Paranormally Yours: A Boxed Set

by Alisha Basso

  “Johnny Appleseed,” I said. “Or the character who was written into the book he stepped out of.” The tin hat on his head clinching it.

  He grinned like a very bad schoolboy and said, “The Many Escapades of Johnny Appleseed was written for children, and I was somewhat of a trickster in it. I find I like it much better than being serious, unless, of course, it comes down to apples and apple trees. Then I’m dead serious. But, this was just a game, people. No harm done. They were bored. I was bored.” His voice resonated with pure joy.

  “Well, you’re under arrest for inciting these trees to riot. It’ll take a lot to get them to settle.”

  “How do you take trees into custody?” Val asked, looking over at the copse as they huddled together, just now realizing they were in trouble. His gaze swung back to Rayne, his brows furrowed. She huffed out a breath, displacing her short, black bangs.

  Johnny leaned over and whispered. “I’ll trade my freedom for a kick-ass applesauce recipe. Or, if you prefer, a muffin one.”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Still chuckling, I put a hand on Rayne’s arm. “Maybe we won’t have to.” I said, giving Johnny a reassuring look. “I’ll need some bushel baskets.”

  Fox laughed and Rayne shook her head. “Val, go find some bushel baskets.”

  I gave the eager trees instructions for the new game, and with a quick cushioning spell to save the apples from any bruising, the eager trees got their rowdiness out of their systems and were finally subdued. They filled the bushel baskets, showing their skills by getting rim shots and three-pointers, and anyone who wanted some apples for dinner could come by and pick up a few or a whole basket, as long as the basket was replaced with an empty one.

  Johnny Appleseed? He was hauled over to the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I couldn’t see throwing him into a jail cell when his skills could be used to enhance apple production. He was free to visit his apple trees, but no more mischief. Before we left I made sure to get both the applesauce and the muffin recipe. As I went out the door, he winked at me. I wasn’t so sure we’d heard the last of him.

  Back at OS Headquarters, Deangelo asked Rayne how I had fared.

  Rayne glanced at me, an affectionate look in those silky grey eyes. “She was amazing.”

  My boss harrumphed and strode back into his office.

  So what? My team members all looked at me with amusement. I’d passed the test they’d set for me. Not only had I defused the situation, but solved the problem.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The morning of the move, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, Fox and Val stood there. Both of them were wearing jeans and T-shirts, both looking way too yummy for a pre-coffee early morning. Fox had his hair pulled back, his thick braid dark against the camouflage green of his cotton shirt. Val looked so casually sleek, his blond hair in the perfect anime style, looking at me with a boyish appeal which made me glance away.

  Rayne came up the stairs dressed in a pair of pencil black pants and a butter yellow silk blouse. Her hair was pulled off her face with her spiky bangs lying on her forehead, and she looked fresh and stunning. She sidled between the two men and past me while my stomach clenched at the thought of moving in with her. It was so soon after Olivia’s death, so soon after her betrayal. But I really had no choice. Besides being too late to back out politely, living alone wasn’t possible for me, at least not right now. I had to accept her offer. But I wasn’t so sure how attached I wanted to get to these people.

  “Your dust hounds are outside. Their redheaded leader is looking thunderous. Maybe you should cue him in that you’re moving. Is that coffee I smell?” she said as if she lived here with me and we were already roommates. Rayne didn’t seem to worry about silly things like personal space and decorum.

  She walked into the kitchen.

  “What is that heavenly smell?” Val said, sniffing the air like he couldn’t wait to draw the smell even deeper into his lungs.

  Fox smiled at me and stepped closer. “You’ve been baking,” he said. “That’s apple something.” Then he smiled and my heart teetered. I moved away quickly and headed for the kitchen, keeping my voice bland. “They’re apple muffins. Seems like there’s a virtual applecopia in the park.”

  Fox chuckled and both of the guys followed me into the kitchen. Rayne was leaning against the counter, a mug in her hands. Taking a sip she closed her eyes and breathed. “This brew is worth the rent, Lily.”

  “It’s my own special blend,” I said as all three of them eyed the plate of muffins.

  “Help yourselves,” I said with a small laugh. They each grabbed one while I poured coffee for the three of us, letting them doctor it themselves with their preference for sugar or cream.

  Nock materialized and stopped dead when he saw the three OS wardens. “Toadstools,” he grumbled.

  I walked over and stuffed a muffin in his mouth.

  “You better get used to this. You already know we’re moving in with Rayne today, and I’ll be working with all three of them. It’s a package deal.”

  He pulled the muffin out, chewed and swallowed. “Hey, this is good,” he said, taking another bite. “Heavy baggage, if you ask me,” he grumbled around a full mouth.

  I cuffed him just like I’d seen his aunt do. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  He danced out of my range, and ignored my order. “They’re not here to help us, are they?”

  “Of course they are. I don’t have the heart to tell them you can do it in less time with a lot less sweat.”

  He folded his arms over his chest, his face going recalcitrant. “No, I can’t, and I don’t want to anyway!”

  I knew he was deeply disappointed, so I let him have his tantrum. “You can do all the unpacking.”

  “Why would I want to do that?” he grumbled some more, adding, “It’ll be a cold day in hell.”

  “Right, you’ll be so-o-o put out.” I ruffled his black hair while he polished off the muffin.

  “Did you see the place yet?” he sighed. “That closet is magnificent.”

  “Nock,” I hissed. “You didn’t go over there without an invitation.”

  He looked surprised. “Invitation?” He rolled his eyes. “She already asked us to move in.”

  “That’s still rude.”

  “So?”

  I would have cuffed him again if he’d been within reach and he knew it. He stuck out his tongue and went invisible.

  “So what are you taking?” Fox said, sitting down next to me at the kitchen table.

  “My bedroom furniture and my fridge. I have already sold the rest of the stuff to someone my landlady knows.”

  “It must be difficult.”

  “What?”

  “Giving up all your things.”

  “When I woke up after whatever terrible thing happened to make me lose my memory, I didn’t have anything. Just the clothes on my back. You can’t imagine how I shunned anything new or was opposed to change, and that was detrimental to not only my well-being, but to my craft. I was so closed, had so many barriers when I first opened my eyes.

  “I’m not saying I’ve dropped all my barriers or all my fears, but Olivia came along, and every day she gave me a new piece of wisdom and brought me back into the realm of the living. I wasn’t this empty shell anymore. She told me the Craft has already prepared me for the greatest challenges in growth and transformation. We shape, bend and change. She coaxed me into using the Craft in my cooking. The journey of the Craft is to oneness—true self—and the power and beauty within and beyond. Surely you understand about becoming one. You’re a shaman.”

  He set his elbows on the table and leaned closer, his biceps bulging, breathing deep like he was breathing in my scent. And, if I was being honest, I was taking him in, too. The scent of him was a dangerous mix of power and sunshine.

  “Ah, oneness, the very foundation of what it means to be a shaman.
My mission as a practitioner is to transcend and become one with the mystic plane, rejuvenate it with my energy so the healing and the connection never cease. As a shaman, walking as if I’m one with the world is our very state of being. I understand about being one, but it’s still is hard to make changes, especially after a traumatic event like losing a friend.”

  I nodded. The sage look in his eyes made me want to explore more—the wisdom was part of him, and, far more than his smooth good looks, it was what interested me.

  This is what Talon and I had lacked, a slow building of a relationship. We had been physical, but it was entirely different with Fox. However, I was still reluctant to start anything, so I decided to keep it neutral.

  “I’m not going to say it isn’t hard, because it is. This apartment is all I’ve known for three years. So it’ll be a change.”

  “But witches adapt.” His lips curved.

  “My magic can take me anywhere—deep into the fertile secrets of the earth or high into the silent journeys of the moon. So, even though material things can be cherished, I’m taking with me what I want—especially my big, beautiful fridge.”

  He chuckled, “I can’t argue with that. My magic is pretty freaking cool, too.”

  I smiled, feeling much better than I had when I woke up this morning. “You’re pretty easy to talk to.”

  “I’m easy in many other ways,” he said.

  “Oh, really?” I was flirting, and he was flirting back. It was a step in a direction I wasn’t sure I should go. It felt good, though. I had no business engaging in it, but that didn’t make it any less fun. Maybe even more so because I should be resisting. “How so?”

  “Simple things, like the…the touch against the skin.” He brushed his fingertips over the back of my hand.

  My eyes flashed to his. They were a steady, hot, golden shade, so different from the cool green of Talon’s eyes.

  I missed the closeness with Talon, not so sure I could attain it with any other male, and it scared me to think that kind of intimacy would forever be beyond my reach now. Fox was human, but he was a shaman, and elemental magic flowed and eddied in his sun-kissed eyes.

  I wondered briefly if getting physical with him would…feel the same. It softened me toward Fox, and I could tell he noticed the moment my demeanor shifted.

  “Don’t worry, even though my name is Fox, I won’t bite,” he said with such a warm inflection in his voice.”

  Against my will, my blood warmed in response.

  “Stop making time with Lily, shaman, and give me a hand,” Val groused.

  Fox kept his unwavering gaze on me for a few more moments until I couldn’t breathe.

  Then he rose with all that confident masculinity, and, with the grace I’d come to associate with him, joined Val in my bedroom.

  I blew out a stream of heated air.

  “You really are a stupid witch,” Nock said softly next to me.

  “I know.” I said just as softly back.

  #

  When I pulled up to the “apothecary shop” Rayne said she had renovated into a living space, I couldn’t help myself, I was completely charmed.

  The cast-iron building, dating back to the 1800s was white, with wrought iron poles and elegant, filigreed flourishes connected to a façade of intricate diamond shapes linked together and enclosing rosettes. Up each shaft wound twining foliage, reminding me of a deep, mysterious wood. Delicate scrolls twirled across the corners of the glazing, all a dark forest green. The rounded, twin, multi-paned windows were empty and dark, but I could envision them filled with many delicate glass jars in an assortment of sizes and colors, along with varieties of bottles and other medicinal paraphernalia.

  The door was the same color as the façade, but had two paned windows that came to a peak which charmed me all the more. I was eager to look inside, but the truck pulled up and the hauling began all over again. We started lugging things into Rayne’s two-story home, through an entrance which was accessed through a side door with embellishments similar to those on the front of the building.

  “There’s parking here in the back, enough for four cars. You can move the T-bird there if you’d like.”

  I turned when I heard the rumble of powerful bikes. Talon and his hounds had arrived. I ignored them for my own sanity. Looking at him or talking to him would only confuse me further.

  I walked to my car and parked where Rayne had indicated, then, without a glance at Talon, slipped into the doorway and paused at the bottom of a flight of stairs. The door into the shop was closed.

  “The fridge was last into the truck, so we need to get it placed first. This way.”

  I followed Rayne through the door adjacent to the stairway to the apartment above. She flipped on the lights. I was swamped with the lingering scent of dried herbs and spices from a day when this shop had been an actual apothecary. The main room sported a large bar, with glass display cases coated with a thin layer of dust, and beautiful glassed-in shelves that, with a little bit of elbow grease, would shine with a boost from internal lighting.

  There were boxes and other things belonging to Rayne, who had already disappeared into the back. As I looked at the shop area, I suddenly could see a bakery, clear as day—with cupcakes and cakes displayed in the glass-enclosed shelves behind the bar and under the cases.

  I wended my way through Rayne’s possessions to a main display case and lifted the lid. What a perfect spot for my cream puffs. The possibilities were endless. I chuckled at my own whimsy and set the lid back in place as my hand tingled from the anticipation of my magic. How could I open up a shop when I couldn’t even pay my employees? It was a dream for another day.

  “Lily?” Rayne called and I reluctantly left the main shop to find her in one of the two large back rooms.

  “This would be an excellent spot for it, don’t you think?”

  I agreed. The room was a bit dusty, but it did have two trestle tables just right for food preparation. It was just a matter of having my Nock get in here and make things shine. I would casually mention it to him. I smiled at the way his eyes would go sly even as he protested he had no intention of cleaning up a grimy room that had seen better days.

  As I stood there while Rayne moved objects around to make room for my huge fridge, the same dreaminess which had come over me in the shop inundated me again. This would be an excellent kitchen area, a gleaming stove, ovens, storage, they were all here in my imagination, and the area was a perfect fit. Even the room next to this one could hold all the catering equipment I had sold to pay some of my creditors.

  I snapped out of my daydream when I heard Fox and Val maneuvering the fridge into the space. Fox cleverly used his elemental magic to manipulate the air currents under the fridge to move it as easily as if it had been on wheels.

  After situating my precious refrigerator, I climbed the staircase and entered Rayne’s two-story apartment. That’s where any hint of the Victorian age ended. The space was expansive, with rich honey and cinnamon accents adding a cozy feel to such a large space. The terracotta walls, complementing cabinets and countertop in the stainless steel gourmet kitchen, added to the overall warmth of the space. The kitchen sat off to the left, making me salivate, the elegant bar and stools separating it from a wide-open great room with several couches, a TV/entertainment area and a dining room. The wood floors were a glossy black, covered here and there with gorgeous rugs with matching color accents. The spectacular view of the city and river framed by the floor to ceiling windows was breathtaking.

  “The bedrooms are upstairs,” she said, nudging me out of my stunned study of her living space. “Take a look at the roof, too. I have a very small herb garden up there because I like fresh rosemary.”

  “This is really nice.” Even to myself my voice sounded…small and unsure.

  She cringed, and I was surprised by her uncharacteristic look, partly anticipation and partly fear. She could take on a huge troll and not blink an eye, calmly face rampant, apple-chucking trees,
taking it all in stride, but when it came to offering me her home, she was nervous? It made her seem more…human, even though she wasn’t. The fact that she even cared about what I thought made me want to retreat behind my walls.

  “Don’t say it like that, Lily. I want you to feel comfortable here. Go on upstairs and we’ll start bringing your stuff in.

  I walked up the wide staircase to the second floor. There was a master bedroom, plus two other large bedrooms. I peeked into Rayne’s room and sighed. It was also beautifully decorated in an austere, minimalist way, but no less stunning for its simple décor.

  I walked into one of the other bedrooms and recognized immediately this was where Nock would live. The door was already open, and his small bed, little carvings, and mushroom collection, were already arranged into a snug nook. He’d even hung his tapestries.

  I smiled and stopped when I saw the table set against the wall. The molded rock Nock had used to create a cave-like home for Flynn was all set up, including a small hoard of coins, gems, and gold on a rich tapestry with flying dragons on it. I looked towards Nock’s little home and realized it was missing from his wall.

  That sweet, contrary, little so-and-so…my heart tripped. I slipped out of the room and went into the one across from Rayne’s massive master. It was a very good size, and would give me plenty of room. I would have to buy rugs, though, since the old apartment had carpeting throughout both bedrooms.

  I went to the window opening out to the same spectacular view of the river, and my living tattoo pulsed and changed into the multi-colored Koi. It swam all over my body and I realized it depicted my feeling of pure joy.

  I found the staircase to the roof, and when I got to the top I saw movement in the little greenhouse. Creeping closer, I spied Nock in there, humming. He was already tending to the plants, his hand dark with the rich earth he’d brought from the most concentrated soil there is, topsoil. It wouldn’t be long before Rayne’s small herb garden was something…only a gnome could produce—beautiful and lush. I decided to let her be surprised. No, awed.