by Liz Long
“That’s nice and all, but not very reassuring.”
Ben hesitated for a moment before asking, “What’s so important about the book you risked your life coming here?”
She sighed. “It’s Courtney’s spell book, a family heirloom. It doesn’t deserve to be in the hands of her killer.”
His head bobbed in a slow nod. “I guess I can understand that. Maybe next time you call me first, though.”
“Deal.”
She put her head in her arms to block out the sounds. The mixture of horror and defeat hurt down to her soul. All she wanted was a time turning spell powerful enough to go back and insist Courtney meet her for a drink that night instead of go for a run. Was that so much to ask? According to the one witch who’d tried it in a century, yes. He was still stuck in a time loop somewhere depending on who you asked.
Ruby heard the motorcycle before she saw him and closed her eyes in anticipation. Cooper was not going to be pleased and she braced herself for the swearing that was bound to be thrown at her. Ben quirked an eyebrow at the sigh she heaved, but stayed quiet.
When she opened her eyes, Cooper was getting off his bike. He strode toward them, folded his long body to sit down next to Ruby on the pavement. Before she could say anything, he pulled a plastic bag out of his jacket and handed it to Officer Marshall.
“Here’s the note he left,” Cooper said. Ruby winced at his flat, angry tone.
“Thanks. I’m going to take this to Detective Phillips,” Marshall replied. He shot an uncomfortable look at both of them and took off, not at all unhappy to escape the tension.
Several long seconds ticked by and Ruby wondered which one of them would speak first. She knew she owed an apology for running off towards danger, but she refused to let him make her feel bad about the decision. Finally, she could no longer take the silence and broke the ice.
“It was Denise,” she said, her voice sounding dull and lifeless.
“Who?” Cooper looked at her, confused.
“Denise, from Michael’s coven. We saw her at the meeting last week. She asked if Courtney had been raped.”
“Oh shit, I remember now. Dark hair, pretty smile?” Cooper asked. Ruby nodded, felt as though her head might pop off and float into the sky. He heaved a regretful sigh.
Another bit of silence passed and Ruby’s brain finally clicked.
“That’s four hearts.” She looked at him, felt the rising panic on her face. “He only needs one more to finish the ritual.”
He sighed. “Yeah. Shit.”
He put his arm around her, drew her in close to him. Heat radiated off his body and she allowed herself a brief moment to bury her face in his shoulder.
“I could’ve gone my whole life without ever seeing something that awful,” Ruby mumbled into his shirt.
“I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I can’t even imagine how terrible it must have been to find her.” He planted a gentle kiss on her temple.
“It’s one of those things I’ll never unsee, you know? I have a feeling I’ll still be having nightmares about it when I’m eighty.”
Neither of them bothered adding it, but Ruby knew they both finished that sentence with, “If we make it that long.” She didn’t bother hiding her fear and looked up at Cooper’s face, at that constant jaw stubble and his serious green eyes. He swallowed hard, the scar at his throat twitching at the motion.
“You have to promise me something,” he said. “I’m by no means telling you what to do, but I’m begging you, please give me a heads up if you go somewhere without me. I thought you were still at work - I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack when Marshall called me.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run off, but-”
“I saw the letter. I understand why you did it. And thanks for caring so much about Courtney’s book that you’d risk doing what you did.” He squeezed her tight to him and she inhaled his scent, tears pricking her eyes.
“I’m scared, Coop.”
“Me too, sweetheart.”
Ben Marshall and Detective Phillips walked over to them; Ruby and Cooper ended their conversation and stood up. Phillips nodded at Cooper in greeting but addressed his question to Ruby.
“Marshall says you knew the girl.”
Ruby nodded sadly, tears attempting to well up in her eyes again. She cleared her throat and blinked them back. “Yeah, she was a member of the coven I used to be in. We saw her at a meeting a few days ago, Saturday night.”
Phillips copied her words onto his small notepad. “And what did you know about her?”
Ruby shrugged. “Not much. She came into the coven shortly before I left, so I didn’t get to know her well. She moved here from Michigan or something, I don’t think she had much family. Michael would know more if you want to get details.”
Phillips nodded. “I’ll be sure to contact him. Now look, I’m only going to tell you this once. The next time a note appears anywhere, you call me or Marshall here instead of skipping off to play a hero, got it?”
Ruby opened her mouth to protest but Phillips cut her off. “I’m serious, Ms. Jackson. I don’t want to see you get hurt in this psycho’s little game and right now, he’s playing you like every pawn on the board.”
Ruby looked down at her feet, a shamed blush rising to her cheeks. She deserved the reprimand and besides, after everything that happened today, she felt damn sure she’d never go anywhere alone ever again. She said as much to Phillips who gave her a sharp nod.
“I agree. Make sure to take your friend Cooper here with you or give Ben a call. I would suggest not going anywhere alone, at least until we catch this guy. You need to be vigilant about your safety since he’s obviously waiting to get you alone to strike. I don’t want to even consider what might’ve happened if Ben hadn’t tailed you.”
That thought hadn’t even occurred to Ruby and she shuddered underneath Cooper’s arm. He squeezed her tight to him in reassurance. They thanked Phillips and he said his goodbyes, walked away in quick, confident steps back to his police officers.
Ben moved to walk away and Ruby grabbed his arm. “Thank you,” she said, craning her neck to look up at him. “Thank you for following me, for being brave enough to come downstairs and get me. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t. You might be the only reason I’m alive right now.”
He gave her a gentle smile. “I’d say I’m just doing my job, but I’m glad you’re okay. You’ll be sick of me after a few more days of this.”
“Doubt it, but you’ll hear it if I get tired of it.”
“And I’ll ignore it and continue to follow you around until we get this guy,” he replied.
Marshall and Cooper shook hands and he walked away, looking at his notes. Cooper walked Ruby to her car and followed her back to her apartment, where they locked themselves in and remained for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A day after Ruby found Denise’s body, she received a text message from Lacy.
Michael told us what happened. Are u ok?
Yeah, thanks, she texted back. Please stay safe until this guy is caught.
Def. Wanna make some magic soon?
Ruby couldn’t help but smile. Lacy was shy, but once you got to know her, she had a bubbly personality. Ruby could do with some happy this week.
Sure. Come over tonight?
See you at 8! :)
Ruby was due back into the shop this afternoon. The thought of being out in public, sitting and talking to strangers all day made her uneasy. At least in her apartment, she was safe. She called Miranda to take the day off, guilt sitting heavy on her shoulders. As she explained what had happened, Miranda couldn’t stop cursing and her gasps of shock. Then Ruby began to ask for yet another day off.
“This is going to make me a jerk,” she said, but Miranda cut her off.
“How about you stay home a few more days?”
“Wait, what?” Ruby looked at her phone, not sure if she’d heard co
rrectly.
“I think…I think it would be better for everyone.” Miranda sounded hesitant, almost nervous, and that was not her style.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Ruby asked. Her grip tightened on the phone.
Miranda exhaled with a defeated sigh. “He left a note, Rubes. We found it last night - I left my iPod and came back for it on my way to the gym.”
“What? What did he say?”
“That if you came here, it made you an easy target. He suggested I didn’t want to do that. Much as I hate it, I guess I agree with him.”
“Oh my god, I’m sorry—”
Miranda cut her off, her tone sharp. “This is not your fault. Tell me you know that.”
“I do, but I still feel bad in general,” Ruby said. Miranda couldn’t see her helpless shrug. “Did you call the cops?”
“Yeah, the mustache man, Phillips, he came by. And a really hot officer named Ben didn’t want you to panic, so I waited until you called. Look, honey, no offense, but I don’t want you anywhere near us right now. How about I pay half your week’s salary if you promise not to come in? I’ll—”
“Miranda, I don’t need the money, so don’t do that,” Ruby interrupted. “But I was thinking along the same lines as you. I don’t want anything to happen to you or Richard because I work there.”
“Well, consider it a staycation. Hang out at home until the killer is caught. That should be soon, right?” Ruby could hear the fake cheeriness in Miranda’s voice even over the phone.
“That could be weeks. I might go crazy if that happens.”
“At least you’d be safe there. Is that gorgeous hunk of man still staying with you?”
Ruby felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she resisted the urge to look to the bathroom where Cooper currently showered. “Yeah, he’s here.”
“Then you two should be plenty entertained,” Miranda replied with a cackle. Ruby’s flush deepened, but she remained quiet. The humor in Miranda’s voice died as quickly as it’d come.
“Rubes, what you’re going through right now is seriously bad. I won’t have him steal you off the street because you wanted to work, or barge in and throw magic around my store. After finding that girl…you need to be safe.”
“I hate to skip out on you, though.”
“We’re managing fine. Besides, you’re not skipping out if I’m forbidding you to work. So no coming in until this psycho is behind bars. Stock up at the grocery store, put some extra spells on your place and gorge yourself on Cooper until then.”
Ruby heard Miranda’s grin and rolled her eyes. “As long as you’re okay with it.”
“Baby doll, I’m almost jealous it’s not me. The Cooper thing, obviously, not the stalker,” Miranda corrected herself and Ruby snorted. “Go touch his abs for me. Matter of fact, touch everything for me. And then tell me all about it later!”
They said their goodbyes and hung up. Ruby eyed the clock; thanks to a strange sleep schedule, her hours were all messed up. It was now past noon; what did she do until Lacy’s arrival this evening?
Ruby decided to take Miranda’s advice and headed into the bathroom for a joint shower.
*******************************************
At eight o’clock, Ruby’s door buzzer went off. She pushed the button to let Lacy up, waited at the door to unlock it and allow her into the apartment. Whenever Courtney had visited, Ruby had buzzed her up, unlocked the door and walked away. Now she was too scared to even leave the foyer in case the killer wanted to trick her and kick the door in. When a knock sounded, Ruby put her eye to the peephole to see Lacy and two other girls standing behind her.
Curious, Ruby opened the door to greet them. “Hi, Lacy.”
Lacy heard the question in her voice. “These are my friends Carla and Parker. When I mentioned I was coming over, they wanted to join in. I hope that’s okay.”
“Uh, sure. Come on in.” Ruby stepped back to allow them inside, taking their jackets as they looked around at her place. Carla and Parker shared the same tall height, high cheekbones and tiny, upturned noses. Carla’s hair was a darker brown than Parker’s sandy blond, but they could’ve been sisters for the most part. The girls shook hands with her; Ruby saw they wore the same gold necklace with a cursive “T” on it.
Carla noticed her gaze, her fingers fluttering to the charm. “It’s for Thomas. We’re cousins.”
“Though we’re closer than most,” Parker chimed in. “We’re sorry for tagging along uninvited, Ruby, we just…”
She shared a glance with Carla, who gave her an encouraging nod and she continued. “We don’t care for Michael or his coven. We practice with another group in the next town over, but with everything that’s going on, neither of us like to stray too far.”
Ruby nodded. “It’s okay - I probably need more human interaction, anyways. I’m glad to have you here.”
They all stepped into her living room where Cooper was stretched out on the couch, left arm behind his head as his right hand surfed the television with the remote. His hair stuck up in the back and the way he sat made his gray shirt rise up a bit, revealing several inches of his muscled stomach. Carla and Parker stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him.
“Whoa,” they both breathed at the same time.
Ruby pretended not to notice, but as she walked over, she heard Carla whisper to Parker (or maybe it was vice versa), “He’s plenty enough human interaction to me. Yowza.”
She introduced them and Cooper got up to shake their hands. When he smiled at the girls, Ruby thought Parker might have swooned.
“Hi again, Lacy. Nice to meet you ladies.”
He raised his eyebrows at Ruby with an “I told you so” look at the extra company. She cleared her throat and motioned for them to sit in a circle on her floor. Cooper had moved the coffee table to make more room and now turned off the TV to watch them work. Aziza came in to watch, bumping her head affectionately against Ruby before taking a seat on the top of the couch behind Cooper.
“So what are we doing tonight? I wasn’t totally sure where to start,” Ruby said. “We can always make a few potions to keep attackers at bay.”
The girls agreed and Parker pulled her Book of Shadows out of her backpack. Carla and Lacy followed suit by placing their own books on the floor beside them. Ruby had already set up her book and cauldron, along with several small jars of herbs from her kitchen that they could use as needed.
They spent the better part of an hour taking turns to make their spells. They mixed their herbs, occasionally checking against book pages to confirm ingredients. They’d made plenty of these before, as one of the first things witches learned was how to make a strong self-protection spell to prevent any unwanted magic from sticking to them. It could protect them from something as simple as a newbie witch’s headache spell gone wrong or if a witch (maybe named Ruby) was the target of darker magic (like being stalked by a serial killer). Protection spells were always better when made by a group, however, often lasting a few more days than if a witch performed the spell alone. After grasping hands and intoning the spell that would seal in the potion’s magic for their three vials, they relaxed again.
“That was fun, but I was hoping we could do a little more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate y’alls strength in the protection spell, but let’s do something fun,” Carla said.
Parker spoke up first. “We should totally help Lacy amp up her gift.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Lacy said. She ducked her head, curls brushing against her reddening cheeks.
“This is gonna help grow that backbone of yours,” Carla said.
Ruby looked at Lacy with a curious expression. “What is it?”
“I can move stuff with my mind sometimes, if I concentrate hard enough. Not super heavy stuff or from far away, but the occasional book when I’m lazy or if a baking utensil is out of reach.” She looked down at her hands in her lap, biting her lip.
Ruby’s jaw dropped. “Seriously
? That’s awesome, I’m so jealous!”
“See?” Carla and Parker spoke in unison, their voices raised in excitement. Ruby spoke up to bring the heat off Lacy.
“How do we help make you better?”
Parker flipped through her book, settling on a well-worn page near the front. She tapped the page with one well-manicured finger as she spoke.
“You guys probably have a strengthening spell, but this one I found specifically for Lacy’s needs. Turns out our great-great-grandmother could move things with her mind, too. Her mother helped write up a little piece to give her better control, so she didn’t accidentally move stuff without command.”
“I suppose that would’ve scared quite a few people back in the day, floating candles and whatnot,” Carla interjected. Ruby hid a smile; the cousins talked and sounded alike, but she could tell Carla was much more sarcastic than Parker, who had a cheerier attitude.
“This spell is to gain better control, then? Not a transfer of power?” Cooper asked from his seat.
Parker nodded. “Yeah, it doesn’t take anything from us except a little energy. Oh, and I need to add lemon zest to the bowl.”
Ruby offered up her kitchen and Parker handled the ingredients. Lacy leaned in to whisper to Ruby.
“Parker and Carla are good, don’t get me wrong, but could you lead the spell when we get started? You’re the most powerful one here so I think it would do best with you in charge.”
Ruby nodded, pushing down the flattery she felt at the request. Cooper raised an eyebrow at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but remained quiet.
Parker carefully set the bowl in the center of their small circle. She and Carla exchanged excited glances and grinned at Lacy as though she were about to win an award.
“It says it works best if the person on the receiving end lights it,” Parker said.
Lacy dropped a match into the herb bowl and the citrus smell floated up to sting Ruby’s nose. Smoke began to pour out around them, more smoke than would be normal, but it didn’t choke them the way smoke from a regular fire would.