Death by Tarot Card (A Ghost & Abby Mystery Book 4)

by Jo-Ann Carson

  She giggled. “They were teasing me.”

  “Oh dear.” I shook my head. “What did you do?” I put Jane on the floor and ran to the screen door. The boys were frozen in mid-flight, three feet above the trampoline. “You did this?”

  “With a little help from a friend.”

  I swallowed. “Do I know this friend?”

  She shook her head. “She told me not to tell anyone. Not even you.”

  “And where did you find this friend?”

  “Upstairs.”

  Oh, good grief. I ran a hand over my hair. “In the forbidden zone?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “When was this?”

  “About half an hour ago.”

  I bit the inside of my mouth. I needed to stay calm, sound calm, control the situation, but all I wanted to do was scream.

  “After our snack,” Jinx continued, “I went upstairs and heard a voice calling for help. She kind of sounded like you, Mommy, so I followed her voice and saw her face in a mirror.”

  A portal! They’re often referred to as mirrors.

  “Has she got a name?”

  “Elaria,” said a woman’s voice behind me.

  I turned to see an ethereal-looking female with long platinum-blonde hair and denim-blue eyes, dressed in a white flowing dress. She looked as if she had walked out of a page of a JRR Tolkien novel. An elf?

  “What have you done to my daughter,” I asked.

  She gave me a smile so serene it patronized me to the bone. “Jinx wants to be like you, so I helped her.”

  “You made her a witch?” I may have screamed.

  “Oh yes, a good one, a very good one.”

  Chapter 5

  I didn’t want to call Dante. I really didn’t want to. But I did. He’s not a bad guy, just a naughty one. And a witch. He mentors me in all things magic, which has been helpful for the most part.

  I used the speed dial on my cell phone. “Dante, I’m sorry to bother you …”

  “Carina, I love hearing your luscious voice.” His low baritone laced with magic could melt an iceberg.

  “I’m in trouble. Big trouble.”

  “On my way.”

  Elaria watched me closely as I spoke, as if I were a specimen in a Petri dish and she were a mad scientist. I didn’t care what she did, or what she thought, as long as she didn’t hurt the kids and didn’t leave for town. I shuddered at the thought of being responsible for releasing another strange creature into the cove. “Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” I asked. “Or a glass of wine?”

  Did elves drink caffeinated beverages? I had no idea. I wasn’t even sure if she was an elf, or a full elf at any rate. She had pointy ears and an elegance that made me think she was, but I could be wrong. I still had so much to learn.

  She smiled so hard her eyes twinkled. “No thank you.”

  We stood, eyeball to eyeball. This woman had turned my sweet daughter into a witch. I wanted to tear her apart. I hoped it would hurt, a lot. I took deep breaths. I needed to stay calm, only because if she were dead she wouldn’t be able to reverse her spell.

  Dante appeared in a few minutes at my front door, and I ushered him in. His physical presence warmed my blood to boiling point. No sexual being could be immune to his allure. If he were a dessert he would be featured beside chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache. Dante, the Casanova-man-witch. Italian, with a slender build and sinfully dark-chocolate eyes. Sexy scruff covered his square chin. His shoulder-length hair was pulled up into a man bun. Full-flavored, dark and delicious.

  “And dangerous,” mewed Spark.

  Worst of all, he knew his power over others. His bad-boy smile spread into the room.

  Elaria stood a bit taller and sniffed the air. “Witch?”

  “At your service.” He raised his brows at me and bowed.

  “She changed Jinx,” I said, pointing at the elf.

  His eyes refocused on my guest.

  “I read her heart and gave her what she wanted.” Elaria’s voice had a tinkling quality, as if it traveled from afar away realm.

  “And what did you get in return?” Dante moved closer to her, looking her up and down.

  Elaria lifted her chin and looked out the window. “Entry into your world.”

  My chest tightened.

  “You took advantage of a child,” Dante roared. His hand rose. I anticipated a blood-curdling spell.

  “Cool down, warlock. Don’t get your hexes in a knot. I’m only visiting.”

  “You turned a child so you could take a vacation?” asked Dante.

  I contemplated the deadly spells hiding in my ancient grimoire upstairs. No black magic could be too wicked for her.

  “Elves don’t ‘vacation,’” she replied.

  “What then?” I asked. “What do you want? I’ll help you. I’ll do anything you ask, if you free my daughter.”

  She squinted her eyes. “Free? I’ve enhanced her. I didn’t imprison her. I would never hurt a child.”

  Dante folded his arms across his chest. “Tell us why you’re here.”

  She glanced around. “I have a mission.”

  We waited. And we waited some more. Standing with her serene smile on her narrow face, she continued to look around the room, a stranger in a foreign land, in no hurry to explain herself.

  My stomach fell three torture cells. If Jinx pulled her into our world, that meant there had to be a portal in the forbidden zone. Eye of newt. I didn’t need to be a mistress of a portal. What else could come knocking? Or worse, what else had already arrived that I didn’t know about?

  “Get a grip on your broom,” said Spark in my head. “Deal with one catastrophe at a time.”

  “Dante?” I touched his arm. “Is there nothing we can do about Jinx? She’s used her witch abilities to freeze the boys.”

  He glanced outside and nodded. “Let me see Jinx.”

  Elaria followed us into Jinx’s room where she played on the floor with her Barbie house.

  “My little princess,” Dante said.

  She looked up at him and smiled. “Hi, Dante.”

  “How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “May I touch your hand, little one?” He reached out and she put her hand in his. As he held it, his eyes darkened to a deep purple. He mumbled a chant I couldn’t discern. Then he kissed the back of her hand and let it free.

  “Dante?” I said.

  He nodded. “Magic runs in her blood.”

  “Can it be reversed?”

  He turned to me. “Mia Carina, having magic is an honor, a gift from the goddess, not a curse.”

  “I want her to be normal.”

  He shook his head. “Abby, you are far from normal. Why would you want her to be normal?”

  Tears welled in my eyes. “She’s so young. I want her to be normal.”

  “It’s easier to learn magic when you’re young. It will work out.”

  “You’re saying it’s irreversible?”

  “I’m saying, I’m not sure …”

  “Would your mother know?” Sofia was a high mother of a witch to be reckoned with.

  “I can ask her to visit, but first we should see to the boys.”

  Jinx spoke. “They were bugging me.”

  “Can you unfreeze them, honey.” Dante ruffled her hair.

  “Do I have to?” Her bottom lip swelled into a pout. “I don’t want to.”

  “Yes, little one, you have to, and in this, and in all things, you must obey your mother.”

  Could he spell her to do that? That would be cool.

  Jinx ran out to the back yard, with all of us following. She waved her hands around as if she were the queen waving to her subjects. “Come alive,” she said and clicked her fingers. And they did.

  Jonathan waved at us and did a flip. Nicolas jumped and waved. Tears welled in my eyes. They looked so happy and so innocent, so unaware of what had happened to them.

  Dante put his arm around me and whispered in my
ear, “We need to check the portal.”

  Chapter 6

  Dante and I spent the next hour examining the portal. It was hidden in a1930s oval mirror, the kind you would see above chests of drawers in old movies. It didn’t appear out of place. There were no cracks or blemishes on its surface. It reflected images well, though it did make me look a wee bit chubby. The mirror didn’t appear unusual in any way, but the room smelled of used magic, a scent similar to burned toast.

  Elaria watched us with interest.

  Dante waved his hands in a circular motion, creating a purple mist that traveled all around it. “Hmm,” he said. He snapped his fingers. The mist evaporated.

  I touched the portal with my hands, found no bumps or abnormalities, sensed nothing unusual. “Do you think anything else came out?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Elaria in her tinkle-voice. “I felt it close behind me.”

  I looked at Dante.

  “It is locked, but we can’t be sure. I’ll alert the community to be on guard.”

  I didn’t bother asking how he would do that. He had ways of communicating to the supernaturals in town that was faster than anything I had on my phone. He called it his messaging system.

  “Is there nothing else we can do?”

  “I’ll put a spell on the room to hold things in place. Magically freeze-dry it. You need to talk to Azalea about the responsibilities of being the mistress of a portal.”

  “I don’t want to …”

  He put up his hand for me to stop talking. “It’s too late for that.”

  Great. I’d add it to my list of responsibilities I did not want, right beneath cleaning toilets. “I’ll call Azalea from my room. I don’t want to leave the kids right now.”

  Elaria’s eyes widened. “I’ll stay here with the man-witch in case he needs me.”

  I used the speed dial on my phone. “Azalea.” I tried to keep my voice matter-of-fact.

  “What happened?”

  “I found a portal in Graystone.”

  “Did something come through?” She said, as if I said I bought a new door for a cupboard and she wanted to know if I painted it pink.

  “I think she’s an elf and she says she’s on a mission.”

  “Is Eric there?”

  “No, Dante. The elf turned Jinx into a witch, so I called him for help.” Even I hesitated on these words, the reality being so strange.

  “Good,” she said. “He will handle the magic for the moment. You and I need to talk about managing a portal.”

  “That’s what Dante said, but all I care about right now is Jinx.”

  “Dante will know more about that than me. When you feel things are sorted, contact me and we’ll talk.”

  That’s it? “But the elf?”

  “Generally, they smile a lot and trouble us little.” She hesitated. “But there are always exceptions.”

  She clicked off. I looked at my cell phone. Spark nudged me her support.

  Back in the portal room, Elaria sprawled on the bed, reading a Cassandra Clare novel she must have picked up in the living room. Dante sat in a chair mumbling. Clouds of different colors flowed about the room as he moved his hands. The mist smelled of cinnamon.

  I looked out the window to check on the boys. They played peacefully. I envied them their sense of peace. Jinx sat watching them with Jane on her lap, practicing clapping. Jill drove up in her van.

  I headed downstairs to make dinner: chicken strips and veggies. Nicolas’s mom came by and picked him up. I chatted with Jill about the hottest gossip. The head librarian was sleeping with the school janitor who had become a celebrity on Instagram with his bare-chested selfies. Some said he was a step down from the soft-spoken baker with the Irish accent. Not Jill and I. We cheered her active sex life and wondered who would be next.

  At six I hollered, “Dinner,” and the kids appeared. They argued over chairs, especially since we had guests. Jinx got to sit beside Elaria, because she was her new friend. Jane got to sit next to Dante, because she loved him. I sat close to the stove because it was practical. Jill stared at Elaria when she joined us, but with a flick of a wrist, Dante hid her elf features from human view, at least that’s what I figured he did because Jill relaxed. The food that had taken me close to an hour to prepare was consumed in minutes with lots of ketchup.

  Jonathan told us his teacher smelled like a goat. Jinx kept slipping onto the ground and trying to escape. Jane sang the occasional nursery rhyme. All in all, dinner went pretty normally, and that rankled me. Things were so far from normal.

  While the kids cleared the table, the adults moved into the living room. Jill excused herself to catch up on some emails and that left Dante, Elaria, Spark and myself.

  “I’ve secured the portal,” said Dante. Dark shadows lined his face.

  “That’s it. It’s done?”

  “For now.” Dante looked far too serious for him, which scared me. Normally he was playful and seductive. “You need to talk to Azalea as soon as possible. It won’t stay frozen for long. It needs to be—” he hesitated a moment “—tended.”

  Great. One more item for my daily to-do list. Should I fit it between taking the kids to school and answering my business emails, or maybe after dinner before I flossed. My chest tightened. I turned to glare at Elaria.

  “Abby,” Dante said, “we need to focus on the future.”

  “Did anything else come through?” I asked.

  “Time will tell. Some ‘things’ can be hard to see or find.”

  Great. I turned to the elf. “You must have known you would be putting our whole world in danger when you decided to barge in.”

  “I was invited.” She lifted a blonde brow. All innocence and good intentions. I wanted to throttle her. Was there a law against strangling alien elves?

  I exhaled. “What is your mission?”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that.” She touched my hand. An odd sensation of lightness snaked up my arm. Not convinced her energy was benevolent, I blocked it with my witch guards. Her hand dropped. “I assure you I mean your family no harm. I was drawn here by the love in the house. I would do nothing to hurt anyone here.”

  But elsewhere? I wondered.

  “Are you a member of the Seelie court, in good standing?” Dante asked her.

  “Yes, I am well respected among my own.”

  Dante tilted his head. “Did you make Jinx a witch so you could command her?”

  “No.” Her voice lowered its tinkle. “I was so grateful to be welcomed into this realm that I gave her a gift I thought you would all appreciate.”

  A smile crossed Dante’s face and he nodded. I glared at him.

  He opened the palms of his hands. “Abby, you have to understand that people who have magic enjoy their magic.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You, Carina, you are an exception, in so many ways.” He gave me that look.

  “I’ll say,” said Spark with her throaty voice.

  Dante gave her a side glance. “In time, Abby, you will see that having magic is an honor.”

  “No. Don’t whitewash this. I will never accept what’s happened to Jinx as right.” I glared at Elaria. “You stole my child from me.” I stood and left the room because I couldn’t bare to be with either of them any longer.

  Spark strode behind me.

  Chapter 7

  By the time I made it to Harold McGregor’s cabin dusk had settled into the landscape. The irony of spending sunrise and sunset pursuing our local nudist did not escape me.

  “You just can’t get enough of him,” commented Spark as she trotted at my heels.

  Smoke rising from his chimney curled above his home, making it look inviting, as long as you didn’t think about the naked geezer-grump who lived there.

  I could have asked for Eric’s help with this interview. He said he would help me anytime, that he wanted to continue as my partner in all things sleuthy, but I didn’t want to feel obliged to him in any way. It was time fo
r me to stand on my own two feet. Leave the men behind. I could handle a nude octogenarian. Right?

  Spark chuckled.

  I pounded on his door. “Mr. McGregor,” I shouted.

  I pounded some more.

  “Who’s out there,” he yelled through the door. I imagined his shotgun, ready in his hands.

  “It’s me. Abby Jenkins.” The local crazy PI. “Just me.”

  The door opened slowly, exposing him in all his glory. “Couldn’t get enough of me, eh?”

  Spark snickered.

  I kept my eyes level, though I have to admit wanting to dip them. What is it about naked people? It’s like you have to look. My cheeks heated. “I have a few questions for you.”

  “Don’t tell me. You’re chasing a cat named Fluffy.”

  “Uh, no. That was this morning.” He must think I’m a complete idiot. “I’m gathering information for a case I’m working on and I thought you might be able to help me.”

  “Well, I like talking to pretty ladies.”

  Spark snickered. “Bet he likes more than that.”

  As we followed him in, I resisted checking out his butt and sat down on a chair near the crackling wood fire. He sat opposite me. The smell of molasses and pork wafted from the simmering pot of beans on top of the fireplace.

  I took out my notepad and pen. “What do you think about City Hall?”

  He scratched his chin. “Not much.”

  That summed up the opinion of most people in town. “Okay, I’ll get right to the point. Have you taken action against them?”

  “You mean the load of shit.” A grin spread across his face.

  I nodded.

  He laughed. “Zane questioned me about that. I have an iron-clad alibi as I was out of town at a convention and gave a speech at the time of the incident.” He crossed his legs. “I’ve been cleared of the poop-and-scoop caper. I had nothing to do with that crap.” His eyes twinkled. “Though I admire the shit-slingers all to hell.”