Hexes and Holly: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery Holiday Anthology

by Tegan Maher

  “You two have a great rest of the night.” He looked into my eyes. “I’ll take you up on that cinnamon roll and coffee tomorrow morning. It sounds like I’ll need it.”

  I grinned. “Oh, now it’s cinnamon roll and coffee is it? I guess I can do that for you.”

  Grant shut the door, and immediately Daisy pounced.

  “Are you two dating?” she demanded. “I mean, I saw y’all snuggled up nice and cozy at the Samhain festival, but I didn’t realize—”

  “We’re not seeing each other,” I said. “I mean—no, we’re not. We don’t even know each other that well.”

  “Me thinks thou doth protest too much!” Daisy said in a sing-song voice.

  I laughed. “Whatever. Let’s give this stuff to Mr. Tinker. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need extra sleep tonight to prepare for tomorrow.”

  “I hear ya. I love this time of year, but it’s so draining.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and looked around the room. The very silent room. Antiques were crammed into every nook and cranny of the store, on shelves, on the walls, in display cases…it was almost impossible to walk without tripping over something old and beautiful. To my left was a massive display of vintage Santas and elves.

  “Mr. Tinker, are you in here?” I called out. “It’s Serena and Daisy.”

  Silence.

  “He said five, right?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe he’s in his back office,” I suggested.

  Daisy fell into step behind me as I turned and headed toward the back of the store. “Looks like his light’s on.”

  “Good,” Daisy said. “These are beginning to get heavy.”

  I raised my hand and knocked softly on the ajar door, causing it to slowly creak open. Startled, I jumped backward and knocked into Daisy.

  “Hey, watch it!”

  “Sorry. I just—I wasn’t expecting—it’s Mr. Tinker.”

  Daisy’s head peered over my shoulder, and she screamed in my ear. “Is he dead?”

  I glanced down at the broken snow globe on the floor, the blood seeping from his head, and nodded. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. We need to go get Detective Wolfe.”

  3

  “Who would do this to poor Mr. Tinker?” Daisy mused. “He was a nice, harmless old man.”

  I blinked back tears as the paramedics wheeled Mr. Tinker out the back of the store. “I have no idea.”

  Grant strolled over and placed his hand on my arm. “Could I have you two come with me while I ask you questions? We don’t need to be back here. The chief is going to need to collect evidence anyway, and we don’t want to contaminate the scene anymore.”

  “Sorry,” I said weekly. “We weren’t even thinking about any of that when we stood in his office.”

  “We were just so shocked.” Daisy’s voice warbled, and I was afraid she was going to lose it again. I’d just gotten her calmed down. “I mean, he was just lying there with his head smashed. Who does that?”

  “That’s what I’m going to find out,” Grant said. “Did he have a wife or kids? Someone I need to call?”

  I shook my head. “No. Mr. Tinker never married.”

  “He was married to this shop.” Daisy sniffed and wiped her eyes. “He was here almost every day. It was his life.”

  “There may be brothers or sisters, but I really don’t know,” I said. “But no wife or kids.”

  “Thanks,” Grant said. “I’ll be sure to ask the chief. Still trying to learn the family names on the island. And Tinker? I take it he was a…”

  “Fairy,” Daisy and I both said.

  “Fairy.” Grant smiled. “Still takes me a bit to wrap my mind around all this paranormal or supernatural stuff.”

  I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Grant had received his introduction to the reality of the island two months ago in a cemetery, trying to help me fight off a pissed-off winter witch.

  “Daisy, why don’t I start with you,” Grant said, “and you tell me what happened after I left the two of you here in the store.”

  Daisy was fairly accurate in her description of what transpired. I was happy she left out the part about asking if Grant and I were dating.

  “And then Serena said we needed to go get you,” Daisy concluded.

  Grant lifted his head and sniffed. “What’s that smell?”

  I shrugged and looked at Daisy. “What smell? I don’t really smell anything.”

  “Me either,” she said.

  Grant grimaced. “Smells musky yet floral. It’s making my stomach roll.”

  Daisy and I exchanged looks again and shrugged.

  “Maybe it’s my sister’s flowers she donated?” Daisy suggested.

  Grant shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”

  “It’s an old shop,” I pointed out. “It could be anything.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’ll dissipate soon.” He glanced down at his notes. “Did either of you see Mr. Tinker today?”

  “I did,” Daisy said.

  “Walk me through that,” Grant said. “What time was it? Was anyone else in the store?”

  “I guess it was around two-forty when I came in, because I was at Serena’s bakery right before it closed at three,” Daisy said. “Kyle Night was over by the glass displays looking at jewelry.”

  “Okay. What was Mr. Tinker doing? Was he helping a customer when you came in? Was he behind the cash register?”

  Daisy’s eyes widened. “He was on the phone. I remember that. He was on the phone with Mrs. Songbird. He was telling her to calm down and not worry, that the Yule Log was fine.” Daisy turned to me. “I could hear her, and she sounded hysterical.”

  “Why is that important?” Grant asked.

  “The Yule Log has been in the—well, really the Bearer family, which is Mrs. Songbird’s maiden name—for well over three centuries. It’s an important piece of history to the island. Every year Mrs. Songbird gives it to Mr. Tinker to display in his window for the Yuletide season. Well, technically the month of December, but we don’t split hairs here.”

  “Okay,” Grant said. “So you’re telling me it’s an old log?”

  I scoffed. “It’s a very important old log, yes. It represents thankfulness to Mother Earth.” I frowned. “Wait. Daisy, are you saying the Yule Log was already here in the store?”

  “Yes. Mr. Tinker put up the display yesterday in the window.”

  “No.” I shook my head emphatically. “No. No.”

  “Umm…yeah,” Daisy said. “I know it is. I told Mr. Tinker when he got off the phone how much I loved the two displays this year, it really—”

  I didn’t wait for her to finish. Pivoting, I ran as fast as I could to the front of the store, dodging furniture and leaping over small items when necessary. The whole time I could hear myself chanting, “No. No. No.”

  “What’s going on?” Grant demanded close on my heels.

  When I saw the display windows, I came to an abrupt stop. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it when I first walked in the store, but while one window was beautifully decorated in vintage 1950, with the popular red Chevy truck hauling a Christmas tree in the back…the other window, which typically displayed the Yule Log, was empty.

  Chief Hawkins, carrying an evidence case in one hand, opened the store’s front door, took one look at my face, and sighed. “What’s wrong now?”

  I pointed to the empty window space. “Mrs. Songbird’s Yule Log is missing!”

  4

  “You go on home now, Daisy” Chief Hawkins said. “You’re going to have a busy day tomorrow. If we need you for anything else, we’ll let you know.”

  I plunked out a quick text to Tamara, telling her I was with Grant and not to worry, I’d be home later. I received an immediate text back telling me to be good and watch where he put his hands.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Where does she want me to put my hands?” Grant murmured in my ear.

  I flattened th
e phone to my chest and whirled. “That’s private, Detective Wolfe.”

  He grinned. “I apologize. So listen, I think I have everything I need here.” He looked down at his notepad. “Daisy was able to give me at least one potential witness or suspect to interview. I should probably find this Kyle Night and pay him a visit.”

  I groaned. “There’s probably something you should know.”

  “Let me guess. Kyle is a kelpie who swims in the sea and—contrary to his name—only comes out in the daytime. Therefore, I can’t interview him tonight?”

  “Ha ha. Sarcasm will get you nowhere.” I gave him a cheeky grin. “Besides, it’s the Silkstones and the Seamans who make up most of the kelpie population. And they have no problem traveling around during the day or night.”

  “She’s right,” Chief Hawkins said as he walked over to where Grant and I stood. “But what exactly is she right about?”

  Grant shook his head. “I have a pretty good lead on a person who was in the store when Daisy was in around three.”

  “Who?” Chief Hawkins asked.

  “Kyle Night,” Grant said.

  Chief Hawkins frowned. “I was afraid of something like that the minute Serena said the Yule Log was gone. Looks like we got us a robbery-homicide.”

  “You think the whole crime centers around the Yule Log?” I asked.

  Chief Hawkins nodded. “I do. I guess I always figured it would come to something like this.”

  “I have a tentative timeline.” Grant glanced at me. “Ms. Spellburn, I don’t think we’ll need you anymore tonight if you’d like to go home.”

  I snorted. “You may need me more than you realize.”

  “Go ahead and let us hear what you have to say,” Chief Hawkins said.

  Grant’s brows drew together.

  “Deputized, remember?” I said. “It’s okay.”

  I knew Grant still wasn’t comfortable with my involvement in police matters, but Chief Hawkins was the dad I never had, and as far back as I could remember, I’d been tangled in some way with his job. The chief and my dad had been best friends, and when my dad died in a boating accident right before I was born, he stepped up and helped my mom. Chief Hawkins loved his job and he taught me early on about procedures. I think it was his hope I’d go into law enforcement someday. But baking was in my blood…well, baking and dragon’s blood.

  Grant opened his book. “We know Daisy Woods was in this store around two-forty today. Mr. Tinker was on the phone, and there was at least one more person in the store, this Kyle Night. So two or three people saw Mr. Tinker alive around three. Serena, you found him dead around five. So we have a two-hour window we need to account for. I want to start with Kyle Night, see what he knows.”

  I groaned. “I hate this. Kyle is a good kid. He’s only like twenty-three.” I looked at the chief. “Surely he wouldn’t be caught up in the feud, you think?”

  “What feud?” Grant demanded.

  Chief Hawkins patted my shoulder. “Go ahead and tell him the story around the Yule Log while I make sure everything is closed down in back.”

  I nodded. “Okay. So I’m not sure how many great-great-greats I’d need to go back, but it’s been about three hundred seventy years. Enchanted Island has pretty much always been a peace-keeping island. The families that set up here fled the mainland due to persecution. It was around 1650, before the Salem Witch Trials, and with more and more supernaturals living in the colonies, their true identities were coming to light. The one stipulation to fleeing to the island was that the supernaturals had to pledge to put any wrongs they felt done to them or their families aside for the good of all the people.”

  “With you so far.”

  “Like I said earlier, Mrs. Songbird’s family are the Bearers. They’re one of the oldest fairy families who still watch over the lands on the island making sure the forest creatures and the vegetation are cared for. One day, as the story goes, her great-great-great-great—”

  “I get the picture.”

  I grinned. “I’ll say her great-grandmother, Portia Bearer, stumbled across a small tree that had fallen midway between her property and the Night property. She claimed there was something special about the wood, that it called out to her in the middle of the night. So she dragged it to her cottage, cut the log and branches for firewood, but kept the bulk of the small trunk intact.”

  “Weird. Quick question…the Nights would be?”

  “Vampires.”

  “Of course.”

  I hid a smile. “And it’s not weird. In those days, whether it was on the mainland or on the island, families had to fight to stay alive every winter with little food and cold temperatures, and Portia wasn’t married yet. This already-fallen log was a miracle as far as she was concerned. More wood equaled more heat.”

  “You’re right,” Grant said. “I wasn’t thinking about times back then.”

  “Anyway, it was well known the Nights hated the Bearers because for years on the mainland the vampires would hunt in the woods for—well, blood from the animals. The Bearers and other fairies would chase them down and try to stake the vampires for crossing into their protected lands.”

  “So the fairies were like little vampire slayers?”

  I laughed. “You could say that. Like I said, one December night, Portia Bearer found the log midway on the Bearer and Night property and brought it home. She attached ribbons and charms to the log to make a Yule Log as a way to say thank you to the tree and to Mother Earth. One of the charms she attached was a charm she’d also found lying in the woods some years back. It supposedly belonged to a leprechaun who’d dropped it in the forest one day and didn’t realize it until it was too late. He tried to get the charm back from Portia, but she refused.”

  “Which made the leprechaun angry, no doubt.”

  I nodded. “Yes. And the Yule Log has been passed down to the first-born daughter all these generations later.”

  “So Mrs. Songbird is going to be extremely unhappy when I call and tell her the family Yule Log is missing.”

  I snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Now that I know the story, I’d say I have two glaring suspects—assuming the leprechaun family Portia took the charm from over three hundred years ago still lives on this island?”

  “They do. You would need to speak to Laverne Swindell.”

  “Of course I would. Thank you for enlightening me, Serena.”

  I chuckled. “Always glad to help, Detective Wolfe. But now I need to go home. I’m exhausted, and tomorrow will be an even longer day.”

  “Let me walk you to your car,” Grant said.

  I waved him away. “No need. I’m perfectly safe here. Tell the chief I’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “Night, Serena. Text me when you reach your car.”

  I nodded. “Will do.”

  Closing the door to Tinker’s Antiques, I stepped out into the cold night air. It was still the first part of December, but the temperature was cooler than normal. The dark sky was lightly spitting snow down on the island with no real accumulation.

  It wasn’t until I was at the bakery and getting into my car that I felt the first twinge of being watched. Looking around, I tried to see where it was coming from. Nothing…but the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I closed my eyes and whispered a reveal spell to see if I could figure out who was stalking me, but I still had nothing. Either I was totally misreading the signs…or someone out there was blocking my reveal spell.

  I was betting on the latter.

  5

  “Are you sure you got enough sleep last night?” Tamara asked for the fifth time. “You look exhausted.”

  “I’ll be fine.” I unlocked the back door to the bakery and followed her inside. “I just need a big cup of coffee, and then I’ll be good to go.”

  “Coming right up.” Tamara hung her purse on the wall peg, took down her apron, tied it around her waist, and headed toward the front of the store. “I’ll whip up a double
mocha with an extra shot while you get the ovens turned on.”

  This was my favorite part of the day. Walking into the store with my best friend, whipping up succulent treats while it was still dark outside, and just spending the day soaking up the aromatic smells of sugar, chocolate, and wheat. A heady combination.

  This year Piper agreed to stand outside and hand out free sugar cookies as citizens participated in the Christmas Kickoff. Tamara had spent hours yesterday in the kitchen baking cookies shaped like Christmas trees and snowmen. All that was left was for her to divide the royal icing, add colors, and decorate. While she did that, I started making the dough for the cinnamon rolls.

  At six o’clock, I shoved the three trays of cinnamon rolls, two trays of double chocolate muffins, and two trays of cranberry-orange muffins into the display case and hurried over to turn the CLOSED sign to OPEN.

  “I’m glad the snow didn’t accumulate overnight,” I hollered to Tamara. “It might have put a damper on today’s festivities.”

  As I neared the door, my heart lurched. Something was stuck to the glass door. Flicking my fingers at the light switch, I used a little magic to light up the store as I unlocked the front door. I was about to reach up and yank the paper down when I remembered there might be fingerprints.

  I turned up my palm and produced a small fireball. The heat would do me good since I didn’t have my coat, and I needed the light to read. “Count yourself lucky you still have your tongue. Careful what you say to the nice detective or you might be next.”

  Rage flooded my body, and I instantly felt my insides heat up. Never a good sign. When I got angry, my powers tended to surge. My dad’s family had dragon in their bloodline, and fire was my element. I could call it up in an instant. Unfortunately, I usually called it up when I was angry.

  “Hey there, Serena,” Chief Hawkins called out as he and Grant crossed over to me. “Looks like we’re just in time this morning. Figured we’d beat the early morn…” His voice trailed off. “What’s wrong. You don’t look well.”

  I stepped aside, brought my fireball up, and let them see the note on the door.