Reaching upward, I grabbed the island’s counter and pulled myself up with a nod. “Yes. At least I think so. Do you remember when he said I should always wear it so he’d always be with me? Back when we had the housewarming?”
“I remember it well, Dove. It was a lovely moment for the both of you.”
Rubbing my throat, I smiled. My dad was awesome, and I planned to tell him just that tomorrow. “He must’ve filled it with some kind of protection spell or something, because do you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
I wrinkled my nose, the musky scent of life and death still swirling in my nostrils. “A spirit. That smell is Adam’s spirit leaving Edmund’s body.”
“I hesitate to ask, but does this mean he’s gone for good, Dove?”
I heard the fear in Win’s voice, the anger, but he wasn’t going to like my answer. Inhaling, I shook my head. “I don’t think so. But let’s just be thankful for small favors at this point. Whatever my father put in that amulet will keep him at bay—for a while, anyway. To have pulled off that stunt had to have sapped his power. It’ll be a while before we hear from him again.” I hoped.
“What is this? You can smell spirit? He can possess bodies? Bah! I do not know how I feel about you Americans and your witches. This is crazy talk!” Arkady balked.
“Are you still disputing the existence of magic, JR? I have a funny feeling you know a little something about that. Wasn’t it both you and Win who used your mojo to blow the laundry room door open, effectively knocking me out of harm’s way?”
They both laughed in unison. “Bahahahaha! We are like Gorev and Gurkovsky!”
“Who?” Win squawked.
“Don’t be silly, Zero,” Arkady poo-pooed. “Everyone knows Gorev and Gurkovsky. They are greatest action movie stars from Russia!”
I giggled. “Well, listen, G and G, whatever you did stalled Adam, and it was awesome. But trust me, in the end, whatever my father put in that necklace saved my life.”
“And Edmund?” Win asked, his tone going serious.
I looked to poor Edmund’s slumped body. “He’ll be fine. Thank goodness, he’ll be okay. We’re going to have to find some kind of explanation that appears plausible to everyone about his disappearance, but he’s going to be okay.”
“Amnesia? A drunken escapade?”
“Something that doesn’t make him look irresponsible or sound like he’s been doing time on a soap opera, Win.” Brushing my hands together, I pushed off the island and made my way toward Edmund.
As I looked down at him, all I could think was, this poor, sweet boy. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t remember any of this, not the possession or, I hoped, the violence.
Slipping my hands under his arms, I pulled him up to a sitting position when I heard, “Hey! Blood rushing to my head here!”
“Belfry!” I cried, setting Edmund down with gentle hands and grabbing one of the overturned kitchen chairs to climb up on the counter and reach the pendant light Bel swung from. My hands fumbled with the noose around his tiny neck until he was free and I could smother his tiny head with kisses.
“Yeah. Belfry,” he said dryly. “You know, bat who got kidnapped and had harrowing experience?”
Pulling him close, I rubbed my cheek against his soft fur, tears slipping from my eyes. “Oh, Bel, I was so scared I’d never find you. I love you, buddy. Nothing is the same without you.”
He nuzzled me back, burrowing against my ear. “I called you like a bazillion times, didn’t you hear me?”
“I called back, but I guess you didn’t hear me either. Where have you been?”
“Some cold, dingy cabin in the woods where he’s been hiding out since he possessed Edmund. That man is one fruitcake, I tell you. Like bananapants wrapped in looney-toons.”
I cuddled him closer, shuddering. “How the heck did he get his hands on you, Bel?”
“The way any deranged, hell-bent psychopath gets his hands on the familiar of the witch he thinks has done him wrong. He catches him by surprise. I came downstairs in the middle of the whole possession thing. Wow, is that ugly. There’s lots of yelling and grunting and bones crunching. Yuck. Anyway, by the time I got a grip and realized what was happening, he’d snatched me up and took off. Then he locked me in some kinda crazy cage in that cabin and that was that. He put some kinda spell on me to keep my yap shut.”
“A spell? So you missed all that?” I swung my finger in a circle, at the floor.
Bel chuckled. “I was sleepin’ like a baby. Did you mop the floor with him, Boss?”
“Dah! She use all the skills we teach her. It was like watching Miikell Dumanovsky!”
“Who?” Win barked again.
“Forget it!” I interjected. “I don’t care about anything but that Bel is here and safe.”
“Ah, indeed. Dearest Belfry, I’m so relieved you’re well, chap.”
“Winterbutt! I’m so happy to hear you again, man!”
“Belfry, my bloke, it’s good to have you home,” Win said with warmth.
“Arkady Bagrov says double what Winterbutt says!”
“You mean ditto, my Siberian Terminator,” Bel chirped on a giggle. “It’s ditto, and ditto for me.”
Whiskey barked his discontent, his howl now filled with desperation. “We’re comin’, little buddy!” Bel yelled.
I made a run for the stairs, following the barking until I found both Whiskey and Spike in one of the guest bedrooms. “Oh, Whiskey!”
He made a run at me, his bulky body thrusting against my knees, his tongue lolling from the side of his mouth. I knelt and wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing him tight, still fighting off another batch of tears.
Bel flew from the safety of my shoulder and landed atop his friend’s back. “There’s my guy! Who’s a good boy?” he sang.
Strike pecked his way toward us, waddling and clucking to brush against my arm, cooing in soft ripples of sound as I stroked his head.
“For the love of cats. We have a turkey, Boss? Seriously? A turkey? Where the heck did we get a turkey? It’s like I can’t even be kidnapped without your whole world falling apart or something.”
“Yep. We have a turkey. Hey, did I ever tell you the story about how my familiar was kidnapped and my whole world blew up and all I got was this adorable turkey?”
We all laughed then—we laughed for a long time.
Together.
* * * *
Christmas Day
“What a wonderful day, Dove. Full of family and friends. Good food, fantastic wine. Well done, Stephania.”
I grinned and sighed. Yes. The food had been magnificent even without the turkeys I’d ordered.
Thank goodness for my parents, who could whip up a fresh turkey and all the trimmings with the blink of an eye. If not for them, I’d have had some serious explaining to do to Enzo and Carmella and I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of learning how to roast a turkey to perfection.
Not to mention, they also knew how to ensure Edmund didn’t remember a thing and was returned safely to his apartment, where his disappearance was explained away with car trouble in a remote area with no cell phone coverage. By the time my parents were done giving Edmund some false memories, he came off looking like a hero.
They were even more useful when it came to getting rid of that spell Kip had found on the Internet. The way it stood now, though, it looked like Ralph and Patty and their very high-priced, very savvy attorney might be able to get them off on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
I was grateful I didn’t have to ask my parents to find a spell that would save them from a sentence of life in prison. It was, after all, my fault Adam Westfield made a deadly pastry designed to kill me, and I hated that my past had created something so horrible.
But as my father pointed out, they did leave the scene of a crime, and punishment was necessary.
“It all went as you planned, even with last night’s little glitch, yes?”
“Little gli
tch? I’m not sure I’d call Adam Westfield possessing Edmund’s body and kidnapping Bel a little glitch.”
Win chuckled in my ear. “You handled yourself so well last night, I’d call him nothing more than a minor disruption, Mini-Spy.”
I shivered as I remembered how terrified I’d been last night, but I shook it off and opted to revel in the warm glow of the remains of the day and the lights of our Christmas tree.
I hunkered down in my favorite chair by the fireplace with Belfry snuggled against my shoulder and Whiskey at my feet. Strike, who we’d somehow decided was now officially a part of the family, sat next to Whiskey, his wings tucked under his body as he slept.
I wasn’t sure how we were going to handle a new addition of such an odd variety as Strike, but he was so sweet, I decided we’d figure it out—much the way we’d figured out our ghostly dynamic and each new surprise that had come along since Win and I met.
My sigh was content as Win and I sat together, sharing the last lingering moments of the best Christmas I’d ever had. My parents were well; sound asleep in guest bedrooms upstairs, healthy and happy. Bel was home where he belonged and I was never letting him out of my sight again; everyone I loved was safe and sound.
And Win was here.
“Did you look to see if Father Christmas left you something under the tree, Stephania?”
“Something for me?” I loved giving gifts, but I didn’t need anything. I had everything I needed.
“You didn’t think I’d let our first Christmas go by without commemorating it, did you?”
“Is it footie pajamas? You know how much I love a good footie with the flap in the back,” I teased.
“I do, and I shudder at how awful your taste truly is. Footies, as you call them, are for farmers and toddlers. Go on now,” he coaxed in his husky voice. “It’s all the way in the back in the gold wrapping paper with the red bow.
I tucked Bel closer to my neck and slid from the chair, dropping to my knees to wiggle my way under the tree. My hand made contact with the smooth paper and the velvet bow almost instantly. I pulled it toward me with butterflies in my stomach.
Holding it up, a box no bigger than one might use to wrap underwear, I tried to make light of something that held so much meaning to me. I could never tell Win how special a gift from him was to my heart. I always thought of how awkward I would make him feel if I did. So I kept all my emotions tucked away. At least for now.
“Nice wrapping job, Spy Guy. Did you pay somebody to do this?”
“I most assuredly did—with Belfry’s help, of course. I haven’t achieved that particular skill as of yet. But it’s certainly on my wish list of desired spirit skills.”
I giggled, running my hands over the beautiful gold paper, treasuring the effort he’d put into giving me a gift.
“Well, get on with it, Dove,” Win encouraged.
Slipping my finger under the edge, I tore the paper off until there was nothing but a box the color of black velvet. As I lifted the top, my breathing hitched and my throat tightened. “Oh, Win… It’s beautiful… How did you…”
“Photoshop and Belfry. Our little bloke’s quite gifted on the Internet.”
I stared down at the beautiful sterling-silver picture frame with an embossed sign for infinity along the top and bottom and smiled at the picture.
A picture of us—me, Win, Bel and Whiskey.
“It’s the sign for infinity,” I whispered as I reached out and ran my thumb over the intertwining symbols.
“That’s all of us, Dove. Never broken, never ending.”
My heart tightened and constricted in my chest and my throat threatened to close up. “Yeah. That’s us, Spy Guy.”
Win’s warmth surrounded me, tucking me close to his aura. “Merry Christmas, my dove.”
“Merry Christmas, Win. The merriest yet.”
Closing my eyes, I cherished this moment. One I knew in the deepest part of my heart would always be one of my most treasured.
The End
(I so hope you’ll come back in the New Year and join Stevie, Win, Bel and the gang for an all new round of mysteries!)
Note from Dakota
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About Dakota
Dakota Cassidy is a USA Today bestselling author with over thirty books. She writes laugh-out-loud cozy mysteries, romantic comedy, grab-some-ice erotic romance, hot and sexy alpha males, paranormal shifters, contemporary kick-ass women, and more.
Dakota was invited by Bravo TV to be the Bravoholic for a week, wherein she snarked the hell out of all the Bravo shows. She received a starred review from Publishers Weekly for Talk Dirty to Me, won a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Kiss and Hell, along with many review site recommended reads and reviewer top pick awards.
Dakota lives in the gorgeous state of Oregon with her real life hero and her dogs, and she loves hearing from readers!
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Excerpt
How the Witch Stole Christmas
Author Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
How the Witch Stole Christmas (Witchless In Seattle Book 5) Page 16
