Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.
This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Robyn Peterman. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Magic and Mayhem remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Robyn Peterman, or their affiliates or licensors.
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Table of Contents
WITCH WITH AN AXE TO GRIND
ABOUT THE BOOK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
EPILOGUE
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
AMAZING MAGIC & MAYHEM AUTHORS
BOOK LIST
ABOUT ISABEL MICHEALS
Witch With An Axe To Grind
By
Isabel Micheals
About The Book
What do you get when you mix one sleep deprived witch, one rat bastard of a wolf, a gentleman's club, and a little Dark Magic? A Witch With An Axe To Grind!
Sophie O’Malley would do anything for a good night’s sleep. Yet, it seems to keep alluding her because of the party mongers occupying her closet. When she comes face-to-face with three Mouseketeers in trouble, her life is suddenly flipped upside down.
Alec Stone has been cursed by a manipulative, vindictive witch dabbling in Dark Magic, who just happens to be his ex-lover. When he suddenly finds himself stuck in Chez Parée Deux, he’ll need to enlist the help of his new friends, if he has any chance of ever seeing his mate again.
Sophie and Alec’s worlds collide when they’re both hexed by a witch with evil desires.
Spells will be cast. Secrets will be unveiled. Deals will be struck. Battles will be fought. But only the last woman standing will be willing to risk it all.
Witch With An Axe To Grind is based on some of the wonderful characters found in Robyn Peterman’s Magic & Mayhem series.
Acknowledgements
Deb S., you’re my Wonder Woman. Thank you for listening, plotting, and laughing with me. But most of all, thank you for believing in me. I wouldn’t be able to do this without your help.
I’d also like to thank Blackraven’s Designs for their thorough editing. As always, it’s greatly appreciated.
Cover by Blackraven’s Designs
Edited by Blackraven’s Designs
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my nephew, Derrick, who is a true inspiration to me. He listens to my crazy ideas, critiques my covers, and rolls his eyes like the typical teenager, he is, when I try to tell him a funny joke, or read him a funny passage from one of my books. My life wouldn’t be the same without him.
Love you buddy!
Chapter 1
Serena still couldn’t believe Alec had dumped her almost five months ago using the oldest line in the book—It’s not you. It’s me.
The moment the words left his succulent lips, she wanted to smack him upside the head like Cher had Nicolas Cage in the movie, Moonstruck. He was an idiot for letting a witch of her caliber go without a fight. Then, adding insult to injury, he had gone and fallen in love with that witch of a cow, Sophie, who had almost been killed by her deranged father.
Why in the hell do men always fall for the damsel in distress? she thought, slamming her coffee cup down on the counter hard enough to almost shatter it.
“Someone’s in a bad mood this morning,” her cousin, Brittney, said with a gleam in her eye.
“Can-it, Brit. I’m not in the mood for your antics this morning,” Serena replied with a glare that would have put fear in the Goddess herself.
Unfortunately, her cousin was utterly unfazed by her bad temperament. When she picked up the wooden spoon on the counter, put it up to her lips like a microphone, and started singing at the top of her lungs—Tell it to my heart. Tell me I’m the only one. Is this really love or just a game, Serena knew she was doomed to hell.
Rolling her eyes in disgust and trying to hold back the traitorous memories of Bobbie Carelli breaking up with her at their school dance of all places, while Taylor Dayne was blaring through the sound system, Serena finally regained her composure and asked the question that had been plaguing her since she initially heard the words spill out of her cousin’s mouth. “How in the Goddess’s name do you know a song from 1988 that made its debut when you were just a pup in diapers?”
Noticing how uncomfortable her cousin looked, Brittney knew there was a story behind the song because Serena’s amber eyes were suddenly laced with Dark Magic and she looked as though she wanted to kill someone. But instead of heeding the warning glare, she smiled and said, “The same way I know Devo’s Whip It! You know some believe that song refers to BDSM play, especially when he yells, ‘Crack that whip’. Were you and your friends ever into whips and chains?”
“I’m going to crack something over your head if you don’t stop,” Serena hissed. How it was possible for her cousin to pick the two songs from the eighties that stirred up her most painful memories was still a mystery. Was she using magic to manipulate her like she had Jasper until he caught on to her lying and scheming?
Serena wasn’t sure how her cousin had stumbled onto those two particular songs, but the Dark Magic coursing through her veins wanted to come out and play by zapping the annoying, little witch in the ass with an energy ball. Yet, she resisted. For now, at least. It was obvious the months she’d listened to Alec whining about finding a mate and ignoring what, or maybe she should say who, was right in front of him had taught her a modicum of patience.
What chapped her ass the most was that she had helped save that twit of a witch from her father and then been forced to absorb his Dark Magic. While she appreciated the boost to her powers, she hadn’t intended on losing the brass ring. She was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Alec came to his senses. He’d remember how they burned up the sheets and come running back to her with his tail between his legs. She’d make him work for it of course, but eventually, she’d take him back because they were meant to be together.
“Why are you still pining over wolf boy?” Brit asked in a whiny voice that grated on Serena’s nerves.
“The same reason you’re still pining over Jasper,” Serena snapped in a dry, no-nonsense voice. While she was happy her cousin had returned to Bass Ackwards, Tennessee, it hadn’t reduced her sudden urge to strangle the younger woman in an effort to put them both out of their misery.
“Touché, dear cousin. Touché,” Brit replied with less enthusiasm than she had earlier.
Sighing deeply, Serena finally turned and looked at the beautiful blonde with piercing, amber-colored eyes that were identical to hers. People often thought they were sisters instead of cousins, which was ironic given more than a decade separated them in age, and their mothers couldn’t stand one another.
Serena knew that the only reason her cousin had returned to Bass Ackwards was to reclaim Jasper’s heart, but unfortunately, her plea had fallen on deaf ears. It seemed as though cheating on your betrothed was an unforgivable crime that sentenced you to a life of regret and loneliness.
Maybe that was
the case for most people, but she and Brit weren’t most people. They were young, beautiful women who had their whole lives ahead of them. There was no question in her mind that they would eventually prevail and win their heart’s desire. Granted, it might take a bit of ingenuity and a little hocus pocus, but in the end, she would be Mrs. Alec Stone.
“I know that look on your face. I’ve seen it a million times over the years. What are you plotting?” Brittney asked.
“Hmm. That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Serena countered with a devious smile that lit up her entire face. Giving Brit a pointed, yet determined look, she finally asked, “Are you ready to win back our men?”
“Of course. It’s the only reason I came back to this hell-hole. Well—that and the fact that Salvatore dumped me for some redheaded vixen shortly after we left this Goddess Forsaken town.”
“Wait! I thought you said she was his mate,” Serena inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“Mate. Schmate,” Brit said in a horrible Irish accent as she waved her cousin’s comment away with a flick of her wrist. “It’s all nonsense if you ask me. I don’t believe for one minute that the Fates only created one person in the universe for each of us. You don’t either, so quit giving me that look.”
“What look?” Serena asked, innocently.
“That appalling look of disbelief written all over your face. You know as well as I do that we make our own fate, which is the reason you’re going after Alec with guns blazing.”
“Okay. You’ve got me there,” Serena said with a chuckle.
“Now that that’s settled, tell me how we’re going to win our men back,” Brittney eagerly asked.
“Fine. Sit down and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”
* * *
Three weeks later and Serena had yet to make any leeway in her plan to convince Alec she was his one and only. She’d done everything the experts had suggested and then some. She’d reflected on what had gone wrong, worked on improving herself, and then made her move. In an effort to gain some perspective, she’d given Alec some space, which had turned out to be a crock of crap because he didn’t think about her one iota during the time they were apart. Instead, he’d been focusing on how to get that mouse of a witch, Sophie, to accept the fact they were mates.
In thinking about what had gone wrong, the answer was always the same. Sophie had entered their lives and ruined her Happily Ever After. Unfortunately, this was only obvious to her because when she tried to explain her revelation to Alec over dinner and a night of seduction, it only angered him more. When she tried to soothe his anger by giving him more attention (aka: seducing him in the bedroom), her plan only backfired and caused him to storm out of her house.
At a loss of what to do next, Serena sat at her kitchen table deep in thought. She had never been so frustrated in all her life. She was trying to get her ex back, not send a man to Mars. How hard could it be to get one hound dog to succumb to my desires? she thought.
Serena hadn’t realized she had spoken her last thoughts aloud until Brittney said, “Obviously, harder than you had expected, given the look on your face. Maybe you should implement a plan to start flirting with other guys around town. It might shock him into realizing what he’s lost, or it might push him further away. Either way, you’ll at least know where you stand.”
“I know where I stand, Brit,” Serena said through gritted teeth.
“Are you sure about that because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you’re not even on the playing field?”
Annoyed and angry by the smirk on her cousin’s face and the fact she was right, Serena threw caution to the wind and released her Dark Magic. Although she considered it a love tap, the yelp and anger rolling off of Brittney said otherwise.
“Ouch! That hurt!” Brit exclaimed. “What in the Hades is wrong with you? I was just pointing out the facts.”
“I know, but I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Serena said with a deadly, serene smile that had her cousin backing up a few steps.
“You’re going to regret smiting me when I get Jasper back and Alec is waiting for Sophie at the end of the aisle because you failed to gain his attention,” Brit said with a huff and a knowing smile.
Serena knew in that moment her cousin was up to something. Whether or not whatever crazy plan she was hatching in that pint-sized brain of hers would work, remained to be seen, but it was worth a try because right now it was the bottom of the eighth and her nemesis was in the lead. She needed a home run and she needed it NOW.
“What are you up to, Brit?” Serena asked, cautiously.
“I thought you’d never ask,” her cousin excitedly replied, as she poured herself a glass of lemonade and took a seat at the kitchen table. “Last night when I couldn’t sleep, I started channel surfing. You know, I didn’t realize how much crap is on television in the wee hours of the morning. You would think if you’re trying to sell something, you’d do it during prime time when everyone is awake.”
Exasperated by her cousin’s inability to stay on track, Serena finally snapped and yelled, “Brit. You’re getting off point. Now, tell me the plan for Goddess’s sake.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right. Anyways, I came across this infomercial by the Broke-Back Doctor.”
“Wait! Don’t you mean the movie, Broke Back Mountain?” Serena quickly inserted. “Moreover, what does Broke Back Mountain have to do with getting Alec and Jasper back? You do realize they’re not gay, right?”
“Duh! It wasn’t the movie Broke Back Mountain. It was an infomercial by the Broke Back Doctor. He was explaining how to get your ex back using his tried and true method,” Brittney said in a matter of fact voice that brokered no argument.
Sighing in frustration, Serena began rubbing her temple to try and hold off the mother of all migraines. How in her moment of weakness had she thought Brit would have come up with an idea to save her relationship with Alec, only proved her desperation and how far she had fallen down the rabbit hole? Trying once again to reason with her cousin, she took a deep breath and said, “Brit, could he have been the Break-Up Doctor, instead of the Broke Back Doctor?”
“Break-Up. Break-Down. Broke Back. It’s all the same to me. My point is he had a plan to win our ex-boyfriends back, so I ordered the videos,” she said with a triumphant smile. “They’ll be here tomorrow. I paid for expedited shipping.”
At a complete loss for words, Serena simply banged her head on the table in defeat. Well, metaphorically speaking, she did. In reality, she simply stood, put her glass of tea in the sink, and walked away before she said a spell that would send her cousin down her own dark, rabbit hole to Never-Never Land.
“Wait! Don’t leave. Let me tell you what he said,” Brit yelled, as she quickly stood to follow.
Knowing that the younger woman would never give her a moment of peace until she heard her out, Serena grabbed the aspirin out of the medicine cabinet, returned to the kitchen for a glass of water, took a seat at the table, popped the aspirin in her mouth, and slowly began to drink the water. Then she waited, as patiently as a cat about to catch a mouse, for the rest of the story.
Smiling gleefully, Brit said, “The Broke Back Doctor starts out by explaining how his videos will pinpoint why we’re failing to get our men back and how we might be actually pushing them further away with our actions. This is important Serena because we might be killing any chance we have with Alec and Jasper without realizing it.”
Serena really looked at the desperation in her cousin’s eyes and wondered if her eyes mirrored that same desperation. Deep down, she knew Brit had screwed up by cheating on Jasper and the likelihood the man would ever take her back was slim and none. If she were truly being honest with herself, she knew he would never take her cousin back, but she didn’t want to be the one to destroy the young woman’s hope because it also meant destroying her own.
It meant that she would have to let Alec go, which she just wasn’t ready to do. It was nice having someone to talk to and lean on w
hen you were down and out. Someone who picked you up, dusted you off, and believed in you. Alec had given her all of those things and more, which was the reason she couldn’t let him go without a fight. Therefore, she’d try what Brit and this Broke Back Doctor suggested, but if it didn’t work, she’d have to use a little hocus pocus to bring Alec around, even if it meant getting rid of Sophie in the process.
* * *
Two Weeks Later
“Serena, I told you it was over between us. I don’t know how to say it any other way,” Alec said in a frustrated voice.
When he’d discovered that Sophie was his mate and she was about to be sacrificed by her asshole of a father, his heart almost stopped beating. Thankfully, Zara and her sisters were able to lift the force field enough for him and Jasper to rescue the two women. It still baffled him the lengths in which Jacob was willing to go to, in order to steal his wife’s immortality, including using Dark Magic to fake her death. It had taken almost four months for Zeva, the Fates, and the magical community to reverse the dark spell he had placed on his wife.
Sophie had taken refuge at the Old Miller farmhouse outside of town and was rarely seen unless she was picking up her monthly supplies. He had tried to explain they were mates, but she was hearing none of it. Her father had done a real number on her to the point that she saw danger at every corner. His wolf howled at the injustice of it all, but wouldn’t be denied.
And just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, Serena would pop-up from out of nowhere and try to win his affections. He had explained that they were done long before Sophie had ever entered into the picture, but she continued to ignore his comments. It seemed as though where she was concerned, Denial wasn’t just a river in Egypt.
He wasn’t sure if her unwillingness to walk away was just her being stubborn, or if it had more to do with the Dark Magic coursing through her veins. Either way, he needed to discuss the situation with Mikhail because not only was she making a nuisance of herself, but he also feared for Sophie’s safety. His mate had been through enough over the last year and he didn’t intend for her to be harmed by his poor choice in women.
Magic and Mayhem: Witch With An Axe To Grind (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Magick & Chaos Book 4) Page 1
