I scoffed. “Why do I get the feeling Rosalinda would have had him killed just to keep him quiet as soon as he held up his end of that bargain?”
Caleb didn’t argue. He looked around the kitchen. “Come on,” he said, “I’m almost done here. Let me take you home.”
“I want to see Alice,” I told him.
He frowned.
“Dimitri is turning her,” I said softly.
Caleb’s face fell, but he didn’t look surprised by the news. He ran a hand along his jawline and then nodded. “Jessica will be dealt with back at headquarters,” he said. “She should have never used that hex. Especially not in the presence of a human. I don’t know what she was thinking.”
I looked at him and realized he was genuinely confused by his partner’s actions. “For a detective, you sure are missing a big clue.”
“What do you mean?”
A small smile tugged at my lips. “She was protecting you. She only fired that spell when you were getting your furry rump handed to you by a crazed vampire.”
He looked offended. “I had it handled.”
“Uh huh.” I laughed softly. “How are you?”
He touched his shoulder and I remembered seeing a wound there after he shifted back to his human form. “I’ll be sore for a few days, but I’m all patched up for now.”
“That’s good to hear,” I told him, flipping my hand over to weave my fingers through his.
“Anastasia,” he said, looking up from our intertwined fingers with an earnest look, “it will be hours, maybe even days, before Alice is able to speak with you. The process is … unpleasant. Let me take you home.”
I glanced past him and saw Hannah standing in the doorway. She nodded, confirming what he’d said, and I exhaled slowly, suddenly feeling drained of all energy. The nervousness was gone and instead, I felt as though I could sleep for a month. Maybe more.
“All right,” I said, sliding from the stool.
Caleb kept a hold of my hand and walked me from the mansion. As we neared the end of the long driveway, I glanced back over my shoulder, out the back windshield, and while I hoped to never darken the doors of the Vanguard mansion, I hoped it wasn’t the last time I’d see Dimitri or Alice again.
The next night, I went to Luna around dinner time and approached the hostess station, my hands twisting together nervously.
“Will it be a table for one, miss?”
I smiled politely at the apple-cheeked hostess and shook my head. “I’m not staying for dinner, actually. I’m Anastasia, Harmony’s sister. Is she available? Just for a quick minute?”
The girl glanced over her shoulder. “I think she just went on her break. Let me go see if she’s in the back.”
“Thank you.”
I took a step back, melding with the handful of patrons waiting to be seated. Luna was one of the Seattle Haven’s most popular restaurants, and reservations were highly recommended unless you didn’t mind waiting an hour or more to be seated.
Harmony appeared a few minutes later, her expression blank. “What are you doing here, Stace?”
“I tried calling you,” I told her. “Can we talk?”
Harmony crossed her arms. “I have ten minutes.”
I looked over my shoulder at the waiting patrons. “Can we go outside?”
Harmony shrugged but followed as I went to the doors and held one open for her. “Listen, Stace, I’m not mad,” she said when we were outside. “I appreciate you letting me stay with you the last month and for getting me this job, like I said in my note. But, it’s pretty obvious it’s not a good long-term solution for either one of us and I—” her voice broke and she shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together.
“Harmony?” I asked gently.
She looked at me, tears shining in her eyes. “You’re all I’ve got left, Stace. Mom’s off doing who knows what. Dad’s gone. No one else seems to stick around. Just you.”
Tears sprang to my own eyes and I threw my arms around my little sister’s shoulders. Harmony broke apart in my embrace and trembled as she cried silently into my shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered. “I came down here to ask you to come back home. With me. I’m sorry for flipping out on the phone.”
Harmony sniffed and pulled away from me. “You mean it? You want me to come back?”
I nodded and wiped at my eyes. “Please.”
She laughed and nodded, even as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “Okay.”
Three weeks after Conner’s arrest, I received a post card from Prague. The front of the glossy card showed a beautiful sunset, framing a stone castle upon a hillside. I smiled as I turned the card over, already knowing who it was from.
* * *
We never would have made it here without you, Ana. Thank you for helping us find our happily ever after. We’ll raise a toast to you tonight.
* * *
XO,
* * *
Lord and Lady Vanguard
* * *
In the days following the investigation’s conclusion, they’d come to me and asked for help planning a low-key elopement. A week later, I stood as the sole witness to their garden wedding and then saw them off to their three-week European honeymoon. My commission was forfeit but Dimitri had insisted on paying me—in reality, overpaying me—for my assistance, and my condo lease was safe for the time being.
Hyacinth cooled her temper when the Haven Herald made the official announcement that contained a statement from the happy couple that lavished praise on the firm. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’d booked three weddings in the meantime. Despite her personal feelings toward me, she couldn’t ask the partners to cut me when I had three big events on the books.
As a bonus, Kait had been walking around like she’d swallowed a basket of lemons ever since the Herald article came out. CeeCee told me she’d been the one to refuse delivery of the order of custom furniture Kait had ordered in anticipation of me getting the boot. A little tidbit I’d tucked away for future torment ammunition, should the need arise.
Not that I planned on ever getting tangled up in such a mess ever again.
But, as the Scotsman Robert Burns said, the best-laid plans of mice and men (and apparently wedding planning witches) often go awry.
* * *
Author’s Note:
* * *
Thank you for reading Newly Wed and Slightly Dead. I hope you enjoyed it! Anastasia was first introduced at the very beginning of my Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries series and has a few cameo appearances throughout. In fact, her first appearance is in the prequel novella to that series, which you can get for free by joining my newsletter.
Early on, I knew she deserved her own series and started imagining all of the complicated scenarios that could possibly arise when the supernatural world clashes with the wedding world.
Anastasia and Harmony return in the sequel to this book, Couture and Curses.
And if you’re looking for another magical mystery, please check out my other books. A complete reading list is available on my website.
* * *
Until next time,
* * *
Danielle Garrett
www.DanielleGarrettBooks.com
Couture and Curses
Introduction
When sparks and curses fly, more than just high-profile weddings are thrown into danger.
* * *
Every wedding-planning witch worth her wand knows that the dress must be an Aurelia custom creation. The magical fashion designer to the who’s who of the Seattle Haven is in high demand with a waiting list that would make most wedding planner’s eyes water.
* * *
Luckily for her clients, witch wedding-planner extraordinaire Anastasia Winters has inside access to the famed fashion designer and a knack for making deals. However, on an after-hours errand to pick up a dress, Anastasia finds herself walking into a battleground. When the dust settles, Aurelia is locked in the grips of a powerful - and seem
ingly unbreakable - curse, and Anastasia is the only one who witnessed the vicious magical attack.
* * *
When she starts having visions and nightmares, she knows she has to act soon or risk losing her friend and haven fashion icon, forever.
Chapter One
Autumn had settled over Seattle, bringing rain, wind, and a general gloom, but I was unconcerned with the dreary weather outside as I strolled through a lush forest of tropical flowers, lost in a fairytale wedding wonderland.
“Don’t you just love birds of paradise?” I asked, turning to smile at the most handsome man I’d ever met—outside the cineplex, that is.
Caleb returned my smile, but the sparkle of amusement in his aquamarine eyes told me he was humoring me. “Absolutely.” He gestured at an arrangement. “Especially those pink ones.”
I laughed softly. “Those are plumerias.”
“Oh.” He shrugged.
I took his hand and leaned into his side. Even in my four-inch Prada pumps, I had to crane my neck a little to look up at him. “Are you dying of boredom? Be honest.”
He chuckled. “Hey, I haven’t used the code word yet. I’m good.”
Against my protests, Caleb had insisted on accompanying me to the annual wedding convention show held in the Seattle convention center. We weren’t engaged—or anywhere near becoming so, no matter what my co-worker CeeCee might have said—but I had to attend the show for work and Caleb didn’t want to miss out on seeing me during his one free weekend that month. So, we’d agreed on a safe word he could use to pull the ripcord and bail out when he started to become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of glitter and romance.
We’d been wandering through the sea of silk vendor tents for several hours, and so far, the only thing that seemed to throw him was the barrage of questions that came when we admitted to fellow attendees and vendors that we weren’t planning a wedding together. They wanted to know why not, to reassure us that we were a striking pair, and a few people even pointed Caleb in the direction of the dozen or so jewelers who could help him decide what kind of ring to buy me.
For the most part, we laughed it off and came up with an excuse to extract ourselves from unwanted conversations. As a wedding planner with one of the top event planning firms on the west coast, it was easy for me to wiggle away from awkward situations under the guise of needing to meet with another vendor, conveniently located on the other side of the convention center.
It was my eighth year attending the show—my third as a full-fledged wedding planner with A Touch of Magic Events—and I knew the layout like the back of my hand. I also knew exactly how much time I could allot with any one vendor in order to be able to see everything there was to see and not miss the pinnacle attraction: the wedding gown fashion show.
“If I get too bored, I’ll hit up that Indian catering booth again and get another plate of curry.” He patted his flat stomach for emphasis and I giggled. “Though I’d formally like to request that we avoid any more flower booths,” he continued, flashing me a half grin. “I don’t think my nose can take in any more smells, something I wasn’t even aware was possible until today.”
“Deal,” I replied with a laugh, steering him away from the tropical flower display. “Your boss over at the agency likely wouldn’t be too happy if I broke their top tracker.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” he said, smiling.
I playfully frowned up at him. “You’re just being modest.”
Caleb worked for the Supernatural Protection Agency—the SPA for short—as a detective, and while he artfully walked the line between modest and confident, I’d seen him in action and knew firsthand how good he was at his job. As a mysterious hybrid between a wizard and a bobcat-shifter, he had a unique skill set. It served him well when chasing down bad guys, but he had the looks and manners that allowed him to effortlessly interface with witnesses and his co-workers with an efficiency that belied how difficult his job really was at times.
I checked my watch. “Stars, how is it already four o’clock?”
Caleb chuckled. “Time flies when you’re blinded by sequins?”
I laughed. “Just wait until the fashion show starts.”
He feigned a groan. “Guess I should have brought a pair of sunglasses.”
“It’s the best part,” I hurried to add. “And, it’s the last event of the day.”
Caleb’s eyebrows lifted and I smiled. That part seemed to appeal to him.
He was being a good sport, but I knew he was counting down the minutes till we could leave and head across town to Luna, where we had dinner reservations for two. We’d been at the convention center since ten o’clock that morning, and while we’d ducked out for a quick lunch, it had been a lot of walking and schmoozing. Not to mention the slight irritation of having a bunch of virtual strangers poking at our happy, new-couple bubble with hints that we should be joining the engaged masses. We’d started dating six months ago and were taking things slow—and happy about it, thank you very much.
“Let’s head over to the runway and make sure we get good seats,” I told Caleb, waving politely to the booth’s host as we left.
The fashion show was the central event of the entire weekend and I knew seats would be scarce. Out of fairness, the show’s organizers refused to take reservations and went by a first come, first seated approach.
We found seats in the third row and I saved them while Caleb went off in search of beverages. I smiled after him as the crowd of giddy brides and put-out grooms swallowed him up. Never in a million years had I thought I’d ever find someone willing to tag along to the veritable circus of the annual wedding convention. It hadn’t even crossed my mind as something to wish for when dreaming up a future partner. And yet, there he was, stepping into my life in the most unexpected of ways and filling some gap I hadn’t even known was there.
The whole thing was especially surreal considering we’d met in the middle of a murder investigation. The mother of the groom was attacked during the rehearsal dinner of a wedding I was planning, and the fallout threatened to upend my entire career. Caleb and his partner, Jessica, were the SPA agents to arrive on-scene and take over the case. Due to the high-profile nature of the investigation, I ended up working closely alongside Caleb while simultaneously trying to get my bride and groom back on the road to happily ever after in the wake of such a tragedy.
Yet despite the dark circumstances, I couldn’t help but be attracted to the handsome agent and by some stroke of luck, he returned my lovestruck feelings. We went on a handful of dates and it wasn’t long after the investigation closed that he asked me to be his girlfriend, which sounds a lot more after-school special than it really was.
The only real crimp in the whole thing was our dueling work schedules. Caleb’s life as an SPA agent meant odd hours, long nights, and constantly being on call. My work as a wedding planner didn’t comprise of defeating bad guys or squashing deadly plots, but the urgency often made it feel as though it did. My day planner was so overstuffed with notes that I had to put an elastic band around the cover to keep everything together. I supposed it was something of a metaphor for my life. I was type A and organized to the nth degree, but somehow there always seemed to be one or two aspects threatening to fly out of control if I wasn’t careful.
Which is what led us to having a date at the wedding convention in the first place.
Caleb returned with a frazzled look and two white paper cups full of a light pink punch. “It’s a zoo over there!” he said, sliding into his seat beside me. As he handed over my cup of punch, I saw he had a dark patch on his shirt sleeve. He caught my glance and frowned. “Yeah, I ended up wearing the first cup. The vendor next door was announcing some door prize, and the lady in front of me must have been the winner. She started jumping around, waving her ticket in the air, and, well …”
I cringed. “I’m sorry.”
“Not to sound Leave It to Beaver, but do you happen to know any cleaning spells?” he
asked hopefully.
“Sorry, no,” I replied with a twinge of guilt. “Harmony knows kitchen spells, but she’s as much of a disaster as I am when it comes to laundry spells. We do things the old-fashioned way. You might try club soda.”
“It’s all right,” he said, taking a sip of his punch. He gave a surprised look of appreciation and quickly took another drink. “Stuff’s pretty loaded, huh?”
“Industry secret,” I said with a laugh. “Bride’s are a lot more fun when they’ve had a little bubbly. Soothes the nerves.”
Caleb chuckled. “I wouldn’t think alcohol and high-strung emotions would be a good mix.”
“There’s a fine line between relaxed and sloppy, but a seasoned wedding planner such as myself knows when to switch to seltzer water,” I replied, adding a wink.
The emcee came on over the speaker system and announced the lineup for the show. I cheered along with everyone else gathered, though I whooped a little louder for Aurelia Pierre. Or, as she was known in the wedding world, just Aurelia. She didn’t need a last name to be recognized. Her designs were sought out worldwide by brides from every supernatural walk of life. Whatever gown she sent down the runway would be the show-stopper, without a doubt. She’d been closing down the show for the past six years and no other designer even came close to stealing her thunder.
Last year, her gown had changed color as the model had strutted to the end of the catwalk, each fierce footfall setting off a new color change that ranged from ivory to dusty rose. Then, as the model had stopped, the fabric flashed to blinding white, revealing delicate beadwork complete with thousands of tiny beads and diamonds that glittered under the barrage of flashbulbs and sent the entire crowd to their feet.
Witchy Weddings: A Magic Witch Mystery Series: The complete Touch of Magic series Page 18
