Southern Magic (Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries Book 1)

by Amy Boyles

  I scoffed. He was a tad cocky to think I was just going to jump when he said to. “What makes you think I’m hungry?”

  He shrugged. “Just figured. Getting chased by Rufus, helping me talk to animals, thought you might be. I worked up an appetite from it. I thought you might’ve, too. Besides, I’m buying.”

  “What’s open at four a.m.?”

  “The Spellin’ Skillet. Great little place on the other side of town.” He slid a hand down his flat stomach. “Anyway, I thought it would give us a chance to talk. There’s a lot I can help you with when it comes to this store. Let me grab a carrier.”

  I waited patiently for him to return. He shuffled behind the desk and set the carrier down. I gently put the cat inside. She opened one eye but then snuggled back into sleep when I zipped the door shut.

  I brushed my hands and pushed off the floor. The amount of gentleness that Axel used as he tucked the cat under one arm surprised me.

  I opened the office door. “So exactly how can you help me out when it comes to this store?” I led us back out the door, promising myself that I’d come back after breakfast and at least check that the water dishes were full and feed the rest of the animals, even though it appeared they slept when I wasn’t there.

  Axel flashed me a smiled as I locked up. “I can help you because besides your uncle, I know the most about Familiar Place.”

  “How’s that?” I said, flipping the lock.

  Axel’s eyes darkened. “Because I used to come every day. Your uncle trusted me with his secrets, Pepper. He trusted me with his life.”

  NINE

  The Spellin’ Skillet was like a country general store for witches. Oh, and it had a restaurant tucked in back behind magical cast-iron skillets molded into frogs and bats instead of corn husks.

  Yep. This was quite a culture shock.

  A hostess wearing a black dress that looked to be made of cobwebs and leather instead of cotton and polyester, greeted us.

  “Your usual table, Mr. Reign?”

  Axel nodded. He kept his head tipped down as she led us to the back, way back of the restaurant, to an area blocked off from the rest of the dining room. I glanced around nervously, waiting for a small man stroking a cat to show up and demand money or else he’d break my thumbs.

  Just kidding. I figured the mafia wasn’t going to be in the Spellin’ Skillet.

  Well, let’s just say I hoped not.

  I settled into a booth across from Axel. “You must be pretty special around here.”

  He shrugged. “Not special. I just like my privacy.”

  I glanced around. “This looks pretty private. About as private as you can get unless you’re on the moon.”

  He pulled a band from his pocket and wrapped his hair into it, securing it at the nape of his neck. I had to say, with the hair swept from his face, Mr. Sexy was even more handsome than he was with all that hair down.

  Just sayin’.

  “Do you want the cat on your side?” he said.

  “Oh, yeah. I don’t know. I mean, this is kind of your area. You found her.”

  He pushed up his sleeves. “But she was in your store, so that makes her more yours than mine.”

  I grimaced. “Sure. I’ll take her.”

  He handed me the carrier, and I tucked it in beside me. I glanced at the menu. “What’s good here?”

  Axel popped open his own menu. “The omelets are great. There’s also witchin’ skillets—those are hash browns, eggs, sausage, cheese all cooked together in a little skillet.”

  “Too bad there aren’t any jelly beans in it.”

  He quirked a dark brow. I shrugged. “I love jelly beans. Sue me. But anyway, I’m sold on the skillet. With a cup of strong coffee to wash it all down. I get the feeling I’m going to be exhausted later on.”

  The waitress returned, and we ordered. When she left, I settled back into the booth. “So, there are so many things I want to ask you.”

  The waitress returned with coffee, and Axel sipped his. “Like what?”

  “Well, I’m going to ignore the mafia environment of the private room and skip straight to the part about my uncle. What do you mean that he trusted you with his secrets and his life?”

  Axel smiled. “First question I would ask. Smart. I knew your uncle a long time. Let’s just say, he understood certain aspects about me, about my family.”

  I pressed my lips together to the point that they buckled past a pout. “But you’re a witch?”

  “A wizard, technically, with other abilities. I’m a private investigator, as you know. Donovan often hired me to watch out for him. Guard him, that’s what I meant by he trusted me with his life. We were close. He was a good man, and he thought very highly of you.”

  I glanced behind me to make sure Axel was talking to me. “What? I didn’t even know him. How could he speak highly of me?”

  He tapped a cup of cream on the table and tore off the paper top. “He kept tabs on you. Your whole family has.”

  “Even that crazy Betty?”

  He threw his head back so far his Adam’s apple bobbed when he laughed. “Yes. Even her. She’s something else. Do you know one time she spelled this entire town to sleep so that she could streak through it naked?”

  “What? Why?”

  He rested his elbows on the table. “Because she could, basically. Wanted to do some ritual by herself and didn’t want anyone to see that body of hers, so she put the whole town into a deep sleep.”

  My interest piqued at my jean-jumpsuit-wearing grandmother. “Wow. That’s impressive.”

  “Your uncle expected your animal talents to be impressive as well.”

  “How so?” I gestured stop. “What I mean is, I can hear them, but how is that helpful or important?”

  Axel dipped his head toward the carrier. “Get her to talk and we may know who killed Ebenezer. But more than that, you help witches find familiars.”

  I waved my hand, fatigued from all the drama associated with my so-called ability. “Whatever that means. Listen, all I hear when I go in that shop is a jumble of whining, annoying creatures.”

  “That’s because you haven’t spent time with them. I can help you.”

  I’m pretty sure my eyes sparkled with something—delight? Gratitude? A lifeline in the ocean of witchery that I was a newbie in?

  Yeah. Probably the last one.

  “What about Rufus? What does he want with me?”

  Axel wrapped his knuckles on top of the table. “That’s a very interesting question. No telling. Maybe he wants you to talk to an ostrich for him, figure out what it needs. Maybe he wants to drain your power. Rufus is no good.”

  I frowned. “That’s an understatement. He told me I’d die if I didn’t go with him. So it’s either go with him or die for not? Sounds dangerous.”

  Axel sighed. “He’s had some run-ins with the law but manages to get out of any trouble because his family’s rich. Though he can’t come into Magnolia Cove; the community doesn’t trust him. One time he tried to play vampire on a local girl.”

  “Vampire?”

  Axel nodded. “Yeah. He’s a warlock not a vampire. Almost killed her. That’s when we stopped letting him into town.”

  The waitress appeared with our plates. My skillet of cracked golden eggs, sausage, cheese and hash browns was like the best thing I had ever seen in my entire life. I squirted a dollop of ketchup on top and chowed down.

  “Oh wow,” I said between moans. “This is amazing.”

  “You’re welcome,” Axel replied.

  I hid my laugh behind a napkin. “Thanks for bringing me here, but seriously—why are you all the way in back?”

  He sighed. Oh, this was going to be good.

  “I have…let’s just say certain abilities that people find disconcerting. They don’t like it. So to keep the population at rest and give myself privacy, I sit back here.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand. From the way the women talked, you were the most eligible
bachelor in town.”

  His blue eyes sparked. Crap. I probably shouldn’t have told him.

  “They think I’m the most eligible bachelor in town. No one’s ever told me that.”

  I shrugged. “Well, unless you have your own TV show advertising it, you probably wouldn’t know.”

  He frowned. “I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in figuring out who killed Ebenezer, and helping you with the store.”

  I jabbed a hash brown with my fork. “Why do you want to help me with the store?”

  He paused. “Your powers are unique and special. They can help a lot of folks.”

  I sighed. “Yeah. Great. I’m not an animal lover. People who own pet stores should love animals. I don’t. Now, give me a jewelry store. That would’ve been awesome. I could run that easily.”

  Axel chuckled. “Give me a car garage, same thing. But sometimes, you never know what good things can come out of something. You just have to stay positive and open-minded.”

  “I’ll try to remember that.”

  Axel nodded. “Okay. So when we finish breakfast, how about I show you a little bit about your store? About how to communicate and help someone find their familiar?”

  I cringed. “Er. Um. Sure.”

  “It’s nothing to be scared about, I promise.”

  Maybe he could tell my knotted stomach that, because I wasn’t feeling so confident.

  But anyway, we finished up breakfast, which Axel paid for. I knew y’all would be asking. Seemed he was a good Southern boy who knew how to take a lady out to breakfast. We walked back to the shop as the sun was rising, sending long fingers like shadows jutting across the ground.

  Once inside Familiar Place, I settled the cat on the counter. She still slept, by the way. Good. I could only handle one stressful situation at a time. I shrugged off my purse and for the first time realized I was wearing pajamas.

  I glanced down at my clothes and back at Axel. “I think I’m going to have to go back to Betty’s house before we open so I can change.”

  He shrugged. “It might be a good idea.”

  “Yeah, after this lesson, I’ll do that.” I clapped my hands. “Okay. Show me what to do.”

  He nodded. “Okay, so what’s going to happen is that a witch will come into your store looking for a familiar.” He splayed his hands. “Your uncle carried everything—any animal a witch could hope for. He always said the secret was listening to the creatures. Listen to the animals, they will tell you who they want. It’s not the witch who chooses.”

  “But the creature,” I said. I tapped a finger to my cheek. “But he’s got toads and frogs, too. Do witches ever come here with bad intentions? I mean, I don’t know anything about potions and spells, but I know about the stereotypical use of frog’s eyes and bat wing.”

  Axel crossed his arms and smiled. “You have to watch for that. You’ll be able to tell if someone has good intentions, and if you can’t, just listen to the creatures, they’ll let you know.”

  “We sure will,” chimed a parrot.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “You’re welcome,” it squawked.

  Axel rubbed his hands together. “Okay, so I walk in and say I need a familiar.”

  I stared at him. “Yeah. I don’t know what to do.”

  He smiled, showing a flash of teeth. I was pretty sure one of them sparkled like diamonds, like you see in commercials when someone has a perfectly white smile.

  He strolled the room. “The first thing your uncle would ask would be what sort of creature.”

  A lightbulb exploded in my brain. “Okay, right. What sort of animal do you like?”

  Axel pretended to take in the room. “You know, I don’t know. I like cats and I like dogs.”

  “Well, you have to pick one,” I said, getting annoyed.

  He wagged a finger at me. “Wrong answer.”

  “Too impatient?” I said.

  He pinched his fingers together. “Slightly. You have to remember, when a witch picks a familiar, this is an animal they keep until one of them dies. It’s a special relationship that you’re helping to forge.”

  I tried not to roll my eyes. “Great. All right, you think you may want either a dog or a cat. Let me show you the puppies first.”

  “Good,” he murmured.

  Heat flared up my throat as Axel studied me. I felt like I was taking a test that foretold the rest of my life. No pressure.

  I walked to the puppy bin and listened to them.

  “Oh, I like him.”

  “He’d be a good master.”

  “Will he play with me every day?”

  I tried to listen to every individual voice, but I had to admit it was hard to discern one from another.

  “Your uncle also used to say when a person found their familiar, a sparkle occurred.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “A sparkle?”

  “Yes. Everything you’re doing is right. All of it. He would lead the witch to animals and watch the interaction. When the sparkle happened, that was the match.” Axel crossed back to the cat carrier. “Since I’m not really looking for a familiar, the sparkle won’t happen, but it does happen when the right pair are put together.”

  “Okay, well that helps…” I guess.

  He smiled. “Your business hours are posted on the door. You open at ten a.m. on Mondays.”

  “Well, at least that gives me time to shower and wrangle up some clothes,” I said.

  Axel nodded. “If you need help with the paperwork and stuff, Betty may offer suggestions for that. She ran a successful business in town for years.”

  I quirked a brow. “Really? What sort of business?”

  “She ran the herb and potion store. She’s a witch chemist by trade.”

  I frowned. “I thought she was a kitchen witch.”

  “That’s the sort of witchcraft she can do. But her job was as the witch chemist.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Don’t let her fool you; she can heal you as easily as poison you.”

  I shrank back. “Wow. That does not make me feel confident about my grandmother.”

  He chuckled. “She’s harmless. Mostly.”

  Axel grabbed the door handle and opened it. He paused, stared down the street.

  “What is it?”

  He glanced back at me. “Looks like someone’s going into Ebenezer’s store.”

  I crossed to him quickly, and sure enough, a woman wearing dark sunglasses and a handkerchief tied over her head had a key in the door and was unlocking it.

  “Who’s that?” I said.

  Axel shook his head. “I don’t know. But I’m about to find out.”

  TEN

  I snatched my purse. “I’m coming with you.”

  Axel frowned. “No, you’re not.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  He stared at me for a good long minute. I’m guessing he hoped his stare of death would make me change my mind. Ha-ha. Little did he know but I’m as stubborn as a bead of sweat rolling down the middle of your back on a blazing hot day. You know, the kind of day where you can’t get cool and as soon as you walk out the door, your skin is on fire?

  Yeah, that kind of stubborn bead of sweat—the kind that just don’t stop popping up on your flesh under conditions such as those.

  I jutted out one pajama-strapped hip. “Look, I’m on the hook for this murder. I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not.”

  Axel’s gaze flickered to the shop.

  “You better hurry. She might get away.”

  He threw me a scathing look and shot out the door. I followed him quick as mercury down the street and into the pawnshop.

  There stood a short woman in a mink stole, large round red-framed glasses and so much gold it looked like she wore the inside of Fort Knox. She hunched over the taped outline where Ebenezer’s body had been.

  I stopped short of Axel.

  The woman didn’t glance up at us, but she pulled a tissue from her pur
se and dabbed her cheeks. “It’s true then, isn’t it? My Ebie is gone.”

  Ebie? Hey, I guess even the strangest of folks can have a nickname.

  “I’m sorry,” Axel said.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “I was out of town, honey, and I heard about what happened. I rushed right on over. It’s terrible.”

  She blew her nose and glanced at us finally. “I’m Gilda Goldenheart.”

  “Axel Reign.”

  “Honey,” she said softly, “you’re the one they hired to help find out who did this, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I am.”

  Her gaze flicked to me in my pajamas, purse and shoes. A whirl of butterflies pumped through my stomach at how stupid I looked. “I’m Pepper Dunn.”

  “Oh, honey, are you the new person who’s taken over the familiar shop?”

  I nodded. “That’s right.”

  “Such a shame about your uncle. It’s like something’s killing off everyone on the street.” She grabbed her face. “It’s horrible.”

  Her eyes rolled around the store. “Well, I just wanted to see what had happened to my Ebie. I see now it’s true that he’s gone.”

  I cleared my throat and stepped around Axel. Heck, I needed this lady to help me—she might offer clues as to who actually murdered Ebie.

  “Ms. Goldenheart, were you and Ebenezer involved romantically?”

  She clutched her heart. “Why, yes, honey. We were. We were hoping to get married this summer, but that’s not going to happen now, is it?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “And you were out of town, you say?”

  “Oh yes, dear, I was down in Birmingham visiting some friends. I came back just as soon as I heard.”

  Axel swung to her other side and took Gilda’s arm. “Would you happen to have their names and numbers?”

  Gilda riffled through her purse. “Well, sure. Of course I’ll get it to you, but right now I’ve got to get moving.”

  “Why’s that?” I said.

  “Well, honey, the lawyer’s reading the will here in a few minutes.”

  “The will?” I said.

  She nodded. “He’s supposed to be. We’re doing it over at Ebie’s house. I know it’s early for it to be read, but those were Ebie’s instructions. He wanted the will announced as quickly as possible.”