Quit Your Witchin' (Bless Your Witch Book 4)

by Amy Boyles

  She poked a finger in the air. “I believe that for now we must focus on training the three of you. Reid has her power and can join your lessons. We must be prepared. We don’t know who will come. Will it be the troll people? Or more of the froggy princes? Will it even be anyone? We don’t know. But we must be ready, and we must protect Richard.”

  Milly drummed her fingers on the sofa arm. “But for now they’ll probably regroup. We’ll have some time to relax and think.”

  I nodded. “So we can all breathe deeply for today?”

  “For more than that, I think,” Milly said.

  “Don’t worry,” Nan added. “I have my weapons ready. I’m prepared for anything, remember?”

  I smiled weakly. “Thank you.” I rose. “I’ve got a few things to take care of. I’ll be back later, okay?” I crossed to Reid and ruffled her hair. “Welcome to the club, sis. Now you don’t have to take crap from anybody about not having powers.”

  She fist pumped the air. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see how my magic manifests. I hope it’s something totally original. Like maybe I’ll garden or something.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, maybe that’ll be it.”

  I left the house, which had been cleared of cakes and pies courtesy of Sera’s boyfriend, Brock. I walked the five minutes to the older, more exclusive neighborhood that I hadn’t visited in ages. I’d driven by a thousand times, but I hadn’t walked through it. Today, however, the sun shone brightly and I unbuttoned my coat as sweat creeped down my back.

  I reached a house with white columns, black shutters, a circle driveway and large ominous windows.

  I rang the bell and waited.

  The door opened.

  “Hi, Colten,” I said.

  “Hey, Dylan.” He stood in the frame, a smug grin on his face. I seriously wanted to slap it off. “Everything okay?”

  Moths the size of softballs fluttered around my stomach. I tightened my core muscles, forcing them at bay.

  “Listen, there’s something I want to tell you.”

  He brushed sandy hair from his blue eyes. “Sure. What is it?”

  I clenched my fists. It was now or never. I needed to get past this. Get on with my life. I didn’t need to give this guy one more bit of power over me. Not that he knew that. But, you know, for the sake of my future or something like that, I needed to say these words.

  “Colten, what you did to me in high school was an awful thing.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, Dylan—”

  “I’m not finished.” He shut his mouth. Good. “You pretended like I meant something to you, then you used me, stood me up at prom and told everyone how you’d taken my virginity. You broke my heart and never apologized. Not once. Not in all these years. But I’m here to tell you that you were a scumbag. I put all my trust and faith in you, and you squashed it like a bug under your toe.”

  His gaze cut to the ground. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I was a real jerk in high school.”

  I crossed my arms. “Yes, you were. I hope you’re a better person now.”

  “I hope so, too.”

  I stood there, not really sure what else I wanted to say. I thought about it for a second and realized that I’d told him everything that was on my chest.

  I felt lighter.

  “Good-bye,” I said.

  “Bye.”

  I left before he even had a chance to close the door.

  The station house was only a few minutes from Colten’s, so I kept walking. I was wearing heeled boots, so by the time I reached Roman’s work, my feet burned. I was hoping he’d give me a ride back home.

  That’s what boyfriends were for, right?

  I pushed open the door. A blast of warm air washed over me. Oh, it felt good. I shrugged out of my coat.

  “Is he in?” I asked the desk sergeant.

  “Sure is,” he said.

  I walked past the bay of cubicle desks and reached the line of offices on the back wall. I tapped on Roman’s glass door.

  He opened it and glanced down. “Must be something serious for you to visit me at work.”

  “Can I come in?”

  He opened the door wide enough for me to squeeze through. “Be my guest.”

  He shut the door behind me. When I turned around, he stood with a grim expression on his face.

  “How’s Boo?”

  Roman shrugged. “All right, I guess. He wants to leave. To disappear again. I’m trying to talk him out of it, but I don’t know.”

  I slid my arms around Roman’s stone-hard sides and squeezed. “He doesn’t want to put anyone else in danger.”

  Roman caressed my hair and sighed. “If he leaves, I’ll just hunt for him. I lost my dad once—I’m not going to lose him again.”

  I inhaled some courage from Roman’s musky scent and said, “Speaking of losing things.”

  “What?”

  “There’s something I want to tell you.”

  Roman stiffened. I knew he was thinking it was something bad. “Relax,” I said. “Though you may want to sit down.”

  I sat across from Roman. His office chair squeaked when he pressed into it.

  “You’ve been way more patient with me than lots of men would have been,” I said.

  “I’m not lots of men.”

  I nodded. “I appreciate that. When Dewy and Rick held us captive, so many thoughts flashed through my mind. One of them was losing you.”

  Roman stretched his legs. I sensed humor welling up in him as if he’d been waiting a long time for this moment and he wanted to savor every second of it.

  “I realized I might never get the chance to tell you how I feel and I wanted to, I needed to.” I took a breath deep enough to fill a ten-foot well and said, “I love you. I’ve known it for a while, I just didn’t have the courage to say it.”

  Light sparkled in those sea-green eyes. Roman smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He reached across the desk, took my hand and kissed the palm.

  Boy, was that sexy. I shivered.

  “Darlin’, you’ve made me about the happiest guy in Silver Springs.”

  “Not earth?” I countered.

  “We’ll work on that,” he said.

  My mouth broke into the brightest, widest grin I think I’d ever had.

  EPILOGUE

  About three weeks had passed since everything went down with Dewy and Rick. Life had returned to normal.

  Of course, now that Reid had powers, not too much was normal.

  “Why are you unraveling my old sweaters?” Sera screeched.

  “Because I’m running out of yarn.” Reid sat on her bed, a red scarf big enough to protect the neck of a T. rex sitting in a lump beside her.

  “Then go buy some more,” Sera said. “Don’t just take my stuff.”

  Reid rolled her eyes. “Please. You haven’t worn that sweater in three years. Isn’t that what they say, Dylan? If you haven’t worn something in your closet for two years, you’re not going to wear it again?”

  All eyes turned to me. I slowly backed away. “Oh wow, would you look at the time. I’m late.”

  “For what?” Sera asked, crossing her arms.

  For anything that’s not here, I almost said. “For a dinner date with Roman. Oops. He should be here any minute. Reid, why don’t we go shopping this weekend for some yarn? I bet we can pick up a whole bunch.”

  “Yay! Then can I sell my stuff in your shop?”

  “Er, uh, maybe.” Truth was, her technique wasn’t bad. Not at all, but at the rate she was crocheting scarfs—as she hadn’t yet mastered anything else—there wouldn’t be room for my clothes in my own store. “Anyway, gotta go.”

  I shouldered my purse and dashed to the living room before either one of them could stop me.

  “I suppose Reid is over her broken heart,” Grandma said.

  “Looks like a little bit of magical crochet can fix just about anything.”

  Grandma stared at the wall, a whimsical expre
ssion on her face. “I remember when I first got my power. All was right in the world.”

  “Was it?”

  She nodded. “Of course having my power meant I could also fold paper into animals, so we went through a lot of paper—newspaper mostly—until my parents got tired of stepping on bits of the crumpled stuff.”

  “Why haven’t you ever made a paper animal for me?”

  Grandma sniffed. “I don’t know. Seems like you have enough chaos in your life, dear. You don’t need a paper animal walking around.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Reggie boomed.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” I flipped through the pages, making sure Reggie had been properly fixed. We had found all of him in Dewy’s apartment. She'd ripped him out—page by page.

  “Looking good, Reg. Milly will be glad to have you back.” I scooped the tome up into my arms.

  “And I’ll be happy to return to my rightful place.”

  The doorbell rang. “Well, there’s my ride. See you later, Grandma. Don’t wait up.” I kissed the soft flesh of her cheek.

  “Have a good time,” she said. “Watch out for trolls. They like to come aboveground this time of year.”

  I waved. “Will do. Don’t worry, Roman will protect me. I’m sure he knows all about trolls.”

  Roman stood on the other side of the door. He winked at me. “Ready?”

  “Sure am.”

  He waved to my grandmother. “I’ll return her in one piece.”

  “I hope it’s the piece I like,” she said.

  Roman’s face screwed up into a question. I hooked my arm in his and said, “Don’t even ask. Don’t do it. You won’t be satisfied with the answer.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  He opened the car door for me. I slipped onto the buttery seat and waited for him to climb in. When he did, Roman turned to me. His lips hit mine in a kiss that was long and hot. My fingers curled around the neck of his shirt, digging into the fabric, probably wrinkling it. As the kiss progressed, I realized I was most definitely wrinkling it.

  I was pretty sure Roman didn’t care.

  We parted to me panting for air and Roman smiling. He slid a thumb over my cheek.

  “So where are we off to?”

  “How about Niagara Falls?”

  He quirked a brow.

  “Okay, what about a steakhouse?”

  “Sounds more plausible.”

  He shifted the SUV into drive as his cell rang. Roman whipped it out of his pocket. “Bane.” He listened for a minute or two and then hung up. “Change of plans.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “That was Dad.”

  “Everything okay?”

  Roman nodded. “Yeah. He called to tell me that he finally remembered.”

  I threaded my fingers through the ends of my hair. “Remembered what?”

  Roman tipped his face toward me. “Who killed my mom and sisters.”

  I gulped. “Does he have a name?”

  Roman nodded. “That’s what we’re going to find out. Mind if we grab takeout?”

  I clutched my purse and said, “Not one bit.”

  <<<<>>>>

  Read on for a sneak peak of FOR WITCH’S SAKE, book five in the Bless Your Witch series.

  Hey y’all,

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  While you’re waiting for the continuing saga of the Apel sisters to pop up on your ereading device, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews are invaluable to Indie authors like myself as it helps my little book gain visibility and also helps other readers decide if they’d be interested in trying out my book. ‘Cause you know, life is short, and there are lots of books out there to read—if you're like me, you want to read the ones that entertain you.

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  Y’all take care of yourselves out there.

  Best witches,

  Amy

  BLESS YOUR WITCH

  Scared Witchless

  Kiss My Witch

  Queen Witch

  Quit Your Witchin’

  For Witch’s Sake

  About the author:

  Amy Boyles grew up reading Judy Blume and Christopher Pike. Somehow, the combination of coming of age books and teenage murder mysteries made her want to be a writer. After graduating college at DePauw University, she spent some time living in Chicago, Louisville, and New York before settling back in the South. Now, she spends her time chasing two toddlers while trying to stir up trouble in Silver Springs, Alabama, the fictional town where Dylan Apel and her sisters are trying to master witchcraft, tame their crazy relatives, and juggle their love lives.

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  Thank you for reading Quit Your Witchin’. If you enjoyed it, tell others about it or write a review. If you do write a review, please let me know at amyboylesauthor@gmail.com so I can personally thank you.

  Keep reading for sneak peak at FOR WITCH’S SAKE.

  ONE

  "Everybody stand back! It's still growing!"

  I threw out my arms, pushing my sisters, Seraphina and Reid, as well as my maternal grandmother, Hazel Horton, out of the thing's path.

  Sera, my younger sister by only two years, tossed a curtain of dark glossy hair from her blue eyes. "Reid," she shrieked. "What did you do?"

  Reid, a substantial ten years younger than me, patted down burgundy curls that were frizzed out from the Alabama humidity. She had the rounded cheeks of youth and lovely, delicate features that made me a bit jealous. Of course, Sera had those gorgeous blue eyes, tan and tone limbs and sleek hair. Basically I envied my sisters everything I could.

  "I didn't do anything," Reid stammered.

  Sera flashed our baby sis a dark look. Her eyes blazed. "You did something!"

  Reid summoned up all her eighteen-year-old angst and said, "I only told it to grow. I did exactly what Dylan said."

  Every eye turned to me.

  I backed up. "Listen, all I did was suggest she use a growth spell."

  "Well, it's growing," my maternal grandma said. "It's almost to the roof."

  I shielded my eyes and glanced up at the vinca gone wrong. The pink flower that was only supposed to be about six inches tall stood a good ten feet high.

  And it was still growing.

  Okay, so in case you haven't guessed, I'm a witch. In fact, my whole family is. Well, Reid wasn't at first, but several weeks ago her powers came in. We've been trying to teach her magic, but since Sera and I are still learning ourselves, it's been an interesting process.

  The vinca on steroids would be a case in point.

  "Someone's got to do something," Sera said. "If this thing keeps sprouting, we're going to have the whole town over here."

  "Or the witch council," Reid added.

  Great. The witch council. My family and I had accidentally worked magic in front of nonmagics—or regular people—before, but this was a first. A giant flower that resembled Jack's beanstalk could get us in serious trouble.

  Why?

  Because witches aren't supposed to work magic in front of regular people. They're not supposed to know we exist, even though we live side by side most of the time.

  Grandma placed her withered hands on my shoulders. "Tell it to stop, Dylan. You can do it."

>   I heaved a deep breath and focused my magic. A swirl of power ignited in my core. I lifted my hands and felt a surge beam into the flower.

  The leaves shook and trembled. I stopped breathing.

  It shot up three more feet.

  "Hmmm. It didn't work," Grandma mused.

  "That's the understatement of the year," Reid countered.

  We all inched back as the flower climbed past the roof.

  I heard the screen door creak open. "Does someone want to tell me why a giant flower is threatening to eat your house?"

  I groaned. Turning around, I came face-to-face with Roman Bane, chief detective of Silver Springs, Alabama, and my boyfriend. Sun-streaked blond hair grazed his shoulders, green eyes smoldered just above high cheekbones and the seams of his clothes tugged at his chiseled frame.

  He sighed. "I really can't leave you alone for more than a day, can I?"

  "I just don't think that's really true," I said.

  "Why's that?"

  I crossed my arms, feeling smug. "Because this would've happened whether or not you were here. I didn't do it. Reid did."

  He cocked his head toward Reid. "You had Dylan teach you, didn't you?"

  Reid nodded.

  Roman walked over, kissed my forehead and said, "I rest my case. Not one day."

  "Traitor," I said.

  "Not sure how that applies."

  "Me neither. But I'll find a way." I threw up my hands. "What are you doing here anyway? You never drop by without calling."

  He leaned over and murmured in my ear. "I had something important to tell you. But it looks like it'll have to wait."

  "Why?"

  Roman cocked his head toward the vinca. "That flower's about to be poking Jack in the rear end."