Hexes & Hot Chocolate (A Stella Storm Cozy Witch Mystery Book 3)

by Amy Casey

  But why?

  As his eyes adjusted to the light, he observed his surroundings. He didn’t recognise where he was, only that he was on a beach somewhere. There was a forest ahead of him, thick with trees and quite unlike anything he’d seen before in the rather cosmopolitan town of Nightthistle. It struck him then that this could be a dream. After all, it had to be a dream, didn’t it?

  But if it was a dream… why did everything feel so real?

  He blinked a few more times and tried to move when he saw it.

  It was just a flash. Nothing more than a flash.

  But in that flash… he felt it.

  The memory.

  The memory of what had happened.

  He thought about Stella Storm. The way she’d rumbled his plan. The way he’d thrown her over the cliff edge.

  But then he remembered how she’d come back. How she’d fought him and how she’d defeated him.

  She’d got him to kneel in front of the town.

  And somehow… she’d got them to believe.

  His last memory?

  Fear.

  Fear as that crowd of non-pure beings raced towards him, proving everything he believed about those savages to be correct.

  But after that, his memory was sketchy. He couldn’t remember how he’d got to where he was now. It felt like there was a large gap that, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t bridge.

  He rubbed his eyes, tried to focus some more as he staggered across the sand.

  Then he saw something.

  It was beneath him. And it took him by surprise at first. After all, he’d heard rumours about trolls in Nightthistle. But he didn’t actually believe they were true.

  But the further he walked, the more of these large footprints he saw. And then he realised there wasn’t just one set; there were three, four, five—tonnes.

  A little bit of excitement sparked inside him. He could make himself famous with this discovery. He could bounce back from what’d happened with the town. The whole town could unite against this literally giant threat… as he slowly but surely put the pieces into place to rise to superiority once again.

  But then he looked up at those woods. Saw shuffling in the trees.

  And something struck him.

  The water.

  The taste of salt.

  And something he’d said to Stella. Something he’d said before throwing her off that cliff.

  “You fall off this cliff, into the water, and nobody will ever know. Not with the Sea of Creaton. You’ll likely drown. And if you don’t, you’ll wash up on the Isle of Giants. They’ll… well. Let’s just hope you’re gone before then.”

  A sickness hit his gut, then. A sickness that increased when he heard the thuds, when he felt the ground shaking.

  And when the trees moved aside, his worst fears were concerned.

  Right ahead of him, a man and a woman. Only they weren’t just men and women. They were about thirty foot tall.

  And their limbs were proportionate to the rest of their body.

  More of them emerged from behind. And more. And before he knew it, Butcher was totally surrounded, the sea behind him, and this mass of giants ahead of him.

  This didn’t feel like Nightthistle because it wasn’t Nightthistle.

  This was the Isle of Giants.

  He stood there, heart racing, knees buckling, unable to come to terms with where he was, what it meant.

  Then, through the middle of the two men and women, a smaller one, about fifteen feet tall, emerged. He looked like a toddler.

  A fat toddler.

  And he had a mean look in his eyes.

  “Oh, look there, Herrod,” the giant said, his voice booming. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a new plaything.”

  And before Butcher could even move, the toddler looked right into his eyes with a maniacal expression and grinned.

  “Mine,” he said.

  Chapter 45

  Mary opened the door to my flat. And when she saw me, tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Annabelle was with her. She hugged me, told me about how Witchy Delights had been booming in my absence—but also how people were missing me, staging protests and begging me to return.

  Rocky and Beatrice had been getting along like a house on fire. Rocky had learned to take himself for walks, and Beatrice was showing new levels of affection that I’d never even thought she was capable of.

  And Steve…

  Steve was there, waiting in my house. Glass of wine served, ready and waiting for me, romantic music playing and a smile on his face.

  At least, that’s how I’d wanted my return to play out.

  Turned out Rocky had literally just pooed in the house seconds before I arrived, so I returned to a chaotic scene of Mary desperately trying to clean up.

  “He just—he just let loose,” Mary said, still not quite welcoming me home, so shaken was she that Rocky had actually done a wee in the house.

  I looked at Rocky, frowning. “That’s not like you, lad,” I said, still unable to believe this was real, that I was home after all. “What’s got into you?”

  He glanced up at me, tail wagging. “I smelled you. I smelled you the second you got back in town. And I just couldn’t hold it in!”

  He jumped up. Licked my face. And I enjoyed his welcome, so much so that tears began to stream down my cheeks.

  “I’ve missed you,” I said. “I’ve missed you so bloody much.”

  I looked over at Beatrice, expecting her to meow away, to welcome me too.

  She just sat there glaring at me judgementally.

  “So,” Mary said as she finished wiping the wee up. “How was your trip?”

  I thought about what I could say. Thought about all the things on my mind.

  Then I fell into Mary’s arms.

  “Another time,” I said. “Just as long as you know it’s done now. I’m back home. For good.”

  Somewhat disappointingly, I learned that nobody had really missed me at Witchy Delights, and that Annabelle had stumbled upon a new recipe for a cake that was going down a storm.

  “She’s been a star,” Mary said. “A natural born leader if ever I’ve seen one. You might want to watch your back. She’s not going to want to loosen her grip on that post anytime soon.”

  I smiled, just grateful to hear things were going well.

  “And um… Steve’s been asking about you.”

  I felt my cheeks flush. Looked away. “Ah. Has he?”

  “Every damned day,” Mary said. “And I can see you blushing.”

  “I’m not blushing.”

  “Don’t even pretend you’re not blushing. That’s a blush. Is this it? Are there gonna be fireworks? Should I start slimming down for the wedding, or—”

  “Mary, please. I’ve only just got back in town. No time to be thinking about any of that nonsense. And besides. I… I feel like staying single for a good while longer yet is probably a good idea.”

  Mary sighed. “Okay, okay. Well, come on. Better get down to Witchy Delights. See Annabelle in action.”

  I walked down towards Witchy Delights, the sun shining brightly from above, Rocky on his lead by my side. Mary had even brought Beatrice along, although judging by the look in her eyes, she wasn’t too keen on stepping outside.

  “How’s it feel to be back?” Mary asked.

  I looked down the streets. Over at Graveson Manor as it sat above Goosridge. “It’s nice,” I said.

  “But?”

  I stopped when I saw Witchy Delights up ahead. Shivers shot up my arms. The return to normality… the return to a non-magic world…

  “It’s just going to take me some time to re-acclimatise.”

  Mary held out a hand, holding Beatrice in the other. “Come on then. I’ll help with that.”

  I looked down at her hand, frowned. “What is this? Some soppy new equilibrium in a mystery novel?”

  Mary shrugged. “I dunno. You’d be surprised.”

  I walked i
nto Witchy Delights, holding my breath as I approached.

  And the second I stepped inside, everyone looked up at me.

  For a moment, I thought they weren’t going to react; that they were just going to get along with their lives, like I was nothing more than background noise.

  And then I saw Joan opening her arms, running over to me.

  “Stella!” she said.

  She grabbed me, hugged me. And for the first time, this latte-fuelled woman was actually a joy to see again.

  “Where have you been? How was it? Oh, I need a holiday too. In fact, I’ve just booked one. I…”

  Okay. Back to finding Joan annoying again.

  I looked across the store. And at the counter, I saw Annabelle working away. She’d barely even looked up, so engrossed by her work as she was.

  But when she did look up, first, I saw a look of surprise.

  Then, I saw a smile.

  “Go on,” I said. “You look like you’re doing a cracking job here. Keep on going.”

  She blushed. “I just… Really?”

  I smiled back. “Yes, Annabelle. Really. In fact it’s about time I promoted you. How about you become co-manager of this place?”

  Her blushes changed to a full-blown flush. She covered her face. And as the tears began to flow, the whole of Witchy Delights stood up and applauded.

  Except for Laptop Guy. Who I still didn’t know what he did.

  I stood there, soaked up the atmosphere, finally feeling happy to be back. But my mind kept drifting back to Nightthistle, back to Aunt Hilda, and back to how close that perfect place had come to falling apart.

  I’d called Dad when I got back, too. He didn’t seem all that fussed about me. He was busy telling me how he’d discovered a new music channel and how they played “all the hits.” Bless his creepy soul.

  It was interrupted by a forced clearing of the throat.

  When I turned around, I saw DI Steve Burke standing at the cafe door.

  He looked at me with surprise at first. And then he looked away, clearly just as uncomfortable as I was.

  But then it was him who broke the silence.

  “How was it?” he said.

  I smiled. “It was… interesting. But I learned a few things while I was there.”

  “Like?”

  “Like how important it is to trust people. But mostly… mostly how important it is to trust myself.”

  I walked over to Steve. And for a moment, I thought he was going to lean in for a kiss.

  But instead it turned into an awkward hug. One I was keen to break out of ASAP.

  We both stepped back.

  “So,” Steve said.

  “So indeed,” I said.

  “I was wondering. Now you’re back. Whether you fancied—”

  “Yes,” I said.

  Steve frowned. “What?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “You don’t even know what I’m going to suggest yet.”

  “Like I say. I’ve learned to trust my instincts. So yes. Yes I will.”

  He sighed. Smiled. Relief crossed his face. “Oh thank God for that,” he said. “We’ve been trying to rehome it for days. And with you going on about it that time, I figured there’d be no place better than yours.”

  I frowned. “Wait. What?”

  He opened the door.

  And in wandered a rabbit.

  A rabbit with a collar on.

  A rabbit with a lead.

  Steve smiled. “Good to see you again, Stella. As for you, little buddy, welcome to the Storm family.”

  “But I thought…”

  “What? What did you think?”

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. Forced a smile. “Nothing.”

  “Good,” he said. Then he patted me even more awkwardly than the hug. “It’s great to have you back. Although…”

  “Although what?”

  He scratched his head. “Well. Annabelle does make a cracking ginger-nut latte.”

  I watched as Steve hurried past then, grabbed a coffee and some food, and I found my cheeks burning as Mary sniggered beside me.

  “Welcome home,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes, looking down at the albino rabbit perched before me.

  Welcome home indeed.

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