by Susan Harper
She reached into her pocket, pulling out one of the snow bombs that Monica had picked up during her trip to the North Pole. She had given one out to each of the mystics—obviously not to Brian and Isaac, as they would ask far too many questions about the round little rock-like item.
Looking up, Mona could hear the distant sound of bells. Now was the time. Mustering up as much strength as she could, she tossed the snow bomb high in the sky and pointed her wand directly at it, sending a spark from the wand to blow up the snow bomb. It exploded, sending a slight blizzard-like snow all around the bookshop. Snow piled up on the rooftop, adding to the small layer that had already existed. It also piled up a few feet high all around the shop. She could hear Isaac downstairs shout. “Hey, it’s snowing again!”
“Ho, ho, ho!” a warmly familiar voice echoed in the night sky, and she saw the eight reindeer and sleigh coming toward her.
“Oh, geez,” Mona yelped, jumping out of the way in time for the sleigh to land and the big, fat man in the red suit to jump down and smile at her.
“Now, that’s how you get a man’s attention!” Santa said, laughing so hard his giant belly shook.
Mona smiled. “Never thought I’d snag you twice in my life,” Mona said.
“Mona Montoya,” he said with a wink. “Yes, I remember the last time you waved me down. Wished that you would win that scholarship. I trust that you did?”
“Got my letter in the mail the next day,” Mona said with a smile. “I received the best education a young witch could ask for, thanks to you.”
“Got news for you, sweetheart,” Santa said. “You did that on your own. You would have gotten that scholarship without me.”
“Really?” Mona asked.
“Are you kidding, Mona? I’ve never met a more powerful young witch,” Santa said. “So, what are you going to wish for this year?”
Mona smiled. “I wish that Monica and Brian had their gifts back—the ones they traded.”
Santa smiled back at her. “That’s quite a pleasant wish, Mona,” he said and headed over to the sled. He hopped up and reached into the giant sack, digging around for a moment before pulling out a broom.
Mona grinned. “The broom!” she exclaimed.
“If you’re going to give it to her at the party, you might want to turn it back into a bike,” he said with a wink. “And, let’s see…” He dug around in the bag again, at last pulling out Brian’s medal.
“Thank you so much,” Mona said, taking the medal from him as well.
“You know, Mona, that’s quite a sister you have down there,” Santa said. “I should know! Mine’s a real monster.”
Mona laughed. “Didn’t know you had siblings.”
“Despite my public facade, Ms. Montoya, I do like my privacy,” Santa said, grabbing the reins of the sleigh. “You have yourself a very Merry Christmas!” He whipped the reins, and the reindeer took off running. He disappeared quickly in to the night sky.
Mona leapt up onto the broom and flew it down to the front of the shop. Gripping the broomstick, she firmly said, “Bike,” and it turned into the lovely black and purple bike her sister had come to know and love. She put the medal around her neck and proceeded to the front door, pushing it open and entering the shop, the bike at her side.
Everyone went instantly quiet upon her entrance. “My bike!” Monica exclaimed, which was followed promptly by Brian’s exclamation, “My medal!”
“Merry Christmas, you two,” Mona said, smiling.
Brian and Monica both hurried over to her, and much to her dismay, she found herself trapped in a tight embrace right in the middle of them. They laughed quite hysterically at her discomfort. “Aww, that was just too sweet,” Deimus said, and Mona rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, well, those two lovebirds deserve it,” Mona said.
Deimus smiled. “You know, I did actually get you a little something. I know you’re not big on the whole gift-giving thing.”
Mona smiled and nearly shrieked when he pulled out a beautiful, shimmering engagement ring. Before she could say anything at all, she could hear Monica screaming and wailing on her behalf like the giddy girl her sister was. Mona said yes, of course, and Deimus was positively beaming. She smiled as her sister grabbed her wrists to examine the lovely ring, jumping up and down in excitement while Mona remained calm and collected as always, but on the inside, she was just as giddy as her twin. This was turning out to be a rather lovely Christmas after all.
A Lethal Love
Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery, Book 7
1
Monica Montoya was a witch, though very few in the small city of Bankstown were aware of that fact. Her employee, a woman named Holly who had recently discovered she had some sort of mystic ancestry, was one of the few who were aware of this little secret, so it made their morning ritual of opening the bookshop much simpler. Monica, who was an unnatural witch—meaning born without magic, was not particularly gifted when it came to using a wand. Little activities, like learning to levitate small books, was an excellent way to practice.
“Little to the left,” Holly said as she stood by the front door watching for any mortals who might be walking up and down the street. It was still another ten minutes before opening, so it wasn’t like someone was going to come bustling through the door, but they still did not want someone to peek through the window and see a bunch of books flying around.
Monica made a subtle wand movement to reposition some of the brightly-colored books they had selected for the Valentine-themed book display at the center of the shop. The subtle movement was evidently not subtle enough because four books went zooming off the shelf and crashed into her sleeping cat, her black familiar named Abigail, and she went flying and screeching off the shelf and onto the floor, just barely landing on her feet. “Honestly!” Abigail hissed and went limping off. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Sorry, Abs,” Monica said, laughing slightly. “You know I’m not much of a spellcaster. I need the practice.”
“Believe me, I know. Sometimes I think you should just stick to potions,” Abigail hissed, going and finding her usual place on the back counter.
Holly turned the closed sign to open before hurrying over to help Monica pick up the mess that her failed spell had caused. “I’m getting the hang of it, I think,” Monica said. “But I could definitely use some fine-tuning.”
Once they finished putting all the pink and red-colored books—mostly romance stories and dating advice type books—the two felt that they could take a slight breather. They went and stood by the back counter, and they had only just taken a moment to recollect themselves after the clean-up when Officer Brian entered, ready for his morning coffee. “Morning, ladies, Abigail,” he said, attempting to pet what he believed to be merely Monica’s moody pet cat. Abigail jerked her head away, and he pulled his hand back with a frown, attempting to brush off the slight insult. “So, I noticed the display shelf has been redone.”
“That’s right,” Monica said. “It was Holly’s idea to do a shelf with all romance-themed books for the upcoming St. Valentine Remembrance Day.”
“Remembrance Day?” Brian asked with amusement, always finding Monica’s odd way of phrasing things to be quite entertaining.
“Yes, the holiday in which we celebrate the life and death of St. Valentine,” she said.
Brian chuckled. “Well, Monica, I’m glad you mentioned Valentine’s Day because that’s actually what I was wanting to talk to you about. I wanted to see if you wanted to be my Valentine and be my date for February fourteenth. What do you say?”
“I would love to!” Monica said. “But how do you become someone’s Valentine?”
Brian laughed. “You’re so weird,” he said. “I’ll send you the details, but I was thinking about taking you to Cuisine Des Amants.”
Monica wasn’t sure what the place was, but she could guess, based off Holly’s reaction of burning herself on the coffee maker in her surprise as she prepared Brian’s dri
nk. Monica smirked. “I’ve never been, but it sounds lovely.”
“Great,” Brian said, trying not to laugh at Holly as he took his to-go mug from her and paid up. “I’ll text you the details. Have a good day, ladies.” And just like that, he headed out the door.
When he was gone, Holly squealed. “Cuisine Des Amants!” she exclaimed. “I would kill for a guy to take me there!”
“What is it?” Monica asked.
“Only the most romantic place anywhere near this middle-of-nowhere town,” Holly said. “It’s a fancy French restaurant—romantic candlelight, imported flowers as their go-to seasonal décor, wine, and not to mention the string instruments…”
Holly seemed to be fantasizing, and as Monica was laughing at this, she turned her head just enough to see Abigail reading. The cat had a book open up on the counter and was rummaging through it. “Yeah, because that looks like something a mortal’s cat would be doing,” Monica said.
“Shut up,” Abigail hissed. “I’m right in the middle of something here, in case you haven’t noticed”
“What are you even reading?” Monica asked, snatching the book right up. “A 2019 Updated Edition on the Latest Rules and Regulations Enforced by the Sorcerer’s Council.” Monica stared at Abigail, putting the book back down. “Okay, that definitely didn’t come from my side of the shop.”
“No, I had your sister pull it from me,” Abigail said. Monica’s twin sister, Mona, ran her own bookshop—the other side of Backroom Books that could be reached by walking through a secret portal behind the counter, where it let out into the mystic realm in the middle of a small town called Wysteria. Mona sold books to goblins and ghouls and other mystics, while Monica’s clientele was strictly mortals in Bankstown. “I’m reading up on reduced sentencing,” Abigail explained.
“Oh?” Monica asked. She knew that Abigail had managed to get a few years knocked off her sentence, but it seemed as though the witch-turned-familiar was getting antsy. Abigail, unlike most witches’ familiars, was a former witch herself—the infamous Abigail Williams from Salem who had gotten herself into some trouble during the Salem Witch Trials, turning mortals on each other for the sheer fun of it. She had been punished to serve five hundred years as a cat, being assigned to unnatural witches over the years such as Monica. In recent days, she’d had a few years knocked off her sentence after already serving a few centuries.
“You really think you’re going to study your way out of finishing out your sentence?” Monica asked.
“I don’t know, but I didn’t think that I would manage to get over a decade knocked down,” Abigail said. “So, who knows?”
“So…what does it say in there about revealing the mystic realm to mortals?” Monica asked.
“Please don’t tell me you’re wanting to get serious with that mortal cop?” Abigail groaned.
“Would you just answer the question?”
“You would need to file for a hearing first to get it approved, and they determine whether or not he’s high risk or not, and then it’s just a matter of filing for the right paperwork,” Abigail said. “But step one is the hearing.”
“Thanks, and it’s just a thought,” Monica said.
“So, you really have to go through a legal process just to tell your boyfriend you’re a witch?” Holly asked.
“Pretty much,” Monica said.
“I suppose I should keep that in mind for the future,” Holly said.
“You got a guy all of a sudden?” Abigail asked.
“Your surprise is disheartening,” Holly grumbled. “Not really, though… I mean, maybe…” Holly released a loud, exaggerated sigh. “It’s just… Isaac has kind of been hinting that he wanted to go on a date for Valentine’s Day.”
“Really!” Monica exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “You and Isaac?” It did not exactly come as a surprise to Monica. Isaac had told Monica quite a while ago that he had a crush on his childhood best friend for the longest time. And she had started to notice a bit of flirting between the two.
“Yeah, maybe,” Holly said. “It’s just a lot to think about. Isaac and I have been friends since we were kids, and this whole ‘I might be a witch or some other mystical entity’ thing kind of adds another layer to the whole mix. I’m worried that because we’re such good friends we might try to move to fast and then it will ruin our friendship, you know? It’s like since we’ve been friends for so long we might wind up skipping a lot of early relationship steps. I’m worried, you know?”
“Well, has he officially asked you yet?” Monica asked.
“No, he’s so shy it will probably be Valentine’s Day next year before he gets around to it,” Holly joked.
“If he asked you, would you say yes?” Monica asked pointedly.
Holly’s face turned bright red, and Monica squealed. “Knock that off,” Holly said, but she laughed. “But yeah, I totally would. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and the truth is I’m curious to see where it goes. It’s just weird because of how long we’ve been friends… I mean, we’re talking grade school old friends.”
“That is a long time,” Monica said. “But you have to believe that it’s going to have its benefits too. You already know so much about each other, right?”
“That’s right… You know, except he doesn’t know about the existence of witches and wizards and magical creatures. He’s still convinced that reindeer he took a picture of was an alien,” Holly said.
“Aliens,” Monica laughed. “Some people will believe anything.”
“Do you really not see the irony of that statement coming out of a witch’s mouth?” Holly asked, and they both had the giggles after that.
They could talk about little else for the rest of the day other than Monica’s plans with Brian, Holly and Isaac potentially becoming an item, and Abigail occasionally groaning about the confusing laws of the Sorcerer’s Council. By the time the day came to a close, the three of them were rather tired, but that didn’t matter. They perked themselves up with some coffee and hurried through the portal behind the counter. There was a flash of light as they went through the back door and emerged to the other side of Backroom Books where Monica’s twin sister was waiting. Her black-haired, purple-eyed twin beamed. She was dressed in all black as usual with the exception of a red hat she now wore that depicted a werewolf on the front, the mascot for her boyfriend’s Romp-A-Roo team.
“You guys ready?” Mona asked excitedly.
Monica held up her broom. “Ready! I can’t believe this will be the last Romp-A-Roo game of the season!”
“Only if they lose,” Mona said. “If they beat the Thunderdome Trolls, we could go to the finals.”
Abigail laughed mockingly. “The Wysteria team has never beaten Thunderdome.”
“I have a good feeling about this one,” Lenore, Mona’s raven, cawed as she flew down and perched on the edge of Mona’s broomstick.
“Oh, great, you,” Abigail grumbled, following Monica and Holly out the door.
Monica threw one leg over the side of the broom, and Holly sat on the back with Abigail between them. Monica and Mona both kicked off, and soon they were zipping through the air. “I wish I could fly!” Holly said, holding tight onto Monica. “Last time I tried to ride a broom on my own, it threw me!”
“You just have to find one that likes you,” Mona said. “There are plenty of non-witches who fly.”
“Not well,” Abigail said. “I knew a goblin who fancied herself a flier back in the day—I can’t tell you how many times that woman flew into the side of my uncle’s house.”
“Your uncle the minister?” Monica asked. “How did he react to a goblin flying into the side of his house?”
“I told him it was the devil, and he had a neighbor hanged over the whole thing,” Abigail nonchalantly.
“And you wonder why you’re trapped living as a cat,” Monica said with an eyeroll. “Let’s hurry. I don’t want to miss any of Deimus’s game!”
“Same!
” Mona said happily. “With him as captain, I think Wysteria might actually go to the finals this year!”
2
Monica was on the edge of her seat, her toes pressed firmly to the ground in expectation that she was going to be jumping up at any moment. She saw Deimus pass the Romp-A-Roo ball swiftly to one of his female teammates, who catapulted immediately to one of the center yellow podiums. The woman bolted, jumping from podium to podium. The other team had mostly been gathered on the opposing side of the field, and this took them quite by surprise. The woman, a witch named Rosemary, jumped onto a podium where one of opposing team members, a large burly warlock, stood. The man swung at her, but she didn’t even have to duck as he greatly overexaggerated his height. Rosemary headbutted the man in the gut, and he doubled over, giving her the opportunity to jump onto the center yellow podium.
A witch from the opposing team jumped onto the podium to prevent her from launching, but Rosemary went for it anyway. Everyone in the stands stood up in shock. The opposing team’s witch flew right into the side of one of her team’s podiums, just barely being rescued by one of the safety witches flying below. Rosemary’s balance was thrown off terribly, and she shot off to the side with little chance of actually landing on anything. The second safety witch zipped forward on her broom in time to cast a spell to save Rosemary, and just as the witch drew her wand, Rosemary chucked the Romp-A-Roo ball through the air, surprising everyone—including the opposing team’s goalie. It went straight through the goal, and the whole stadium shook with applause as Rosemary came crashing down on the stunned safety witch. Rosemary and the witch, who was supposed to stop anyone from dropping to the ground, went fumbling through the air, both gripping onto the broom until they came to a grinding halt, crashing in the grass.
