Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4)

by Melinda Kucsera

  Today was the opening day of Ettie’s Enchanted Effects. Roman wore his typical stuffy architect work attire—black slacks, button-down boring pastel shirt, and diamond-pattern tie. I had every intention to spruce up his style, but honestly, his clothes matched his personality. Not boring, per se, but rather reserved and shy. He was a perfect complement for me.

  Roman laid his extremely ordinary (see not boring) black briefcase on the check-out counter located in the center of the store and helped me with the final touches. We lit the good spirit incense that smelled like citrus and vanilla, turned on the tea lights scattered throughout the shop’s shelving, and started the soft witch music that mortals compared to a cross of Celtic and tribal.

  As I leaned over to straighten a few boxes of earth charms, my clumsy fingers knocked over the entire display. I chewed on my bottom lip as I gave Roman an “I’m innocent” shrug that I hoped looked a little cute. Who said you couldn’t be married and flirty at the same time?

  Roman came to my rescue, helping me pick them up and reset the display.

  “Do you think anyone’s going to come?” I asked, while setting a particularly ugly charm that looked like someone had carved unidentified roadkill out of clay, but was the most powerful as earth charms went. It turned sour soil back to fertile.

  “You’re the talk of the town,” Roman said. “I don’t see how you won’t be flooded with customers. I’m sorry I won’t be here to assist you.”

  “I know,” I teased. “I think you should skip out on work today and spend the entire day with me.”

  Roman’s face went blank, and he did nothing but blink.

  “I’m kidding.” I nudged him with my hip. “You’ve done so much for me already. You have a job. This is my store, and I have it completely under control.”

  I finished setting up the display and smiled at how beautiful all the red clay charms looked against the tiered background I concocted out from a few logs Roman helped me haul out of the woods behind our house. “With the lack of eye contact all the rubberneckers gave me, I’ll be surprised if I have any customers.”

  “Oh, you’ll do great.” Roman nodded at my glass door where a way-too-thin old woman and a stocky little man already stood, then leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll get going so you can get to work. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.” I slapped his behind with a giggle. A girl could play, couldn’t she?

  Roman left with a warm, masculine laugh through the front door, leaving it unlocked for the first two customers to hobble in, but to my surprise, three more people entered right after the white-hairs. Maybe I had been wrong, and this town was more accepting of a witch and an enchanted object shop than I had thought.

  I worked my way around the room. “Thank you for coming to Ettie’s Enchanted Effects. Is there something I can help you find?” I asked the older couple.

  “No.” The woman pursed her lips. “We’re just looking.”

  “Well, if you need anything, let me know.”

  I moved on to the next customer and repeated my spiel to a young, ginger-haired woman with a camera around her neck. Freckles ran across her cheeks and concentrated on the bridge of her tiny, pert nose. “Thank you for coming to Ettie’s. Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Yes.” She smiled and my heart fluttered. My first real customer. “I’m from Watersedge Daily News. I’m here to do a story for the paper.”

  The moment of disappointment that she wasn’t a customer dissipated, and I beamed. An article was sure to draw in customers. “Fantastic. What do you need from me?”

  She handed me a business card confirming her identity. Her name was written in the center in bold: Natalia Young.

  “I have a few questions.” She pulled a half-sized spiral notebook from her oversized designer purse slung over her shoulder. “What brought you to Watersedge?”

  “I—Well, I married Roman Sunward.”

  “The warlock who works at Watersedge Architecture Group?”

  “You’ve done your homework,” I teased, but received no response from the reporter.

  “How’d you two meet? I understand the magical have arranged marriages.”

  “Yes. Sometimes they do, but I’m a mail-order bride.” I smiled awkwardly. The conversation better not turn into twenty questions about my decision to marry someone I hadn’t known. I had been interrogated like a killer arrested while holding the murder weapon from everyone I volunteered with at Witch Way Charities and at my previous job as a social worker when I left Frost Falls.

  “A mail-order bride?” Natalia laughed uncomfortably. “Was he everything you expected?”

  “And more, but I don’t know how this pertains to Ettie’s Enchanted Effects.”

  “I’m just creating a well-rounded article. Tell me why you opened up a shop of enchanted items.”

  “It was Roman’s idea. He thought it could be a way for me to help the people here.”

  “How will magic improve the lives of the citizens of Watersedge?”

  “Magic can make life so much easier. It can help students with memory retention, or make people less groggy in the morning so everyone can get to work on time, or give you the motivation to stick to a routine exercise schedule. The possibilities are endless. It really depends on each individual’s needs.”

  “So…magic will solve our problems?”

  “Not quite. Magic doesn’t solve problems. It just helps mortals focus so they can solve their own struggles.” At least that’s what the kind of magic that I was selling did for mortals. A witch could cast a much more complicated spell, but those were too dangerous to weave into an enchanted object.

  Natalia scribbled in her notebook, then looked up over her thick glasses that made her eyes look as tiny as her button nose. “Could you show me what you all stock?” She lifted her camera for photos.

  I nodded, happy to show her the enchanted objects, such as the bottomless suitcases that made packing a breeze. You never needed to fold or limit what you brought on a trip, and best of all, they always weighed below the impossible airline thresholds. I showed her all of the charms and pendants that helped people kick various vices—sleeping in, binging TV, negativity, etc. I took her to the books that showed our witches’ history—in this realm and our native realm—and to the incense and candles needed for tranquility and other mood-enhancing properties, and finally our wall of various sized talismans for the bigger tasks that involved a whole group of people needing assistance.

  Soon, we had completed our tour and the shop was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with customers. I kept glancing at the cash register, but nobody was standing there yet. Why wasn’t anyone purchasing anything? Did they have questions I needed to answer? I rocked back and forth on my feet while the reporter took a few more photos. “Is there anything else you need?” I asked, glancing from one customer to another.

  She shook her head. “That should be enough. If I could just have the correct spelling of your name and your phone number, I’ll give you a call if I need further clarification of anything.”

  After I finished giving her my contact info, I moved on to the customer nearest to me, as I didn’t remember who had come first. “Welcome to Ettie’s. Can I help you find anything?”

  One headshake after another came as I made my rounds. When I was certain all the customers received some attention from me, my eyes fell on my store’s displays.

  Oh my.

  Each and every one of the customers fingered and touched the merchandise as if rubbing the items would produce a magic genie to grant them three wishes. Now, I needed that genie because my perfectly set up store had quickly become a disaster. Who was I kidding though? I didn’t need a genie. I had my own magic, and it didn’t stop at three wishes.

  Chapter Three

  Shaking my head at the mess in my store, I snapped my fingers and said a little incantation to make the magic last. Everyone who entered Ettie’s from now on would have the desire to put the item they touched back in
to its proper place—unless they were going to purchase it.

  There. Now, all I had to do was clean up one final time. I wiggled my way through the customers who still weren’t doing anything but browsing and started straightening the enchanted warming mittens where I bumped into a tall man—maybe even taller than Roman.

  “Welcome to Ettie’s. Can I help you find anything?”

  “Just looking, my dear.” His words were oddly formal, and they rolled off his tongue like a sneaky caress. “But you’re very busy. I’ll come back when it’s a little less chaotic here.”

  He nodded his salt-and-pepper head, gliding towards the exit.

  “You promise?” I called after him, thinking I was funny, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized I sounded desperate. And maybe I was. I had been open for over an hour already and hadn’t made a single sale.

  And that man wasn’t the only one leaving. In and out, a steady flow of customers, but nobody was buying anything.

  Were they all just curious what I had to offer? Or was the problem that I wasn’t offering items that they were interested in? Or perhaps it was because they actually didn’t really know anything about magic? Maybe the shop was the equivalent of trying to sell a tanning booth to a dog. If they didn’t know what the items did, they were of no use to them.

  But someone in Watersedge had to be purchasing enchanted objects already? They sold like hotcakes on the Internet, even without the personal witch’s touch I was hoping to accomplish in person with the store.

  I hurried to the cash register where an overly tall woman leaned on the counter. My first sale? I’d have to frame whatever bill she paid with.

  “Welcome to Ettie’s.” I smiled a big, white, pearly smile, but in my distraction, I knocked over the rack of shopping bags. They could stay on the floor for the moment.

  “Hello,” she said, reaching her hand across the counter. “I’ve come to welcome you to Watersedge. I’m Mayor Matilda Raab.”

  I wiped my sweaty palms on my floral skirt. “Hi. I’m Ettie Sunward.”

  “Yes. I figured you were Ettie. The owner.”

  “Are you in need of any enchanted objects?” I asked with an innocent smile.

  Her fish lips turned down into a frown. “I’m just checking out the…reception of the store. It looks like people here are interested.” She sighed.

  “Isn’t that good?” I asked.

  “Good? Yes. Yes, it is…maybe.” She continued her visual perusal of the store. “But it doesn’t look like anyone is buying anything.”

  “Not yet.” I bent over and picked up the shopping bags, holding them up to the mayor. “But I’m ready.”

  “I see,” Mayor Raab nodded. “That’s too…bad. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ll be checking in again, as I’m not quite sure Watersedge is ready for a store of this caliber.”

  “You say that like I just opened a brothel.” I nervously laughed.

  The way she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes seemed like she was assessing if I had a harem of women…or men hiding in the back storage room. A little grunt rumbled from her chest before she refocused on me, giving me a slight nod and leaving me at the counter. She circled the room, shaking hands, smiling, and kissing babies, before heading out through the chiming door.

  Outside, a different woman stood, staring through the window like she didn’t know whether to come in or not. Was an enchanted shop that scary to the folks of Watersedge?

  Maybe all she needed was an invitation.

  I was going to get my first customer of the day one way or another—even if it took a whole lot of prodding and hand-holding.

  I crossed the shop and stepped outside. There was no reason to be tied inside, as nobody was showing their green yet. “You can come in.” I smiled, holding the door. “I don’t bite.”

  She took a step away from me.

  I laughed at her outright prejudice. “Seriously, I’m a relatively good person.”

  “Person? You mean witch.”

  Ooh, that stung. “Are witches not people?”

  She squinted at me. “Do you practice white magic or black magic?”

  “White magic or black magic? There’s no difference. Magic is magic.”

  “That’s what I thought.” She clicked her tongue against the top of her mouth and turned her back on me. Right before she disappeared into the building right next door that read, Church of the Saved, she scooped up a pile of large black letters printed on translucent plastic.

  Reverse religious persecution. I knew I’d have to face this at some point. Only about half the religions out there accepted witches even existed, regardless of us doing acts of magic right in front of them, and of that half, only a small fraction of them welcomed witches to this realm.

  Even though witchcraft had nothing to do with religion, there was a long history in this realm of witchcraft being considered a form of Satanism that witches still hadn’t overcome.

  Before I turned back to the store, an illuminated changeable letter sign that hung above the church’s entrance caught my attention.

  Witchcraft is not the answer.

  Oh, I didn’t disagree with the sign. In fact, it was good the church posted that message. Not only did the sign give me insight into who I was dealing with at the church, but it further confirmed my mission. Magic only helped a person do what was inside them all along.

  I turned back to Ettie’s where now, like magic, two people stood at the cash register counter. Hallelujah! I had to mentally snicker at the use of such an appropriate word for being so close to a church.

  I hurried across the room and helped the first person—a teenager purchasing a love talisman.

  “Crush at school?” I asked. Perhaps I was too forward because she blushed. It was all the confirmation I needed. “The closer your crush gets to this talisman, the better it works. It won’t make anyone fall in love; it will just open the recipient up to see the good in you. All you need to do is write both your names with a Sharpie on the bottom.”

  She paid for the item, and I wrapped it up. When she took her bag, she flashed me a huge, sincere smile, and my heart swelled. That was what I was here for.

  Customer number two bought some good mood incense. No instructions needed, but another smile and a thank you.

  Perhaps, I’d get through to this town, yet.

  A girl could only hope.

  Chapter Four

  By the end of the day, my feet and back felt like I had just run a marathon, not that I actually knew what that felt like. I had hundreds of customers and sold a few items, but when I ran the sales report, it only said two hundred dollars. That wouldn’t pay our bills, but at least it was something. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.

  While turning the open sign on the glass entrance door around, a boy of about seven or eight with big blue eyes stared into the shop from right beyond the glass.

  I opened the door. “Did you need anything?”

  He way too quickly shook his head, but his words were a whisper. “I suck at baseball.”

  Was that him asking for help? “What part of baseball is hard for you?”

  “I can’t hit the ball.”

  “Can you catch it? Throw?”

  He nodded.

  I smiled and waved him inside. “I have just the thing for you.”

  He shook his head again and stayed firmly planted on the cracked concrete outside. “I don’t have any money.”

  “Today is your lucky day! It’s my grand opening and I want to give one customer a freebie, completely on the house. Wait here…. What’s your name?”

  “Matt.”

  “Well, wait here, Matt. I’ll be right back.” I disappeared into the shop and retrieved a pendant with a spell to enhance hand-eye coordination. Hopefully, it would be all he would need to watch the ball better. When I returned outside, he hadn’t moved. I knelt down on the sidewalk so we could see eye-to-eye and draped it over his head. “Try this. Co
me back right after your next baseball game and let me know how it worked.”

  “Matthew!” A sharp, familiar voice pierced my ears.

  Both the boy and I snapped our heads to the Church of the Saved woman I had seen earlier today. The child ran up to her as she shook her finger at him.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “We were just talking.”

  The woman gave me the evil eye, and then with her hand on the boy’s back, escorted him promptly inside. Well, that didn’t go over like I intended, but I wouldn’t let it ruin my day.

  I had enough events I could dwell on, but this was just day one. At least nobody was outside protesting or breaking my front windows, yet—not that I expected that level of violence here in Watersedge. We’d see what tomorrow would bring, though.

  The next morning, I sat at the kitchen table across from Roman, sharing a box of Magic Charms while he paged through the newspaper. I swirled my spoon in the delicious, fruit-colored milk.

  “What’s wrong?” Roman asked, laying his newspaper down beside him.

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “Because you haven’t touched your cereal. I thought yesterday went okay.”

  “It did.” I dropped my spoon into my bowl. Roman was right. My stomach was turning and the thought of food made me sick. “I just can’t get my mind off Ettie’s Enchanted Effect’s neighbor. Actually, it’s not just her. The entire town is prejudiced. Everyone came to look at the store, but nobody showed their support by buying anything. The neighbor is just the flagship representative of Watersedge. Deliberately brainwashing her son by not letting him talk with me. And that billboard she put up right on the front of the church? Can you say passive aggressive? How will this town change with people like her?”

  “A town like this changes through one person at a time. She’s not your concern right now. You sold some of your items to real customers. Focus on them.”