What's a Witch to Do?: A Midnight Magic Mystery

by Jennifer Harlow

  I hear applause, which means Nadine has successfully paired off, and it’s my turn. Okay, let’s just get this over with. This is the South, some gentleman will take pity on me if nobody makes an offer. I smooth my hair, throw my shoulders back, plaster a smile on, and walk out. Yep, definitely about to throw up.

  “And here is our next bachelorette, Miss Mona McGregor,” the auctioneer says as I enter. The spotlight follows me through the dark room. People politely applaud as I make my way up to the stage. I can’t see the majority of the audience for which I am grateful, though Guy stands right at the front, all smiles and pride. “Miss McGregor hails from Goodnight and is the proprietress of Midnight Magic. She is active in the community there and enjoys going to the movies,” the man reads off the card. It’s really sad that I had to make up a hobby. “As always, we’ll start the bidding at one hundred dollars.”

  “Three hundred,” Guy says with a proud smile.

  “Five hundred,” I think Clay says, goddess bless him.

  “Six,” Guy says, beaming up at me.

  This is going better than I thought. “Seven,” Clay says.

  “Eight,” from Guy.

  There’s a moment of silence before the auctioneer says, “Do we have any other—”

  “Two thousand dollars,” a new man says, though the voice is too faint to place.

  The audience gasps along with me. I can’t have heard that right. What on earth? Everyone, a shocked Guy too, turns to get a glimpse of the man. Damn these lights! The auctioneer clears his throat. “Um, we have two thousand from the gentleman in the back.”

  “Twenty-one hundred,” Guy says.

  “Twenty-five,” the man in the back says.

  Guy’s lips purse in disapproval. “Three thousand,” he says with a hard edge.

  “Four,” the mystery man says without missing a beat.

  There is dead silence for a few seconds. This is madness. Wonderful madness, but still. Guy just stands there scowling, indecision visible even from here. It breaks like a fever. “Six thousand dollars. And well worth it.”

  “We have six thousand for Miss Mona McGregor. Do I hear seven?” There’s no answer. “Sir in the back?” I shield my eyes to get a look but to no avail. “No? Then sold to the gentleman in the front for six thousand dollars!”

  Hell’s bells.

  The audience applauds as I step carefully offstage in my heels. That went well. When I take the final step Guy is by my side, wrapping his arm around my waist and waving to the people. “Almost lost you there for a second,” he says to me.

  As he leads me out of the room, I scan it for the man in back. “Who was the other bidder?”

  Guy looks around, then kisses my cheek. “Forget him. You’re all mine now.”

  I sigh. Oh lucky me.

  Go on a date with a possibly evil doctor

  At least Guy will get his money’s worth with the food even if I’m a mess inside right now. We join the other couples on the candlelit patio. Paper lanterns hang above with magnolias floating in water and candles next to them as centerpieces. A string quartet plays romantic music off to the side. I pass the other women, who are at least pretending to enjoy themselves. Bethany ended up with Royal Lorrel, the owner of Lorrel Dodge, poor thing. She just smiles as his mouth moves as quickly as his cars. Erica glances up at me for a moment, face blank, then back to her date.

  Cousin Dickie pulls out my chair for me, and the date officially begins. The quite pleased with himself Guy smiles at me, and I manage one back. Even if I didn’t now suspect he had ulterior motives I’d be nervous. The man did shell out six grand for a meal with me. No pressure there. Dickie pours our wine then walks away. Guy holds up his glass and I follow suit. “To our first date. May it be one of many.”

  We clink glasses. “Let’s just hope all aren’t as expensive,” I say as I sip.

  “True. Not that it isn’t worth it,” he adds. “And it’s a tax write-

  off.”

  “How did I compare to the others?”

  “Before you the highest was fifteen hundred for the homecoming queen.”

  “Hell’s bells,” I say.

  “I like to win,” Guy says. His hand slides across the table and touches mine. “Especially with the important things.”

  Dickie returns with our salads, and I take the opportunity to pull my hand away. We place our orders, which he brings right away (I’m guessing they were prepared in advance), and Dickie scoots off again. I spy Erica looking at me, but she glances away when I catch her. “This looks good,” I say as I pick up my fork.

  “So do you,” he says. “You look wonderful tonight.”

  “Yeah, I clean up good,” I say, shoving filet into my mouth.

  He sits back in his chair, examining me. “It’s more than that. I—I look at you and I just … you’re so wonderful, how you take care of those kids. How you run your own business. I think you’re the most spectacular, beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  And with those words, my heart breaks along with any illusions I’ve harbored. I physically hurt. “Okay, you need to stop talking now.”

  “Why? I didn’t … did I offend you? I’ve come on too strong, haven’t I?”

  I press my fingers against my temples to stop the oncoming headache. “Just stop it, okay? I don’t believe a word coming out of your mouth.”

  He’s shocked. “What? Why—”

  “Listen, I don’t know why you’re involved in this, why you lured me here tonight. Maybe you and Erica have some sort of relationship, but—”

  “Who’s Erica?”

  “But whatever she’s convinced you to do, it is a bad idea. I’m onto you both now. And if you tell me everything she’s told you, I will make sure that men with guns do not show up on your doorstep, okay?”

  He leans forward. “Mona, I have no clue what you are talking about,” he states emphatically. “None. I don’t know an Erica, and I didn’t lure you here. I wanted to be romantic and—and show you how much I care about you. I—I like you more than any woman I’ve ever met, including my ex-wife.” He pauses to find the words. “I—I think I’m in love with you, Mona.”

  “Oh please. We’ve spent a total of twenty minutes together,” I point out.

  “I know it’s not rational, and it makes no sense to me either because you’re not really my type,” he says with a chuckle, “but I do. You’re all I think about all day. I even dream about you. I’ve driven by your house, even your shop a dozen times just to get a glimpse of you. I can’t concentrate, especially when you’re right in front of me. It’s taking all my resolve not to jump across this table and … you know. If that’s not love, I don’t know what it is.”

  I do. I know what this is. And I am a total idiot for not seeing it right away. Of course. At least he doesn’t want to kill me. “Guy, when did you start having these feelings?”

  “Um … the moment I saw you in the exam room on Saturday. You took my breath away.”

  “I’m sure I did,” I say with an eye roll. “And nothing prior to then?”

  He thinks. “No. It was like I was seeing you for the first time.”

  “You saw me in the lobby the same day. In-between those two times, did someone give you something to drink or a piece of jewelry or a little bag?”

  “You mean the bracelet Sophie gave me?” He pushes up his jacket to the wrist and reveals a blue and pink braided bracelet I now remember her working on. You have got to be kidding me. That girl.

  “Yeah,” I say with a sigh. I signal Dickie over. “Hey. I need a glass of mineral water, a clean bowl, sea salt, some sage, and if the kitchen has it, cinnamon as well.” He nods and walks away, leaving me with the lovelorn doctor. “I need to apologize for my accusations. I see now they’re unfounded. I also apologize for my niece. She will be punished for this.”

  “For what?”

  “I’ll tell you in a minute. Just know I’m sorry, and I had no idea she did this to you.” An agonizing minute
later, Dickie returns with all my tools. All the other couples, who have been pretending not to watch since his declaration, glance over again. “Can you take off the bracelet please?” He does. “Do you feel any different?”

  “How so?” Take that as a no. I light the sucker on fire with the candle at our romantic table. “What? Why are you—”

  “Trust me.” I set the burning cloth on the empty bread plate and add the salt, sage, and cinnamon to the mineral water. Mixing with my finger, I close my eyes and call the magic, infusing the water with it. When I open them, all eyes are on me and not bothering to hide it. A confused Guy watches as I dump the ashes into the water and mix again. “Give me your wrist.” He reaches across, and I take it. I dab two fingers into the murky water then run them along the area where the bracelet touched. He grimaces but doesn’t pull away. I raise my fingers an inch above the area. “Look into my eyes.” His eyes meet mine, and I savor this moment. This is the first and probably last time a man will look at me with love, false or not. It was nice while it lasted. I take a deep breath, then say, “Purgo,” at the same time I touch his wrist, magic flowing out of my fingertips.

  The change is instantaneous. Love morphs into shock, then confusion tinged with anger. I have no idea what to say or do except wait for him to lead the way. He blinks and moves as far from me as possible. With the “love” that was clouding his mind gone, he glances around the room at all the staring people. “What the hell is going on?” he asks.

  “It’s … hard to explain.”

  “What did you do to me? I feel … strange.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  “Did you drug me?” he hisses in a whisper.

  “Uh, in a way. But you’re completely healed now, okay? I’m, uh, going to go now,” I say as I move to stand.

  Guy reaches across the table and seizes my hand, shocking me. “Sit down.”

  I obey. “I don’t know what else I can tell you.”

  “Ten seconds ago I wanted to marry you, and then you did that … whatever and now … ” He shakes his head. “What the hell is going on?”

  I hate having this conversation. I’m only authorized to have it in circumstances such as this, when I have no choice. I’m about to override his entire belief system. It never goes well. “Okay, you’re going to find this very hard to believe. Just keep an open mind, okay?”

  “Fine,” he says gruffly.

  I sigh. “You were enchanted. By a love spell. The bracelet sort of brainwashed you into thinking you were in love with me.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Guy says.

  “It does if you believe in witchcraft. Real witchcraft, not just Wicca. I’m a witch.”

  Guy stares at me for a second, then breaks into laughter. “Yeah, right.”

  Ugh, I hate resorting to parlor tricks, but I want to leave. Now. I reach over toward one of the candles and call the fire. The flame does as I command. It rises in a spiral as I move my finger the same way. Guy’s eyes grow wide as it glides up inches. When I move my hand away, the flame dies. In case he still doesn’t believe, I do the same with the water in the centerpiece. The water carries the magnolia up and up in a column. When the water splashes down again, Guy jumps in his chair. He glances from the water, to me, eyes wild with fear.

  “Believe me now?”

  “Holy shit.” The shaking man stands, knocking over his chair. He backs away from me as if I was a rabid dog. “Fu—don’t … oh fuck.” He hits the table behind and it rattles, sending wine glasses rolling. The other couples murmur at the spectacle.

  I stand and hold up my hands. “Guy, please calm down.”

  “Stay the hell away from me you … you … monster.”

  “Son, there’s no cause to speak to the lady like that,” Erica’s date says.

  “She—she fucking put a spell on me to make me love her! She’s a fucking witch!”

  “Guy … ” I say as I take a step.

  “Don’t come near me, you fat bitch!” And he storms off inside as fast as he can.

  For a moment, I’m too shocked to move. I know all the people are staring and murmuring, but they’re far away from me. I feel nothing. Not the air, not the ground beneath my feet, not even my own body. I want to stay in this void forever. Then someone says my name and touches my arm. My head whips toward the source: a concerned Bethany.

  “Are you alright?”

  I don’t answer her. I can’t stand all those pitying eyes on me. They almost burn. I dash toward the door into the hallway, my panting mouth covered by my hand. I will not cry in front of anyone, I won’t. Bethany follows me out, calling my name, but I keep sprinting past the other partygoers. I can feel their stares as well and pick up the pace. Tears well in my eyes, but I keep them at bay as I hurry down the driveway to the parking lot. I’m an idiot. I am such a freaking idiot. What …

  Oh fuck.

  As I walk over the bridge to the lot, the relief I should feel turns into sheer panic. My skin is stabbed with tiny pins, and my stomach lurches. It’s here. I gasp and shudder as I scan the area, but there’s nobody in sight, just trees, cars, and the night. “Oh shit,” I whisper. What the hell do I do? Do I run back inside? Can I even make it? The car. Get to the car. I kick off my heels and run off like a flash. My protection amulet burns against my skin. He’s trying something psychic. I half expect trees to come alive or fall on me, but I make it to the car intact.

  But I’m a moron. I left my keys in my purse, which is on the ground back at the country club. Worse, all four of my tires are flat. “Oh shit, oh shit,” I mutter. I can’t stay out in the open. I pop the lock with a spell and jump in. If there’s a spell to start the car, I don’t know it. My whole body is quaking with fear and adrenaline. I can’t think. What the hell am I going to do? I’m a sitting duck in here. Just focus. Focus.

  Wait, I prepared for this. My trembling hands open the glove box and I pull out chalk, a crystal, and athame. There are three small crystals already in place in the car and when I put this one in the corner and energize it, the perimeter goes up. Even my amulet stops burning. Now I just have to wait. Adam’s on his way. He’ll get here in time. We’ll … as I look around the lot, I notice Auntie Sara’s Monte Carlo. He’s here already. What … I honk the horn in Morse code for S.O.S. Thank the goddess Mommy signed me up for Girl Scouts. With his werewolf hearing, he’s bound to hear this. He has to. Oh hell, then what?

  There is movement to my left, but I keep honking. The door of a pickup opens and a pretty girl about ten years younger than me climbs out. She’s wearing a black sweater and jeans, and she grimaces and covers her ears as she approaches. I’ve seen her before, but I can’t place her. “Are you okay?” she shouts.

  I stop honking. “You need to get out of here!” I shout.

  “What? Why? Open the window, I can barely hear you,” she says.

  “I can’t! Just go up to the club! It’s not safe here!”

  She stops right beside the car and reaches for the handle, but the barrier won’t allow it. “Shit! Fucking witches!” She hits the barrier with her fist, and the car tilts to the right from the sheer force.

  Oh hell’s bells.

  Clarity comes too late. She was outside Cheyenne’s house with Cray Bradshaw. When the demon was there. When she was there. No, demons come as men. There’s only one female demon we know of that visits this plane.

  “Lilith,” I say.

  She smiles. “Nice to meet you. Now get out of the fucking car!” she roars. She pushes against it and the car jerks again. I hate super-strength. I scream as I fall to the side. The chalk in the passenger seat rolls; it’ll have to do. I reach for it, and as she pushes the car again, I quickly draw a banishing sigil on the dash. She tries again, this time the car lifts a few inches off the ground. I stab my finger with the knife to draw blood as I bounce back to earth. She lifts again, but when I press my blood onto the sigil and scream, “Absentis!” she jolts with a scream and stumbles three feet back. She can�
��t touch the car now, can’t even get within a few feet of it. She shakes her head to clear it.

  “Shit!”

  “Who summoned you?” I scream.

  “Get out and I’ll tell you,” she says with a smile. I definitely see Cheyenne in her. Same cold blue eyes with a mocking grin. “Might as well. I’m getting bored being stuck in this town. I promise if you do, I’ll make it painless. Barely even feel it. It’ll be just like going to sleep. But if I have to come after you tomorrow, I swear after I’m done with you, I’ll go after those two brats of yours. They’ll keep me energized for weeks. Children’s life forces are so much more delicious.”

  That’s right. The myth is that she’s a succubus, draining energy like a psychic vampire. Most do it with sex, but she can probably do it with her mind. If I wasn’t wearing the amulet I would have keeled over days ago of an apparent heart attack. No one would even think let alone prove murder.

  “You stay the hell away from them!”

  She isn’t paying attention to me. She stares off behind me and a huge grin forms on her face. “Or I can feed now.”

  I turn around. Three people, two men and a woman, walk over the bridge. The woman stops before the men do right under the streetlight. It’s Bethany with Clay and Adam. The relief I should feel is just bone-deep terror. The smiling demon closes her eyes and in the same instant Clay doubles over. No. No! Bethany grabs him to keep him upright. Oh crap. Oh goddess no. She’s killing my best friend! Why the hell didn’t I make him a fucking protection amulet too?

  Adam is faster on the uptake than I was. He must see the woman by my car and just know. He takes off running as Clay falls to the ground with a hysterical Bethany beside him. No. I smash the nearest crystal. The barrier lifts. I call to the wind and she listens. Everything from the trees to the cars shake as a monster gale wind rushes through the parking lot aimed right at her. Anything not weighing a literal ton is knocked down then back as if on rollers into the wooded area. The demon smacks against a tree, her head lolling to the side. She’s knocked out. She won’t stay like that for long.