Burkheart Witch Saga Book 3

by Christine Sutton

  Burkheart Witch Saga Book 3: One Wish

  Christine Sutton

  Devildog Press LLC

  Burkheart Witch Saga Book 3: One Wish

  ©2015 Devil Dog Press LLC

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living, dead, or otherwise, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author or Devil Dog Press, LLC.

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  Printed in the U.S.A.

  Created with Vellum

  I would like to thank a few great women that made this saga possible with their support, honest critique, and hounding to write more! Thank you Vix, Jaime, Leslie for all of your support and for helping me to be a better writer. Thank you to Vix and Kimberly for reading the first drafts and for giving me your honest feedback. Without that, I would be lost.

  Prologue

  Grace stood in the middle of her bedroom, looking into the mirror on the back of her door. It was almost time for Harry to come and pick her up for the winter dance, and she was feeling nervous. She had no idea why she was antsy; it was just a silly school dance, and she was going with her best friend, Harry. It wasn't like it was a date or anything.

  Grace had just finished curling her hair, and she was struggling to apply her makeup just right. Every time she put on eye shadow, it was too dark and when she got her lipstick close to her face, it seemed to have a mind of its own, running all around her mouth. She felt like she was going to cry.

  Just then, there was a knock on her door.

  "Come in."

  "Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?" Her mom, Kayla, said as she poked her head in the room to check on Grace's progress.

  Grace turned to look at her, bursting into tears. "I can't get this right," she cried.

  "Oh, honey," Kayla stifled a giggle when she saw the mess Grace had made of her face. "Do you want some help?"

  Her daughter nodded her head pathetically. Kayla reached over and pulled out a few of the wet wipes Grace had been using to correct her mistakes.

  "Come over here and sit with me."

  "Mom, I feel funny. I can't figure out why I'm so worried about looking good when I'm just going to be with Harry."

  "Well, that is because I guess this is your first real date," Kayla said, wiping the lipstick off her daughter's cheek.

  "Eww, no," she squinched up her face in not-so-convincing disgust. "Harry's just my friend."

  "Well, let us look at the facts here," Kayla squinched up her own face, making Grace smile. "You remember when you met Harry, right?"

  The two ladies always worked out any tough problems they had by playing the Just the facts game. It always helped to keep everything straight in their brains.

  "Yes. I saved him from Aunt Miranda. She was an evil witch that was planning to eat us both for dinner. We got loose and escaped her house, and then we helped the sprites that were under her magic spell."

  "That is all correct. So, you and Harry became best friends after that, right?"

  "We have been friends ever since we were seven, and now we're both thirteen. We go to school together and we play together after school."

  "When you have good news, who do you want to tell about it first?"

  "You and Dad."

  "After me and Dad, silly."

  "Harry."

  "When they put up the fliers for this dance, who did you first think about going with?"

  "Harry," Grace said shyly. She was starting to figure out where her mom was going with this whole fact-finding mission.

  "And who is the first person that asked you to go?" Kayla asked, raising an eyebrow dramatically. "Wait, let me guess. Could it be… Harry?"

  "Yes, Mother," Grace feigned annoyance, but she couldn't hide her smile.

  "So, just the facts here, ma'am," she sat up straight, looking very serious. "You like Harry and Harry likes you. You two went through a really hard thing when you were little, and it made you friends. But you guys stayed friends because you are both super awesome, and you happen to have the coolest mom in the history of ever, right?"

  "It might be because I have the dorkiest mom ever," she chuckled.

  "That could be it as well, but I think we should go for the first one," she laughed, putting her arm around her daughter and kissing her cheek.

  "Yeah, okay, whatever makes you happy… dork." Grace was in a state of full-on giggles now.

  "You know what? You're never going to be ready for your first date if you don't actually get ready. Can I give you a few tips to getting the lipstick on your actual lips? We don't want you looking like a circus clown."

  "Yes, please!"

  "Okie dokie, artichokey. Let's get you all gussied up."

  "Gussied up? Isn't that like ancient talk?"

  "Nah, it isn't that old. I used to talk that way to the dinosaurs all the time."

  "Was that around the time you invented dirt?"

  "Yeah, well you're stuck with this old lady."

  "I'm cool with that, I guess." She smiled.

  "All right, smarty pants. Let's get you ready."

  Kayla explained to Grace how to apply her makeup lightly so it brought out her eyes without hiding them behind a raccoon mask of eyeliner. She told her the best way to put her lipstick on, and showed her how to blot her lips with a piece of paper, and all the other secrets that mothers should teach their daughters.

  She felt a twinge of sadness, thinking about all the things her own mother had never bothered to show her when she was Grace's age. Her mom, Carolyn, had been too busy going out to the bar and hooking up with all kinds of different men after Kayla's father left, and probably before, to teach her anything about being a woman. Apparently, at least one of those men had been a werewolf.

  Kayla had always been left on her own to figure things out. She had turned to alcohol, and by the time she was fifteen, she was a full-fledged alcoholic. Once she managed to get sober, she had decided early on that there was no way she would ever do that to her daughter. She would always be there for Grace, no matter what.

  Grace got up after her makeup was finished and slipped into the pink party dress she had picked out to wear. She pulled up the crystal-encrusted straps over her shoulders and turned so Kayla could zip her up. She stepped into her pink heels and turned around to face Kayla.

  "How do I look?"

  "Oh, Grace, you look so beautiful," Kayla said, fighting back tears.

  "You aren't going to cry, are you?"

  "Maybe a little."

  The doorbell rang, and they heard David walking across the hall to open it. The mumbles from downstairs let the women know that Harold had arrived.

  Kayla went down first, saying hello and letting him know Grace would be down any second. She waved out the door to Harry's mother, signaling that he got in okay.

  The woman waved back before she drove away.

  "Are you doing okay, Harry?" she asked, noticing that the boy looked a little bit green. "Do you want to sit down?"

  "I'm all right." The sweat on his temples and the tremor in his knees let them know he was certainly not all right.

  "David will drop the two of you off at the dance, and he'll be there to pick you up at ten, right?"

  "Yes, ma'am," the teen stammered.

  "No funny business, right? No smoking or drinking or running away to Vegas and gambling
away the farm, you got it?" David said with mock sternness.

  "Yes, sir. I mean no, sir," the boy said, looking confused and nauseous.

  "David," Kayla lifted her eyebrow with a smile. "You are going to give him a heart attack."

  "It's cool, Harry." David put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "How about I get you a ginger ale and we take a seat?"

  "That would be great," Harry sighed, sounding much older than his thirteen years.

  He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Grace standing on the landing, waiting to come downstairs until she steadied herself.

  "Wow," Harold said in a whisper, his eyes wide.

  Grace smiled, pleased with the reaction from her friend.

  "You, um, you look real nice."

  "Thanks. You look good, too."

  "Okay kids, you know I want to get some pictures before you go." Kayla turned on her camera and the two of them groaned. "Hey, it's not every day my daughter gets to go to a dance with such a handsome guy. I need photographic evidence. Besides, your mom has texted me twice already to tell me to take pics and send them to her. If I don't, she will kick my butt, and probably yours, too. Am I right?"

  "Yes, you are," Harry chuckled, feeling much more at ease.

  After a few rounds of pictures, Kayla finally relented and let them go.

  As David picked up his keys to head out the door, he turned to Kayla.

  "You did it, right?"

  "Of course I did," she whispered. "Grace has a protection amulet sewed into her dress, and Harry has one in his coat pocket. I also did a spell to keep them out of trouble. And Jorek will be at the dance watching over them from the shadows."

  "That's my girl," David said then kissed her goodbye and left to get the kids off to the dance on time.

  Jorek watched the princess get out of the car with Master Harry at her side. She looked very beautiful, and also quite happy. He had been tasked with watching over the young royal at her very first dance and making sure she was safe. He took his royal duties quite seriously.

  King David drove away after the two teens waved at him and headed for the gymnasium door. When they stepped inside, the two were mesmerized by the decorations. Silver and blue ornaments hung from the ceiling and streamers were strewn here to there and all over. It seemed that there was glitter everywhere.

  Jorek found it all to be quite garish. But, as long as the princess was happy, nothing else mattered to him. He sat back in his mossy hiding spot and watched the festivities from afar. The hours ticked by and Jorek found himself singing along with the music that thumped from inside the gym.

  "♫♪ Hit me baby, one more time…♪♫"

  He stopped singing when he saw Grace run out of the gymnasium, crying. He wanted to go to her, but the queen had asked him not to disturb her for any reason. He watched while she sprinted across the courtyard, Harold following after her. The young princess stumbled and lost one of her shoes, but kept running.

  Harry stopped and picked up the shoe, appearing to be sad and even a little confused. He tried to see where Grace had gone. He spotted her sitting on a bench on the other side of the common area, and he rushed to her side.

  "Grace what's the matter?"

  "Nothing. I'm okay," the princess lied through her tears.

  "You aren't okay. Tell me what happened."

  "Tommy Hanson was making fun of me. He was saying that I looked ugly in my dress and that you only came to the dance with me because you felt sorry for me. He said that you only asked me because nobody else would and my mom made you." She burst into tears.

  Harry knelt down in front of Grace and gently slipped the pink shoe back onto her foot. He reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek.

  "Tommy Hanson is nothing but a big jerk, and he's just jealous that he isn't here with you. You are the prettiest girl at this dance, and the nicest and the funniest, and I'm proud to be here with you. I was scared that you wouldn't say yes when I asked you."

  "Why wouldn't I say yes? You're my best friend," Grace said incredulously.

  "You're my best friend, too, and I don't like to see you cry. So stop it, okay?"

  "Okay," she replied with a sniffle.

  "I want you to get up and walk back into the dance holding my hand. If Tommy Hanson has anything else to say, he can open his big mouth and say it to me."

  Grace took Harry's outstretched hand and stood up, straightening her dress.

  "Thanks, Harry," she smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

  Jorek could almost see the young man's feet lift off the ground.

  "Will you dance with me, Princess?"

  "Of course I will," she replied, blushing.

  As the two walked back to the gym holding hands, Grace turned to Harry.

  "Maybe I can ask the wood nymphs to make flowers grow out of his ears."

  Harry looked at her and laughed, "No, but you could ask them to make flowers grow out of his nose."

  Grace laughed out loud, picturing Tommy Hanson standing in the middle of the gym with flowers growing out of his ears and nose, crying for his mommy.

  When he saw them walk back into the dance with their heads held high, Jorek knew the two of them would be just fine. He settled back into his moss bed and went back to humming along with the music pouring out of the gymnasium doors as the two kids stepped onto the floor for their first dance.

  1

  Grace applied the red rose-colored lip gloss exactly the way that her mother had taught her the same night as that school dance that had cemented her love for Harry. She made sure not to go outside the lines of her lips so that she didn't look like a clown or "one of those wood nymphs." Her mother really did not like the wood nymphs.

  Grace chuckled when she remembered the first time Kayla had ever met a wood nymph. She and her mother had been in the forest, overseeing their royal responsibilities, which meant resolving disputes between gnomes and sprites, mostly. The wood nymphs had decided to return to the forest after they heard the news of Aunt Miranda's death.

  Wood nymphs were interesting creatures indeed. They walked through the woods, making sure the flowers grew and the moss thrived. The scantily clad fairy cousins flitted here and there, making apples grow and such. They wore short dresses, and their skin sparkled like fine glitter. Kayla had taken one look at them and groaned.

  "Do they have to do it naked? Is there a reason that they have to be so slutty looking?"

  Grace, being ten at the time, had replied, "They aren't naked, Mom. They're beautiful. What does slutty mean?"

  Kayla had just laughed and kissed Grace on top of the head. "I hope you never find out what that word means, Munchkin."

  Standing in the bathroom of her parents' home fifteen years later, wearing her mother's black dress, Grace powdered her face and ran her fingers through her long blond hair one last time. She adjusted the string of pearls that rested on her chest, just above the dress's neckline. Glancing in the mirror one last time, she burst into tears.

  Her father, David, ran in as though he had been standing right outside. One of the many powers Grace had developed through her lifetime was to project her emotions onto others. Her dad had been able to feel her pain, even through his own blinding grief. He walked in and took his daughter into his arms. Grace continued to weep as she held him tight.

  "Oh Daddy, I miss her so much."

  "I know, Munchkin. Me, too."

  The two of them stood like that for a moment, holding each other and weeping over the loss of the woman that they both loved so dearly.

  At the funeral, Grace and David sat in the front pew, accompanied by Grace's fiancé, Harold. Harold held her hand, just as he had when the two had been trapped in the evil witch Miranda's cage so many years before, and just as he had so many times since then.

  Behind them, the rest of their family sat silently weeping. Joy and Doc, Gus, Mooney, Violet and Daisy all suffered the loss of Kayla Burkheart as painfully as her husband and daughter.

  Within the walls of
the church, gnomes, sprites, fairies, and every other magical creature that dwelled the forest sat weeping, paying their respects to their beloved queen. Most of all, they considered Kayla their friend and ally. She was respected and much loved by every being in her kingdom.

  Was.

  Grace sat there, thinking about how unfair it was that her mother, the queen of the forest, a warrior against evil, and the most wonderful person she had ever known, had been taken down by something as ridiculous as a car accident. Grace wondered why Kayla had not used magic to protect her from the impact, but it was a moot question now.

  Kayla was gone. She would not be there to see Grace get married later this year. She would not be there to help Grace pick out her dress or do her hair. She was not going to be there to hold Grace's hand when the baby she now carried was born. It broke Grace's heart to know that her baby would never know her grandmother. She felt an anger swelling inside of her that she desperately tried to stifle.

  It was time for Grace to walk up to the podium and say a few words about her mother. She had taken some time the night before to write something that she had hoped would convey her love, sorrow, and the extreme pride she felt for her mom. She didn't think she could keep her composure long enough to say anything of importance, but she would try. As she stepped up to stand next to the mahogany casket that contained her mother's lifeless body, she thought that her legs were going to give out. Harold jumped up to steady her. She kissed him and motioned for him to sit down. She was only two months pregnant, but Harold was already doting on her as if she were going to give birth any second. She loved him for caring so much, but she was about two seconds away from telling him to back off. She'd obviously gotten her independence from her mother.

  When she turned to face the crowd, she saw a sea of friendly faces. It gave her some solace to know how much everyone had cared for Kayla. She had been a good queen and a good friend to all, and they all took her death very hard. There was one exception.