Jinxed_Toxic Bitchcraft Book One

by K. B. Ladnier

  My explanation seemed to fall on deaf ears though, on account of, he wasn’t even paying attention to what I was saying. He was only looking down at his new body.

  He held up one of his hands and rubbed the ends of his fingers together. He looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes. Then lifted his head upwards and took a deep breath in. I watched as a smile spread across his lips. Her lips? Fuck. This is going to get confusing.

  His eyes zeroed in on me. “I’m alive. I know it’s just temporary, but I’m alive. I can feel everything. The cold air in the room. The sheet against my skin. I can smell the goddess awful smell of the chemicals. This…this is amazing!” He shouted gleefully.

  I didn’t have any time to react as he suddenly swooped in and grabbed the back of my head, laying a big, loud kiss on my lips. Tingles shot through my body at the contact. For a moment, I almost thought about letting him kiss me longer. But then, reality crashed down like an atomic bomb, and I tried to wrench myself away. Not only was this a recent dead body, but this was a girl and Button. Fuck!

  I pushed him away from me and wiped my lips. I wanted to gag. “You are such an asshole! Oh goddess, that was disgusting! What were you thinking?” I shouted at him.

  He didn’t even seem phased. He just laughed and did a little spin.

  “Lighten up, Crafty. Sorry I kissed you with the dead girl and all, I’m just so fucking happy to feel something again!”

  I wiped my mouth again, then swabbed my tongue on my sleeve, doing my best to get rid of any nasty germs that may have come off the corpse. “Yeah. Lucky you. I’m going to go home and drink bleach. So, I may not feel my tongue or anything else the rest of my life.”

  He continued feeling his arms one at a time, but when he was about to slide his hands down his chest, I had to stop him.

  “Okay, I get it. You’re not trying to be a total perv, but you can’t do that. It’s just gross.”

  He dropped his hand and straightened, clearing his throat. “Yeah. Probably best. Can we go now? I really don’t wanna be walking around as this dead girl if someone comes back. I’d like to not be wearing a sheet either.”

  You read my mind.

  We quickly vacated the morgue, making sure to lock up as if we were never there. They’d notice the body was missing, but I’d make sure they’d have it back and in one piece after we finished with Button’s parents.

  “So, you’re going to help me dress this body, right? I only know how to get girl’s clothes off, not so much on,” Button asked as we drove back to the shop.

  And here I thought he was only a little hopeless. I was starting to get the hang of this proving myself wrong bullshit.

  “Let’s tackle one problem at a time, shall we?” I responded.

  Because Goddess knew, this was just the beginning. Things were getting stranger and stranger by the day, and I wasn’t sure what would be thrown at us next.

  But I was a Craft. I could handle it.

  At least, I think I could.

  Ten

  “Vesuvias”

  Christi didn’t know it, but I’d been there the whole time.

  The moment she’d been hit with that hex from her mother, I’d appeared upstairs. I stayed out of sight in the attic above, but I’d heard it all. I’d felt it all. I didn’t know how I’d known something was wrong, but I did. Her overwhelming panic had practically filtered through to me, unyielding and hard to ignore. I knew immediately what the problem was. A Seduction Hex. A powerful one at that. I could practically taste her mother’s signature on it even from here.

  What are you playing at, Emma?

  I stayed there, listening as that Warden begged her to open the door. I held my breath in worry when she denied him access, then denied him again when he entered and offered to help her. I could’ve gone down there and staked my claim. But I didn’t. In my heart, I knew this needed to happen. I knew of the curse that was pounding through her veins. That had been there for most of her life. I knew what kind it was as well. You weren’t born of two powerful magical bloodlines running through you and not given the ability to sense the different types of magic. I’d sensed her curse the moment she accidentally summoned me that night so long ago.

  Though accident was probably not an accurate statement. There were forces at work, surrounding Christi like a thick blanket that neither of us quite understood just yet. She walked through life with this curse hanging from her shoulders none the wiser. But I saw it. And I wanted to help her. Though, I had to do it without telling her what exactly it was. Otherwise, the curse would never lift, and she’d be powerless forever.

  I just had no idea that I’d fall for her when I’d offered her our deal as a ruse to get closer, to explore what it was that drew me to her. She had a way of digging under your skin and not letting go. In my fifty years alive, I’d never met a witch that confounded me quite like Christi Craft.

  Christi’s voice whimpering beneath the hex snapped me out of my reverie. I was mere moments from going to her and offering my help, not able to sit back and listen to her denial any longer. But then, she gave in. She told the warlock she’d let him. And then she was gone, lost in the bliss the Warden gave her. It was exactly what she needed.

  I rubbed a hand down my face. It was a hard pill to swallow thinking of her with another, let alone hearing it, but again, it had to happen. This was her destiny. But a part of me needed to know more. And the only one who could fill me in, was the one who placed the curse Christi knew nothing about.

  I ported myself from Christi’s attic, immediately ending up inside a living room. I knew right away I was in the right place. It was easy to follow the trail of magic that I could practically taste as it radiated off Christi’s flesh.

  “Well, this is a surprise. The Incubus whose heart has been stolen by my daughter.”

  I turned around and saw the witch responsible for Christi’s curse. Emma Craft. She stood at the bottom of a staircase, leaning against a wall as if she expected me. She wasn’t surprised in the least bit that I was standing there.

  “Why? I need to understand why you placed that curse on Christi,” I demanded.

  She sighed and sashayed towards me; the hem of the long, black dress she wore swished across the floor with her every step. “I had a feeling you’d come to me sooner or later. I’m just surprised it took you this long,” she responded, ignoring my question.

  She walked over and sat sideways into an arm chair with her legs hung over the edge; her expression bored. It was uncanny how much she and Christi looked alike. I would’ve thought it was her at first glance if I hadn’t already tasted her magic in the air when I appeared.

  “Don’t play games with me, witch. Why the curse?”

  Emma laughed. “It was just to push her in the right direction. That’s all. My daughter was wound tighter than a witch’s noose.” She flicked her hand and a martini glass appeared in her hand filled with a dark, purple liquid and garnished with blackberries.

  “Not the hex. The curse that blocks her magic,” I growled.

  She stilled as her lips moved away from her glass. Her eyes snapped to mine, and she stood abruptly, vanishing the drink from her hand. “How do you know about that?” Her tone was filled in warning as she stepped closer to me.

  I folded my arms over my chest and growled, showing her that I wasn’t afraid of her. “So, its true. I had a hard time believing her own mother would curse her, let alone a curse like that one. But I could smell your magic on that curse the moment I met her. Why?” I leered at her.

  Her mouth thinned into a serious line. “You don’t get to ask me that, Incubus,” she said; her tongue sharp. “What’s done is done. Christi will break it no matter what the curse is. All you should worry about, is helping her make that happen.”

  I stepped closer to her, straightening my spine and flashing my eyes at her in warning as I came within an inch of her personal space. “I do get to ask you, because her life could be in danger. A Craft witch without their power i
s a dead witch. You have too many enemies to leave her unguarded. I don’t even know you, and I know that.”

  She smirked and tapped a finger to my chest. “She’s not unguarded though, is she demon? She has you.”

  “I’m not enough. The Warden she went to for help lifting that ridiculous hex of yours, is not enough. So why would you block her magic?”

  Her face fell, and she backed up, falling back into her chair with a hopeless expression. I couldn’t decide if her solemnity was sincere or not.

  “Because it was the only way to hide her,” she finally said; her voice barely above a whisper. “But now, she can’t just stay hidden anymore. Not after her power has been more activate. Now, she needs her power back and there’s only one way for that to happen.”

  Finally. An answer. “I know what has to be done, but Christi won’t let it happen easily. Goddess knows I love that woman, but she refuses to let herself love anyone. I imagine this time with the Warden will help push her closer, but I doubt even that will be enough.”

  Emma turned worried eyes to me. “I know. That is mostly my fault. Which is why I’m trying to help her. She won’t let me do it willingly, so I had to force it. I always have eyes on her, watching over her in a way she’d never expect. A Craft witch is never without her spies. But I can only do so much. It’s up to you and any other men who hold even a sliver of her heart to help her break this curse. And fast.”

  “Why? Who have you hidden her from all these years?” I asked, hoping she’d give up the one final piece of the puzzle I was missing. Emma Craft never cowered from her enemies, because she was more powerful than all of them. Except, the look of fear in her eyes told me there was at least one she feared. I needed everything if I had any hope of helping Christi. I’d burn the world to the ground then rebuild it from the ashes if it was what she wanted. But I couldn’t do anything without all the pieces.

  However, the answer she gave me was enough to rattle even my bones. A name. Not just any name, but one that instilled fear into the hearts of not only witches and warlocks, but in all those who possessed even a speck of magic.

  “Vesuvius,” Emma had whispered.

  My heart exploded in my chest and terror more palatable than any I’d ever felt in my entire existence, raced through my veins like liquid fire, burning me from the inside out. All I could think about was forgetting everything about helping Christi get her power back and just locking her away in the furthest most remote corner of the earth, so none could ever find her. Because I was convinced, even if she had her full power, she’d be no match for him.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN:

  SPELLED: TOXIC BITCHCRAFT BOOK TWO

  (release date TBD)

  Make sure you’re following all my social medias to get all info on what’s to come in the Toxic Bitchcraft books, as well as other books of mine!

  A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  I have to say it, but this was the funnest book I’ve ever written. Don’t get me wrong, I loved writing all my books, but this one just had me smiling the whole way through. I quickly grew attached to the characters and am constantly looking for new ways to make them each stand out in their own way.

  This whole book started out as just an idea I threw out jokingly. But it quickly evolved into something I’m pretty proud of. It wasn’t mean to be too serious or shove a bunch of information at you. It was meant to just be a book you can read as a breather. Something to make my readers laugh and just enjoy for the hell of it.

  So, thank you for giving Christi and her crew a chance. I can’t wait to bring you more.

  Buy The Bath Bomb!!!

  That’s right! Jinxed has a bath bomb courtesy of the lovely Christi! If you’d like to purchase this magical beauty, just follow this link to POPnatural’s etsy shop! It foams hot pink, teal, and white with a black glittering core that releases into the water. It has vanilla, citrus and sage essential oils and will leave you feeling refreshed and just a bit wicked