To Love a Witch

by Amanda M. Lee

  “That’s good, right?”

  “It is ... if I can ever get some sleep to recharge to deal with it.”

  “Sorry.” I closed my eyes again but I simply couldn’t settle. “What if she doesn’t do what we think she will?”

  “That does it.” Landon took me by surprise when he rolled me over and landed on top of me. I could see the wicked gleam in his eyes thanks to the moon shining through the window as he stared me down. “You won’t shut up until I make you, will you?”

  We’d had a horrible night. Everything that could go wrong had. Love welled up for him despite all that, and I managed a smile. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, I do smell like doughnuts. It would be a shame to waste that.”

  “It would.”

  “And you need to be tired out if you’re ever going to shut off that busy brain of yours.”

  “I do need to be tired out.”

  “I have an idea.”

  “I’m putty in your hands.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.”

  WE WERE BOTH MORE SETTLED WHEN WE let ourselves into the inn through the back door the next morning.

  Aunt Tillie sat in her usual spot on the couch, Peg at her side, and yelled at the television. “It’s not going to rain today. Stop saying it’s going to rain.” She shook her fist at the weather forecaster, a perky blonde with boobs that spilled out over the top of her shirt.

  “Is that Misty Showers?” Landon asked, his gaze fixed on the television.

  I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know the forecaster’s name?”

  He masked his excitement quickly. “I have to watch the news for work.”

  “And you need to know what the weather is going to be like when you’re chasing bad guys,” Aunt Tillie added helpfully.

  “That too.” Landon nodded. “It’s perfectly innocent.”

  “Uh-huh.” I didn’t quite believe him, but I didn’t have the energy to call him on a mild deceit. We had bigger things to worry about. “Did they say anything about Eric’s death?”

  Aunt Tillie shook her head. “That’s why I was watching. I got distracted by the stupid weather girl — seriously, that’s the only job in the world where you can be wrong seventy-five percent of the time and not get fired — but they never mentioned Eric.”

  “As far as I know, word hasn’t spread yet,” Landon noted. “I don’t think it will be long. I’m sure the rumor mill will begin grinding.”

  “Especially since Margaret was out there,” Aunt Tillie said. “She’s probably been putting her spin on the story since before sunup. We’re going to have our hands full on that front.”

  “Landon doesn’t think so,” I countered. “He thinks she’ll keep her mouth shut because it’s in her best interest to make sure nobody knows she was out there.”

  Aunt Tillie let loose a disdainful snort. “Are you new?” She pinned Landon with a dubious look. “That’s not how Margaret operates. She’ll spread a false narrative so we spend more time covering our behinds than watching where she’s sticking her nose. It’s a classic distraction technique.”

  “And how do you know that?” Landon challenged.

  “I know things.”

  “She has invisible eyes in her head,” I teased.

  “Laugh all you want, but that’s true.” Aunt Tillie used the remote to turn off the television and stood. “Margaret will be an issue. If you want to stop her, you’ll go on the offensive and keep her off that land.”

  “Keep her off the land?” Landon’s hand moved up and down my back as he pinned my great-aunt with a look of suspicion. “Are you certain you’re not suggesting I stop her from going out there so you can take over the search?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not evil. I just think it would be wise to limit Margaret’s movements.”

  “I’ll consider it.” Landon prodded me toward the kitchen door, the scent of fresh bacon drawing us both in that direction. “You’re overestimating Mrs. Little. She’s probably terrified that you guys will send some invisible wind hunter after her to ensure she doesn’t talk.”

  “Really?” Aunt Tillie snapped her fingers to get Peg to fall into step with her. “Do you really think, after all the time and effort Margaret has put into this endeavor, that she’ll let it go just because something happened that she can’t explain? She lives in Hemlock Cove. Do you have any idea how many unexplained happenings she’s managed to explain away?”

  Landon opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off.

  “She’s right,” I said. I didn’t want to pile additional worry on him, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were going to get worse before they got better. “Mrs. Little can’t be corralled unless you go directly at her. She won’t do the right thing simply because it’s the smart move. That’s not who she is.”

  “I’ll talk to Terry,” Landon said, prodding me toward the door. “We’ll figure it out. Breakfast first.”

  The kitchen was empty but it looked like everyone was just getting settled around the dining room table when we slid through the door. Thankfully the weekend guests weren’t due to arrive until the afternoon, so we were free to talk things over.

  “I don’t understand why family breakfast was mandatory this morning,” Clove complained, her eyes lighting up when she saw the platter of fresh doughnuts. “On the other hand, family time is very important. I’m always open to spending more time with my family.”

  Amused, Sam grabbed the platter and held it up for her. “Pick what you want.”

  “This isn’t for me,” Clove said. “It’s for the baby. She likes ... this one.” Clove snagged a cake doughnut with sprinkles even though she knew it was my favorite.

  Landon, perhaps reading my mind, snagged the doughnut’s twin before anyone else could claim it and dropped it on my plate.

  I beamed at him. “I really love you sometimes.”

  He returned the smile. “Right back at you.” He smacked a loud kiss against my lips, earning a dirty look from Chief Terry, and then glanced at the others around the table. “So, as most everybody knows, we had a bit of an incident last night.”

  “We heard at least some of it,” Mom confirmed. “Aunt Tillie went straight to her room when she got back, but Terry filled me in when he came to bed.”

  Now it was my turn to be grossed out. For my entire childhood — at least after I’d given up on the idea of my parents getting back together — I’d gravitated toward Chief Terry as my father figure. Even now that my father was back in town, more often than not I went to the chief to make me feel better. I’d always wanted him with my mother. The reality was hard to swallow, though. I’d seen them in bed together weeks ago. I was still trying to scrub the image from my brain.

  Still, that was something to grouse about when we didn’t have a murderous ghost to deal with.

  I laid everything out for them in a clinical manner. Now that I was separated from what happened a bit, my emotions weren’t as raw. When I finished, everyone started talking at once.

  “How did he die?” Marnie asked.

  “Who is going to sell real estate in town now?” Twila chimed in.

  “Do you really think Dani’s behind this?” Mom looked positively nauseated at the thought. “She’s just a girl.”

  “She’s a girl with an interesting skill set,” I countered. “She’s powerful. Apparently more powerful than we realized.”

  “Landon figured it out,” Thistle volunteered as she slathered her toast with strawberry preserves. “He suggested that we had a likely suspect across the lake. We hadn’t truly considered Dani.”

  “I did kind of wonder about it,” I hedged. “It was one of those things that I thought and then immediately dismissed. I didn’t believe it could be her ... and now that we know it’s most likely her, I feel oddly detached.”

  “And she attacked Hazel?” Twila made a tsking sound. “That’s horrible. We should invite her here to spend the day. We can fix that inj
ury and allow her to rest.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I acknowledged. “She was pretty down on herself last night. She blamed herself for what happened.”

  “It’s not her fault,” Mom argued.

  “I don’t know that she feels the same way. She’s spent the most time with Dani since this started. She’d warned us before that Dani was showing signs of ... unfortunate behavior. It’s just not good.”

  “We can figure it out,” Mom said. “We need to break things down. Where would Dani go?”

  “The obvious answer is the house she grew up in, but Lorna and Nick are gone,” Thistle volunteered. “After Lorna found out what Dani had done to her own father, she wanted to protect her son. I think she figured the daughter was a lost cause but there was still a chance for the son.”

  “Do we know where they went?” Marnie asked.

  I hesitated and glanced at Chief Terry. “I don’t, but I’m sure there’s a way to find them.”

  “I’m sure there is,” Chief Terry acknowledged, “but do we want to risk involving them in this now that they’ve made a clean getaway?”

  “What if Dani is already on her way to them to take her revenge?” Mom challenged.

  “And what if Dani is somehow monitoring to see who we make contact with?” Chief Terry fired back. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable being the chink in the armor that leads to them being taken down.”

  “That’s fair,” I said hurriedly, holding up my hands in capitulation. The last thing I wanted to bear witness to was a fight between Chief Terry and Mom. That might be more horrifying than the sex I kept picturing. “Odds are she’s still here. Why she chose to act last night is beyond me, but she’s clearly controlling Valerie’s ghost.

  “Chief Terry brought up a good point,” I continued. “He said every kid in the area knows the Arlen Topper legend. It’s possible Dani heard talk of buried treasure on the property and decided to find it so she could make her getaway. She could’ve been going over there two or three times a day for all we know. Apparently the wards weren’t working correctly, so she was always free to come and go.”

  “I didn’t think about it, but you’re right,” Mom said. “I don’t understand any of this. If she could leave, and was so unhappy, why did she stay?”

  “She didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Aunt Tillie added. “She was always feeling us out, trying to push boundaries. Hazel told me that the kid was trying to get in her dreams and give her nightmares.”

  That was the first I’d heard of that. “What?”

  Aunt Tillie nodded gravely. “Hazel said the kid was pushing horrible pictures into her head, like bloody scenes from horror movies and the things she wanted to do to her mother. At least she thought it was Lorna. She never saw a face, just heard screams.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” I was dumbfounded. “If she was doing that, I should’ve known.”

  “And then what?” Aunt Tillie’s gaze was plaintive when it landed on me. “Bay, you’re a strong girl. You’re smart, too, although I reserve the right to take that back the next time you or your boyfriend tick me off. You also have a soft heart, which is why you’ve never fully embraced the things that you can do.”

  Landon stirred. “I happen to like her soft heart.”

  “Of course you do,” Aunt Tillie shot back. “You’re trapped in the center of her heart and you benefit from all the lovey-dovey things she says to you. You get a moony look on your face sometimes when your gazes meet across the room. You speak without words ... and it’s gross.”

  “I agree,” Chief Terry intoned, although he winked at me. “They’re totally gross. I’m going to start carrying a squirt gun so I can spray them when they get annoying at meals.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s not really what we should be talking about. That honor belongs to Dani. If she was terrorizing Hazel ... .”

  “I’m trying to explain why nothing was said to you,” Aunt Tillie supplied. “It’s that soft heart of yours. You didn’t want to think of anything bad happening to Dani, so you made excuses for her behavior. You kept dragging Landon into the same conversations because you were terrified of dealing with her harshly. You didn’t want to accept that Hazel was struggling with the girl, so you didn’t see it.

  “Now we have no choice but to deal with it,” she continued. “Dani could very well go on a rampage now that she’s free. She’s got a poltergeist on the payroll, and from what I saw last night, Valerie is getting more and more deranged.”

  I’d been thinking about that too. “We have to break the hold Dani has over Valerie.”

  “How do you suggest we do that?” Landon asked.

  “I’m not sure.” I was at a loss. “I’m guessing Dani has something of Valerie’s and that’s how she’s controlling her ghost.”

  “How did she get it, though?” Clove asked, her mouth full of doughnut. She was so engrossed in her meal she didn’t notice she had chocolate smeared on her cheek. Or it’s possible she simply didn’t care. It could’ve gone either way given the way she was mowing through that doughnut.

  “She’s been leaving the campground from the start,” I said. “She could’ve run into Valerie on the other side of the lake. Maybe she was going over there to get some time to herself and stumbled upon Valerie when she was spying on Heather and Eric.”

  Landon stroked his chin and nodded. “That makes sense. If Dani ran into Valerie, maybe Dani killed her to shut her up. Then Dani realized she could control the ghost and make her do her bidding. Whatever she picked up from Valerie that day is what she’s using to control the ghost.”

  “So we have to find Dani, strip her of all her belongings, and sever the tie with Valerie’s ghost,” Thistle added. “Then Bay can send the ghost on her way and Dani will have to deal with us on her own.”

  I nodded. “Did those herbs come in? The ones we need to strip her powers?”

  “They’re due today.”

  “I can work on that,” Aunt Tillie offered. “It will take a few hours. We have to find the girl before we can use it. I’m not sure our standard locator spells will be effective. If she figured out how to enslave a ghost, she probably knows how to shroud herself. We might be facing an uphill battle just in finding her.”

  “And yet I don’t think she’s ready to leave,” I said. “I think we’re the only true tie she has now that her mother and brother are gone. She can’t leave without money ... or besting us. She could come to us out here.”

  “There’s no way she’s getting through the wards.” Aunt Tillie was firm. “I’m not sure how she managed to break the wards at the campground, but these were drawn with blood and tears. I strengthened them until there was zero give left after Diane’s incursion. They won’t fail to a teenage hellion.”

  “That’s a pleasant image,” Landon muttered, shuddering at mention of blood and tears.

  Aunt Tillie ignored him. “This house is safe.”

  “Then this is where Clove has to stay,” I said, cringing when my cousin glared at me. “I’m sorry.” I held up my hands to ward off what I was sure would be a righteous fit. “You have a baby on board. You can’t be wandering around with a demented witch on the hunt for us.”

  “I agree with Bay,” Sam said. “It’s best if you stay here.”

  “But I want to help,” Clove whined, the splotch of frosting on her cheek even bigger than before. “I’m sick of being cut out of things.”

  “You can help with the research,” I suggested. “We need to read up on the pirate and whatever spells Dani may be using to control Valerie. Information is critical.”

  “We’ll keep Clove here,” Mom agreed. “She’ll be safe. What are you going to do?”

  That was a very good question. “Find Dani.” There was nothing else to do. “She’s out there somewhere — and I think she’s close. After that, we’ll put together a plan and take her down. We no longer have a choice. She can’t stay here. She’s too dangerous.”

  Twenty-Four />
  I wasn’t surprised when Landon suggested I join his search team upon leaving the inn an hour later.

  “I’m not trying to stifle you,” he promised. “That’s the last thing I want. It’s just ... it seems that it would be smart for us to stick together. That way nobody will be caught unaware.”

  He had a point, but it was coming from an irrational place. “You’re afraid she’s going to seek me out and kill me.”

  A visible shudder went through him. “You make the most sense as a likely target, Bay.” He was using his most pragmatic voice, so I knew he meant business. “She saw you take out her aunt. You gave her another chance, but that memory is seared into her brain. She wants to hurt you.”

  I regarded him for a long moment. “We’ve never really talked about it. Do you think I did the wrong thing that day?”

  “Absolutely not.” He swept closer, his eyes turbulent like a storm, and grabbed my hands. “It was kill or be killed that day. She wanted to take you out. Heck, she wanted to take all of you out. You were the one standing in her way, though, and you would’ve been first if she’d had the strength to carry out her plan.”

  What he said made sense and yet ... . “I keep wondering if I could’ve found a way to spare Diane, if Dani wouldn’t have completely fallen over the edge of sanity. I know you’ll say I’m crazy, but ... it’s here.” I tapped the side of my head. “It’s right at the forefront of my brain.”

  “Then you need to shut off your brain. You know I like my women slow and smelling like bacon.” He was going for levity, even offered up a sloppy smile, but then he sobered. “Bay, you did what you had to do. Dani crossed the line to crazy town long before you took out Diane. She was involved in the murder of her own father. She was willing to take out her mother. You didn’t create that problem, or exacerbate it. In fact, you went out of your way to save her when nobody else would have.”

  “I guess.” I rubbed my forehead. “We have to find her, Landon.” My voice turned plaintive. “If she kills someone else ... .”