Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4)

by Melinda Kucsera

  “I didn’t know that happened.” My stomach twisted. Was I responsible for her being fired? If she hadn’t already hated me, that would have pushed her over the edge.

  Penelope slipped her phone over to me, displaying a picture of Roman and I standing in front of the exterminator truck and receiving a handful of mouse traps. That wasn’t the worst part. It was the headline that made me cringe: Ettie’s Enchanted Effects Supports Animal Cruelty. Euthanizing hundreds of hamsters.

  I slipped the phone over to Roman so he could see the article. His conversation with his father fell flat, and his eyes widened to nearly the size of ping pong balls while he read.

  “At least she got the hamster part right,” I said. “That’s the only thing that’s truthful about the article.”

  “Did you see the number of shares the story got?” Penelope leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and giving me a glimpse of her conservative cleavage. She was so not principal-like tonight, with a sequenced pale-yellow gown that showed off her unexpectedly well-toned arms.

  I took the phone back when Roman was done and clicked in to see who was passing that message along. “Oh, my!” Brittany shared the article on her church’s Facebook page to ten thousand followers. I scrolled down further, seeing a few other familiar names, but stopping on one in particular. “Mayor Raab shared it on the city’s page?”

  “Everyone’s seen it here in Watersedge and many people across the country.”

  My stomach sank. “More bad press for Ettie’s…and for me, personally.” And probably witches of all kinds, all over the world.

  “This is why an enchanted object shop is a bad idea,” Joe shot at me. I hadn’t realized he was listening. “Witches will always have a target on their back. People tend to be afraid of what they don’t understand, and they see us as a potential threat. One snap of our fingers and we could have an air-conditioner fall out a window on some poor mortal’s head.”

  “Or we could take a knife and just stab them…like everyone else. You know as well as I do that just because we have magic, it doesn’t make us any more of a threat. Mortals will get over it the more they learn and understand us. That’s why it’s important for us to be open with our magic.” Roman’s face was stern with conviction, even though that path wasn’t an easy road.

  In fact, for the first time in my life, I was beginning to doubt it. “Will they?” I glanced around the room, catching some more angrily staring eyes and whispers, as well as pursed lip expressions. I stopped on an older woman two tables over, wearing the most god-awful floral dress, but she shot me two thumbs up. My eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

  “Way to go,” she yelled across the tables, over the classical music. “I hate rats!”

  I slapped my forehead.

  Could this get any worse?

  At least Penelope welcomed us to the table…and Joe seemed to be warming up to the idea of being openly friends with witches. How ridiculous. The strong familial similarities between him and Roman wouldn’t be hard for people to put two and two together and suspect Joe was also a warlock.

  I focused on my little table of people I was comfortable around, controlling only what I could and falling into great conversation. Part of me was ashamed that Roman and I had just suspected his father had been sabotaging Ettie’s, as the man was very nice to us while everyone else was ignoring us.

  Eventually, the music softened and the townspeople who were dancing took their seats. Mayor Raab stood up on stage, wearing an out-of-date pantsuit with legs that weren’t long enough to cover her ankles, along with a tuxedo-wearing man I didn’t recognize, but was quickly introduced as the Director of the Children’s Club.

  “Nice of you all to join us,” the overly thin man’s voice echoed in the microphone. He continued with a five-minute speech as to why he was grateful for all our support and what our donations would be able to do for the children of the community. Finally, he gave Mayor Raab a nod, and they both smiled. “Are you ready for the results of the silent auction?”

  The crowd clapped and the room even filled with a few whistles.

  “Great! Mayor Raab is here to help.” The Director held out his hand. “First envelope please!”

  The Mayor handed him a plain-white envelope which he quickly tore open.

  “The antique silver place setting, donated by Gabby Gates, goes to Norman and Sylvia Smith with a donation of three hundred and fifty dollars.”

  The room clapped as Norman and Sylvia stood up and bowed while Mayor Raab handed the director the next envelope.

  The Director went through more prizes, announcing who won the spa package, grocery store gift certificates, and an oil change down at the Lightning Lube. All of which were bringing in way more money than they were worth. The charity was well over five thousand dollars total so far, and only a handful of items’ bids had been revealed.

  “Next up is an enchanted wardrobe from Ettie’s Enchanted Effects.”

  Instead of the normal clapping, the crowd became so silent you could hear the crickets from outside through the gym’s walls.

  That was until Joe stood up and clapped.

  Wow.

  Roman and Penelope joined in, and a few more guests throughout the crowd as well, including the lady with the floral dress.

  With how I was being treated tonight, I was certain the wardrobe hadn’t even gotten one bid. And if it did, it’d be for whatever the minimum was.

  A rare, enchanted, last of its kind wardrobe.

  Given away for nothing.

  I held my breath as the Director opened his envelope, unfolding the paper. To fill the silence, Mayor Raab leaned into the microphone, staring directly at me and asking, “How’s your hamster infestation going?”

  Hamsters.

  At least, she was the only one who didn’t call them rats…but the last thing I needed right now was more attention on the subject.

  “It’s all under control,” I said, shrinking back into my chair from all the stares. If my brain had been quicker, I would have come up with something cleverer, but the mayor threw me off.

  The Director took the microphone back. “And the winning bid for the wardrobe goes for…” He stopped, turning the paper to Mayor Raab and whispering, “is this right?”

  Her face blanked.

  How embarrassing for me. Nobody bid.

  Once Mayor Raab nodded, the Director returned to the microphone. “The enchanted wardrobe goes for fifteen thousand dollars. A record at the auction.”

  Air re-inflated my lungs, and I stood up and clapped, but quickly realized I was the only one making noise. Everyone else was in awe.

  I slowly sat down, allowing the director the chance to announce the winner.

  “The wardrobe goes to Joseph Sun.” Not quite the best fake last name to hide his connecting with us, but it had to be him.

  I tilted my chin and stared at my father-in-law. He won?

  Why would he bid on an old witch’s wardrobe?

  Had he bid because he didn’t want me to be embarrassed if I didn’t raise any money?

  Once again, all my uncertainties about my father-in-law melted further away. He was a good man with good intentions deep down.

  But I needed confirmation. There was still a part of me that wasn’t certain. Once all eyes were off me and the Director moved on to the next envelope, I caught Joe’s attention. “Why’d you bid on that? You already own more than one.”

  Joe leaned back into his chair. “Because I couldn’t let a priceless heirloom get into mortal hands.”

  Of course, that was it. He had been upset I donated the wardrobe.

  The whole reason he was at the ball was probably to ensure my wardrobe didn’t get into the wrong hands.

  Was that the entire reason he was here in Watersedge as well? To make sure I didn’t do anything foolish…perhaps he was afraid I’d embarrass his son.

  I looked at Penelope beside him. He was dating her, right?

  She was a mortal.


  He couldn’t want that much segregation, could he?

  Unless everything was an act.

  Roman and I had agreed to let him live with us because we wanted to keep him close so we could watch him.

  And despite our lack of privacy, perhaps it had been a good thing. His true intentions were slowly coming to the surface, and it was time we did something about it.

  Chapter Ten

  “Care to dance?” Roman asked, reaching out a hand after the auction had ended and the music restarted.

  I smiled, and for a minute, all hostility the citizens of Watersedge were displaying, as well as my suspicions of my father-in-law, disappeared. “I’d love to.”

  As Roman led me out into the center of the gym where the dance floor was set up, people seemed to dance themselves away from us, and soon, Roman snuggled close to me and we had a ten-foot circle to ourselves.

  “What are you laughing at?” Roman asked, leaning away from me and taking in my expression.

  “This town is just so hot and cold. One minute, they love Ettie’s, and the next they hate it…and me.”

  “They don’t hate you. Social media can be quite influential. Actually, all media has an impact. I mean, look how easily you persuaded them when you wrote your editorial.”

  I leaned my head against Roman’s chest. “The people here don’t know the truth about anything.”

  “Then show them the truth.”

  “How?”

  “Start by proving to them that you didn’t kill any hamsters.” He arched an eyebrow, waiting for me to form whatever idea he had already had, myself.

  And it came, much slower than I would have liked. “Penelope says she loves her hamster. I think if the town is quick to judge, then they need to be quick to jump into action as well. And I have plenty of hamsters to adopt out. They should do their part…and in the process, they’ll see I haven’t killed any. I mean, how else could I have that many hamsters at home!”

  “Well, it’s something for us to do tomorrow. Tonight though, we need to put all uncertainties about my father to rest. Do you find it strange that he bought the wardrobe, too?”

  “I thought he was showing his support, but instead, he was ensuring the wardrobe didn’t get into a mortal’s hands.”

  “Yes, that’s true, but also, I can’t believe what he paid for the wardrobe. Fifteen grand?” Roman pulled back a bit to see into my eyes. “If he has that kind of money to toss away, why is he living with us?”

  “Because it’s not about the money.”

  “Exactly. I think it’s time to approach him about everything,” Roman said. “About our suspicions of him sabotaging Ettie’s, about him always interrupting us when we’re trying to get a few minutes of alone time, and of how long he’s planning on staying in Watersedge.”

  “I was hoping I’d be certain his intentions were ill-intended before I burned any bridges between the two of you.”

  Roman laughed. “We haven’t had a bridge between us in over a decade.”

  “But one was starting to rebuild.”

  He fell silent for a minute or two while we swayed to the music. “Perhaps, but if it isn’t being built on solid ground, its collapse is inevitable. Maybe we should have approached him a month ago when we first suspected he might have been sabotaging the shop.”

  “Maybe, but I didn’t believe it. What father would sabotage their own family?” I asked.

  “He would,” Roman whispered. “At least, the man I used to know would. This man? I’m not really sure who he is.”

  At the end of the evening, our opportunity to approach Joe came. Penelope was busy with a table of coworkers from the school, leaving Joe alone with Roman and me.

  I wasn’t one to beat around the bush. When my mind was set, the truth just blurted out. “What really brings you to Watersedge?”

  Joe shrugged. “I wanted to make up for lost time with my son.”

  I didn’t want to accuse him of lying, especially if his intentions were good, but, it appeared, Roman didn’t have any trouble.

  “I haven't seen you for more than a few hours in over a decade. Then, all of a sudden, you show up at the exact same time Ettie opens her shop?”

  Joe sat back in his chair and folded his hands on his lap, way calmer than I felt inside. “What are you saying, Roman?”

  “I’m wondering what your true motives are to be here. You could have made up with me any year, but why right now?”

  Joe’s face suddenly showed his age. “It was just the right time. You got married. I wanted to meet Ettie. Make sure she was good enough for you.”

  Emotion erupted from my nice, normally calm husband. “Like you care!”

  My stomach twisted for Roman, and I felt sick. I hadn’t realized how much hostility he had harbored towards the years his father had disowned him. Like many things, Roman kept his true feelings in check.

  “Roman,” Joe tilted his chin, using a stern voice appropriate for a father. “I came to visit because it was time. There was no other reason than that. I didn’t want to take a disagreement to my grave.”

  His grave? Joe wasn’t even fifty yet, young for a witch...or even a mortal. It was too soon to contemplate the meaning of life.

  “All you care about—all you ever cared about was your image.”

  “That’s not true,” Joe said. “I care about you and Ettie…”

  “So, you didn’t come to Watersedge to make sure we were behaving as witches? You didn’t purchase that wardrobe to keep magic out of mortals’ hands? To me, it seems like you came here to police our business, both personal and otherwise.”

  “That’s not true,” Joe repeated, looking around to see if anyone was listening, but the music drowned out our voices.

  “Then you don’t care that we’re out in the open? Doing magic for whoever needs it?”

  Joe tightened his lips, his position on the matter clearly stated without even a word.

  “Exactly.” Roman stood and turned towards me with a fierceness I had never seen on his face. “I think we’re done here, Ettie. Ready to go home?” He offered me his hand.

  “You bet.” I took his hand…and in a flurry of magic, Roman whisked us outside to our vehicles. Wow. He had never been so powerful, but sometimes magic comes with great emotions.

  Chapter Eleven

  Roman and I arrived at Ettie’s early the next morning to check our live traps and work on fixing up the apartment. Joseph hadn’t come home last night, which was good because Roman was still tense this morning. One thing about my hubby seemed to be that he didn’t like conflict.

  On our way in through the front entrance, Brittany’s changeable letter sign above her church’s entrance caught my eye. It read, “The Church Loves All of God’s Creatures.” Ugh. After the drama with Roman’s father, I had forgotten about social media slinging my name around with the claim that I was being cruel to those too-cute hamsters.

  I took a deep breath and ignored it. I would have thought she had learned her lesson when she almost broke her neck, falling off her ladder, but for some reason she was fired up again. Or, perhaps, the month’s lull was just the calm before the storm.

  Inside, I went straight for the first trap.

  “I caught two hamsters at the same time!” I held up the little wire cage showing off an albino hamster as well as a gray and white one.

  “Well, that makes up for this trap.” Roman held an empty one.

  I helped my critters into the carrying case I brought, then went to check the two dozen or so other traps. By the end of our circuit on the first floor, we had eight more hamsters. I pulled out an old, antique chair, enchanted to always push itself in after use, and sat staring at the little whiskers beyond the carrying case door and listening to the scratching that remained in the wall. “At this rate, we’ll never catch them all. Ettie’s won’t be able to open, and we’ll never get approval to open the apartment upstairs…that is if Joe ever comes back home for us to…kick him out.” That thought was ab
surd, but there was an emptiness inside me with Joe gone. Even with everything, he was family, after all.

  “Are you ready to call the exterminator back?” Roman asked.

  My stomach twisted, staring into the little hamsters’ eyes. What was I going to do? There was no way to get these all out of here with live traps. As we caught them, one by one, they were also multiplying. It turned out a hamster could have a litter of up to twenty pups every three weeks. But I couldn’t make the decision that would end their lives. “Whatever you think is best.” I looked up into Roman’s dark eyes. “Can you just take care of the problem for me?”

  He crossed the room and rubbed my back. “Of course.” He tightened his lips, and for a second, I saw that this was as hard for him as it was for me. Had my husband grown attached to these little guys, too?

  And having him be the one to pull the trigger wasn’t fair. I sighed. “No, Roman. I actually want to keep trying the live trap. It’s already all over social media about cruelty to animals. We don’t need to add gasoline to the already blazing fire.” In reality, the negative publicity gave me the option of exterminating the hamsters. If everyone already believed I was killing them, what difference did it make if I really did?

  I looked down into the crate.

  What difference did it make?

  It made a world of difference to these sweetie pies. As I stood with the carrying case in my hand, a familiar high-pitched melody filled the shop.

  I looked at Roman and rolled my eyes. “Joe must be here.”

  “Why?” Roman asked, marching towards the steps leading to the apartment upstairs.

  I followed my husband to find Joe sitting in the middle of the floor on a pile of blankets, playing his piccolo right in front of the wardrobe he won last night.

  “Did you sleep here?” I asked.

  Joe nodded.

  “You can’t stay here now. This place is infested with hamsters.”

  “Music soothes the savage beast.” Joe lifted his piccolo up to his lips and gave it a little twirling melody. The hamsters inside the carrying case I held scampered to one side. Joe lowered his instrument. “Rodents don’t bother me. Did you know one of Roman’s and my ancestors was the man the legend of the Pied Piper came from?” He held up the piccolo. “A little enchantment and the music can make anyone follow.”