Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  “Of course he has,” a squeaky little voice said, and they saw Joanne-Jo fluttering by. “Tried to woo her after practice with a terrible, terrible singing rendition of Bewitched My Heart. It was disgusting. No shame.”

  “Shut up!” Deimus exclaimed, his face a crimson red.

  Abigail died laughing, and Monica had to cover her mouth to keep from snorting at Mona, who clearly did not like the answer to her question. “You tried to woo her? You’ve never sung for me!” Mona stated, and Coach Joanne-Jo had a fun laugh before fluttering off.

  “It wasn’t intentional!” Deimus exclaimed. “We were having a discussion about a new play, and she was sitting right up front in the classroom we were using for our meeting. She was asking a lot of questions, so I kept looking at her, and when she was getting ready to leave, she gave me a quick hug and I smelled her hair and—”

  “Why were you smelling her hair?!” Mona snapped.

  “Okay, I have to speak up,” Lenore, who was perched on a nearby tree branch, said. “Three years ago, Mona chased around a poor selkie boy for two months and nearly drowned herself when he returned to the water, so I really don’t think you have any room to talk.”

  Deimus started laughing, and Mona looked absolutely mortified. Monica, who had never heard this embarrassing story, broke into a loud, painful laugh she could not stop. “Oh my gosh, you kept following him after he returned to the sea? After he put his skin back on?”

  “Skin!” Holly yelped. “What do you mean by skin?”

  “Sorry,” Monica said, still laughing hard enough she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “I sometimes forget you don’t know much about mystics.”

  Mona was covering her face in humiliation, while Abigail rolled around on the ground cackling. “Details!” Abigail was crying. “I need details!”

  Deimus gave Lenore an approving nod as a thank-you for intervening on Mona’s jealously. “So, seriously, skin?” Holly asked.

  “Tell you what,” Mona said, shaking herself off a bit. “When we get back to the shop tonight, I’ll loan you a little book I have on selkies. One on Romp-A-Roo, too. You’ll want to make sure your understanding of the game is on point before the Wysteria Werewolves go to the finals.”

  “Oh, that sounds like a great idea,” Holly said. “I need to really get a better idea of the game. I’m still having a hard time following it.”

  Just as Mona was about to start a whole conversation about Romp-A-Rue rules and regulations, there was a loud scream heard from somewhere deep in the forest. A young hobbit came running up into the middle of the party, pointing back in the direction he had just come. “I–I saw a dead wizard!” he exclaimed. “I don’t know who he is, but he’s wearing a Wysteria Werewolves jersey!”

  Deimus broke into a sprint, and Monica, Mona, and Holly followed with their familiars not too far behind. They followed the panicky young hobbit, half the party coming with them now, and as they burst through the trees, they indeed came across a body lying out in the creek. “Leopold!” Deimus yelped, dragging the younger warlock from the water. “A wand! Mona, your wand!” he demanded, and she was quick to hand hers over.

  The whole team, along with a number of hobbits, was now standing around all fear-stricken. Deimus pointed the wand at Leopold and shouted, “Vivifica!” When he did, Leopold’s body jolted, and a tremendous amount of water spewed from his mouth, but that was all. The spell had failed to save his comrade because he was already dead.

  4

  Mystic authorities arrived quickly, again, and they wasted very little time in taking Leopold’s body away from the scene. Deimus was pacing, his face turning an angry red as he spoke with one of the responding warlocks. The rest of the team had all seemed to have collapsed around one of the firepits, sitting close to one another with looks of horror, shock, and utter sadness that they had just lost someone so incredibly close to them. Romp-A-Roo was a true bonding activity, and that was no exception for the Wysteria Werewolves. If anything, it was even more so with this team that had faced so many obstacles surrounding past prejudices over who could and couldn’t play the beloved sport.

  Deimus was the only team member still on his feet, and it was only because he was reacting with anger, an evident defense mechanism to keep himself from being drowned with emotions. Those who were part of the team, various hobbits, and other mystics who had found their way to the party were all standing around in groups, some speaking with mystic authorities and others whispering to one another about what had taken place.

  Monica, Mona, and Holly stood together by the tree where Lenore was perched. Abigail had found herself a large branch on the tree as well where she had curled up, looking rather discouraged. “I can’t believe this,” Mona said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I just love Leopold. He’s always been so nice to me, and I know Deimus is really close to him. The Romp-A-Roo community has been through enough this year after what happened with Trapper. A second murder in Romp-A-Roo? I can’t believe it. We’re the second team that has been targeted this year.”

  “We know, Mona,” Monica said. “I’m so sorry about all of this. I can’t imagine what Deimus must be thinking right now.”

  Slowly, Monica, Holly, and Mona made their way over to the team. “Everyone all right?” Monica asked.

  “No, of course not,” Rosemary said. She had been openly sobbing ever since they had found Leopold. Monica could not imagine what must be going through her head—her last moments with Leopold, whom she had been dating for a long time, had been rather unpleasant. She had probably been rather angry at him for falling for the infatuation mist flowing from Clowdia, and the very next moment, they were finding him drowned in a creek.

  “I’m so sorry, Rosemary,” Clowdia said, her voice still sounding almost whisper-like and musical. “I know how much you loved him. This isn’t right…”

  “Wait…” Rosemary said, wiping her eyes and staring at Clowdia across the fire. “You…you were the last one with him!” Rosemary was now standing, pointing at Clowdia.

  Deimus and the responding warlock came over to see what the shouting was all about. “Rosemary, what’s going on?” Deimus demanded.

  “Clowdia! She killed Leopold!” Rosemary shouted.

  “Whoa, easy there, Rosemary!” Coach Joanne-Jo fluttered up from her seat. The little pixie fluttered in front of Rosemary’s face. “Just because you are a little jealous that Leopold fell for an infatuation charm doesn’t mean Clowdia would hurt him. Clowdia didn’t do it on purpose. It’s not her fault. He should have known better. Was probably staring at her too long.”

  Rosemary stomped her foot. “It makes sense!” she snapped.

  “It kind of does,” Ida, the werewolf, said quietly.

  Clowdia stared at Ida. “Pardon?” she asked.

  “I mean, you’re a selkie. He was drowned,” Ida said. “Not that I think you did it or anything, Clowdia. I’m just saying that if it was someone on the team…”

  “What? That I would be your first guess?” Clowdia snapped. “Anyone else feel this way?”

  No one said anything except for Deimus. “No,” he said firmly, glaring at Ida and Rosemary. “Back off, you two, I’m warning you right now. Clowdia didn’t do this.”

  “Deimus,” Jonathan said quietly. “She was alone with him in the woods for a bit. Remember? She went to talk to him about the little charm he was under.”

  “Stop calling it a charm!” Clowdia snapped. “It’s not a charm. I’m not a witch! I don’t do it on purpose. It just happens.”

  “Right, I know,” Jonathan said. “All I’m saying is that you were alone with him near where he was killed, what, twenty minutes before we found him?”

  Clowdia glared at him. “You really think I would have hurt Leopold?”

  “No!” Jonathan said quickly. “I just know that, well, I know how you feel about that charm, er... I’m sorry, what do you people call it?”

  “You people?” Clowdia repeated. “Oh, no, that’s it! I’m gone! How dare
you! How dare any of you!”

  “Don’t run off, Clowdia,” Bolt called.

  “Yeah,” Gale said in agreement. “That’s not exactly making you look innocent, you know?”

  Clowdia let out a frustrated scream, her back turned to them as she continued to stomp away.

  “Seriously!” Trixie called. “Come back and let’s talk about it. Did he maybe do something to you, Clowdia? I know how some men under that charm can be a little aggressive, not that it would have been his fault because of the magic and all, but—”

  “It’s not a charm!” Clowdia said and then spun back around, positively seething as she stared at her Romp-A-Roo team. She straightened her stance, clenched her fists, and then let out a horrid, screeching sound that was so loud, it shook the branches on the nearby trees. Each of them covered their ears in agony. “Prejudices!” Clowdia snapped as she stormed off. “I had no idea! My own team!” And just like that, she was gone.

  Deimus turned to look at his teammates. “You guys are all total jerks! Clowdia didn’t do this!”

  “How do you know?” Bolt asked. “I mean, she was the last one seen with him. It was in her element.”

  “It was a creek!” Deimus snapped. “Not the freaking ocean, and even if it had been, she doesn’t have her fish skin. She had no greater chance of drowning him than any of you would have.”

  Joanne-Jo landed right on Deimus’s shoulder. “Agreed! That was absolutely uncalled for! I expect each of you to give her a sincere apology if you expect to continue on our team into the finals! I mean it!”

  Finals. The word stung suddenly. “Deimus… Coach… What are we going to do about the finals without Leopold?” Trixie asked after a long silence.

  “That’s something we are not going to worry about right now,” Deimus said. “We just lost our teammate. Our friend. We worry about that right now.” His teammates all lowered their heads, both mourning for Leopold and clearly feeling a bit of shame for how quickly they had accused Clowdia.

  It was late, and Deimus had promised to make sure his werewolf teammates got home safely that night after the Remembrance incident. He kissed Mona good-bye, and after being dismissed by the investigators, Deimus headed off with his team to make sure everyone returned home safe. Mona, Monica, Holly, Lenore, and Abigail headed back to Backroom Books.

  They headed inside Mona’s side of the shop and wound up sitting around one of the study tables she had set up in the middle of the shop. “I just can’t believe it,” she said. “Leopold… I always liked him. He and Deimus were close.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mona,” Monica said. “I can’t believe the way everyone jumped on Clowdia like that.”

  “Not all mystics are well educated on aqua-mystics,” Mona said. “There are some who can go half their lives before having a single interaction with an aqua-mystic, depending on where they grow up. For a lot of the team, all they have to go by as far as what Clowdia is comes from hearsay.”

  “Can one you explain something to me?” Holly began. “About the whole skin comments. I’m really confused.”

  “Selkies, when they live in the water, basically look more like…I don’t know…seals, I guess. Manatees. Whatever you want to call it,” Mona began. “They sometimes choose to come live on land for a while, but they shed their selkie skin to do so, and that allows them to breathe air. All they have to do to return to the water is put their exterior back on, and it forms to them. They have the ability to live on both sand and sea because of this unique ability.”

  “So when they were talking about you chasing after a selkie boy who had put his skin back on…you were crushing on a giant sea mammal, basically?” Holly asked, and Mona held her wand out in Holly’s face.

  “Don’t bring it up again,” she warned, and Monica let out a quick laugh.

  “Sorry, but I hadn’t ever heard that story before, Mona,” Monica said.

  “I should de-feather you for that one, Lenore,” Mona said, shaking her head. “But, yes, that’s what happened.”

  “So Clowdia has her skin stored somewhere or something?” Holly asked.

  “I’m not so sure,” Mona said. “It seems like a touchy subject for her. I’ve been under the impression something happened to her skin. That it was stolen, so she can’t return home and has been living on land for a while now.”

  “That’s awful!” Holly said.

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Mona said. “She talks a lot about missing her family, and she usually looks pretty sad when the subject comes up.”

  “I imagine so,” Monica said. “What do you think, Mona? You know the team better than I do. Do you think Clowdia would have had anything to do with Leopold’s murder?”

  “I seriously doubt it,” Mona said. “She’s pretty civil. I doubt him getting infatuated would cause her to lash out like that. She’s used to it, you know? If you stare too long at a selkie because you find them attractive, that’s going to happen. Leopold was probably giving her googly eyes for too long, which he shouldn’t have been doing since he’s with Rosemary, and it just pulled him in.”

  “I really would like to learn more about selkies,” Holly said.

  Mona held up her wand, uttered an incantation, and a book went zipping off a distant shelf and landed right in front of Holly. She repeated the spell, and a second book, this one on the game of Romp-A-Roo, flew and landed on top of the first. “Don’t think I forgot I told you I’d get you a book on Romp-A-Roo for you to read before the finals. I don’t know what the team is going to do now. Hold tryouts, I guess. Our team had a lot of injuries early on in the season, so we don’t have anyone on reserves.”

  “This is a disaster,” Monica said. “Poor Leopold. I hope the authorities find out what happened to him and soon. The team can’t have this lingering over their heads right now.”

  “I agree,” Mona said and sighed. “It’s been a long night, and I’ve had way too much of that spiked pumpkin juice. I think Lenore and I are going to head on home.”

  “Us too,” Monica said, standing up, Abigail following closely.

  Holly scooped up her books, thanked Mona for pulling them for her, and followed Monica. Monica gave her sister a hug as a bit of reassurance before she, Holly, and Abigail headed through the portal, back to their mortal home of Bankstown.

  5

  Monica was just cleaning off the back counter of her side of Backroom Books when Officer Brian entered the shop, obviously there for his usual morning coffee before his shift at the station. “Morning, ladies!” he called as he entered, nearly tripping over Abigail as she scurried across the room. “Oy! That cat is going to kill me one of these days,” he laughed.

  “Morning, Brian,” Holly said. “I’ll get you your coffee.” She headed over to the little barista station and began working on Brian’s drink.

  “How are you this morning?” Monica asked, and Brian hurried around the back counter to quickly give her a peck on the cheek.

  “Excellent, seeing as how I get to start my day seeing you,” he said with a wink. Abigail made a gagging sound right behind Brian, and he turned around and stared down at the black cat. “Sounds like your cat has a hairball.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Monica said, glaring at Abigail with warning eyes. The cat rolled her eyes and trotted off to find herself a proper place for her morning nap.

  “So, before I head off today,” Brian said, looking directly at Monica with gleaming, excitable blue eyes. “I wanted to tell you I’ve got a pretty awesome plan for you on Valentine’s Day.”

  She smiled. “Oh, do you?”

  “Yup,” he said. “But I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

  “Of course not,” Monica laughed as Holly handed Brian his cup of joe.

  “I want it to be a surprise,” Brian said. “Just be ready for it.”

  “Will do,” she said and gave him another kiss before he headed out, the act of which caused Abigail to start gagging again. Once Brian was gone, Monica whippe
d out her wand. “Do that again, Abigail, and I will change your fur color.”

  “Yeah, because you know how to do that,” Abigail taunted.

  “Exactly,” Monica said. “Do you want an unnatural witch waving her wand at you? Who knows what will happen?”

  Abigail went and hid behind a bookcase. Monica put her wand away and sighed. “Okay, real talk time, girls,” she said, jumping up onto the back counter and letting her legs hang down.

  “Everything okay?” Holly asked, tidying up a small spill she had made when making Brian his coffee earlier.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. Better than fine, actually,” Monica said. “Thing is, I’m thinking about going to the Sorcerer’s Council about Brian.”

  Abigail let out a wail, and she appeared from her hiding place. “No, you’re not, are you?”

  “What do you mean by going to the Sorcerer’s Council?” Holly asked.

  “Well, dating mortals is not illegal or anything like that,” Monica said. “But if you want to reveal the mystic world to them, there is a legal process there.”

  “Oh, right, I remember now,” Holly said. “I guess that makes sense. Wouldn’t want one witch blabbing to everyone on her blog about warlocks, goblins, and vampires.”

  “Exactly,” Monica said. “There’s a process to getting it approved.”

  “Monica, that’s a very serious decision,” Abigail said. “Do you really want to pull something like that?”

  “I don’t know,” Monica said, tugging at her hair nervously. “I really like Brian, and our relationship has been getting serious now. And if I want to see where it goes for real, then I can’t keep hiding who I am from him, can I?” She stared down at Abigail. “It would just be so much easier, you know?”

  “Easier to talk to him, I’m sure,” Abigail said. “But relationships with mortals…it’s a complicated thing.”

  “I know.”

  Abigail sighed and rolled her eyes. “You really like this man, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” she said.