Witch Cake Murders (Sweetland Witch Women Sleuths) (A Cozy Mystery Book)

by Zoe Arden

  Too bad Lucy didn't have a date. Not that she hadn't been asked. She was considered one of the prettiest, most popular witches in all of Sweetland Cove. Heck, in all of Heavenly Haven, for that matter. The whole island, whether you fell on the Sweetland Cove side or the Mistmoor Point one, agreed that Lucy Lockwood was better than your average witch.

  She'd just grown a little leery of men after the whole fiasco with Polly and Slater, when he'd basically tried to kill every human in town and blame it on us witches.

  Shoot! There I went again, dwelling on the past. Stop it! I told myself.

  Suddenly the lights in the dance hall brightened. The wizards in charge took the stage and announced they were ready to declare the new Miss Snow Queen. My aunts had urged me to enter the contest, but I'd declined. I'd had enough attention since arriving in Sweetland, what with being a murder suspect last summer and all. I needed a break from all the attention.

  There was a drum roll and then... "Miss Lucy Lockwood!" A round of applause ripped across the hall as Lucy took the stage. She was wearing a pale pink dress that glittered under the lights.

  I saw Lucy's younger sister, Megan, standing at the back of the room, barely clapping. Her date, Conner Stevens, seemed to be cheering louder than anyone. Megan shot him a look, and I hoped he knew to settle down. Megan had a jealous streak in her.

  "Thank you!" Lucy cried, taking the stage. Someone handed her a microphone.

  "Speech! Speech!" the crowd chanted.

  Lucy opened her mouth.

  "I just want to say—"

  Suddenly the lights went out. Not a sliver of light penetrated the dance hall.

  "Oh, come on!" someone cried. "Let's get the lights back on."

  There was a flicker, another flicker, and then the lights came back on, bringing a fresh round of cheers. Cries of "Speech! Speech!" resumed, along with a round of laughter. I turned my eyes back to the stage, ready for Lucy's speech. Only there was no one on stage to give a speech.

  Lucy was gone.

  "Where'd she go?" I asked Damon.

  He shrugged. "I don't know. Do you see her?"

  "No," I snapped. "That's why I asked you."

  Eleanor and Trixie came running over to us, their blond hair, almost the same shade as mine, trailing behind them. Trixie was holding her punch cup, trying to sip it as she ran. Sheriff Knoxx was panting as he ran to keep up with Eleanor.

  "Ava, what happened to Lucy?" Eleanor asked.

  "No clue. She just disappeared."

  "Maybe she went in the back to check her hair," Sheriff Knoxx offered. "Girls are always checking their hair."

  "She wouldn't go check her hair just as she was about to give her acceptance speech," I said. Then I looked at Eleanor and Trixie. "Would she?"

  Sheriff Knoxx had a point, I supposed. Lucy did like to look good. I pulled my Witchmobile cell out of my purse and dialed Lucy's number.

  "Straight to voicemail," I told them, hanging up.

  "She's gotta be around here somewhere," Trixie said.

  "I'll check in back," I told them.

  "Want me to go with you?" Damon asked.

  "No, I think it's better if we split up."

  "All right then," Sheriff Knoxx said, taking charge. "Fifteen minutes. Meet out front with or without Lucy."

  With, I thought as I ran backstage. The band had picked up again and the crowd was dancing. No one seemed too concerned that Lucy had disappeared. It was a party. No one was concerned with anything much other than dancing and having a good time.

  It was dark backstage. The ceiling lights gave just enough luminescence for me to see shadows in every nook and cranny.

  "Lucy?" I called.

  No answer. I turned a corner, heading down a hall that led to a bathroom and a couple of dressing rooms. The old Pixie Punk Dance Hall had been touted for decades as the place to hold big events, everything from rock concerts to weddings. I could see why. The backstage area was almost as huge as the rest of it. How was I supposed to find her in this?

  "Lucy?" I called again.

  A soft noise echoed from stage left. I headed toward it, my heart beating fast. Something didn't feel right.

  "L-Lucy?"

  A woman's dark shadow stepped out from behind a curtain. Her back was to me. She looked almost ethereal in this light. If I squinted, I could see right through her. All I could make out was long, blond hair. Nothing like Lucy’s dark tresses.

  "Oh, my roses. Sara Sweetland?" I muttered to myself, half convinced it was the same ghost I'd seen months before in Whisper Crossing. But what would she be doing here?

  A sharp noise erupted from behind me. I turned to look. It was just a custodian looking for a quiet place to lay low for a few minutes.

  I sighed and turned back around. Sara—or whoever she'd been—was gone.

  I walked to the spot where she'd been standing. A torn slip of paper lay on the floor. I bent to pick it up, hoping for some clue as to where my friend might be hiding. A single word was scrawled across the paper.

  Draugr.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Fifteen minutes later, I was outside comparing notes with my aunts and Sheriff Knoxx.

  "Any luck?" Trixie asked when she saw me approaching. She was sipping on a new glass of punch.

  "No. You?"

  She shook her head.

  "None here, either," Eleanor said.

  Damon just shrugged his shoulders. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He didn't seem very concerned.

  "I did find one thing," I told them and held out the slip of paper. "Drew-a-gar," I said, trying to sound out the strange word. "I have no idea what it means."

  "Drow-gurr," Sheriff Knoxx corrected me, rolling his r's with perfection. "It's nothing. Old Norse mythology."

  "Mythology?" I asked.

  "The undead," Trixie said. "They don't exist."

  "Undead? You mean like zombies?" My mind reeled with dozens of images from the Walking Dead.

  "No, no," Eleanor said. "Well, not exactly. Anyway, zombies aren't real, Ava. The undead is a myth."

  "Mostly a myth," Trixie corrected. "There are the bloodsuckers."

  I laughed, certain she was joking. I'd spent nearly six months on Heavenly Haven, an island so tiny you could drive from one side to the other in about three hours. The entire population was less than six thousand. If there were vampires here, I'd have known about it by now.

  Just then, Megan Lockwood came stomping by, pulling Conner along behind her. Megan's hair, just a shade lighter than Lucy's jet black, trailed out behind her, smacking Conner's face. He stumbled, caught himself, then stumbled again. Megan didn't slow down.

  "Megan!" I called.

  She stopped and looked at me, much to Conner's relief.

  "Yeah?"

  "Have you seen Lucy anywhere?"

  "Lucy?" she asked, biting down hard on her lip. If I hadn't have known her lips were always so ruby red, I'd have thought she'd drawn blood. "No. Why should I have?"

  "Well, I just thought—"

  "No," she snapped. "I haven't seen my sister." She yanked hard on Conner but he had finally gotten his feet planted firmly on the ground.

  "Why are you asking?" Conner said. "Can't you find her?"

  I shook my head. "She disappeared when the lights went out."

  Conner's eyes widened. "I know. I was waiting to hear her speech. Did you see that dress she was wearing? It was almost glowing on her. Glowing. Like she was lit up from inside or something. I've never seen anything so beautiful."

  Megan rolled her eyes. I didn't exactly blame her.

  "Lucy definitely deserved to win tonight," Conner finished.

  Megan glowered at him. "Come on." She yanked him hard and this time he wasn't ready for it. He fell sideways and hit the ground.

  "If you see her, tell her we're looking for her, okay?" I asked Megan, trying not to laugh as Conner began the process of righting himself again. If only Megan would stop yanking on him, he might stand a chance.


  "Sure," she said, her smile false. She was muttering under her breath. "She's probably sitting in her Snow Queen throne."

  She caught me watching her and shut her mouth.

  "Come on," she barked again at Conner, and they were off.

  "Maybe we should get back inside," I suggested. "We can talk to some of the guests before the dance hall closes up."

  Sheriff Knoxx and my aunts agreed. We turned to go, but I saw Damon lagging behind. His hands were in his pockets.

  "Go ahead," I told the group. "I'll catch up with you."

  When they were inside, I turned to Damon.

  "What's up?" I asked him.

  He shrugged.

  "Aren't you worried about Lucy?" I asked, trying to figure out why he looked both bored and irritated.

  "No. Not really. Are you?"

  I blinked. "Of course, I am. That's why I'm looking for her."

  "I get it. Witches who brew together stick together," he said.

  "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

  "A nursery rhyme I grew up with. A human nursery rhyme. There were a lot of them here on the island."

  "You didn't spend your entire childhood here," I countered. "It's not necessary for you to repeat every little saying you heard as a toddler."

  "Some things stick, I guess."

  I sighed. "What's really bothering you?"

  "Nothing. I just don't think you need to worry so much about Lucy. She's a witch. She can handle herself. I thought tonight was supposed to be about us."

  "It is, but... do you honestly think witches never need help with anything?" I laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. I realized too late that laughing was a bad idea.

  "I just think it's weird how you can't seem to live without your friends or your—"

  He stopped himself short.

  "My what?" I asked. "Go on."

  "Your magic." He spat out the last word like his mouth had soap in it. "I'll catch up with you later. I'm too tired to go witch hunting right now."

  I didn't know if he thought he was being cute with that last remark or what, but I didn't care. Something had just clicked. Damon was jealous. Not of Lucy, but of what I was. A witch. I'd been worried this might happen when we'd first started dating, but I'd thought we'd moved past that.

  Apparently, we hadn't.

  I watched him go, more angry than sad. How was I supposed to focus now? I took three deep breaths of cool island air and went back inside. One thing at a time.

  Sheriff Knoxx was on the right of the dance hall with Eleanor, questioning Dr. Dunne. Trixie was in back, staked out by the punch bowl. Her stockings were almost as bright as the berry punch everyone was sipping on. Her white shirt had remained stain free all night, which was amazing considering how much punch she seemed to be imbibing.

  She turned her head to ask someone a question and I saw William Carney—an old beachcomber who had lived on the island all his life—sidle up to the punch bowl and pull a bottle of rum out of his shirt pocket. William was an interesting sort. He considered the beach his home and knew everything about everyone. I was pretty sure he had a house somewhere in Sweetland, but I'd never seen him anywhere other than the shore. He tipped his rum into the punch bowl and was off again in a flash.

  At least now I knew why Trixie was so interested in the punch.

  I turned to the first couple I saw walking past me. That just happened to be Sweetland Cove's librarian, Pennyweather Kelso, who was walking hand in hand with Melbourne Hammond.

  I didn't know Pennyweather well. She'd always struck me as a little stuck up. Maybe it was the shoulder-length pageboy hair she went to such trouble keeping straight. Or the way she kept her glasses pushed low on her nose so that she had to peer over them at everyone she spoke to. Honestly, though, it probably had more to do with the fact that she was simply a librarian. A book snob who thought that those of us who didn't stick to the classics were beneath her.

  Melbourne, on the other hand, had a kind word for everyone. I'd never heard Megan or Lucy say so much as one negative thing against him. He was the owner of Coffee Cove, where Lucy and Megan both worked. His complexion was so pale it was almost eerie, and his eyes were so dark it was like looking into midnight.

  "Excuse me!" I said a little too loudly. They both jumped. "Have either of you seen Lucy?"

  Pennyweather patted her chest dramatically. Her thin frame shook as she pushed the glasses back up her nose. "Oh, Ava. You scared the horseflies out of me."

  "Sorry," I said. "So? Have you seen her?"

  "No," Pennyweather said, trying to move past me.

  "What about you?" I asked, turning to Melbourne. His hairline, which had remained thick even into his early forties, blended with the shadows in the dance hall. He wasn't a bad-looking man.

  "Sorry," he said. "Haven't seen her. Isn't she around here somewhere, celebrating?"

  "No. Lucy disappeared when the lights went out earlier."

  "Yeah, I saw that. I just assumed she'd snuck off with some boy somewhere."

  I tried to smile. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong here. I thought of the shadowy female figure I'd seen in back.

  "Have either of you seen anything strange? Shadows? Or... or zombies? Or... vampires?" I couldn't think of anything else to say and was just spewing out random ideas.

  Melbourne's already pale face suddenly whitened that much more.

  "No," he said snidely. "Nothing like that." He walked off in a huff, leaving Pennyweather behind him.

  She rounded on me. "Why must people keep persecuting other creatures? Vampires are good people. They just have a... a medical condition. It's not their fault." She turned and ran after Melbourne.

  Oh. My. God. No way. Impossible.

  Aunt Trixie went walking by. I grabbed hold of her shoulder. She wobbled slightly as she turned toward me.

  "Aunt Trixie," I asked, "this might be a stupid question, but... are vampires real?"

  Trixie let out a loud laugh, and my shoulders relaxed. I was being ridiculous. I'd misinterpreted Pennyweather's reaction.

  It took a full minute for Trixie to get her breath back. I thought the punch had gotten to her just a tad.

  "Ava," she finally said, "that's not a stupid question, just a silly one. Of course, vampires are real." Then she continued on her way as if blood-sucking undead monsters were the most natural thing in the world. Maybe on Heavenly Haven, they were.

  One thing was certain—I still had a lot to learn.

  >>> Find Out Now To See How The Story Ends <<<

  Order of Book List

  ALSO BY ZOE ARDEN

  . . . . . . .

  Standalone Novella : Cake Spell Disaster

  LINK: Standalone Novella : Cake Spell Disaster

  << Sweetland Witch Women Sleuths Series >>

  Book 1 : LINK >> #1 Witch Cake Murders

  Book 2 : LINK >> #2 The Witching Flavor

  Book 3 : LINK >> #3 A Drop of Witch

  Book 4 : LINK >> #4 Sweet Murder Hex

  Book 5 : LINK >> #5 Batter and Spells

  Book 6 : LINK >> #6 Portion Disaster

  Book 7 : LINK >> #7 Frosting Disaster

  Book 8 : LINK >> #8 Witch Way To The Bakery

  Book 9 : LINK >> #9 Royal Witch Curse

  Book 10 : LINK >> #10 Witches, Recipes and Murder

  Book 11 : LINK >> #11 Sugar Magic Murder

  Book 12 : LINK >> #12 Espresso, Cake, and Murder

  Book 13 : LINK >> #13 The Bakery Murder

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  Publisher Notes

  Copyright © 2019 by

  ZOE ARDEN

  No part of this book may
be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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