by Amy Boyles
He nodded. “It did. Happened to my aunt.”
My heartstrings tugged at that. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. “She ignored her power. Didn’t appreciate it for what it was until finally the pressure killed her.”
“That’s horrible.”
He stretched out his legs. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d recognized the signs, but sometimes the magic a head witch has can make them a little looney.”
I planted a perfect facepalm on my head. “Great. So if I don’t die from my power, I’ll go crazy instead.”
Axel chuckled. “I think you have to have underlying mental illness for that to happen. You also have to ignore everyone when they tell you you’re going a bit off the wall, then hole yourself up in your house or move out to the swamp, where you end up a hermit. Those are also factors.”
I laughed. Besides the fact that I figured that’s what had happened to his aunt, I couldn’t help it. Axel chuckled along right beside me.
I knuckled a tear away. “It’s really not funny.”
He nudged me with his shoulder. “No, it’s not.” He tipped his head back to glance at the stars. “Ever wonder how much power they have over us? The stars and what they foretell?”
I watched as a comet sprang across the sky. My breath caught at its beauty. “I guess for the most part I think I control my own fate. Why? Do the stars hold sway over you?”
His face did that dark thing again. “More than I could ever say.”
It was my turn to nudge him. “Okay, Mr. Mysterious. I think that’s what I’m going to tell the ladies in town to rename you. That’s more appropriate than Mr. Sexy.”
He did that deep throaty laugh that reminded me of velvety whiskey tumbling over ice. “It’s a stupid name. They don’t know me, but they gave me a nickname that reflects my outside and not my inside.”
“Wow, deep.”
He shook his head. “What matters is on the inside, not the outside. I’ve learned that the hard way.”
I leaned back, locked my elbows. “Everyone’s gotten their heart broken by a looker.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that.”
“More Mr. Mysterious.”
He smiled, flashing his gorgeous dimple. Axel slapped his knees and rose. “I’ve got to get on. Things at the house don’t clean themselves, all that. But listen, I’ll stop by in the afternoon. See if I can help you with the cat.”
I cracked my knuckles. “You don’t think someone would hurt her, do you? I mean, what if someone stole her so that they could silence her?”
Axel traced a finger over my shoulder. Even through cotton, his touch made me shiver. “I don’t think so. Let’s just focus on finding her, okay? Not think about all that other stuff.”
I nodded, shuddering as he disappeared down the darkened street.
My heart sank. I hoped above all else that nothing happened to Sweetie Death Wish. Because if it did, I was directly to blame. After all, it was my fault that she’d been in the store to begin with. I only hoped we found her in one piece, safe and sound.
The next morning as I was getting dressed, I noticed Mattie jump down from her window seat.
“Any helpful hints on how to reach out to Sweetie Death Wish would be helpful,” I said as I yanked on a pair of black leggings.
“Well, I wouldn’t call her usin’ that name. I’d use her real one—Sprinkles.”
I did a double take. “What? Sprinkles? How do you know that?”
Mattie yawned. “She told me.”
I paused in my hyperventilating attack. “Okay. Last time you said the cat wasn’t talking.”
“It’s not like we became BFFs or nothin’. She just told me her name.”
“And why are you only telling me this now? Knowing her name could’ve helped us bond.”
“She didn’t want you to know.”
I yanked the legging so hard I lost my balance and landed on my rump on the carpet. “Why didn’t she want me to know?”
Mattie stretched out her paws and clicked her claws on the top of the seat.
“Don’t do that, please. You have a nice scratching pole downstairs.”
“Sorry. I’m only a cat. I forget.”
“But why didn’t Sprinkles tell me her name?”
“She’s quiet. I’m sure she would’ve told you in her own good time.”
“And now she’s been stolen.”
“You’ll find her.” Mattie jogged over to me. “I’ll help. I’ll come with you today. See what we can stir up.”
Mattie followed me to work. Betty promised to come by, bring my lunch. She said it was her special frog’s legs and rice. Part of me wondered if she was going to make stew out of the eyeballs. Don’t ask me why that thought occurred to me; it just did.
I got to the store a few minutes early and fed and watered the critters. Yes, I was taking to calling them critters in my head.
“Where’s the little Sweetie?” one of the parrots said.
“She was stolen.”
The animals broke into an uproar. Pups barked, kittens mewed and even the snakes in the aquariums hissed.
I patted the air to settle them. “As soon as we can, I’m going to find her.” An idea blazed in my head. “Maybe y’all can help me.”
“We will,” they shouted. “We will.”
The day breezed by. Even though it was Thursday, Familiar Place was hopping. More cars pulled into the parking spots, filling downtown to popping.
“It’s getting close to the weekend,” Mattie said. “A lot of witches come for a few nights to get away from the city.”
I quirked a brow. “Oh?”
Mattie spoke while cleaning her face. “There’s Hocus Pocus Hollow not far from here.”
“What’s that?”
“An area of town rich with magic. They have the Prophecy Pools where you can bathe and swim, and also the Conjuring Caverns, where sometimes covens come to work important spells.”
“Interesting. Well, hopefully they’ll need familiars.”
The witches did. The shop crackled with energy. When Betty showed up with her famous frog legs, I didn’t even get a chance to eat. By the time I was ready to lock the doors that night, I was spent.
This being a head witch thing was more exhausting than I thought. I was about to close up when Axel swung inside.
The air quickly thickened with tension. My gut twisted as I gazed into his blue eyes. Our gazes locked for several breaths before I inhaled a shot of air and looked away.
I mean, you could’ve sliced and diced the tension with a samurai sword. Or a bowie knife.
“Hey,” he murmured.
“Hey, yourself,” I said. “Any leads on the case?”
He shook his head. “No. And I still don’t know who came in yesterday and took that cat.”
I pulled my hair back from my face and twisted it into a messy bun, poking a pencil through it to secure the bundle.
“Were you busy today?”
I sank into a swivel chair behind the counter. “Were we ever! I sold so many animals that I’m going to have to start restocking. I’m down to two puppies.”
Axel smiled. “That’s good. Do you need me to show you how to reorder?”
“Yes, please.”
We discussed that for a few minutes. He showed me a catalog my uncle had kept. The whole time we were digging through it, he was leaning over me, smelling of pine and musk. My heart raced, and heat rose in my cheeks. I nearly fainted, but I did manage to jot down a list of all the animals I needed.
“How do they arrive?” I said.
Axel grinned. That dimple peeked out. “By magical carrier in a truck. Same-day delivery.”
I fisted the air in victory. “Awesome. Now we just have to find Sprinkles.”
He frowned. “Who’s Sprinkles?”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, that’s Sweetie Death Wish’s real name. Mattie told me.” I rose. “I have an idea about how to find her.”
Axel crossed his arms and leaned his hip on the counter. “How?”
“I use the animals. They help me focus.” I glanced nervously at him. Axel’s expressionless face made me think it wasn’t going to work. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not. It may be worthless.”
He shook his head. “No, I think that’s smart. Let’s try it.”
I grinned brightly. “Great. Only thing is, I don’t know how.”
He chuckled. “All ideas and no execution. First thing I suggest is to ask the animals to help you concentrate on her.”
Hope flared in my chest. “Great idea. Okay, animals, I need you to help me focus on Sprinkles. We’ve got to find her.”
“What does she look like again?” asked a puppy.
“I thought her name was Sweetie Death Wish,” squawked a parrot.
“Do we have to?” said a kitten.
“Sheesh,” I said to Axel. “It’s like trying to wrangle rats doing this.”
Mattie jumped to the counter. “Let me see if I can help.”
She scrambled up to the top of the kitten cage, and she started yelling like a drill sergeant. “Okay, you lazy lags. Sprinkles and Pepper need our help. Y’all need to get it together, or I’ll make sure each and every one of you ends up with a little girl who likes to give you baths in fingernail polish!”
The animals stood to attention.
I brushed my hands together. “Well, I think that did it.” I glanced around the still room and said, “I’ve never done this before. I don’t even know if it can help, but we need to find Sprinkles. I want all of you to help me focus on her. Supposedly I’m a head witch, and if we can pool our power together, maybe we can figure out where she is. It might not work. I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot.”
No one said anything. I took that as it was go time. So I placed my fingers to my temples because that’s what psychics always did in movies, and I focused on Sweetie Death Wish—I mean Sprinkles.
The air pulsed and throbbed. I focused on the cat, throwing out head power, or whatever I had, to try to pinpoint her location. I figured if I could just get an image in my head of where she was, or a word, or something, we’d find her no problem.
But nothing was coming. Static filled my mind. The air buzzed. It hummed. Energy tendrils throbbed in a thousand directions without focus, without leadership or vision.
Then I felt hands over mine. My eyes fluttered open. Axel stood behind me, the cups of his palms covering my knuckles and fingers.
“Breathe,” he murmured.
I closed my eyes and did as he said. Immediately focus flooded my body. It was like an invisible thread lashed Axel to me. His magic bled inside me, warm and bright. It filled me with joy, happiness, but at the same time I sensed something dark, deep inside. A hint of power peeking out behind a curtain. I reached for it, trying to decipher what it was.
The blip vanished, hiding from me.
Whatever secrets Axel wanted to keep to himself, needed to stay that way. It was none of my business until he revealed whatever truths he wanted.
A bright flash filled my brain. The magic of the animals and myself converged, splintered off and came together in one brief moment.
Then vanished.
I blinked my eyes open.
The kittens stirred. The pups whimpered.
It was from the parrot box that the words came. One of the macaws, stark feathers, intelligent eyes, said, “Sprinkles is at the house with the witching well.”
Axel’s hands left mine, taking with them all heat from my body.
I blinked and girded my stomach. “So now we know.”
Axel raised a brow. “Know what?”
I gritted my teeth and said, “Gilda took Sweetie. And it’s up to us to get her back.”
TWENTY-ONE
Mattie jogged on home to tell Betty about Sprinkles while I hopped in Axel’s truck. “You have two vehicles?” I said.
He chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling you’re judging my choices rather than praising them?”
I shook my head. “I’m not judging. Not at all. If you want five vehicles, go for it.”
His gaze slanted over to me. “I only have two. Pick-ups haul things. Sometimes I need to haul.”
“Bodies?” I said.
He smirked. “I’m a PI, not a coroner.”
The cabin smelled like him—piney and musky. I inhaled deeply, hoping he didn’t notice. Don’t worry, I stopped myself from jumping in his lap and plunging my nose in his shirt, though don’t think I didn’t run it by myself first to make sure it wasn’t a great idea.
It wasn’t.
I didn’t think he’d appreciate my own appreciation for him.
We reached Gilda’s house in about two minutes. Axel stayed on the main street, pulling off a few houses down.
“So what’s the plan?” I said.
He paused. “I’m thinking.”
“Why don’t we just walk up and knock on the door, tell her we know she’s got the cat and to hand it over?”
He frowned. “You know, not a bad idea. Let’s do it.”
We got out of the truck and headed down the sidewalk. A dim light glowed from the back of Gilda’s house. I could hear her talking.
“Now hold still, honey; this won’t hurt a bit.”
Then I heard Sprinkles meow. I mean, it was probably Sprinkles. Hard to say. I didn’t know her well enough to say it was her meow. Let’s face it; I’d spent more time with animals this week than I had over the course of my entire life.
Hand-to-heart truth, y’all.
I shot Axel a concerned look and took off in a sprint. I rounded the back of the cottage and found Gilda in the backyard with Sprinkles.
Sprinkles was sitting on a wooden table. Fear raked across her little kitty face. She was glancing up at Gilda—
Who was holding knife.
The blade glinted in the moonlight.
Gilda arched the blade up in the air. It was obvious what was going to happen next. The steel tip would come down, right on Sprinkles.
Anger and fear filled me. I wouldn’t be able to reach the cat in time to save her. Magic flung out from me.
The knife flew from Gilda’s hand, disappearing into the trees beyond the house.
“Stop,” I shouted. “Don’t touch that cat.”
Axel ran up to Gilda and pinned her hands. “Pepper, get the cat out of reach. Animal cruelty is a serious offense in Magnolia Cove, Gilda. You know that.”
Gilda glanced at both of us, confusion on her face. “But honeys, you don’t understand.”
Sprinkles jumped into my arms when she saw me. I pulled her to my chest and dug my nose into her fur. When I glanced up at Gilda, anger flashed in my core.
“No, you don’t understand. We know all about you, Gilda. Getting rid of the cat who saw you commit Ebenezer’s murder? Is that it? I can’t believe I thought you were a kindly old woman. Now I know you’re nothing but a cat killer along with a human killer.”
“But honey, I didn’t do it,” she pleaded.
“Save it for the cops,” I said.
Wow. It felt really satisfying to say that, as if I’d wanted to say it my entire life.
Axel got on his phone, and no lie, about twenty seconds later the house was crawling with cops, all wearing their ten-gallon hats, handkerchiefs around their necks and long black coats.
They looked kinda liked fake leather, something I like to call pleather.
Officer Todd took Gilda away in handcuffs. The whole time she was whimpering, “Honey, you don’t understand. I wasn’t trying to hurt Sprinkles. I was trying to save her.”
Likely story.
Once Gilda was taken care of, Officer Todd approached me. Sprinkles had dug a spot into the hollow of my armpit and was purring softly.
“Animal cruelty is a serious crime in Magnolia Cove,” he said.
I nodded. “That’s what Axel said. I’m glad we caught Gilda before she was able to do any harm to the cat.”
>
Todd nodded. His gaze landed on Sprinkles before drifting back up to my eyes. “I’m hoping she’ll admit to more than the potential abuse.”
My eyes flared. “You mean like Ebenezer’s murder?”
Todd pinched his fingers over the lip of his hat. “Exactly. I’m hoping she’ll show us where she hid the will as well.”
“You think she knows.”
“I’m sure of it. But we’ve got her in custody now, so that’s good news for you.”
I cocked my head. “Good news for me?”
He flashed me a genuine smile. “Absolutely. This should absolve you of the crime. It means you’re a free woman. You can leave Magnolia Cove.”
My heart swelled. Free. I could go. Leave. Be gone from this place full of witches.
At the same time my heart sank. I’d only just found this place, this new family. But still, hadn’t I wanted to go? Wasn’t that my goal from the moment I found myself trapped here?
To get back to my old life, my own life.
A life that was crumbling faster than you could say peach cobbler?
I forced a smile to my face. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” Todd reached out a hand, stroked Sprinkles.
At his touch the cat bolted up. She glanced back. When her gaze met Todd’s, she leaped from my arms, claws wild. Sprinkles slashed a gash across Todd’s cheek.
He lurched back. “Stupid cat,” he said.
I watched her sprint off toward Axel. She jumped into the private detective’s arms. He scooped her up and shot me a questioning look.
I turned back to Todd. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into her. She’s never done anything like that before.”
He yanked the handkerchief from around his neck and dabbed his cheek. “It’s fine. Cats don’t like me. Not sure why.” His gaze flickered back to me, and he pushed a smile to his face. “Anyway, you, Pepper Dunn, are free to leave Magnolia Cove.”
I bit my lip and watched him walk away. I inhaled a deep shot of air and thought, okay, all I had to do was get my car, go and have a plan for evading Rufus for the rest of my life. Betty could do the cloaking spell she had mentioned, and I could train myself on my powers, my head witch powers. I’d used the power a few times already; I could probably figure out the rest on my own.
