by Susan Harper
“Good…” Monica pulled out her wand. “I wasn’t joking when I was talking about magic. You see, Brian, I’m a witch.”
She waved her wand and books went flying off a nearby shelf, swarming around them. Brian jolted in his seat, looking around in surprise. Another spell, and the fire burning wildly in the fireplace jumped out in animal form for a moment, even barking like a dog, before jumping back to its proper place—an old trick she had learned when she was just a child. Finally, she pointed the wand directly at Brian, and his eyes went wide, somewhat fearfully for a moment. “Advocabit!” she said, and Brian, through no will of his own, floated up and zipped across the floor until he was standing nose to nose with her.
He was wide-eyed, and for a moment, Monica was afraid he was going to run out the door in terror. Instead, he seized her by her waist and pulled her in close and kissed her. She dropped her wand, and all the books flying around fell to the ground. When their lips parted, he continued to hold her close, his face against hers. Brian leaned toward her ear and whispered in a very excitable and somewhat child-like manner, “Show me more.”
Beaten at His Own Game
Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery, Book 9
1
“He was like a little kid at Christmas,” Monica said, throwing herself down in a chair and gushing terribly. “He wanted to see what I could do. I showed him my potion collections and did all sorts of little spells for him. He thinks it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen…”
Monica Montoya was a witch, an unnatural witch, meaning she was born with a limited supply of magic, but she was a witch, nonetheless. Recently, she had obtained something known as a reveal license that would allow her to reveal the truth of the mystical world to five people within the mortal town of Bankstown, where she worked. She had used three of those allotted persons for family members of Holly’s, her employee who had only recently learned she was part-mystic, and finally, she had revealed her world to her boyfriend, Officer Brian. She and Holly, who had become her closest girlfriend since moving to the mortal world, hadn’t had much time to actually sit and talk about the amazing date she’d had.
“I’m so glad,” Holly said as she busied herself cleaning the back counter of the bookshop Monica ran. “You have no idea. I was kind of nervous for you. I mean, I imagine that it’s not a happily ever after sort of thing with everyone when they do the big reveal.”
“You have no idea,” Abigail, Monica’s familiar—a very moody black cat—said, hopping up onto the counter that Holly had just cleaned. “Back when I was a witch, they didn’t even have reveal licenses. It was just understood that telling any mortal that you’re a witch was a bad idea.”
“You grew up during the Salem witch trials,” Monica said. “Of course it was a bad idea to tell people if their first reaction was to throw a rope around your neck and hang you.”
“Couldn’t trust a soul back then,” Abigail grumbled.
“You say that like you didn’t cause the whole thing,” Monica said with an eyeroll. She went back to daydreaming about Brian. The past few days had been amazing. He’d had a few days off work, so they had been spending every minute together, which was the main reason she and Holly hadn’t had time to talk. He was eating it up. “He just loves it. He is still so amazed by magic. He told me had never really believed in magic, but he had always hoped for it. Isn’t that just beautiful?”
“I think she’s in love,” Holly said, teasing a bit as she elbowed Abigail.
“Gross,” Abigail said, jumping down. “Have you told Brian about me yet?”
“Oh… No, I don’t think so. I do need to tell him I have a talking cat, don’t I? He’s already met the ghoul that lives in our cottage,” Monica said.
“Oh, we have to mess with him,” Abigail said.
“Don’t you dare,” Monica countered.
It was near closing time, and Monica had been waiting impatiently for it. Brian was supposed to be coming by after he got off work. Her twin sister Mona and her boyfriend Deimus were going to be coming by as well. Brian had met them before, but that was before he had been told about the mystical world. It would be like meeting her sister and her boyfriend all over again.
Holly bid Monica and Abigail farewell for the evening; she had a few errands to run. Monica, glancing out the shop window, saw Brian bump into Holly in the street. The two of them talked excitedly for a moment, and Monica was certain they were talking about the mystic realm by his body language. He really was like a small child whose eyes had been opened to a world of wonder. He entered the shop, grinning ear to ear. “So… Holly just told me about meeting Santa Claus? What’s that about?”
Monica laughed. “I’ll have to tell you that story sometime.”
Brian hurried over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her. He clearly thought they were alone. Abigail cleared her throat, and Brian jumped, looking around like he had just been caught. “Is someone here?”
“Down here, big guy,” Abigail said, and he looked down and raised his brow.
“Abs?” he asked.
Abigail sat upright and stared at him. “I really don’t like being called Abs. It’s a poor nickname.”
“You…have a talking cat…” he laughed.
“She’s actually a witch,” Monica explained. “But she’s serving a prison sentence as a familiar.”
“Okay, that’s…different…” Brian said. “Your mystic government sentences people to live as animals?”
“Our government is a bit more creative than yours,” Monica said, laughing again. The closet in the shop opened, and her twin sister Mona and her boyfriend Deimus stepped out.
Brian smirked. “Were you two hiding in the broom closet?”
“Huh?” Mona asked. “Oh, no, that’s the portal to the mystic world.”
Brian was starting to look a bit overwhelmed. Monica intervened. “So, I invited Mona and Deimus by because I thought we could do a sort of double date night in the bookshop. I know you’ve got a million questions.”
“You have no idea,” he said, smirking.
Mona pulled out her wand and waved it blissfully, and the room rearranged itself. A table cleared itself of books, chairs pulled up, and suddenly there was food and candles as well. “Whoa,” Brian said, impressed.
“Mona was born with extra magic,” Monica explained. “That happens with twins sometimes. One gets most of the magic while the other winds up like me. A potions expert.”
“Don’t belittle your gifts, Monica,” Mona warned as Deimus pulled out a chair for her.
“Seriously,” Deimus said, sitting himself down by Mona. “I have never seen a more impressive potion master. You should have opened up a potion shop.”
“As much as I enjoy my potion work, I always hated potion shops,” Monica said, sitting down as Brian kindly pulled a chair out for her. “I feel like only old, retired warlocks run them.”
“All the more reason for you to start one,” Deimus said. “Add a little color to the potion realm.”
“I love my books, though,” Monica countered.
Brian had many questions. He started with Abigail, and Abigail left to hide up in the loft while they told the story of her life. She had accused several mortals of being witches when she was a little girl and had turned the town on one another. The Sorcerer’s Council had eventually tracked her down and sentenced her to serve five hundred years as a cat. In other words, Abigail was responsible for the Salem witch trials. Recently, though, the council had knocked several years off her sentence for good behavior and a handful of good deeds. She now only had twenty more years to serve.
Their next topic of conversation was the portal. Brian wanted to know how it worked and why the worlds had been split. Not long after the witch trials, Monica explained, the council had elected to separate the two worlds so that mortals and mystics could live peacefully separated. Of course, some like Monica chose to venture between the two. That period was known as The Split. Brian wa
s very interested in the history of the mystical realm. He wanted to know all about it. He had so many questions that Monica didn’t even know the answers to half of them. She wasn’t exactly a history person.
Eventually, talk drifted to less serious topics. As much fun as an introduction to the history of magic had been, Monica was much more able to talk about current events, like the Wysteria Werewolves going to semi-finals soon. Romp-A-Roo was a popular sport in the mystic realm, and Deimus was a professional player on the Wysteria team, Monica and Mona’s hometown.
“Tryouts are going to be soon,” Deimus said excitedly. “We lost two players right after we won the game that put us through to the semi-finals. We’ve had a great thing going this season, but after that happened, I’m worried.”
“What happened exactly?” Brian asked. “You lost two players? Injuries?”
“One of them killed the other,” Deimus said, and Brian’s eyes widened. “It was pretty intense. “Someone gave one of the players a ridiculously powerful love potion, and he went nuts and killed another teammate. He was devastated after the potion wore off, of course. He was arrested, and now we’ve got two open spots on the team right before we go to the semi-finals. I’m really nervous. We lost two really good players. Good guys, honestly, if it wasn’t for that incident. They were my friends.”
“I’m really sorry, Deimus,” Brian said. “That must have been hard.”
“It was,” Deimus said. “Now there is a lot of pressure to put together a perfect team. I don’t know how we’re going to do it. This is the first time in I don’t even know how long that the Wysteria Werewolves have made it this far, you know? We’ve been kind of the joke team for a while.”
“Until you and Coach Joanne-Jo took over,” Mona said proudly. “They have been amazing about whipping this team into shape, Brian. I know you’ll be able to get two new players up to par with your training regiments.”
“Yeah, but it’s more than just being fit and skilled,” Deimus said. “A lot of our strategies are pretty complex. It’s a lot for new players to learn, especially two new players. I don’t really know who all is going to come out to tryouts either.”
“I would love to check out the tryouts,” Brian said, then blushed slightly. “Wait… Am I even allowed to go there? To the other side, I mean.”
“Yeah, you’re good,” Mona said. “Monica’s reveal license, once she used it, put your name down automatically as a traveler. You’re good to go back and forth between the realms. I mean, you have to think about it. If mystics are allowed to go back and forth, why not mortals? If the mortals legally find out about the other side, that is. Which you did.”
“You really had to go to court and everything just to tell me that you’re a witch?” Brian asked, looking at Monica with an expression of awe and admiration.
“Yes,” Monica said, blushing a bit. “I mean, we’ve been dating for a while. I knew if this wasn’t going to be, you know, just a fling…that I’d need to tell you the truth eventually. And I didn’t want to get in trouble with the Sorcerer’s Council.”
“Amen to that!” a voice echoed from the loft, and they snickered at Abigail who, because of trouble she had gotten into with the sorcerer’s council, was walking on a couple of extra legs and was covered in fur.
“Yeah, I imagine you don’t want to make them mad,” Brian said, smiling. “I feel like I’ve joined some sort of top-secret club. I really want to visit the other side soon.”
“Why don’t we plan a date night in Wysteria?” Monica suggested.
“Please,” he said, a big grin on his face.
Mona and Deimus both laughed. Mona snapped her fingers. “Ooh, the Cookey Cauldron is having their grand reopening tomorrow after that troll smashed one of the building’s support beams. They redecorated everything, from what I hear. You two should go.”
“Cookey Cauldron?” Brian asked, looking amused. “Oh, I have to go check out a place called the Cookey Cauldron.”
They all laughed. “Okay, perfect,” Monica said. “Tomorrow night, I’m taking you on a date in Wysteria.”
He looked excited. “That sounds…wonderful.”
Deimus snorted. “I thought he was going to say magical, and I was going to kick him under the table.”
“Dang,” Brian said. “Missed a great opportunity for a pun…”
Monica shook her head, trying not to laugh too hard. She was ecstatic that she was going to be able to share her world with Brian.
2
“Are you ready?” Monica asked Brian the following night as they stood in the back of Backroom Books after closing. Holly had headed off to Wysteria about a half-hour ago for some of her own errand running in the mystical realm, leaving Monica and Brian alone in the shop.
“I know you’ve shown me plenty of evidence of magic, but a part of me still isn’t convinced we’re going to walk through that closet and appear in another world altogether,” he said with a nervous laugh.
“Well, you are about to have your mind blown,” Monica said, opening the door.
Abigail had curled up on the counter, and she half-asleep muttered, “Enjoy yourselves, you two.”
“Thanks, Abs,” Monica said, and Brian looked at her skeptically. The back closet appeared to be a mere utilities closet full of brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies.
Brian took Monica by the hand, and the two walked through together. There was a flash of blinding light, and the next thing they knew, they were stepping through to the other side and entering a very similar but blatantly different bookshop. “I was wondering when you two would come through here,” Mona said, chasing some flying books back to their proper shelves. “Date night, right?”
“That’s right!” Monica said. “Cookey Cauldron!”
“You two have fun,” she said.
“You and Deimus not going out tonight?” Brian asked.
“No, he’s got a team meeting tonight,” Mona said with a slight groan. “They have tryouts coming up, and he wants them all to be there for it, so he’s giving everyone the rundown on how tryouts are going to go.”
“Romp-A-Roo, right?” Brian asked.
“That’s right,” Mona said with a smile. “Don’t let me keep you two. You’re going to want to get there before it gets too dark with it being the grand reopening.”
“We’ll catch you later, then,” Monica said, and she and Brian walked out to the street.
Night life in Wysteria was grandly different than that in Bankstown. In Wysteria, goblins, trolls, centaurs, witches and wizards, vampires, and all sorts of various mystics could be seen walking the streets at night. In fact, the most unusual creature out that night was Brian, who got a handful of stares and points from young children. “Whoa,” he kept saying, his head on a constant swivel.
“Careful not to stare,” Monica told him.
“They’re all staring,” he pointed out.
“Mortals are a rarity in these parts,” Monica said. “Though most everyone probably just thinks you’re an oddly-dressed wizard.”
He laughed.
At last, they arrived at the Cookey Caldron and were seated in a booth. A young couple a few tables over kept glancing their way. “What’s their deal? I don’t look any different from them, do I?” he asked. “Why do they keep sniffing the air?”
“That’s Tonya and Balto,” Monica said. “Don’t mind them. They’re werewolves.”
“Werewolves?” he asked, sounding slightly alarmed. “They don’t look like werewolves.”
“And what are we supposed to look like exactly?” Tonya snapped, and Brian quickly looked down at the menu the witch server had placed in front of them.
“Easy, Tonya,” Monica called to her. “And maybe pay attention to your own conversation.”
Tonya huffed and went back to speaking with her date. “I guess I said something offensive?” he asked.
“Only a little,” she whispered. “Tonya is short with everyone, though. It’s not a full moon, so werewolves
look pretty mortal the rest of the month.”
“Okay, got it,” he said, looking embarrassed.
They wound up spending the rest of dinner talking mostly about mystic etiquette. Brian was worried about offending everyone. They had witch’s brew, a common dish in Wysteria, that Brian seemed to enjoy, much to Monica’s surprise, until he found an actual eyeball in it and nearly lost his lunch. Explaining that it more than likely wasn’t a human eye did nothing to relieve the green look on his face.
Afterwards, they headed to look at some of the shops around town. He was particularly interested in a potions shop, which gave Monica much to talk about since she was a potions expert. As they were leaving, a few ingredients in a bag to help her finish the ancestry potions test, they very coincidentally bumped into Holly. She smiled, a few Wysteria newspapers and magazines tucked under her arm. She had been out doing a bit of shopping herself, she explained, showing off a broom cleaning kit.
“So, what did you think of the Cookey Caldron?” Holly asked Brian, and he started to turn green all over again.
“He liked the witch’s brew until he found the eyeball,” Monica explained.
“But that’s the best part!” Holly, who had been raised mortal, exclaimed. “I grew up on our side of the portal, and I liked it.”
“Yeah, well…” Brian shuddered. “Maybe it’s an acquired taste.”
“You liked it, though!” Monica said, punching him playfully.
“Before it started staring back at me,” he argued, but he laughed. “So, what was all this stuff you got at the potion shop?” he asked. “You said it was for Holly?”
Holly’s face lit up. “Is that for the ancestry test?”
“Sure is,” Monica said. “I’ve been brewing that thing for weeks now, you know? Now it’s time to add a few more final ingredients. It’s a very complicated potion, but it’ll tell us exactly what kind of mystic Holly is.”
