Southern Curses

by Amy Boyles

  “They don’t know what to think of him,” Axel said.

  “Join the club. Hugo’s still figuring himself out,” I replied. “He’s only a baby with a lot to learn.” I turned to Axel. “But going back…”

  His gaze bored into me like I’d annoyed him something good. Fine by me. Didn’t bother me to pinch a nerve on Axel every once in a while.

  “Yes, the werewolf thing. You’re not going to let it go.”

  I scoffed. “All I’m saying is—should you place the prejudice thrown at you on a clan of wolves you don’t even know?”

  Axel raked his shoulder-length dark locks from his face. His gaze speared me. “One word—mafia.”

  “You got me there. Anyway, what about this Carl Carlsburg? If indeed that is his real name.”

  Axel sank onto a stool. “So glad you asked. I’ve been doing research and discovered he has a very interesting lineage.”

  I leaned on the counter. “Tell me more. In fact, tell me everything.”

  “You’ll be interested to know the Carlsburgs are an old family originally from Eastern Europe.”

  “Where exactly?”

  “Transylvania.”

  I stared at him, unblinking. “Transylvania? As in where Dracula is from?”

  “That’s right.”

  I watched Axel for some sign that he was lying, that what I was hearing wasn’t true, but he didn’t flinch.

  I decided to call rotten eggs anyway. “You’re kidding, right? There’s not really a Dracula from Transylvania.”

  “There was a Vlad Dracula who lived in Hungary—also known as Vlad the Impaler. But vampires do exist, and they did originate in Transylvania.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Let my head stop spinning for a moment. Okay, so the man who tried to kill Donovan has ties to vampires—comes from their line. But he couldn’t have been a vampire, right? Unless these vampires are like those from Twilight and can go out during the day. Oh, but Carl didn’t sparkle when I saw him in my shop.”

  “I don’t think so,” Axel said. “If he had been, he could’ve killed Donovan easily.”

  “Unless he wanted Donovan to know why he was being killed. Wanted a big show about it—which is how it seemed to me. He wanted to end Donovan’s life and let everyone know. He wasn’t ashamed, so it begs the question—did he feel this killing was justified and not simply a hit that he was hired for?”

  Axel stared at me a moment and then placed a hand over his heart. “You are so stinkin’ smart. Do you know what that does to me?”

  “Gives you heartburn?”

  “The good kind, not the bad kind.”

  I laughed. “Anyway, so for some reason or another Carl felt justified for the killing. Donovan seemed oblivious, and Johnny Utah wanted the whole thing called off.” I wiped a speck of dust from the counter. “What does Garrick know?”

  Axel folded his arms and winked. “Now what would I know about the present sheriff of Magnolia Cove’s ongoing murder investigation?”

  I dipped my head and glanced at Axel from underneath a fringe of bang. “You can’t fool me. I’m well aware you know exactly what’s going on.”

  “I know that Johnny Utah’s keeping his mouth shut about his mob connections.”

  “But Garrick can figure that out.”

  “He can and probably will. But in the meantime Donovan’s not saying much either.”

  “Why not?”

  Axel brushed his fingernails on his shirt. “Think about it—if it were you, would you tell the authorities that a mob guy who wanted you dead is in town?”

  I cringed. “You think that would ensure that Johnny would move against Donovan?”

  “Almost one hundred percent.”

  I sank into a chair and tapped my foot. “So what do we do now? Somebody killed Carl—but who and why?”

  Axel rotated his wounded shoulder back and grinned. “I say we start with the main guy.”

  Cold fear trickled through my veins. “You mean Johnny?”

  A brilliant smile flashed at me. “The one and only.”

  Let me just say that it wasn’t difficult to track down three newcomers in the small town of Magnolia Cove. We found Johnny and the brutes at a diner called Silver Bullet. As ironic as it was for werewolves to be eating in a joint with that name, the place was shaped like a bullet, having been constructed of corrugated steel with a pointed tip at one end.

  When Axel approached Johnny, the boss had his men move to the next booth and greeted us like we were family.

  After we all sat and ordered some breakfast, Johnny turned to Axel. “You’re blood, right?”

  Axel sipped from the black coffee he’d ordered. “Half. Other half is wizard.”

  Johnny made a face of disgust. “You must not be as big as one of us full bloods.”

  “I beg to differ,” I said. “I have seen the wolf in action, and he is huge. Big as a tree.”

  Both men stared at me. But I wasn’t going to back down. So I clicked my tongue. “No lie.”

  Axel cleared his throat. “I can howl with the big boys, trust me. And the wolf blood only increases my abilities as a wizard, having the animal instinct.”

  “Hmm,” Johnny said. “I didn’t think of that. You got a job?”

  “Not in the market for one.”

  Johnny squinted one brown eye at him. “I could use a guy like you.”

  “You could use a lot of guys like me, but I’m not looking, like I said.”

  Johnny poured syrup on his pancakes. He picked up a fork and knife and started slicing away. He took a bite large enough to choke a hippopotamus and spoke while chewing his attractive cud. “You change your mind, you come find me. But it seems to me you’re looking for something. Why else would you be here?”

  “It’s about last night.”

  Johnny slurped his coffee. “You police?”

  “No.”

  “You talk to Donovan?”

  “I have,” I said, rubbing a finger over the lip of my glass of sweet tea. “He told us what happened with the bat.”

  Johnny eyed me. “You must be the niece.”

  “I am.”

  “He tell you that bat stole my niece and we’re looking for her?”

  I nodded. “He did, and that you sent a witch hunter after him.”

  “Shh,” Johnny said, “not so loud. I want to make it out of this town alive.”

  Axel dragged his gaze from me and rested it on the mobster. “What about Carl?”

  Johnny tucked a napkin into his shirt. “Oh, when I discovered my niece was gone and it was all that vamp’s fault, I wanted Donovan dead, I won’t deny it. He made me look like a fool.”

  “He didn’t know,” I said.

  Johnny nodded. “I know the guy’s had a good store for a long time. That’s why I reached out to him in the first place. I figured he could get me something legit.”

  Axel scoffed. “There’s nothing legitimate about a vampire who’s been cursed to remain in bat form. It’s a curse. You and I both know what it is to be cursed.”

  I frowned. “What?”

  Johnny wiped syrup from his chin. “That’s the basis of the werewolf legend. We’re cursed to roam the earth as animals one night a month, killing those we love and feeding off their flesh.”

  “That’s downright horrible,” I said.

  He shrugged like only a mobster who’s been around more blood than is decent would do. “That’s how it is. Anyway, once I got wind that Donovan wasn’t dead after all, I called Carl and told him about the job. But then something happened.”

  “What?” I said.

  “I got this new girlfriend.”

  Not what I expected to hear.

  “Love will change things,” Axel said.

  I gave him a double take, but his gaze didn’t even flicker to me.

  “Yeah,” Johnny said, taking another ginormous bite. “I fell in love with this total doll. Name’s Eva. When I was thinking about doing the hit, Eva said to me, ‘Johnny, what
if it’s all a big mistake? That poor guy, he didn’t mean for anything to happen to Princess. For me, don’t kill him.’”

  Johnny wiped a tear from his eye. “It gets me every time I think about it. Her sweet little mouth all puckered up as she begs for the life of a man she don’t even know.”

  “Did she come with you?” Axel said.

  “What? Eva? No. She’s back in Witch Vegas laying by the pool and staying beautiful.” Johnny tucked the napkin back in place. “So I agreed, but the problem was, I couldn’t get ahold of Carl. Sucker turned his phone off.”

  “Well, he was working,” I said as if that made perfect sense.

  “Yeah, that’s what I figured, too,” Johnny said. “So me and the boys, we came down here. I didn’t know last night was a time when anybody can get in. That’s just dumb luck. So when I showed up and Carl was going to do what I didn’t want him to, I was ticked.”

  “Rule number one, don’t cross you,” Axel said.

  “Right. So anyway, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. I say I called off a hit, I called it off. There’s no arguing. It’s not like I wouldn’t have paid the guy.” Johnny leaned in, waved his butter knife as he spoke. “But there was something weird about it, like Carl had it out for Donovan. Beats me if he did. I don’t know why he would.”

  Axel drummed his fingers on the table. “Carl’s family may have vampire blood.”

  Johnny’s eyes widened in a way that told me he was as shocked to hear the news as I had been. “You don’t say. Now that there is surprising. I had no idea. Between you and me, Carl’s worked other jobs. He’s good, efficient, but lately he’s been slacking up. I don’t know what it is.”

  Axel crumpled his napkin. “Do you know anyone who knows more about Carl? Why he might’ve wanted to get rid of Donovan?”

  Johnny shrugged. “In this business the less you know about a person, the better. I don’t know offhand, but if I think of something, I tell you what, I’ll let you know.”

  He leaned forward. “Better to tell you than to let the cops in on what we find out.” Johnny patted the air. “I know they’re witch cops, but still, I don’t like the stink of ’em.”

  Axel slid a business card across the table. “That’s my number. Call anytime.”

  Johnny handed Axel one of his own cards. It was white with gold trim. When I glanced at it, there was a three-dimensional hologram of a wolf etched onto the front.

  “And if you change your mind and want a new employer, you let me know. I could use a guy like you.”

  We said our goodbyes and left the restaurant. When I slid into the Mustang, I glanced at Axel.

  “That really didn’t help us much.”

  Axel shrugged. “I don’t know. We found out that Johnny called off the hit on Donovan because of his girlfriend.”

  “Why would Johnny’s girlfriend have saved Donovan?”

  “I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”

  I gave him a confused look. “How’re you going to do that? She’s back in Witch Vegas.”

  “That was a lie. Did you see the pink smear of lipstick on his shirt collar?”

  My eyebrows shot to peaks. “No, I did not.”

  “I did, and unless Johnny found a temporary girlfriend, my guess is Eva is here in Magnolia Cove and we need to find her.”

  EIGHT

  “How do you plan on finding Eva?” I said.

  Axel shot me a glance that said seriously? “Your cousin works at the inn.”

  “Oh, right. You want me to use my hookup.”

  “If you’re uncomfortable, we don’t have to.”

  I fished my phone from my purse. “I don’t mind. The worst thing she can say is ‘no.’”

  So I called Cordelia.

  “No,” she said.

  “We’re not going to barge in. I just want to know if you’ve seen her and what she looks like.”

  Cordelia sighed. “I haven’t seen her.”

  Axel’s hand clamped around my arm. “Hang up.”

  “Why?”

  He pointed to a figure walking down the street. A woman who looked like a carbon copy of Marilyn Monroe clicked down Bubbling Cauldron in candy-apple-red heels. She paused for a moment to look at the shops. Then she headed straight toward Familiar Place.

  “You think that’s her?”

  “Does a toad have warts?” he said.

  “Not technically.”

  “The ones witches use in spells do.” Axel reached over and unbuckled my seat belt. The smell of his aftershave trickled up my nose and made my mouth water.

  “Get in there. Talk to her. See what’s going on.”

  I slapped my hands to my face. “Oh dear Lord, Betty’s doing some cleaning in the store for me. She’ll either run her off or try to sell Eva a pet snail.”

  I opened the door, slid out and sprinted across the street, barely avoiding being run down by an old lady in an emerald-green boat-sized sedan.

  She threw her head out the window. “Watch where you’re going!”

  “Sorry.” I waved apologetically and smiled so brightly I would swear my teeth sparkled if they could.

  The old bat still flipped me off.

  “Nice,” I said.

  I opened the door to Familiar Place and found Betty with the woman who we thought was Eva standing by the fish.

  “We just got these guppies in last week,” Betty said. “From what I hear fish brains are the smartest of all brains. They might be small, but if you’re a water witch, a fish might be your best choice of familiar.”

  Eva tapped her toe. “But I’m more of an earth witch. Do you think I could use a water animal as grounding and then make lightning crack from my fingertips?”

  “Sure,” Betty said, “let me show you.”

  Not wanting an explosion in my store, I sidled up beside my wild-card grandmother, extended my hand and said, “How do you do? I’m Pepper Dunn, owner of Familiar Place.”

  “I’m Eva,” she said in a light, airy baby voice. Really baby voice. Like I couldn’t believe the sound that was coming out of her mouth, it was so quiet and, well, babyish.

  “Hi Eva, how do you do?”

  Eva shifted so that her ankle bent, turning her foot. She repeated the gesture, which made me think it was more nervous habit than anything else.

  “I’m fine, just fine. Stopping through and thought I’d come in the store.” She peered around me and looked back to the hall.

  I clasped my hands. “Are you looking for something in particular? Can I help you find a certain animal?”

  Her hand fluttered to her heart. “Oh no, I’m not looking for anything in particular,” she said, her gaze flicking into the hall once more.

  I had the sense she wasn’t scanning for a creature but a person. “Are you looking for someone?”

  Eva tugged her hair. “Years ago there used to be a man who ran this store. I think his name was Donovan.”

  My heart leaped. “Yes, Donovan owned it before me. I’m his great-niece, Pepper. Do you know him?”

  She looked away uncomfortably.

  I needed to reel Eva in, figure out why she’d saved Donovan’s life from Johnny Utah.

  “Donovan may be here another day. I’m not certain. Is there a message I can give him for you?”

  Eva’s gaze slid to the right. “No, I’ll just stop back by.”

  Panic needled me. Should I let her go or act like I knew what was going on? Well, being a wilting flower had never gotten me anywhere in life, and I had to admit that gumption had gotten me pretty far.

  As she reached the front door, I said, “You saved his life, you know. Johnny Utah told me.”

  Eva’s back straightened. She pivoted on one foot and stared at me. “He—he told you?” Her eyes glassed up, and I decided I needed to put her at ease.

  “Johnny said that you asked him not to hurt Donovan. That’s all I know. If my uncle was aware of what you had done, he’d be eternally grateful.”

  Eva pulled a tissu
e from her white clutch and dabbed her eyes. “Your uncle doesn’t know it, but he once saved my life. I was only returning the favor.”

  Bingo! I grinned so hard I thought my face might crack. “Why don’t you tell us all about it?”

  Betty magicked up a pitcher of sweet tea, I locked the door and we pulled up a couple of chairs. The tears had flowed for a minute or two, but Eva had settled down to only a few sniffles.

  “Thank you for the tea,” she said. “Nobody makes tea like folks in the South. That’s what Mama always used to say.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” Betty said.

  “And nobody brews it like Betty Craple,” I said.

  Eva nodded. “I agree. Anyway, I had a rough childhood. You’d never know it now, but my pa, he was abusive. Not a nice man. A mean drunk is what he was. He was so cruel there were times when I was young that I didn’t know if I’d make it another day.”

  I patted her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  Eva’s gaze sharpened. She blinked at me and smiled. “It’s okay. Now. Thanks to your uncle.”

  I cocked my head. “How?”

  She shook her head. “The one thing my pa liked was for us to look like we had things, so he brought me here to get my first familiar. If it had been anybody else giving me something nice, it wouldn’t have lasted. He would’ve snatched it up, unable to deal with his own jealously. But Pa brought me here, told me to pick out whatever I wanted.”

  She smiled now, her eyes taking on a wistful expression. “Your uncle was here. I think he could sense that I really needed it, that somehow whatever animal I picked would mean the world to me.”

  Eva sipped from her tea. “My throat’s dry. I don’t usually do too much talking with Johnny. I mostly look pretty. It’s a good life, so I’m not complaining. Johnny’s not much of a talker. But anyway, your uncle took his time with me. Walked me all around the store. I found a puppy—a sweet little terrier that I almost thought would be a perfect match, and my father was pushing for it since it wouldn’t have been competition for him. You know, a small dog’s not going to fight back like a big old German shepherd.”