Cursed at First Sight: A Witchy Cozy Mystery (Cursed Coven Cozies Book 1)

by Daphne DeWitt

  “I just wanted to know if the same person you’re telling me to look for did that to your face.”

  He ran his hand down the long red mark before answering. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” he said, before walking away and disappearing into the library.

  Was that a yes? I wasn't sure, but I was going to take it as a yes. After our conversation, I was having doubts that Aaron was the culprit, but then again he could have been messing with my mind and trying to direct my focus somewhere other than at him.

  I was even more confused than I was before. My head was spinning; I needed a nap.

  22

  I was in the middle of having the best dream about me cracking the case and Grandma Misty shipping Daniel back to Atlanta when I was awoken by a pounding on the door. Pulling my fuzzy purple bathrobe off the chair in my room, I quickly put it on and tied it tightly.

  Making it down the stairs, I thought I was the only one who heard it, but not a second later my whole family came running to the door like a herd of buffalo. Well, except for Grandma Misty she came rolling out.

  We all looked like death served cold, almost as if we had just stepped off the set of The Walking Dead except for Sadie. She was perfectly perfect as always. Even after being awoken from her sleep, she was as fresh as a daisy.

  “What time is it?” Agnes asked, yawning, but making sure she got the voice before Abigail did. But one look at Abby and I could tell she was too tired to care that she couldn’t talk.

  I had no clue what time it was, and I didn’t want to know. I just wanted to go back to sleep and go back to my fantasy world where I cracked the case.

  “I’ll tell you what time it is, way too late for anyone to be knocking at our door unannounced,” Grandma Misty said, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

  “Do you think this is like the Salem Witch Trails? Do you think the townsfolk are here to hang us from the oak tree in the yard?” Agnes asked with a straight face.

  Abagail pushed past all of us to get to the door. Pulling it open, she jumped back when she saw who was responsible for it. Her brand spanking new boyfriend, his twin brother, and a mystery woman who shared the same features as the twins. I guessed that she was their sister, Daisy.

  “Hi, Darling. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cade said, kissing the top of her head, “Oh, I take it Agnes has the voice tonight.”

  For a moment I wasn’t sure how he knew about their curse, but then I remembered his creepy talent.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, young man, but is there a reason you almost knocked our door down at this hour? Because if it’s to see my niece than that has to wait until tomorrow,” Grandma Misty said, trying to be as intimidating an old lady in a wheelchair could be, and that wasn’t a lot.

  “Seeing Abby is just a bonus, Ma'am. The reason I'm here is my little sister, Daisy, she's a clairvoyant, and she needs to speak to Malady. It's very important,” he said, looking me in the eye.

  “Trust me, we wouldn't have drug ourselves out of bed unless it was dire. We love our sleep,” Cole said, smiling at Agnes.

  My aunt looked at me before pushing the door all the way open with the flick of her wrist. “Well, in that case, come in,” she said, rolling to the living room.

  We all followed behind her waiting to hear the news. After everyone had gotten seated, Daisy kneeled in from of me. “I saw Allison's murderer admitting to killing her and framing Mason. I also saw how the love spell started and who conjured it up. Red high heels,” she said, closing her eyes as if she was trying to recall every detail from her premonition.

  “I thought it was the same person. So, instead of looking for one person this whole time I should have been searching for two?” I asked, in disbelief.

  “I’m afraid so, but the two people are connected,” she said, rubbing her temples as if her head was aching.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Agnes asked, watching Daisy closely.

  Cole swung his arm around her shoulders and scooted so close to Agnes I thought she was going to fall off of the couch. “Sometimes when she has big visions it gives her migraines.”

  “Why are you sitting so close to me?” she asked, trying to shrug his arm off of her shoulders. Each time she got his arm off of her shoulders he put it back, so she just gave in.

  “Because I like you, Agnes,” he said, going to kiss her cheek.

  “Well, I don't like you. We don't have to date just because your twin brother is dating my twin sister. I think it would be weird if we dated,” she said, getting up and snuggling up to Sadie's side.

  The twin drama would have to wait until Mason was out of jail. “Do you know their names?” I asked Daisy, running my hands through her hair to relieve her headache.

  “No, I don't, but I know that both of them are women. One is a witch, and one is a human. When I close my eyes, I can see Allison falling to her death. It keeps replaying my head. It started out foggy, but every time the vision comes over me it gets a little clearer,” she said, laying her head back on the couch on the couch.

  “Can you see what they look like?” Sadie asked, laying her head on top of Aggie’s.

  “No, I can only hear their voices,” she said, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

  All three of the Blackwater siblings had a special ability that I knew would be useful to help me close the case. “If it's okay with my grandmother, I think you guys should stay here until everything is figured out because all of your abilities could be what it takes to help me free Mason,” I said, watching Grandma Misty's face as she thought it over.

  “As long as the boys stay in Christopher’s old room, don’t worry, boys, he has bunkbeds. And if one of you girls is willing to share your room with Daisy, I don’t see a problem with it.”

  We all said our goodnights and retired to our rooms. I was glad Sadie offered to share her room because when I slept, I took over the whole bed. If I wasn't taking over every inch of the bed, I couldn't get comfortable.

  I lay in bed and wished that the next morning Daisy would have more information for me. At that point, I would have taken any sliver of information that would help me solve it.

  Right now, it looked like the only thing Mason’s case was going to lead to was my first gray hair.

  23

  “Got anything new for me?’ I asked Daisy, walking into the kitchen for breakfast.

  She looked up from her pancakes and frowned. “Not yet. I'm so sorry. I wish I could control when I see stuff, but I can't.”

  I was anxious to find out who the two women were, but I knew that it wasn’t Daisy’s fault. Her ability was delicate yet powerful at the same time. And it was one of the only abilities that brought the witches who possessed it pain.

  “Don’t worry, Daisy. It will come to you when the time is right,” I told her, loading my plate and sitting down beside her.

  “Malady! Daniel is here!” Grandma Misty called, causing me to make the gun symbol with my fingers and point it at my head. That got somewhat of a giggle from Daisy.

  “Why are you telling me?” I yelled.

  “I thought you would want to know!”

  “Well. You were wrong!”

  Daniel’s shoes clack-clacked obviously against the hardwood floor as he headed in our direction. Everything about him screamed "I've got money." He thought everything had to be a social status symbol.

  “I missed you too,” he said, waltzing past the table and headed for the fridge. “Sure, come on in and make yourself at home,” I said, sarcastically.

  “She’s in and you’re not picking on her,” Daniel said, gesturing to Daisy.

  He didn’t even ask her name, he just started talking about her.

  “That’s because I can actually sit around her without wanting to jump Dairy Barn,” I told him, taking a bite of my breakfast.

  After eating in silence for ten minutes, Daniel opened his mouth again. “Who are you anyway?” he asked Daisy, just realizing that she was new.

  “Sh
e's Abigail's new boyfriend's sister,” I told him, making my voice as cold as possible. I'm talking about arctic cold, and I hoped he got frostbite from it.

  He sipped his coffee before pressing his lips together. “I wish you could have been a little ruder when you said that, it would have really taken your distaste for me to the next level,” he said, shrugging out of his coat and placing it on the back of his chair. “What happened to Bobby?” he asked.

  “He finally broke up with her for good. She can do so much better anyway,” Christopher said, walking in the kitchen.

  It had felt like I hadn’t seen him in forever and a day. “Where have you been lately?” I asked.

  “Oh, you know just flying around,” he said, smiling because he was serious, but Daniel was completely oblivious to that, “Who are you?” he asked, looking at Daisy.

  She was in a daze, so she didn't answer. Her body was tense, and she was sweating. I knew she was having a vision and hopefully, it was going to be a big one. “Hello?” Christopher said, waving his hands in front of her face.

  “Is she okay?” Daniel asked.

  “She’s fine. Can you back away from my sister?” Cade’s voice boomed through the kitchen.

  “And who are you? Is Grandma Misty renting the house out as a bed and breakfast?” Christopher asked, watching as Cole waltzed into the kitchen and fixed himself a plate.

  “I’m Cade Blackwater,” he answered, sitting by his sister and whispering something in her ear.

  Daisy’s body relaxed, and her sweating stopped. Whatever her brother had whispered in her ear really calmed her down. She looked at me and almost said something, but then she looked over at Daniel. She knew she couldn’t say anything in front of him.

  Christopher leaned against the kitchen island with his arms folded and his eyebrow arched. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

  Cade clenched his jaw, but his expression softened when Abby walked in the room. “Oh, no you don’t, Buddy. Don’t look at my sister like that,” Christopher said, diving in front of Abigail like he was protecting her from a bullet.

  “I think that’s your sister’s new boyfriend,” Daniel said, sipping on his coffee. He was enjoying watching the drama. Drama Queen.

  “Abigail, please tell me this clown is not your boyfriend,” Christopher said, putting his hands on Abigail’s shoulders.

  “He’s not a clown, and yes, he is my boyfriend. It’s all very new, so stop trying to ruin it. Now, move out of my way, Birdie,” she said, making a shooing gesture with her hand.

  My mind was going crazy trying to guess what Daisy had seen. I needed to know. Getting up from my chair, I leaned down to whisper in Daisy’s ear. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

  She nodded, and then we excused ourselves leaving the drama squad behind. It was a beautiful day, so I walked Daisy through Aunt Tilly’s enchanted garden. The great thing about enchanted flowers is that they endure and that was good because Aunt Tilly hadn’t been around to take care of the plants. She was the only one with a green thumb in the family.

  “This is beautiful,” Daisy said, walking up the steps of Aunt Tilly’s pink gazebo that sat in the middle of the garden.

  “It kind of is isn’t it?”

  She nodded and smiled taking in the view. “Daisy?” I asked, wrapping my hands around one of the columns of the gazebo.

  “Yeah?” she asked, her hair blowing in the light breeze. “What did you see?” I asked.

  She was quiet for a while before turning to me. “I saw the woman who pushed Allison,” she said, closing her eyes. I guess having to watch a murder over and over could take its toll on you.

  “What did she look like? What do you remember?” I asked, wanting to know every detail.

  “She has blond hair, like platinum. Allison knew her and asked why she wanted her to die. The woman told her she'd ruined everything,” Daisy said, recalling as many details as she could.

  “Anything else?” I asked, trying not to push her, but I needed to know everything.

  An innocent man depended on it.

  “She had long red nails, and she was wearing red lipstick,” she said, shaking her head like she knew those details weren’t that important. But, they were.

  Everything I had learned from investigating the case started flooding my mind. Allison making sure she led me to Aaron to show me that she wasn't in love with Mason and that they were victims of a love spell. Aaron told me that to find Allison's killer I needed to look closer to home and stay out of Cold Creek. The long scratch down his face that only a woman's nails could have made. The heated conversation between Aaron and Julie. Julie's lack of emotion at her daughter's funeral. And Daisy's description of Allison's murder that made all of the pieces fit perfectly in place.

  Julie Talbot was Allison's murderer. She murdered her own daughter. Now I just had to find out why.

  24

  Standing on the steps of the Talbot’s two-story mansion, I looked over at Cade and Cole. Their abilities were going to help me get Julie to admit to everything and find out who helped her with the spell because I knew there wasn’t a magical bone in that woman’s body.

  “Thank you guys for doing this,” I told them, ringing the doorbell.

  They looked at me and smiled at the same time. “Stop that. It's weird,” I told them.

  “We’re twins it’s what we do,” They said in unison, shrugging their shoulders.

  We waited what seemed like forever before Julie Talbot opened the door dressed like she was going to The Oscars. “What do you want?” she asked, sighing dramatically.

  “Aren’t you going to invite us in?” I asked.

  She laughed and flipped her hair. “And why would I do that?”

  “What would your neighbors think if they see me standing at your front door?” I asked, smiling at her.

  She poked her head outside looking around to see if anyone was outside and then she stepped to the side. We slipped in the house, and she slammed the door behind us. “Now, will you tell me what you and the wonder twins are doing here?”

  Cade and Cole shot each other a look. They didn’t like being called the wonder twins, and I couldn’t blame them. “We’re here because we know what you did,” I said, letting know we had her.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, playing dumb. She was good at that.

  “Quit the act, Julie. We know you killed your daughter, but what we need you to tell us is why? What were you thinking? And how could you let an innocent man take the fall for a crime you committed?” I asked, clapping my hands together loudly and sending her flying onto a chair before she could run. I mean I knew she couldn't get far in those heels she was wearing, but using magic on her was just so much fun.

  “I’ll never talk,” she said, making me feel like I was in a mobster movie.

  “You don't have to. This is my friend Cade Blackwater, you know one-half of the wonder twins, and he has the most incredible talent. Do you want to know what it is?” I asked, waving my hands over the top of hers creating invisible handcuffs. She was sealed to the chair.

  “Let me guess, is his talent doing his hair? What, is he going to give me a haircut and style it? And what about you, Thing Two, are you the stylist?” she asked, doing what she did best, attacking people verbally.

  They both ignored her.

  Cade sat down on the floor in front of her and gently placed his hand on top of hers. “What’s he doing?” she asked, her breathing becoming heavy, “Why is my arm tingling? Am I having a heart attack? I’m having a heart attack! Why are you just standing there? Call an ambulance!” she yelled, her face turning red as she screamed louder and louder.

  “He's getting in your head, Julie. He can see your innermost thoughts. He knows your deepest fears and every bad thing you've done,” I told her, tossing myself back on her couch. It was like a cloud.

  “I’m trying not to run out of the room screaming. What does that one do?” she asked, pointing at Cole
.

  “Oh, Cole talks to the dead. He’s become fast friends with Allison. They chat every day,” I replied.

  After learning that she wouldn’t make eye contact with Cole.

  “She killed Allison because her husband left her. She was jealous of Allison’s relationship with Mason,” Cade said, looking at Julie as if she was the most horrible person he had ever come in contact with and she was. She was the most horrible person anyone had ever come in contact with. I would have rather gone out for coffee with Hitler than Julie Talbot.

  “Are you that insecure? You weren’t happy, so your daughter couldn’t be either?” I asked Julie.

  I knew the answer to that without her telling me. She was that insecure, and her children’s happiness meant nothing to her. The only person she cared about was herself.

  “Oh, now we're getting to the good part. A witch from the Parker coven in Cold Creek helped her with all of the magical elements. When Julie was eighteen, she sought out the help of an out of town witch because she wanted Harrison Talbot, the star football player, to love her, but he wouldn't give her the time of day. So, she asked Willow Parker to put a love spell on him. Willow did, but she didn't tell Julie the ins and outs of how the curse worked,” Cade said, closing his eyes and taking in all of the information he was getting from Julie's messed up mind.

  “What are the ins and outs?” I asked.

  “The spell only lasted on Julie and Harrison until their oldest child started to like someone. The night Allison and Mason danced at the prom, the spell unraveled for Julie. Harrison left the next day. She decided to kill Allison because she blamed her for taking her happiness.”

  “Why did she wait so long to do it?” I asked Cade, counting up how many years ago prom night was.

  “She was working her way up to it. She had thought about many ways to kill, but up until that day she couldn’t go through with it,” Cade said, shaking his head.

  I would have bet anything I owned he had never been in a crazier mind than Julie Talbot's. “What about the symbol? Why was it in Mrs. Abernathy’s house? And how does she know Aaron?”