Southern Magic Christmas

by Amy Boyles

  She slid her tongue out. “It’s a spell for sure. I know that much. It’s complicated, lots of inner workings. Sort of like a clock.”

  “A spell?” I glanced around suspiciously. “Who would cast a spell that would make it frigid? At night the temperature is really dropping.”

  She closed her eyes. “It’s almost as if the person who cast the spell needs something to happen in order for it to stop. I’ll have to keep concentrating on it. Oh, look at those wizard bands.”

  We came to kiosk that had rows of tooled leather cuffs. “What are these?” Karen said.

  The leather worker, a thin man with dry skin and bright blue eyes, cackled. “All kinds of wizard bands here. Ones that focus power, others that protect against evil.” He leaned over as if sharing a deep secret. “I’ve also got some that will help you connect with animals. Matching pairs.”

  My eyebrows up shot. “Connect with animals?”

  The man grinned. “That’s what they do.”

  Would the bands help Axel and I connect? I know it was probably a lost cause trying to stay tied to him when he was a werewolf, but I wasn’t a quitter, no sir.

  “How does it work?”

  “You need two sets.” The tinker retrieved two sets of cuffs. Images of the moon and sun had been burned into them. “One for you and one for the creature.”

  “Do you think it would work on any animal? Even a feral one?”

  He winked. “Those work the best.”

  I tried not to smile. Not to let him know I was too interested. Didn’t want to be taken advantage of, you know.

  “How much?”

  We haggled on the price, and in the end we found a happy medium.

  “I’ll take them,” I said.

  I made my purchase and Karen smiled. “You know, having boys was wonderful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but to have a girl would’ve been my dream. There’s simply something special about girl time—shopping, laughing, all of it.”

  All Karen had ever wanted was daughters, and she ended up with two werewolf boys. I snaked an arm through hers and smiled. “I never had a mother. She died when I was born.”

  Karen’s eyes shone brightly. “Then we’re two of a pair, I would think.”

  “Me too.”

  Our nice moment was broken when Ellis Mobley’s voice pierced the air. “And keep your kids out of my trees. They’re bending the branches.”

  I glanced over to see Brittany Barker, children in tow, being accosted by Ellis.

  “Your brats are ruining my yard.”

  Mrs. Barker thrust a finger in his face. “Ellis Mobley, you are a nasty person. I’m surprised when Cookie was killed that you didn’t get it, too.”

  Everyone gasped. Like literally the entire crowd. I mean, it was one thing to think it, but another to say it.

  And don’t think the whole town wasn’t thinking it.

  “You are a horrible man, picking on children at Christmas. Well, I haven’t made my wish yet.” She raised a slip of paper. “But you can guess what it’s going to be!”

  She shot Ellis a look full of poison darts. With her finger, Mrs. Barker scribbled a volume of text onto a strip of paper. She held it in her fingers and blew a kiss.

  The paper fluttered into the sky, sailing past the line of folks waiting to drop their wishes. The sheet rose higher and higher until it dropped straight down and landed in the hat.

  “I won’t tell you what I wished for,” Mrs. Barker threatened. “All I will say is that I pray it comes true.”

  With that, she stormed off, dragging a zigzagging line of children behind her.

  “Well, that was something,” I said.

  “Sure was,” Karen said. “Now, let me take a look at those cuffs.”

  I held them out. “Do you think they’ll help Axel and me connect?”

  She traced her fingers over the leather. “The symbols for animals and speak are on there. As well as the sun and moon. That’s good since he’s a moon animal. It’s possible. The man you bought them from is a well-known leather tooler with symbols. He’s excellent.”

  Her words filled me with hope. I hugged the bands and placed them in my purse.

  A scream split the air. It came from the other side of the Christmas market. My eyes flared when I realized what it was.

  A dark shadow traced its way over the tents. It looked like an inky black spot on the bright red stripes.

  Panic scrambled up my throat as I realized exactly what I was watching.

  The thing was a prison wraith, and it was headed straight for us.

  EIGHTEEN

  The black thing was no more than a shadow. It zipped from surface to surface, darker than the inkiest of blacks. It was shaped humanlike, if that human happened to be wearing a cape. I could make out the definite outline of a head and shoulders, but the rest of it resembled a blot.

  The creature wanted to suck my very soul. I don’t know how I knew that. It wasn’t like anyone was saying, Look, a prison wraith! Run for your life!

  But an incredibly cold feeling, like I was encased in a popsicle, spread over my skin. Course, that could’ve been the dropping temperatures as well.

  When I stared at the shadow, a shard of ice pierced my heart. That’s when I knew that inside the wraith there was nothing but dark dread. The very heart of the creature itself was a lump of stone that no true human emotion could penetrate.

  Looking on it was like staring into death—a cold, dark place void of love and hope.

  As hopelessness filled me, the shadow slinked toward. I was frozen, cemented to the ground. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even blink. All I mustered was the ability to watch as the blot swept up to us and placed itself at Karen’s feet.

  It wanted her. This was what we’d been fearing—that the wraith would take her without Garrick finding the real killer.

  The shadow peeled up from the ground and stretched. It was like looking at a two-dimensional drawing. There was no depth to it. Only the blackness existed.

  And the cold kept on getting colder.

  The thing unfolded its body like wings. It was going to take Karen. Once she was gone, there was no bringing her back.

  The shock, the absolute terror of witnessing such a horrific being in my town finally pushed me from my trance.

  This stupid prison wraith couldn’t have Axel’s mom.

  Who was it kidding?

  There was no way in all of creation that I would let this happen.

  But did I have the power to stop it?

  The fire still burned bright inside me. The power coiled and turned. It was mine for wielding.

  I pushed Karen aside. “No!” I seemed to hear her yell. She was like a dream, a figment in the back of my mind. Once I stepped in the wraith’s path, everything changed.

  My heart was being pulled from me. The thing wanted to drag me down to the depths of the prison by yanking me by the heart. My rib cage felt like it would explode. The pressure clouded my mind. I was underwater. I was drowning.

  I had to get my head on straight.

  Something in me snapped. I don’t know if it was the heart fire making contact with such a lifeless being. I don’t know if it was me finally waking up. I don’t know if it was the wraith trying to exert more dominion.

  All I knew was that it felt like my heart cracked open and released a dragon’s breath full of magic straight into the creature.

  The shadow stumbled. It righted itself. A violent hiss escaped its body, for lack of a better word, even though it seemed more inky blob than defined shape.

  The creature stopped, seemed to regard me in a way that suggested I’d ticked it off.

  Yay, me. The creature darkened as if it could pull on the evil in the air. Not that the thing was evil. It was more like a buzzard—simply doing what was in its nature to do. Buzzards dispose of the dead. The prison wraith took the guilty to the caverns.

  It was only doing a job.

  That single thought shifted me. I was only doi
ng a job as well. I was protecting Karen from a creature that had been sent unjustly to fetch her. At Christmas, of all times.

  For goodness’ sake, were these prison thingies not Southerners? That was simply bad manners to ruin someone’s holiday. This sucker didn’t even ask if she was guilty.

  In my heart I knew a wraith couldn’t be argued with. It couldn’t be spoken to logically. This thing had a job to do, and it was going to do it.

  Well, I had a job as well. I reared back and tapped into the heart power. Magic spewed into the wraith, sending it crashing to the ground.

  I knew people were watching. Their stares burned into me. But I had to send this thing back to prison.

  I opened my mouth and screamed. A well of fire spewed from my chest, wrapping around the creature and lifting it into the air. The wraith struggled. Its body pushed and widened as it fought.

  “You will get the heck out of here,” I yelled. “You will get on out of here and not come back.”

  I didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a shot. The coil of magic shot out, launching the wraith across town back to where it had come from.

  The burst of power I felt suddenly overcame me. My head felt light, my body felt like a dried husk—a heavy husk I couldn’t keep upright.

  I crumpled to my knees. Karen’s arms flew around me.

  “Pepper, are you okay? Pepper?”

  I think I said “yes.” Some words stumbled from my lips, but I didn’t know what they were. They weren’t a part of me. I was floating on a sea. The world around me seemed far away.

  So very far.

  A face snapped into view. A thin, angry face that instantly revived me.

  Ellis Mobley frowned deeply. “You just obstructed justice for the first and only time, Miss Dunn. That wraith was here to carry out the law. It’s illegal to stand between it and the person it’s capturing.”

  Sudden and surprising rage filled me from toes to fingers. I rose, my hands clenched, my jaw tight. “And how do you know, Ellis Mobley, that the wraith wasn’t here to nab you?”

  Panic shone in his eyes. His jaw dropped, and Ellis’s gaze darted back and forth. “Why, how dare you? How dare you stand here and insinuate that I’m the person who killed my wife—you, you”—he glanced at Arsenal—“you dog snatcher!”

  That was it. I was a breath away from landing a sucker punch right to this guy’s chin. How dare he?

  “First of all, you don’t know who’s guilty of murdering your wife, but I can tell you it isn’t this woman.” I pointed at Karen. “Secondly, if your little doggie wanted to live with you, I’m sure he would. I’m sure he would have gone home with you the other night and stayed. Stayed. But he didn’t. Arsenal followed us home because apparently the dog knows when he’s welcome and when he’s not. But if you want to take him, go ahead, be my guest. Take this little dog and see if he stays at your house.”

  I folded my arms and sank onto one hip. I gave Ellis Mobley the smuggest smile I could muster. “Because I guarantee that within a few nights, Arsenal will be back. He’ll be at my house, sitting in my lap eating treats from my hand.”

  The air was sucked from the Christmas market. All eyes were on me. If this had been high school, a ring would’ve formed and folks would’ve been shouting, Fight! Fight! Fight!

  But as it was, the civilized world and Christmas, no one did that.

  It was too bad. I was kind of hoping they would.

  Ellis’s face turned the color of snow—snow he was standing on, no less. He snatched Arsenal from the ground and raised his hand as if to swat me away.

  “Thank you, Miss Dunn, but I will be taking my dog and leaving. The sheriff will be hearing about this little occurrence today.”

  “Good,” I shouted quickly. “Great! Bring him on! Be sure to watch your dog, Ellis.”

  Ellis didn’t bother to turn around. He kept right on walking until he vanished from sight. I shot Karen a wide smile.

  “So, you want to keep shopping? I don’t think any more prison wraiths will be coming for you.” I blew the tips of my fingertips. “At least not today.”

  Karen and I shopped until we dropped. As soon as I stepped inside the house, Amelia accosted me.

  “Oh my God! Is it true?”

  I dropped my bags by the hearth and plopped onto the couch. “Is what true?”

  Cordelia entered from the kitchen. “The fact that you faced down a prison wraith and won?”

  I yanked off my boots and let them fall with a thud to the floor. “It is. But I couldn’t have done it without the fire.”

  My cousins exchanged a glance.

  “I’m serious. I couldn’t have done it without it. You should’ve seen the thing—black as night and soulless.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened with fright. She gulped. “Soulless?”

  “Soulless. It probably steals souls on its days away from the prison.”

  “It doesn’t steal souls.” Betty appeared and set the table. “They’re horrible, that’s true. But they don’t steal souls.”

  “Anyway.” Amelia sat across from me. “The whole town’s talking about it.”

  “They should be talking about why it’s so freaking cold only in Magnolia Cove and not the rest of the state.” Cordelia grabbed a log and laid it on the fire. “It’s even cold in here.”

  “Temperature’s dropping,” Betty said.

  I rubbed my aching feet. “Karen said the cold is a spell.”

  Betty waddled up. “What kind of spell?”

  “I don’t know. But it’s something.” I paused. “You don’t think it’s related to your powers being all wonky, do you?”

  Betty stroked her chin. “Hard to say.”

  “Who cares about the temperature?” Amelia leaned over, her eyes wide with wonder. “I want to know more about the wraith.”

  “There’s not much to tell. The fire helped me send it back, that’s all. It was coming for Karen. Which reminds me—we need to get it together. If it came for her once, it’ll come back. I can’t protect her forever. Oh, and Ellis Mobley took Arsenal back. He also said he was going to call Garrick on me, so if we’re going to help Karen, we need to hurry.”

  Betty broke a handful of dried herbs from the stalks about the hearth. “Karen is a nature witch, is that right?”

  I shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” She tossed the herbs into the flames. The fire burned bright blue. “Even if she’s not a nature witch, she might be an elemental witch.”

  Cordelia pulled her long blonde hair over one shoulder and started braiding it. “What’s that have to do with anything?”

  “Well, one nature or elemental witch would recognize a spell placed on the atmosphere—a spell more than likely cast by another elemental witch.”

  “Who’s the other elemental witch?” Amelia hugged a pillow to her chest.

  Betty’s eyes twinkled with secret knowledge. “Can’t you guess?”

  “No,” I said. “Just tell us.”

  “The only other elemental witch I know of was Cookie Mobley.”

  The room stilled. My cousins and I exchanged loaded looks. “Cookie Mobley?” I finally said.

  Betty nodded. “That’s right. Cookie was an elemental witch. Her powers worked with the elements. She couldn’t control them, but she could weave her power through the weather, let’s say, or through water, if she had to.”

  “So you think the cold was caused by Cookie?” Amelia said.

  “No,” I said, suddenly realizing what Betty meant. “The drop wasn’t caused by Cookie, but by her death.”

  “Bingo,” Betty said. “Which means there might be a way to fix it in Cookie’s house.”

  The four of us continued to stare at each other. I yanked on my boots. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get over there.”

  NINETEEN

  “I’m going into Ellis Mobley’s house, and I need your help.”

  The phone was perched
at my ear, and even though the wind howled outside the car, Axel’s booming voice came through loud and clear.

  “I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong. It sounded like you said you were about to break and enter Ellis Mobley’s house.”

  “That’s exactly what I said. I think he’s out. Betty called the house, and no one answered.”

  “And what exactly makes you think this is a good idea?”

  “Betty said Cookie Mobley was an elemental witch or something. Your mom said the cold weather we’re experiencing is a spell. Cookie Mobley might’ve cast the spell, or—and this is what I think—the spell was cast when she died.”

  “Like it’s a warning.”

  “Or a clue,” I said proudly. “Just think about it—what if the cold is a symbol of who murdered her? We could get your mom off the hook for this much faster.”

  “I called you earlier,” he said.

  “Sorry, the phone didn’t ring.”

  “It’s okay. I just wanted to thank you for saving her from the prison wraith.”

  “But I haven’t, Axel. That’s the thing. The prison wraith will be coming back. It’ll have to. It didn’t get what it wanted—your mom. We need to get inside that house. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but you do. You know what it is we need. The temperatures aren’t going to warm up until we break this thing. By that time we might all be dead from cold.”

  “I doubt that. We can always move to the Caribbean.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.” He sighed. “There’s no way I’m going to talk you out of this, is there?”

  “No. It’s all been decided. You can at least get arrested with me if Garrick shows up.”

  “Ah, the best way to spend the holidays—stuck in a jail cell playing harmonica.”

  “Oh great, you already know how to play it. Perfect.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  I almost danced with joy.

  “But Pepper—”

  “Yes?”