by Diane Darcy
Thorne crossed the shop to stand at the counter, his gaze never once leaving her face.
William’s line simply rang on the other end, and when he didn’t answer, she had to admit it surprised her. That had certainly never happened before.
“I’m Madge. And who, exactly, are you?” Mom asked.
Thorne turned to look at her mother. “Thorne Van Brussel, at your service, ma’am.” Thorne’s gaze was immediately back on Lena.
Mom’s brows rose. “Do you know my daughter?”
Thorne turned his gaze to her mother once more. “Your daughter? Yes, I see the resemblance. Is Lena’s father around, by chance. I’d like to press my suit, and get permission to marry your daughter.”
“Oh, geez.” Lena was dialing the casino as her mother, hand cocked on one hip, grinned and said to Thorne, “Yes, do go and find her father. Let him know you want to marry his daughter. Maybe he’ll pay for the wedding.”
The phone rang once before a man answered. “Security please, I’d like to talk to William Murray.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“I … well … I have a man who has wandered into my shop, and seems to be under the influence of a love spell. I was hoping William could sort it out for me.”
“And why would he do that?”
“Well, I’m dating him … so…”
Thorne was now literally kneeling in front of the counter across from her. He took her hand, but she quickly pulled it away.
“You’re so incredibly beautiful. So kind, and thoughtful, everything a woman should be.”
Mom snorted.
“Is this Lena?” asked the man on the other end of the phone.
“Yes. This is Lena.”
“This is Quinn. Why are you calling this number instead of William’s personal number?”
“Because William isn’t answering.”
Thorne was comparing her to flowers now but she ignored him and waved a hand at her mother to shush her laughter.
“He didn’t answer your call? I’ll go find him. In the meantime, who exactly is that with you?”
“Thorne Van Brussel.”
“I see. I’ll go find William.”
“Thank you.”
Thorne continued to wax lyrical about Lena’s beauty. He loved her, she was his soulmate, he was so glad he’d finally found her.
Grandma came down and looked at the man in concern. “Is he on drugs?”
Lena shook her head. “He’s on something.”
“Should we give him something that might counteract it? Maybe a bit of mint?”
They talked him in to sitting across from Lena, which he was only willing to do if he could hold her hand.
Mom offered to read his cards, and they did so while they waited for Grandma to come back with a cup of mint tea.
About twenty minutes later, William’s car pulled up outside. He came into the shop, shoulders squared, looking less than his usual put together self. In fact, he was wearing jeans and a rumpled, black T-shirt, his hair was sticking up on one side, and his gaze was a bit wild as he glanced around the room.
“Are you all right?” Lena asked.
William moved forward and grabbed Thorne by the scruff of the neck, yanking him backward, and forcing him to let go of Lena’s hand.
Thorne tried to fight him, but William quickly had him in a headlock, as Thorne batted at him in a few halfhearted attempts.
“Ladies. It’s good to see ye. And Lena, I’m sorry I missed your call. I was unreasonably tired when I went tae sleep, and Quinn could barely wake me. I think I might’ve been drugged.”
“Drugged?” Mom looked at Thorne again, and then back at William. “It seems to be going around, doesn’t it?”
“Mayhap it does,” William agreed. “Lena, will ye come with me? I must place Thorne on lockdown and figure out who did this.”
“Yes, I’ll come.”
His eyes seemed to gleam for a moment as he watched her jump up and grab her bag from behind the counter.
“Wonderful. And I know exactly who we need tae talk tae first.”
Chapter 14
It was easy to take Thorne down to the dungeon simply by having Lena take the lead. After that, the man easily followed.
Once they went downstairs, they got him settled into a cage, and William promptly swung Lena out and slammed the door and locked it.
They walked away as Thorne frantically called out for her. “Lena! Lena!”
She looked back. “Do you think he’s going to be okay?”
Thorne was holding both hands out to her, and a look of pity crossed her face.
William’s temper spiked. “He isnae himself.” He moved to block her view of the man indicating she should go first. “Else he’d never dare act in such a manner.”
Lena shot him a searching look. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I know tis no’ his fault this is happening, but he still doesnae need yer pity.”
With a gentle hand on her back, William led her out of the caged area and shut the big door behind them. As it was shutting, Thorne let out an agonized moan which was abruptly cut off by the heavy wood.
Lena bit her lip and looked the other way. William let out a sigh. “All right, let’s go find Heath.”
They went down the vampire hallway and knocked on Heath and Bianca’s door.
Heath answered quickly, almost as if he’d been standing on the other side.
The moment he showed his face, William’s anger spiked, but he tried to control it. “Exactly how many love potions did ye say ye bought?”
Heath looked behind himself, grimaced, and faced them again. “Two.”
“I’d like to see them.”
“One moment.” Heath left him standing at the door, and was back within less than a minute. He handed over two clear packets filled with white powder.
William looked at them, they could be anything. Powdered sugar, drugs, or even the love potions he claimed to have purchased. He’d have to find out later. He put them in his pocket and glared at the other man once more.
“And who were they for?”
“Just a curiosity. When we returned to Philly, I wanted to be able to give them to Dorinda for her amusement.”
“Ye know they’re illegal. I’ll be keeping them.”
Heath looked irritated, but finally gave a shrug. “Do whatever you like.”
“Oh, I will, laddie.”
William eyed the other man. “Do ye deny drugging me last night? Or rather, early this morning?”
Heath looked genuinely startled. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Sure, ye didnae.”
“Heath? What is going on?” Bianca, wearing a short, black cashmere sweater dress, appeared in the doorway.
“Oh.” Her chin lifted. “What did the two of you want this time?”
“Bianca, no need to be rude.” Heath’s tone was sardonic. “He’s just doing his job and she … actually, I’m not sure what she’s doing here.”
“Speakin’ o’ Dorinda, has either of ye spoken tae her?”
They both shook their head. “We’re waiting to find out the results of your investigation first. Our queen will forgive us for not giving her the information immediately. But she will be very impatient when she finds out what happened. She’s going to want answers, so we’re waiting until she has some.”
“Or mayhap ye dinnae want tae tell her that the two of ye are my main suspects?”
Bianca exploded. “How dare you! I loved Emilio! I loved Dimitri! We’ve been together for years!” She looked unhinged, her claws coming out. “And you come here with no answers, and accuse us, those who loved them best, of committing the crime!” Her accent deepened. “Perhaps we need to call Dorinda simply so that she can investigate, as you seem far more caught up in your new romance,” she shot Lena a scathing look, “than you do in finding out who killed our kin.”
William’s gaze narrowed on Bianca. “Someone tried to
steal the Corvette that Emilio won. Where were ye last night at about four o’clock?”
Bianca drew in another breath, and then let it out on a scream. “I was here! Inside this room! Waiting for you to figure this out so I can go home!”
With that she swung away, and moments later they heard a door slam.
Heath looked uncomfortable. “Sorry about that. Though, I must say that it does seem like you’re not making any progress on this.”
“Mind yer manners, lad. Chances are ye’ll be the first tae know when we’ve solved these murders.” He gave Heath a scathing look. “And solve them we will.”
With that, William put an arm around Lena and led her away.
They walked down the hallway, up the stairs and soon heard the unmistakable sound of running feet just before Bianca joined them.
“I need you to believe me. We didn’t have anything to do with any of it.”
“Ye might no’ have, but what about Heath? He’s already admitted tae buying love potions. He had two in his possession. Don’t ye think he could have murdered yer friends so he could have ye tae himself?”
“No, I don’t believe that. They were like brothers.”
“Are ye sure, though?”
Bianca bit her lip. “He would never.”
“That sounds as if ye have doubts. If he did it, wouldn’t ye want tae avenge yer friends?”
“If we’re wrong, we’re wrong. But what if we’re right? Wouldn’t you want to help us?” Lena added.
Bianca nodded with obvious reluctance.
“That’s all we ask.”
Later that afternoon it was Lena’s first day of work at Natural Magic.
So far, things had been going well. A lot of things were very similar to Pandora’s, though she would say these ladies were a bit more on the mercenary side and pushed sales, and got them, like Lena couldn’t believe!
It would be good to learn this stuff, simply for her pocketbook.
They also pushed the social media in ways that her family had never considered before.
All in all, she was starting to regard these ladies as geniuses.
“Let me just bag that up for you,” Scarlett smiled at the middle-aged woman across the counter. She grabbed a pretty red bag with the words Natural Magic in large curly cue letters front and center, a broomstick underneath, and three witches and a cauldron at the bottom. Pretty, classy, and fun at the same time.
She handed the heavy bag across the counter with a charming smile and a, “When these work for you, it’ll be a pleasure to see you back in here to shop again. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook.”
The woman hadn’t even flinched at the price tag, and seemed thrilled with her purchases. “I won’t, thank you. I’m sure I’ll be back soon.”
Scarlett waved until she was out of sight and then told Lena, “I have no doubt she’ll be back, I bespelled the witch hazel in the face cream, and it’ll take those wrinkles out in a jiffy.”
Lena shook her head and smiled. “I’ve learned more in a few hours here about salesmanship …” she stopped herself there, not wanting to say anything disloyal against Pandora’s, or their Fremont Street gig.
Scarlett winked. “Stick with us kid, and we’ll make a mercenary out of you yet.”
Ava finished up with a tarot reading, and then led her customer over to the counter, sold her a few items, and after she was on her way, leaned an elbow against the glass counter and looked at Lena. “What do you think? Having any fun yet?”
“And learning a lot, too.”
“Glad to hear it, but the fun is just getting started. Esmeralda is in the back getting things set up for a … what shall we call it? A first day employee exam? You know, just so we can see where you’re at.”
“Okay…” Lena drew out the word. “Is this going to be a written or a verbal type of test? Herbal?”
“We just want to see where you’re at.”
Lena tried to hide any signs of uneasiness. Really, she guessed she was okay with this. And if she wasn’t, well, they couldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to do. “All right, sounds good.”
Both Ava and Scarlett exchanged a glance and smiled brightly. “Perfect!” Ava said.
Scarlett quickly rounded the counter and headed toward the front doors. “Let’s just shut down for lunch, shall we?” she said as she promptly locked the doors, flipped a sign around that said they’d be back later, and then pulled the shades, darkening the area slightly.
“Come on,” Ava led the way toward their rear sitting room. “Let’s go see what Esmeralda has done so far.”
Lena followed Ava, and Scarlett was right behind them. When they entered the sitting room, Esmeralda had a long oak table set up in the middle, with various pots and glass jars filled with what looked to be herbs and liquids. Matches and colored candles were set off to one side, as well as a bowl of crystals, no doubt blessed for their associated purposes. When the three of them stopped on the opposite side of the table, Esmeralda stood back, clasped her hands together, and smiled. “Welcome, Lena.” She spread one hand to indicate all the items laid before her. “Ready to be tested?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”
Esmeralda’s smile widened. “Don’t worry, this isn’t going to hurt.”
“Not too much, anyway,” Ava said with a smirk.
“Now, you stand right here,” Esmeralda said, indicating the spot directly across from her.
The three of them shuffled until Lena was in the middle.
“All right,” Esmeralda’s eyes were shining. “First, we’re going to have you do a simple spell.”
Lena raised an eyebrow. Granted, she’d seen a lot of strange things recently, invisibility spells might be a thing, and Scarlett had admitted to making a love potion, which Lena was pretty sure she’d seen in action.
Still, she wasn’t sure what to expect from this whole thing, or even what she believed could be possible.
Esmerelda pushed a stone mortar and pestle toward her. “All right, we’re going to have you put in a pinch of sage, a pinch of lavender, and two pinches of mugwart.” She indicated the glass jars with bunches of unmarked herbs off to one side.
Lena realized that this was probably the first part of her test. To see if she could recognize the different herbs. Easy, peasy.
Sage for removing negative energy. Lavender for peace. Mugwort for protection, but also known for heightening psychic ability. Hmm.
She pulled the bowl close, set quartz crystals for good energy around the perimeter, then did as requested. As always, driest ingredients first.
“Bay leaves, peppermint, rue,” Esmeralda said.
Bay leaves for wisdom, peppermint — again, for psychic ability — and rue for protection. She tried to guess what spell they were working. Maybe they were just trying to create a new incense blend.
“Brown sugar.”
Lena complied, moist ingredients next.
“Nuts and oil.”
Wet ingredients. Still no clue what they were hoping for with this spell.
“Crush.”
She quickly crushed everything together using the pestle. Normally, she would use the time to reflect upon what she was trying to bring into her life. Usually, love for family and friends. Today, she was probably bringing uncertainty to the mix.
“Good, let’s have you,” Esmeralda opened a book, flipped to a certain page, and then set it down. She turned it around and pushed it toward Lena. “Say these words as you sprinkle the concoction with wormwood.”
Wormwood, again for psychic ability. Especially when it was in the same mixture as mugwort. She was sensing a theme.
Ava lit a white candle. For new beginnings?
Scarlett lit an incense stick.
Lena looked at the words, which seemed to be some sort of friendship spell. Taking a deep breath, she read them aloud.
Lady of the night sky,
I wish you’d hear my fervent cry.
Moo
n of finest silver wane,
Bind this friendship like a chain.
By earth and air, by fire and water,
I call on my power as your daughter.
To help me find new kinship three,
As I will it, so mote it be.
She sprinkled wormwood over the top of the other ingredients as she read the words, and the green mist she’d seen on several occasions now seemed to flow out of her fingertips.
She glanced up at Esmeralda, to see the woman looking watchful, but not impressed or surprised. So maybe they considered this green mist a normal thing?
The mist expanded, filling the bowl and then bubbling over until it spread across the table.
Esmeralda glanced up at her. “Crush it.”
“All right.” Lena couldn’t even see the mugwort she’d sprinkled over the top because the green mist seemed to be bubbling out of the bowl and continuing to spread. She set the pestle into the mortar and the moment it touched the mixed herbs, an explosion threw her and the other three women backward.
They landed in different parts of the room, Esmeralda against the wall, Lena into an arm chair that then tipped over backward, Scarlett over the top of the couch, and Ava rolling across the carpeted floor to stop against the wall.
Slowly all of the women rose, and looked around the room at each other.
“Did I do it wrong?” Lena asked Esmeralda, her gaze flitting to Scarlett and Ava and their smoke-smeared faces.
She lifted a hand to her own face and brushed two fingers against her cheek, pulling them away to see a smear of black staining her skin.
The three other women let out shrieks of glee, startling Lena into jumping. Ava clapped, Esmeralda smiled broadly, and Scarlett jumped up and down, cheering.
“How did you do that?” Esmeralda asked.
“That was powerful. That packed a lot of punch!” Ava’s expression sharpened to avarice.
Scarlett settled, giving two sharp claps of excitement. “Yes, tell us how you did it.”
She wasn’t sure herself, so … “I suppose it was the green mist.”
“What mist?” Ava demanded.
“The mist that floated across the table.”
The three witches looked at each other, and then Esmeralda rushed over and pulled a book off the shelf, and started flipping through the pages. She finally came to a stop, her finger moving down the page as she read words aloud. “Foggy mist, wet mist, colored mist.”
