Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2

by Belinda White

  “So how much do you want?”

  I just looked at her. “What?”

  Another glance around the room, then she lowered her voice even more. “Look, I’d much prefer we just cut to the chase. We both know why we’re here. How much do you want for... the packet?”

  Ah, now I understood. “Actually, that has nothing to do with why I asked to meet you.” Well, not in the way she was thinking, anyway.

  Her eyes narrowed. “But you aren’t denying that you found a packet in the desk?”

  I shook my head. “Oh, I found it all right.”

  “Then where is it? And how much do you want for it?”

  It might have been wrong of me, but I pulled a bit of magic. I wanted to impress the strength of my next words. “You don’t know much about the Ravenswinds, do you? We don’t put prices on things like that. We do what’s right.”

  She relaxed the tiniest of bits. “Oh, so you’re going to turn it over to Malcolm’s lawyer? That’s good to hear.”

  “You mean your fiancé? Somehow, that just didn’t strike me as the right thing to do. The will is in expert hands. A prominent attorney in Oak Hill is seeing to the details.”

  Her face flushed, and she bolted out of her chair. “You had no right to do that!”

  I didn’t make a move. I was learning a lot just by watching Maude and her actions. Finally, she took the hint and sat back down.

  “The will should have gone to Malcolm’s attorney, and you know it.” There was more than a little hiss to her voice.

  “And maybe if he hadn’t been such a prominent feature in your life as well as Malcolm’s, it would have.”

  “Don’t judge me. Our engagement started well after Malcolm passed away. I did nothing wrong. I was faithful to my husband.”

  It was all I could do not to laugh. But I didn’t think that would go over very well. “Well, what’s done is done. Now, do you mind if I ask you a question of my own?”

  She glared at me. “That depends entirely on the question.”

  “Last year, a young woman came to see Malcolm. She was kept from seeing him, even though she tried several times. She probably would have kept trying, but someone in a purple vehicle ran her off the road. Then they made it look like it had been a drunk driving accident. We almost have the proof we need to show that wasn’t the case.”

  Maude wouldn’t meet my eyes. “The girl was a gold-digger and nothing more.” Well, wasn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? “She was just after an inheritance. All she wanted was money.”

  Funny that she focused on the gold-digging angle instead of the possible murder victim angle. That said a lot, didn’t it? Not a single heart-felt denial about that purple vehicle’s involvement, either. That said even more to me.

  “Actually, all she wanted was to meet her father. Something you denied her being able to do, if I have my facts straight. But I’d like to get back to my question, if I may. Where were you the night she was killed?”

  Maude smiled and leaned back in her chair. I really didn’t like the look of that smile.

  “I was in Oak Hill at a fundraiser. There was news coverage of the event, so there should be plenty of eyewitnesses, even from people who weren’t actually in attendance. And at the time of the accident, if I’m not mistaken, we’d all just sat down for dinner. It was rather a big deal.”

  It was also funny how she knew exactly what she’d been doing at the time Ashley had been killed. That sounded a lot like someone setting up a rock-solid alibi for something they knew would happen.

  “Follow up question... and please know that we are checking other sources as well, so it might behoove you to tell the truth on this one... where was your car on the night of Ashley’s death?”

  Did she just lose a bit of color? I think maybe she did. But it came back with a vengeance.

  “My car was at home in the garage, with the keys in it.” She hesitated. “And if you’re checking out other sources, then I might as well tell you that yes, there was damage to its front bumper the following morning.” Maude sat a little straighter. “Security wasn’t as tight as I’d like it to have been, and I have no idea who took my car for a joyride. Or why they would do so.”

  “Oh, I think the why is fairly apparent, things being what they are.”

  “Well, if what you think happened really happened, it wasn’t me behind the wheel. And I have no idea who took the car that night. It could have been anyone.”

  “But whoever it was, they were nice enough to bring the car back. Doesn’t that seem a mite suspicious to you?”

  She pushed her coffee to the center of the table, grabbed her purse, and stood. “We’re done here.”

  I watched her leave as I sipped my coffee. She might indeed be done. But I was only getting started.

  TO MAKE THINGS UP TO the owner of the shop, I ordered a half dozen donuts to go. Even though they were fresh out of my Raspberry Delights.

  I kind of felt I owed him at least that, as I was pretty sure it would be a frosty day in you know where before a Fontaine stepped foot inside his shop again. Well, Maude Fontaine anyway. I rather think Tory would like the place. She’d enjoy the food too.

  By the time I made it back to the farmhouse, Kimberly was back from her errands, and in a good mood. Things must be going well for her right now. It was about time things turned around for the girl. She deserved it.

  Gray had better treat her right, or he’d find out just how much the Ravenswinds had earned their reputation.

  I threw my purse and keys down on the entry table as I walked in. Kimberly was bustling about in the kitchen. “I’m throwing a pot roast into the crockpot for dinner. That sound good to you?”

  “When does pot roast ever sound bad?” I called back, grinning. Having someone to share the kitchen duties was super nice. Neither Ruby nor Amie had ever really stepped up to the plate on that one. Only when I insisted. It was nice to have someone like Kimberly around that took the initiative all on their own.

  I turned to go into my little apartment and stopped dead in my tracks. That blasted doll’s case was sitting right there in the middle of my little living room floor.

  It was closed, but what did that really mean? The only way I’d know for sure the doll was still inside the darn thing was to look. That was a real quandary. No way did I want to open that case’s lid. But if I didn’t, I’d be looking over my blasted shoulder all dang day.

  “Kimberly?” I called out, my voice tight. “Do you know why Nancy’s doll case is in my room?”

  “What?” She walked over and peeped over my shoulder. “Why on earth would Nancy bring it down here?”

  “That’s just it. It wasn’t here this morning. I’d have seen it. And the kids are still in school, right?”

  Kimberly’s frown deepened. “Yeah, they are. You sure it wasn’t here this morning? You could have missed seeing it. We weren’t here long.”

  I gave a small shudder. No way had I missed that thing.

  “I’m sure. Don’t suppose you have any idea how it got here?”

  She shook her head and crossed her heart with two fingers. “It wasn’t me, I swear.” She hesitated. “And the wards are still up and running, aren’t they?”

  I nodded. Then who? There were only three of us in the house. Me, Kimberly, and... baby Pearl.

  Even as I had that last thought, I heard her giggle from the other room.

  “Deal with it, Pussycat.” Bridget delivered the words in the closest thing to my mother’s tone of voice that I’d heard in years.

  My head snapped to face her. “What did you say?” My eyes were staring hard into Bridget’s little black orbs.

  “Deal with it, Pussycat. It’s just a doll.”

  “Oh, Goddess.” The room started spinning around me, and Kimberly caught me as I stumbled and almost fell. I held on to consciousness, but it was a close thing.

  “Are you okay, Opal?” Kimberly’s eyes bore down into mine. “Do I need to get you to a doctor?”
/>
  I shook my head. “Just help me over to the chair.” She did. I really hated having to ask the next favor of her. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to look in that case and see if the doll is in there?”

  Kimberly’s frown was firmly implanted by now. Her eyes went from me, to Bridget, and finally to the case on the floor. She strode over to it, and with no hesitation whatsoever, she flipped open the lid. The unlocked lid, I might mention.

  “Well?” I also hated the fact that I was holding my breath for her answer.

  “It’s here. Safe and sound.” She reached into the case.

  “No! Don’t take it out!”

  Startled, she stood up and looked at me. “It isn’t Chucky you know. It’s actually kind of pretty, in its own way. Maybe if you saw it...”

  This time I couldn’t have stopped the shudder if I tried. “No, thank you. I really think that thing needs to just disappear. I don’t know what Sapphire was thinking, letting Nancy bring it here. She knows my issues with those kinds of dolls.”

  “And what...” her voice trailed off as my cell phone started ringing from my purse. She turned to grab my purse for me, but I stood first. I wanted some distance between myself and that darn case and its contents.

  “Just shut that case and take it back upstairs, please? And put something really heavy on top of it too, okay? I’ll get the phone.”

  The call was on the fourth ring before I picked it up. I’d wanted to see Kimberly get moving on the case first.

  “Opal Ravenswind,” I answered.

  “Opal, please, you have to help! Someone has taken Tory!”

  My mind snapped back into place in a heartbeat. “Have you called the sheriff?”

  “Yes, he’s on his way. But can you come too? Can you find her?”

  “Hunt out something to use as a focus for a finding spell. Hair from her hairbrush would work great. I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

  I ran back into my apartment just long enough to grab a pre-mixed spell bag. I tried to keep a few on hand. It made things go a lot faster when the need was urgent. And you just didn’t get more urgent than a missing child.

  By the time I was heading out the door, Kimberly was coming back down the stairs. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

  “No. Someone’s taken Tory. I’m on my way there now.”

  Her face lost color. “I’ll call Gray. He lives a mile away from there. He’ll meet you there.”

  I nodded. Having a male presence couldn’t hurt, and it would take the sheriff a while to get there. I’d beat him for sure.

  I was halfway up the big hill before it finally occurred to me that we might not have been talking about the same sheriff.

  Too late for me to do anything about that now. At the speed I was going, making a phone call was out of the question.

  I just hoped that Orville’s mistrust of the other sheriff’s office didn’t get proven. Not today, and not with this.

  Hold on, Tory. I’m coming.

  Chapter 22

  My fears on the sheriff were fully realized when I pulled into the parking lot to see an unfamiliar sheriff’s vehicle already there. When I dashed in the front door, Sheriff Menard didn’t seem thrilled to see me. Quite the opposite, in fact.

  He whirled on me. “You stay out of this. This isn’t the time or place for any of your witchcraft tomfoolery.”

  I brushed past him, ignoring his words. He had his job to do, and I had mine. You would think they would be one and the same. But if it was me, I wouldn’t just be standing there with an open notebook asking questions. Time was wasting.

  “Do you have the hair?”

  Callie handed me a small bag, and I dumped the ingredients into the prepared spell and mumbled the words under my breath. The Goddess would hear them, and that was all that mattered to me.

  Almost instantly, a thin blue line glimmered in the air, and I was running. The sheriff reached for me as I passed him, but I dodged and kept going full speed. Catch me if you can, sheriff. At least we’d be heading in the right direction when you did.

  I got past, but Callie wasn’t so lucky. I could hear her arguing with Menard, right up until I reached the out of earshot range. That was fine with me. Somehow, I didn’t think Menard would be much backup, anyway.

  The blue shimmer led me straight into the woods. In a way, that did my heart good. I’d been more than half afraid that it would lead to the parking lot and a missing car. I didn’t think I had a high-speed chase in me right now. Not that I wouldn’t have tried my darndest to be up to the challenge. But no. Whoever took her had headed into the woods.

  That thought brought chills all of its own.

  I heard the growling first. Seconds before I ran full tilt into the clearing.

  There stood Attorney at Law, Theodore Kramer. He had a shovel in one hand and a pistol in the other. Of course, at my appearance, the pistol shifted from the wolf before him to me.

  I opened myself wide to the magic, and it started pouring in. Not that it would stop a bullet, mind you. But magic was good for other things too.

  “Where’s the girl, Teddy?”

  He didn’t say anything, but his quick glance into the hole in front of him made me see red.

  I didn’t have time to keep him talking until reinforcements arrived. I kind of thought the large gray wolf standing over the small hole was all I was going to get. I was betting that wolf was a gift from the Goddess, and I knew better than to question it.

  If it was keeping Teddy from filling in that hole, it was a friend, in my opinion. I took a step forward, and the gun leveled at my heart.

  “I really have nothing against you, you know. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that you had to go and get involved in all this. If anyone else had bought that desk, things wouldn’t have to end here for you. As it is, I’m sorry, but I hope you’re ready to meet your Goddess.”

  “Don’t I get at least one final question?”

  He laughed. “What, to give the others time to get here? Sorry.”

  Two things happened almost exactly at the same time. One, I dodged to the left and hit the ground just as the gun went off. If nothing else, hearing a gunshot in the woods should get Menard into gear. But then, before I had a chance to stand and run, there was another shot. This time from behind me.

  Teddy went down like a sack of bricks, clutching his shoulder. More importantly to me, he dropped the gun. I darted for it and grabbed it up before he could retrieve it. Then I glanced over my shoulder to thank Menard. Maybe we were wrong about him, after all.

  Only it wasn’t Menard standing there with the smoking gun. It was my Orville.

  Seeing him gave me the courage to let Teddy out of my sight, and I ran for that hole. The wolf moved to let me in, his worried eyes meeting mine. I reached in and pulled the girl out, laying her on the more solid ground to one side. Then my fingers searched for that pulse at the base of her throat.

  It was slow but strong. And I could breathe again.

  The rat had been going to bury the child alive. I stood, my hair flowing out to all sides. Teddy took one look at me and starting crab-crawling away from me. Towards the sheriff.

  Like that was going to help him.

  Chapter 23

  When you use magic in anger, it almost never ended well. I was sure it wouldn’t have ended well for me, either. If I had let loose with the magical blast of my full fury, I probably would have killed Teddy. And I would have had repercussions to face from it for the rest of my life.

  I like to think that when Orville stepped between me and the worthless, murdering lawyer, that he did so to save me rather than him. Sometimes following the letter of the law meant you had to let the bad guys live to draw breath another day.

  If Tory hadn’t been safe, I’m pretty sure, Orville or no, I would have ended the man then and there. Luckily, that didn’t have to happen.

  I carried Tory back toward the house, following Teddy and Orville. Orville would have taken her, but I d
idn’t want that gun of his off Teddy for one second. If the man had any tricks up his sleeve, I wanted to make sure Orville was ready for them.

  As it was, we were met halfway by Callie, and then Menard. From the look of things, she’d finally broken away from him, and he was just trying to catch up with her. The man was breathing hard, and she met us well before he did.

  I saw Orville shake his head and heard his mumbled, “Just pitiful.” But I don’t think anyone else did. Personally, I don’t think pitiful was nearly a strong enough word to use for Menard. Wind’s Crossing didn’t know just how lucky they were with our luck of the draw for sheriff.

  Callie reached me just as Tory started coming to. I held her out to Callie, honestly thankful for the break. The child had been getting heavy, and I wasn’t in the best of shape myself. Not after the nerve-wracking last hour, anyway.

  I saw the relief on her face as she gathered Tory in her arms and fell to her knees, crying. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  My heart went out to her as I watched her rock the waking child back and forth in her arms. “I think we need to take her to be seen by a doctor. We need to make sure she’s okay.” I was fairly certain that Teddy had used the old Chloroform standard of most villains, but a quick check-up was in order all the same. We didn’t want any residual side effects hitting the child.

  She nodded. “I could sure use a lift, though. I’m not at all sure I can let go of her long enough to drive us myself. Not that I’m in any shape to drive right now, anyway.”

  “I’ll drive you.” Gray stepped out from the trees lining the path. I have to admit, I did a double-take when I saw the man standing there in nothing more than a tank top and a pair of running shorts. Just how hot-blooded was the man? “Sorry it took me so long to get here. I was out for my run when Kim called.”

  His eyes softened as they went to Tory. “Is she okay?”

  A bleeding man with a gun trained on him, two sheriffs, and a distraught Callie before him, and his first question was about Tory. That right there eased a lot of the doubt I’d had about him. To me, that was the sign of a good man.