Prelude to a Witch

  “I would rather discuss that later. Let’s handle Kelly and figure out how to deal with the Gilmore situation.”

  He couldn’t accept the reality that this kept happening to him. He was fine when I was magical. Now that it was happening to him … well … it was too much for him to bear. “Sure.” I paused. “It’s going to be okay.”

  He managed a rueful smile. “Isn’t that my line?”

  “Yes, but this time you need to hear it.”

  “I think you’re right. You can repeat it to me when you’re naked and feeding me bacon in bed later. I’ll likely be more open to hearing it then.”

  TWO HOURS LATER, ROSEMARY SAT IN the Overlook’s dining room, staring into space, an untouched cup of tea in front of her. Despite my protestations to the contrary, Landon and Chief Terry had taken Brian into custody. They had enough evidence against him regarding Paisley’s murder to hand the case over to the prosecutor. There was nothing else they could do.

  For her part, Rosemary was a morose mess.

  “I don’t understand how this happened,” she said, her eyes bouncing between Aunt Tillie and me. She was unnaturally pale, dirt smudging her cheeks. She looked like a completely different person from the one who attacked me at the Whistler office.

  “You opened yourself to it,” I explained, looking to the door. Aunt Willa was reportedly on her way, Mom and my aunts waiting for her in the lobby. Apparently they wanted to have a discussion with her before she saw Rosemary.

  “But ... I didn’t.”

  “You must have,” I insisted. “The shade couldn’t have gotten a foothold inside of you if you didn’t open yourself to her.” I hesitated and then blew out a sigh. “She said that Brian made the request of you.”

  “He did, but ... I was trying to make him happy. That’s all I wanted.”

  Aunt Tillie stirred. “I think there’s a lesson in there for you.”

  “What lesson is that?”

  “You need to worry more about yourself and less about others. If someone suggests something that’s likely bad — oh, say like allowing an evil spirit to take you over — perhaps you should put your foot down and say no.”

  “I didn’t know it would turn out like this.” Rosemary sounded pathetic. “I just ... wanted to make him happy.”

  “I think you wanted to make yourself happy and you thought Brian was the only way you could do it,” I countered, thinking back to what the shade had told me. “You were lonely, abandoned by your mother. She never took proper care of you from what I can tell, and often left you to fend for yourself. You were also oppressed by your grandmother. Brian was your escape.”

  “I love him.”

  “I’m not sure you ever knew him.”

  “We’re engaged.”

  I looked to Aunt Tillie, who held out her hands and made a face. “Brian is in jail right now. I’m not sure he won’t be staying there.” I opted for the truth. “He’s ... in big trouble. The smartest thing for you would be to distance yourself from him.”

  Rosemary’s mouth dropped open. “But ... we’re in love.”

  “Again, I don’t know that you ever met the real Brian. Even if you did, he was never going to be the person you wanted him to be. He only hooked up with you because he thought he could use you against us.”

  “I want to believe there was more to him than just a revenge plot and lies.”

  “Well, that’s something you’ll have to deal with yourself.” I refused to coddle her. “It’s time you picked a path and struck out on your own. You can be your own person, Rosemary. You don’t have to do what Aunt Willa tells you to do.”

  Rather than gain strength from the statement, Rosemary dissolved into tears. “She’s going to be so mad at me.”

  Disgust rolled through me, and before I could decide what I wanted to say in response, I heard footsteps on the hardwood floors. I found Aunt Willa standing in the open doorway. She looked stricken.

  “What’s happened?” she demanded. “What did you do to my granddaughter?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her exactly where she could shove her accusations – we still had days of shade cleanup from the mess Rosemary and Brian had created – but Aunt Tillie placed a hand on my wrist to still me.

  “I’ve got this,” she said, flicking her eyes to her half-sister. “Let me do this.”

  It was probably a mistake — Aunt Tillie could never be considered gentle — but I was too tired to argue. I nodded and leaned back in my chair.

  “I’m going to give it to you straight,” Aunt Tillie said. “Rosemary was possessed by an evil shade. Apparently it was your birth mother, although I never got a chance to talk to her to confirm that. Why she would lie about that is beyond me, but never say never when you’re dealing with evil.

  “Rosemary allowed the shade to take her over at Brian’s behest,” she continued. “He willingly embraced his dark side to go after us because he’s a bitter little troll with a pencil eraser for a penis. He’s in jail, likely headed for prison.

  “Bay freed both Brian and Rosemary from the shades possessing them. She did this after they both tried to kill her. I should point out that Bay would’ve been well within her rights to kill them. I believe you owe her a thank you.”

  Aunt Willa was incredulous. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Aunt Tillie refused to back down. “Rosemary is only alive because of Bay. Her life is a freaking train wreck. You should recognize that, because your life has always been a train wreck.”

  “I don’t think I like your tone,” Aunt Willa hissed.

  “I don’t think I care.” For once, Aunt Tillie wasn’t in a joking mood. She was deadly serious. “Brian Kelly is at the very least going to be named a suspect in Paisley Gilmore’s murder. That will make him a pariah in this town. If Rosemary chooses to stay with him — which is a mistake — it will reflect badly on her and you. Do you want that?”

  “He’s not a murderer,” Aunt Willa insisted. “I would know.”

  “You can’t even see the truth of yourself,” Aunt Tillie fired back. “How can you see him when you’re oblivious about yourself?”

  “I’m ... not.” Aunt Willa studied Rosemary’s profile. Her granddaughter was a disheveled, shaking mess. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

  They were the same words Rosemary had spoken. “She allowed it to happen,” I snapped. “You helped it happen. There’s a lot for you two to break down. Just for the record, no matter what she says, she knows what occurred. She remembers. She was there. You can talk to each other about that, argue to your heart’s content, but we’re done with you.”

  Aunt Willa rolled her eyes. “You’ve always been an ungrateful girl. It’s because you were raised by an ungrateful ass.” She gestured to Aunt Tillie. “I don’t believe a word you’ve said here today.”

  “That’s your prerogative.” I turned my attention to the kitchen door as it swung open, smiling as my mother handed me a baggie full of bacon. “Thank you.”

  “Terry called,” Mom said. “He’s on his way home. He said Landon is going straight to the guest house.”

  That was my cue. I pushed myself to a standing position. “I need to get home.”

  “We’re not done here,” Aunt Willa argued. “We’re nowhere near done.”

  “Oh, we’re done.” I was fed up with her and everything she represented. “I have nothing left to say to you. As it is, it’s going to take days to clean up the mess your granddaughter left in our town. You need to go.”

  “You can’t just kick me out of town.”

  “I can, and that’s what I’m doing.” I started for the hallway. “You have three days. Pack up and get out.”

  “Or what?”

  “Or I’ll have every ghost in town haunt you.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “It’s a promise.”

  “She’ll make them sing show tunes,” Aunt Tillie warned. “Bad ones. You’ll never know peace again.”

  Aunt
Willa worked her jaw, searching for words. “This isn’t my fault,” she moaned. “I didn’t know.”

  “You might not have known, but it is your fault,” I countered. “Now it’s time for you to do the right thing and fix what you broke. You can’t do it here, though. This is my town.”

  Aunt Tillie smirked, but didn’t speak.

  “Where are you going?” Aunt Willa demanded. “We’re nowhere near done.”

  “I’m going home to feed my fiancé bacon and make wedding plans,” I replied. “He’s earned a mental break. It’s time you took responsibility. You’re just as much to blame for this as Brian and Rosemary are.”

  “This is not my fault!”

  I was too tired to keep pressing the issue. Instead, I met Aunt Tillie’s gaze. “Can you take it from here?”

  She grinned and bobbed her head. “This is why two super witches are better than one. It would be my pleasure to finish this up.”

  For once, I wholeheartedly agreed with her.

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  About the Author

  I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.

  If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.

  Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Books by Amanda M. Lee

  An Avery Shaw Mystery

  Who, What, Where, When, Die

  If it Bleeds, it Leads

  Buried Leads

  Shot Off The Presses

  The Preditorial Page

  Misquoted & Demoted

  Headlines & Deadlines

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  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery

  Any Witch Way You Can

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  Witching You Were Here

  Witching on a Star

  Something to Witch About

  Witch Me Luck

  Life’s a Witch

  Charms & Witchdemeanors

  The Trouble With Witches

  Murder Most Witchy

  A Witch Before Dying

  A Breath of Witchy Air

  Witch, Interrupted

  Flip the Witch Switch

  Witchin’ Around the Clock

  To Love a Witch

  The Witch is Back

  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short

  Careful What You Witch For

  Wicked Brew

  On a Witch and a Prayer

  You Only Witch Once

  The Christmas Witch

  Bewitched

  A Solstice Celebration

  Witchdependence Day

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  Thistle While You Work

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  I Dream of Twila

  How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas

  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy

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  Make A Witch

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  Close Encounters of the Witchy Kind

  An Aisling Grimlock Mystery

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  Only the Lonely

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  A Mystic Caravan Mystery

  Freaky Days

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  A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery

  The Bigfoot Blunder

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  The Werewolf Whoops

  The Megalodon Mix-Up

  The Undead Uproar

  The Incubus Impasse

  The Killer Clown Calamity

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  A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery

  Witchin’ USA

  Witch Out of Water

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  To Spell With It

  Hex Type Thing

  Brewing Up a Storm

  Long, Hot, Witchy Summer

  A Spell’s Angels Cozy Mystery

  Bad to the Crone

  No Crones About It

  No Crone Unturned

  Cut to the Crone

  Romancing the Crone

  A Two Broomsticks Gas & Grill Cozy Mystery

  Sinfully Delicious

  Caffeinated Calamity

  A Little Slice of Death

  Covenant College

  Awakening

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  Waxing & Waning

  Graduating

  Living Covenant Trilogy

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  2019 Shorts

  Wolf on the Job

  Luke on the Loose

  Cupid in Crisis

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  Jerry Takes Charge

  Elemental Witches of Eternal Springs

  Bat Out Of Spell

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  Hotter Than Spell

  Spell or High Water

  Books by Lily Harper Hart

  A Maddie Graves Mystery

  Grave Homecoming

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  Grave Misgivings

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  An Ivy Morgan Mystery

  Wicked Days

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  Wicked Warning

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  Wicked Season

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  Wicked Hearts

  Wicked Wishes

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  A Harper Harlow Mystery

  Ghostly Interests

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  A Rowan Gray Mystery

  Welcoming Seas

  Murky Seas

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  Choppy Seas

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  Dangerous Seas

  Perilous Seas

  Raging Seas

  A Hannah Hickock Witchy Cozy Mystery

  The Dirty Coven

  A Fistful of Demons

  Boot Scootin’ Boogeyman

  The Monstrous Seven

  Dances With Witches

  All the Pretty Witches

  A Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery

  The Hexorcist

  Witch Confidential

  Curse A Brew Streak

  Witch is the New Black

  Hex, Drugs & Rock and Roll

  Crossovers

  Wicked Ghosts

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  True Grit Spirit

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  Deadly Storm