Witch Out of Water
A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery
Amanda M. Lee
WinchesterShaw Publications
Copyright © 2018 by Amanda M. Lee
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
26. Twenty-Six
27. Twenty-Seven
28. Twenty-Eight
29. Twenty-Nine
Mailing List
About the Author
Books by Amanda M. Lee
1
One
A naked woman stood in my backyard when I took my coffee to the patio to enjoy the sunrise.
Don’t worry; this story won’t veer into porn territory or anything. I simply thought it merited noting because it wasn’t as if I could look away from the ridiculously-toned silhouette … and I’m big on sharing the suffering when the opportunity arises.
I ran my tongue over my teeth and regarded Aurora King – she of the gleaming fins and tail when hitting the water off Moonstone Bay – with an uncertain look. I hadn’t seen her in almost a week, not since she’d saved me from a madman who wanted to steal the lighthouse I found myself living in.
That’s when I discovered she was a mermaid, for the record. I was in the water and trying to swim toward shore even though I was terrified of sharks (or worse yet, shark shifters) coming after me. Aurora showed up out of nowhere – naked, as is her way – and towed me to shore where the cavalry was waiting.
The man who wanted me dead so he could steal the property my grandmother had left me in her will was now gone – shot by a grandfather I never knew I’d had – and I returned to a life I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. I was still struggling with the aftermath, although my panic and uncertainty lessened every day.
“Hey, Hadley.” Aurora offered me a wave as she tugged on a pair of knit shorts, her bare breasts still fully on display. “Do you have a cup of that for me?”
I flicked my eyes to the coffee mug in my hand and found myself nodding before I gave the question much thought. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
I returned to the lighthouse kitchen long enough to pour another mug of coffee from the percolating machine – something that felt somehow antique in this day and age – and found Aurora sitting in a lounge chair when I returned. Her hair wet, her T-shirt clinging to her in ways that made me realize she hadn’t put on a bra before getting dressed, and her smile somehow mischievous rather than warm and welcoming.
“Here.” I handed her the mug and sat on the lounger across the way, my heart rate picking up a notch as I debated what to say to her. It somehow seemed disingenuous to thank her for saving my life a week after the fact, but I couldn’t remember thanking her that day on the beach. I had other things on my mind … like a crazed lawyer with a gun and finding out Aurora was actually a mermaid.
Yeah, I was still floundering over that one.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind, Hadley,” Aurora noted after sipping her coffee. “Would you like to talk about it?”
The woman was prim and proper – as if she was a therapist trying to delve into my busy brain – and the realization did little to ease my discomfort. “I don’t have a lot on my mind.” I averted my gaze. “What makes you think I have a lot on my mind?”
“Because I’ve met you and I’ve yet to see you when you didn’t have a lot on your mind,” Aurora replied, pursing her lips as she looked me up and down. Thankfully I was smart enough to dress in simple shorts and a T-shirt for bed, so there was nothing about my pajamas she could find objectionable. “How is May?”
Oh, well, that was a loaded question. May Belladonna Potter was my grandmother. She was the reason I found myself living in Moonstone Bay. She died, left me a lighthouse on an island I’d never heard of, and sent me on the adventure of a lifetime.
I still wasn’t sure if I should be grateful or annoyed about any of it.
“She’s still around, although she pops in and out a lot,” I answered. “She doesn’t seem keen to answer questions, instead showing up in weird spots – like the kitchen or library – and spending five minutes prattling on about me and how I should drink more water before leaving the second I ask her a question about anything else.”
“That sounds just like May.” Aurora adopted a fond smile. “Did I tell you that she used to have coffee waiting for me on this patio at least twice a week? She always liked hearing about what was going on in the sea.”
I nodded. “You told me.”
“As for her not answering questions, I’m going to guess that’s a multifaceted problem she’s still trying to figure out. She probably thought she would have more time before explanations were necessary but then you turned into a target and figured out you had magic. That meant she had to work faster than she would’ve liked. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
I couldn’t stop myself from making an exaggerated face. “You wouldn’t worry about it?”
Aurora was blasé. “Nope. I wouldn’t worry about it at all. I’m sure May will come around when she feels it’s time.”
That was another thing that bothered me. “Yeah, um, that’s weird, too. I mean … May is dead. I never got to meet her in life and yet she’s running around as a ghost in the lighthouse where I live. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Aurora shrugged as she sipped her coffee. “Not on this island. I’m sure you find it weird, though. Have you ever asked yourself why you think that way?”
And she was back to being a therapist … and not a very good one. “I think it’s weird because ghosts aren’t supposed to be real.”
“Says who?”
“Says … um … anyone who has ever lived in a place other than Moonstone Bay.” I was uncomfortable with the conversation so I decided to change it. “What about you? Do you have any good gossip from town?”
“Oh, the town is always thick with gossip.” If Aurora was annoyed at my rather clumsy transition she didn’t show it. “Sunny Lee, who owns the nail salon, and Babs Houghton, who owns the laundromat, are going to war over a small park they share in the downtown area. That promises to be all kinds of fun.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of the tidbit. “Oh, well … why are they fighting over a park?”
“It’s not really a park. It’s more like a small patio area between the laundromat and nail salon and it’s used most often by people having lunch on the main drag. Other than that, it’s largely ignored.”
“Huh.” Really, what more was I supposed to say? “So why are they fighting?” Aurora showed no signs of leaving, so I had to keep the conversation going somehow. I didn’t want to talk about May, so that meant we had to talk about something else. If warring business owners intrigued Aurora, I was happy to stay on that subject. “I mean … what’s their beef with one another?”
&n
bsp; “Oh, it’s a very long feud,” Aurora replied. “Those two have been going at each other for twenty years.”
“And why is that?”
“Sunny used to work for Babs but decided to branch out on her own and just happened to lease the space next door to Babs,” Aurora explained, her eyes lighting as she warmed to the story. “Babs was grooming Sunny to take over the laundromat without realizing that Sunny didn’t want to take over that business – she told me she found it boring and hated answering questions about stain removal – and much preferred a colorful avenue … like painting nails.”
“Ah, well … .” I really didn’t care about the laundromat and nail salon going to war. “I’m sure they’ll work things out.”
“I’m sure they will, too,” Aurora agreed. “If they don’t, we’re going to have a real human centipede problem on our hand, and nobody wants that.”
“I … what?”
Aurora didn’t slow to respond to my obvious confusion. “And how are things between you and Galen?”
I instantly forgot about the human centipede reference and straightened in my chair. The last thing I wanted to talk about was Galen Blackwood, Moonstone Bay’s sheriff and prime hunk of burning love. Okay, I added that last part. I was the only one who’d lost myself to thoughts of his burning love … but I couldn’t help myself. The man was smoking hot and caused something chemical to ignite in my brain. I couldn’t explain it.
Wait … what were we talking about again? How did we go from human centipede talk to conversing about Galen Blackwood?
When I didn’t answer, Aurora arched an eyebrow and grinned. “That good, huh? Has he rendered you speechless? I seem to remember him having that effect on a lot of women over the years. Now he seems to be keeping to himself – and you – more than spreading the wealth.”
Hmm. Just how much “spreading” were we talking about here? “I think you should ask Galen how he is if you want to know,” I said. “I’m not his keeper.”
“No, but you are dating.” Aurora’s eyes sparkled as she drank in my amusement and … well, basked seemed to be the right word. She was clearly enjoying herself and basking in my discomfort. “Last time I checked, you guys have been together every night this past week.”
That was a horrible lie – or at least a blatant exaggeration. “We haven’t spent a night together since the kidnapping,” I countered. “Once Ned was gone I wasn’t in danger. There was no reason for Galen to stand guard, so he’s been spending nights at his house … or apartment.” Huh. I had no idea whether Galen lived in a house or apartment. That was probably something I should know.
Instead of being surprised by my outburst, Aurora was amused. “Uh-huh. I wasn’t talking about your sleeping arrangements – but thanks for the update on those all the same. I was talking about your dating arrangements. You guys have been seen at different establishments across the island every night this week.”
“Oh, that.” Hmm. There was every chance Aurora thought I was spastic. Normally I wouldn’t care, but Moonstone Bay was nothing if not a hotbed of gossip and innuendo. I didn’t want to be at the center of those circles. “We’ve been out a few times.”
Aurora snorted. “You’ve been out every night this week. In fact, Jadis Lacosta says that you guys were walking on the beach five nights ago. She said you were holding hands and everything.”
“I don’t know Jadis Lacosta.” That was true, and completely trivial given the conversation.
“Alana Jeffords said that four nights ago you were seen at the tiki bar on the pier and you were sharing mussels and beer.”
“We didn’t share beer,” I said hurriedly. “We each had our own beer.”
Aurora barreled forward as if she hadn’t heard a word I said. “Alaric Reynolds says that he saw you guys by the cemetery one night and that Galen had spread out a picnic blanket, as if you guys wanted to be alone while watching the ghouls dance on the other side of the wall.”
I sobered at mention of the cemetery. It wasn’t exactly a sore spot between Galen and me – he hadn’t erected the walls or enacted the curse that made those laid to rest inside get up and walk once darkness hit, after all – but it was something I had trouble accepting, so we didn’t talk much about it.
“Galen wanted me to be aware of what was in the cemetery.” My tone turned decidedly chilly even though I knew Aurora wasn’t at fault for being curious. After all, I was the curious sort, too. I, Hadley Hunter, was known to stick my nose into other people’s business whenever the chance arose. The cemetery was something I was having trouble wrapping my head around, though. “My mother is in there.”
Aurora sobered at the simple statement. “I know she is. I didn’t think about that when I brought it up. I’m sorry.” She seemed legitimately contrite. “Galen was showing you the cemetery because he didn’t want you to accidentally stumble across the zombies and see your mother without someone warning you that it was a possibility.”
That was basically it in a nutshell. “He thought, for once, I should be ahead of the curve,” I supplied. “He wanted to make sure I had a chance to see her because … well, because I never got to meet her before all this. He also wanted to make me aware that the creatures in the cemetery are dangerous and I shouldn’t risk running around there after dark.”
“They’re not creatures. They’re zombies.” Aurora was practical. “You can say the word.”
I didn’t want to say the word. It made me feel like an idiot. I decided to change the subject, again. “So, there’s a festival this week, right?”
Aurora blinked several times in rapid succession as she absorbed the shift in my demeanor. “Right,” she said finally. “For several days, the festival will mainly cater to residents and the few stragglers hanging around between jaunts off the island. After that, it will be a huge free-for-all when all the new visitors get involved. At that point you’ll wish you’d never moved to the island.”
Hmm. That was interesting. “And why do you say that?”
“Because festivals are loud, annoying and we have them all the time. I mean … all the time. I don’t think a month goes by without some sort of festival. They seem fun and entertaining at first, but they get old really fast, especially when you’re forced to constantly deal with drunken tourists.”
I wasn’t an expert on Moonstone Bay – I’d lived here only a few weeks, after all – but something about that statement caught my interest. “Aren’t the tourists here always drunk? I mean, you guys have, like, two stoplights and eight tiki bars.”
“You’re exaggerating. We have six tiki bars.”
That was actually more than I’d counted my first day of touring the island. I’d seen a few more since then, but opted not to count because it gave me a headache. “Fine. You have six tiki bars. That only proves my point. The tourists here are always drunk. This is an island getaway and people go to islands so they can drink out of coconuts and imbibe before noon without getting the hairy eyeball from a boss. I don’t see why the festivals would make things worse.”
“Oh, you’re so cute and shiny,” Aurora cooed, catching me off guard. “I forget that you’re not part of the regular gang and don’t know how things work. No matter. You’ll figure things out on your own soon enough. Everyone always does.”
That sounded rather ominous. “So, you’re not going to tell me why festivals are so terrible?”
Aurora merely shrugged as she stood and handed me her empty coffee mug. “Here’s the thing, I don’t want to taint your opinion about the island or what it has to offer because I’ve been warned repeatedly to keep my mouth shut.”
That was news to me. “Who told you to shut your trap?”
“Galen, and he didn’t use those exact words.” Aurora offered me a pretty smile. She really was quite striking, which made me wonder if she and Galen had had a thing before I landed on the island. She seemed his type. Wait … that was so not the point of the conversation right now. I had more important things to worry about.
“What words did he use?” I was honestly curious. If Galen was telling people how to act around me, there had to be a reason. I didn’t know him all that well, but I recognized that fact fairly easily. “I mean … what exactly did he say?”
If Aurora sensed danger lurking behind my reaction, she didn’t show it. She was incredibly nonchalant as she shrugged. “He said that he didn’t want anyone foisting his or her preconceived notions onto you. He wants you to discover what you like and don’t like about Moonstone Bay on your own.
“I think he’s hoping that he’s the thing you like best,” she continued. “He didn’t come out and say it, but it’s written all over his face. He’s got a huge case of crush-itis.”
It took me a moment to comprehend what she was saying. “You think he has a crush on me? That seems … ridiculous … since we’re dating.”
“I agree.” Aurora beamed, clearly not caring if the expression irritated me. “I don’t see why he’s so up in arms about protecting you. He is, though, and I agreed not to complain and force you to my way of thinking when it comes to the island. He wants you to like what you legitimately like and hate what you legitimately hate … as long as the hate doesn’t extend to him.”
“I don’t think he has to worry about that,” I said absently.
Aurora barked out a laugh so loud and raucous it caused me to jolt. “I don’t think he does either. It really doesn’t matter, though. You’ll make up your own mind about the festival. Don’t let the rest of us steer your opinion.”
Witch Out of Water Page 1
