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

by Belinda White

  “I’m in,” Patricia said.

  “Good.” I flipped open the notebook to the page with the list of possible suspects. Eleven names still on the page. None had been added or deleted. Yet, anyway. “Have you or Archie came up with anybody to add to the list?”

  She shook her head. “No, and we’ve tried too. But the firm really is secure. Most of the time, anyway.”

  I hesitated, but then said it anyway. “What about Jack?”

  Sapphire looked at me, eyebrows raised. “What about him?”

  Taking a deep breath, I dove in. “Something Orville said got me to thinking the one behind this might just be a witch. I mean, they knew about the council, and most regular folks don’t.”

  “There are a heck of a lot of witches out there, Opal. Why Jack?”

  I threw a glance at Patricia, but in for a penny and in for a pound. Jack’s secret just might have to have the repercussions it should have had all along. “Jack is altogether too good at those stealth spells of his. He could have been in and out with that spell journal with no one to the wiser. Couldn’t he?”

  “Yes. But why would Jack take the spell journal?” She seemed confused. “Jack and Merlin have been friends for a very long time. He’s practically family. I mean, Arc even calls him uncle for gosh’ sake.”

  “Yes, but he had the means and opportunity, didn’t he?” I wanted to make my case on that first and foremost.

  She gave a reluctant nod. “If you want to be technical about it, then yes, he did.”

  “What if there is something up with Jack that we don’t know about?” I looked her in the eyes. “What if he wanted to sully Archie’s reputation so that any testimony he gave against him would be in question? I mean, I’ve seen how Archie looks at Jack. He’s not a big fan of the man, unless I miss my guess. Maybe this is Jack’s way of making a preemptive strike?”

  There was only a second’s hesitation, but there was one. “No. Jack doesn’t go on the list. Not yet.”

  “Pardon me, but who the devil is Jack? And what about this stealth spell of his?”

  How to dodge that bullet? Spill the beans and throw Jack to the wolves? Or lie to a friend? There was only one right answer there.

  “Jack is a friend of Merlin who likes to use stealth spells to relieve people of their worldly goods.”

  Patricia was quiet for the space of a few heartbeats. “I see. You know I will be needing his last name, don’t you?”

  Yeah, I had figured that would be her take on things. She was an enforcer, after all. Most of all, she believed in what she did. There was a good reason behind going after rogue magic users. The Salem Witch Trials came to mind.

  “Maybe later I’ll give it to you. But right now, I say we stay focused on the matter at hand. To my knowledge, Jack has never used his magic to actually cause anyone physical harm.” I gave Sapphire a hard look. “That’s right, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, then looked at Patricia. “I do wish Opal hadn’t brought him to your attention. The man has changed. Archie and Merlin had a nice long talk with him about his... magic use. He’s stopped using magic for bad things.”

  “But he’s still a thief, isn’t he?” I asked.

  Sapphire sighed. “It’s in his blood, dear. That man was born a thief. And the Goddess made him, so I really don’t think there’s any changing him now.”

  Patricia opened her mouth, probably to double down on wanting Jack’s last name, when both of our cell phones went off in tandem.

  I almost didn’t answer mine as I didn’t recognize the number. But then again, with everything going on at the moment, it might turn out to be important.

  I’m glad I answered the call. It was Shaman Gaston Crowe.

  “Are you still with Sapphire?” he asked.

  “I am.”

  “Good. Family needs to stick together in this.”

  “Agreed. I have to ask, Gaston, do you think Archie killed that man?”

  There was a short grunt over the phone. “I do not. But right now, the evidence seems to suggest that. With that being the case, the council had no choice but to act. You understand that, correct?”

  “I do.” I waited a second, trying to get my wording right. I didn’t want to seem to be threatening my friend, even if in a way, that was exactly what I was about to do. “And you understand that he had better be treated well while in the council’s custody, do you not?”

  Another grunt. “There is a reason I was part of that trinity, Opal Ravenswind. I am seeing to Archimedes’ stay with us personally. You have my word on that.”

  “Thank you. That will go a long way in easing our minds. I appreciate you letting us know.”

  “That was my intention. That, and to request that you keep me up to date on your investigations into the matter. I would be by your side helping, but a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Not as of yet, at least.”

  “We need you more where you are, Gaston. I’ll call you if and when we find anything.”

  “There is yet another reason for my call. A warning.” There was a moment’s silence as he let that sink in well and proper. “The council’s leaders have not yet come up with a way to sanction you, but those discussions have not been closed. Watch yourself, Opal Ravenswind.”

  The call ended, and I went in to join Sapphire and Patricia. The latter did not look happy. At all.

  Before I could ask what had happened, she blurted out, “You don’t have to worry about giving me Jack’s name anymore. I’m no longer an enforcer for the witches’ council. They’ve terminated my contract.”

  I sat down slowly. “What exactly does that mean? What contract?”

  “I had a contract with the council to investigate and enforce the laws of magic users. As it was pretty much a full-time job, they paid me for the work. I’ve just been informed that my services are no longer required. Effective immediately.”

  “I’m so sorry, Patricia. This shouldn’t have happened. You were doing your job and a dang good job of it too. Archie didn’t kill that man.”

  Patricia sat up a little straighter. “And I’ll keep doing the job, too. Pay or no pay. It’s too important to not let those snooty higher-ups have their heavy hands on everything. They don’t understand the meaning of the word gray. I do.”

  Truthfully? That kind of surprised me. I’d always thought Patricia was a black and white kind of gal. But then, that hadn’t been the case with Archie, now had it? That meant the woman was able to use her heart and brains too. The council needed those qualities in that kind of position. We sure as heck didn’t need a shoot first and ask questions later mentality like what Crystal was showing.

  “What will you do for an income?”

  She barked out a laugh. “Not an issue at the moment. Liz’s estate has come to me now, thanks to Amie and Ruby bringing her murderer to light. Mind you, I’d much rather have Liz still alive and drawing breath, but the money is sitting in a nice little bank account waiting for me. The money part of this isn’t a big deal.”

  I understood and agreed with her one hundred percent. This wasn’t about money.

  This was about reputation.

  Losing money was one thing. You could generally gain it back with a little thought and hard work. But lose your reputation?

  Things got a whole lot trickier to put right again.

  Chapter 13

  Patricia left around midnight with the promise to post the muffin shop’s closed notice before heading home. Not that Sapphire didn’t try her best to get the woman to stay. She did. Misery loves company and all that, but that wasn’t her intention at all. There was also safety and strength in numbers. And I don’t know about the others, but I had a really bad feeling in my gut that the council wasn’t done with this one just yet.

  Once Patricia headed out, I tried my level best to get Sapphire to agree to pack up and come stay at the farmhouse.

  “Absolutely not!” Sapphire stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “I’m standing behind Archie in al
l this!”

  I frowned at her. What? “And I’m standing right there beside you behind Archie too.” Somehow that sounded better in my head than out loud. “But is there any reason we can’t do our standing at the farmhouse?”

  See, here’s the thing. There’s always a thing, isn’t there? I had no doubt that Kimberly would be up to the challenge of handling three regular kids, a house, and still have it in her to run a shop. The woman was a miracle maker, not a doubt in my mind. But of the kids we were talking about, only one of them was normal.

  Poor little Mason was as normal as the day was long. Nancy was a young, but surprisingly powerful, witch in her own right, but her head was in the right place, thank the Goddess. I really didn’t think she’d be giving Kimberly any kind of problems. In fact, I thought she’d likely be a big help with the said normal child, Mason.

  The problem was that tiny little baby Pearl. Lately, there had been signs that baby Pearl was already coming into some power. At four months old, that was unheard of. At least, I’d certainly never heard tell of that young of a proper magical witch. Baby Pearl was bound to break records and traditions all over the place, I was certain.

  That’s what had me decidedly worried. I needed to be there when that started happening. I also needed to figure out a way to alert Kimberly to the upcoming fiasco that was sure to come. If only my life would even halfway resemble normal for a week or two, I might get that done. That hadn’t been my luck lately.

  But still. How much trouble could a four-month-old witch get into in the space of a few days? Goddess, but I really didn’t want that question answered.

  I looked at Sapphire again. She was standing firm on the whole making a stand thing. “I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”

  “Not in a million years, sister.” She hesitated. “But I would understand if you need to head home.”

  The fact that she hugged herself as she said it made me know just how much those words had cost her. She didn’t want me to go any more than I wanted to leave her.

  “Not happening. I’d rather we went to the farmhouse, yes. But I don’t plan on leaving your side until we have this whole mess straightened out once and for all.”

  “And Archie is back home, safe and sound, right?”

  “Goddess willing.” I gave her a big bear hug. “We will get through this together, you know. You and me. It’s been a while since we’ve been a team, but we always were a force of nature when we were. We’ll get Archie back and put the council’s tail between its legs too.”

  She smiled at me. “That sounds nice, sis.” A slight pause. “And you’re sure the shaman will take good care of Archie?”

  I nodded. “I am. He wouldn’t have called to tell us if he wasn’t planning on doing just that.”

  “I guess that’s right.” Still, she didn’t move toward the stairs. “Just for tonight, do you think maybe we could sleep in the kids' guest room? I don’t think I could sleep on that big bed all alone.”

  “Sure thing, Sapphire. You go on up and start getting ready for bed. I’ll straighten up down here and then come up.”

  I watched her walk up the stairs, and it looked like the woman was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. I didn’t like that one bit. Part of me had wanted to stay down here with that list and do some brainstorming. But I was needed more upstairs.

  Gathering up our used mugs, I took them into the kitchen, washed them, and put them in the drainer to dry. Then I checked the doors and windows to be sure they were locked, though why I bothered was a mystery. I was staying in a Mineheart’s home. This thing had to be warded seven ways to Sunday and back again. No way would anyone get in without us knowing it.

  Not even the great and powerful thief, Jack. At least, not if he had trouble making on the mind. Just in case, I double checked the locks and windows one more time.

  It never paid to take chances.

  The man might not be on Sapphire’s list of suspects. But he sure as heck was on mine.

  I DIDN’T SLEEP WELL that night at all. My sleeping self never quite made it to my sanctuary. No, the way was blocked by Crystal, Tabitha, Jack, and a host of faceless beings that all had some hidden motive to ruin the reputation of one Archimedes Mineheart, Sr. By five o’clock, I was ready to call it quits on even trying.

  Sneaking out of the room so I wouldn’t wake Sapphire in the next bed, I made my way down the stairs. My notebook was right where I left it. Open and in plain sight on the coffee table.

  The three of us hadn’t made it very far working on the suspect list last night. I think we were all in too much shock from the council’s actions to be able to focus on the task at hand.

  Last night was a night of giving comfort and dealing with emotions. Today would be a day of action. I was ready to get to the bottom of this.

  But first things first. Coffee. There wasn’t much sense in trying to get a start on the day without it. Not with as little sleep as I’d had last night. Or the last few nights, to be truthful. Orville’s proposal had been the reason then. Now my brain had two things to worry about.

  I’m surprised it was even still functioning. Eventually, I would crash. I just had to keep going until it was safe to do that. Goddess, give me strength.

  The coffeemaker worked its magic, and the magical elixir started filling my cup. I’d opted for a single cup rather than a full pot. Sapphire had a ton of the little single-serving cups in a multitude of flavors, and one cup was faster than a whole pot.

  “I hope that cup’s for me.”

  I turned to find Sapphire standing in the doorway behind me. Taking one more deep whiff of the coffee, I handed her the cup. She needed it even worse than I did. Then I put on another.

  “You couldn’t sleep, either, huh?”

  She blew across the top of the coffee to cool it, and shook her head. “Not well, no. I think I finally dozed off for a short bit.”

  “Go on and get comfortable. I’ll put on a full pot of coffee so we’ll have more fuel to face the day.”

  She hesitated. “What about breakfast? Should I fix us some eggs or something?”

  I thought about it. Fixing breakfast might be a comfort thing for her. My sister was the one member of the Ravenswind family that actually enjoyed the process of cooking. To the rest of us, it was a necessity of life. To her, it was almost an art form. You could tell by the quality of the meals we put together too. Everyone looked forward to a dinner invitation from Sapphire.

  In the end, though, I shook my head. “I’m not sure either of us is up to putting a heavy meal on our stomachs.” I paused. “Unless you’re hungry, of course.”

  Sapphire made a face. “I was only asking for you. I couldn’t even think about eating yet. But Archie does love his breakfasts so.” Tears came to her eyes, and I crossed the room to gather her in as big of a hug as I was capable of.

  “The shaman will make sure he gets his breakfast, Sapphire. You know that.”

  She nodded. “But will he know how Archie likes his eggs? Will he have freshly squeezed orange juice and honey butter for his toast?”

  Probably not, but saying that might only upset her more. I gave her a final squeeze, then stepped back. “The shaman will see to his needs, Sapphire. That’s what matters right now, isn’t it? Archie has to do his part by cooperating with the council, and we have to do our part by finding out what the heck is going on. We each have our parts to play out. Try to concentrate on ours for the moment, okay?”

  “I will.” She wiped away the leaking tears. “But it’s hard, Opal. Harder than anything I’ve ever faced.”

  She still wasn’t moving toward the sofa, but at least the tears seem to have stopped. That was something.

  “You don’t know what it was like all those years. Having the man you loved so far away from you. Not being able to show your feelings in public. The last couple of years have been almost heaven on earth. He’s the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night. It doesn’t get an
y better than that.”

  I swallowed but didn’t say anything. Her words reminded me a lot of my last conversation with Orville. Not something I wanted to think about right now. One crisis at a time was more than enough for any witch.

  The pot started its brewing process, and I took my one, lonely little mug of coffee and led her into the living room. We sat on the couch directly in front of my opened notebook.

  “If you had to pick one name on that list to start with, who would it be?” I asked her.

  She glanced down at the list, but I don’t think she actually read it. More likely the darn thing was burned into our brains by now. “Well, I know it isn’t what you asked, but I think we should cross off Fran and Shyla Goldman. That takes the list down to nine, doesn’t it?”

  “It does. And that makes sense. I can see the Goldmans not liking Archie defending Flynn Tomlin, but I can’t see either of them killing a family member for it. And it only makes sense that all of this ties together.” I paused a beat. “But of the other nine?”

  Sapphire took a deep breath and a sip of her coffee. “I just feel so useless, Opal. I’m not an investigator. How am I supposed to know who is behind this all? And no one on that list is a witch. How would they know about the council? Could this be a council move against us? Could they be the ones behind this?”

  “I wish I had the answers, sister, but I don’t. I’m not an investigator by trade, either, you know. But we have to start somewhere, and this list is as good a place as any. If we can think of any witch names to add, we’ll add them as we go. Okay?”

  Another deep breath, but she nodded. “I suppose you’re right.” She sat there for a minute. “So how do we go about this?”

  Reaching over, I pulled the notebook onto my lap. “I think we should each pick a name on the list and go from there. Maybe pay them a visit and see what their reaction is to seeing us. That might tell us a lot right there. If any of them show signs of guilt, we can double down on checking them out.”

  “Someone actually poured gas to start that barn fire, didn’t they? That means they were right there on the scene. If we could find out where all these people were at the time the fire started...”