A Witch to Remember

by Heather Blake

  She eyed the mug. “Probably not. I’m starting to think cutting back on caffeine has been more harmful to you than helpful. Maybe you should think about going back?”

  She had no idea how I really, really wanted to. “Doing what’s best isn’t always easy.”

  “That’s a good life lesson,” Nick said as he shook cereal into a bowl.

  Mimi rolled her eyes. “It’s Monday and way too early for life lessons.” She went into the mudroom to fill Higgins’s and Annie’s food bowls.

  Nick laughed. “It’s never too early for life lessons.”

  I took another sip of coffee and winced. “Maybe one cup a day isn’t such a bad idea.” I pointed at Nick. “Do not say I told you so.”

  He stuck a spoonful of Cheerios in his mouth.

  Shaking my head, I said, “Mimi, do you want to pack your lunch today? Or buy?”

  I adored these little moments, the snapshots of our life together. The normal moments. The times when our thoughts weren’t preoccupied with the Craft or with murder or other police work. Just us. Life. Family. Love.

  “I’ll buy.” Mimi crossed the kitchen to wash her hands before letting Higgins inside. “It’s pizza day, the only good thing about Mondays.”

  I went to get my tote from my office to give Mimi some cash for lunch. My day planner was opened to this week’s tasks, and my gaze went straight to tomorrow’s full block, including that afternoon phone appointment. Taking a deep breath at all I had going on, I headed back to the kitchen. I had to dodge Higgins, who had a one-track mind as he galloped toward his food bowl. I spun around to avoid getting run over, and something flew out of my tote bag and clattered on the floor. Annie leapt off the stool, ran over to investigate, and started batting whatever it was around. I bent and picked her—and the object—up.

  I carried Annie to the laundry room and set her down on the washer next to her food dish—which we had to keep up high, away from Higgins and his voracious appetite.

  I came back into the kitchen looking at the item in my hand.

  “What’s that?” Mimi asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe a charm?” I rubbed my thumb over the beautiful blue stone and its golden veins. Oval shaped, it was glossy yet textured. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t place why. “I don’t know where it came from.”

  “A protection charm? It certainly doesn’t look like any ordinary rock,” Nick said. “Maybe Andreus slipped it to you at dinner last night?”

  If the stone had been harmful or hexed, it wouldn’t have made its way into the house. I often joked that our home was more protected than Fort Knox—except its security came from magic, not armed guards.

  “I’ll ask him about it.” But why wouldn’t Andreus have just given it to me? Why hide it in my tote bag? I certainly wouldn’t have turned down any extra protections these days.

  Until then, I said a spell and tossed the rock into the air. It disappeared.

  “Magic is so cool,” Mimi said.

  It wasn’t long before Nick and Mimi had to leave. Nick for work, Mimi for school. On his way out the door, Nick set a time to meet up with me for lunch.

  I was on my own with investigating for the time being, since Glinda was at the hospital, hoping to see Dorothy. We’d get together later today to go over what I’d found.

  My first stop of the day was to find Stef Millet to see if she could verify Feif’s alibi. After that, I needed to track down Carolyn again to ask her about her relationship with Feif.

  Tangled webs, I thought as I threw a load of laundry in the washer.

  I had put aside thoughts of the case while cleaning up the kitchen and was thinking about my dress fitting later on. I couldn’t wait to see Godfrey and Pepe’s finished design. I had given them only vague ideas of what I wanted, and they’d assured me they knew exactly the dress I had in mind.

  A flash of movement outside the window caught my eye—a mourning dove coming in for a landing on the patio. In a blink, I saw the bird turn into my mother.

  I smiled, dried my hands, and hurried to the back door. Dressed in a white blouse and wide-legged white pants, Mom had her hand raised to knock on the door when she spotted me and smiled.

  Higgins barked as I flipped the lock and let her inside. I said, “You don’t even know how glad I am to see you. Wait. Are you sinking?”

  In her human form, Mom didn’t walk—she floated. I stared at her feet, which were always bare for a reason she had never disclosed. I’d always figured it had something to do with the Eldership, and now I was sure of it. Her feet were a good inch closer to the ground than normal.

  Her long auburn hair was pulled back in a French braid, and her bluish-brown eyes clouded over as she said, “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

  “Higgins, down!” I said, tugging on his collar as he put his big paws on her shoulders and slurped her face.

  “Hi, Higgins.” Her laughter echoed through the room.

  I enjoyed the sound of it for a moment before asking, “Why are you sinking?”

  She sighed, and for a second I thought she wasn’t going to tell me. But finally she said, “My Eldership powers are waning ahead of the Renewal. It’s perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.”

  Not worry. I wasn’t sure I knew how.

  “What happens if your feet do touch the ground?” I’d asked her the question numerous times before, but she’d always dismissed it. Now that it was clear there was a chance her feet might touch down, I hoped she would answer.

  Much to my surprise, she did.

  She said, “If my feet touch, it means I’ve lost all my power as Elder. If or when that happens, I have two choices. I can stay in this world as a familiar, or I can choose for my spirit to cross into the beyond.”

  If or when. I took a deep breath. She’d already told me that if the worst was to happen, she would take on her mourning dove form. I wasn’t losing her again. She was just … changing.

  Mom petted Higgins’s head, waved her hand, and produced a rawhide bone. His tail slashed the air as he grabbed it. He carried it to his dog bed, where he plopped down and started chomping happily.

  Suddenly, she gave me a big hug as if sensing I needed it, and then held me at arm’s length. “Something’s different. Let me look at you.”

  I said, “It’s been less than a week since I saw you last. What could possibly be different?”

  She tapped her chin. “I’m not sure. It’s something, though.”

  “Probably my caffeine deficiency. Come on in. I’d offer you coffee, but I love you too much to subject you to that swill.”

  “How about some of the good stuff?” She waved her hand again, and a coffee cart appeared.

  Annie, who’d been lounging on top of the fridge, bolted. The poor kitty wasn’t as enthused with magic as Mimi.

  “One cup,” I said, smiling. How I was going to make it through the rest of the day was anyone’s guess. Maybe I’d pick up a banana shake at the Stove later on to see me through. “How’re the meetings going?”

  “They’re going,” she said as she poured coffee into a mug. “I honestly thought we were onto something with Mimi, but the Coven vetoed.”

  “With Mimi?” I sipped the coffee and sighed.

  “It was proposed that if you adopted Mimi, then Mimi would become the youngest witch in the family, but some in the Coven argued that if we were to keep the hereditary monarchy, it should be a bloodline relative who takes over. A consensus couldn’t be reached.”

  All avenues, Ve had said.

  The heat from the mug warmed my hands. “I’m grateful the Coven is looking at every option, but I’m not sure I would have been comfortable with that proposal. As much as I love Mimi and would adopt her in a heartbeat, I wouldn’t want to force the issue on her, and I certainly wouldn’t want her to think that I was trying to replace Melina in some way.”

  Mom’s eyes softened. “No one would ever think you were trying to replace Melina. Even Melina wouldn’t think that.”
>
  I sipped the coffee slowly—trying to make it last. “We can’t know that.”

  Mom arched an eyebrow, and I noticed a slight smile behind the rim of her mug. Before I could question her about the odd reaction, she said, “What is the latest with the murder of Leyna Noble?”

  I leaned against the island. “You know everything going on with Dorothy, I presume?”

  “I do.”

  “And that she’s going to miss the Renewal …”

  “A blessing, truly.”

  “Doesn’t she need to be there if, you know, Harper declines to make the promissory vow?”

  “If it comes to it,” she said, her words measured, “Dorothy’s presence is not needed for her agenda to move forward.”

  “But if she’s one of the Coven …”

  Mom said, “I cannot divulge who …”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes. “You can’t tell me, blah, blah, blah.”

  She smiled. “However, I can tell you that if a Coven member is found to be practicing black magic, then she would be summarily dismissed from the Coven, reprimanded, and have her powers suspended for a period of one month.”

  I nearly dropped my mug. “Holy bombshell! Dorothy was kicked out of the Coven?”

  “Did I say that?” Mom asked, a playful gleam in her eye. “Now, tell me about Leyna.”

  I stashed away the thoughts of Dorothy being ousted for the time being. Mom and I talked for nearly half an hour about the case, going over every detail that Glinda and I had learned so far. “If what Carolyn told us was true about Leyna being used by Feif, how did she not know he was using her? As an Emoticrafter, Leyna should have been able to read his true motives.”

  “Sometimes even witches see and feel what they want to see and feel.”

  “What you’re saying is Leyna might have been too taken with him to see his true motives?”

  “Love is a powerful blindfold.”

  As images of Leyna’s apartment went through my head, the sparseness, the air of loneliness, I thought about her and Feif having dinner the other night … and how Leyna had stayed over with him. “That might explain why she was willing to give him a second chance as well.”

  Mom nodded. “It sounds as though you’re on the right track with Feif and Carolyn, but let me remind you that time is of the essence. The festival is due to leave town on Wednesday.” She waved her hand, and the coffee cart disappeared. “I should get going. I have meetings all day.”

  I wasn’t ready to let her go quite yet. “About tomorrow night …”

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” she said. The light drained from her eyes, and she suddenly looked worn and drawn.

  “I know, but Dorothy. I think we need to have a plan in place—”

  She floated toward the back door. “Dorothy won’t be in the village tomorrow.”

  “But the black magic … can she work it from far away?” I had questions about the kind of power Dorothy had at her fingertips. Could she escape? I shuddered at the thought.

  Mom took a deep breath and then cupped my face in her palm. “Darcy, my darling, don’t worry about Dorothy, okay? I’ve taken precautions. I’ll see you soon.”

  Precautions. Thank goodness. “Will you be at Harper’s surprise party?”

  “I might be late, but I’ll be there.” She kissed my cheek, opened the door, and the second she stepped over the threshold, she turned into a mourning dove and flew off.

  I watched her soar above the trees at the back of the yard until I couldn’t see her any longer. Telling me not to worry about Dorothy was like telling me not to breathe. It wasn’t going to happen.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “‘Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him.’ ”

  I’d been walking down the driveway when I heard Archie call out. He was in the side yard, perched on the iron fence that ran along the property line I shared with the Goodwins.

  I crossed over to him. “I thought we were done with the devil quotes.”

  Archie tilted his head. “Do not try to change the subject. Cough up the answer or confess you don’t know.”

  Dew brushed against my ankles as I leaned on the fence. “Fine, I don’t know.”

  “Aha!” He laughed with maniacal glee. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

  I should have known—it was one of his favorite movies to quote.

  “Good morning, Darcy,” Terry Goodwin said with a nod and a curl of his upper lip. He had on a large straw Panama hat and sunglasses while watering flower beds.

  Terry even sounded like Elvis. It was why he was a recluse, rarely leaving the house without a disguise—with the exception of Halloween. On that day, he went all out with his Elvis-ness. Last year, he’d even held an impromptu concert on the green.

  “Darcy!” Cherise said as she came around the corner with a flat of flowers in her gloved hands. “It’s taken everything in me not to knock on your door first thing this morning. You must tell us everything about Dorothy. Inquiring minds need to know.”

  Archie pressed his wings together like he was praying. “Please make this old bird’s day and tell me they put her in a straitjacket. Please, please, pretty please?”

  “I wish I could,” I said, “but I don’t know.” I gave them the quickest rundown imaginable on Dorothy, then said, “How’s Amanda doing?”

  Cherise set the flowers at her feet and leaned against the fence. “About what you’d expect. She’s in shock, the poor dear, and so far hasn’t had much time to grieve. Because of the nature of Leyna’s death, Amanda’s been thrust into insurance purgatory. Fortunately, Leyna’s brother is flying in from Arizona to take care of the funeral plans, so Amanda doesn’t have to worry about taking care of those as well. Dennis has been giving her around-the-clock calming spells, and Terry and I have been helping take care of Laurel Grace as much as possible.”

  Her gaze narrowed on me. “How are you faring, Darcy? You look”—her brows knitted—“anxious.”

  “Have you been talking to my mother?”

  She laughed. “Derrie stopped by this morning with some concerns. But seeing you for myself, I do agree with her that something is off.”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I promise.”

  “You do have a lot on your plate these days. The wedding, the investigation, the Renewal … I’d be more than happy to give you a calming spell.”

  Archie said, “I suggest accepting the offer. You don’t want to look like an old hag on your wedding day.”

  I frowned at him. “Thanks for that image.”

  “I live to serve,” he said, lifting off the fence. “I shall be in my cage should anyone need me.” He soared over the rooftop and disappeared from sight.

  Honestly, a spell would have been wonderful right about now, but I couldn’t accept one. When I thought of why I couldn’t, I shoved all the secrets I was keeping into a dark closet of my mind, slammed the door, and padlocked it. I forced a smile. “You’re very kind, Cherise, but I’m okay. I recently cut back on coffee and am living to regret the decision. In fact, I think I might swing by and pick up a nice big cup from the Gingerbread Shack,” I lied, rambling along so she would believe all was just fine and dandy in my little world.

  Elaborate lies of my own.

  She rested her hand on mine. “Perhaps a wise decision would be to cut back on your coffee intake when life is a bit more settled, eh?”

  “A very good idea.” I knew she couldn’t read me through my hand, so I didn’t flinch at her touch. “Could you possibly do me a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “If you talk with Amanda today, could you find out what you can about Vince’s reservation at Divinitea the day of the fire?” His presence at the tea shop nagged at me. Why had he been there? Good or evil?

  “Is this about Leyna’s murder?”

  “It could be, but I’m thinking it has more to do with the Renewal.”

  “Oh dea
r,” she said. “I’ll be sure to find out.”

  “Thanks, Cherise.” I glanced at my watch. “I need to get going. I’m off to see if Stef Millet can verify Feif’s alibi.”

  “You be careful out there investigating.”

  “I will, thanks.” I started walking away.

  “And Darcy?”

  I glanced back at her.

  There was a sly smile on her face as she said, “Don’t forget that big cup of coffee.”

  Which made me think that perhaps she knew I’d been lying about the coffee.

  Which then made me think she’d been able to read me through that touch on my hand, after all.

  If that was true, I hoped she’d keep my secret better than I could.

  But as I walked away, I hoped even more that I was imagining her reaction.

  It was safer that way.

  For both of us.

  * * *

  The Sorcerer’s Stove was busy with the breakfast crowd when I arrived a little after nine o’clock.

  Joelle, the hostess, asked, “Table for one?”

  I said, “Actually, no, I’m not here to eat. I’m looking for Stef Millet.”

  “Stef’s a popular one this morning,” Joelle said, “but she’s not here yet.”

  “Popular?” I asked. “How so?”

  Joelle said, “Yeah, some guy was in here earlier looking for her. He was pretty insistent about it, too. After I told him she wouldn’t be in until ten, he asked me where she lived. I didn’t tell him, of course—that would be against company policy.” She fanned herself. “But I wouldn’t mind if he was looking for me, if you know what I mean.”

  Why did I have the sinking feeling I knew just who she was talking about? “Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, charming smile?”

  “How’d you know?” she asked, and then waved a hand. “Better question is, who is he? I might need an introduction.”

  “Feif Highbridge.”

  “The psychic?” she asked. “Is he really psychic? Because if so, wouldn’t he have known that Stef wasn’t here?”

  I started to explain his psychic abilities and then decided better of it. “I don’t know,” I said. “All I know is that he’s a slimy womanizer, so don’t be deceived by the pretty packaging.”