Dennis, on the other hand, didn't look so sure.
"Well, I'll tell you what. You guys load up what you're comfortable moving. The beds are a priority. Everything else is gravy. While you're loading, we'll go get some pizza and beer. How does that sound?"
"Like a little bit of heaven." Jimmy was a smooth talker…
I hugged them both again and let them get to work. Josie gave them a sad wave. "I can't believe they're working. They just lost their best friend."
"Jimmy said it would take their mind off of it." I leaned in to whisper. "I'm sure the money wouldn't hurt either."
Josie nodded in understanding.
"C'mon. Let's go get some pizza and beer for them."
"You're buying. I'm broke now."
"Planned on it."
"You're the best."
"I know."
"No. I mean it. I didn't have the money for this move, but you took me anyway. Thanks for helping me get a life."
"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret."
"What?"
We got into the car and I started it. "The bookstore?"
"Yeah."
"The coffee shop portion is yours. I'll get the equipment for your startup, and the stock. It's yours. You run it. You earn money and you keep it. Don't worry about the utilities and stuff. I already set it up in my name. I was just teasing you earlier. Start saving and stop buying disco balls," I said with a wink.
She leaned across the car and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek and not letting go. It made driving a little difficult, but I managed.
"You really are the best." She managed to choke out the words between sobs. I could feel her tears soaking into my shirt. Somehow, they had dripped in under my jacket.
"Yeah yeah. You're getting me all wet."
She sat up and put her hand over her mouth jokingly. "I didn't think you liked girls!"
"Ew. Shut up." My face blushed uncontrollably.
"So, which one then?"
"Which one what?"
"Do you like? Jimmy? Dennis? Chief?"
"What? I just met all of them. Don't get me wrong, they're all hot, but I'm not after any of them. I want to get my shit together. I might have fun with one of them should the opportunity arise, but that's it."
"So, which one?"
"I don't know. Maybe Jimmy. Dennis is sweet, though. Chief, is Chief. He's a pain in the ass and comes with baggage, but he is fucking hot."
"He is. Well, I'm going to stay away from guys for a while. The last one didn't go so well."
I nodded in understanding. I didn't blame her at all. If my almost boyfriend had blown up, I'd stay away, too. "Where's a pizza place?"
"Lemme check my phone."
She punched in the question instead of asking the assistant. I never had luck with them either. While she was busy running a search, I thought about her question again. The three of them played across my thoughts like a sexy slide-show. I was almost surprised when she threw Chief into the mix. I had told her what happened at the station and how they were witches. I told her everything. She seemed to want me to stay away from them for now. Sometimes she surprised me with her protectiveness.
"Antonio's Pizzeria. I'll give you one guess to where it is."
"Main Street?"
"Ha. No. It's a few doors down from the bar."
"Call in an order for two large. One pepperoni, one cheese. And find out where we can buy a case of beer."
By the time we got home, the entire car smelled like a pizza.
"Shit."
"What?"
"Remind me to order kitchen appliances. We have no way to keep the beer cold."
"Seriously?"
"Yes?"
"Did you forget that you're a fucking witch?"
"Do you want to get caught? This isn't Ashville, Josie. Hand a man a beer and he'll drink for a day. Hand a man a cold beer after a few hours, and he'll get suspicious."
"Just put them in the fridge. They don't know it doesn't work."
"Huh. You're not so dumb sometimes."
"I have my moments."
I patted her leg, shut off the car, and we brought everything into the kitchen.
Chapter 8
The doorbell rang. Since I wasn't expecting anyone else, I figured they boys had finally shown up. It took them longer to get everything loaded than I expected, so I knew they had loaded everything.
"Hey, handsome men," I said as I opened the door.
"Thanks, but it's just me." Chief stood on my porch, carrying a twelve-pack of beer.
"Hey, Chief. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
"I brought you a housewarming gift and came to see if you needed any help."
"You're just in time," I said noticing the moving truck pulling into the driveway.
"For?"
"I bought some furniture. I didn't feel like sleeping on the floor. Mind helping the boys bring it in? There's pizza and beer," I said and took the twelve pack from him, "in it for you."
"Sure. I don't mind."
"You're the most bestest." I motioned for him to come in.
"Wow. You don't waste any time." I heard the admiration in his voice at the state of the house.
"Restoration is easy. You just tell the house to remember what it once was. Especially older houses. They have a lot of personality and power. This one is quite happy at the moment." As I spoke, I could almost feel the house swell with pride.
"I see what you mean." He slid his hand over the countertops.
"Just need new appliances and I'll be all set. Let's go give the boys a hand." I opened the non-working fridge and stuck the beer inside, pulling out four of the ones we had bought.
I handed one to Chief, popped the top on another, and tucked two under my arm for Dennis and Jimmy.
"You're giving your delivery guys beer?"
"Yeah. Friends of mine, actually. Met them last night."
"Jimmy and Dennis?"
"How did you know?"
He just chuckled.
I shrugged and opened the front door. My friends were standing on the porch reaching for the doorbell.
"Hey, somebody order some furniture?"
"That would be me." I chuckled and handed them each a beer.
"Let's get the furniture moved in first."
"I wrangled you up some more help." I stepped out of the way and let Chief make his presence known.
"Bill," they both said in unison, nodding their heads.
"You guys all know each other?"
"It would seem you are some sort of witch magnet," Chief said softly.
"Wait, you two?" I was a firm believer in coincidences. Up to a point. This one had just jogged right on past that and finished the marathon.
They seemed even more shocked than I was. I sighed in frustration. There were spells to locate other witches. There were spells to identify other witches. But, until a witch cast such spells, they could spend their entire lives interacting and not have a single clue. I mentally kicked myself. It should have been the first thing I did upon entering Cedar Falls. I'd been too wrapped up in settling in, I put it on hold.
"You're a witch?" Jimmy sounded hopeful instead of surprised.
"Yeah. Yeah. Josie, too. You said something about furniture?"
"Yes!" I didn't know if he was referring to my answer or the furniture. I didn't care. It would all sort itself out in the end.
He turned around and Dennis followed him. I sighed and leaned against the door jamb. Chief put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in a little closer. "You felt their excitement, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I'm going to be brutally honest, though. The itch was an excuse to get the hell out of dodge. I really didn't want to be high priestess. The odds of me assuming the role here are…"
"Deep breaths. Nobody will force you to do anything you don't want to do. Now it's my turn to be brutally honest, though. You've just given us all a little more hope." He squeezed the shoulder he'd been holding and slipped through the do
or.
I stared after him. I'd been in town only a few days and had accidentally bumped into five members of the former coven. All of them were men. That in itself was highly unusual and fell out of my belief in coincidences spectrum. I'd ask Chief or the boys about it later. After I had a houseful of furniture.
With five of us, and a bit of magic, we made short work of getting everything inside and set up. The house basics were done. After replacing appliances, stocking everything, and a little bit of décor, it would be a home. My home. I sighed and smiled in satisfaction as I busted out the beer and pizzas.
We sat around on the new couches and ate. By the time I finished swallowing the first bite, I'd already become a fan of Antonio's Pizza. It wasn't even hot and it was delicious.
"Bheith te," I whispered to my pizza. The cheese softened and a whisp of steam erupted from the slice. The crust even became a little less rigid and I took a bite, groaning in pizza ecstasy.
Opening my eyes, all four of them were staring at me and trying not to laugh. "Shut up. It's better warm."
The four of them used their own magic to heat dinner back up. That was probably the single greatest gift from being a witch. No need for microwaves. It saved a lot of counter space.
"Are there any actual women in your former coven, or just hunky dudes."
"Out of the eleven remaining, you know us three," Chief began and paused to take a swig of beer, "plus Dane. There are two more single men, one single woman, and two married witch couples."
"That's a heavily male coven. I'm kind of shocked." I wasn't kidding. Usually the women outnumbered men two-to-one. Male witches were just rarer. My father was a witch, but I'd never met him. Mom met him while visiting Roanoke one weekend, I was the result. Josie's dad was actually human and passed away a long time ago. It worked the other way as well. Male witches had offspring with human women. When they came into their power, they would often spirit the child away and raise them or meet with them in secret, explaining their power and what to expect. Having a human parent was more common than one would think. It didn't affect the offspring's magic potential, either.
"Yeah. It's always been like that here, too. My mother told me some of the history of the Coven of the Gold Moon. Way back, they were a protectorate coven for hire. Specializing in combat magicka and fighting."
"That's a new one on me. Interesting," I said and thought of the possibilities.
"That was long ago," he repeated. "We are most definitely not what we once were."
"None of us are," I assured him. "Even for witches, the lure of modern-day conveniences and safety has greatly impacted our need for magic. I am only ninety-nine years old, and even I can see the difference."
Jimmy nodded, understanding my point. Chief seemed a little skeptical. I didn't elaborate any further.
"I do have one question, though. How do you hide what you are from the humans? I mean they have to notice when none of you age."
"We stay as long as we can and then move. We're the youngest of the generations. Sometimes they move back, but not in my lifetime."
"That sucks." I gave Chief a sad smile.
"How do you get away with it in Ashville?"
"The town was created by my grandmother. We don't hide what we are from the humans and they know to keep our secret. It's a symbiotic relationship that has worked for hundreds of years."
Chief nodded, but still looked a little skeptical, hurrying to change the subject. "Would you care to meet the rest of our coven?"
I looked at Chief. "Sure. I'll be neighborly. I want to work on the bookstore this weekend, and I still have a ton of stuff to order for the house. Maybe next weekend?"
"Would you care to have some help with the store? You have to be pretty tired after the amount of power you dumped into the house."
I opened my mouth to protest, but the nagging in my gut kept me silent. "Sure," I found myself replying.
"Then, it's settled. What time were you planning on going?"
"Ten in the morning? That too early?"
"Works for us," Dennis replied for them. "We start our shift at 4, so we can help for a bit."
"You two don't need to. You've already helped enough tonight."
"We don't mind," Jimmy added.
I sighed. The people of Cedar Falls were a little too helpful…
"Well, I'm going to call it a night. You ready, Jim?"
Jimmy nodded at Dennis and stood up, stretching his six-foot frame. I admired his stomach as his shirt rode up a bit. Josie kicked my foot with hers from the seat next to me. I blushed for getting caught staring.
I stood up to walk them to the door. "Thanks, guys. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate the help."
"It's what friends do," Dennis said.
I reached up and hugged him solidly. He felt good and smelled better, even after moving a truck full of furniture.
"Hey. My turn."
I laughed and let go of Dennis and stepped up to the arduous task of hugging Jimmy. The first thing I noticed, he and Dennis used the same cologne or after shave. They smelled almost identical. Jimmy seemed to be a little spicier to match his personality. "You smell good. Both of you."
He chuckled and pulled back. I didn't want to let go, but I did. "We'll see you tomorrow, then we're on for twenty-four hours. Come drinking with us Sunday?"
"Is the bar open?"
He laughed. "Since it's about the only damn thing to do in this town, yes. Yes, it is."
"We need to change that."
He let go and stepped back. "Change what?"
"This town. Just musing. Yes. I'll see you guys Sunday."
"Bring Josie along. I'm sure she could use the distraction."
I nodded. He was righter than he knew. "Night, guys. Be safe. Keep your shields up."
"What do you mean?" Dennis asked confusedly.
"Shields. Protection from magic?"
"Yes. I know what they are, why are you saying to keep them up?"
"Well, first of all, you should keep them on you at all times. That's Basic Witchcraft 101. Secondly, if someone is out there casting spells at witches, it would give you time to fight back or get away."
"You think it was a spell that killed Richie?" Jimmy said it, but it didn't come out as a question. More of a confirmation of a suspicion.
"Chief," I called over to the couch, interrupting his conversation with Josie.
"What?"
"Did you not warn the coven that magic might have been involved in Richie's death?"
His face darkened, and he shook his head. "No. I didn't want to concern anyone until I knew for certain. I checked the body and truck myself. There were no residual magicks. I didn't want to cause a panic."
"There's a difference between causing a panic and telling people to be careful. You should warn the rest. At least until we figure out what is going on."
"We? Does that mean you're joining us?"
I sighed. The vague notion that I had fallen into a carefully laid trap flittered across my brain. I doubted it, but that's what it felt like. Even if I joined, it didn't mean I'd be their high priestess.
"Yes. I'll join your coven. Josie?"
She nodded and gave me a little smile.
"Yes, to both of us. Now put up your damn shields and be careful out there. If you run into anything weird, call me."
"We don't have your number," all three said in unison.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose, warding off the tension headache I felt coming. "You two I'll text. Go on. Go get some sleep."
They closed their eyes for a moment and I could feel the magic swirling around them before it faded into nothingness. At least they would be protected. I had a hard time believing they, and the rest of the coven, had been walking around without their shields all this time. I wasn't kidding when I'd said it was basic witchcraft. Shields, shields, shields had been beaten into Josie and I since the magic first came to us. It didn't only protect you, it protected everyone around you from in
advertent intent. If Chief's wife hadn't been high priestess for any length of time, her predecessor was to blame. If it was Chief's wife… Well, I'd let the blame die.
"I should be heading out, too." Chief stood up and pulled his cell out of its holster on his hip. "Here's my number," he said, holding his phone up.
I pulled mine out of my jacket hanging by the door and punched in his contact. I sent him a quick text and did the same for the other two. "Pass it along to the rest if you run into them. We'll have a quick meeting tomorrow and I'll pass it around with a warning to be safe. If you don't mind, Chief…"
"Not at all. We've always done as we were told by our high priestesses. When the coven settled in this area, we slowly lost contact with the rest of the covens who used to rely on us… Then there was nothing to worry about. We became way too complacent. My wife was something of a free spirit and never preached, just like her mother."
That answers my question.
"Not being mercenaries and not being safe are two different things."
He nodded and didn't say anything else. I'd struck a nerve.
"We'll discuss it with the rest tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks, Dot."
"You're welcome, Chief."
"Will you please call me Bill?"
"Maybe someday. At least I left the dick off your official title." I winked to let him know I was kidding.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
"You've seen the report. Me and the police go way back. Having a witch be the chief of police is gonna be so much fun!"
He groaned and headed to the door.
"You didn't want a hug?"
He turned around and shook his head. "Maybe next time. Or if you start calling me by my name…"
"Night, Chief."
"Night, Dot."
Chapter 9
Herb had made turning the ancient lock look easy. I struggled for a few minutes before magicking the shit out of it. By the time the spell did its work, the brass lock gleamed in the morning sunlight shining between the buildings. It clicked open with no resistance whatsoever.
I entered the soon-to-be bookshop with a smile on my face and my laptop under my arm. I'd called the utility departments that morning before heading over. Flipping on the light switch, I could hear the lights turning on with a soft tick. Wanting to check the water status, I slipped into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. Rust colored water dribbled out. One out of two utilities wasn't bad. I gave a silent prayer they would have the water turned on sometime today.
First Moon : A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 1) Page 6