One Last Spell Vol 1 & 2 Paranormal Witch Cozy Mystery & Romance

by Snow, Raven

  "Zelda." Jessica reached out and grabbed my wrist. "You've got to.

  Considering who it is there's even more reason for you to help now."

  "There's even less reason now, Jessica. I don't think I should get involved." I pulled my arm away from Jessica and pushed my plate further away before I crossed my arms."Not when the victim was also a witch."

  Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Rumoured. Are you tel ing me you believe the rumours?"

  I looked away. "No. I don't know. All I know is that it’s all too much."

  Jessica reached her hand out for me again. "I missed you, Zelda.

  Please believe me when I say that I want you on the case not just because of the rumours about Helen, but because I want us to work together again. I want you back here in town." She threw her hands up and pointed around the diner. "I want us to hang out again and come here for pancakes and burnt coffee." She stared at me with her pale blue eyes. "I want my best friend back."

  I nodded. "Okay," I said quietly. "Let's find out who killed this witch, then."

  Chapter Three

  We walked the rest of the way towards the station. "You're cheerful all of a sudden," I said to Jessica, who was walking beside me with a spring in her step.

  "Just glad to have you back," she said. "We made good a good pair of detectives, remember?"

  "Sometimes we did." I didn't want to bring the mood down so I tempered my words with a smile. "And I'm sure we wil make a good pair on this case."

  Jessica grinned at me as we walked along the tree lined street that housed Castlerock Police Station. "You know, since you've been hiding away there's been some new...additions to the town."

  "What does that mean? We've got a new library? A new gym?"

  Jessica stopped and tilted her head to the side. "You know what it means, Zelda." She giggled. "There's this new guy, Josh. He just moved here from..."

  I groaned. "Jessica, I don't have time. It's already bad enough you're dragging me back to perform magic, but you want me to start dating as well?"

  "I just thought I'd mention it." She put her hands up. "I won't talk about him again."

  "Thank you."

  "I'll just wait till you see him. Then you can make up your own mind."

  With that she hurried off before I could say anything or mount a protest.

  ***

  I gulped when I saw Castlerock Police Station looming in front of me with its red brick facade and heavy glass doors. There were uniformed cops milling around the front, and Jessica grabbed my arm, telling me we could head in through the back entrance.

  "Harry won't be here, right?" I whispered to her.

  Jessica shook her head. "He should be long gone by now. Come on."

  There was little time to mentally prepare myself as Jessica pulled me into the station and led me to an evidence room out the back. I kept my head down as we walked, hoping that no one was noticing me, praying that no one recognized me.

  Jessica flicked the lights on and the silver room lit up. She walked over to a locker and pulled out a bag, throwing it on the table.

  I looked over my shoulder at the door. "Aren't people going to ask what I'm doing in here?"

  "I told you," Jessica explained, taking her jacket off. "We'll tell them you're a psychic, consulting on the case."

  "I hate it when you tell people that."

  She leaned over, both palms pressed against the cool silver table.

  "Better than telling them the alternative, isn't it? That we've got a witch working the case." She reached over and opened the plastic bag, producing a large, oval-shaped gray rock. "A witch that can touch an object and sense every other hand that has ever touched it."

  I gave her a slow look. "Come on, then; let me see this thing."

  She pushed it over towards me. "This is the weapon used to kill Helen Blackmore."

  I stared down at it for a long while. More than six months had passed since the last time—over six months since I'd cast a spel , or used my powers in any way. I wondered how easy it would be. Would it be just like turning on a tap? I reached my hand out towards the rock and froze.

  "Zelda, what's wrong?"

  I pulled my hand back slightly. "Promise me that if I do this, you'l never ask me to do it again, okay?"

  She nodded.

  "And after what happened last time, this is going to stay out of the press, right? I don't want anyone from the papers to know I was here."

  Jessica nodded. "Scout's honor."

  I sighed and picked the stone up, turning it over in my hands. "I can't feel anything," I murmured, turning it over, feeling the cool, smooth rock underneath.

  Jessica frowned. "You're not even concentrating, Zelda. Come on, first spell back. You've got to try a little harder than that."

  I sighed and ran my fingers over the stone again. "I'm not just being stubborn, you know, or refusing to cooperate. I really can't feel anything." I put the stone back down on the bench. "Are you sure that's the murder weapon?"

  Jessica leaned back a little and crossed her arms. "Wel , it had the victim's blood on it and it was found next to her body. Forensics matched it as the object that killed her. So yeah, I'd say I'm sure of it."

  I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not getting anything."

  "Maybe you're out of practise."

  That was true enough. I wondered if maybe there was something wrong with my technique. Maybe I'd totally lost it. A sudden shudder of panic went up my spine -- what if the elders had been right? What if my powers had disappeared due to disuse?

  I gulped and picked up the rock again. Stil cold. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, tried to feel something from the rock. But there was nothing.

  "Zelda?" Jessica asked. "What's the matter?"

  "I'm not sure." I placed the rock back down and took a step back.

  Jessica dropped her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you do this. After all that hassle your powers aren't even working."

  I felt defensive. I crossed my arms and pouted. "My powers are working just fine. There's something wrong with the rock."

  Jessica looked up at me with a pitying look on her face. "Zelda there's nothing wrong with the rock. That's the murder weapon. If you're not getting anything from it, then maybe the elders are right— you've run out of magic."

  I hung my head. "Sorry, Jessie. I guess I'm not going to be of much use to you after all." I zipped my jacket up and headed for the door. "I never should have come here."

  I pushed open the door of the evidence room and stomped out of it. I just wanted to get out of there. Run away. Hide. I was walking so quickly to the exit that I banged into a young guy in a blue uniform, almost sending him flying.

  "Sorry," I muttered as he stumbled, trying to keep a grip on the pile of papers he had in his arms, trying to keep them from slipping out onto the floor. He lost the battle and they slid out of his arms, scattering around the room.

  "Great," he groaned. "Not again."

  "It's my fault," I said quickly, hurrying to bend over to help him pick them up. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, and I cursed the inconvenience. "I'm not having the best day either," I muttered.

  "Oh?" He stopped picking up his paper and looked up at me. I noticed he had honey brown eyes, almost yellow, like a cat. They were wide and framed by thick eyelashes. And they belonged to a very cute face. "What's gone wrong with your day?" He stopped and shut his eyes for a second.

  "Right. You're in a police station. No good days ever start with a trip to a police station." He gave me an apologetic look.

  We both stood up. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm not a criminal. I haven't been accused of anything."

  He laughed. "You kind of look like you could be."

  I tilted my face to the side. "Excuse me?"

  "Sorry," he said quickly, looking embarrassed. He shut his eyes again, the same way he had before. "Keep putting my foot in it. Another bad habit of mine. Along with dropping papers constantly." He opened his e
yes. "I don't know what I meant by that. I just meant, you look kind of...bad ass, I guess."

  I stopped and stared at him, a little smile creeping onto my lips. "I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose." I reached my hand out and he took it, still trying to juggle his papers in the other arm. "I'm Zelda."

  "Hi, Zelda, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "I'm Josh."

  "Josh?" I repeated. "You're Josh?"

  He nodded. "Why? Have you heard something about me?"

  Over his shoulder I could see Jessica peeking her head out of the evidence room, staring at the two of us with a sly grin on her face.

  I shook my head. "No, nothing at all."

  Chapter Four

  "You didn't tel me he was a cop." I pulled my scarf off and curled up on Jessica's couch while she stood five feet away in her kitchenette, making us each a cup of hot cocoa.

  "Well, I knew how you'd react."

  I stared at her in mock open-mouthed shock. "Of course you knew how I would react." I shook my head. "I can't believe you think that we would be a good match."

  Jessica stopped stirring the cocoa. "Oh come on now. I saw the two of you together. Come on Zelda, he's cute. And he's new in town, so he knows nothing about you."

  "That's plus, I suppose."

  "And anyway, he's not a detective. He's just a cop. Fresh from the academy." She put the spoon in the sink. "Zelda, he's not Harry."

  I turned my face away from her.

  Jessica walked over and sat the two cups of cocoa down in front of us on her white coffee table. I reached down for mine and cradled the mug in-between both my palms, letting it warm me. "Anyway, let's not talk about men. Let's change the subject."

  "What do you want to talk about, then?" Jessica asked. "The case?"

  I stared down into my cocoa. "I wasn't sure you'd want to talk about it, to be honest."

  "Zelda, what happened down at the station today? I'm worried about you."

  I looked up, eyeing her skeptically. "You sure you're not just worried about the case?"

  She sat her cocoa down. "I'm worried about that as well. Without your help, I'm out of ideas again. Three days time, and I'm going to have to tell the commissioner that I've got no leads. Not one. Not a single suspect. After that?” Jessica shrugged. “I'm not sure what is going to happen."

  My own worry about my disappearing powers was now mixed with feelings of guilt. I didn't want to let Jessica down. Despite everything that had happened, she was stil the only person I could trust. The only person in Castlerock that I'd ever told about my powers. She'd never judged me, or treated me differently -- she'd never been scared of me, or pushed me away. She'd always been there. Supportive, even when the issues I faced were totally foreign to her.

  Just like now. "You know what, Jessie, I have to admit...I'm worried.

  What happened today down at the station, it's never happened before."

  "Oh Zelda," she said, full of sympathy. "I'm sure it's nothing. It was your first time trying to use your powers in months. Of course they weren't going to come back right away. Maybe it's just going to take a little bit of time"

  "It's nothing," I said, shaking my head. "It's something, all right. I think I'm losing my powers. If I haven't already lost them." I sat back and threw my head against the cushion. "As wel as my senses."

  Jessica took a sip of her cocoa. "This isn't about Josh, now, is it?"

  I took the cushion from behind my head and hit her with it. "Of course it's not about Josh!"

  "Oww," she cried, laughing, as she placed the mug out of harm's way.

  "I'm just asking. Looked like you and he were getting pretty cozy back there."

  I shook my head. "Your eyes were deceiving you, then. I told you. I don't do romance anymore."

  We were both quiet for a moment, and I could tell Jessica wanted to ask me something. Wanted to pry.

  "Zelda..." she started.

  "Don't ask me about Harry. That subject is off limits." I shot her a hard look.

  "Okay, okay," she said, lifting her hands up. "I wasn't going to."

  I sat back on the couch. "Three days, huh?"

  Jessica nodded and put her head back as wel . "Three days."

  I turned my face towards her. "I'm not sure that's enough time to get my powers back. But..."

  "Yeah? But what?" she asked.

  I turned my head away slowly and thought out loud. "I might not have my supernatural powers up and running, but I do know about the supernatural. And if Helen really was what they said she was, I might be able to help, anyway. This is actually kinda my area of expertise."

  Jessica took a sharp breath. "You stil want to help?"

  I turned my face back to her. "You stil want me to help?"

  She nodded. "Definitely. Zelda, I was hoping you'd feel this way."

  I sat up straight and reached for my cocoa again, shaking my head.

  "Looks like we're gonna have to solve this mystery the old fashioned way."

  ***

  The next day, I awoke on Jessica's sofa, momentarily disoriented about where I was.

  "Rise and shine," Jessica said, coming into the room and opening up al the curtains.

  I groaned. "Jessica, it's not even light outside yet."

  She put one hand on her hip. "Wel , there's no time to sleep in when we've got a witch killer on the loose and a three-day deadline to find out who it is."

  I pushed the blanket off me and threw my feet over the edge. I looked up at her. "Diner?" I suggested.

  She grinned at me. "The diner, it is."

  ***

  We were the first customers of the morning. The sign hadn't even been switched to “open” by the time we arrived there, shivering on the doorstep before the owner, Hal, unlocked the door and ushered us in. We gave our usual order of coffee and pancakes and sat down at our usual booth, as Jessica reached into her knapsack and pulled out a pile of files and documents. She spread them on the table and sighed.

  "This is all I've got on the case," she said. "Take a look at it. See if anything sticks out to you."

  I pulled the papers towards me and read them with a furrowed brow.

  "See, told you," Jessica said. "Not much to go on."

  "No witnesses, no prints on the weapon..." I murmured. "Geez, I can see why you came to visit me yesterday. You real y were desperate."

  She nodded. Hal delivered our coffees and I took a grateful sip. I returned my focus to Jessica. "How about motive? Was there anyone who wanted Helen dead?"

  She shrugged and sat back in the bench. "You tel me. I was hoping you might have some idea. Who wants to kill a witch?"

  I frowned. "A lot of people probably. Look at our history. People have always wanted to kill witches." It was one of the reasons I kept my own identity such a tight secret. And if Helen had been a witch as well, it was probably the reason she'd kept it hidden.

  "But no one knew about Helen," Jessica pointed out.

  "Everyone knew the rumours," I said. "That might be reason enough for someone to want to kil her." A shudder went down my spine when I thought about my own cover. Down at the station, we'd always told everyone that I was a “psychic,” and, at worst, people thought I was a sham, a joke. A crook even. Jessica had been right -- it was better for people to think I was a joke than to let them know the truth.

  I looked down at the photo of Helen Blackmore. The truth could end up getting me killed.

  "So," Jessica said, bringing me back to reality. "Anyone could have done it. Is that what you're saying?"

  I nodded, unsure. "Wel , there are some people, some groups, who you'd have to suspect more than others. Religious groups, I suppose.

  Anyone particularly superstitious..." I trailed off as a thought came to me.

  Jessica sat back in her seat. "So where should we start, then?"

  I looked at her. "I think I know exactly where we should start."

  ***

  I nodded up at the building in front of us. "Here. This is where they
al gather. Jim Beasley should be right inside those doors."

  Jessica craned her neck to look at the tall, white, plain building. "Looks innocuous enough to me."

  "That's what they want you to think," I said, heading towards the door. "That they are just a group of concerned, thoughtful citizens. Well, they didn't treat me with a lot of thought or concern after what happened to me..."

  Jessica hurried after me. "Do you really think they could be responsible?"

  "I don't know. But I know they're capable of making threats. And if they got that mad about a pretend psychic, imagine how mad they'd get if they found out there was a real witch living in Castlerock."

  Jessica and I headed in through the doors, not bothering to knock. The inside of the building was just as cold and clinical as the outside had been. It was filled with rows of white benches, which al faced towards a stage. The windows were small, but set against the ceiling. There was a stuffy, claustrophobic atmosphere.

  "Hello. Can I help you?" A cool, sterile voice called out. Jessica and I both turned around to see a middle-aged man standing there with his hands folded. Jim Beasley.

  Jessica produced her badge. "I'm here to ask you a few questions about a woman named Helen Blackmore. I'm conducting an investigation into her death."

  I watched the man's face for any flicker of recognition. He shook his head. "I don't know the name too wel , I'm afraid. She wasn't a member of our organization here."

  Jessica looked around the building. "I'm sure she wasn't. People like here aren't welcome here, are they?"

  "We welcome everyone."

  I scoffed. "Yeah, you're real welcoming and accepting, aren't you?"

  "Zelda..." Jessica said, trying to get me to be quiet, but I ignored her.

  "You weren't very welcoming and accepting of me."

  The man lowered his eyelids. "Who are you?" he asked.

  "You know who I am. Zelda Montana."

  I saw his jaw clench. "Oh, yes. The heathen who brought this town into disrepute. Haven't seen you around town in a long time. We thought we'd gotten rid of you."