Double Magick in the Falls

by April Hollingworth

  “We need to talk you and I.” Then looking toward Jasmine he adds, “And you as well, shifter. Now may I sit?”

  Scooting over, I glance at Jasmine, who stops eating long enough to give the man a look of puzzlement, her head tilted sideways as steak juice dribbles from her muzzle. With a quick lick of her chops, she carries on eating, though she continues to watch with interest.

  For six months, no one had realized she is a shifter. Now twice in one day it has been noticed in a very matter-of-fact way. So why hasn’t anyone else noticed?

  “Who are you?” I demand as Mr. Rich Velvet Voice sits down so close to me I move over again just to have some personal space between us.

  “I am the one who caught you two spying on a very private conversation last night. Why would you spy on me?” he inquires, lowering his voice.

  With a start, I realize as he’s talking I’ve been leaning into him, and am now leaning so close to him I could kiss his jaw line, if I just stretch a little bit. I feel my body stir to life at his close proximity.

  My breasts feel heavy and my nipples tighten in anticipation, but it’s the desire shooting to the core of my femininity and pooling in liquid heat that makes me twitch in shock. I’ve never had such an instant reaction to a man before, even if he is gorgeous with a voice like rich dark chocolate.

  With this realization I bolt away from him and in the process smack my head against the window Concentrate, I mentally chastise myself. God, could you imagine having phone sex with him? Giving another involuntary moan at my last thought, I catch him giving me a knowing look, and I pull myself together. Taking a quick gulp of my soda just to give myself a second more, I turn back to him.

  “Who are you?” I ask this time. No point in demanding, as it obviously doesn’t get me anywhere.

  “I am Victor Harlow and owner of Vlad’s Bar. Why were you spying on me and for whom?” He demands while tracing a gentle circle on the velvet skin of my wrist.

  Pulling my wrist out of his grasp, as his fingers are doing funny things to my stomach, I turn to look him full in the face. My God, he is gorgeous.

  Short, jet black thick hair, I want to run my fingers through. Ebony black eyebrows arched over silvery green eyes, which are unfairly surrounded by long thick black eyelashes. Seriously, if a girl had those she would never need to buy mascara!

  A long straight nose and full sensuous lips, which look so…so kissable, high cheekbones and a strong square jaw. He has a beautiful neck and an image of fangs sinking into it flashes before my eyes making me gulp, I drag my eyes lower to his broad shoulders and a large ever so muscled body in a lean tall package. Wow, he is scrumptious.

  Biting my lip, I suppress a moan at the thought of exploring every inch of his delectable body and kissing his sensual mouth. I suddenly realize he’d been saying something, but I have no idea what.

  “Sorry, what did you ask?” Fuck, I’m drooling over a vampire, I realize as I wipe the saliva from my mouth with my napkin.

  “Why, were you spying on me, and for whom do you work?” Victor patiently repeats his question.

  I notice he looks intrigued, as if he’s tempted by my obvious attraction to him, though I am trying, granted unsuccessfully, to hide it. I have the distinct feeling he doesn’t normally have patience for other supernaturals. The thought gives me a slightly warm fuzzy feeling, which I try to crush.

  “We weren’t spying on you. I was going for a run with her,” I explain, indicating Jasmine, who rolls her eyes at me. “I was planning to take photos which I didn’t,” I hastily add. “I’m a photographer and…look I didn’t even know vampires existed, so when I saw you snarling, I got the hell out of there. We weren’t spying, we were only trying to go for a run, and do some work!” I feel rather like a naughty schoolgirl caught doing something wrong.

  “Look, what is going on out there?” I suddenly ask Victor.

  “I don’t know. I thought it had something to do with you two,” admits Victor grudgingly.

  “Why did you think it has something to do with us?” A frown furrows my forehead, and I can feel my nose scrunching up, probably giving me the look of a confused rabbit, as I try to figure out why he would think we were involved.

  “I thought it had something to do with the pair of you because all this started happening when you two turned up.”

  “Oh, umm, well, huh, I don’t know what to say,” I finally get out feeling very perplexed.

  With a sad whine, Jasmine rests her head on the table beside her plate. With a quick look at her plate, her tongue swipes clean any remaining meat juices. With a glance at Victor, she gives a contented sigh.

  Giving her an exasperated look, I turn back to Victor and feel like sighing myself. Man, he is gorgeous. What was I going to say again?

  “You didn’t seem to be very affected when you came in. How come?” I ask remembering Victor had only grimaced slightly, toward the man in the booth, who had passed out on the floor.

  “I’m a vampire. I’m stronger than most,” Victor replies as if it’s obvious. “How about you two?”

  “We were, well…we were better than the man who came in before you obviously and some others as well.” Listening to the curiosity in his voice, I gather he’s remembering we were eating when he entered.

  I look at the other customers and take in their confusion, and wonder what caused it, and why it affected everyone differently?

  “Mind you, going by what Savannah was saying, it’s affecting the weaker supernaturals the most,” I helpfully add.

  “Look we have to go.” I quickly scribble down my phone number and give it to Victor. “Call me if you find out what’s going on.” I get up to leave.

  Feeling a tingle in my fingers from where they brushed Victor’s, I think nothing of it. Going by his reaction, you would think I had slapped him.

  “Sorry, I generate a lot of static,” I explain as he quickly gets up to let me pass.

  “I’ll call you if I hear anything, or if things get worse,” Victor says as he carefully folds the napkin and places it in his pocket.

  “One more thing.” Victor stops me from going any farther, by the simple act of placing a cool hand on my arm. “What is your name?”

  “Candi, I’m Candi Reynolds,” I reply extracting my arm and putting the money for our food on the table. I leave with Jasmine at my heels. The sound is slowly coming back outside which to be honest is a relief. Quickly I hurry back to my grandma’s. I can’t wait to go to sleep, as I’m exhausted.

  It has been a long day with viewing the Old Winters’ House, working at the shop, finding a dead body, the weird soundproof streets, and finally the vampire, who turns me into a puddle of lust just at the thought of him!

  Chapter 5

  Upon waking up, I’m surprised to find myself still in yesterday’s clothes. I must have fallen asleep in the process of taking off my shoes. Looking down, I change it to shoe, as I still have one on, though at least my laces are undone.

  Dragging myself up from my bed, I half land on the floor. Since I’m down there, I decide to remove my other shoe. Clambering to my feet, I scramble into the bathroom for my morning routine. Once washed and dressed, I collect my keys and shoes, and head downstairs. Coming to an abrupt halt, I stare in awe.

  Jasmine is halfway between human and animal form. Letting out an involuntary gasp, I startle her and disrupt the transformation. Giving an exhausted whine, she returns to her dog shape. Bending down to scratch her behind her ears, I give her a quick hug.

  “You almost changed back. I’m so sorry…I was shocked and disturbed by your change…I’m so sorry,” I stammer, my words running into one another.

  With a huff and a gentle nudge, she heads toward her empty bowl and gives me another look as if to say, “Where’s my food?”

  Quickly removing yesterday’s bowls, I fill two clean ones with fresh water and food. Leaving her to eat, I enter the kitchen to make my breakfast. Selecting a bowl, I add cereal and milk, make coffee, and sit
down to enjoy. After finishing, I grab a banana and munch while finishing my drink.

  I phone the surveyor to find out when he’s coming, but I’m left frustrated, as I can’t get hold of him. All I want is to buy the house and move into it. I decide to get my run in, as I need it badly.

  Decision made, I return upstairs to change and collect my camera. Slipping the camera into my left pocket, I call Jasmine, lock the front door, and put my keys in my right pocket. Slowly we start jogging toward the woods behind the house. Once in the woods we start to run.

  I love running, the feel of the wind in my face, dodging low-hanging branches, the snap of twigs and the pounding of my feet, my heart rate increasing and all worries slipping away, as if cobwebs swept aside by a gentle hand.

  Liberating, calming, and peaceful. I carry on running, until I finally arrive on the other side of the woods. The view from the top of the cliffs is magnificent. The sea like a heartbeat I can visibly see, pulsing against the bottom of the cliffs before retreating.

  Carefully descending to a ledge about halfway down the cliff, we sit just relaxing, as our breathing becomes even. Taking my camera, I snap a couple of photos of the general view and some more of the waves crashing against the jagged rocks below. Spotting a gray heron flying overhead, I capture some photos of him.

  For such a lanky bird, they are extremely elegant.

  With a contented smile, I head back up to the edge of the trees. Putting my camera away, I take a final look at the glorious scenery, before retreating back into the woods, this time slower, taking photos of the surrounding greenery, of squirrels running up the trees and eating nuts, and birds washing themselves in a puddle left over from the rain. The sunlight changing direction in the trees makes me realize how long we’ve been out. I suddenly notice I’m hungry, so we head back to the house.

  ****

  On arriving back, I knock my trainers against the side of the wall to rid them of clinging mud. Unlocking the door, I remove them, before climbing upstairs to put them away. Taking my camera from my jacket, I place it carefully on my desk, and then I put away my jacket.

  Selecting fresh clothes, I enter the bathroom for a quick shower to freshen up. Dumping my dirty clothes into the laundry basket, I switch on the shower and climb in. With a happy groan, I let the hot spray beat down on me, my muscles relaxing under the steady pressure washing off the sweat from my run. Finally, I dry myself before cleaning the shower and adding my towel to the laundry.

  Crossing to my dressing table, I apply moisturizer and brush my hair, then picking up my mobile, I shove it into my jeans pocket, collect my laundry basket, and head downstairs to put in a load of washing. I feed Jasmine, who’s gently snoring, and make a quick sandwich and a glass of water for myself. Entering the sitting room, I eat in front of the TV while channel flicking.

  Finding a murder mystery, I devour my ham salad sandwich. It’s only after cleaning my dishes I think to check my phone for any news from the surveyor. To my surprise, I have four missed calls from Detective Kheda McKnight, one from the surveyor, and one from an unknown number.

  I listen first to the surveyor’s message and am delighted. It’s good news. Everything’s fine, thankfully the only work needed is what I’d noticed myself. I ring my solicitor to arrange for signing the property deeds on Friday at two p.m. and the closing the following week.

  Feeling frustrated as Friday is three days away, and I’m expected to wait another week! I demand to know why we can’t do the closing and signing on Friday. Hello, cash buyer, why the delay? He informs me he’ll contact the seller’s solicitors and get back to me. Apparently they hadn’t realized I was paying in cash.

  Next, I listen to Detective Kheda’s messages. With each message, he’s obviously getting more and more pissed off at not being able to contact me. Quickly, I phone him back.

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all morning. Where have you been?” Kheda testily demands.

  “Hello to you too, Detective. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I’ve only just checked my messages. Now how can I help you?” I politely ask.

  “I need your help; I need to go back to the murder scene and…”

  “Don’t tell me, you a werewolf, can’t find the crime scene?” I jokingly interrupt him.

  “With the crime scene on witches’ land, I can’t enter unless escorted by a witch, which as I explained to you yesterday, is why normally a witch detective would be solving the murder, and why it took me so long to get there. I had to be sure that I was the only detective available and that a witch was staying to meet me,” Kheda replies with obvious frustration.

  “What? That’s ridiculous, you’re trying to solve a murder, not hunt witches for dinner! Look, meet me at the edge of the woods where we met yesterday.” How stupid! Now I understand why it had taken so long for him to arrive yesterday. I feel a little guilty for being so snarky. Not much, but a little.

  “How soon can you be there?” Kheda asks with relief in his voice.

  “Two minutes.”

  “Make it ten, and thank you.”

  “No problem, Detective, see you then.

  My final message turns out to be from Victor Harlow, vampire most scrumptious. Hearing his rich as velvet voice vibrating down the phone line, I feel my stomach muscles tighten and my toes curl.

  “Hello, Candi, this is Victor Harlow. I need you to meet me today at one p.m. on the East Bridge please. Until then, have a nice afternoon.”

  A shiver of desire ripples through my body as his voice washes over me like a waterfall of decadence, just begging me to come out and play. Until then, I parrot. I haven’t even agreed to meet him. Well, at least he said please, I think as I save his number in my phone. I quickly switch off the TV and hurry upstairs to put back on my trainers and jacket and collect my camera and keys.

  ****

  Switching my SD card over, I secure my card in the secret drawer in my desk. Work photos are just too damned important to misplace. Running downstairs, I explain to Jasmine what’s going on as I lock up behind us. I drive the short distance as quickly as possible so I won’t keep Detective McKnight waiting.

  Two minutes later, we sit waiting for the detective to turn up. With her nose pressed up against the window, Jasmine leaves a wet smudge on the glass, as her breath fogs the windowpane.

  “You really like him, huh?” I ask.

  With a sigh, she turns around and looks at me, and for the first time in a long time, I see her human side just under her fur. Today’s the closest I’ve seen her return to her human form. I feel a jolt of excitement ripple through me, the thought of having my friend back completely making me happy.

  “I miss you,” I suddenly blurt out.

  Giving me a sad look, she puts her head on my shoulder and sneezes on me.

  “Ewww, that’s gross.” I laugh, thankful no snot landed on me. “Ah, this could be him.” I nod toward a car coming toward us. As he parks, we clamber out of the car and cross over to join him.

  “Thank you so much for coming, ladies,” Kheda says, gratitude lacing his voice.

  “No problem, Detective. Shall we head in?”

  Walking in, stillness descends upon us, and the scent of the woods becomes almost alive. The moss on the trees, mud, and disintegrating underbrush, rainwater dripping through leaves, and a brook babbling on its merry journey nearby, all seem to tell a story of life and death. The three of us carry on toward our destination, while something scuttles past nearby.

  The farther we head toward the crime scene, the closer we move toward each other. I’m plastered to Jasmine’s side, and she in turn is plastered to Detective Kheda’s, and none of us mind the contact.

  “So what are we doing here?” I whisper.

  “I need to see the area without the body and to see if I can trace where the killer came from and went. It’s routine follow-up,” Kheda whispers back.

  “Okay, but I gotta say this is seriously creepy.”

  “Wo
of,” Jasmine barks in agreement.

  ****

  Reaching the crime scene quiet surrounds us. As if every living thing is holding its breath, not even the birds ruffle their feathers. At first, it looks as if a tornado has descended upon the area. Boot prints and broken branches are scattered about the place. None of this destruction was present when I’d taken the photos and going by the gasp of anger from the detective it must have occurred after he had left as well.

  “Bloody hell, what the, ahhhh, I’m going to kill someone,” Kheda growls, grinding his teeth, in obvious frustration.

  “I might be able to try something. Take my camera and keep taking photos if anything happens,” I instruct him as I set my camera up for him to use before passing it to him. I kneel in the mud.

  “Try what? What are you doing? Look, Candi, get up, you’re messing up an already destroyed crime scene,” Kheda snarls in annoyance.

  “Step back, keep quiet, and do not under any circumstances touch me. Jasmine, please make sure he stays back.”

  Immediately she starts to round Detective Kheda back a safe distance, growling in warning when he tries to object. She’ll make sure I’m not disturbed while I’m practicing magick.

  ****

  Sitting cross-legged on the ground with my hands resting palms upward on my knees, I clear all thoughts from my head and take a deep breath. Feeling it expand my lungs, I let it out and take an even deeper breath, focusing on what has taken place here. Releasing the breath, I think of how I’d found the dead man. Dragging in another breath, I hold it and demand to see what happened.

  “Hecate, Goddess of darkness and the crossroads, please hear my cry. Help us see the past just gone. Crone, mother and child, I beseech you. Help us see so we may deliver justice to the wronged, so they may find peace in the afterlife,” I call, allowing my voice to fill with power.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Kheda mutters quietly, to which he gets a growl for his trouble.

  The wind picks up and starts swirling in front of me, as if a mini tornado has decided to pop in. I hear Kheda give a startled gasp and sense he’s just about to move forward as if to grab me out of harm’s way. Jasmine blocks his path again, this time baring her teeth at him in a very clear threat.