Lucky Charm (Spellbound Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by Annabel Chase

  He smiled. “Let’s never find out.”

  I found Wilhelm Triers behind the house where he was tending to his garden. He was tall and thin, with a shock of white hair and limbs like rubber.

  “You grow all these yourself?” I asked, admiring the variety of plants and flowers in one small space.

  “I do.” He stopped trimming and looked at me. “I would say that I don’t allow unsolicited visitors, but I get the distinct impression that you’re not here to sell me something.”

  “No, definitely not,” I said, with a self-deprecating laugh. “I couldn’t sell blood bags to a mob of hungry vampires.”

  “Speaking of hungry…” He glanced above our heads. “Your owl seems in need of a snack. Tell him there are plenty of voles in the copse back there.” He gestured to an area beyond the backyard.

  Sedgwick, this guy is looking out for you, I said. Voles at twelve o’clock.

  That or he’s trying to get rid of any potential witnesses.

  I glared at him. Stop trying to scare me.

  He chuckled and flew off. What did I ever do to deserve a smartass owl?

  “I’m Emma, by the way. You’re Wilhelm, right?”

  “I am.” He removed his gardening gloves and shook my hand. “What can I do for you?”

  “Silas suggested I speak with you.”

  His expression brightened. “How is dear Silas? Such a wonderful neighbor for so many years.”

  “He’s well. Loves life in the care home.” With all the tail he was chasing, why wouldn’t he? “You don’t visit him?”

  “Not as often as I should,” he admitted.

  “He said you might have thoughts about the craziness that’s been happening around here.”

  “When you say craziness, I assume you’re referencing the recent spell on the town council?”

  “I am.”

  “I understand that Sheriff Hugo wasn’t affected,” he said. “Are you here at his behest?”

  “No, I’m here as the public defender,” I said.

  “Though you have no official investigative role?” he queried.

  “Sort of an all hands on deck situation,” I said. And Sheriff Hugo was taking his sweet time as always.

  Wilhelm clucked his tongue. “Sheriff Hugo. How long will we put up with his ineptitude? We get the leaders we deserve, I suppose.”

  Good to know we agreed that the sheriff was inept, however, I wasn’t sure that the town deserved him. It was only thanks to his personal relationships with key power players in town that they were stuck with him.

  “Tell me, Emma, are you familiar with chaos theory?” he asked.

  “Only what Jeff Goldblum told me.”

  He gave me a blank look. I guess he’d never heard of a little movie called Jurassic Park. Too bad. He was missing out.

  Wilhelm shook his head before returning to his regularly scheduled diatribe. “It is a branch of mathematics. I like to refer to it as surprise science.”

  “That sounds adorable.”

  “Adorable, yes.” He began to walk through the garden and motioned for me to join him. “The systems in our world are complex and, therefore, difficult to understand. Chaos theory deals in such matters.”

  “Have you ever wanted to test the theory?” I asked. “Maybe cause a bit of chaos and confusion in Spellbound and gauge the results? Can’t say I’d blame you. Same thing day after day, knowing there’s no hope of significant change…” I trailed off, hoping he’d bite.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said, with an air of mystery.

  I squinted. “What don’t you know?”

  A slow grin spread across his face. “Well, your presence in town was rather a surprise, wasn’t it? One might even argue that you, Emma Hart, are an agent of chaos.”

  “One could argue it, but one would lose.” I didn’t like the idea of being an agent of chaos. I liked to think I solved problems, but a label like that made me feel like I caused them instead.

  He patted his brow with a plaid handkerchief. “You, my dear, were impossible to predict and have proven difficult to control.” He chuckled softly. “You are the epitome of the infinite complexity of nature.”

  “So you’re telling me, unequivocally, that you had no hand in the youth spell,” I said. Right to the point this time.

  “None at all,” he replied. “Although, I’ll admit, it’s been fascinating to watch from an academic point of view. Unlike others in Spellbound, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.”

  “I’m surprised how quickly people are acting out,” I said. “Refusing to follow the rules. Mistreating one another. It’s getting ugly out there.”

  “Perhaps I should spend more time in town than I typically do,” he said, with a trace of amusement. “It isn’t often that I’m treated to such a spectacle. The heavy hand of bureaucracy keeps residents in line most of the time.”

  “Do you have any idea who might be responsible?” I asked. “Have you heard any gossip or know of anyone unhappy with the council?”

  “Not that I indulge in idle gossip,” he said, “but perhaps you should pay a visit to Janis Goodfellow. The last time I ran into her at the Enchanted Garden, she was furious that the council had refused permission for her to plant nightshade and hemlock.”

  Interesting. Janis was one of the names mentioned in the council minutes. “Those are poisonous, right?”

  “Very.”

  “Then I can understand the council’s refusal.”

  He shrugged. “She is an herbologist. She feels it is her nature-given right. I can’t say that I disagree.”

  “So if she’s an herbologist, does that make her a witch?”

  “It does, indeed.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Not to worry, Emma. I have every confidence you’ll meet the other members of your adopted coven in due time. You are, after all, such a novelty. They’ll all want to meet you sooner or later.”

  I didn’t want them to meet me because I was a novelty. I wanted them to meet me because they were genuinely interested in me. Just like I wanted someone like Demetrius to want to date me, rather than date the new curiosity in town.

  “Thanks for your time, Wilhelm. I appreciate you answering my questions.”

  “Anything for Silas.”

  “So based on your chaos theory, how do you predict this whole thing will play out?”

  He gave me a mischievous wink. “Everyone will live happily ever after.”

  Chapter 11

  As Wilhelm’s house faded from view, I mulled over our conversation. Was I really an agent of chaos? I’d only tried to be helpful since my arrival in town. Even though I grew impatient at times with Spellbound’s bureaucracy, I had no interest in dismantling it. Not completely, anyway. Just a little reform.

  Look out, Sedgwick screeched from his position above the car.

  I hit the brakes and narrowly avoided a collision with an enormous wolf.

  How could you not see the giant mammal in front of you? he scolded me.

  I got out of the car to make sure the wolf was uninjured. By the time I made it to the front, the wolf had shifted to human form.

  “Alex,” I exclaimed.

  The rising leader of the werewolf pack jumped to his feet, completely naked.

  “What are you doing running around as a wolf in broad daylight?” It seemed that everyone was indulging in rule breaking now that the council was preoccupied with mud pies and dodgeball.

  “Tracking your scent,” he said. “I need you to come with me.”

  A hot, naked werewolf was demanding that I accompany him. Somehow, it wasn’t as sexy as it should have been.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “It’s the council.”

  Of course it was.

  “They’ve taken over the bounce houses. Kicked out all the children. Markos isn’t sure how to handle it and he can’t reach the sheriff.”

  “And you think I can do something?”

  “Lucy mentioned that
you have a knack for handling them. I thought we might manage to wrangle them if we work together.”

  I glanced down at his exposed parts. “I’m not sure how the immature version of the council will respond to the sight of a naked man giving them orders.”

  Alex grimaced. “I raced out of the house in wolf form as soon as the message from Markos arrived. I didn’t plan ahead.”

  “Get in the car,” I said. I wasn’t excited about the idea of a bare werewolf butt on my upholstery, but I refused to complain. “We’ll swing by a shop on the way into town and grab you clothes.”

  “Can’t you do a clothing spell or something?” he asked, sliding into the passenger seat.

  I laughed. “You grossly overestimate my abilities, Alex.”

  We sped into town, ignoring speed limits and other traffic signs and I realized I was as guilty of ignoring the rules as anyone else. If we weren’t careful, the entire infrastructure of the town could unravel.

  I parked in the first available spot and hurried from the car.

  “You run into Ready-to-Were and get Ricardo to help you. Meet me at the bounce house.”

  He left the car and immediately shifted back into wolf form to preserve his modesty. He took off toward the town square and I ran toward the bounce house.

  The scene was chaotic when I arrived. There were actual children huddled off to the side, wailing to their parents. An attractive man stood in front of the giant inflatable bounce house, trying to speak in a reasonable tone to the group inside. I saw Mayor Knightsbridge push Lord Gilder against the wall. He bounced off the side and fell flat on his bottom. His fangs sprang to life, but the mayor was too quick for him. She froze him with her wand before he could move.

  “How did she get her wand back?” I asked aloud.

  “She’s the mayor,” the man said. “If she wants something, she makes it happen, even in her childlike state.”

  “Where’s Markos?” I asked, craning my neck for the sight of the minotaur. I figured he’d be hard to miss. “Alex said he’s the one who sent a message for help.”

  “I’m Markos,” the man said.

  I scrutinized him. He was far too good-looking to be a hideous minotaur. He was very tall—about six and a half feet—with broad shoulders and bulging muscles where I didn’t know muscles existed.

  “But you look…” I faltered.

  His mouth quirked. “Human? That’s the idea. I have a human form and my natural form.”

  “Like a shifter?” I queried.

  “More like the harpies. Our human forms are the result of magic. I drink a custom tonic. I get fewer odd looks in this body, so I tend to prefer it.” He grinned. “Plus, this body fits in my car.”

  I was willing to bet he got a lot more appreciative looks in this body as well. It was hard not to stare. I struggled to focus on the task at hand.

  “So you’re having a bit of trouble with the council?” I asked.

  “They’ve frightened away the children and are wreaking havoc in there,” he said. “I’ve thought about changing to my minotaur form and scaring them, but I don’t want to overdo it. They’re childlike, but they still have their mature magic and abilities. If Lorenzo attacks me in his wolf form, it’s going to be a problem.”

  “I’m here,” Alex said. “What can I do?”

  I whipped around and was relieved to see him fully clothed, although I resisted the urge to smile at the outfit. He wore a turquoise shirt with white polka dots and bright white trousers. Not Alex’s usual hillbilly style.

  “Did Ricardo not let you choose your own clothes?” I asked. When it came to fashion, Ricardo had what I called flair.

  “He said it would be faster if he did it,” Alex replied.

  Right.

  “So what’s the plan?” Markos asked.

  Lord Gilder was now crying and screaming for mercy, pinned beneath Wayne’s wide troll body.

  Alex folded his arms and watched with amusement as Juliet bounced straight up and hit her head on the ceiling. The Amazon was far too tall for bouncing.

  “Would it be wrong to record any of this first?” Alex asked. “Just for laughs later on.”

  “They would kill you in your sleep and hide the evidence,” Markos said.

  A forlorn Maeve sat on the edge of the bounce house, swinging her heels against the side. I decided to start with her.

  “Maeve, is everything okay?” I asked, moving to sit beside her.

  The banshee sniffed. “I wanted to play with Lady Weatherby, but she said I couldn’t play with her because I smelled like death.”

  “Well, that was mean, wasn’t it?”

  Maeve nodded, fighting an onslaught of tears. “She’s always mean. She and the mayor are such bullies.”

  I placed an arm around her. “You’re very special, Maeve, and everyone likes you. Nobody thinks you smell like death.” Whatever that meant. “Never mind what the mean girls say to you.”

  Maeve looked at me, tears dangling from her thick eyelashes. “You’re the nicest girl in Spellbound.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said. “I have my moments, same as anyone else.”

  “Do you want to have a tea party with me?” she asked, her expression hopeful.

  “Um, I’d love to, but I have to help my friend Markos right now.”

  Maeve cocked her head, eyeing the minotaur. “All of the ladies in town think he’s a real catch. I think he’s too tall and hairy.”

  I patted her knee. “You never know. You might like that when you’re older.”

  “What kind of help does he need?”

  “To be honest, he needs you and your friends to leave the bounce house. He has paying customers who were a little intimidated by your group.”

  She giggled. “I guess we are bigger than the other kids.”

  “You know them better than anybody,” I said. “Can you think of a way to get them to listen?”

  Her lips curled into a smile. “As a matter of fact, I do. You might want to cover your ears, though.”

  I held my hands over my ears and moved back toward Markos and Alex. Maeve opened her mouth and let loose a wailing cry that shook me to my core. The keening continued until every council member dropped to his or her knees.

  Maeve dusted off her hands. “Mission accomplished.”

  I stepped toward the bounce house. “Listen up, council members. Playtime is over for today. Lorenzo, you’re going to go with Alex to the Pines, where the pack can look after you. Lady Weatherby, you come with me to the coven. Lord Gilder, you’re going to wait here for Demetrius. Mayor Knightsbridge, you’re going to wait for Lucy. Markos will look after the rest of you until your loved ones can come and claim you.”

  Markos laid a firm hand on my shoulder. “Well done, Emma. Alex was smart to find you.”

  “I helped him once before,” I said. I saved him from a psychopathic werewolf who’d killed his fiancée, Jolene.

  His expression darkened. “Yes, poor Jolene. A tragedy.”

  “I guess Alex felt he could trust me after that.”

  “And his trust was well placed. No one can argue with a werewolf’s instincts.”

  “You don’t mind keeping an eye on the rest of the kids until someone picks them up, do you?”

  “Not at all.” He smiled down at me and his brow furrowed. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Huh?” I quickly understood when I felt the stiffness in my cheeks. I was grinning back at him like a lunatic. The smile faded. “No, sorry. Of course not.”

  Lady Weatherby came and stood beside me. “Can we go now? How about now?” She poked my arm with her wand and I snatched it. “Hey!”

  “You’re not supposed to have access to magic right now,” I said. “Coven’s orders.” The mayor and Lady Weatherby seemed to have spare wands stashed all over town. It was like playing whack-a-wand.

  She began to pout. “Killjoy.”

  “Trust me. It’s for your own good.” And everyone else’s.

/>   Janis Goodfellow was on her hands and knees in the dirt, bottom high in the air.

  I cleared my throat. “Hello, I’m…”

  She flipped over and peered up at me, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Yes, yes. Emma Hart. New witch on the block. Yada yada. I know.”

  “You recognize me?”

  She pointed skyward. “Your owl gave you away. I saw his shadow pass overhead a couple of minutes ago. Reconnaissance, was it?”

  “Sedgwick likes to check things out for me,” I admitted. Plus, he’s nosy.

  She stood and dusted the dirt from her knees. “So how can I help you, newbie?”

  “You can call me Emma. I came to talk to you about your dispute with the town council.”

  “Why?” she asked with a note of eagerness. “Do you need nightshade? Or maybe a little belladonna?”

  “No, no. I’m not interested in any deadly plants.” With my luck, I’d accidentally poison my entire harp therapy group. Wouldn’t Sheriff Hugo love the opportunity to arrest me for mass murder?

  She arched an eyebrow. “Not interested? Darling, you’re a witch. You should want to learn everything there is to know.”

  “I don’t think poisonous plants are covered in this year’s curriculum.” Truth be told, I had no idea what the rest of the school year entailed. Somehow, I couldn’t see Lady Weatherby trusting the remedial witches with deadly…anything. We were still in the training wheels phase of our education.

  “It wasn’t like that back when Agnes was in charge,” she complained. “We learned by trial and error. None of this classroom malarkey.”

  “Were you at the academy when Agnes was head of the coven?”

  Her head bobbed. “The academy was less formal then. None of these certificates and other nonsense. If you lived, you passed.”

  The tough love approach.

  “So what do you want to know about the dispute?” she asked.

  I took a careful step away from the vines brushing against my arm. It seemed I couldn’t be too careful in this garden.

  “It’s my understanding that you requested permission to include certain deadly plants in your garden that are generally prohibited.”

  “That’s right and the council denied the request.” She bristled. “Lady Weatherby, head of the coven. You would think she of all people would approve it.”