Familiar Magic
by
Constance Barker
&
Corrine Winters
Copyright © 2020 Constance Barker
All rights reserved.
Similarities to real people, places or events are purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Thanks for Reading
Catalog of Books
Chapter 1
Evening was starting to fall earlier and earlier over the little town of Ardensville, Illinois. Thea Beal checked her watch. It was only half past six, and already she’d had to flick on the outside lights, the ones that illuminated the sign over her little arts and crafts shop.
A STITCH IN TIME, the sign read.
“If no one else comes in the next ten minutes, we can close up,” Thea promised aloud, presumably to no one, for she was the only person in the store.
“Can we please make it five minutes?” a voice called back from behind the display of watercolor paint sets. “I’m so sleepy.”
Thea chuckled and rounded the display to find Sybil, her small orange kitten familiar, sprawled out on her back, tufts of soft-looking tummy fur splayed out, begging to be pet.
Thea knew better. To pet Sybil’s stomach was to tempt fate.
“Like you haven’t just been sleeping all day long anyway,” she said, stooping to pat Sybil’s head instead of her stomach. She received a purr for her efforts. “Fine. Five minutes. See? I’ll even set a timer.”
Thea pointed across the room, where she kept an egg timer on the counter near the register. Then, uttering a soft spell, she exerted her magical will so that the timer twisted to the five-minute setting.
“Nice,” Sybil remarked. “You’ve been practicing.”
Thea beamed and raised her finger to her lips, blowing across it like it was a gun. “Aunt Tiegen’s been helping me. I still can’t do much more than lift a paperclip from five feet away, but it’s a start.”
She was tempted to keep practicing her kinetic powers. Maybe she could use them to restock those small canvas squares? But of course anyone looking in through the window might see her from that angle. And canvas squares were probably a little more than she could handle just yet anyway....
So, she started restocking the old-fashioned way, and one minute before the egg timer went off, two customers breezed in.
Sybil looked up when the bell above the door rang and then leveled an unhappy glare in Thea’s direction. Thea, pointedly ignoring the kitten, smiled broadly at her customers.
They were a young man and a young woman. Judging by the way they had their arms slung around each other, they were an item.
Thea thought she recognized the girl. Rebecca something. A fellow witch, if Thea wasn’t mistaken.
But whoever her boyfriend was, he definitely wasn’t magical.
“Good evening,” she said brightly. “Let me know if there’s anything I can help you find.”
“Actually,” said Rebecca, “we’re here for paintbrushes—right, Zach?”
“Oh, sure,” Thea answered. “There’s a display right over here. But it might be helpful to know what kind of project you’re working on?”
“Rebecca’s opening up a store,” Zach answered proudly.
“How fun! And you need to paint it?”
Rebecca giggled. “I mean... no, not exactly. It’s going to be a specialty paint and event store. You know... hosting painting classes, those wine-and-paint parties, that sort of thing.”
Thea paused, not sure what she was hearing. She turned to look up at the wall of her own shop, which hosted an elaborate schedule of events very much along the lines of what Rebecca had just said. Thea’s employee Jesse was a graduate student in the local college’s art program, and he came in to run lessons and paint parties all the time.
Still, maybe competition wouldn’t be the worst thing for A Stitch in Time. And besides, if Rebecca was planning to buy her paint supplies from Thea... well, it was annoying, but honestly it seemed a little short-lived. No doubt Rebecca would give it a fair try for a while and then get bored and quit.
“Sure,” Thea said, forcing bright enthusiasm into her voice. “Well, let’s get you set up with a variety of brushes, then.”
The more she interacted with Rebecca and Zach, the more convinced she became that they didn’t know much about their proposed business. Still, determined to be professional, she loaded them up with a variety of brushes and then went to the till to check them out.
They had bought so many brushes, the order wasn’t cheap. Yet Rebecca didn’t flinch at the price, merely held out a credit card with supreme confidence.
“This card doesn’t have your name on it,” Thea remarked.
“It’s my mom and dad’s,” Rebecca explained. “I have their permission. I can call them if you like?”
Thea was in the process of weighing this option when the door blew open again.
In the doorway stood Eric Beal. Thea knew him all right—he was some kind of cousin of hers, second or third or removed or something like that. She had always been frightened of him. Even as a child, Eric had been a hulking figure, and now that he was fully grown he was massive, gruff, and scary.
“Eric,” Thea said, confused. She hadn’t seen him in... she had no idea how long. What was he doing in her store?
But he didn’t even look at Thea. Instead, he pointed an accusing finger right at Rebecca.
“You,” he cried. “Get out of here! No Smith is going to pollute a proper Beal store, you get me? You Smiths have been ruining Beal lives for almost a century now. You might not take a blood feud seriously, but I sure do! And I’m not scared to prove it.”
Blood feud? Thea thought, baffled. Smiths and Beals? She had never heard of anything like that.
Rebecca and Zach looked deeply disturbed at this. Zach in particular looked between Rebecca and Eric with an expression of gripping fear.
“You two are fine,” Thea said to Rebecca and Zach in what she hoped was her most soothing voice. Then, turning to Eric, she said, “Listen, unless you’re here to buy something, I’m going to have to ask you to get out.”
Eric shot Thea a surprised, betrayed look. She expected him to hem and haw at her. The last thing she expected was for him to turn and leave reluctantly, grumbling to himself while he went.
After all that trouble, Thea decided to just process the order on the card she’d been given. More than anything, she wanted Rebecca and Zach to leave.
As soon as they’d gone, she locked the door behind them and flicked off the outside light.
“That was weird, wasn’t it?” she asked Sybil. “Please tell me that whole thing was weird to you.”
“Definitely weird,” Sybil agreed. “What was it that Eric was saying about a blood feud?”
“I have no idea!” Thea cried, half-laughing. Now that the event was behind them, she couldn’t help but feel a wash of relief and gratitude. She was looking forward to heading back home with Sybil, kicking back, maybe watching one of Granny’s old Cary Grant movies. “I just honestly hope I never have to find out.”
Chapter 2
Sybil, Thea, and Granny Denver had all stayed up later than they should have, eating ice cream sundaes and watching Arsenic and Old Lace for the dozenth time. Granny went to bed before the movie had ended, but Thea and Sybil stayed up until the credits rolled. Thea reset her alarm before turning in for the night, planning to sleep in an extra half hour or so the next morning to make up for the late bedtime.
That plan was rudely interrupted, however, when Thea was woken startlingly early by a loud knock on the door.
Groaning, Thea picked herself up out of bed. She was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, and her long, dark, curly hair was sleep-mussed and uncombed. But just as she was thinking about freshening up her appearance a bit, the knocking on the door sounded again, and Thea, yawning, made her way out of her bedroom.
“Thea?” Granny’s voice came from someplace downstairs. Thea could hear the sounds of the television playing Granny’s favorite yoga show. “Do you need me to get that? I’m in full lotus at the moment!”
“I got it!” Thea called back.
She made her way down the elaborate wooden stairway. The house was an old Victorian manor that had been the property of the Denvers, Thea’s mother’s family, for generations. Now, Thea shared it with Sybil and Granny. For all its class and gloss, it had a tendency to feel very creaky and echoey with just the three of them there.
“It’s a handsome man at the door!” Granny called again.
Thea didn’t bother asking how Granny knew that from all the way across the house. Freya Denver, like Thea, was a witch—but, unlike Thea, Granny had flashes of clairvoyance.
Her clairvoyance always seemed to work most reliably when handsome men were involved.
Thea reached the door and opened it.
Well. Granny hadn’t been mistaken. The man at the door certainly was handsome. He looked about thirty, and he was tall—a good foot or more taller than Thea herself—with sandy blond hair and devastating emerald eyes.
He also looked strangely familiar, but Thea couldn’t place him.
He wore a suit and tie, and he looked considerably better-groomed than anyone had the right to look at such an early hour. Certainly better-groomed than Thea looked, anyway.
He was also holding out, as if by way of greeting, his wallet, flipped open to a shiny ID card, clearly freshly printed. It took Thea several discombobulated blinks to take in what she was being shown.
ARDENSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT, DETECTIVE BLAINE COBURN.
The name rang a bell, too. Didn’t she know someone named Blaine? Or maybe it was Coburn that was snagging at her memory. In a small town like Ardensville, she should only be one or two degrees of separation away from anyone... even a handsome new detective.
“Police?” she said dumbly. “Detective?”
Goodness, she could use a coffee.
“Miss Thea Beal?” he asked, firm but polite. “I’m sorry, I know it’s early. But would you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“Questions?” Internally, she winced. Could she not stop repeating basic information? She blinked and cleared her throat, trying to wake herself up. “Sure, of course. Come right on in. What is this about?”
He entered the house when Thea stepped aside. She closed the door behind him.
“Cute cat,” Blaine said.
Thea turned to where he was looking and saw Sybil sitting, alert, on the stairs. Sybil’s whiskers twitched, and she didn’t take her eyes off of Blaine. Everything about her body language seemed to read: Something’s up with this guy.
Well, Thea couldn’t very well start talking to her cat right in front of the police, so finding out what Sybil was picking up on would simply have to wait.
“Thanks,” Thea said in response to Blaine’s compliment. “Now, what did you say this was about?”
Of course, he hadn’t said yet. That was the problem.
He turned to her with a serious expression. “There was an altercation at your shop last night, wasn’t there?”
Startled, Thea nodded. “Yeah. Eric Beal shouted at Rebecca Smith and some guy named Zach. I don’t know his last name.” She crossed her arms, suddenly all too aware that she wasn’t wearing a bra. “Did something happen?”
“Do you know Miranda Hoff?”
This name also sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She shook her head.
“You’re sure she wasn’t in the shop at the time of the altercation?”
“No,” Thea said. “There wasn’t anyone there except Rebecca, Zach, and Eric. Well, and me and Sybil.”
“Sybil?”
Thea nodded to the cat, who was continuing to glare at Blaine. Considering Sybil’s diminutive size and big round eyes, the glare was perhaps less intimidating than Sybil might have been hoping. But Thea would never tell her familiar that, of course.
“I see,” Blaine said, looking at Sybil with an interest that seemed shockingly sincere. Then, he glanced again at the door. “All right, well, thank you for clearing that up. I’ll just be–”
“What is it?” Thea asked insistently. “Did something happen with Eric and Rebecca?”
For a moment, Thea fully expected Blaine not to answer her. When he did so, it came out reluctantly. “Rebecca was found dead in the park early this morning. Out in that old gazebo—you know the one?”
Thea gasped, then nodded. “Dead? Oh, that’s so horrible. When... when did it happen?”
“We think late last night,” Blaine said. “Her boyfriend, Zach Morton, mentioned something about Eric Beal shouting at her in a shop. And there was a note at the scene saying the blood feud will never die—something along those lines.”
“That’s what Eric was shouting,” Thea muttered. “About a blood feud.”
“Do you know what any of that’s about?”
Thea shook her head. “I don’t have the slightest idea. When Eric started yelling about it... I don’t know, I thought he was crazy, or that something was wrong with him.”
Blaine nodded in a businesslike way. “Well, anyway, we’re looking into Eric. You’re related to him, aren’t you?”
“Sure,” Thea agreed. “Just don’t ask me how.”
“I might be back with a few more questions. You’re not planning to leave town, are you?”
“Basically never.”
She couldn’t imagine how it would be useful to ask her any more questions—she really barely knew Eric at all—but she was willing to be helpful if she could.
And it had nothing to do with the way those bright green eyes felt when their gaze landed on her.
Again, he nodded stiffly. “All right. Thank you for your time.”
“Good luck looking into Eric and... Miranda, was it?” Thea said as she led Blaine to the door.
He didn’t answer, only gave a cursory wave, then walked out to where his sleek dark sedan was parked in the circle drive out front.
“There’s something off about him,” Sybil remarked as soon as the door was shut.
But Thea’s thoughts weren’t on the detective. Instead, she was thinking about Eric, and Rebecca’s body in the gazebo.
Would Eric really murder someone over some ancient blood feud?
Chapter 3
With
the amount of force used to push open the shop’s door, Jesse Woodman almost knocked himself over in his stride. He fumbled a few steps, tripping on his own shoelaces and narrowly missing the art display Thea had set up the day prior. Using the counter as a crutch, Jesse took a moment to pull himself together.
Jesse was Thea’s right-hand man at A Stitch in Time, in charge of the painting parties and framing projects within the shop. He was a warlock, but he preferred to practice his artistic skills over his magic. Thanks to a good referral from Pippa, Thea’s best friend, he managed to secure the job with Thea.
As she watched from across the shop, Thea leaned on her broomstick and smiled. “You’re here early.”
Jesse looked up, realizing that Thea saw everything. Turning a light shade of pink, he straightened himself out and nodded.
“I was in a rush to get here early,” he admitted. “I think I was going a little too fast there.”
“You think?” Thea quipped, making her way over to her display. She slightly readjusted the easel it was resting upon, proud to show off her art. “Please try not to knock over my work next time.”
“Of course,” Jesse replied bashfully, scratching the side of his neck.
He was quick to change the topic of the conversation since he didn’t like how the tips of his ears still burned because of his blunder. As he assisted in moving some inventory behind the counter, he decided to bring up the hot button topic that everyone was talking about.
“Have you heard about Rebecca Smith’s murder? I was just at the post office and it was the only thing people were talking about.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about it. I think everyone has by now,” Thea said, looking over the labels of the paint supplies that just came in. “Funny enough, a detective came by my house to talk to me about it. Blaine Coburn.”
Again, the name snagged at Thea’s memory, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Jesse’s eyes widened at her remark.
“A detective? What for? Are you involved in the case or something?”
“Well, no. Kind of. Rebecca and her boyfriend came into my shop and got into a fight with Eric. He wanted to know more about what happened between them,” Thea explained, which made Jesse grimace slightly.
Familiar Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Series Book 1) Page 1
