Visions and Spells

by Kate Allenton

  My brows dipped. “Wait, what?”

  The man standing next to him held out his hand. “Ms. Blue, I’m West Archer. I believe FBI Deputy Director Reed told you I’d be coming.”

  His delicious British accent caught me momentarily off guard.

  “Yes of course. Give me just a minute; I was just walking Detective Spencer out.” I shook his hand, and he held mine longer than any normal casual shake. His gaze never wavered as his eyes sparkled. I slipped my fingers free and gestured Mason past them.

  Mason stopped at his car. His glare was aimed above my head. “You need me to stay and deal with them?”

  “I can handle them. Mr. Archer is just dropping off a cold case, and Freddie… well, I told you about him. He saved my life. He’s not going to hurt me.”

  “Even so, but you aren’t running around chasing criminals anymore. What does he think you need protecting from?” Mason asked, turning his gaze to mine. His clenched jaw eased.

  I shrugged. “Who knows, but I’ll call you if I need you.”

  “You do that,” Mason announced while cupping my cheek. He lowered his head and gave me the hottest kiss of my life. It may have been for the benefit of the good-looking men standing on the porch, but I’d take it. My eyes were still closed, and my toes were curled when Mason broke the kiss. I sighed in pleasure.

  “Be good, Blue.”

  My eyes slowly slid open. “It’s not in my DNA, Detective. Call me when you’re back in town.”

  He glanced up at the porch one last time. “I’ll be back in a bit, with that dinner I promised.”

  I smiled and walked backward toward the porch. I felt like a schoolgirl with her first crush. “I’ll make the dessert.”

  He winked and grinned as he slid into his car.

  Chapter 17

  I invited both guys inside. I stuck West Archer in the library before taking Freddie into the kitchen.

  “Did Moreno send you?” I asked while unwrapping the latest concoction of cookies I’d baked.

  “No, but he sends his regards.”

  “What are you doing here, Freddie?” I walked to the fridge and poured a glass of sweet tea and set it in front of him next to the plate.

  “I’ve already told you. I’m your new bodyguard.”

  “I wasn’t looking for one.” I gestured to the cookies.

  “Just because you weren’t looking for one doesn’t mean you don’t need one.”

  I sighed.

  “This is a big place you got here.”

  I glanced at the bag at his feet. “You need somewhere to stay?”

  “If I’m going to guard you, it makes sense I’m close by.”

  I shook my head and tossed up my hands. “Faraday will be staying here soon.”

  “Even more reason you need me here. Don’t worry. I’ll pay rent for one of your rooms. Trust me, you need me, Blue.” He glanced around the kitchen, ignoring the cookies I had offered. There was something tense about his posture, the way his gaze was floating across the room.

  “I work cold cases, Freddie. I’m not going to do any more active ones.”

  “You need me, and I need you.” He glanced in the corner where my Grammy was standing. “She told me you do.”

  My mouth parted. “You can see her?”

  He rubbed at his neck. “Yep. I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself, and you’re going to teach me how to make them go away.”

  “Fine.” I gestured toward the stairs. “You can have the room at the end of the hall on the second floor.”

  Freddie tossed the bag strap over his shoulder, then grabbed the plate of cookies and tea before he disappeared up the back stairs.

  I left the kitchen to deal with the stranger in the library. I walked into find him standing behind my desk. “Well, West Archer, did you bring the package?”

  “No, but I have it in a safe place,” he answered. “I wanted to introduce myself first.”

  “Are you with the FBI?” I asked.

  He grinned. “I can assure you I am not part of your government.”

  Perfect. Maybe having Freddie in the house wasn’t such a bad idea.

  “I’m afraid I don’t let people watch me when I work.”

  “You’ll have to make an exception.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s the case?”

  He pulled a document out of the inside pocket of his suit and handed it to me. The envelope had my name written it on. I slipped the document free. It was a non-disclosure agreement. “Both of our governments insist that you sign that document before I can disclose any information. It’s a formality.”

  I ran my fingertip over the embossed U.S. and very British-looking seal insignia. “It’s an international case?”

  I glanced up to find he’d folded his hands and didn’t have any plan on answering my question.

  “Okay, then.” I scanned the document and grabbed a pen from my desk, scribbling my name at the bottom. I waited impatiently as he slipped it back inside the envelope and returned it to his suit pocket.

  “The Wellington Diamond.”

  I think my heart momentarily stopped. I remember hearing about that case, but it was nothing more than a fairy tale. A sacred diamond that had been given to a famous actress by the very “married” Prince of Wellington. I slowly had to sit down before my legs gave out beneath me. “It’s true?”

  “Most of it.” He grinned. “Do I have your interest now?”

  I nodded, unable to form words. This would be the case of a lifetime, one that I’d grown up all my life intrigued by. Hell yes, he had my interest. “When can we start?”

  His mischievous smile grew as he met my gaze. “I have a few things to wrap up, and then I’ll be back in a few weeks.”

  I let out a shaky breath. “Okay.”

  “I look forward to seeing how far we take this.”

  “Me too.” I rose from my chair and walked him to the door.

  He stepped outside and turned at the last minute. “I hope you’re ready for one hell of a ride, Cree Blue.” His gaze lingered on my lips. “I know I am.”

  Keep reading for a sneak peek of the DEADLY VOWS right now! Then go read it all! Free in KU.

  Psychic Cree Blue is working on a cold case where the motives and suspects multiply like the spices in her cooking. When Davina Richards went missing the day before her wedding, people assumed she was a runaway bride. Only Cree knows differently. This bride skipped being a missing person and landed smack-dab in the dead zone. One thing is certain; the ghostly apparition is out to set the record straight and needs Cree’s help.

  Chock full of more guarded mystery than the Colonel’s secret recipe, the case of the deadly vows is Cree’s toughest cold case yet. She’ll have to rely on more than her intuition and insight if she wants to solve this mystery.

  It’s no longer a question of who wanted to silence the bride; it’s a matter of which one pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 1

  “Tell me you’re going to put a hex on him or send a poltergeist to his new apartment,” Freddie announced as I ended my call.

  He was leaning against the old doorframe of my ancestral home. The bald opinionated Italian was my self-appointed bodyguard, so I gave him latitude. It was that or have to deal with the rest of the Italian mob knocking some sense into my poor delicate head. I already had enough loose screws; I couldn't afford many more.

  The Lady Blue Plantation served as more than my serenity. Its vast open yards and ancient trees calmed me in a way no other place came close to doing. It was one reason I believe people were drawn to it. Freddie was one of those people I let live under my roof. Most people would be scared to have an Italian ex-mobster sleeping down the hall. Not me. It helped me sleep.

  “I’m not a witch.” Not that I couldn’t pay $19.95 for someone on the internet to do the deed. Bad karma wasn’t juju to be toyed with, ever. “He’s just busy.”

  Freddie's observant well-trained laser focus pinned me in my
spot. I guess his time dealing with double-crossing bad guys that could kill kind of made him paranoid that way. Regardless, he had a point. Two months and my almost relationship with FBI Agent Mason Spencer had disappeared like last night’s pitcher of margaritas. His new job with the FBI kept him MIA and emotionally off the radar.

  “He’s busy all right; busy avoiding you.”

  Deep down in the pit of my stomach, somewhere between last night’s burrito and this morning’s piece of chocolate cake, I knew Freddie was right, and that thought irked me even more than my nonexistent boyfriend.

  “Fine, he’s avoiding me.” I frowned. “He isn’t the only one.”

  Buy or borrow Deadly Vows to find out if Cree ever figures out why the men in her life disappear and the ghosts stick around.

  WITCH

  UNLEASHED

  A Hex Sister Cozy Mystery

  (Tess Venture)

  Book 1

  Kate Allenton

  Copyright © 2018 Kate Allenton

  All rights reserved.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Please purchase only authorize electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of Copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Coastal Escape Publishing

  Discover other titles by Kate Allenton

  At

  http://www.kateallenton.com

  Chapter 1

  “Venture Island is haunted, and it still hasn’t made the mainland’s headlines,” Margo complained, pointing to the television’s early morning news while I was reviewing the roster of guests that would be arriving within the hour.

  “You would think after thirty years, and some of the stories Dad told me, we’d warrant a byline or two in mainstream, especially considering the weird factor.” But nope, not even with word of mouth between guests had anyone pointing out the obvious.

  “It’s like the island is cursed, only revealing itself to those that need to know,” Margo argued.

  She might very well be right. She was kind of wise like that. Margo’s blonde hair lay in soft curls down her back. Her powder-blue pastel business suit was always pressed to perfection. People tended to believe Margo was just a dumb blonde, but I knew better. I’d known her my entire life. “We have some nut jobs arriving today.”

  Some guests I’d been fielding calls for months in advance making sure the hotel was ready to cater to their every weird whim, and let me tell you, they had some doozies. Normal people just wanted to make sure we knew of their allergies or handicap needs, but this week’s requests ranged from rooms with nothing red inside to even one guest requesting the room locks be set on a timer from outside. Who did that? Samuel Marks, that’s who. There was always one weird guest in each bunch, but this week we had two.

  I didn’t question their requests or strange phobias; they paid big money for us to accommodate their needs. It wasn’t my job to understand. It was my job to get it done. To be honest, nothing surprised me anymore.

  “Did you finish your sweep of Patterson Finley’s room?” I asked, glancing up from the guest roster.

  “There’s nothing red. I double checked every closet, cabinet, and nook,” she answered.

  Venture Island was my home, and I no longer held the position of glorified child babysitter to the guests. I was now head dog in charge of guest services. Okay, it was still a babysitting job, but I’d graduated to adults.

  The island was a tropical destination, but not for normal clientele. The lush greenery, crystal blue waters, and magical currents running through the earth touted us as the premier tourist destination for the supernatural enthusiast.

  We catered to the weird and unusual. The island itself was an enigma, founded only thirty years and three step-moms ago. How it had stayed uncharted for so long was a mystery to everyone. My father had found it strictly by accident when his sailboat crashed along its shore in the dead of night on his honeymoon. Lucky for him and Mom, they’d been rescued a week later, but they’d returned with determination to claim the shores as their own, and they had. God rest my mother’s soul.

  Enough about the island and all of its unusual guests. Let me introduce myself. My name is Tess Venture. Tess to my friends, Contessa when I was in trouble. Make no mistake. I’m not royalty. I don’t have a dowry that men would kill for, even though some of the Venture Resort’s employees might disagree with me being the daughter of the founder of the island and owner of the resort.

  My official title was Manager of Client Services and Guest Relations. You might think it was because I had a cheery disposition, but you’d be wrong. Snark was my unofficial middle name and a sharp tongue my weapon of choice. In my line of work, I needed both to keep these guests in line. I knew where to draw the line when it was needed and when to bite my tongue, even though sometimes I ignored that particular angel on my shoulder. I was pliable, and that was the way Daddy liked me. Tolerated me was more like it. I wasn’t sure he was particularly fond of either of his sperm donations.

  We always played third fiddle; first went to the island, second to whichever wife he was currently married to, and third to us kids. We didn’t hold it against him. On the contrary, his lack of affection and rules had made us extremely self-sufficient and independent.

  “Were the locks on the penthouse changed to a timer to accommodate Milton Turner’s request?” I asked, stacking my lists and rising from my seat.

  “Yes, I watched it last night to make sure it engages at nine o’clock on the dot,” Margo said.

  I smiled. Everything was ready. Well, at least as ready as could be expected. “I appreciate your help. You make my job easy.”

  “I will always try. Have a good day, dear.” My mother vanished in a cloud of smoke as the first specks of sunlight crawled across the floor.

  Chapter 2

  So you’ve probably guessed by now that my mother is a ghost and has a sun phobia. Who could blame her? It was the very thing that had killed her. A spell gone wrong in a quest for the perfect tan. Her skin had burst into flames the next day when she walked into the sun. I was ten at the time, but I’ve heard the stories. I wasn’t a witch like my mother, and I wasn’t quite like my dad. I was one of a kind, and I was about to be unemployed if I was late again.

  Thirty minutes later I licked the lipstick residue from my teeth and jumped off the golf cart, not stopping until I stood by my father’s side. He glanced at his Rolex. “Two more minutes and you would have been late…again.”

  I let out a resolute grunt of acknowledgement. “But I wasn’t.”

  He raised his brow before pasting on his award-winning smile as guests departed the ferry. Masterson Venture was the king of facades and hiding secrets. “Anything I need to know about this group?”

  His words made me pause. He normally knew everything about everyone. “A couple of honeymooners, Tim Jones, the famous baseball player…”

  “Again?”

  “Every year like clockwork before the season starts. He claims the hot springs give him his mojo.” I glanced down at my roster and cleared my throat. “And the Halliwells.”

  The vein in my father’s temple throbbed. “Which one?”

  “All of them,” I whispered.

  He finally turned to loo
k at me. His smile faltered. “Excuse me? I couldn’t have heard you correctly.”

  I gripped the clipboard to my chest. “They made reservations a year ago. Candace approved them. I couldn’t cancel.”

  I’d butted heads enough with my ex-stepmother that had I tried to intervene again I would have been bumped down to dog walker. She was the epitome of the evil stepmother. I think she lived to make my life miserable.

  “That’s unfortunate,” he growled as the group neared.

  “They shouldn’t be a problem. I banned them from performing any rituals or spells. I told them it was against island rules.”

  “You lied. I’m impressed.” He pasted his fake smile firmly back in place. “Your vacation is now officially postponed until every last one of them leaves the island.”

  He headed for one of the men and shook his hand, leaving me reeling with this new wrinkle in my plans. I watched as the entire group climbed into the resort bus.

  The baseball player had his hat pulled down covering his eyes. People on the mainland might believe him suspicious. The Halliwell’s well, they were a unique bunch. Pippy Halliwell led the way to the bus. Her every step full of determination and oozed energy sending people scurrying out of her way. Her sister, Penny, well she was another story. She was clinging to the straw hat on her head to keep it from flying away. Peter Halliwell, he was all business. Poor thing was holding his phone up in the air in search of cell service. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his attempts were futile. Vinette Halliwell, the Halliwell matriarch, scowled at my father in passing as her long grey hair drifted on the breeze. Everyone climbed on the bus, all but one lone stranger that started walking up the street.

  “Excuse me,” I yelled at the black T-shirt-loose-jean-wearing-big-boot-clomping man. He wasn’t dressed anything like the guests arriving on the ferry with their tropical shirts and dresses and wide-brimmed straw hats.