My Magical Life to Live: Midlife Witchery Book 4

by Trim, Brenda

  Fiona unwrapped the rest of the gauze and held it up. “Why is ash and green gunk coming out of your wound? It looks like an infection on the wrappings here, yet the skin around the edges aren’t inflamed or red.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “Claws carry poison, and Thanos cast a spell to suck it out. Some of it was burned away. Apparently, I’ve got lava for blood now. Anyway, I had time to think before the demon interrupted and wondered if Vodor’s generals escaped the aftermath. Maybe they found a way to cross to Earth and are trying to get revenge for killing their king and queen.”

  “You guys killed Thelvienne and Vodor? You really have been hiding your power. I can’t sense that much from any of you,” Thanos interjected. His eyes went distant as he looked in our direction. “Until I look at you collectively. Then I can see it.”

  My heart hammered in my chest. My diversion was blowing up in my face, just like my magic. I really needed to find whatever cursed object was attached to me. “That’s the beauty of the Backside of Forty. Being middle-aged has its perks. Being at my sexual prime is just one of them.”

  That did what I hoped, and Thanos laughed along with Fiona and Bas. “I haven’t spent much time around mortals, so I have never given it a thought. I will say that I prefer a woman with enough experience to be confident and know what she wants. That’s sexy as hell. And not something a younger woman can achieve. Back to the issue. I’m not sure a general would go to these lengths. Are there any relatives alive? Loved ones are the hardest to deal with.”

  “Last I checked, the throne was still up for grabs. The ruling cabinet in Eidothea was looking for any relatives of the last true King and Queen. They were the strongest the realm had ever seen. Fair rulers that helped us reach our full potential. We lived in a Golden age while they sat on the throne. Their descendants are the only ones anyone believes has a real claim to the throne. Vodor had their line exterminated, so none of them tried to overthrow him. The way the spell was cast, they had to invoke all royal lineages. That includes Vodor and Thelvienne. The only remaining relative he had was his mother, but much of Thelvienne’s family survived.”

  Fiona grimaced and reached for a clean towel. “Are they as evil as she was? Because if so, I can totally see one of them is behind this. She was awful.”

  “Is there a way we can find out if any of her relatives left the realm?” Thanos asked.

  “I can’t see a way they could have left Eidothea without us knowing. Fiona is the portal Guardian, so everyone has to come through her or her grandmother,” Sebastian explained.

  Thanos crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the island. “Would you know if they opened another portal between realms?”

  Fiona met Bas’s gaze and shrugged her shoulders. He shook his head from side to side. “The level of power that would take would be staggering. The first Fae King opened the portal during a time of great desperation in Eidothea. Kids were dying in record numbers due to the hostile environment. It’s said that his need to ensure our continued existence is what gave him the power to find a suitable realm and open the portal.”

  “We can’t rule out the idea entirely. Loss and grief do funny things to a person,” Fiona interjected. “But I don’t know if there’s a way that we can be sure.”

  Thanos sighed. “I have never asked anyone for help on a case. There are no other agents I can call upon right now, and I need help. Can the Backside of Forty give me some assistance finding this demon?”

  “Sure,” Fiona agreed. “We were investigating the murders anyway. Besides, it will give Violet more time to get naked with you.”

  I gasped and smacked her shoulder. “Fiona!”

  “What? We walked in and found you making out with the sexy Underworld agent. I’m not saying something that isn’t true.”

  Bas growled. “Sexy?”

  Fiona ran her hands up Bas’s chest. “No one is as sexy as you. And, I want no one else in my life.”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Are we done here? Because I’m starving.”

  Thanos reached for my arm and examined the wound. “Before we get dinner, we need to tend to this injury.” He turned to Fiona. “Violet doesn’t have any medical supplies here. Do you have antiseptic cleaner and gauze?”

  Fiona bobbed her head up and down. “My kit is in my car. I started carrying it the night Violet found Faye. I’ll go grab it.”

  I sat on a stool at the island, resigning myself to having my arm rewrapped before I could get anything to eat. Oh well. I’d take friends that cared this much any day.

  Chapter 17

  I waited by the wrought iron patio set Fiona had set up between her garden and cemetery. Thanos had followed us back to Pymm’s Pondside to help us discuss possible suspects and was now staring at the family burial grounds.

  “You’d never think an agent of the Underworld would be so surprised by there being a cemetery right next to a home. It’s not as if Fiona’s family are the first ones to bury their dead so close to home.” Aislinn nibbled on crackers while she spoke. I was glad the remedy that had been a lifesaver during my pregnancy with my son helped her nausea.

  I shrugged my shoulders. Who knew why that man did anything? Thanos turned before either Fiona or I could respond. “It’s not the dead here. It’s the magic packed into the location. I’ve never felt so much power in one place that isn’t inside a person. Your family must be compelling.”

  Fiona smiled and turned to head into her house. I caught the brittle edges of her mouth. She was freaked out that he noticed. “Honestly, I wouldn’t know. My magic was unlocked about eight months ago. Before that, I had no knowledge of the supernatural world all around us.”

  Thanos fell into step beside me, so I caught the way his jaw dropped open. I chuckled at that. “It’s true. Her parents wanted her to have a normal life, so they bound her powers. It was hard for me to hide mine from her when we were growing up.”

  Aislinn held the back door open for us. “The first time I met Fiona was after Isidora died, and I was grabbing some herbs from the garden. I couldn’t believe she had no idea about her family legacy.”

  Thanos glanced around as we passed through the mudroom to the kitchen. “I imagine that was painful for you. It’s not easy to learn your entire life was a lie.” The way he said that last part contained a bitter edge. Something told me he had experience with being deceived. The idea made me even more curious about his background and what made him like he was.

  “Fiona had a wonderful childhood. There was nothing painful about it.” Isidora’s angry voice was accentuated by her standing next to the stove with her hands on her hips.

  Thanos’ eyes widened when they landed on the older woman. Isidora was Fiona’s Grams and recently brought back from the dead by my best friend. She didn’t look like she had been dead and buried in the backyard for months. Her shoulder-length silver hair was silky and stylish, and her blue eyes were full of life.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the ghoul? Her existence so close to a demon is a significant danger.” Everyone froze. Thanos’ words felt like a bomb going off in the kitchen. No one wanted to reveal Isidora’s present condition. We hadn’t considered that to others. It could be painfully obvious.

  I pursed my lips. “How do you know what she is? We weren’t even certain until a few days ago.”

  Fiona and Sebastian stepped closer to Isidora, who pushed them aside. “It’s not like I asked to be made a ghoul. Who wants to be soulless and vulnerable to possession?” Fiona’s face tightened. I knew my best friend. She was beating herself up for bringing her grandmother back as a ghoul. Not that she did so on purpose.

  “What do you mean you just discovered what she is? Who turned her into a ghoul? That practitioner has to know what they did. It’s not something someone can do accidentally. It takes immense power and is more difficult than summoning a demon. There’s more going on in Cottlehill Wilds than meets the eye, that’s for sure.”

  I glared at Thanos, willing hi
m to take those words back. No one said anything for several long, tense seconds. I would never betray Fiona, and neither would the others. I had no idea what to do or say. No explanation came to mind that would be believable. What would he do if he learned who Fiona really was?

  Isidora turned on the faucet and filled the teapot in her hand then placed it on the stove. “My family is powerful, as you know. Our magic remains close and is bound to the land. I left instructions for Fiona to follow after my death. You see, I didn’t want to leave my granddaughter on her own to figure out her magic. It’s an overwhelming process that I intended to be here for, but someone killed me first.”

  Aislinn set her crackers on the island. “We’re just glad that you managed to get the spell into the grimoire before you died. We would have all been lost if you hadn’t.”

  Fiona gasped, and her hand went to her chest. “Hey, do you think she could have been the first victim of this witch or Fae?”

  My heart raced. Fiona was onto something. “I bet she was. Anyone living in Cottlehill knows the reputation of the Shakletons. I’d bet a hundred bucks they assumed they would get enough power to perform the summoning without having to take multiple lives. And they would have if she wasn’t already bound to Pymm’s Pondside. They would have had to plan for eliminating that bond before killing you.”

  Isidora lifted her chin and wrapped her arms under her ample bosom. She was a curvy woman with large breasts. And still as beautiful as she always had been. “They never would have succeeded. I’d have cut them down.” I’d never heard Isidora sound like a badass.

  She was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known, but she never spoke openly about hurting others like this. It reminded me exactly how formidable she was. If she’d lived, the culprit never would have gotten this far. She would have located them and stopped them.

  “I suspect that’s another reason they killed you. You were pretty much the only one that has the power to stand in their way,” I added. Isidora was one powerful witch when she was alive, despite her claiming it was only Fiona who was powerful.

  Thanos turned appraising eyes on Fiona. Oh crap! We’d said too much. “What is going on here? Be careful with the lies you tell me. You don’t want Hades to pay a visit to your little town. The Pleiades witches were created by the Gods and the rest of you to maintain the balance. If there are witches that threaten that balance, the Gods will not like it.”

  The thought of Hades coming to Earth chilled my blood. He might not be the same as Lucifer, but that didn’t mean I wanted to face him. I imagined him being twenty feet tall with a pitchfork of death bigger than my house. No one would survive that thing.

  I have no idea what Hades actually looked like or how big he was, but his power couldn’t be contained in an average human body. I couldn’t assume he would be nice to us because we were innocent. He would see Fiona’s power and mark her as a threat.

  This entire situation guaranteed we were in danger. Otherwise, there would be no need for him to pay us a visit. We weren’t unbalancing things.

  None of us wanted anything remotely close to that. It could lead to Armageddon and the end of us all. There was a reason the Gods took so many steps to ensure the balance was maintained. They needed Earth and its inhabitants to exist just as much as we did.

  But they didn’t like powerful beings, like Nicotisa. They were difficult to control and posed a threat to their existence. If they gained enough power, they might be able to take on the Gods one day. At least that was what the Gods’ feared, irrational as it was.

  Bas got in Thanos’ face. “Are you threatening my mate and her family? Because if you are, you will regret it. I want to work with you to find the vile excuse for a paranormal that is killing and summoning demons, but I will never allow those I love to be hurt.”

  My mind was racing, and I couldn’t take a deep breath. My chest ached from the strain, and it felt like I was going to pass out. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Hades would do to us all while these two men were posturing and one second from losing their shit.

  Fiona grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I looked up at her and saw reassurance in her gaze. “It’s going to be alright. Stop the wheels from turning, Vi. The end of the world isn’t coming for us.”

  That managed to break the staredown between Bas and Thanos. Thanos’ expression shifted from determined and steadfast to chagrined. He felt terrible for pushing it so far.

  He sighed and dropped his head for several seconds. “Look. I’m sorry. I’m under immense pressure to find this demon and its puppet master, and I have let it get to me. I’m not asking these questions because I want to paint a target on anyone’s back. I’m hoping to form an alliance. I can’t do this alone, and all the other agents are busy. Someone somewhere is building up to something much bigger. We’ve never had so many cases spread across the globe like we do right now.”

  “This case is connected to the one Aidoneus is investigating in Maine? I had no idea,” Fiona blurted.

  Thanos chuckled. The sound was sardonic rather than amused. “Given everything, I shouldn’t be surprised you know about that case. And yet, I am. How are you so connected to what’s going on with UIS?”

  Fiona let go of my hand and opened a cupboard, and got mugs down. “Before I moved here and discovered my magic, I lived in North Carolina and was a nurse. One of my friends, Phoebe, was recently divorced and moved back home with her mom and grandmother. She wasn’t like me, with hidden magic. She was one hundred percent mundane. Now she’s a Pleiades witch, and Aidoneus is investigating activity that occurred right under her nose on some property she inherited.”

  Understanding lit in Thanos’ eyes. “She’s the one that was used because of her lack of experience. The witch over there is just as smart as the one here. They’ve both used every method possible to hide their trail. If you know Phoebe, you have likely heard how helpful Aidoneus has been. We aren’t your enemy. I need help and would still like to know who made this ghoul.”

  “I have a name,” Isidora huffed.

  Introductions had yet to be made. We were sidetracked by his comments the moment we stepped into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Isidora. Things got off track. Thanos, this is Isidora, Fiona’s Grams. You already know the rest of us.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Isidora. And I sense you aren’t happy about being a ghoul. But you’re not a normal ghoul. That’s why I want to know who brought you back. I’ve never seen magic like this. You have your soul, unlike most of your kind, which shouldn’t even be possible. What makes you vulnerable to the demons is that it isn’t anchored in your body.”

  Fiona grabbed Bas’s hand and stepped forward. “It was me. I brought Grams back. It wasn’t intentional. I was in a desperate situation and needed her help. I’d already brought her spirit back from the other side. That’s the spell she left me to contact her. And before you ask, I have no earthly idea what I did, which is why we didn’t know what she was for the longest time. We still don’t understand it entirely.”

  The kettle started whistling at that moment, startling us all. Aislinn chuckled and moved to turn it off. “Perfect timing. Things were getting a little too serious in here.”

  We all laughed at that, and Thanos focused on me for a second. His smile was bright, and the connection I’d felt with him was back and strong as ever. “If I’d known my life would be turned upside when I met you, I would have come prepared.”

  Isidora waved her hands through the air and nearly dropped the tea in them. “Then you’d take all the fun out of life. Going along with new adventures or new people takes courage. You have to be willing to take a chance on the unknown. In my experience, taking that leap usually brings you the greatest joys. And it’s those unexpected moments that give you a happy, fulfilled life. And if you even think about harming my granddaughter or punishing her, I will make it my life’s purpose to hurt you.”

  Thanos lost his smile, and his eyebrows slammed together like two earring caterpillars. “
I don’t take kindly to threats.”

  Isidora puffed out her chest. She was tiny at five-foot-four inches compared to Thanos’ six-foot-something height. “Neither do I.”

  I placed my hand on Thanos’ chest. “You said you wanted help. This isn’t the way to get our cooperation.”

  Thanos’ stormy grey eyes shifted as they remained locked on mine. He cupped my cheek, making me think of our last kiss. I was about to stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to his when he turned his head and dropped his hand. “You’re right. What made you bring Isidora back? That likely affected the spell you cast. Do you recall your intent at the time?”

  Fiona’s mouth twitched. She was holding back the snarky comment. When I averted my gaze, it landed on Aislinn, who waggled her eyebrows at me. I couldn’t help but smile in response.

  “The Fae King was attacking Pymm’s Pondside and me through the portal because I killed his murderous wife. All I remember is that I was desperate, and I needed her help to take control back of the portal and cut him off so he couldn’t hurt me anymore.”

  Thanos lifted one eyebrow at Fiona. “Do you three do anything normal?”

  “That’s a relative term. My life was positively boring before Fiona moved here,” I told him. “It’s been one thing after another. First, there were some murders, and then Fiona was attacked. And before the portal incident, we had to rescue my kids after the Fae Queen had them kidnapped.”

  Aislinn pointed her cracker at Thanos. “Could the Fae Queen have summoned the demon before she was killed? We suspected she was responsible for the first murders.”

  Thanos accepted a mug of tea from Isidora. “Thank you. No, I can’t see how she is the one that summoned the demon unless she is still alive.”

  I shared a look with Fiona and Aislinn. There was no possible way she was still alive. Fiona had burned her to death then absorbed her power. Thanos couldn’t discover that. It would make Fiona an even bigger threat.

  I doubted he would even care that she had linked to Aislinn and me and shared that power with us both. She did it to hide her signature and ensure the energy didn’t cook her from the inside out. Absorbing power was dangerous and could lead to one becoming Tainted or even dead.