It was a dismissal, but Jeremy didn’t seem to take it harshly. He kissed Reggie and was on his way.
“You’re not going to stay here and try and solve this, are you?” Thorn asked.
“No. I’m going to call someone to come put in a new front door, and then I’ll go home,” I said.
“Good,” Thorn returned. “I’ll be home in time for dinner.”
“Oh, here, take these,” I said and handed Thorn the bag with the sandwiches in it. “Breakfast for the two of you.”
Once he was gone, I told Reggie to keep the store closed for the day. She could do the inventory if she wanted, but I had the strong feeling that the little spell bag I’d tucked into my purse was the reason for the break-in.
I called around and found a local handyman who could install a new door that afternoon, and once I had that lined up, I called the closest big box hardware store to see if they had a glass door in stock. They had what I needed, so I paid for it over the phone. One more call to the handyman to coordinate him picking up the door, since he had a truck, and the business of getting the door fixed was handled.
“Well, now I’m exhausted,” I said to Mom when I was off the phone. “That wiped me out.”
“What would make you feel better?” she said. Laney was asleep in her arms and didn’t stir at the sound of our voices.
“Coffee and one of Viv’s breakfast sandwiches,” I said with a sigh. “I’m hungry again and I gave away the sandwiches.”
“Well, let’s go over there,” Mom said. “Maybe Reggie would like to come too?”
“I will invite her,” I said and stood up.
Viv’s coffee shop and restaurant had survived the tornado unscathed. In fact, in the direct aftermath of the twister, she’d stepped up and provided the community with warmth and comfort.
You might have thought that the lack of tourism would have hurt her business, but the community had rallied around her. Even without tourists, the Brew Station was busy from the time it opened until it closed.
Reggie was more than eager to go grab a bite to eat. We left the car parked in front of the shop and walked across the square to get to Viv’s.
The ley line that run under the area pulsed as we walked across it, but it was nothing like it had been in the past. Back before magic had faded, you could concentrate on that ley line and draw a huge surge of power. Today it was nothing more than a tingle. You could have mistaken it for your foot falling asleep.
I looked up at the window where I used to see the terrifying apparition of a woman with black holes for her face and eyes. I hadn’t seen her since the tornado, and I didn’t see her now either. If my mother hadn’t witnessed her too, I would have sworn I imagined the whole thing.
Where had she gone? I couldn’t shake the memory of seeing her face up close and thinking that she looked like me. A harbinger of something that had never come to pass.
At least I hoped.
Chapter Three
After having second breakfast at the Brew Station, Mom and I went back home. She spent the day with me taking care of Laney so I could rest. Instead of resting, I did things around the house. Mom kept telling me to sit down, but there was a nervous energy buzzing through my veins. Vacuuming and dusting helped me release some of the tension even if Mom did keep giving me the side-eye.
A bad feeling had crept back into my gut. After a couple of days of respite, I was once again waiting for something awful to happen.
I’d told Mom my theories about the bag, but she’d told me to focus on Laney. “I’ll ask around,” Mom said. “You don’t worry about this.”
“But it was my shop, Mom,” I protested.
“Let your Coven handle this. It’s our job,” she said.
Since I didn’t have to worry about the black magic bag someone had broken into my store to leave me, I focused on food. It had been Thorn’s first day back at work, and I made him a feast.
Pasta was always a good choice, but I wanted to elevate it beyond cooked noodles drenched in sauce. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely doused ziti noodles, but I put them into a baking dish. I added double concentrated tomato paste to deepen the flavor, and three generous dollops of cream cheese. Next was demi-glace and some grated parmesan cheese. Before it went into the oven, I crumbled some mild Italian sausage on top.
Once the pasta was done baking, I pulled the dish out of the oven and stirred in more parmesan cheese and some garlic and herb grass-fed butter.
For more flavor, you could add crumbled herb cheese and red pepper flakes, but I did not put those on the entire dish. Instead, I’d let Thorn, and my mom if she stayed for dinner, choose their toppings.
While the pasta was baking, I’d sliced up a loaf of Italian bread and brushed each slice with melted butter. While the entrée cooled a bit on top of the stove, I sprinkled the bread with garlic and salt before popping it in the oven for a few minutes.
My timing was perfect because Thorn walked through the front door just as I was pulling the bread out. “Dinner’s ready,” I called out.
“Smells delicious, sweetie, but I need to go,” Mom called back.
“What? I made plenty,” I said as I put the baking pan on the top of the oven next to the pasta.
I hurried into the living room. Mom had handed Laney over to Thorn. She was slipping her shoes on and grabbing her purse as Thorn rocked the baby.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I just need to go check on Lilith,” she said.
“Lilith? What’s wrong with Auntie Lilith?” My pulse kicked up.
Was this the bad thing I’d been waiting for since the break-in at the shop? Mom saying she needed to check in on Lilith caught me off guard. In my entire life, Lilith had never needed anyone to check in on her.
I swallowed a lump in my throat at the realization that the anti-aging spells over us might really be wearing off. Lilith and the Aunties were all closer to a hundred than most of the general population ever saw.
“She’s just a little confused,” Mom said. “She’s tired, sweetie. And she thinks someone has been hanging around outside of her house. I’m just going to go check it out.”
“Thorn, should you go with her?” I asked. “If someone…”
Mom cut me off. “Thorn’s been over there, sweetie. There’s nothing for the police to do. I’m going to go sit with her for a while.”
“Still, you shouldn’t go alone,” I said. “Even if she is just imagining it. Is that what you’re saying? What if she’s not? What if something is watching her, but it’s not a person?”
“Your dad is meeting me there, sweetie. Please don’t worry,” Mom said. “We’re going to have dinner with her and make sure she’s fine.”
I let my mom leave after that. I didn’t want her to keep Dad and Lilith waiting, but I had so many questions. Aunt Lilith had visited me in the hospital and come to see me after. She’d seemed fine. It was hard to fathom her going through such a steep decline so fast.
But what Mom was talking about sounded like dementia. I shook my head because there was no way. There was no way Lilith had gone from being… Lilith… to a terrified and confused old woman in less than two weeks.
Something was wrong.
“Whatever that is, it smells incredible,” Thorn said. “I’m starving.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “I made us a special dinner. I think you’re going to like it. Let me take Laney, and you go get changed.”
“Thank you,” Thorn said. “I’ll be right back.”
He handed Laney over to me and ran up the stairs. I hadn’t packed him a lunch because he always got up before me, and I wondered if he’d eaten at all to day. If he and Jeremy were buried in a mountain of paperwork, he probably hadn’t taken the time.
Laney began to fuss a little, so I took her over to the changing station and got her settled into a fresh diaper and pajamas. Thorn came down the steps just as I was picking her up again.
“Does she need to eat?” he asked. “I ca
n feed her.”
“She’s already nodded off again,” I said. “Why don’t we eat, and I’m sure she’ll be ready for a bottle after dinner.”
He thought about it for a second. I knew Thorn was probably starving, but it hit me that he probably missed Laney. It was his first day back at work, and he hadn’t seen her all day.
“I was going to put her down in the bassinet while we ate, but I’ll put her in the bouncer on the table,” I said.
“That would be good,” Thorn agreed.
Once she was strapped in, I made Thorn sit down while I fixed him a plate. I got Meri some cooked bacon from the fridge and crumbled it up.
Everyone sat down to eat together. Well, except Laney. She was snoozing away in her bouncer while Thorn kept an eye on her. As soon as Meri was done eating, he hopped up onto the table and snuggled into her bouncer.
“You know, a lot of people don’t let their cat on the table,” Thorn said to Meri.
“How many of them have talking cats that can cast spells?” Meri snarked back.
“You have a point,” Thorn said.
“And as usual, you don’t,” Meri retorted.
Thorn just laughed at that and then turned his attention to me. “This is so delicious, sweetie,” he said. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
“It’s a fairly simple recipe,” I said. “Plus, my mom was here. Don’t be surprised if there are nights we eat frozen pizza or macaroni and cheese.”
“Good thing I love both of those,” Thorn said. “The house looks immaculate too. I thought when you left the shop, you were going to come home and rest.”
“That’s what my mom thought too,” I said. “But, I don’t know. I’ve got this nervous energy again. So I used it to get some things done. It was better than sitting around dwelling.”
“Dwelling on what?” Thorn asked. “Do you mean the break-in and the spell bag? Kinsley, you should let me investigate. File a report so I can do something official.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “Mom said she’d have the Coven look into it. I’m supposed to focus on being a mother and let the Coven focus on protecting me and Laney.”
“That sounds like an amazing idea,” Thorn said.
“But how are they going to do that if…” I trailed off.
“What?” Thorn asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you think it was strange that my mom had to run off and check on Lilith?” I asked.
If I would have blinked, I would have missed it. A look flashed across Thorn’s face for a microsecond. Some of the color drained from his cheeks too. Just a hint, and if you didn’t know him as well as I did, you’d have completely missed it.
He was hiding something about Lilith. Mom had said he’d already been over to her house to check things out, so Mom was in on it.
“You better tell me right now, Thorn Wilson,” I said.
“Kinsley,” he said and put his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture.
“Don’t you Kinsley me,” I said. “Spit it out or we’re going to have a problem.” The last part I’d whisper-growled because Laney stirred a little when I said the first.
“Lilith called 911 today,” Thorn said. “She was scared that someone was walking around her house looking in the windows.”
“Since when is Lilith scared of anything?” I said. “My mother didn’t say anything about this.”
“She was here with you and didn’t want to leave,” Thorn said.
“You talked to my mom? How did I not know any of this?” I asked.
“Well, she was probably dealing with it on the phone with me while you were cleaning. I swear I probably heard the vacuum in the background at least one time while we were talking,” Thorn said.
“And she didn’t go to see Lilith right then?” I was more questioning the universe than Thorn, but he answered.
“Your father met me over at Lilith’s house,” he said. “Your mom thought it was important that she stay with you. She didn’t want to alarm you, and she wanted to be here and help you all day.”
“So, you all orchestrated this entire thing to keep me from finding out? What is this, Thorn?” I had stood up from the table without realizing it.
“What it is… is your family looking out for you and Laney. What would you do?” he asked. “How could you have helped? And what would Lilith want? Would she want you coming over there and dealing with it while you’re supposed to be recovering?”’
“Dealing with it?” I said. “She’s my family.”
“And so is Laney,” Thorn said. “Laney is your priority.”
“Don’t tell me what my priorities are,” I said, but all the fight went out of me. He was right. He was right about all of it. Not only was there nothing I could do to help Lilith, but she wouldn’t want me fussing over her when I was supposed to be caring for my new baby.
“What is going on?” I asked as I sat back down. “What could be happening to Lilith?”
“I don’t know,” Thorn said. “I think it looks like dementia. It’s coming on so fast, but…”
“But if the spells that were keeping us all young are wearing off…”
“You need to keep your head in the game,” Thorn said. “Your mother and father are going to worry about Lilith for now.”
I didn’t want to accept that, but it was the right thing to do. My mother and father could do just as much for my Auntie as I could.
But for the first time, the powerlessness of the magic shift had begun to get to me. I felt like an idiot for ignoring it.
I didn’t want to be normal. Not if this was the cost.
Something had to be done.
Chapter Four
The next morning, I woke up before dawn. It was so early that you probably couldn’t even consider it to be morning yet.
Thorn hadn’t gotten up for his run yet, and Laney slept quietly in her cradle at the end of our bed.
Only Meri was awake, but he wasn’t on the windowsill or in the cradle with Laney. I looked out in the hallway, and he was poised with his haunches up and all of his hair standing on end. His tail looked like a bottle brush.
“Meri, what is it?” I whispered as I got out of bed.
The sheriff was asleep next to me, but I didn’t even think to wake him. Instead, I hurried out into the hall to join Meri. My instincts were to put myself between whatever had set him off and my daughter.
As soon as I was in the hall, Meri took off down the steps. “What is going on?” I asked as I rushed down the stairs behind him.
“Something’s out front,” he said and then hissed.
I could only explain my action as being under the haze of sleepiness added to a huge spike of adrenaline. Because once again, instead of getting Thorn, I threw the front door open and rushed outside.
At first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. The scene in front of me couldn’t possibly be real, and I convinced myself I was having a nightmare.
My thoughts felt like they were swimming through mud, and I just stood there stunned until Meri shouted my name. “Kinsley!”
And it all came into horrible focus.
There was a woman in a black dress lying face down on my front lawn underneath the old hanging tree. Another woman in a white nightgown paced up and down the street in front of the house with a large knife in her hand.
I ran down my steps and across the grass to get to the woman on the ground. My hope was that I could still save her.
But, she was long gone. As soon as it hit me that the woman had already passed, the danger I was in smacked me in the face.
I looked up at the woman walking towards me with a knife and let out a strangled cry as my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.
“Lilith!” Meri screamed as he ran past me.
Auntie Lilith looked at us as if she were seeing us for the first time and dropped the knife. It hit the street with a clatter.
“Kinsley,” Thorn called from behind me.
/> I turned to see him running out of the house in his pajamas with his gun trained on Lilith. “Don’t,” I screamed. “She’s confused.”
He lowered his weapon but put himself between me and my aunt. “I need to call this in,” he said but seemed reluctant to move.
“I’ll call 911,” I said.
“Make sure they send an ambulance too,” he commanded.
“The woman’s dead,” I said as I turned to go back into the house.
Haunted Hex (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 10) Page 3
