by Kelly Ethan
Xandie grimaced. “Why have a family member hanging on the wall?”
Melody waved a hand, drying her polish. “He was the first bear shifter in the family. Since he died, the family keeps the pelt to remind us.”
“Of?”
“Never trust Goldilocks.” Melody stood and capped her polish bottle. “Mom got a tip not too long ago. Told us to look at the dragons.”
“Seriously? You want to tangle with dragons?”
“Hell no, not me. Who knows about my idiot brothers though? I think we need more evidence before we look in their direction. But I thought you might be interested.” Melody winked and strode inside.
A cacophony of noise, multiple voices arguing over each other, assaulted Xandie’s ears. “Maybe not going in is a good idea.” Getting an answer from the library might be.
Xandie headed to Lila’s for a ride home. Standing on the side of the road, she looked up and down. Who knew what crazies lurked? All quiet, Xandie crossed the street. Almost at Lila’s door, she spotted the new mysterious resident, talking animatedly to Archibald Penne.
“What is it about Archibald today?” She watched Priss shove a wad of papers at Archibald’s chest and storm off. The dragon waited for a moment before shuffling away. “Curious and curiouser, as my late great-aunt Sera would say.” It seemed little Priss Makepeace was a tad more involved in the town’s goings-on than she’d let on. “Time for the library,” Xandie murmured.
“Look what the imp dragged in.” Theophilus, a.k.a. ancient Greek turned cat guardian, fluffed his fur. Raising his whiskered face into the air, he stalked past, only pausing as Horatio, his pet imp, jumped down from Xandie’s shoulder and settled into the saddle on his back.
Xandie slammed her solid wood front door closed and peered around the entranceway. Polished floors and a sweeping staircase met her gaze, but no killer garden gnomes. She walked into the lounge, collapsed onto a couch and crossed her arms. “Don’t push me. I’ve taken down killer ceramics, I can handle a mouthy feline.”
Theo coughed a hairball next to Xandie’s feet as Horatio adjusted his saddle. “Please, don’t make me throw up on your pillow again. All I’m saying is you left this morning to help that nightmare of a grandmother and it’s almost lunch. Horatio and I could have starved waiting for you to come home.”
“You’re an ancient Greek teenager turned into a feline guardian. How hard can it be to get your own food?” She glared at Theo with a fixed stare. She’d fought off ankle savages and he wanted feeding? The cat needed priorities.
“Hard with no hands.” He flashed claws and took a swipe at her ankles. He paused mid swing when he noticed the already red scratches decorating the skin. “What gives? You got another starving cat that’s taken a swing at you?”
“That would be a negative, feline. A garden gnome’s fishing pole, and countless tiny teeth using me as a chew toy, caused those marks.” Xandie rubbed the cuts and heaved a sigh. Pushing herself off the couch, she limped to the kitchen and cat chow. Best to feed the hangry complainer or she’d never hear the end of it. Theo followed behind, peppering her with questions.
She dumped cat biscuits into two bowls for Theo and his pet imp. After tracking down the rampaging killer Sanguis Knight, who’d murdered her great-aunt Sera among other victims, her cat had adopted Horatio. As far as she could tell the tiny Hell resident ate anything but loved tacos and salmon-flavored biscuits.
“Details, Meyers. What gives with the slash marks? Are you feeling emo, or have you taken up with another furry supernatural entity?”
“I can barely deal with the cat I’ve got, let alone another.” But the library might have answers on the spate of magical robberies.
“Come on, Meyers. I’ll clean up that hairball in your shoe closet if you give me deets.”
Xandie shuddered. Slang from a feline was just wrong, plain wrong. “Someone’s stealing magical artifacts in town. They stole Elspeth’s cursed demon and bad luck is stalking the town. At least, at the moment. I need to talk to the library about it.”
“Wow, killer gnomes. How Point Muse.” Theo trotted into the library and jumped on the desk with the appointment book. Horatio squealed and held a hand high like a rodeo rider.
Xandie had cleared all her requests before she visited Lila and nothing else was pending. She grabbed hold of her necklace shaped like a triangle with an eye and focused her question. “Who’s stealing from Point Muse?”
“You don’t need to hold the necklace; the library knows what you want. Besides, if it ain’t supernatural, it can’t help.”
“What are the odds the theft of magical artifacts is a run-of-the-mill normal human crime?” Xandie raised an eyebrow.
The library eased a book out of one of the shelves until it fell to the floor. Xandie smiled victoriously at Theo and snatched it up. “Treaties on draconic movement. How does that help us?”
“Well…” He dragged out the word. “We have a dragon family in Point Muse. Maybe it concerns them?”
She scanned the contents and skipped to the Penne chapter. “The Pendrakons are European dragons who settled in the eighteen hundreds in Point Muse, Maine. A magical, supernatural community settled on ley lines. The clan is matriarchal, and the current head is Marjorie Penne, her heir is Adelind Penne. Previous heir, Melinda Penne, disappeared without trace, along with her mate, a dragon slayer.”
Xandie turned the problem over in her mind. “Priss froze and left the bakery when she spotted Es Penne. Plus, she told me her father always said a good dragon was a dead one.” Was Priss related to them? “Or is the matriarch thieving magical objects to build up her horde?” Xandie snickered. “I can’t see uptight, snooty Marjorie Penne stealing artifacts, can you?”
“They’re dragons who hoard treasure. Who knows?” He started to groom the imp, much to Horatio’s dismay. Shrill squeaking from the imp and the shaking of tiny fists drove Xandie from her reading chair. She pushed the book back into place on the shelf. She might need it for later.
Sometimes the library worked in obscure ways; it was up to the librarian to decipher the message and how it related to her question.
She hoped she was up to the job.
Three
“A few days of peace. That’s all I wanted. Instead I’ve had five days of pain and suffering.” Xandie let her head sag into her hands, exhaustion in every line of her body.
“Never mind. Maybe a nice murder will pop up soon. Take your mind off the rampaging mob storming the library if you don’t find the missing artifacts.” Holly snickered to herself.
“Way to bring her down, death girl.” Lila shoved a block of dark chocolate at Xandie. “Quick, consume it before the damn thing turns to a salt block or before Aunt Winifred sees it.”
Grabbing a chunk of chocolate, Xandie munched down. Most of the Harrow women had a sweet tooth. They were sitting in Harrow House; odds were the block wouldn’t last long. “Thanks,” she mumbled around another mouthful of chocolate.
“Eh,” Lila shrugged. “Not my house, not my chocolate. I stole it from Holly’s stash.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “That’s not my real stash, this is the cheap stuff to fool those who filch my stash.”
“Still good.” Xandie swallowed her sugary goodness down and leaned against the burgundy velvet couch. Harrow House was an old Victorian; it had held the family of witches since the town settled. Now only Elspeth, Winifred and Holly lived here. Old photos decorated the walls and fought for space with childish drawings from years ago. The furniture had a lived-in and loved-hard look, but it suited the house and her family. The crazy, eclectic Harrows, her mother’s family. Happy, warm, earth witches, all except Elspeth. The matriarch of the clan. Who refused to discuss her past or her powers except for the odd shocking tidbit she dropped. Speak of the witch...
“Aha, look what the witch found.” Elspeth sashayed in, beaming from ear to ear. She shoved her prize up in the air like a trophy. A squat, horned, wrinkled ceramic trophy.
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nbsp; “Geez, please don’t tell me you’re collecting gnomes again?” Xandie pushed herself back into the couch and covered her ankles. The great garden ornament slaughter may have been a week ago, but her ankles still ached. She was a gnome no-go zone.
Elspeth coughed. “Please, this is my one and only cursed Sumerian demon. Found her on the doorstep when I came home from the hairdressers.” She cradled her ceramic gnome and rubbed the horns. “Who’s my sweet evil goddess? You are,” she cackled as the lights flickered off and on.
“Gran, you’re giving off the evil witch vibe again. Besides, when did the hairdressing salon open? I thought the shop closed because of the flammable hair product incident?”
Elspeth twitched her lilac bobbed wig into place with one hand. “They aren’t taking on clients yet, but they are offering deals on wigs. This baby was a steel.”
Xandie raised her morose face. “Bad luck still hanging around town and you buy a wig?” She yawned and fought the urge to lean back in the couch and catch a snooze. Every waking moment at home was spent puzzling the mystery of the magical artifacts, sleep had become optional. She was too worried someone would petition the library for her removal because of her inability to solve a puzzle. That and the fact Horatio the imp snored like an elephant roaring. Who’d have thought someone so little could churn out a foghorn?
“You make your fun where you can, sweet Alexandra. Besides, the electric tension is fantastic for my complexion.” Elspeth cackled again and danced with her Sumerian garden gnome underarm.
“Watch out, Mother, you’re flashing your inner evil. Best cover up.” Winifred sailed into Harrow House with an arm full of thick creamy candles. She placed them around the room and dusted off her hands.
“Ah, Mom? Don’t you think we have enough candles already? You haven’t worn through the first hundred in the house yet?” Holly glared at her plump and way-too-cheerful mother.
“One can never have enough candles if you’re a witch.” Winifred clapped her hands and every candle lit. “Now Xandie, this is for you. To offer clarity of mind and soul to help you fix the problem Point Muse is having.”
“No offense, Aunt Win. But how do candles help me?”
“Candle magic gathers the powers of fire and initiates change. Fire transforms and purifies the mind and the body in the spirit.” Winifred frowned at the group of Harrow women arranged on the couch. “I used the last of my dragon resin to make these virgin candles, so pay attention.”
“Long time since virgin anything lived in this house.” Lila winked.
Xandie and Holly fought the giggles while Elspeth gave into grating hyena brays of laughter.
“You knew using virgin would screw with them. How can they take you seriously?” Lila’s mother, Amelia, lounged against the wall to the kitchen.
Xandie’s Aunt Amelia was the polar opposite to her younger sister. Tall and skinny with an athletic build, but with the same amber Harrow eyes all the women, including Xandie, had.
“Well, maybe grown women should be mature, well-adjusted adults, instead of giggling ninnies.”
“Speak for yourself. How I raised such strait-laced daughters is beyond me. Must be your father’s influence.” Elspeth sniffed and shoved her gnome under a canary yellow pants-suited arm. “Excuse me, I’m off to suck up the excess tension.” She stomped off and left the room.
“Well, looks like her ankle is better.” Amelia lowered herself into a fluffy armchair.
“She probably sucked the life out of a virgin and used it to heal herself.” Lila waggled her eyebrows at her cousins and set them giggling again.
“Lila Harrow! That’s your grandmother. We never admit in public she can suck the life out of someone.” Amelia glared at her unrepentant daughter.
“If the evil witch hat fits.” Lila shrugged.
“Can we please focus back on my candles?” Winifred sighed. “Center your thoughts. Have a question paramount in your mind and repeat after me...”
Xandie tried to clear her mind. But the picture of Elspeth sucking the soul out of a virgin was hard to forget.
Winifred continued. “Clarity, clarity, come to me. Mind, body, and soul must see. With this spell, the fog disappears. This is my will. So mote it be.” She looked expectantly at her niece.
Xandie searched for answers to Point Muse’s thieving issues but came up blank. “Sorry, Aunt Winifred. I got nothing.” She pinched her lips together and then took a deep breath. Winifred was helping her and still she had nothing. No answers as to what scheme the thief played out. She’d thought after solving a murder, a series of magical robberies would be as easy as eating Lila’s butter puffs. Apparently not.
Waving a hand, Winifred snuffed all the candles out in the house. “It was worth a try. Maybe the question needs longer to percolate in your soul before you get an answer?”
“She’s not a coffee machine, Aunt Win.” Lila stood and pulled Xandie and Holly up. “We have to get going anyway. The gallery has a special showing tonight of dragon hoard artifacts from the Penne collection and I’m catering. I have to deliver my non-salty goodies to Iris Malone.”
“Fine, whatever.” Winifred gathered her candles and stomped away as much as an annoying optimist could.
The girls gathered at the front door of Harrow House and slipped their jackets on.
“Psst, Xandie.” Elspeth stood at the top of the stairs and gestured her up.
Telling her cousins to wait outside, Xandie clambered up the stairs to Elspeth. “Everything okay, G?” Xandie couldn’t bring herself to call the active, kooky, and sometimes mysterious woman in front of her Grandmother. G or Elspeth fit much better.
“Oh, everything’s a hoot.” Elspeth grinned malevolently. Then sobered as she peered at Xandie. “Your mother wasn’t the strongest witch, and she never found her special groove the way the other two have. But she was always a catalyst and brought things to a conclusion. You have that same quality. Don’t let those clingy Point Muse harpies get you down. You’ll work things out.”
“Thanks, Elspeth. I hope you’re right.”
“And if you’re lucky, you’ll find another body. That’ll shake up the town and get their mind off their troubles.” She slapped Xandie on the shoulder and cackled evil-hag style before slipping off to her room with a slam of the door.
“Why does everyone want me to find another body?” Xandie mumbled to herself as she joined her cousins outside.
Anyone would think bodies followed her.
“It’s full-bodied with a great potential for elemental satisfaction.” The smarmy art critic gushed over a curved pitted dragon tooth on display. “My family donated this precious artifact and others in the collection. In the hopes other supernatural families could share in our unique lifestyle. Red dots mean the artifact is for sale.” Ronald Penne adjusted his silk tie and searched for someone in the crowd before disappearing over to another popular artifact to spin his sales talk again.
“Pompous art talk for it’s a big tooth so buy, buy, buy,” Xandie whispered to Holly, who scowled at her.
“Shush, I like dragon teeth. Ronald Penne is right, some of these artifacts are fascinating.”
“Isn’t that morbid? The fang must have belonged to someone. And I can’t see a dragon volunteering a tooth. Especially not such a slick salesman as Mr. Penne.”
“Please, Xandie. I work in a funeral home and have visions of people dying sometimes. Morbid doesn’t worry me.”
Xandie nibbled on an appetizer and considered Holly. She’d worked at the funeral home for a while. But her cousin seemed stressed and snappy. Holly was the quiet Harrow, who held Lila’s foot-and-mouth leash. “What’s up, Holly? You seem kind of on edge.”
Giving into hunger, Holly shoveled three cheese cubes into her mouth and mumbled around them. Swallowing, she repeated her words, “I thought working at Elysian Fields would be a good way to get a handle on my banshee gifts. Plus, with the necromancer twins who own the home, I thought it might help.”
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bsp; “But?”
“But my visions are on the fritz.” Holly sighed and snatched an orange juice from a passing server. “My father thinks it’s the Harrow blood and the Maguire banshee blood battling each other. I have to wait and see who wins.” She wrinkled her nose and pouted.
“I guess it makes sense. Your mom and dad don’t know how your gifts will interact. Just be patient. I’m sure you’ll see someone die soon.” Xandie poked her tongue out at her cousin.
“Put that away. Who knows where it’s been?” Lila moved behind Xandie and Holly and gathered up empty trays.
“It’s been eating your cheese cubes.”
“Oh, poor baby. Sheriff hot-pants Braun isn’t here and Xandie’s lonely and grumpy.”
Xandie choked on a cheese cube. “For your information, Lila Harrow, Sheriff Braun arrested me. I have no interest in his pants, hot or otherwise.”
“Saying it aloud doesn’t make it so, oh great librarian.”
Ignoring her cousin’s teasing, Xandie glared at the art crowd milling around. Half a dozen dragon artifacts from claws, fangs and scales to ancient books, jewelry and tapestries, hung on display. Ronald Penne, mate to the Penne heir, mingled with the elite of Point Muse while projecting a fake air of social goodwill to convince people to buy his dragon art.
“Looks like Iris got a good crowd.” Lila leaned over Holly and snatched a platter of appetizers out of her hand. “Your waistline doesn’t need those.”
Holly crammed another cheese cube into her mouth and ignored Lila.
“It helps nothing weird has happened the last forty-eight hours.” Xandie let out a little shriek as Priss Makepeace popped up next to her. Orange juice swamped the side of her glass as her hands shook at the sudden interruption. She turned and carefully placed it on the table behind her. “Are you in stealth mode?”
Priss stared at her champagne and then back to Xandie. “No, more alcoholic mode.” She raised a glass in salute to Lila’s catering.