This wasn’t where she’d pictured herself two years ago, before her mother’s death. She’d pictured herself out of the military and running the family ranch, and for once in her life doing what she wanted to do, not what everyone else expected her to do.
One out of two wasn’t bad. She’d left the military, but never made it back to the ranch, at least not to stay. All those hopes and dreams vanished with her mother’s sudden death on a distant planet.
Now as the ambassador’s social secretary, it was her job to understand this planet. She’d always been good at what she did, no matter what duty called her to do or be. Whether she liked it or not.
As the only child of Ambassador Jonathan Butler, formerly General Butler of the United Space Marines and decorated hero of the Jihad Space Wars, it'd been expected she would follow in his boot steps. And she done it her entire life.
No one told her she’d have to take her mother’s place at her father’s side.
His boots were easy to fill, and she’d risen rapidly through the ranks of the military police.
It was the size seven high heels of her mother, Elaine Wallace Butler, Brett knew she could never fill.
Secrets in Paradise by Pauline Saull
“Ta-da!” Katie Walker waved the glittering engagement ring under her friend’s nose.
Gina looked at her, clearly unimpressed. “Engaged, huh? Why aren’t you out celebrating?”
“Rick’s gone to tell his mom. We’re going out tomorrow night.”
“Are you sure?”
“That he’s gone to see his mom? Of course I am.”
Gina laughed. “Smart aleck! You know very well what I mean…him. This is all a bit sudden, isn’t it? Don’t you find it worrying, ’cause as your best pal, I do? I mean, think about it, Katie. You’ve been seeing him, what, a couple of months and you’re engaged! I find it odd. He could have read about your win in the paper.” She studied her nails.
“Rubbish. It was twelve months ago. No one ever remembers old news.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “You can be so naïve sometimes, Katie. Have you never asked yourself how he just ‘happened’ to bump into you at the animal shelter? There’d been coverage of it in the paper all week, so how convenient that as you were handing over your generous gift, he turned up. And another thing, I hate how he keeps telling you to lose weight. It’s not right when a guy tries to bring a woman down by forever commenting on her size. I’d give my eyeteeth for your figure. You could, you know,” she added, “do far better than that man.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“I might be on the wrong side of thirty and still single, but jealous that you have Rick, I am not!”
Katie sank onto the sofa and grinned. “You know I didn’t mean it.”
“Mm, but I did. I’m ordering some takeout. Thai or Indian?”
“Thai, please.” Katie leaned back and watched Gina as she ordered. They’d been friends for years, trusted each other’s judgment in so many matters, and Gina’s words had touched a raw nerve, caused a tiny element of doubt to wiggle into Katie’s mind.
She turned to gaze out the window. Recently she’d noticed when Rick and she were talking—or rather, when she was talking—there’d be a glazed expression on his face, as if he’d rather be looking at anything other than her.
“Twenty minutes.” Gina put the phone away. “I’ll open a bottle of wine.”
•●•
The following evening Katie waited for Rick. He arrived in a taxi, the door swung open and he leaned out, looking staggeringly handsome as usual.
“Hi, babe. Hungry?” he called, beckoning to her.
Katie swallowed the lump of disappointment. She wished just for once he’d treat her in a more ladylike manner, but on reaching the taxi, and when he kissed her and she caught the gorgeous whiff of his favorite, extremely-expensive-present-from-herself aftershave, Katie smiled. “Ravenous.”
Rick’s glance flickered over her. Katie pulled her cardigan down a little farther.
Inside the restaurant seated at the candlelit table, Rick took off his jacket and draped it over the back of the chair. “Phew, it’s warm, doll.”
Katie agreed, but thought even with a trickle of perspiration running between her shoulder blades, there was no way she’d be taking off her cardigan.
“I think champagne’s called for.” Rick smiled, reaching across to squeeze her hand.
The minute the bottle popped open, they drank it rather quickly and ordered another. The meal was finished with a generous cognac, and by the time the waiter placed the bill on the table, Katie wondered if she’d be able to walk straight.
Turning, fumbling in his jacket pocket, Rick suddenly cursed.
“What?” Katie blinked, trying to focus.
“Hell’s bells, Katie…” He frowned. “I’ve forgotten my damn wallet! Or have I lost it? Oh sweetie, the meal…”
Katie laughed. “It’s not a problem. Stop worrying. I’ll get it.”
“Thanks, you’re a real doll. I just need to pay a visit.” He leaned over to kiss her before heading off to the men’s room, not noticing he’d knocked his jacket to the floor. As Katie reached down to retrieve it, a small black wallet dropped from an inside pocket. Heart pounding, she picked it up and opened it.
Inside were a collection of credit cards and two folded pieces of newspaper.
Taking them out, she looked at the one taken from a national paper. The clipping showed her with a stupid grin on her face holding the oversized eight million dollar check. The second was a cutting from the local paper, a piece Katie remembered well—when the SPCA advertised her lottery win and the fact she would be handing over keys to the new premises she’d donated on Tuesday the eighteenth.
The date was underlined in red.
In two seconds flat, Katie was stone cold sober.
Carefully smoothing both articles out, she laid them inside the folder containing the bill, collected her bag, and rose to walk out of the place without a backward glance.
Witch’s Bounty by Ann Gimpel
Rain worsened from a steady drizzle to a pounding, punishing deluge of icy sleet. Colleen Kelly strengthened the spell around herself. It sizzled where it ran up against the droplets. At least she wasn't quite as wet as she would have been without its protection. Pavement glistened wetly in the last of the day's light. It was just past three in the afternoon, but December days were short in the northern latitudes and Fairbanks was pretty far north.
“At least it’s not snowing,” she muttered as she pushed through a nearby glass-fronted door into the magicians’ supply store she owned with two other witches in the older part of downtown. Bells hanging around the door pealed discordantly. She sent a small jolt of magic to silence them.
“I heard that. Not the bells, but you. It’s supposed to snow this time of year. How could you possibly be pleased the weather patterns have gone to hell?” Jenna Neil stalked over to the coatrack where Colleen stood. Blonde hair, hacked off at shoulder level, framed a gamine’s face and shrewd, hazel eyes. Jenna towered over Colleen’s six foot height by a good four inches; her broad shoulders would have made most men jealous. Between her trademark high-heeled boots, and a scruffy embroidered red cloak tossed over skintight blue jeans, she looked as exotic as the anti-hex hoop earrings dangling from each ear.
Colleen rolled her eyes, shook out her coat, and hung it on the rack. “Spare me your lecture about global warming, okay? It’s cold enough to snow. It just isn’t, for some reason.”
“Mmph.” The line of Jenna’s jaw tensed.
Indian spices wafted through the air, mingling with the scents of herbs, dried flowers, and desiccated body parts from small animals. Colleen’s stomach growled. Breakfast had been at six that morning—a long time ago. Pretty bad when even dried newt smelled like food. “Did you cook something? And if you did, is there any left?”
A terse nod. Jenna turned away, walking fast. Colleen lengthened her normal stride to catch up.
“Hey, sweetie. What happened? You can’t be in this big a snit over the weather.”
Jenna kept walking, heading for the small kitchen at the back of the store. “A lot of things. I was just having a cup of tea. Shop’s been dead today.” She disappeared behind a curtain.
Colleen glanced over one shoulder at the empty store. A phalanx of bells around the door would alert them if anyone stopped in. The minute she tugged the heavy, upholstery fabric that served as a kitchen door aside, the pungent tang of Irish whiskey made her eyes water. “You said tea.”
“Yeah, well I spiked it.”
Colleen grunted. “Smells like you took a bath in booze. What the fuck happened?” She grabbed the larger woman and spun her so they faced one another.
“We got another pay-your-tithe-or-die e-mail from our Coven.” Jenna’s nostrils flared in annoyance.
“So? That’s like the tenth one.” There were new policies none of them agreed with, so they’d joined with about twenty other witches and stopped paying the monthly stipend that supported their Coven’s hierarchy.
“It’s not what’s bothering me.” Jenna pulled free from Colleen, tipped her cup, and took a slug of what smelled like mostly liquor.
Colleen fought a desire to swat her. Getting to the point quickly had never been one of Jenna’s talents. She clamped her jaws together. “What is?”
“Roz called with…problems.” Jenna turned and started toward the steep staircase ladder leading to her bedroom above the shop.
“You can’t just drop that bomb and leave.” Colleen made another grab for Jenna to keep her in the kitchen. Worry for their friend ate at her. Of the three of them, Roz was usually the most volatile. “What happened? I thought she was in Missouri, or maybe it was Oklahoma, visiting that dishy dude she met online.”
“Didn’t work out.” The corners of Jenna’s mouth twisted downward. Colleen quirked a brow, urging her friend to say more. “He only wanted her for her magic. Turned out he preferred men.”
“Aw.” Colleen blew out a breath. “She must have been disappointed.”
Half a snorting laugh bubbled past Jenna’s lips. “Maybe now she is. At the time, furious would have been closer to the mark.”
Colleen’s throat tightened. “Shit! What’d she do?”
“Turned him over to the local Coven.”
“Thank God!” Colleen let go of Jenna and laid a hand over her heart. Roxanne Lantry was more than capable of killing someone who’d pissed her off. It was how she’d ended up in Alaska. Roz hadn’t exactly been caught when her cheating husband and his two girlfriends went missing, but she hadn’t stuck around to encourage the authorities to question her, either.
Colleen and Jenna had already left Seattle; Roz repressed her antipathy for Alaska’s legendary foul weather and joined them. Magically, she was stronger than either of them, and she had a hell of a temper.
Colleen’s stomach growled again. Louder this time. It didn’t give a good goddamn about anything other than its empty state. She pushed past Jenna to the stove, lifted a lid, and peered into a battered aluminum pot. Curry blasted her; the spicy odor stung her eyes and made her nose run. “Whew. Potent. Mind if I help myself?”
“Go ahead.” Jenna sat heavily in one of two chairs with a rickety wooden table between them. She picked up her mug and took another long swallow.
Dish in hand, Colleen slapped it on the table in front of the other chair and went in search of a mug of her own. There weren’t any clean ones, so she plucked one out of the sink and rinsed it. Back at the stove, she tipped the tea kettle. Thick, amber liquid spilled from its stubby snout into her waiting mug. Jenna waggled the whiskey bottle in her direction.
“Nah.” Colleen settled at the table. “It would go right to my head. Maybe after I get some food on board.” She tucked in. After the first few mouthfuls, when the curry powder nearly annihilated her taste buds, the pea, potato, and ham mixture wasn’t half bad.
Jenna drank steadily. When Colleen’s dish was empty, she refilled her mug with tea, filched a couple of biscuits from the cupboard, and sat back down. “Are you going to talk to me?”
“I suppose so.” Jenna’s words slurred slightly.
Colleen cocked her head to one side. “I suggest you start now, before you forget how.”
“Oh, please.” Jenna blew out a breath, showering the small space with whiskey fumes. Colleen waited. The other witch could be stubborn. Wheedling, cajoling, or urging wouldn’t work until she was good and ready to talk. Finally, after so long Colleen had nearly chewed a hole in her cheek, Jenna finally muttered, “Roz called.”
Colleen ground her teeth together. “You already said that. It’s how you knew what happened with the guy.”
Jenna nodded. “There’s more.” She picked up the whiskey, started to pour it into her mug, then apparently changed her mind and drank right from the bottle. “She’s in Seattle. Checked in with Witches’ Northwest, just to say hello, and because she wanted to touch base with people she’s known for a long time.”
Another long pause. Colleen batted back a compulsion spell. It wasn’t nice to use those on your friends. She shoved her hands under her bottom to reduce the temptation.
Jenna lowered her voice until Colleen had to strain to hear. “The Irichna demons are back.”
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