by Brenda Trim
Having this issue behind us was an enormous relief, but it was just one of the crises we’d faced. Life had been one adrenaline-fueled moment after another ever since Grams died and I moved to Pymm’s Pondside.
I wondered if Violet was getting flak from her original coven. I pondered for the thousandth time what her responsibilities were to them. There were no doubt, duties that she’d been shirking to help me and the war in Eidothea. I’d bet that was what had her occupied.
I clasped hands with Sebastian and opened the portal. This time the oval shimmered to life in the middle of the stone archway I had hauled around the realm with me. It wavered, and a second later, I saw the bones that formed the tether on our side.
“You know where to reach us if you need anything,” Sebastian told his parents and Finarr. I was surprised they’d decided to see us off. They had warmed to me but didn’t look happy that Bas wanted to mate me.
Violet and Aislinn said their goodbyes and crossed through. Sebastian and I were next. I was familiar with crossing now that I wasn’t put off when darkness encompassed me between one step and the next. As expected, my hair whipped around my head in the wind created in the portal.
My arm ached as we traveled through the dark tunnel. I couldn’t wait to take a hot shower and put some sweats on. It had been a long ass day of cleaning and searching for survivors in the palace, and I had been covered in filth before it even began.
I decided not to wait to bathe there. I just wanted to return to Grams. Light flashed around me, making black spots dance in my vision, and then I was being squeezed through a tight space. The compression around me disappeared, and I took the next step into the now recreated crypt.
When and how did Grams rebuild the building that had been destroyed? I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around the diminutive woman I had been terrified would be gone when I returned.
“You’re alive! I was so worried you wouldn’t be here when we got back.”
Grams patted my back and pushed me away. “I’m as surprised as you are. Camille seems to think I’ll be around until you get the hang of your powers.”
“That would be fantastic. Although I never want to let you go. Can’t you, you know, just choose not to age?” Her shocked look made me chuckle. “Yeah, Bas told me about that one, although I don’t know much more than that really.”
I noticed there was no door on the mausoleum as we exited into the family cemetery. “I thought you were going to wait for me to rebuild this.”
Grams narrowed her eyes. “I got bored. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sit in that house and not be able to leave?”
“Were you stuck here?” My mind was immediately working through solutions. I didn’t want her to be relegated to Pymm’s Pondside.
“I couldn’t exactly go to the store or Mug Shots for a sandwich. I’m supposed to be dead.”
“Oh. That’s right. So how have things been around here while we were gone? And where did Violet and Aislinn go?”
“They went to shower and get changed. I imagine you’ll want to clean up, as well.” Her nose wrinkled as she looked at me.
The hand I lifted to my hair almost got stuck in the gunk. “I’d better clean this off before it sinks deeper into my skin, and I carry around the stink permanently. I won’t belong.”
Grams waved me away when we entered the house, and I darted upstairs, leaving Bas to catch up with her. I flipped the water on hot in my bathroom and shucked the battle gear as fast as possible. I had to go slowly because the pain in my shoulder flared high enough to steal my breath.
I avoided the mirror. There were some things a girl didn’t need to see, and this was one of them. Once under the flow, I scrubbed my hair one-handed and used a generous amount of shampoo and conditioner.
It felt so good to wash away the food, blood and God only knew what else. It took me scrubbing my scalp three times for the water to run clear. Once done, I reluctantly shut the water off and discovered Sebastian waiting with a towel in hand.
My initial reaction was to hide my body. No one wanted to see the stretch marks, saggy boobs, and wrinkles. Except he looked at me with heat in his eyes, telling me he liked what he saw.
“While I would love to explore that look in your eyes further, the others are waiting downstairs. Camille just arrived with news she wanted to wait to share with all of us.”
“Then you better go.” I took the towel from him and wrapped it around my torso. Bas watched as I dried off quickly then stepped into my underwear and sweats. He helped with the t-shirt, and I grabbed my socks and headed for the door with them in hand.
“You look much better,” Aislinn called out when we entered the family room.
Grams had prepared tea and snacks, and they were on the coffee table, which I sat down in front of. “I feel much better. Good to see you, Camille. I hear you have some news for us.”
Camille inclined her head and set her teacup on the table next to the recliner she was sitting in. “I’m glad you guys are back. Things here have gotten worse. Whoever is killing paras has stepped up their game. There have been three deaths since you left a few days ago. The latest was Sterling. I believe he was your neighbor, Aislinn.”
I rubbed my temples. “I had really hoped we’d have a few days to rest. I can’t do much with my arm in this condition.”
Grams’ sharp eyes shifted to me. “What do you mean? What condition is your arm in?”
I proceeded to tell them what had happened after we crossed to Eidothea, leaving out how I had absorbed Vodor’s power. That was something I would share with Grams when we were alone, but not before.
“I might be able to help with that.” Grams moved to sit next to me and laid her hands on my injured shoulder. “We have to do something to stop whoever is stalking our kind.”
Heat traveled from her hand and sunk into me, making my arm tingle. “We will find whoever is responsible tomorrow. None of us are up to playing detective again so soon.”
While the others answered questions about what Eidothea was like and more details about what was going to happen now, I poured some tea and grabbed a scone. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in too damn long.
By the time I had inhaled three cinnamon chip scones, my stomach had settled, and I was leaning against Bas as we talked. Camille had specific thoughts about one of the witch elders being responsible for the deaths. I only heard half of what she said. I was busy enjoying the shift in my new magical life.
I had no idea what was ahead for us, but I had Aislinn, Violet, and Sebastian there to support me every step of the way. Together there wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle.
Violet
I pulled into the driveway, glad to see the lights on inside. My heart had stopped when Camille told us about the deaths. She was mad at me for being MIA when the coven needed me. The elders had united witches decades before I was even born, and it had been our duty to ensure it functioned properly.
Being part of a prominent coven was far more complicated than being part of the Backside of Forty. We had each other’s backs and did what needed to be done. There were no political disputes or duties to perform to ensure the elders had the spells and potions they required to ensure mundies didn’t happen upon Cottlehill Wilds.
Putting the car in park, I turned off the ignition and got out. The breath I had been holding rushed out of me when Ben opened the front door. “Hey, mom. You gonna sit there all night? I need you to talk some sense into your daughter.”
I released the breath I had been holding. Ever since Camille mentioned she suspected Adam was responsible had me on edge. I never would have imagined a fellow witch could be accountable for such atrocities. And if Adam was the one doing it, I worried he might be inclined to make me pay for rejecting him over a decade ago when I went through my divorce.
After Ben and Bailey had been kidnapped, I kept having nightmares about their gruesome deaths or being forced to watch them be tortured. I hardly slept. And then something in me shift
ed when we were in the Fae realm.
It happened shortly after I almost lost my arm. Fire built in my chest and spread out, burning me from the inside out. When the flames finally died, I was no longer me. My energy and magic felt different enough that I had yet to try and cast a spell. I would need to soon to determine if it was all in my head or not.
And then there was the bird on fire on my chest. I knew it meant something, but I had no idea. I would need to check my family's grimoire for answers. But first, I had to deal with the latest fight between my kids.
The fact that they were arguing again was music to my ears. They hadn’t been after we rescued them and coupled with the changes I was going through, I was certain nothing in my life would ever be the same again. And I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“What’s going on now? What are you arguing about this time?” I headed up the walk and was on the second step leading up to the porch when Bailey stuck her head out beside her brother’s.
“He wants to go to the states and live with Fiona’s kids while we go to college at UNC.” Bailey glared at Ben with her arms crossed over her chest.
My heart skipped several beats, and my eyes flared. I lowered my head and continued walking until we were all in the house. I wasn’t ready for them to leave at all. They weren’t full witches like I was, so we didn’t know if they would take after their father, who was a merman, or me.
“I didn’t realize that was one of your choices. Have you spoken with Emmie about the possibility of staying there?”
Ben’s cheeks heated, and he lowered his head. “I talk to her all the time, and she said now that they had their parent’s house, there was plenty of room for us.”
“But I don’t want to leave England. Dad doesn’t want us to go either.” My eyes swung to Bailey when she mentioned their father.
“When did you talk to him?” If Trent had told her that he would fight any move with everything he had. He could swim across oceans easily to visit the kids, but he had duties to the clan near England. It was one of the reasons he left us over a decade ago.
“He came to see us a couple days ago,” Ben replied.
I set my purse down and headed for the sofa. “Did you tell him where I was?”
Both the twins shook their heads. “He didn’t ask, so we didn’t tell him.” I could kiss Bailey. They both were protective of me, but she would have sooner eaten dirt than tell him something he could use to hurt me.
We got along for the most part unless something happened. He automatically blamed me no matter what. I was sick of everything being my fault which was why we never told him about the kidnapping.
“This is a conversation we need to have with him before any decisions are reached. For now, why don’t you catch me up on what’s been going on around here.”
Ben took the chair, and Bailey sat next to me. They both launched into a discussion about how the bonfire at the cliffs had been canceled the night before, and everyone was pissed. I listened to them talk and thought about how quiet and lonely the house would be without them.
Perhaps it was time for me to start a new life like Fiona had. I had no plans to move to another country like she did. And I already knew about my magic and how to use it. Or did I?
As a matter of fact, no, I had no idea what I was capable of now. My magic was utterly foreign to me, and I had a lot to learn. Looked like I was getting my own new beginning. If I was lucky, mine would come with a broody, sexy Fae like Fiona’s had.
EXCERPT FROM MAGICAL MAKEOVER BOOK #1 MYSTICAL MIDLIFE IN MAINE
“What do you mean that was an irritated ghost?” I gaped at my patient as she lay on her hospital bed and shrugged her shoulders. Surreptitiously, I checked to make sure I hadn’t peed myself a little. Ever since I had my daughter, my bladder control went out the window with sleep.
How was this my life now? I’d gone from being Charge Nurse at a respected hospital in the triangle in North Carolina, married to one of the country’s best cardiothoracic surgeons to divorced and living back home with my mother and grandmother.
Hattie Silva, my patient and current employer stared at me with a furrowed brow. She was a ninety-year-old woman suffering from cancer of the intestines and required full-time care. After being fired from the hospital, my ex-husband ran me out of North Carolina and had managed to ruin my reputation, leaving me no options for work outside of in-home nursing with a hospice organization.
“I mean precisely what I said. Evanora isn’t happy about you ignoring her. She’s trying to get your attention. I struggle to hear her most days. I’m at the end of my life and running out of time.” Hattie looked frail when she spoke like that.
She was older and suffering far more than was pleasant. It was difficult to watch her in so much pain, but when she talked like this it was easy to forget all of that and simply see her as crazy. I thought her doctors needed to dementia to her diagnoses.
I reached up and grabbed the necklace Fiona had sent to me a few weeks ago. My best friend had moved to England after her grandmother had died and started a new life without me. At first, I kept busy with the kids and Miles, but when my ex informed me that he was leaving me for another woman and proceeded to tear my life apart like a wrecking ball, I missed Fiona more than ever.
We met in college and hit it off right away. We’d been in each other’s weddings, got jobs at the same hospitals and did everything together. I was there when her twins were born because her husband Tim had gotten stuck in traffic. And she was there for me for both of mine. Miles had elected to continue surgeries both times saying it was too complicated for him to hand off.
My heart skipped a beat when the bluish image of a woman wearing a bonnet with a tall brim and a floor length dress that was cinched around the waist with big, poofy sleeves appeared in the spot where the remote control had fallen. Startled, I dropped the necklace and reached my hand toward the ghost. The image disappeared and I shivered with the chill in the air.
Great, now she was infecting me with her crazy. Ignoring what I thought I saw, I set the glass of water on the tray beside the bed and raised the head of her bed more. “There’s no such thing as ghosts. Let’s get you some lunch. I made some chicken soup today.”
Hattie was so thin I could see her bones under her flesh. She felt very breakable when I shifted her body’s position. She started coughing when she slumped forward to make it easier for me to arrange her support. As gently as possible, I laid her on the pillows and held the cup in front of her mouth then adjusted the oxygen flowing through her nasal cannulas.
After several seconds, she took a sip then sighed. “How is it you have an item of Power, but you are ignorant as the day is long?”
This was a familiar argument. She would say something about me having some powerful object and being ignorant of everything important around me. “I like you too, Hattie. You ready for lunch?” At her nod, I left to get the food. The house was massive and most of the time I didn’t notice the echo throughout the place, but I was jumpy after that conversation about spirits.
Rumors from my childhood popped into my head. Maybe they had been right after all. It would make sense for her to believe in ghosts if she really was a powerful witch. Although, I could see only brief glimpses of the power she must have once held. Whether or not that was true didn’t matter.
She was ill and susceptible to being taken advantage of. I hadn’t been hired to consider anything other than her health, but I would never sit by and allow someone to take her for a ride. Hattie was richer than God and had numerous companies to her name. All of which poachers were dying to get their hands on. Not on my watch.
Hurrying to the kitchen, I turned off the pot that had been simmering on low for the past half hour since I finished putting it together. I grabbed two bowls and paused when my gaze caught sight of the water beyond the window. The panoramic views of the Penobscot Bay were to die for and cost a fortune.
Hattie’s house was called Nimaha. It reminded me of h
ow Fiona had always called her grandmother’s home Pymm’s Pondside. Their generation must have named their houses or something. I’d heard several friends talking about names of their grandparents’ homes. My generation had nothing as refined to lay claim to. We had crow’s feet, liver spots and unwanted chin hair among other unpleasant signs of reaching middle age.
Wanting to shove aside thoughts that would only lead me to perseverate on how my life had gone to hell in a handbasket at the most inopportune time in my life, I refocused on the coastline. There was nothing on the more than three hundred feet of shoreline. Hattie had a serene sanctuary here. The waves lapped lazily against the pebbled beach. It was so peaceful and remote. Nothing like the hustle and bustle of the big city hospital where I spent twenty years caring for patients. I watched for several seconds until my mind quieted and I was relaxed.
Turning away from the big window, I grabbed the rolls my grandmother had sent with me that morning and headed back through the five thousand square foot house. Thankfully I didn’t have to clean all of the bedrooms and bathrooms, or care for the three acres and its outbuildings. The gardening alone had to be a beast to maintain, although I had yet to see a gardener come and tend to the multi-terraced back yard.
A hiss nearly made me drop the tray of soups I had been carrying. Shifting my hold on the tray, I scanned the area for the little heathen that I swore was trying to kill me. There she was.
“Don’t scare me like that Tarja.” The tabby cat stuck her nose in the air as if she could understand me and continued past me and up the stairs. She had the most beautiful coat I’d ever seen on a cat. Multi-colored with the oranges and yellows being vibrant and shiny.
The second bowl on the tray was to feed Tarja. I wasn’t used to treating a cat like a person, but she ate the same food I fed Hattie. I swear Hattie invented the term crazy cat lady. Tarja was her Princess and the only thing Hattie was forceful about during the job interview. I should have known Hattie wasn’t entirely together when she told me Tarja was to be fed meals with her and her litter box needed to be cleaned several times a day.
