Huh. Well, wasn’t that interesting.
“You are a wealth of surprises, Miss Elva,” I finally conceded, too tired to think anymore.
“Child, just be glad you had it. Messing with the underworld is nasty business.”
“Is he gone now?”
“Oh, Horace won’t be coming back. I suspect the Goddesses are going to take good care of him,” Miss Elva chuckled and I felt reassured by her laughter.
“Thanks, Miss Elva.”
“You go on and have a good night. Squeeze that hunk of a man and give him a little time to process all this. He’ll come around.”
I hung up and eyed Cash as I waited for him to say something.
“Ring of fire.”
“What’s that?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion at him.
“You know, Johnny Cash. Ring of Fire. I fell into a burning ring of fire…” Cash sang creakily and I gaped at him like he’d lost his mind. Cash sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m tired. But I’m taking the whole ring of fire thing and the correlation with me being named after Johnny Cash as signs from the universe that I’m in the right place. And that’s all I can process for the night.”
A sign from the universe? Was this really my level-headed investor boyfriend? I gasped as he stood up and, yes ladies, threw me over his shoulder, taking the stairs two at a time to the bedroom.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t so levelheaded after all.
But it looked like I was about to step into my own ring of fire.
EPILOGUE
ON THE OTHER side of the Keys, Horace shivered by the side of the road, holding a hand over his privates. He’d woken up naked, scratches covering his long body. He trembled as a flash of headlights crossed his vision and he stood on shaky feet, holding his thumb out.
The car blasted past him, horn blaring, as a soda can flew from the window and landed at his feet, splashing brown liquid across Horace’s body.
“Those imbeciles! If only they knew who I was!” Horace seethed, pacing by the side of the road, furious that he had been left alone.
“Where are you, oh mighty one? Why have you forsaken me?” Horace screamed to the sky. He’d been promised a rich life, after all.
A flash of blue light shone from behind him and Horace stiffened, before turning slowly.
A woman, naked but for acres of hair that wound around her, smiled beautifully at him from within her blue glow. She was beautiful in a way not known to man, almost impossible to look directly at.
“Goddess Diana,” Horace said, immediately dropping to his knees.
“You’ve been a naughty boy, Horace,” Diana spoke, her voice both wondrous and awful at the same time.
“I know, I’m sorry,” Horace whispered.
“Oh, it’s far too late for apologies. You’ve caused some major disturbances in the spiritual world. And opening a portal? Tsk, tsk,” Diana clucked as she floated above him.
“I’ll close it, I promise. I was wrong,” Horace cowered beneath her.
“Oh, you’ll close it. When we send you right through it,” Diana said, raising her arms.
“No! I don’t want to go there,” Horace screamed as Diana poured her light into him and he disappeared from the side of the road.
Diana floated for a moment, her eyes trained on the spot where Horace had just been. Sighing, she dusted off her hands and winked out of sight.
READ AN EXCERPT FROM TEQUILA WILL KILL YA
A Luna & Miss Elva story
“Of course she goes away for Halloween of all things,” Luna muttered, thinking about her business partner and best friend, Althea Rose. Luna and Althea co-owned the Luna Rose Potion & Tarot Shop in downtown Tequila Key and Luna was more than a little annoyed with Althea.
“Not like it’s one of our busiest times of the year or anything,” Luna grumbled as she unpacked a new shipment of crystals. Luna had been surprised when Althea had agreed to go with her boyfriend Cash to Miami for one of his nightclub’s Halloween bashes. Psychics were typically in high demand over this holiday and Althea would have made bank on her readings.
Luna supposed that she couldn’t necessarily blame Althea. Even if she was a little miffed at her, Luna knew that Althea needed to spend some time in Cash’s world too. It would be good for them.
“And because of that, I’m going to close the shop this weekend,” Luna announced out loud, smiling down at her pretty display of crystals. It was a bold move for Luna, but business had been good this year and with the launch of her new online ordering system, she’d more than tripled her income. A weekend off was just what she needed. For the first time in years, she’d be really able to celebrate her favorite holiday.
Luna stepped to a low table of reclaimed wood and wiped a smudge from the corner. She loved her shop, the beautiful lines of the whitewashed wood, her pretty displays of candles, and bottles of elixirs with hand crafted white and gold labels. It hit just the right mix of magick and elegance.
Of course, she’d chosen white as her main color, as the color resonated strongly with Luna.
Being a white witch would do that to a person.
And Luna’s new Wiccan group had invited her to a very special and extremely exclusive celebration of All Hallows’ Eve. When Luna had calculated the lost revenue against the opportunity to take a break from the store and be with witches like her – well, the witches had won.
It would be fun to branch out with a new group.
To sign up for notification of new releases, please go HERE.
Please consider leaving a review! A book can live or die by the reviews alone. It means a lot to an author to receive reviews, and I greatly appreciate it!
Other books by Tricia O'Malley
THE MYSTIC COVE SERIES
A paranormal romance series set on the rocky shores of Ireland
Wild Irish Roots
Wild Irish Heart
Wild Irish Eyes
Wild Irish Soul
Wild Irish Rebel
Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean
THE STOLEN DOG
A non-fiction account of our dog being stolen and how we recovered him. All proceeds go to animal rescues.
Author's Note
Thank you for taking a chance on my books; it means the world to me. Writing novels came by way of a tragedy that turned into something beautiful and larger than itself (see: The Stolen Dog). Since that time, I've changed my career, put it all on the line, and followed my heart.
Thank you for taking part in the worlds I have created; I hope you enjoy it.
I would be honored if you left a review online. It helps other readers to take a chance on my work.
As always, you can reach me at [email protected] or feel free to visit my website at triciaomalley.com.
You can sign up for new releases here http://eepurl.com/1LAiz.
Author's Acknowledgement
First and foremost, I would like to thank my husband for his unending support as I pursue this wildly creative career of being an author. It isn't easy to watch someone follow the creative path, and uncertainties are rampant. Josh, thanks for being my rock.
I'd like to thank my family and friends for their constant support and all of my beta readers for their excellent feedback.
A special shout-out to Mary Ellen Pride for her assistance and extensive knowledge on Pagan festivals. Your help proves to be invaluable.
Thank you to Elayne Morgan for a fantastic job at editing!
And last, but never least, my two constant companions as I struggle through words on my computer each day - Briggs and Blue.
-o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Tequila for Two: An Althea Rose Mystery (The Althea Rose Series Book 2) Page 16
