by Wendy Wang
Natural Born Witch
Witches of Palmetto Point Book 8
Wendy Wang
Copyright © 2019 by Wendy Wang
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 1
Charlie Payne walked through the doors of the Defenders of Light, and the scent of sage and lavender permeating the air smacked her in the face. She glanced around at the crowds of other people, other witches filing into the building, and realized she’d overdressed for her first day of work. Next time she’d ditch the pant suit and silk blouse and go with the casual jeans like some of the other women wore, pin her blonde hair up in a messy bun. Wearing it down as she had today meant always pushing it behind her ears to keep it from falling in her eyes.
The witches, each sporting a look as individual as Charlie would expect of the DOL staff, Goth black on one, natural fibers and homespun skirts and shawls on another, and even soccer mom jeans and T-shirts on others, swiped their badges to enter the elevator and disappeared inside when the doors opened.
The lobby with its corporate décor looked like every other modern building she’d seen. Except for the smell in the air, that distinct herbal scent, stronger than the last time she’d come here with Ben Sutton, her friend and DOL Agent.
On her last visit, Gerald, the head of security, had told her that lots of nasty creatures came into this building, and they regularly pumped sage and lavender through the heating and air conditioning systems to cleanse the place. She wondered what had come through recently that required such a strong dose of sage? Maybe just an overabundance of caution. She wasn’t the only new hire starting today, or so Ben had told her. Maybe it was because of them. No one wanted a stray spirit following the new hires into this sacred space.
Charlie noticed a man with blond hair enter the building. Like her, he stopped to take a look around. His nostrils opened, and his chest puffed out, making it apparent he was breathing in the air. Just like her. Maybe he was new here, too. She chanced letting him notice her smiling at him. She’d like to have a compatriot on her first day.
He looked fortyish, older than her by maybe a decade. And he was tall. At least six-two. His pale skin made her question whether he might be a spirit, but Ben Sutton walked through the door and spoke to him, relinquishing any doubt that he might not be alive. Ben’s gaze shifted to her, and he smiled widely. He’d shaved his beard, revealing his handsome baby-face. His blue eyes glittered when he waved. She certainly understood why her cousin Jen had fallen so hard for him. Charlie waved back and headed over.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, Charlie,” Ben said. “I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine. Will Tucker, this is Charlie Payne. She’s my girlfriend’s cousin and a very good friend.”
“Nice to meet you,” Will said with a distinct twang that Charlie didn’t recognize.
“Where’re you from, Will?” Charlie asked.
“You ever hear of Solomon’s Beach, Florida?” he asked.
“No, I’m afraid not,” Charlie said.
He laughed. The warm sound of it wrapped around her. “Nobody ever has, I guess. It’s on the panhandle of Florida, near the Alabama border.”
“Oh.” Charlie nodded politely at that. She noticed a pale scar skirting along the line of his jaw. It was an old scar by the look of it, faded and stretched thin as if he’d grown into it. No hair grew there that she could see. She imagined that if he had kept a beard like Ben used to, or scruff like Jason sometimes did, that it would look like a line in the sand, or in the hair. He scratched his jaw, obscuring the scar and gave her a sideways glance. Charlie’s cheeks heated and she looked away.
“Have you picked up your badge yet?” Ben asked.
“No,” Charlie said.
“Come on.” Ben gestured for them to follow him and took a few steps toward the security desk near the elevators. “I want to get all this admin stuff out of the way fast. We’ve picked up an interesting case that I want both of you to see.”
Charlie moved first, but Will quickly caught up with her, his long legs keeping stride.
“What’s the case?” Charlie asked.
“A missing family of witches,” Ben said. “Looks like there could be some demonic activity. You both have experience dealing with demons. Not everyone on the team does.”
“A demon.” Will placed his hand on top of a weathered leather bag that he wore across his body. “I had no idea this job would be so much fun.”
“Oh yeah, it’s a regular day at Disney around here,” Ben quipped.
Will chuckled. Charlie couldn’t do much more than nod. Demons were no joke to her, especially considering that one had once kidnapped her cousin Lisa. Charlie couldn’t bear the thought of what might have happened if she and her other cousins, Jen and Daphne, together with Lisa’s boyfriend Deputy Sheriff Jason Tate, hadn’t found her in time.
The three of them stopped in front of security. A man Charlie had met on her first visit grinned and cocked his head.
“I figured you’d be back,” the man said. His graying short hair and silvery mustache were the only things on Gerald Handley’s face that gave away his age. His dark skin glistened a little in the natural lighting of the lobby. “Good to see you Miss Charlie.”
“Good to see you too, Gerald,” Charlie said.
“I need to head upstairs now, but you stop by and see me anytime,” Gerald offered. Miss Athena here will take care of you.”
“Thank you. I will,” Charlie said.
A young woman Charlie had seen before sat behind the desk. Her red curls cascaded down her back, but she’d twisted strands of hair away from her face on each side at her temples and fastened them in place with two barrettes. A bold splay of freckles dotted her cheeks and nose, and her green eyes glinted with good humor when she smiled.
“Hey Athena,” Ben said. “These two are starting work today. Can you get them set up, please?”
“Of course.” Athena stood up and gestured for them to follow her.
“Hey, Charlie,” Ben called before departing. “I’ll see you upstairs.”
Charlie waved and gave him a reassuring smile.
“You too, Will,” Ben said.
Will brought his hand up and gave Ben a loose salute. “See ya, boss.”
Athena led them to an office tucked away in the corner of the lobby.
“We just have some paperwork for you to fill out,” she said. “And then we’ll take your photos, and you can head up to the third floor to meet with HR for your orientation.”
“Great,” Charlie said, trying to get just the right amount of enthusiasm to show in her voice. Too
much and she might sound over-eager, which she didn’t want because, if she was honest with herself, she still wasn’t sure this had been the best choice for her. Only time would tell.
Charlie took her forms and sat on one side of a small table with two seats. She dug into her purse for a pen and started to fill out the W-4 tax form.
Will didn’t say much. He took the forms and sat down at the table across from Charlie. He patted his chest and then his hips as if he were looking for a pen. When he found none, he leaned over, his arm covering part of the form.
“You wouldn’t happen to have an extra, would you?” He pointed at her pen.
“Sure,” Charlie said. She dug through her purse again for another pen and took out her wallet for the ID she needed for the I-9 form.
“Time’s up,” Athena crowed.
Charlie and Will both turned their heads with bewildered glares on their faces. Athena chuckled, her green eyes glittering. “Just kidding. Take all the time you need.”
“Thanks,” Charlie muttered. When they were done with the forms, Athena had them stand in front of a blue background and she took their pictures and laminated the thumbnails onto a 2x3 plastic badge with a ring and a lanyard for hanging around their necks. Charlie inspected her photo and frowned. Her face looked too round for her liking. Had she gained weight? Her boyfriend Tom had been cooking for her nearly every night these past few weeks. Sometimes sumptuous meals and most times with dessert. He made a killer mocha crème brûlée which rivaled her love for her cousin Jen’s peach cobbler. None of her clothes felt too tight, but still. Maybe she needed to cut back on the desserts. Will peeked over her shoulder.
“Looks good. Better’n mine.” He held up his badge. The acronym DOL glared back at her.
“Yours does too,” she said.
He grinned politely, but his eyes told another story. A story of disbelief. He was pretty handsome with his windswept, sandy hair, splay of freckles across his nose, and crystal blue eyes. Did that scar on his face really bother him that much? It was a bit jagged on the ends as if he’d never had it stitched up, but it was so pale and faded.
He slipped the lanyard over his head and let the badge fall to the middle of his chest, the photo of him facing his shirt.
“I’m going to drop you all off at HR to finish up your intro to the company and to pick up your handbooks. Then, either Ben or I will swing by after to show you to the fifth floor,” Athena said.
“Great,” Charlie said. Her voice sounded too chipper in her ears, and she grimaced a little.
“Cool,” Will said.
The two of them followed her into the elevator and to the third floor. It only took half an hour to fill out some more forms, and pick up the passcode encrypted thumb drives with all the company policies on it. It was more high tech than Charlie expected, but she was glad they hadn’t mowed down a forest to give out monstrous handbooks.
Ben met them at the door and led them to the fifth floor to a familiar conference room. The wall length whiteboard covering one side of the room no longer held pictures of missing kids from the last case she’d worked on with the DOL. It had been wiped clean and was ready for the next case. Charlie took a seat at the far end of the table facing the door, and Will took the chair next to her.
“I’ll be right back,” Ben said. “Let me go round up the rest of the team.”
Charlie and Will traded uncertain glances. Ben closed the conference room door behind him when he left.
Will tapped his fingers on the heavy wood table, and Charlie could see a slight tremor to one side of his body as if he were shaking his leg.
“Nervous?” she asked, letting her lips form a reassuring smile.
Will let out a breathy laugh. “A little. I’ve never really worked with a big team of people before. But my partner was killed six months ago, and I, uh…” His face deflated as if the memory had punctured a fresh hole in it.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Charlie reached across the table and placed her hand on top of one of his, bracing herself for what she might see.
A jumble of dark rooms with moonlight streaming through them flashed through her head. A hissing screech that made all the hair on her arms and neck stand up echoed through her head. A scream and the glimmer of pointed white canines made her jerk her hand back.
Will stared at her. His lips drew up into a thick pink oval.
“Ben said you were psychic,” Will said.
Charlie let out a nervous chuckle.
“Yeah,” she said.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “The question is, are you all right? I see things sometimes when I touch people.”
“Right.” He drew his hands off the table into his lap and leaned back in his chair. His gaze shifted away from Charlie’s face, staring at the blank whiteboard. “What did you see?”
“It didn’t make a lot of sense, but I know I definitely saw teeth. Vampire teeth. Are you a—?”
“You think I’m a vampire?” He sounded half-amused, half- flabbergasted at the suggestion.
“I don’t know what I think. I just—”
“I am definitely not a vampire.” He laced his fingers together and laid his joined hands on the table. It looked as if he might bow his head and say a prayer at any moment.
“Right,” Charlie said, feeling stupid for even suggesting it. “You’re a vampire hunter.”
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and he gave her a side-eyed glance. “Yep. I mean, I hunt lots of things. Deer, squirrel, the occasional ghost, but mainly vampires.”
“Is that how you got the scar on your face?” She asked the question and immediately wished she could take it back.
His fingers tightened, causing his knuckles to go white.
A strong scent of lavender wafted through Charlie’s senses, and she breathed it in. “Do you smell that?”
Will sniffed deeply. “Yep. Ben said they pump sage and lavender through the vents throughout the day.”
“I know, but just now it seemed stronger,” she said.
“That’s because it is. Anytime there are more than four people in a room, extra lavender is pumped in to help with stress levels,” Ben said from the doorway. He stepped back and gestured for the group behind him to enter the conference room. Charlie didn’t recognize all of the faces. When she saw Darius Fowler and his sister Tomeka Fowler enter the room, Charlie grinned and waved. She touched the chair next to her, pulling it out a little for Tomeka to take a seat. Darius took the next chair. He leaned forward and looked around his sister, his dark brown eyes shined.
“Hey, Charlie,” he said.
“Hey, Darius,” Charlie said, unable to contain her happiness to see them. “I didn’t expect y’all to be here.”
“I’m mainly here as a consultant. I still have a business to run so I’m not full time,” Darius said. “But Tomeka is.”
Charlie clapped her hands together softly. “Yay.”
Tomeka ducked her head and grinned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Charlie asked.
“I wasn’t sure I got the job until yesterday when Ben called me,” Tomeka said. “It was Darius’s idea to keep it a surprise.”
“It is a surprise. A very happy surprise, that’s for sure.” Charlie beamed. She sat back and looked around the table at the others. She recognized the DOL witch Athena from the Keeley Moore abduction case she’d worked on with the DOL’s help just a couple of weeks ago. It seemed like forever had passed between then and now. So many changes since then. It made Charlie’s head spin when she thought about them all.
The other faces looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember their names.
“All right, everyone,” Ben said. He closed the door and turned to the table full of people. “First, I want to say welcome to my team. Some of you, like Darius and Marigold,” Ben gestured to Darius and a pretty brunette witch with olive skin and dark brown eyes sitting next to Athena, “will only be w
orking with us part-time on a consultation basis, but I wanted to make sure everyone here knew names and faces. I also wanted to help you understand, working with the Defenders of Light means you are considered special. Lauren is pretty picky about approving new hires. What we do here is important, and that means you’re important.”
His gaze drifted from face to face around the table, pausing just long enough to make eye contact, and to drive home his point. “Why don’t we start here?” Ben gestured to the brunette witch he’d called Marigold in the chair nearest him at the end of the table..
“Hi, I’m Marigold Burris. I’ve worked at the DOL for five years. Ben and I have worked several cases together. Like he said, I’m really only working with this group part-time, but I’m excited about the opportunity.” She smiled, finishing up, but Ben said, “And?” followed by a look.
“Oh, and I’m a sea witch,” she added.
“Like Ursula from the Little Mermaid?” Charlie gave the young woman a quizzical look. Marigold’s eyes widened and she sat up straight in her chair.
“Oh. Uh…not exactly. I’m able to affect the weather and the tides. Most of my craft is done by the light of the moon.” Marigold looked to Ben and he gave her a nod of approval before he continued around the circle.
“Hi, I’m Athena Whitley. I’ve been with the DOL for three years, and I’m excited to be working cases with Ben and this team. Investigative work is a little new to me, so I’m really excited. I’m a green witch with clairvoyance.” Her red curls bounced when she spoke, and her pretty freckled face lit up.
Ben pointed to the DOL witch sitting next to Athena.
“I am Sabine Khouri.” Her dark brown eyes glistened with excitement, but her deep sultry voice stayed steady. “And I am an elemental witch. I’ve worked with the DOL for the last four years, and before that, I was part of the International Coalition of Witches.”