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

by Susan Harper

  “The portal!” half of the crowd yelped all at once. Morganna and Grace had taken Bonnie and Norah to the other side.

  “Portal?” George bellowed. “What portal?”

  Isaac put a hand on George’s shoulder. “Trust me, you’re just going to want to go with it, man. Just accept for a moment that the world is nuts, and let the shock get to you later. We have to save your wife and Holly’s stepmom from a crazy witch who is apparently thousands of years old. Roll with it or go insane.”

  “R-right,” George said, and Holly took her dad’s hand.

  “I know it’s crazy,” Holly said. “But this is… Well, Dad, this is my crazy birth family. I hope you can accept them for what they are because I’m just like them.”

  George smiled. “Let’s just go get your mom, and like Isaac said, I’ll worry about processing all this later.”

  “Great,” Monica said. “Holly, you think you could summon clouds the way Grace did?”

  “Grace told me to unlock my Ibeji powers, I pretty much just had to believe I could do it,” Holly said, closing her eyes. “So, I believe I can do it. In fact, I believe I’m about to go kick my twin sister’s butt for messing with my mom and stepmom!”

  A rush of dark clouds encircled them, and those who had brooms hopped on, most everyone taking a mortal behind them. Monica had her shapeshifting broom go into motorcycle mode, and Holly’s adopted father George nervously got into the sidecar while Holly, who hadn’t quite mastered her twin’s flying ability just yet, sat on the back. “Let’s ride!” Monica called, and everyone zoomed off toward Backroom Books, Holly’s mystical dark cloud covering them from mortal view.

  As promised, Chief Tollr had made sure to lead the officers on a wild goose chase away from the shop, allowing them all to hurry inside unspotted. Once inside, Brian took charge. “All right, mystics, partner up with a mortal to guide them through the portal. Let’s not leave anyone behind. We’re going to need all the help we can get if we’re going to track down Morgan Le Fay.” Brian turned to Kyle. “It’s probably for the best if you stay here with the kids.”

  Kyle nodded. “Okay… Please find my sister-in-law, all right? Bring Bonnie home safe from…from whatever this is.” He ushered the kids to a corner of the bookshop where they promised to wait for everyone’s return.

  Monica hooked arms with Brian, waiting to make sure everyone else got through first. When they stepped through to the other side of the shop, Monica was greeted by a horrible sight. Her sister Mona was hanging upside-down, her body wrapped in vines. Lenore, her familiar, was desperately trying to peck them away. The whole shop was filled with giant, monstrous plants.

  “Monica!” Mona yelped.

  Weston was pulling out his wand. He cast a spell that caused the plant holding Mona to wilt, and Mona fell to the floor with a look of fury. “Mona, what happened?” Brian demanded as he helped her to her feet.

  “Grace and that woman from the sketch came walking through the portal with some women, and I tried to stop them. Grace just… She just waved her hands, and this happened!” Mona exclaimed, waving at her shop that was now in ruins thanks to the plants that had sprouted up from the ground. “I’ve never seen magic like this before.”

  “Ibeji magic,” Monica said. “Those women were Holly’s adopted mom Bonnie and her stepmom Norah. They’re in trouble. That woman who was with Grace? It’s Morganna!”

  “Excuse me?” Mona asked. “Morganna? You must be joking.”

  “No time to explain,” Brian said. “We need to find them before Morganna hurts Bonnie and Norah. Any idea where they might be going?”

  “Yeah, actually,” Mona said, picking up her wand. “Pretty sure they’re headed for Uncle Drac’s castle. I heard Grace mention it to Bonnie.”

  “Then we better get going,” Monica said.

  “Mona, I need you to alert the authorities about what we’re up against and have all able bodies meet us there,” Brian said.

  “No,” Monica said. “Not Mona. You could use her. She’s the most powerful witch I know.”

  “I’ll go,” Weston said. “By Uncle Drac, do you mean the count?”

  “That’s the one,” Monica said.

  Weston nodded. “You just get my sister back, all right? Don’t let anything happened to her, and I’ll be there soon with reinforcements.” Weston hurried off, his wife following him to the nearest authority station.

  Everyone else loaded up on brooms and sped off. George, Monica could see, was gripping onto the edge of the sidecar. Holly leaned over. “Dad, Mom’s going to be fine,” she said.

  “I know,” George replied, looking around at everyone whipping around him on broomsticks. “I mean, with people like this on our side…” He smiled at Holly. “I always knew there was something special about you, sweetheart.”

  “You know it,” Jonathan said. He was seated on the back of Anniston’s broom. Anniston was a terrible flier, this being a fairly new skill of hers, so they were jerking around a bit. “George, our Holly and her friends are the most remarkable people I’ve ever known, and I’m evidently part-immortal.”

  Isaac was riding behind Naven and gripping the man like he thought he was going to fling him off at any moment. Naven was quite a skilled flier, but he enjoyed frightening the mortal a bit with quick movements.

  Monica smirked back in Jonathan’s direction. “Remind me to tell you what else you are. We found some interesting stuff in that ancestry potion.”

  Soon, Count Dracula’s castle appeared in the distance. But it did not look like it usually did. There was an enormous cloud circling overhead, casting one giant shadow over the mountainside. As they drew nearer to the courtyard, Monica could see Bonnie and Norah along with her Uncle Drac—each of them trapped by vines similar to those that had trapped Mona moments before.

  “All right, where are they?” Mona hissed. “This has trap written all over it.”

  “Well, we’re going down either way,” Brian said. “Aren’t we?”

  “Of course,” George said fiercely, and soon the whole group was descending upon Castle Dracula.

  They landed not too far from where the mess of newly-sprouted vines were entangling Bonnie, Norah, and Drac. Drac was struggling against his restraints. He was hanging upside-down while Bonnie and Norah were at least upright. When Drac spun, Monica could see that Aunt Wilma had been visiting since she was strapped to Drac’s back. This made Monica nervous. Her Aunt Wilma was a very skilled combat sorceress. If Grace and Morganna had managed to get the jump on her, that spelled trouble for the rest of them.

  “Be ready, everyone,” Brian warned as they approached.

  “George! Holly!” Bonnie yelped.

  “Thank goodness!” Norah countered.

  “Ah! Zee? I told you ladies not to vurry!” Drac exclaimed as George came darting toward Bonnie, pausing for a moment to stare at Drac. “Yes?” Drac beckoned.

  “Count Dracula…” George said, shaking his head for a moment before kneeling in front of Bonnie. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Bonnie said.

  “Stand back,” Mona said, drawing her wand. She casted a withering spell, and the vines around Bonnie rotted and fell away. George helped her stand, throwing his arms around her. “So, our daughter is magic, have you heard?” George teased, and Bonnie punched his arm slightly.

  “Obviously,” she said, putting her arms out for Holly to embrace her as well.

  Mona freed Norah as well as Uncle Drac and Aunt Wilma. “Little monsters took our wands,” Wilma said, nodding at Norah, who was also rather useless without a wand.

  “Here,” Monica said, handing her wand over to her aunt. “You can make more use out of my wand than I can if they show.”

  Aunt Wilma started to protest that Monica did just fine with a wand, but she elected not to as it would have been a lie, and safety was much more important just then. “Let’s go,” Brian said. “No need in hanging around if—”

  As they were turning aroun
d to march toward the castle, they saw Grace. She seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Holly gritted her teeth. “You have some nerve,” Holly snapped.

  Grace held up both hands and smiled kindly. “Just trying to get your attention, sister.”

  “Move,” Holly said. “I’m taking my mom and stepmom home. You’re some sort of monster, aren’t you?”

  Grace looked highly offended. “Hardly.”

  “You set the fire, didn’t you?” Holly asked.

  “Yes,” Grace admitted.

  “And the sleeping pills?” Holly asked.

  “Thought it wouldn’t be wise to use a potion,” Grace said. “Would make it too obvious a mystic had been involved. I did what our mother asked us to do.”

  “And you hav been using a love potion on me?” Naven asked. “Vas that part of your plan?”

  “No, that was just for fun,” Grace said. “Sorry, Naven. I really do like you.”

  “You said all of this was to get Holly’s attention,” Monica said. “So? Where is she? Where is Morganna?”

  Grace’s eyes flickered slightly. “Ah… You are very clever. When did you all figure that out?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Holly said. “Where is she?”

  There was a burst of green and purple smoke right beside Grace, and when it cleared, a cloaked figure stood before them. The woman lowered her hood, and there stood one of the most enchantingly beautiful creatures Monica had ever seen. The woman smiled at them. “Hello, Holly,” Morganna’s voice sang in a frightfully motherly tone.

  Holly glared at her. “You had Grace try to kill my mom for you! You kidnapped her and my stepmom.”

  “I suppose it was a mistake,” Morganna said as though she had merely made a crude comment about Holly’s weight as opposed to attempting to murder her family. “When Grace found you in the world of the mystics, I knew it was time for me to see my other daughter at last. I followed Grace to Bankstown, and my jealousy got the best of me.”

  “So you tried to kill them?” Monica asked.

  Morganna’s eyes darted from Holly to Monica. The woman scrunched up her nose. “Filthy unnatural,” she hissed.

  Mona and Aunt Wilma both raised their wands. “Watch what you say,” Mona warned.

  Morganna’s eyes glistened in Mona’s direction for a moment. “I sense great magic in you,” she said. “Ah, twins… Of course. You must have gotten much of your sister’s magic as well. Lucky you.”

  They heard voices outside the castle. Morganna sighed. “You sent for the authorities,” she said. “Well, I’ll be quick then. Holly, come with me and your sister.”

  “Screw that,” Holly retorted.

  “Holly,” Grace said in a sweet, urging tone. “You have no idea what our mother can teach you! What we’re going to do… What we can do together.”

  “I know that she started Remembrance,” Holly said.

  “A rather noble cause,” Morganna said. “A means of extinguishing certain undesirables. Mortals will meet their end, my daughter. Tell me what side you stand on.”

  “Not yours,” Holly said firmly.

  “Pity,” Morganna said and held her hand out toward Grace. “Mother will be waiting for you when you come to your senses, Holly.”

  “You’re not my mother,” Holly said. “And you never will be.”

  Just as the authorities and Weston came crashing into the courtyard, Morganna and Grace disappeared in a cloud of green and purple mist.

  15

  Monica stood in the middle of Backroom Books on the mystic side, Mona on one side and Brian on the other. It had been cleaned up since earlier that evening, and now it was crowded with people. Holly stood with Bonnie on one side and Norah on the other. George had his arm around Bonnie, and Isaac had a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. Jonathan stood, Norah and Anniston in his arms. On the floor was Kyle, his children Mark and Mattie pulled into his lap. He had a death grip on them both, afraid to let them wander around in this magic bookshop they had just been brought into. Weston and Tora were seated at one of the study desks along with Jonathan’s cousin Roczen, the three of them whispering nervously. Naven stood alone in a corner, looking pitifully uncomfortable and out of place. Monica’s Aunt Wilma and Uncle Drac were behind the counter, Drac fussing over Wilma, who kept brushing him off and assuring him that she was fine.

  In the center of the room, addressing them all, was Chief Tollr and Chief Mueller, who was the Head Authority of Wysteria, and with them was Madam Imelda of the Sorcerer’s Council. “I have spoken with the rest of the council,” Madam Imelda said. “And given the unique circumstances of your situation, we will not be performing memory wipes on any of the mortals present here. We feel it is safest for them to be aware of the dangers that they face so that they can remain vigilant.”

  “Thank you, Madam Imelda,” Holly said. “I know we broke the rules bringing my dad and Kyle and his kids here, but…”

  “It was circumstantial,” Madam Imelda said. “Let’s try not to make a habit out of this, though, dear.”

  “Can we address the elephant in the room?” Monica said, unable to hold her tongue any longer. “You knew that Morganna was Holly’s mother, didn’t you? You must have seen the same thing that Brian and I did when we did our ancestry potion.”

  “Yes,” Madam Imelda said. “The council knew. We assumed Morganna was dead, but having a child as young as Holly led us to wonder what had taken place. We had started an investigation that was being done off the books. Our investigation was far from complete, but you seemed to have answered the question we were most concerned with.”

  “Whether or not Morganna the Wicked was still alive,” Chief Mueller said, shaking his head. “And apparently, she’s got a fully-matured Ibeji on her side. Grace.”

  “You got one on yours too,” Holly said firmly. “Though I am only just now learning how to use my magic. Grace, she’s been trained by Morganna—the Morganna—her whole life.”

  “So,” George said, clearing his throat. “Not to interrupt, but for us, er, mortals in the room, is this the same Morganna from, like, fairytales? Evil witch. Sister to King Arthur. That one?”

  “That’s the one,” Madam Imelda said. “But believe me, the tales you mortals have heard are nothing compared to the grim reality that is Morgan Le Fay. She was one of the most powerful witches to have ever existed, completely engrossed in dark magic, and she took a strong stance against non-wizards. I can’t believe she was the one who started Remembrance, the masked founder disappeared after the Split and was assumed dead.”

  “How has she managed to stay alive for this long?” Jonathan asked. “I mean, my father was immortal. He was killed off by the old Sorcerer’s Council with strong magic, I assume. Immortals are the ones who are supposed to be able to live forever, right? How did a witch manage it?”

  “There are spells that can extend one’s life,” Madam Imelda said. “But those spells always come at a cost. What those costs are depend on what sort of magic she is using. I’ve never heard of a witch living for this long, though. And to still look youthful… This is very dark magic indeed.”

  “So what now?” Kyle asked, gripping his children even tighter. “I mean, is that witch going to come after our family?”

  “I don’t know,” Madam Imelda said. “But the Sorcerer’s Council will be giving you all protection until we know what Morganna is really planning. I fear we may soon be at war now that she has decided to resurface.”

  “Great,” Monica groaned.

  Madam Imelda nodded. “Chief Mueller will be in charge of providing security for each of you.”

  “Thank you, Chief Mueller,” Holly said, and the wizard nodded.

  “I’ll get my best authorities on it, Holly,” Mueller assured her.

  “For now, stay vigilant,” Madam Imelda said. “I must meet further with the council. We must try to find a way to locate Morganna before this gets out of hand.” The woman left.

  Mona sighed heavily. “Well, this w
as a rather eventful day,” she said.

  “You’re telling me,” Monica said. She glanced in Holly’s direction, watching Bonnie and George coo over her and asking her a bunch of nervous yet excited questions about her biological family now that they knew the truth. They were such a sweet couple. “I have something I have to take care of,” she said after a moment.

  Brian frowned. “You need me to go with you?” he asked.

  “No, I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry,” Monica promised and kissed his cheek.

  She headed outside, jumped on her broom, and flew off. This was always where Monica was most at peace. She flew over Wysteria, her hometown, watching the mystics in the streets who were blissfully unaware of the evil lurking in the shadows. She passed over the centaur reservation and soon came upon the valley where the orphanage was located. She landed briskly at the main entrance where Sister Celia was standing, smiling her big toad smile at her.

  “Did you get my letter?” Monica asked.

  “I did,” Sister Celia said. “She’s in her room. Come with me.”

  Monica followed Celia inside the orphanage. They headed up a flight of stairs and down a number of twisting corridors. The building was full of windows, letting in a superb amount of natural light. It was a nice place for children, if they had nowhere else to go.

  Sister Celia stopped outside a small door, and she knocked briskly. The door opened on its own, and Monica could see Abigail sitting at her desk, her wand pointed behind her. She turned around in her chair. “Sister Celia, would you read over my homework for me?” Abigail asked when she saw the toad-woman. She jumped up out of her chair, though, when she spotted Monica. “Monica! What are you doing here?”

  “Came to visit you,” Monica said, and she smiled at Abigail. It was a warm, honest smile—quite unlike the scowls she had been granting the girl during their previous interactions.

  “I’ll give you two a moment, and yes, Abigail, I will happily read over your homework for you,” Sister Celia said, and she left, closing the door behind her.

  “So,” Monica said, stepping further into the room. “This is where you’ve been staying?”