by Susan Harper
Monica looked up in time to see an oversized raven come swooping down from one of the high bookshelves. Lenore was Mona’s familiar, and she came swooping down over Abigail, causing the cat to jump in surprise. Lenore laughed. “Stupid cat!”
“Not a cat!” Abigail retorted.
Mona shook her head. “Lenore, quit picking on Abigail,” Mona insisted as the bird landed on her shoulder. “So, how did your first week in the mortal world go?” Mona asked as the two of them headed out the door, their familiars following.
Monica had left her broom behind, so the two of them walked through the musky town of Wysteria. Monica smiled at the dark and gloomy town that was her home. It was so very different from Bankstown. Bankstown was so much brighter and livelier. But Wysteria had always been her home. Having a portal between the two worlds in the back of her bookshop was just wonderful.
The two sisters arrived at the Witch’s Brew Diner, and they squeezed into one of the small booths. “I’m telling you, Mona, there is just something about Bankstown… I really feel at home there.”
Mona smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way. I don’t know how you do it. Hiding your magic.”
“I’m a little bit of a different story from you, Mona,” Monica said. “I’m an unnatural witch.”
“You’re still a witch, Monica,” Mona said. “So, you’ve got to tell me more about this Officer Brian character. You two really solved some crime together?”
“Pretty much,” Monica said. “You should have seen the spell I used, by the way. I did a shadow spell to allow myself to take a look at the crime scene in action.”
“Whoa,” Mona said. “That’s a pretty impressive spell, Monica.”
“It was actually very well done,” Abigail said from her seat on their table next to Lenore.
“Did your familiar just give you a compliment?” Mona asked with a laugh. “It must have been really good, then.”
“I impressed myself,” Monica admitted. “And it helped me find a piece of evidence…that turned out to be kind of useless, though. It kind of led us in the wrong direction for a while. But eventually we were able to figure out who killed the man. It was a local musician who had stolen some of his songs, but it was in self-defense. The man who was killed was the attacker, and our killer knocked him over to get him off him. The victim hit his head, and the killer panicked and ran, and the guy wound up drowning. He would have been fine if the killer hadn’t run off. So, he’s probably going to go to jail for a while. He might get a reduced sentence since it was an accident and since it was in self-defense, but he still left the man to drown.”
“That’s terrible,” Mona said. “Mortals can be so violent.”
“That’s not exactly something that is strictly an attribute of mortals, Mona,” Monica said. “I know you have reservations about them, but so far, I’ve had a good experience. I took your advice, by the way, and I hired someone to help me out in the shop. Her name is Holly. Very nice woman. She starts tomorrow.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Mona said. “We’ll need to be a little more cautious since you’re going to have a mortal on your side of the shop. I can’t just appear out of that back room without some sort of explanation. They all think I live in Chicago, right?”
“Right,” Monica said. “But I can make up some story about you having a flexible job or something and that you can visit often.”
“I don’t imagine I’ll be spending much time in Bankstown, Monica,” Mona said with a laugh. “Not really my thing, you know?”
“I know, I know,” Monica said with a hand-wave. “But, eventually, you’re going to have to come visit and see the town I live in.”
“I suppose,” Mona groaned. “How is the food there? I’ve heard mortal food is very strange.”
“Bland,” Monica said. “And you really don’t want to try their hamburgers. I don’t want to after seeing Brian scarf down a Mega Burger.”
“A Mega Burger?” Mona asked.
“Believe me, you don’t want to know,” Monica groaned. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat a hamburger after watching that. Ugh, that confidence potion was a disaster. I didn’t know mortals had to have a smaller dosage.”
Mona laughed. “I didn’t know that either.”
“Abigail did,” Monica said with a grunt. “You could have told me that before I gave him some.”
“You’re supposed to be the potion expert,” Abigail said. “How was I supposed to know you didn’t know that?”
“I’ve never lived among mortals, unlike you,” Monica said. “How would I have known that?”
Lenore laughed. “You’re a terrible familiar.”
“Because I’m not a real familiar, you stupid bird,” Abigail hissed.
“Okay, ease up, ladies,” Mona said. “Let’s just order something. I’m starving.”
Monica laughed a bit at Abigail, who curled up at the edge of the table, pouting. It was a good end to a good day. Her first week at the shop had been a success, and she had even made friends with some mortals. Not to mention she had gone on a date, helped to solve a murder, and had hired a new employee. She could hardly wait to see what the future had in store for her next.
The Guilty Party
Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery, Book 2
1
Monica Montoya had only just moved to Bankstown, but oddly enough, she really felt at home here. Bankstown was nothing like her home in Wysteria. It was brighter, for one thing. The sun seemed to hide behind the clouds a lot less. But, of course, the main difference was its complete lack of mystical creatures, or mystics for short. With the exception of herself, there were no witches in Bankstown. No trolls, no goblins, ghosts, or any sort of ghouls. It was completely inhabited by mortals, like most places on this side.
Monica and her familiar, a black cat named Abigail, had taken over half of her Aunt Wilma’s shop after the woman had retired. It was a rather ingenious business opportunity: a bookshop built right on one of the portals from the mortal world to the world of the mystics. Monica ran the mortal side of Back Room Books, but if—with a bit of magic—you were to step through the door in the back, you would find yourself in an entirely different bookstore, which was run by Monica’s twin sister Mona on the Wysteria side.
Not being able to use magic whenever she felt the need arise was taking a bit of getting used to, but there was always the risk of a mortal customer walking into the shop. And now that risk had greatly increased since Monica had opted to hire a mortal, Holly, to help her in the shop. However, unlike her sister Mona, Monica was an unnatural witch. She had been born into a family of witches and wizards but had been born without natural magic coursing through her. She had to work very hard to use any sort of magic, and spellcasting was quite difficult for her. Her specialty had become potions and charms because of this. This all meant, however, that she was a bit more used to living with a lack of magic compared to her sister, which made her the obvious choice for the mortal side of the shop.
She heard keys rustling with the front door, and Monica quickly gulped down the last of her potion mix before Holly entered and made her way to the counter. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, so Monica had created herself a little wake-me-up potion, knowing coffee wasn’t going to cut it.
“Morning, boss!” Holly called perkily, coming forward and tossing her lunch in the mini fridge and then placing her elbows up on the counter. “Looks like you got here early and got everything up and running?”
Monica swallowed the giant gulp of potion before smiling at Holly. “Yes, I was up really early this morning. Had a sort of restless night, so I just wound up coming here and prepping the coffee machines and cleaning up a bit. You can go ahead and turn the closed sign to open. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with opening a little early.”
“Great!” Holly said, hurrying back to the front of the store to switch the sign around. She returned to Monica’s side, grinning. “I really appreciate you hiring me, you k
now? I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”
“I needed to hire someone,” Monica said. “Truthfully, I really want to explore Bankstown and get to know the people a little better, and it’s hard to do if I’m here all day six days a week. So, once I feel like you have gotten the hang of everything, I just might leave you to it on occasion.”
Holly grinned. “Of course!”
The front door opened, and much to Monica’s surprise, they had customers ridiculously early that morning. “Excellent,” Monica said.
Holly was on it immediately. “You folks looking for anything in particular?” she asked.
It was an older couple. The man smiled. “Our daughter just finished reading the Harry Potter series. Loved it, but now we have to find her something else. Trying to encourage her to love reading, but I don’t know if we’ll find something she likes as much as that.”
“How old is she?” Holly asked.
“Fourteen,” the mother said.
“Well, if she’s looking for a series, there’s The Hunger Games, a three-book series. Very popular with that age group, but if she really liked the magical aspect of J.K. Rowling’s work, then maybe The Magicians or Percy Jackson—that one is based around old mythologies. Very fun read,” Holly rambled.
Monica raised a brow. She sure does know a lot about books, Monica thought. Monica herself was an avid reader, but her readings up until this point had consisted entirely of books from the other side. If I’m going to run a bookshop for mortals, I need to get to know these books a bit more, she decided and wandered over to the classics section. She could hear Holly ringing up the customers at the front desk, and glancing over, she saw a huge pile of books sitting on the counter. “Excellent,” Monica said and returned to the classics section.
“What are you doing?” a voice whispered from above, and Monica looked up to see Abigail relaxing on the top shelf.
“I’m looking through some of the classics,” Monica said. “I need to learn more about the sort of books that mortals like to read.”
Abigail sighed. Her black cat was hardly thrilled about living in Bankstown. The two of them were an unusual pairing. For most witches, their familiars found them once their powers started to develop. Monica, being an unnatural witch, had never attracted the attention of a natural familiar. She had been assigned one instead: Abigail, who was not even a real familiar. She was a former witch who had gotten herself into some trouble with the Sorcerers’ Council for her treatment of mortals and had been sentenced to live as a familiar for five centuries. She still had about a hundred and seventy-five years left to serve, and she wasn’t at all pleased with having to work with an unnatural witch.
“Why?” Abigail asked. “You really planning on running this shop forever?”
Monica put her hands on her hips and stared up at Abigail. “I’m planning on being here for a while. Which means you are going to be here too. Get used to it. You’ve read mortal works before, any recommendation?”
Abigail grunted. “Oh, it’s been centuries… I suppose I didn’t mind some of John Locke’s works, though I feel you will find them rather boring. I think you’re a fiction lover.”
Monica simply huffed at her cat and continued skimming the spines of the various books before her when a title popped out at her. “No way…” she said, pulling a book from the shelf. “Dracula?”
“Oh, don’t read that ruddy thing,” Abigail insisted. “You won’t like it.”
“Is it really about him?” she asked.
“Stoker’s version of him,” Abigail said. “It’s rather insulting to the count.”
“So, you’ve read it?” Monica asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“I think it would be fun to see the mortal’s version of Count Dracula,” Monica decided, tucking the book under her arm and spinning around on her heels. Monica settled down behind the counter and opened the book.
Holly was skimming shelves as well, trying to pick herself out a good read, when the front door opened. Monica glanced up and saw Officer Brian entering, probably there for his morning coffee. “Hey, Brian!” Holly said cheerily.
“Morning. How are you liking working for Monica?” he asked, making his way toward the back counter.
“Loving it!” Holly said.
“Morning, Brian,” Monica said, setting her book down.
“Dracula. You know, I pegged you for a classical reader,” Brian said, grinning at Monica. “How are you liking it so far?”
“Well, that first paragraph was riveting,” she said jokingly, and he laughed.
The two of them chatted for a while as Holly prepared Brian’s coffee. Abigail hopped up on the counter between them, giving Monica the stink-eye for flirting with the man. Abigail was trying her best to ensure that Monica didn’t have any sort of excuse to want to continue living in Bankstown. Monica glared at Abigail, silently warning her not to do anything to annoy Brian. The cat plopped down, pouting. The two of them continued talking happily for a few minutes until Holly arrived with his coffee.
“Ugh, Chief Tollr has me coming in early all week,” Brian said. “Otherwise, I’d stay and chat a little longer.”
“Why does he have you coming in so early?” Holly asked.
“Because he’s in one of his moods and has to take it out on someone,” Brian said. “I’ll call you later, Monica.” He winked at her before heading out.
Monica grinned as he left. Holly giggled. “Ooh, I have never seen Brian so flirty. It’s a nice side of him. He must really like you. Monica, he is a real catch. You’ll have to tell me how you managed to bewitch that one.”
“I would never bewitch someone like that,” Monica said.
“Huh?”
“I mean, I don’t know,” Monica said. “I’m not really sure what he sees in me.”
“Aw, don’t be that way. You’re gorgeous, funny, and smart. And you two worked really well together solving that case last week,” Holly said. “I’m impressed.”
Monica smiled. She caught herself daydreaming a bit about Brian that morning, making it hard to concentrate on her reading. The two women helped several customers that trickled in, and soon it was mid-day. “I’m getting hungry,” Holly said.
“I’ll grab our lunches,” Monica said, opening the mini fridge. Her jaw dropped.
There was a little harpy sitting in the fridge. Holly’s lunch was half-devoured, and the little fairy-like creature’s stomach was protruding from engorging itself. “Oh no,” Monica said, reaching in and snatching the thing up. It squeaked as she shoved it into her pocket. “Quiet, you,” she warned.
Holly wandered over. “Something wrong?” she asked.
“Um… I don’t know how it happened, but it looks like Abs got into our food,” Monica said quickly. Abigail hissed from where she had been sitting on the counter.
“Oh no!” Holly exclaimed as she saw the half-eaten disaster within the fridge. “I must not have closed the fridge all the way.”
“Yes, that is what happened,” Monica said plainly. “Tell you what, I’ll run out and grab us some lunch! My treat since my cat is the one who caused the mess.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Holly said.
“I insist!” Monica said. “Let me just…grab my…purse…”
Monica hurried toward the back door of the shop and scurried through. There was a flash of light, and she entered her sister’s side of the shop. Mona was busy chasing a few miniature trolls out of the front door with a broom. “Stupid vermin!” she called, kicking one with her shoe. Mona swiveled around, her shiny black hair swaying a bit as she did so. When she saw Monica, she looked slightly concerned. “What are you doing here right now? Isn’t your mortal working today?” Mona asked, glancing toward the door.
“I told you I put a spell on the door. If she opens it, she’ll just see an empty broom closet,” Monica insisted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the harpy. “This little monster got through the door.”
“Ug
h, sorry,” Mona said, grabbing the thing from Monica’s hand. “Harpy season.”
“Put up some traps or something,” Monica said.
“Ow!” Mona yelped, releasing the harpy. It flew up into the rafters of the shop. “It bit me! Great, now I have to get it out of my shop.”
“Just put some food out,” Monica said. “You know they’ll eat anything. Just…try to keep an eye on the back door. Can’t let Holly see something like that wandering around the shop. I already had to chase a troll out of my side once.”
“Don’t worry,” Mona said. “Why don’t you come hang out tonight? I’d like to hear how things are going with that mortal friend of yours.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll come by at closing time,” Monica said, bidding her sister farewell before crossing back to her side of the shop, glad the harpy had now become Mona’s problem rather than her own. Keeping the mystical world a secret from Holly was going to be more trouble than Monica had initially expected.
2
Monica found herself completely enthralled by the book she had pulled from the shelf earlier that day. She was both captivated and highly irritated all at once. The story itself, had she not known Drac or any other vampire personally, would have been viewed by herself as a well-written gothic horror story. However, as someone who knew a number of vampires, she found it rather offensive. She sat on a stool, leaning over the counter with the book lying flat in front of her and her eyes unable to move from the page.
“Are you still reading that book?” Holly asked, peering around a corner with a broom and dustpan. She had just finished up closing duties for the shop that evening.
“Yeah, sorry,” Monica said, rubbing her eyes slightly, feeling a bit strained.
“I read that back in high school,” Holly said. “Not bad. I don’t really like that old letter style of writing, you know? Guess I’m a modern reader.”
“I like the style…just not sure about the story,” Monica said, grumbling to herself a bit. “You got everything taken care of?”