’m a little surprised to be here and doing so well. A little background…

  At 50 I was told I had a year left to live. It was an interesting way to usher in that decade (and possibly usher it right back out again). But I went into unexplained spontaneous remission and have managed to stay there. Go figure.

  And that was also the tail end of the Great Recession and I was down to a bed, a dres
ser, a very small TV, and two and a half chairs. I was a writer then, just like I am now, but a lot less financially successful. Plus, I was about 80 pounds overweight. Drawing quite the picture for you, aren’t I?

  Despite that description, I was also happy because I was surrounded by a loving crew of people that I had just met because I had only been living in Chicago for six months. People came out of every nook and cranny to help me find furniture, bring over food, give me rides to the hospital, or sit and chat with me on my back porch in Lincoln Square. One woman, Meg showed up with a dish at my back door and said a friend of hers told her to bring this to me. We’re still friends.

  Fast forward 10 years and there’s been a great corporate job, a loss of those 80 pounds, a move to Austin and this dream house and a few more bouts with cancer (all is well right now), and collaborating with Michael Anderle and I’m still happy for the same reason. I still have that crew in Chicago (and I’ll see all of you in November for the Hot Chocolate Run to celebrate this birthday plus there will be a FAN LUNCH on me – keep your eyes on my newsletter for the details), a new crew of authors everywhere – and now I also have this new tribe – most of them in my neighborhood, who gathered at the pool last weekend with far too much food to wish me well as the new decade starts.

  In the end, it’s not the things that matter, and for me it’s not always even health that’s at the top of the list – it’s the people – including all of you – the Fans who have made these past few years such a great ride. Thank you for taking the journey with me and being so interactive and supportive and fun!

  I’ll be in Niagara Falls on my birthday and I’ll be sure to post lots of pictures in my Facebook Fan Group – join us if you’re not in there already – and you can find me every weekday at noon CT Live on Facebook reading a chapter from one of my books – new and old. Till then, thank you. I’m forever grateful for all of you. More adventures (and books) to follow.

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  September 9, 2019

  Thank you for not only reading this book, but these author notes at the end!

  It is amazing what a really messed up sleep schedule can do to your mind and ability (or desire) to be creative.

  Recently, I had a lot of travel that took me from time zone to time zone for five weeks straight. When I got back to ‘my’ time zone (Pacific), I am napping at night and sleeping during the afternoon.

  I call it my 6-hour nap and 2-hour sleep. That is 8 hours of rest, right? Right??

  That is so wrong…

  I’m typing this at 2:20 AM after I slept from about 6:45 PM to 1:15 AM. (Not very well, mind you. But I think that had more to do with the Thanksgiving dinner amount of food I ate before I crashed right after dinner.)

  I’m having trouble acclimating back to Pacific Time sleeping patterns, and I am going a bit bonkers. It seems I am NOT made for traveling so much and lethargy is one of the myriad issues I’m fighting.

  For a creative, it is annoying to have the feeling I could dream up the rest of a story ‘just on the other side of a good nap,’ and when I wake up, I’m too sleepy to put a sentence together. Much less anything longer.

  Or funny.

  I don’t drink coffee, but I do drink Coke or other caffeinated sugar-filled drinks of evil goodness, and I have used them to work through my malaise for the most part. Unfortunately, these drinks have horrible side effects like extra useless calories.

  Oh, and the sugar high and then sugar crash which makes me want to sleep… More.

  I was talking with Author Abby-Lynn Knorr, and we talked about melatonin as an option, and I’m going to look into it.

  These author notes have a happy ending, sort of. When I am on a creative high (like during a talk w/ Martha today) I can be REALLY on and all sorts of thoughts come to the forefront and drop like leaves to the ground during a windy fall afternoon.

  Now, If I could just capture those excess thoughts and put them away for moments like now when I’m half awake – half asleep, I would be in a better place.

  If I could just get past this desire to sleep.

  Zzzzzzzzzzz.

  Other Books By Martha Carr

  Series in the Oriceran Universe:

  SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC

  SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL

  ALISON BROWNSTONE

  THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES

  THE LEIRA CHRONICLES

  I FEAR NO EVIL

  FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC

  THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE

  REWRITING JUSTICE

  THE KACY CHRONICLES

  MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES

  SOUL STONE MAGE

  THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES

  Other series:

  THE LAST VAMPIRE

  THE WITCH NEXT DOOR

  OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS

  OTHER BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR

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