Dr. Zagat’s expression hardened. “Fergus’s injuries could end up on your permanent record. That would be quite the blemish, wouldn’t it? It would probably make it difficult to find work anywhere, really.”
I bristled. “Why me? Why can’t someone else take it?”
“Quite frankly, Agent Fury, nobody wants it. As you already know, it’s boring and it’s thankless. Why else would Paul Pidcock die as a result of bee stings rather than in the glory of battle?”
“The glory of battle might be overstating it slightly.”
She huffed. “Work with me here, Eden. The Bureau is giving you an out. Take it.”
“I guess I don’t have a choice.”
Dr. Zagat perked up. “I thought you’d come around. As far as people in Chipping Cheddar are concerned, you work in a field office for the cyber crimes division of the FBI, so you might want to brush up on technology terms like ransomware.”
I shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not that great with computers.” I barely knew how to use the filters on Snapchat.
“Who cares? It’s a cover story. At least your family will still think you work for the FBI.”
My family wouldn’t think that. They knew all about the FBM. And they knew just enough to dance out of their reach. The long arm of the law never touched my family, not in all the years they’d lived there.
And now the long arm of the law would belong to me.
Chapter Two
Chipping Cheddar is a small town on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It was settled by English Puritans with surnames like Abbot, Bradford, and Greenwood. Those that didn’t turn to the water for their livelihood became dairy farmers and eventually turned their hand to cheesemaking. The town streets are still full of cheese-based names and attractive historical buildings. The closer to the bay you get, the prettier the buildings. A promenade runs along the waterfront and is popular with walkers, joggers, and cyclists. The most important thing to know about Chipping Cheddar, though, is that it houses a dormant portal to Otherworld. That’s the reason the town has so many supernaturals living here. The humans don’t realize it, of course, unless they possess the Sight like my childhood friend, Clara Riley. Clara is an empath, an unfortunate ability to have during our hormonal teenage years. I wondered what she’d say when she discovered I was back. I hadn’t talked to her much since I moved away. As much as I liked Clara and treasured our friendship, I’d wanted a clean break from all things supernatural, or as clean as I could get when it came to my family.
I packed my car with the few belongings I owned and made the long drive to Maryland. My hellhound, Princess Buttercup, spent most of the journey with her head out the window. To supernaturals, she looked like a shaggy black monster with glowing eyes and fiery breath. To humans, she looked like a black and white Great Dane thanks to a glamour created by my mother. The witch had her uses.
I found Princess Buttercup during a trip to an oracle right before I left town for university. My older brother, Anton, had encouraged me to go and ask about my future, whether I was destined to succumb to my dark side. As a child, he tormented me with stories of black magic and violent vengeance. Anyway, I discovered the hellhound puppy abandoned outside the entrance to the underworld. I fell in love the moment I saw her and we’ve been a team ever since.
I pulled into the driveway of my mother’s house and sat for a moment. The house looked the same as when I left. The white clapboard house with black shutters and matching front door. The wide front porch with a slightly crooked swing. It was a slice of Americana, except for the inhabitants.
My family lives on what used to be a dairy farm owned by the Wentworths, one of the Puritan families. Over time, other houses were built around theirs and eventually formed the cul-de-sac now known as Munster Close. Most of the houses are similar in nature, except the original farmhouse now occupied by my mother. Next door is Mrs. Paulson, the neighborhood busybody. She knows there’s something strange about my family but she’s never been able to prove it. Husbourne Crawley lives on the other side of her, a Southern transplant and white wizard partial to pale linen suits and straw hats. He’s a member of the town council—the official one for humans—and serves as our supernatural mole. The three Graces also live on the close. The sisters are infuriatingly good-natured and the type of supernaturals I aspire to be. I used to visit them often as a child, trying to absorb their wholesomeness. My mother threatened to sell them to me once and I brought her my piggybank.
My father’s house is a mere five hundred yards away, the result of their divorce when I was ten. They agreed to divide the expansive property and my father built a new house, where he now lived with his second wife. My mother wasn’t lonely, however. She still had a full house with my grandma and Grandma’s sister, my great-aunt Thora. Although I warned my mother I was coming to stay, I didn’t offer any details. I figured that part could wait.
I stared at the house and sighed. “Are you ready, Buttercup?”
The hellhound barked in response. She was always ready.
I walked through the front door with the hellhound trailing behind me. She seemed to remember the house and went sniffing along the floorboards to the family room. I found my mother in the kitchen, along with Anton and my grandmother.
“Eden!” My mother dropped her spatula on the counter and bustled over to embrace me.
As my hug tightened, she wiggled away. “Careful not to crease my top, honey. I’m going out soon.”
I released her and hugged my brother instead. “Good to see you.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Same. I have to warn you, it’s kind of a circus in here.”
“Thanks to you and your children,” Grandma said. “Who needs all these jars and toys? You’re not raising cats.” Candy, Grandma’s black cat with a singularly bad attitude, was treated better than most family members.
“Verity and I are staying here while our house is being remodeled,” Anton said.
“Where is Verity?” I asked. Verity is a doctor with her own local practice. As a druid healer, a doctor made perfect sense as a career choice.
“Work,” Anton said. “She’ll be home in time for dinner. She’s scaled back her hours to spend more time with the kids.”
I eyed him curiously. “And why aren’t you at work?”
“I was,” Anton said indignantly. “I had to stop in to get my phone charger. It keeps losing battery.”
“That’s because you let Olivia play games on it,” my mother said. “I told you that would happen.”
“Wow. Olivia is playing electronic games already?” I asked. My niece was only a toddler when I left home.
“Five is still too young, in my opinion,” my mother said. “It’ll damage her eyes.”
Anton heaved a sigh. “There’s no scientific evidence that screen use will damage her eyes.”
“Since when do we care about scientific evidence?” Grandma said. “We’re witches.”
“And Verity is a doctor,” Anton stressed.
“When do I get to meet my nephew?” Ryan was only a year old, so we hadn’t met in person, only an occasional video chat.
“He’s napping,” Grandma said. “And if you wake him, I’ll kill you and bury you in the backyard next to the last person who woke him.”
“Mother, stop it!” my mother said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “He’s not the best sleeper.”
“I guess Olivia is at school,” I said.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Grandma said. “You’ll know when that one comes through the door. She moves like thunder.”
“She’s five,” I said. “How loud can she be?”
No one responded.
“So who wants to help me bring in my stuff?” I asked.
“You expect an old woman to pitch in?” My grandma suddenly made herself appear very small and frail. It was a gift.
“Anton?” I looked at my brother expectantly.
“I would, but I have to get back to the offic
e.” He grabbed his phone charger off the counter.
“How much stuff is there?” my mother asked, suddenly concerned. “A lot?”
“I don’t know. Why?” I asked. “I told you I was coming to stay. It’s not my fault you didn’t tell me Anton was staying here, too.” With his wife and two kids, no less.
“You didn’t tell me you got fired,” my mother shot back.
“I didn’t get fired,” I huffed. “I got transferred. To here. I thought you’d be pleased.”
“Pleased that you got a demotion?”
I resisted the urge to stamp my foot. “It’s not a demotion. I’m in charge of the whole office here. Basically, it’s a promotion.”
My mother stifled a laugh. “Eden, you seem to forget that I’ve lived here a lot longer than you and spent a fair amount of time with Paul Pidcock.”
“She’s just lashing out because she has to tell everyone she works in IT instead of as a fancy field agent,” Grandma said.
“It’s not IT,” I said.
“You told your mother computers,” Grandma argued.
“Cyber crime. Computer and network intrusions,” I clarified.
Grandma ignored my explanation. “Face it, Eden, you’re a clout shark.”
I narrowed my eyes at the elderly witch. “Have you been reading the urban dictionary again?”
Grandma shrugged her bony shoulders. “I like the internet. Passes the time.”
“You know our Eden.” My mother rolled her eyes. “Evil University wasn’t good enough for her. She had to go to Do-Gooder State. With humans.”
“They have a great basketball team this year,” my brother said.
“First of all, Evil University is in Otherworld and you know I had no desire to live there,” I said. “Second of all, it’s not called Do-Gooder State and I got a full scholarship. You should be grateful.”
“Why? It would’ve been your student loans, not ours,” my grandmother said.
No surprise that they missed the point. They didn’t care about my grades when I’d earned them. They certainly weren’t going to care now.
“Have you been to see your father yet?” my mother asked. I knew what her real question was—did you see your father before you came to see me?
“No,” I said truthfully. “I figured I’d head over once I got settled here. Take Buttercup with me.” Say what you want about vengeance demons, but my dad loved Princess Buttercup.
“I can guess why you don’t want to stay with your father,” Grandma said. “Starts with an S and ends with a resting bitch face.”
My mother’s head bobbed in agreement. “That woman sucks the energy out of your father and everyone she comes into contact with. She’s an emotional vampire.”
“No, Mom,” I replied. “Sally is an actual vampire.”
My mother grunted. “Whatever.”
“I’ll stay there if you don’t have room for me,” I said, knowing the riot that suggestion would incite.
“The attic isn’t good enough for you?” Grandma snapped.
“The attic?” I echoed. Okay, I knew space was scarce, but I hadn’t anticipated the attic.
“I’m sorry, honey,” my mother said. “That’s all we have available right now.”
In truth, I couldn’t stay with my dad even if I wanted to. My stepmom was okay as far as I was concerned, but she liked their house a certain way. If you moved the coaster an inch, there was an inquisition as to why you made that choice. I didn’t need the stress, not that my mother’s house was much better.
Anton sensed the tide was turning against me. He bent down and kissed my cheek. “Catch up later, okay?”
“Traitor,” I hissed.
He bolted for the door before anyone could stop him.
After unloading the car, I climbed up to the attic with the first bag. It wasn’t even summer yet, yet the air was already sweltering. I was going to need to shower twice a day while I stayed here. On second thought, maybe Sally’s inquisitions would be worth a one-shower-per-day lifestyle.
The stacks of boxes remained untouched and there were more cobwebs than I cared to notice. I noted the mattress on the floor. At least it was covered in sheets and not dust.
“Hello, Eden.”
The voice startled me and I peered into the darkness. “Alice?”
The apparition floated toward me. “It’s been quite some time.”
“Not for you,” I said. “Probably seems like a minute has passed.” Alice Wentworth is one of the many ghosts that I’ve encountered in Chipping Cheddar. As this farmhouse had once belonged to her family, Alice tended to hang around the property. I was the only one she could talk to—one of my abilities that I had no control over—so Alice and I had gotten to know each other pretty well during my childhood.
“I’m pleased you’re back,” Alice said. “It gets dull with no one to talk to and there’s only so much television and web surfing a ghost can take. Your grandmother’s online searches in particular are highly questionable. You should see…”
I held up a hand. “I’d rather not know, Alice.”
I plopped down on the mattress. Not the most comfortable padding, but it would do for now.
“How long has my brother been living here?” I asked.
“I haven’t really paid attention,” Alice said. “The children are most interesting. Quite different from you as a child.”
“I look forward to spending time with them.”
“In that case, might I suggest you visit your father? He has the child now.”
My head snapped to attention. “Wait. What? I thought Ryan was asleep.”
Alice shook her transparent head. “Your father sneaks over and takes him sometimes during his naps.”
“No wonder the kid has an erratic sleep schedule.” What was my dad thinking?
“He’s missed you greatly.”
I knew Alice meant my dad. “Really?”
“He speaks to his wife about you and to Anton, of course.”
“Is he still traveling a lot?” I asked. In other words, is he still carrying out his vengeance commissions?
Alice floated to the window and observed the outdoors. “Yes, but he’s home now. I passed through there less than an hour ago and they were in the kitchen with Ryan.”
I pulled myself to my feet. “Fine, I’ll go now. Might as well rip off the Band-Aid.”
“I believe Sally has baked carrot cake in honor of your return,” Alice said.
I perked up. “With cream cheese frosting?”
“That I cannot say.” She tapped her nose. “No sense of smell, you see.”
“Ah, well. You had me at cake.” I began to climb down the attic steps. “It’s good to see you again, Alice.”
“Welcome home, Eden.”
“It’s my little girl!” My father greeted me with a warm hug. He’s the world’s touchiest, feeliest vengeance demon and I both loved and resented him for it.
“Hi, Dad.”
He squeezed my arms. “Who’s been working out, huh? Imagine the damage you can cause with those muscles.”
“I don’t want to do any damage, dad, but thanks.”
“Welcome back, darling.” Sally crossed the kitchen to give me a cool kiss on the cheek. Unlike my father, the vampire wasn’t much of a hugger.
“Did you whiten your fangs?” I asked, noticing Sally’s gleaming sharp teeth. Only other supernaturals or humans with the Sight can see that Sally is a vampire. To everyone else, she looks like an attractive middle-aged woman.
“I did,” Sally said. “Thank you for noticing.” She gave my father a pointed look.
“Eden, have you met your adorable nephew?” my dad asked.
Ryan sat in a highchair in the kitchen. A bowl of food and a spoon were on his tray.
“Hello, Ryan,” I said. “I’m your Aunt Eden. Remember me from the phone screen?”
Ryan’s lips parted, revealing pink gums and a smattering of teeth.
“Who’s the most evil
baby in the world?” my dad said in a high-pitched voice. “You are!”
Ryan gurgled.
“Dad, he’s only one. Let’s not start with that already.”
“Never too soon to get in touch with your true nature,” he said.
“I made a carrot cake in your honor,” Sally said. “Would you like a slice?”
“Yes, please,” I said. I took a seat on a stool at the counter and watched Sally uncover the cake.
“Want to hear about my latest summoning?” my dad asked.
I could tell by his excited tone that I really, really didn’t.
“Virgins, all of them,” he said, and sliced a hand through the air.
I wanted to cover my ears. I didn’t need to hear my father’s talking about virgins, for a summoning or any other reason.
“Nobody understands the raw power virgins have,” my dad continued.
“And some of us don’t want to understand,” I replied.
“So a new job, Eden?” Sally asked, sensing my discomfort. She set a small plate and fork on the counter. “Must feel good to shake things up a bit. Life can get so stale.”
For an immortal, maybe.
“If you wanted a new job, you should have moved into the family business,” my father said.
I tried to focus on something good, like the cake. Yum. It was cream cheese frosting.
“I didn’t want a new job,” I said, my mouth full. “I liked my old job.”
“You could be like your cousin Francie,” my dad said, ignoring me. “She specializes in infectious diseases.”
“Yes, in giving them to people.” No thank you.
He gave me a blank look. “Well, what else?”
“Dad, you know that’s not what I want out of life.”
“The world needs darkness,” my stepmom said. “Without it, there’s no light.”
“Sally’s right,” my dad said. “Someone’s got to deliver the herpes hex. Might as well be you.”
Sally poured me a glass of milk. “Death. Disease. It’s all necessary. What’s a little pestilence between friends?”
I fought to retain my composure. “I’m not the STD fairy. I’m a fury.”
Spellbinding Starters Page 41
