Luna rolled her eyes at them and pulled away from the curb.
But she couldn’t help biting back a hopeful smile as she drove back to the hospital.
Maybe this one, she thought.
Maybe this one.
Chapter Eighteen
The parking lot of the hospital was empty when Luna returned, so she pulled Mathias’s SUV into an available spot and got out, keeping her wits about her as she walked to the door. Even though she knew Clarence had been apprehended, she was still on edge from all the violence of the night. It had sapped her energy, and she felt a wave of exhaustion wash through her. She’d need to go home and recharge soon.
Chief Thomas appeared at the doors just as Luna reached them.
“Luna, I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”
Shit, Luna thought, Miss Elva was supposed to field this one.
“What can I help you with?” Luna said brightly, putting her charm on.
Chief Thomas looked both ways before pulling Luna over to the side of the hospital and lowering his voice.
“Listen, I know I can’t put everything in the official report, but I’m going to need to put something. Especially for those frozen men we found out at the warehouse. They’re coming around, by the way, and we’ve got them in custody,” Chief Thomas said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Luna leaned back and blew out a breath, contemplating how to answer.
“The margarita truck was owned by a man named Clarence le Loup, a famous voodoo priest," Luna said, while Chief Thomas pulled out a small notebook and jotted down the name.
“Lovely. I’m not going to be able to explain what happened to him, am I?” Chief Thomas asked.
Luna shrugged and thought about it. “I…well, probably no.”
“Magick?” Chief Thomas asked and Luna tilted her head at him questioningly. He sighed and rubbed his brow.
“I got some of the history of the zombie dust from Dr. Kingston. I know there are things in this world I can’t explain. I’ll do my best to work around it. But I need to know if there is still a threat to our town.”
Luna searched his eyes and was happy to find that he radiated complete honesty.
“Miss Elva took care of him. He’s not dead. But he won’t be bothering our town anymore,” Luna said gently.
“Then that’s all I really need to know. I’ll figure out a way to explain the rest of it. I…” Chief Thomas stopped and cleared his throat, “I thank you for your service to this town. A lot of people could’ve died tonight.”
Luna was beginning to see the Chief in a whole new light. She was distrustful of the local law enforcement after her run-in with the last town sheriff, but Chief Thomas was proving to be a stand-up guy.
“You’re welcome,” Luna said, pushing away from the wall. She began to walk inside the hospital, but stopped to turn to look at Chief Thomas. “Something you should know about us – and by ‘us’ I mean myself, Althea, and Miss Elva – is that we’re bound to help others. Even if we die trying.”
Chief Thomas met her eyes. “I can understand that oath. I’ve taken one of my own.”
So we’re on the same page, Luna thought as she turned to walk inside the hospital – and slammed directly into Mathias’ rock hard chest.
“Whoa there, I’ve got you,” Mathias said, grabbing her arms and pulling her close for a second.
“I’m sorry, I was looking over my shoulder, I…” Normally so graceful, Luna felt clumsy and flustered in Mathias’s arms.
“That’s fine. How’s Beau doing?” Mathias asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he propelled her towards his car.
Luna was touched that he immediately asked about her friend.
“He’s good. He’s staying with Miss Elva, so she’ll keep an eye on him to see if there are any lingering issues.”
“That’s good. Everyone inside seems to have recovered well. They’re a bit dazed and confused by what happened, but recovered nonetheless. Dr. Kingston says to tell Miss Elva thank you and that she’ll call her this week,” Mathias said, holding the passenger door open for Luna.
“I wonder what the history is there,” Luna mused.
“I don’t know, but Dr. Kingston is my kind of woman. No-nonsense and calm under pressure,” Mathias said before he shut the door and rounded the back of the car. Luna wondered briefly if that statement included her.
“So, that was some crazy stuff tonight,” Mathias said as he drove to his clinic.
“It was,” Luna agreed. What else could she say?
“You know I’ve got, like, a gazillion questions for you,” Mathias said.
“I’m sure you do. Though I certainly don’t feel like being interrogated at the moment,” Luna said, staring out the window as they pulled into the parking lot of his clinic. She was tired and just done with it all. The last thing she felt like doing was being questioned about her magick by Mathias.
“Hey, who said anything about an interrogation?” Mathias said softly as they pulled to a stop by her car.
Luna unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door, moving to slide from the seat. Looking back at Mathias, she smiled.
“Listen. It’s been a long night. Thank you for all your help. You’ve certainly gone above and beyond your duties tonight. But I don’t have to answer any questions. Nor do I have to explain what and who I am. So judge not others before ye judge yourself,” Luna said dryly, slamming the car door behind her as she stomped to her little Bug.
What had she been thinking – having amorous thought about this man directly after he had witnessed all their magick? She knew better than to think a relationship with a normal guy would work.
Luna gasped as she was jerked back against a hard body.
“Listen here, Miss Luna, you don’t get to recite some asinine speech to me and then storm off under your own assumptions,” Mathias murmured into her ear.
Luna bit her lip, a bubble of hope forming in her stomach. Turning, she put her hands on her hips and squared off with Mathias.
“I’m allowed to have questions, okay?” he said, cutting her off. “I’m a doctor. We’re investigative by nature. That’s what we do.” Frustration was etched on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. “But just because I have questions doesn’t mean I am judging you. Nor am I disgusted or scared of you. In fact, I’m very intrigued by you, and I’d like to learn more about you. So if you could stop with your dramatic walk off for a moment, I wanted to ask you out. Jeez.”
Luna felt a smile split her face as she looked at the very frustrated Dr. James.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I wanted to ask you if you’d be my date to a Halloween party tomorrow. I, uh, I know it’s last minute and you probably don’t have a costume, but it’s up at the Children’s Hospital in Miami. We all dress up and visit the patients, then go out to a big gala dinner and dancing.” Mathias looked away and shrugged. “I’m sure you probably already have plans.”
Luna felt her heart melt at the invitation. A guy who skipped boozy Halloween parties to visit sick kids? Yeah, she could get used to being with someone like that.
“I do have plans,” Luna said, thinking wistfully of her new Wiccan group for a moment.
“Oh, well, yeah. I figured you did,” Mathias said, looking down at the ground.
“But I’ll cancel them. I’d love to join you,” Luna said and smiled when Mathias’ head popped up. “And trust me, I’ve got costumes galore. You can’t be a white witch without having some great outfits.”
“Really? You’ll come?” Mathias said, stepping forward until he caged Luna between his arms, pressing her back against her car.
Luna felt her heart pick up its rhythm as she looked up into his eyes.
“How could I say no?”
Mathias leaned in and slid a kiss across her lips. For a moment, Luna’s world tilted. When everything righted, she sighed into his kiss.
This one.
Epilogue
After the
hour and a half drive to Miami, Luna felt much more confident in her choice to skip out on the Wiccan ceremony and go out with Mathias. After a night of rest and a few rituals to recharge herself today, Luna felt happy, relaxed, and ready to make some sick kids’ day. The back of Mathias’s SUV was loaded with toys and candy and Luna was dressed to the nines in a sparkly white witch costume.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” Mathias said again as he pulled into the parking garage at the hospital. He was dressed as Spiderman, and Luna couldn’t help but admire the way the Spidey-suit clung to his muscles.
She might have peeked at his butt too, when he’d walked towards the car after picking her up. Nothing to complain about in that department either, she thought with a smile.
“You did. Thank you. And you make a very handsome Spiderman,” Luna said as they walked towards the hospital doors, their hands full of bags of candy.
“Hey, listen,” Mathias said, stopping her before they went in. “This isn’t always easy – going into a place like this. Not everyone is able to handle seeing kids who are this sick. Some, well, I know some won’t make it. But I have hope for a lot of them.”
Touched, Luna reached up and patted his cheek with her hand.
“I’ll be okay. I know it’s going to be hard to see some of it. But I don’t live my life refusing to be exposed to the hard stuff. I’ll be okay,” Luna said softly.
“Okay, I’ll have to introduce you to my favorite. Sammy, he’s this five-year-old with a sparkle in his eye that will just get to you. He has neuroblastoma, and should be finishing up a round of treatment soon,” Mathias said as they entered the hospital.
A nurse waved at them from the front desk.
“Hi, Dr. James! Everyone’s on the third floor.”
“Thanks, Amy, we’ll head up,” Mathias said, punching the button for the elevator. As they rode up, Mathias handed her a face mask.
“I’m sorry, but best to wear one. Some of the kids have compromised immune systems.”
Luna slipped the mask over her face and then pulled her pointed white hat on. She shimmered from head to foot in a sparkly white cape and gown, and she lifted her wand in front of her.
“Ready?” Mathias asked, slipping his Spiderman mask over his head.
“Oh yeah,” Luna said.
The doors of the elevator slid open and squeals immediately greeted her ears. They walked out and turned left into a large room. About thirty kids of all ages laughed and shouted as doctors and nurses in various stages of dress-up handed out candy to the children. Luna felt her a tug on her heart as she looked at the children, some with heads shaved or bald, others with saline bags attached to their wrists. It was heartbreaking and amazing in the same moment.
There was no other place she’d rather be.
“Oh, look who’s here! A good witch and Spiderman!” one of the nurses shouted, and the kids all turned and cheered. Soon, Luna and Mathias were making the rounds, handing out candy, and staying in character as they talked with the kids.
“Where’s Sammy?” Mathias finally asked one nurse. She shook her head, a look of sorrow passing over her face.
“He’s in his room. He took a turn for the worse,” she whispered.
“What room? I’d like to go see him.”
“We moved him closer, he’s right down here,” the nurse rattled off a number and Luna caught up to Mathias as he strode down the hallway.
“Hey, can I come with?”
“Yeah, I just… god, I don’t know if I can handle this,” Mathias’s voice cracked for a moment as he stood outside the door. Luna didn’t get a chance to answer before he pushed the door open quickly.
“Ohhh, Sammy look! It’s Spiderman!”
Sammy’s eyes lit up from where he lay in his bed, tubes attached to various parts of his body. His skin was pale, and his head was covered in a hat. Luna presumed the young couple sitting next to his bed were his parents, and she felt a wave of sadness go through her at the tight expressions on their faces and the false cheer they radiated.
“Whoa, cool,” Sammy croaked from his bed.
Spiderman knelt by Sammy and gave him a high five and Sammy giggled, pulling even harder on Luna’s heartstrings. She had to do something.
Luna closed her eyes and, reaching for her magick, she scanned Sammy’s body with her mind, wincing when she found the black mass eating away at his body.
“Look, Sammy. A good witch. Maybe the nice witch can put a healing spell on you,” Sammy’s mother said, winking at Luna. Her cheerfulness in the eye of the storm amazed Luna.
“I’m the legendary Galina the great, the most powerful witch in the world,” Luna announced in a grand voice, and little Sammy’s mouth dropped open in awe.
“You are?” Sammy whispered.
“And I’ve come to cast a spell on you, Sammy. The angels told me I was needed here,” Luna said.
“Mom, did you hear that? The angels told her to come,” Sammy whispered.
“Yes, I heard her,” Sammy’s mother said, squeezing her son’s arm.
“I will now put a spell on you. Casting out sickness forevermore,” Luna intoned, and then she closed her eyes, pulling on her ball of magick, and silently letting it flow into Sammy’s tumor-ravaged body. She shot her white magick into the dark mass, obliterating it, and poured her strength into the little boy’s body.
“You are now healed, little one. Go forth to do great things,” Luna said, bowing majestically before sweeping from the room so she didn’t have to answer any questions.
“Mom, I felt it. I felt her heal me. I’m okay now,” Luna heard Sammy gush as she left the room.
“I’m sure you are,” Sammy’s mom said automatically.
Little did she know that he was, Luna thought to herself with a smile. They’d find out soon enough. She’d been lucky though – not all tumors responded to her magick.
“Wait a minute,” Mathias said behind her in the hallway and Luna turned. He pulled back his Spiderman mask to look at her.
“Did you just heal him?”
“I might have thrown a little magick at him.” Luna bit her lip and looked away for a moment. “I can’t guarantee that it worked. But it certainly felt like it did.”
Mathias stepped forward and surprised her by bringing his forehead to hers.
“His vitals perked up immediately after you left. Whether it was magick or not, he believes you healed him.”
“Sometimes the placebo effect works too,” Luna said lightly.
“Thank you,” Mathias whispered, dropping a kiss on her lips.
“Ewwww!” Shrieks from the children startled Luna away from Mathias.
“Spiderman kissed the good witch,” one boy called out, clearly disgusted.
“Yes, he did, and he gave me an extra dose of his power. Do you know what that means?” Luna asked, sweeping into the middle of the group with her wand held high.
“What?” One little girl tugged on her skirt. “What does that mean?”
“That means I’ve got extra magick tonight. So I’m putting a healing spell on all of you,” Luna said, raising her wand high as she chanted a spell in her head. “Abracadabra! The light in me now flows through you. All of you have enough magick to heal now. Blessed be,” Luna said, sweeping into a bow as her magick coursed around the room, touching each sick child and giving them the boost needed to heal themselves.
“Woah,” the children breathed as a group, in awe of Luna.
They had probably seen her magick, too. Adults usually couldn’t, but children often could.
“My work here is done,” Luna said dramatically as she swooped away, meeting Mathias back by the elevator, barely able to walk.
“I need to sit down,” Luna admitted, her energy drained by the group healing. Dizziness washed through her, and Luna knew that she would need to sleep for the week after this healing. It was one of the reasons that she could so rarely perform healings – it took all of her energy to do so. Luna gasped as
Mathias swept her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest.
“I’ve got you,” Mathias said, his look tender as he dropped another kiss on her lips.
The elevator doors closed against the children’s shrieks of “Ewwwww!”
Luna laughed against Mathias’s lips and settled in for the ride.
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Other books by Tricia O'Malley
The Althea Rose Series
One Tequila
Tequila for Two
Tequila Will Kill Ya: An Althea Rose Short
The Mystic Cove Series
A paranormal romance series set on the rocky shores of Ireland
Wild Irish Roots
Wild Irish Heart
Wild Irish Eyes
Wild Irish Soul
Wild Irish Rebel
Wild Irish Roots: Margaret & Sean
The Stolen Dog
A non-fiction account of our dog being stolen and how we recovered him. All proceeds go to animal rescues.
Author's Note
Thank you for taking a chance on my books; it means the world to me. Writing novels came by way of a tragedy that turned into something beautiful and larger than itself (see: The Stolen Dog). Since that time, I've changed my career, put it all on the line, and followed my heart.
Thank you for taking part in the worlds I have created; I hope you enjoy it.
I would be honored if you left a review online. It helps other readers to take a chance on my work.
As always, you can reach me at [email protected] or feel free to visit my website at triciaomalley.com.
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Tequila Will Kill Ya: (The Althea Rose Series Book 2.5) Page 7