Witch Kissed (Old Sarum Witch Cozy Mystery Series, #1)

by K. E. O'Connor

  “They get tongue tied because they’re afraid they might disappear alongside all of the treasures you’ve hoarded,” said Ivy, her back still to Kristoff.

  “So I’m not only a thief, I’m also a killer.” Kristoff quirked a dark eyebrow at Bryony, a smile playing across his lips. “I certainly know where to come if I feel my ego is becoming too large.”

  Ivy turned to Kristoff. “I didn’t say you were a killer. I simply said you make people disappear. For all we know, you’ve got them chained in some dank dungeon somewhere.”

  “I think you’ve been reading too many gothic novels,” said Kristoff. “And besides, my dungeons are not dank.”

  “Will there be anything else?” Bryony swiftly bagged the herbs Kristoff had selected. “We are doing a special on charms this month. You get a discount if you buy three or more.”

  Kristoff turned his attention to Bryony and his pale blue eyes sparkled at her. “I am not in need of any charms. My life seems full of delights without your, no doubt, wonderful magic to assist me.”

  “You employ your own herbalist and spell maker,” said Ivy. “I don’t even know what you come in here for.”

  “Because of your scintillating conversation.” Kristoff placed some money on the counter and picked up the bag of herbs. “I always enjoy your company, Ivy. And may I say how lovely you look in those black jeans and blouse. The color makes your skin shine.”

  Ivy snorted and patted her leg. Spike skulked out from behind the counter, his eyes glowing red and saliva dripping from his jowls. “It’s time you left.”

  Kristoff’s smile only broadened as he crouched down and clicked his fingers at Spike. “Come here, boy.”

  Bryony’s hand went to her mouth. “Perhaps you shouldn’t.” Not many people commanded Spike and lived to tell the tale.

  After a few seconds of angry snarling, Spike stood and padded his way over to Kristoff. He was still growling and his eyes glowed with an intense redness that lit up the store.

  “He’s a handsome dog,” said Kristoff.

  “Not everyone takes to his glowing eyes,” said Bryony.

  Kristoff scratched behind Spike’s ears and rested his forehead against the dog’s soft head. “I think he’s a fine animal.” He stood and looked over at Ivy, his smile growing as he saw the startled expression on her face.

  “He hates everybody,” said Ivy.

  “He’s discovered a kindred spirit in me,” said Kristoff. “I have a way with hell beasts. If you ever want me to come on walks with the two of you I’d be happy to oblige.”

  “Spike hates walking,” said Ivy.

  “I can take him to some fascinating regions of the Underworld,” said Kristoff. “He would enjoy himself.”

  “Spike does not like the Underworld,” said Ivy. “Spike, come here.” She slapped her hand against her leg.

  “As you wish, my dear Ivy.” Kristoff turned on his heel. “It was a pleasure to see you both.” He left the store, the bag of herbs under one arm and his tuneful whistle echoing along the street.

  Bryony blinked at her sister. “I can’t believe it. Spike didn’t bite Kristoff.”

  “I need a new dog,” muttered Ivy. “Spike, how could you betray me like that? Kristoff is the enemy.”

  Spike gave a whine, followed by a loud growl, before stalking back behind the counter and flopping next to Bryony’s feet.

  “Maybe Spike thinks he isn’t the enemy,” said Bryony cautiously, knowing how touchy Ivy was about Kristoff. “No matter how mean you are to Kristoff, he keeps coming back. I’m sure he likes you.”

  “He can like me all he wants,” said Ivy. “But it doesn’t change how I feel about him. He’s rude, arrogant, and has an ego the size of that giant troll who lives near the Old Sarum bridge.”

  “Kristoff is good looking,” said Bryony. “And yes, he can appear a little arrogant, but that’s just his way. He’s a wealthy, successful demon. He could be trying to impress you.”

  “Well, he doesn’t impress me,” said Ivy. “And he’s only a half demon. There’s a big difference.”

  “Yes, two of the good differences being he doesn’t have horns or a tail.”

  The air next to Ivy shimmered a dark purple color and the temperature in the room plummeted.

  “Looks like we’ve got an arrival.” Bryony’s breath plumed out of her like smoke as the store grew icy.

  “I don’t know why she can’t use the front door like most people.” Ivy rubbed her arms briskly and moved to stand next to Bryony.

  A few seconds later, Aunt Lilith stepped through the purple shimmer into the store. Her hair was now flame red and she wore a jet black floor length dress, nipped in at the waist. She surveyed the store briefly before her gaze settled on her nieces.

  “Good morning, Aunt Lilith,” said Bryony.

  “Greetings, child.” Aunt Lilith completed a slow circuit of the store before turning to them. “I have brought you a gift.” She extended a hand, revealing a small black book.

  “What is it?” Bryony emerged from behind the counter and took the book from her aunt’s hand.

  “A book of curses,” said Aunt Lilith. “I was considering the case you are working on with your kiss cursed witch and remembered I had this book of curses from when I was a child. There might be something in there to assist you in unraveling the curse.”

  Bryony flipped open the book and read through a couple of the curses. “There’s a lot of notes in the margins.”

  “I enjoyed adapting the curses to make them more powerful and long lasting,” said Aunt Lilith. “You might like to experiment with some of my own curse creations. There’s a notes page in the back I have also filled.”

  “We don’t need a new curse, we need to break an existing curse,” said Ivy. “And we’re not even certain Agatha is under a curse.”

  “You can never have too many curses at your fingertips,” said Aunt Lilith. “And if you discover the origins of the curse and how it was created, it will help you in unpicking it and assisting this witch.”

  “It’s a great idea,” said Bryony. “I’ll have a read of the book this evening and see what we can discover.”

  Aunt Lilith nodded before her gaze turned to the door. “Somebody is coming.” The temperature in the room dropped again and she disappeared.

  The store door slammed open and Agatha rushed in. “You have to help me.”

  “I take it the herbs I gave you weren’t a success?” Bryony shut the curse book and walked towards Agatha.

  “It so much worse than that.” Agatha let out a strangled cry. “I’ve killed somebody.”

  Chapter 6

  “What have you done?” Bryony’s normally tanned face grew pale. “Was it the kiss curse?”

  Agatha nodded, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I had to know if the curse was still active, so I tested it out on somebody else after I left the store yesterday.”

  “You kissed someone to death?” asked Ivy.

  “No one from here,” said Agatha. “I couldn’t risk anyone being harmed here, or any more men going off me.”

  “Perish the thought,” said Ivy.

  “So who did you find to kiss?” asked Bryony. “And where are they from?”

  Agatha clutched Bryony’s hands. “I’ve made such a horrible mistake. I didn’t think this would happen.”

  Ivy hurried forward, grabbed hold of Agatha’s shoulders and shook her. “What did you do?”

  “I’m so ashamed,” sobbed Agatha.

  Ivy sighed and went to shake Agatha again, but Bryony disentangled her fingers from Agatha’s grip and put a restraining hand on Ivy’s arm. “Why don’t you show us what you’ve done? If we know what’s happened we’ll be able to help you. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is.”

  “It is.” After a few more shaky breaths, Agatha nodded her head. “You’d better come with me.” She gestured for them to follow her out of the store.

  “We can’t shut the store,” said Ivy.

>   “We can spare ten minutes,” said Bryony. “I’ll put up the back soon sign and lock the door. You two go ahead.”

  Ivy grumbled something under her breath but then followed a still sobbing Agatha out of the store.

  Bryony swiftly shut the store and hurried after them. Worry clenched her stomach. Curses were powerful and unpredictable. If Agatha had kissed someone who was weak or sick, the curse might have taken hold of them too strongly and done them harm. She needed to get to the bottom of this curse and break it for Agatha’s, and everyone’s, sake.

  She caught up with Ivy and linked her hand through her sister’s elbow. “Has Agatha said anything else?” she whispered.

  “Other than the occasional unintelligible garble and her continual crying, she’s not said anything of use,” said Ivy, speaking louder than she needed to. “She’s being ridiculous.”

  “We need to check it out,” said Bryony. “Make sure nobody has been hurt.”

  “Ever the good Samaritan,” said Ivy.

  “You wouldn’t ignore her cry for help if you were on your own and Agatha came into the store asking for assistance.”

  “I would if she kept sniffing and sobbing,” muttered Ivy.

  Agatha stopped outside Maggie Wing’s tavern. The old building had a curious lean to the left, as if it was slowly toppling over but taking a century to do so. Thick dark stained beams crisscrossed the outside of the white fronted two-story building, and a low heavy thatch hung over the roof.

  “Are we stopping for a drink first?” asked Ivy as they caught up with Agatha.

  “No, but it happened over there.” Agatha pointed behind the tavern.

  “You took some poor innocent drunk man out the back of the tavern and had your wicked way with him?” Ivy smirked and looked at her sister.

  “It wasn’t anyone from Old Sarum,” whispered Agatha.

  Bryony’s hand flew to her mouth, the knot of worry in her stomach cramping. “You didn’t cross the border?”

  Agatha wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “I had no choice! I couldn’t risk anyone else in Old Sarum going off me. There are so many red bloods over the border. I thought if I tried the curse on a few of them it would help me figure out what’s going on. Help me to solve it.”

  Ivy wrinkled her nose. “Gross. Kissing a red blood.”

  “Some of them are cute,” said Agatha. “I’d even consider dating a red blood if it meant they still liked me after I kissed them.”

  “But they didn’t like you,” said Ivy. “What did you do; kiss a red blood and he keeled over and died?”

  “Yes! That’s exactly what happened,” said Agatha. “We need to cross the border again and see if he’s still there.”

  “And you’re sure he’s dead?” asked Bryony. “Maybe he fainted. Magic makes red bloods do strange things.”

  “I didn’t stop to find out,” said Agatha. “He seemed like a nice man. He was friendly and smiling, and I couldn’t help myself. I knew he wouldn’t mind. But then he collapsed. He grabbed his throat and started choking. As I fled, I did turn to see what he was doing. But he was on the ground, his eyes were open and he wasn’t moving. He looked dead to me.”

  “Come on, let’s see what mess you’ve made.” Ivy grabbed hold of Agatha’s arm and shoved her forward. “You’d better show us where you breached the border. We can use the damage to the magic to get through more easily.”

  Agatha inched forward, her hands outstretched as she tested the magic shielding Old Sarum from the human world. “It’s around here somewhere. I only made a small hole, one I could crawl through and then repair. But I can’t find it.”

  “You’re sure this is the right place?” asked Bryony.

  “Yes, I picked that bush behind us as a place marker so I knew how to get in and out.”

  “You were planning to do more than one experiment with the red bloods?” asked Ivy.

  Agatha’s blotchy cheeks grew darker. “I needed to be sure. And there are so many of them, a few injured ones won’t matter.”

  “Agatha, that’s a terrible thing to say,” said Bryony. “They may not be like us, but that doesn’t mean we get to play with them because it furthers our desires.”

  “I don’t know about that,” said Ivy. “There are a lot of red bloods. And not a lot of them are useful.”

  Bryony glared at her sister. “That’s not the point at all. We help keep them safe, not do them harm. We keep them away from magic so they can’t get into trouble. We don’t use it on them whenever we want to.”

  Ivy held her hands up. “Fine. Let’s just find this opening and see what’s happened.”

  Another five minutes of frantic searching and they were no closer to discovering the hole.

  “I’ll make a new one,” said Ivy with a sigh. She looked over at Bryony. “But if my magic use gets detected by your boyfriend, you’re going to cover for me.”

  “Gabriel is not my boyfriend.” Bryony glanced around them, checking to make sure they weren’t being watched. “But be quick. As soon as the cut is made in the border, the Charm Police will know something is going on. We’ll have about ten minutes before a team is dispatched to see why the border has been damaged.”

  Ivy shoved Agatha out of the way and made two large slashes through the border magic with her hand. “Let’s go.” She grabbed hold of Agatha again and the two of them walked across the border.

  After one final check around to make sure they weren’t being watched, Bryony hurried after them, the torn magic sucking at her skin as she walked through it like a giant, hungry leech. A roaring sound filled her ears, popping them as she stepped through.

  On the other side of the border, Bryony blinked. The red bloods world seemed so much drabber than their lively, colorful home. Despite standing in what looked like a park, the air was full of the unpleasant smell of car fumes. Every time the wind touched Bryony's skin, it felt as if something gritty brushed past her.

  Ivy gestured over to her from a few feet away. “There’s no one here. Agatha must have got it wrong.”

  “This is exactly where we were. I kissed him right on this spot.” Agatha’s eyes took on a hopeful gleam. “He didn’t die. The magic overwhelmed him for a short time, but then he was fine. He got up and went back to his normal life. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Well, you have done a few things wrong,” said Bryony. “You did breach the border, you did use a curse on a red blood, and you did think you’d killed him. Are you sure this is the right place?”

  “Positive. This is it.” Agatha scrubbed the last of the tears from her cheeks. “I was worrying about nothing. He’s fine.”

  Ivy shook her head. “So we came out of Old Sarum for nothing.”

  “Looks like it.” Agatha blanched as she noticed Ivy’s angry expression. “Sorry about that.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Ivy turned back towards the border.

  Agatha chewed on her bottom lip. “While we’re here, perhaps we should check on the others as well.”

  Chapter 7

  “The others!” Bryony shot Ivy a worried look.

  “I kissed three red bloods when I was here,” said Agatha, a look of guilt on her face. “None of them were too happy about it afterwards. The last one really had a tough time. But it might be wise to make sure the other two are okay as well.”

  Ivy groaned and tipped her head back. “Fine, you magic using idiot. But let’s hurry. If you get us in trouble, you will have more than a kiss curse to worry about.”

  Agatha swallowed. “They’re not far away. We’ll be there in minutes. I left one sitting on a bench. He was half asleep when I stopped kissing him.”

  The three of them ran along a gravel path and under a number of large oak trees, their limbs tipped over the path shielding them from the weak sun.

  “He’s still there.” Agatha ran to a wooden bench tucked into one corner of the park. A slim, middle-aged man with receding brown hair and glasses sat on the bench. He had a half-e
aten sandwich in one hand, and a newspaper spread across his lap.

  “You left him like this?” Ivy peered down at the red blood. “Is he even breathing?”

  “Don’t say that,” said Agatha. “He was still talking when I left him. Well, just about. He was making noises at me.”

  “And you didn’t check to see if those noises were good noises?” Bryony crouched in front of the red blood and gently touched his knee. He didn’t stir.

  “And this happened to him after you kissed him?” asked Ivy.

  “Yes, almost straightaway. I pressed my lips to his and he went... strange.”

  Bryony spent a few minutes checking him over. “He still has a pulse, even though he’s not breathing. And he’s not cold. I don’t think he’s dead.”

  “Then what’s wrong with him?” asked Ivy.

  “I’ve no idea,” said Bryony. “But we need to get him out of here, get the magic removed, and make him well again.”

  “This isn’t our fault,” said Ivy. “Agatha should sort this out on her own.”

  Bryony grabbed hold of her sister’s arm and dragged her away. “If we had taken Agatha’s curse more seriously when she first came to see us, this mess wouldn’t have happened. She wouldn’t have been desperate enough to cross the border and start kissing random red bloods in the hope of figuring out a cure herself.”

  “It’s still not our fault,” muttered Ivy. “She’s the one being an idiot.”

  “Agatha’s actions were not sensible,” said Bryony. “But we’re here now, and I’m sure we can help. You know we have an obligation to assist any human found in the thrall of magic.” It was an ancient agreement that the most powerful species would never subjugate or harm a weaker creature, and assist them when they had been harmed by magic. Anyone who did not live by that code was evicted from Old Sarum.

  Ivy let out a dramatic sigh. “Let’s collect our booby prize and get out of here. Being in red blood land makes my skin itch.”

  They returned to the bench and hoisted the red blood up between them.