by K E O'Connor
“Um, maybe I did. If you have a problem with keeping the money, you can donate it to me. Call it a sign-on bonus for my new job. And I’m a very good cause. Plus, if you expect me to strut around in all this leather gear, I need a decent incentive to show my face to the world.”
“You don’t like the leather? It’s durable, and it’s breathable. It’s regulation issue for all our hunters.”
“It makes me look like the Wiccan version of Catwoman. All I need is the pointy ears and a tail.”
He chuckled. “That can be arranged. You’d look cute with a tail.”
“Don’t you dare.” I ran my hand over my newly colored hair. Although it was a shock to discover what Olympus had done to me, it had a logic to it. He could introduce me around the village as his new pet ghost hunter, and I’d be free to investigate Luna’s disappearance, what happened to Bloom, and figure out if the note he received was connected to the dark witch coven.
“Let me try that voice changing spell on you again,” Olympus said. “We don’t want your voice giving you away.”
“You shouldn’t bother. I’ve been away for such a long time, not many people know what I sound like,” I said. “And I’ve avoided most of the villagers since coming back. Although I’ll need to be careful around my familiars, Storm, and Odessa. They’ll know me.”
“You need to stay clear of all of them,” he said. “This is our secret.”
“I should keep them involved. They could be useful.”
“Don’t worry about that. They’re keeping themselves involved, despite me telling them to stay away.”
I chuckled. My friends and familiars had been pounding on the door on a daily basis, demanding to know what had happened to me. So far, Olympus had fobbed them off, but he’d have to give them a straight story soon.
It made my heart ache to leave them out of this, but maybe it was for the best. I’d gotten them in heaps of trouble since I’d returned. If I wasn’t around, I couldn’t get them hurt anymore.
Olympus placed his hand over my throat and spoke the words to evoke the voice change spell.
He stepped back and his gaze ran over me. “Say something.”
“You’re a jerk for making me keep this a secret from my best friends.”
“That’s better. You’ll need to practice. And walk around a bit. You’ve got a distinctive strut, and I don’t want that to give you away.”
“I don’t strut. I walk like a normal person.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You definitely strut. Go on. Do a circuit of the office so I can watch you.”
“You sound like a dirty old man.”
“I’m not old.”
I snort laughed as I did a turn around the office, making sure not to strut.
I’d been staying in Olympus’ back room ever since he’d come up with this plan. There was no funny business going on, it wasn’t that kind of arrangement. He’d moved into a short-term rental nearby. We were keeping this strictly professional.
It was weird spending so much time with someone I’d considered my enemy until a few days ago. But then, that was my life. One big ball of messy, magical weirdness.
I missed my old home and wanted to get back there, but I had to stay away until this mystery was solved. Well, mysteries. Every time I felt like I was making progress with Luna’s disappearance, another layer of complication was added. Hexes, hauntings, disappearances, evil-eyed villagers. What next, the dead rising and chasing me out of here?
Maybe I’d be forever struggling through these puzzles and having to stay in disguise as... I turned to Olympus.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“I need a new name to go along with my new look.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. How about Sally Snow?”
I wrinkled my nose. “It doesn’t fit the image. All this leather and the crazy amount of eyeliner calls for a kick butt kind of name. How about Neon Daggerthrust?”
“Never in a million years. You could be Daffodil Meadow.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s even worse than Sally Snow.”
“I’m coming up with names that are the opposite of Indigo Ash.”
“We should stick to something that sounds the same but different.”
“If you make it too similar, people could see through the illusion.”
“How about Indy Archer?” I said. “That way, I won’t ignore someone when they call my name and I’m not in character. Sometimes, I was called Indy when I was a kid.”
“You don’t think that’s too similar?”
I shook my head. “I doubt people will put two and two together.”
“It could work. But keep out of the way of Storm, Odessa, and your familiars. They might recognize the name Indy and start poking around and asking you awkward questions.”
“I have to at least check in on them. They could be making progress with Luna’s disappearance and have useful information I’ve missed.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If I tell you no, you’ll only do it, anyway.”
I grinned at him. “You know me so well.”
“If you keep tabs on them, do it from a distance. No making contact. And I’ll be sure to check in on them, too, to get any updates.”
I chuckled. “They’ll love that.”
“They won’t have a choice but to accept it. I can claim I’m making inquiries to discover your whereabouts. Now, strut over to the table and take a seat. The pancakes should be ready.”
I tossed my head back and deliberately stomped to the table.
I didn’t like to admit this, but it was weirdly nice to be in Olympus’ company. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked him, which was as scary as a haunted house on the stroke of midnight on the winter solstice.
I had to get a grip on this liking Olympus business. I wasn’t in Witch Haven to find a guy who would sweep me off my feet, I was here to right wrongs, help lost loved ones, and restore order to my home and family name.
I settled in my seat as Olympus tossed pancakes and placed them on pre-warmed plates.
I may not be looking for love, but I was still a hot-blooded single woman, and Olympus was a decent looking guy. If I did nothing else, I could enjoy the view of a guy making me pancakes for breakfast.
He walked over with a stack of pancakes for us both. He placed them down, then grabbed the coffeepot and some maple syrup, before settling in his own seat.
“I had no idea you were so domesticated,” I said.
“You get used to doing things like this when you live on your own,” he said.
“I was more of an order in kind of girl when I lived alone.”
“You never found a decent, non-magical user to spend your time with?” He drizzled maple syrup all over his pancakes.
“I wasn’t interested in finding anyone to flip my pancakes. I just wanted to keep my head down and watch the time pass by. If I hadn’t come back here...” My words trailed off. I’d been in such a dark place, so full of self-regret and loathing that I’d lost sight of everything I’d had in my life.
Olympus reached over and touched the back of my hand. “I get it. We’ve had different experiences, but I do understand your loss. You were close to Magda, and when everything went wrong, it must have been a terrible wrench to lose her. And to have dark magic infect you and not understand what was going on must have been confusing.”
I nodded, almost too caught up in my own head to notice he was still holding my hand, but not quite. It felt good. It had been a long time since a guy had held my hand. I could get used to it.
“I guess we have that in common,” I said.
“Maybe we have more things in common than you realize.” He grinned, withdrew his hand, and attacked his pancakes.
“Olympus, I want to thank you.”
“For the pancakes? No worries.”
“No, not for these, although I expect they’ll taste great.” I set down my knife and fork. “You’re risking everything by d
oing this. If the Magic Council find out you’re helping a witch on their most wanted list, you’ll be history. Everything you’ve worked so hard for will be taken away from you.”
He lifted one shoulder. “It’s taken me a while to figure this out, but my career isn’t my life.”
“It sort of is, though,” I said. “When we met, I could see how driven you were. You only cared about catching me and sending me back to jail. Nothing else mattered.”
“That was my only focus. But that was before I got to know you. You’re different to how I expected. And everything I thought I knew about Witch Haven is different, too.”
“I won’t let you down. You’ve got a lot riding on this, just like me. And we will find out what happened to Bloom.”
Olympus went to reach for my hand again, when a loud knock on the office door made him jerk back.
“You need to hide,” he said. “We haven’t figured out your full back story, and I don’t want anyone to find us before we’re ready to release you on the world.”
I grabbed my pancakes and coffee and raced into the back room.
Olympus nodded at me, then headed to the door and opened it.
I peered through the crack in the door and stifled a groan. It was Ursa.
“Good morning, Ursa.” Olympus’ tone highlighted how displeased he was to see her.
“I’ve had another sleepless night,” Ursa said.
“Did you have a hot date?”
“Hot... how dare you!”
I pressed my mug against my mouth to stop from laughing. Who knew Olympus had a sense of humor?
“My apologies. Have your gnomes been misbehaving again?” he asked.
Ursa cupped her hands under her bosom. “No, it’s not the gnomes, they’ve been less troublesome. They seem preoccupied by something. And they keep laughing for no reason. Something’s going on with them.”
I grinned as I ate a pancake. They should be laughing. I’d snuck out last night and delivered them their first batch of honey mead. No doubt, most of them were nursing sore heads after a raucous night of celebrating with such a potent alcoholic drink. I’d gotten tipsy on just the fumes.
“So what’s the problem? I’m assuming you’re here because you’re unhappy about something,” Olympus said.
“Too right, I’m unhappy. The hex hasn’t gone away.”
I wrinkled my brow. Those hexed dolls were still playing up? I figured Storm had smashed most of the troublemakers to pieces. Whatever hex was in Ursa’s house was more potent than I’d realized.
“I’m not sure how I can help. The assistance the Magic Council has already provided hasn’t worked,” Olympus said. “Perhaps you should hire a private contractor.”
“It only failed because you used a corrupt witch to deal with my issues,” Ursa said. “Indigo was useless. And I’m so glad to hear she’s gone. I’ve been speaking to some of the other residents, and it sounds like they ran her out of the village after scaring her with that witch pyre. It’s an excellent outcome. We don’t need bad sorts like that ruining things.”
“You agree with burning witches?” Olympus almost growled out the words. “Don’t you know that’s illegal?”
“Oh! Well, of course I do. And they’d have never gone through with it. But it made Indigo see she’s not welcome here.” Ursa’s cheeks flushed.
They had meant to burn me. My feet had been toasty warm as the flames licked toward me. I’d be nothing but a charred witch if I hadn’t escaped with the others.
“If Indigo caused the problems in the village, why is your house still hexed?” Olympus said.
Ursa pressed her lips together. “It must be the dark residual energy she left behind. After all, she slept in my home. I’ve arranged to have it cleansed. In the meantime, I insist you make my hex a priority to investigate. I need my rest.”
“I’ll put it on my list, but there are more pressing matters in the village I need to deal with.”
“That’s not acceptable. I demand you make me a priority, or I’ll lodge a complaint with my uncle. I’ll tell him how unhelpful you’ve been. Aren’t the elections coming up soon? You don’t want to lose your position.”
I finished my pancakes, licked my fingers clean, and did a final check of my new appearance in the mirror. Yep, I still looked like a scary-eyed ghost hunter in a too tight leather outfit. I may as well try out my new disguise.
I stepped into the office and strode over. Maybe I strutted a little for Olympus’ benefit. “Hi, there. I hear you have a problem with a hex.”
Ursa blinked at me several times. “And who are you?”
I stuck out my hand. “I’m Indy Archer. The Magic Council’s new ghost hunter.”
She reached over and gave my hand a limp shake. “This is the first I’ve heard about your employment.”
“I literally arrived five minutes ago. Olympus wants to make sure you receive the best experience from the Magic Council, so he only employs the most qualified magic users. How may I help you?”
I didn’t miss the way Olympus glared at me, but I was done hiding. I had my disguise in place and I had to get to work.
“I hope you’re suitably experienced,” Ursa said. “I’ve had enough broken promises from the Magic Council.”
“I’ve had more experience with hexes, spooks, and hauntings than you’ve had hot dinners,” I said. “I’m sure I can deal with your problem. Did you mention a hexed house?”
Ursa gave a nod, before launching into a long-winded explanation of her hex and how badly her nerves were affected.
I nodded along with her, making noises in the right places. There were so many problems in Witch Haven, so I may as well start with this one.
I’d miss having Storm and Odessa around to help, and hated that I couldn’t see my familiars, but once I solved the mystery of what was troubling Witch Haven, I’d get them back, and that included Luna.
And while I was tackling those issues, I’d also work on restoring my reputation and making sure Magda’s name was cleared.
This mission wouldn’t be easy, but I was determined to make things right.
Ursa drew in a breath.
I grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the office. “This sounds like a delicate matter. Let’s go see about your hexing problem, shall we?” I winked at Olympus, before leading Ursa away.
He opened his mouth as if he was about to protest, then sighed and nodded.
I turned as I reached the end of the street. He was still watching me. I raised a hand to him.
What we were attempting was a crazy long shot, like trying to perform a transformation spell when you only had half the ingredients and were missing your spell book. There was a high chance we’d lose it all. But I was willing to give this everything I had to make sure Witch Haven remained safe, and my friends were back by my side, where they needed to be, and where I needed them.
I wasn’t giving up on my home, no matter the sacrifice I needed to make.
THE END
Are you ready for book three in the series? Will Indigo survive her final adventure? Will those tight leather pants get her in trouble? And what will be revealed when the true dark nature of Witch Haven is unveiled?
Preorder Curses and Corpses today (releases December 17).
