by Amy Boyles
I licked my lips. “Then we should leave. Get out.”
“Not before I do this.”
His lips found mine. My skin popped, fizzed. The air crackled and hissed as if the very atmosphere was made of fire. Magic ripped through my chest like a ghostly wraith, and I felt my power churn and bubble.
My mind swam; my brain fuzzed and dimmed. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t process. All I could do was feel.
And boy, was I feeling.
Then as quickly as it started, it ended.
And the tension began.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” Axel said. “I don’t want you to think I was trying to take advantage of a situation.”
The lights snapped back on, and his features swam before my eyes. I laughed nervously and wiped my bottom lip. “Time to get out.”
“Yeah,” he said.
I exited first, giving him a great view of my rear end. This was the South and ladies first still applied; there was no getting around that.
Axel smoothed his hair, and I tugged on my T-shirt. “Listen, you don’t know anything about me,” he said. “You just moved here. I don’t know what came over me.”
I quirked a brow. “Animal attraction?”
His eyes darkened. “Yeah, something like that.”
I pumped my hands nervously. “Listen, it’s okay. We all make mistakes. I just got out of something, and I’m not really looking to jump right back in. You’ve probably got a girlfriend on the side. I mean, they do call you Mr. Sexy in town. I’m sure that’s not for nothing. So, let’s just chalk this one up to wrong place, wrong time and a nerve-racking situation and keep going. I’m okay. Are you okay?”
His jaw dropped the more I talked.
“I talk when I get nervous,” I admitted.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” he soothed. “Pepper—”
My heart soared at the sound of my name on his lips. Bad heart, bad heart. Stay down, girl. Don’t get me all excited about this guy who’s clearly about to kiss and break my heart.
“Pepper,” he repeated. “You know, that’s really a great name.”
“Thanks. Apparently food names run in my family.”
He nodded. Pulled his hair from the holder and retied it. “What I was going to say is that there’s no one else. I haven’t dated anyone in a while. I’m not very good at it, and there are things about me…things I can’t share with anyone and I wouldn’t want you involved in.”
“Oh? You troll the dark Web selling illegal cheese? Is that it?”
He laughed. “No. I wish it were that simple.”
I crossed to him, patted his arm like a robot trying out touch for the first time. “It’s fine. Really. Just a kiss. No biggie. We’re still friends.”
Something sparked in his eyes. I couldn’t tell, but it looked like a hint of disappointment. “Yeah. But don’t think this means I’m going to let you tag along any more than you already are.”
I shrugged. “Come on. Let’s go grab Sweetie Death Wish and get out of here.”
He frowned. “Sweetie Death Wish?”
I laughed behind my hand. “Yeah. That’s what I named the cat. Sweetie because that’s how I call her, and Death Wish because, well, she nearly got me killed in the Cobweb Forest.”
He smiled. “I like it.”
I padded from the room to the front of the store. “Sweetie, where are you?” I glanced around, looking to where I’d kept the cat, but she wasn’t anywhere.
“Do you see her?” I said to Axel.
He shook his head. “No.” He peeked behind chairs, behind statues, furniture, clocks. “Where’s she hiding?”
A slow, sinking realization seeped into me. I checked for her cat carrier, but it was gone, too. “Axel, I don’t think she’s hiding anywhere. I think whoever came in here stole Sweetie Death Wish.”
NINETEEN
“Somebody’s been kissing. I can tell.”
I stood on the front porch. The guard-vine sniffed me curiously. Axel stood on my right. Betty blocked the front door, arms barred over her chest.
How could I not have been mortified? I was a twenty-five-year-old woman with a new life, including a grandma, and in a flash I’d been reduced to a sixteen-year-old coming home from prom.
Worse, Amelia popped her head through the open door. Her gaze swung from Axel to me. I could practically see the glee dancing in her eyes.
“No one’s been kissing,” I said.
Betty traced her jaw with one fat thumb. “That’s a lie. I always know when kissing’s been going on.”
Okay. Change of topic was in order in, like, yesterday. “Sweetie Death Wish was kidnapped. Is there a way to find her?”
Betty glanced from me to Axel before inhaling a deep sniff. “Come in. Let’s talk about it. But I don’t want any more kissing going on in the house.”
My cheeks flamed so hot I was pretty sure my temperature was 101. I couldn’t look at Axel to read his expression. I was so mortified the only place I could look was the ground.
I tromped inside and plopped my purse to the floor. “We were in Ebenezer’s shop trying to look for the will.”
Betty sat in her rocking chair. “That’s where the kissing happened, isn’t it?”
From her position leaning on a wall, Cordelia tucked away a smile threatening to take over her face. Amelia simply squeaked with laughter.
At the same time, even though I was being raked over flaming coals fueled by moonshine and magic, I realized that Betty cared about me.
My heart jumped at that. Happy that my little makeshift family cared for me.
But then what if they vanished like my dad when he died? What if it was all taken from me again?
Perhaps some risks were worth it.
Perhaps.
I cleared my throat. “The calico was taken in the shop. Is there a way to find her? Figure out who did it?”
Betty steepled her hands and said, “Maybe. Let’s eat on it and think.”
Axel placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got some things to do—”
Betty aimed a finger at him. “You’re staying, mister. You’re not allowed to kiss and ditch.”
Axel’s jaw dropped.
“Besides,” Betty said. “We might need your advice on the matter.” She glanced at me. “Wizards often have a different take on these things. Come on. I made pork chops with fried okra and creamed potatoes.”
Mattie ventured down from her spot in my room for dinner. We sat around, and Betty took her attention from me and speared it into Cordelia.
“How’s that boyfriend of yours? The one who won’t commit?”
Cordelia turned a deeper shade of red than I had. I know because I’d glanced at myself in the mirror as I walked by. But I don’t think Cordelia’s red was from embarrassment. I think hers came from anger.
“Zach’s great, thank you very much.”
“So great he won’t put a ring on it?”
Cordelia cringed. “He’s got a lot to do with his studies and whatnot.” She glanced at me. “My boyfriend is gone a lot. He’s studying magical history, so it takes him to different places.”
“Girl in every port,” Betty said.
Cordelia snapped her fingers. A photo of a man with short dark hair and an arm wrapped over Cordelia’s shoulder popped into view.
She smiled widely. “That’s Zach.”
“He’s very handsome,” I said.
“Don’t anybody worry about me over here,” Amelia tittered. “I’ve got a whole slew of beaus lined up.”
“No, you don’t,” Betty said. “You’re too desperate. Men can smell it a mile away.”
Amelia flushed.
“Wow. Okay. So is this what mealtime is normally like?” I said to Betty. “Have y’all been going easy on me or something?”
Betty smirked. “I’m looking into men for Amelia. I’ve got something going for her.” She snapped her fingers, and a rolodex of names, pictures and hobbies appeared. It lo
oked like an online dating profile.
Not that I would know anything about that.
I didn’t, but maybe I’d just trolled one or two sites in my lifetime.
“Oh no,” Amelia said. “Here we go again.”
“What?” I said.
Amelia shook her head. “She’s trying to fix me up.”
Betty poked an image of a young man with buckteeth, big glasses and a too tight T-shirt on, standing in front of a sailing boat.
“He’s handsome,” Betty said.
Amelia made gagging noises. “He’s got zits all over his face, and that photo is clearly magicked to look like he’s standing in front of a boat.”
“Says he’s got a sizable 401K,” Betty countered.
Amelia turned to me. “Didn’t you need help figuring out what happened to the cat?”
I nodded as I saw Axel cough into his hand. I grabbed the plate of mashed potatoes, creamed if you’re from the country, and passed them to him.
“Yes. We were hiding in the pawnbroker’s shop. Someone came in and took Sweetie Death Wish. We need to find out who.”
Betty picked up a pork chop and sucked at the bone. “It’s tricky when you live in a magical town. Everyone else has magic, too, and can use it to cover their tracks, erase that they were ever there. I can concoct potions using herbs to influence people, but unless someone left an obvious clue to their presence, it’s hard.”
She licked grease from her fingers. Then she pointed the chop at me. “If you’re really a head witch, and all signs are pointing to that, you’re the most capable of discovering the truth.”
I pushed okra around my plate with my fork. “How?”
Betty glanced over at Axel. He coughed into his hand and said, “No one really knows everything a head witch is capable of. You can move things with your mind, a telekinesis of sorts, and you can also communicate with animals. Head witches may be able to even read a regular person’s mind, but that takes a tremendous amount of strength and ability.”
I frowned. “How do you know so much about all this?”
He shrugged. “I come from a long line of head witches. It’s a hard talent to have. Hard to control. That’s the main thing you have to focus on with it.”
Betty dragged her pork chop over a line of grease pooling on her plate. She took a big bite and spoke while chewing. “Your mother showed signs of being a head witch. Lots of signs, though she chose to ignore them. I tried to train her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
I shrugged. “Well, I want to be trained. I don’t want all this stupid knowledge and stuff inside my head. I want it out in the world where it can be used.”
“That’s a good thing. After dinner, let’s start your training. Kissy-face boy,” she directed at Axel, “I need you to stay and help. Then you can go back, do what you need to do. You’ve got more experience with head witches than I do.”
I really didn’t understand the big deal, but I was happy to play along. We finished up dinner while Betty flipped through more pictures of wizards, trying to get Amelia to bite on at least one of them.
Cordelia pushed her food around her plate, barely saying anything. I had the feeling the whole bit about Zach not committing had bothered her more than she let on.
We cleared the table, washed the dishes and pushed the furniture out of the way.
Axel paced the room. “From time to time, you may feel a push, a pressure on your head. That means it’s time to release some of your magic. It may come in the form of a headache. That’s when you know. You may also get a headache after you use your magic, like last time. But that should get better as you go.”
I nodded. “Okay. What do I do when I get a headache?”
Betty waddled over to the fire, stoked it. “That’s when you need to release your magic. Keep it from building up.”
Axel nodded. “Exactly.”
“So what’s the best way to do that?”
“Move things,” Axel said. “Use the magic and push.”
I sank back onto one hip. “What?”
Betty rolled her eyes. “Catch this.”
She flung the poker straight at my face. The tip burned red-hot. Fear surged from my head to my toes. I threw out power, fear. Flung it at the stick.
And it shot across the room in the opposite direction, clattering to the floor.
I heaved out a breath. “I can use it when I’m afraid, but when I don’t need it, I’m not sure how to use it.”
Betty rubbed her hands together. The poker lifted off the floor and floated back to her hand.
“Thanks for almost killing me with that thing,” I said warily.
Betty placed her fingers on the tip. “It’s not hot. It wouldn’t have hurt you.”
I flashed a look to Cordelia, who nodded. “Our grandmother may be a lot of things, maniacal among them, but she’s telling the truth. She wouldn’t have hurt you.”
I guess I was relieved. “Okay. But how does this help me find Sweetie Death Wish? So what? I can protect myself if a flying can of whoop-ass is coming at me, but otherwise I’m out of luck.”
Axel’s gaze narrowed. “It helps because a head witch, theoretically, can open their mind and listen. You can hear where the cat went. The two of you bonded. The animal/witch owner bond is strong in a head witch. You may be able to discover where she is.”
“So might you,” Betty said to Axel.
His expression went blank.
What was I missing?
Amelia crossed to me, took my hands in hers. “It may take a while to figure that out about your power, but I know you can do it. I know I’m only a couple of years older than you and our mothers are out exploring the world on a lifelong vacation, but I remember a bit about her magic.”
Tears glistened in my eyes. “You do?”
She nodded. “Aunt Saltie, I used to call her.”
Cordelia rubbed her arms together. “Sassafras was too hard for us to say, so we called her Saltie.”
Amelia smiled. “I think it’s where your name, Pepper, may have come from.”
My heart jumped to my mouth. “It is?”
Amelia shrugged. “I like to think so. But Saltie could use her little bit of head witch magic and give me the candy I wanted before I ever told her about it.”
Cordelia laughed. “Yeah, she was amazing at that. Always knew what we wanted before we did. Good old Aunt Saltie.”
Betty nodded. “She was only part head witch. Come here, kid.”
I walked over to Betty. She took my head in her hands and tugged it down. She inspected what felt like every inch of my scalp. “Looks like you’re mostly head witch. It’ll take time to figure out your powers. My guess is Rufus knows what you are, too.”
I pulled my head away from her clawlike grip. “You think?”
Axel nodded. “That’s why he’s stalking you. Until you’ve got your power under control, you need to stay here.”
I scoffed. “Well, don’t worry about that since last time I left, he attacked me.”
Betty frowned. “We could always put a cloaking spell on you. That might keep Rufus from finding you.”
Hope sparked in my chest. Then it extinguished. “I’m a suspect in murder, though, right?”
“Hopefully not for much longer,” Axel said.
Then he smiled. Really smiled at me. His blue eyes nearly seemed to spark. Little creases formed in the corners of his eyes, and that dimple of his—grrrrrwww! I just about wanted to poke my tongue in it, see how deep it formed.
Was that weird?
If it was, I was in serious lust and full of weirdness.
Some animal things couldn’t be helped, I guess.
“We’ll keep working on it,” Axel said. “But I need to go. I’ve got some things of my own to work on.”
“I’ll walk you out,” I said.
“No kissing,” Betty called out. “I’ll know if you do.”
Dear Lord in heaven. How did I end up here? With a woman who knew when I’d been kis
sed? What the heck else might she know? Or at least be able to figure out?
Probably best not to know the answer to that.
I walked him out the door. The honeysuckles filled the night air again. “Thanks for helping me,” I said.
We drifted off the porch to the sidewalk. “Yeah. Anytime. You need to practice, and like I said, I had a family of head witches on my mom’s side of the family. I can help.”
I quirked a brow. “Just your mom’s side? What about your dad’s?”
Axel coughed into his fist. “Listen, about earlier today…”
Did he just ignore my question? I shoved the realization from my head as quickly as it flashed in my brain. “No biggie. Neither of us want anything. Look, I was just walking you out to be nice. I wasn’t looking for another kiss.” I backed up.
He grabbed my hand. Fire shot to the tips. “And what if I do?”
I gulped down a hard knot as I stared into the turbulent ocean that was his eyes. “Oh, um. I don’t know…” Yes, call me a chicken. “Betty said we shouldn’t. Right? She’ll know, my life will be hellish…”
He smiled. This time it was bitter. “I know. She’ll keep you away from me, and I don’t blame her.”
He started to release my hand, but I grabbed his. “What? I don’t understand.”
Axel shook off the darkness and smiled, this time genuinely. “Look, practice. I’ll stop by tomorrow, see if we can pinpoint the cat’s whereabouts.”
“Okay,” I mumbled. He started to walk away. “Axel?”
“Yes?”
“That thing earlier about using my head witch powers—does something bad happen if I don’t? I kinda got a sense back there…” I shivered. “I’m sure it was nothing, but I wanted to ask.”
Axel gritted his teeth. “You have to use the power, now that you have it. Otherwise…” He stopped, flicked his hand.
I hugged my arms. “Yes? Otherwise what?”
He scrubbed a hand down his jaw. “Otherwise a buildup of power can kill you.”
TWENTY
Axel assured me I would be fine. “I have to tell you the truth,” he said. “It wouldn’t be responsible if I didn’t.”
We sat on the porch steps, our shoulders touching. “Did that happen to anyone in your family?”
