Love the Witch, Hate the Craft: A Romantic Paranormal Mystery (The Witches of Secret Hallow Book 1)

by Nora Lee

  The fluttering curtains by the open window caught her attention.

  “Oh no.”

  Rowan flung the curtains aside and leaned out to see if Fern might have escaped that way.

  The little girl sat on the edge of the roof with her legs dangling down. The black kitten was cupped in her hands against her heart, purring so loudly that Rowan could hear it over the wind.

  “Fern! What are you doing out here? And you, kitty cat! You’re a bad influence!”

  The kitten kneaded her paws on Fern’s shirt, as unimpressed by Rowan’s scolding as the girl who held her.

  Rowan climbed out through the window and moved toward the child with great care.

  Fern didn’t move.

  “Come over here right now!” Rowan ordered, hesitant to cross the last foot between herself and Fern. Even though she and Orianna had climbed out onto the roof a million times as children, it felt so much taller now that she was an adult trying to save a kid from falling. She cast silent apologies to her parents twenty years in the past.

  The kitten stiffened when Rowan inched nearer.

  “I’m going to count to five, and then you’re coming inside or I will throw you in with magic,” Rowan said. “One, two…three four five!”

  She lunged.

  With a yowl of anger, the cat clawed Rowan’s hand.

  The explosion of movement made Fern slip.

  She flipped over onto her belly and hung half off the roof as the cat scrambled up the peak and disappeared from view.

  “Hold on, Fern!” Rowan dropped to her knees and reached for Fern’s hands.

  The little girl tugged away and slipped further off the roof.

  Rowan snagged her by the wrists. The child felt even smaller than she looked, as though she had delicate bird bones.

  Fern struggled to get away.

  “Stop! I’m going to drop you if you’re not careful!”

  A sudden gust of wind blew in off the ocean and almost knocked both Rowan and Fern off the roof. She got a better grip on her charge and struggled to get back to the window and inside as the rising wind howled through the surrounding trees.

  Dark clouds built up on the horizon within moments. A wall of rain seemed to be headed straight for Secret Hallow.

  Rowan didn’t have time to wonder why she hadn’t heard anything about an approaching storm before this as she fought to get Fern safely into the apartment. The child thrashed with surprising strength for someone so small.

  The first splatter of rain hit across the street as Rowan pushed both herself and Fern inside and slammed the window shut against what now looked like a full-blown hurricane.

  Gloom fell over the apartment as torrential rains slammed against the windows, the wind causing the structure to creak and groan around them as though the building were alive.

  Fern emitted an ear-piercing scream. The wall behind Rowan buckled inward and exploded. Shards of glass, broken beams, and torrential rains swirled through what once had been a solid wall and window.

  The force of the destruction threw Rowan onto the floor under a stack of debris as the child continued to shriek nearby. She curled up for protection and scrambled in the direction where she’d last seen Fern. The little girl stood nearby, her tiny hands curled into fists, as she continued to scream her head off.

  She’s doing this, Rowan realized. This is her power.

  It was too strong for Fern to be a mere weather witch. They had weather witches in Secret Hallow, and none could summon such storms.

  She must have been half-elemental.

  Orianna couldn’t have ridden a human broomstick when she got frisky that Beltaine six years past. Oh no. She’d had to go and hook up with a literal force of nature.

  Rowan mustered all the strength she could managed and grabbed for Fern. She used the momentum of the wind to guide her and the child into the somewhat-sheltered space beneath a small table and took Fern’s face in her hands.

  “Calm down, Fern. Stop this right now!”

  But Fern didn’t stop.

  ☆★☆

  Orianna came home to a building that was more wreckage than house.

  Rowan smiled sheepishly at her from under the table—the only item of furniture that had survived Fern’s tantrum. “Hi.”

  Orianna’s jaw dropped. “Oh…my… Fern! Are you okay?”

  Rowan uncurled from her protective shield around Fern and winced at all the aches and pains her movements caused. “We’re both okay.”

  “What happened?” Orianna took Fern up in her arms and showered kisses on her dusty face. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

  “We’re both okay,” said Rowan again. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Everything is not fine! I never should have left her alone!” She hugged Fern tightly to her shoulder. The girl wiggled, insisting on being put down. Orianna’s desperate, maternal grip was stronger than the five year old.

  “She wasn’t alone,” Rowan said. “Some warning about her powers would have been nice, by the way.” She shook the rubble out of her hair and the folds of her jeans, then looked around the apartment. So much for the time capsule. It looked less like the apartment where Rowan and Orianna had played as a kids than a war zone.

  “I did warn you. She didn’t eat the broccoli, did she? Don’t answer that. Oh, honey, baby.” Orianna squeezed harder until Fern squeaked.

  All things considered, the destruction at the apartment wasn’t the worst Secret Hallow had seen. Sure, half the roof was missing, along with a lot of the walls, and the flooring was sodden. In a village where hundreds of witches had gone through childhood—and worse, puberty—most houses got knocked down once or twice.

  At least nobody had been hurt this time.

  “Sorry,” Rowan said. “I think I overestimated my babysitting capabilities.”

  “I was just so desperate to get away. It’s my fault. Never again.” Orianna was shaking. “You could have stopped her, though. You’ve got powers, too, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  Rowan couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes as she realized she’d only been allowed to babysit based on the strength of her power. Orianna would never have trusted Fern with a lesser witch. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  But as Rowan had proven in the past, the destruction Fern had caused was far from the worst a Secret Hallow witch could create.

  Chapter 8

  THE NEXT MORNING found Rowan, Enid, Gemma, and Adora at the wreckage that used to be Books of Shadows.

  Nana’s pickup sat parked at the curb with a bed full of supplies: fresh lumber, nails, paint, and a wide variety of tools necessary to reconstruct Orianna’s apartment. During her summer breaks from college, Rowan had volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, so she felt comfortable reconstructing the damaged part of the building using mundane tools.

  Sure, she could have gotten everything done a lot faster with her magic. But it wasn’t necessary. All Books of Shadows needed was a lot of elbow grease.

  Bronson was sleeping in front of the door to the shop. “Move it, lazy-bones,” said Gemma, nudging him gently. “People might want to get in there.”

  Bronson gave a lackluster wag of his tail, but otherwise didn’t move. He did a really good impression of a stuffed animal.

  Rowan shook her head. “No need to worry about him scaring away customers. I haven’t seen the place open since I got back.” She glanced up at the messy remnants of the upper portion of the structure. It looked like a bomb had been dropped on the building. “And I’m not surprised Orianna didn’t want to work after what happened yesterday.”

  Enid fastened a tool belt around her waist, the worn leather hanging down over the multi-colored skirt she wore, which didn’t look to Rowan to be the most practical outfit for construction work. “Don’t beat yourself up. Kids are hard to control in the best of circumstances. I’m sure you did everything you could for her with, you know…your background.”

  Rowan flinched.

  “Hush, Enid,” Gemma said.<
br />
  “I didn’t say anything. I was being sympathetic.”

  Gemma grabbed a battered red tool chest and headed for the stairs. “She’s right. No reason to regret what’s happened. Let’s just go do what we can to help out.” She winked. “You’ll have to show me how to use some of this stuff. This type of work doesn’t match my normal skill set.

  Rowan managed a laugh, knowing quite well about Gemma’s skills with technology. Computers, peripheral components, and wiring filled the attic of the drafty house shared by the Ash sisters. Neither of the women seemed to care much for the state of the old Victorian in which they lived as long as they had gigabit internet, which they did.

  Aside from all the gadgets, the house, like their clothing, might as well belong to the stereotypical witch. Paint peeled off the outside walls. The front porch and steps needed a good sanding and restoration. The interiors looked as though they belonged in an earlier century.

  The fourth member of their little group, Adora, stood to one side and watched as Rowan grabbed as many supplies as she could carry upstairs in one load. “This would be easier if we had a winch to raise the lumber up to the second floor. I’ll rig something up for us.”

  “Thanks,” said Rowan. She’d been surprised when Adora said she’d be happy to help Orianna. Normally, the woman didn’t want to spend more time than necessary with people. Any people. It wasn’t personal; she just wasn’t much of a joiner, or someone who took instructions well, or a person who seemed capable of smiling.

  She’d accepted Adora’s offer to help, though. She wanted to get Orianna and Fern’s place back together as soon as possible.

  Without magic, Rowan would need all the help she could get.

  “I’ll just head up to talk to Ori and then I’ll come back to help you,” Rowan said.

  Adora waved her off. “No need. I work well on my own.” She reached into the cab of the pickup and took out a coil of rope and an old-fashioned wooden winch. Throwing the coil over her shoulder, she disappeared around the corner of the building.

  That there was a witch with a purpose.

  Rowan hurried upstairs to find the Ash sisters looking around the ruined living room.

  The destruction had only gotten worse overnight. Secret Hallow had a habit of trying to clean itself up as best it could—people had left bicycles with flat tires sitting out on the street too long, only to find trees growing out of its skeleton.

  Fresh ivy tangled around the remnants of the walls. A few bright orange pumpkins had already managed to sprout by the counter.

  “Wow,” said Gemma. She tugged on one of the strands of ivy, which curled around her finger like a handshake. She sighed. “Oh, cauldrons. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

  “That’s an understatement, sis. What a disaster.” When she seemed to remember how the destruction came about, she turned to Rowan. “I’m surprised you and Fern got out without a scratch. Whatever caused this must’ve been super dangerous.”

  “You didn’t notice a storm yesterday?” A strong memory of howling wind and lashing rain caused her an almost-physical reaction. She remembered well the sting against her skin, how she’d narrowed her eyes to protect them from the small projectiles filling the air, and the fear she’d felt for Fern. The last time she’d been so frightened…

  She shook her head. No need to think about that now.

  Gemma and Enid shared a startled glance. “The weather yesterday was gorgeous. Are you saying a storm caused this?”

  “Not just any storm. This could’ve been a hurricane.” She realized Fern’s powers must not yet extend much beyond her immediate vicinity. That was lucky, but also probably temporary. As the child grew, her strength would only increase.

  In ten, fifteen years, maybe Fern would be the one running away to college to protect her family.

  Rowan raised her voice to shout. “You home, Ori?” She knocked on what remained of the front door frame. “I’ve brought visitors.”

  Movements sounded from the far corner of the apartment. Rowan saw a hand appear between two sheets of plastic hung from the doorway between the kitchen and what once had been the living room. Orianna stepped through, unshowered and clumsy with exhaustion.

  The young mother looked at the assembled group and ran a hand through her tangled tresses. “What’s wrong? Do you guys need help with something?”

  “Actually, we’re hoping to help you.” Rowan held up the supplies she carried. “We’re here to fix the mess I made. Adora’s downstairs setting up a way to lift all the lumber we’ll need to rebuild this up to the second floor.”

  “You’re using those to fix the place?” Orianna nodded at the tools hanging from Enid’s waist. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  Enid and Gemma shook their heads and laughed as they spoke in unison. “We don’t.”

  Gemma nodded toward Rowan. “She does, though. That’s what’s important. Have you heard of Habitat for Humanity? It’s how the mundane people build houses! Isn’t that neat? They build things. With their hands!”

  A smile tugged at the corner of Orianna’s mouth. Crossing her arms over her chest, Orianna cocked her head to the side. “How do I know you won’t ruin what’s left of my place with mundane technology?”

  Rowan set down the supplies and motioned around the ruined room. “I promise that I’ll call in and pay for actual contractors if I make things worse. That’s the least I can do.”

  “Or we can just do it the normal way,” Enid said in an exaggerated stage whisper.

  By “the normal way,” she meant “the magical way,” of course.

  Orianna shrugged. “It’s not like I have a choice. Sleeping at ground zero isn’t exactly peaceful. I’ll take anything you can do.”

  “I can’t believe you’re sleeping here,” Enid said. “Promise you’ll spend the night with us at our house? Fern loved napping on Bronson as a baby, and the old guy is still very cuddly.”

  A moment of excitement flitted through Orianna’s eyes, then faded. “I better not. Fern’s a little more difficult now than she was as a baby. We’re happy here. But…thank you.” She turned and disappeared through the plastic sheeting.

  Rowan felt like her heart was breaking a little bit.

  Orianna had once been such a bright, bubbly woman, but single-parenting the daughter of an elemental had worn her down. Her candle was barely burning anymore.

  She needed a lot more help than a few fixes around the house.

  “We can’t let them stay here,” Gemma whispered to her sister.

  “It’s not like we can forcibly evict them either,” Rowan said. “We need to make this place as livable as possible, as quickly as possible. Let’s get down to business.”

  She took a few minutes to walk Enid and Gemma through the steps they’d need to follow in order to remove the damaged parts of the structure. The sisters’ rapt attention and intelligent questions reassured Rowan and she felt sure they could get the work done with few problems and in a reasonable amount of time.

  Adora joined the trio as Rowan finished her initial round of instructions. “We can bring up the boards whenever you’re ready. What’s taking so long here?”

  “Just laying out the plans, Adora. I didn’t want to rush into anything until we were all on the same page.” Rowan gave a quick recap of what she’d just told the Ash sisters. “What do you think? I’d welcome any suggestions you might have that would help us do this quicker and faster.”

  Looking around again, Adora tapped a finger against her chin as she considered options. “Guess your ideas could work. We’ll start out with your plan and adjust as necessary. Good thing I’m here to supervise.” She crossed over to where she’d rigged the winch and started pulling up the first load of lumber.

  The group began gathering up all the loose and broken items and throwing them down to street level. Splinters of wood and glass dug into the sensitive skin of Rowan’s hand and she thought regretfully of the new work gloves she’d left on
the counter in Nana’s kitchen.

  She hadn’t thought to bring along a first aid kit, either, so she’d just have to ignore the discomfort until she got home that evening. No way would she consider walking away from the project until she’d done a full day’s work.

  Every once in a while, Fern would run into the midst of the danger zone, her mother behind her. Rowan didn’t envy the amount of time and effort that went into raising a child, especially as a single parent.

  Orianna’s obvious exhaustion increased by leaps and bounds as she tried to keep her rambunctious daughter out of harm’s way.

  Enid and Gemma began to sing cheerful songs from animated movies as they worked. Since Gemma spent most of her time with the village children, she’d acquired an awesome repertoire of hits from recent flicks, most of which Rowan didn’t know. The sisters’ warm and pleasing vocals helped relax Rowan and she began to almost enjoy herself.

  Fern seemed to like it, too. She settled into the tiny sofa shoved against the wall separating the kitchen from the living area with her kitten on her lap.

  Within moments, she’d drifted off to sleep.

  Orianna heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Thank the Goddess,” she said, sweeping her hair into a ponytail. “Now I can finally help.”

  “No, no you cannot,” Enid said firmly. She grabbed Orianna by the shoulders. “You can go get some sleep. That’s what you can do.”

  Orianna wavered. “But Fern…”

  “Is asleep,” Rowan said. “We can watch her. Even I can’t mess things up while she’s unconscious.”

  “I surrender,” Orianna said, lifting her hands. “I’ll take a nap, just for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

  “You better not,” Gemma said.

  Orianna cast a tired smile at her daughter and the kitten before stumbling into the bedroom, shutting the door. It probably wouldn’t do much to protect her from the sounds of demolition, but she looked exhausted enough that she could have gone comatose the instant she became horizontal anyway.

  Rowan had only just gotten back to work when they had a visitor.

  “Hey, gang!” a male voice interrupted the Ash sisters’ show tunes.