The Cursed Crow and the Deadly Hex

by Kelly Ethan

“Remind me again why we had to bring Elspeth?” Holly leaned over and murmured in Xandie’s ear.

  “Because she’s possibly targeted for death by a crazy killer and she’s our grandmother,” Xandie whispered back.

  “I can hear you,” Elspeth sang but her melody was threatening. “Where is that waitress? The lobster pie is calling my name.”

  “So is indigestion.” Xandie had thought she’d sneak away for lunch, but Elspeth had eagled-eyed her as soon as she’d snuck into Lila’s bakery. She’d wound up agreeing to take Elspeth to lunch to keep an eye on her. Privately, she had a feeling Buchanan was taking up occupancy in Harrow House while Elspeth was out of the way. Made it harder to evict him when her grandmother eventually discovered him.

  “Delilah, customers,” a tattoo covered bald man, yelled from the kitchen.

  “I hear ya.” Delilah rushed out, notepad at the ready. She stopped short when she spotted Xandie and the Harrows before continuing to the table with an overly wide smile. “Hello there. You decided to get lunch and brought some friends?”

  “Hi, Delilah. This is my grandmother, Elspeth, and my cousin, Holly.” Xandie waved a hand at her family.

  Delilah nodded, her gaze traveling over the Harrows, snagging for a minute on Elspeth before moving on. “Nice to see you here. So, what can I get you?”

  Elspeth dropped the menu onto the table. “Lobster pie and a double shot cappuccino for me.”

  Xandie butted in, “change the coffee to a ginger ale, please. Last thing we need is Elspeth caffeinated.”

  “I am an adult.” Elspeth glowered at her granddaughter.

  “An adult in no need of a double shot caffeine hit when she has a hipflask filled with goodness knows what.” Elspeth, au natural, was hard enough to deal with. Let alone a caffeine fueled one.

  “Fine.” Elspeth sneered the word and slumped in the booth seat. Drumming her fingers, she ignored everyone, surly like an eight-year-old rather than eighty-something-year-old.

  Holly smiled at Delilah. “A lobster burger for me, please.”

  Delilah scribbled on her notepad and then turned her smile on Xandie. “What about you, sweetie?”

  “Blueberry pancakes, please.”

  Delilah gathered up the menus. “Food coming up soon. I’ll bring some water over in a minute.” With a wave, Delilah headed to the kitchen.

  “Who won the fight? Buchanan or Elspeth?” Holly quirked an eyebrow at Elspeth. “I wouldn’t mind Buchanan moving in if he brings some hunkie Paladin agents with him.”

  Elspeth snorted. “You’ll never snag a husband if you throw yourself at men like your cousin Lila.”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “Who said anything about husband? That PIG agent isn’t bad either.”

  “That memory-stealing, slithering skunk of a law enforcement agent can stay out of my way.” Xandie played with a saltshaker. The damn man annoyed her with his high-handed thievery of her memories of Andrews College and the pixie murder. Not to mention his magically interfering nudge to visit Point Muse for answers. No one likes their actions controlled by another. Especially not a Harrow.

  “Be more like Xandie. She has multiple choices of men. Even if they are both law enforcement.” Elspeth fake retched in disgust and then took a chug from her flask. “Then again, that morgue smell is a turnoff.”

  “Why, you old...”

  Delilah interrupted Holly’s tirade with a carafe of water and three glasses. “Food will be out in a minute. I couldn’t help but hear you mention the Paranormal Investigative Group? Between them and the Paladin guys, it’s an eye-catching feast.” Delilah winked. “Any idea why they’re all here?” She snapped fingers. “Hey, it isn’t because of the murder of that teacher guy, is it?”

  Elspeth glared suspiciously at Delilah. “How’s our food coming along? On a timetable, you know. A dose of prune juice is calling.”

  Delilah sniffed. “I’ll check on your meals.”

  Xandie watched the now miffed waitress disappear into the kitchen again. “Great, Elspeth. They’ll probably spit in our food now. Ever heard of tact?”

  “Tact is for those do-gooder Paladins. I’m all about action.”

  “Speaking of action, how come you never told us about the Morrigan Coven?”

  “None of your business, Death Girl.” Elspeth sniffed disdain at Holly’s question.

  “It sort of is now. Since I live in the same house and I’m as much of a target as you.” Holly exchanged dueling glares with her grandmother.

  Xandie sighed in relief as Delilah marched up without a smile and dumped their plates in front of them.

  Distracted by food, Elspeth ignored her granddaughters and dug in.

  Still holding a grudge, Holly scowled at Elspeth. “We’ll nose out your secrets, old woman. You haven’t outwitted us yet.”

  “Well, well. What a surprise to see a Harrow annoying people. She has a talent for giving people indigestion.” A short, plump, graying redhead stood with gloved hands on her hips.

  Elspeth spat her mouthful of food onto her plate and thumped her chest. “See, told you someone was trying to murder me. I nearly choked to death.”

  “Ha, you’re too ornery to die,” the woman screeched.

  “Wow, Elspeth. Way to make friends.” Xandie offered a hand and a smile to the stranger. “Hi, I’m Xandie Meyers, Elspeth’s granddaughter, and this is my cousin, Holly.”

  The old woman ignored Xandie’s outstretched hand but offered a saccharine sweet smile. “My commiserations on being stuck with Elspeth as a grandmother. I’m Bridget Doyle. I used to work with that viper.” She pointed to Elspeth.

  “Ha.” Elspeth shoved her lobster pie away. “You call it working, I call it playing with forces you don’t understand.”

  “Please, we were equal. We all agreed on our mission parameters. You’re the one who took it outside of the coven and look at what that caused.”

  Both women were breathing heavily, red cheeks flaring. This was obviously an old argument a chance meeting in a diner wouldn’t solve. But was it chance? “You’re a Morrigan Coven member?” Xandie raised an eyebrow in question.

  “And proud of it.” Bridget Doyle straightened and puffed her chest out. Her narrowed glare dared Elspeth to comment.

  “And now it’s going to kill us.” Elspeth stood abruptly and shoved past her old coven member.

  “I’ve got her.” Holly threw some money on the table and followed behind her grandmother as she stomped out.

  Xandie smiled weakly at Elspeth’s nemesis. “Sorry. With all the murder, she’s under a lot of stress.”

  Bridget nodded, her face sad. “Henry was a lovely man and Minerva and Elspeth were as thick as thieves once. Elspeth never really believed in what we were doing. I guess she got what she wanted in the end.”

  “Maybe, but the end doesn’t always justify the means.”

  “You sound like your grandmother. And your grandfather, come to think of it.”

  “That’s mean.” Xandie smiled to show she was joking and stood. “It was nice meeting you.” She reached out and shook Bridget’s hand.

  Bridget jerked with a hiss and cradled her gloved hand close to her chest.

  “Sorry, did I hurt you?” Talk about an extreme reaction?

  Bridget let out a jagged breath and smiled through watery eyes. “Sorry. I got a bit of a shock. I’m a seer, so I wear gloves everywhere and I don’t touch strangers. Nothing like shaking someone’s hand and seeing their life and death.”

  Xandie grimaced. “Apologies again. But except for a few dead bodies, my life’s pretty boring.”

  Bridget shook head. “You don’t understand. I jerked because you’re blanked. Nothing. I’ve only ever come across a few others like that. Nulls, null space magic users.”

  Interesting. Must be the Library’s protections. “Would one of those people be Hannah Lynch?”

  “Obviously, Elspeth shared something of the coven, but yes, you’re right. Hannah was a null, it ran in her family, apparen
tly. I couldn’t read anything from her. Or anything from our old boss, Proctor, either. I think he had protective amulets, so no one could read him.”

  Xandie spotted movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she spun about, no one was there. Dismissing it, she turned back to Bridget. “A shame you couldn’t have read him, but I guess life doesn’t roll out page by page.”

  Bridget offered a tight smile. “I didn’t suspect Proctor, but still, I was just as deceived and angry as Elspeth was when we all found out. Poor Hannah was the most shattered of all of us. She idolized the man.”

  “And now someone’s killing members and stealing amulet pieces.”

  “I’m pretty sure I’ll see the murderer coming,” Bridget smirked, confident in her ability to outsmart the killer.

  “Any clue who’s targeting your coven?”

  Bridget pointed an accusing finger at the still squabbling duo of Elspeth and Holly.

  “Elspeth target her old friends?” Xandie scoffed. “If Elspeth killed someone, do you really think we’d even see a body? She’s too devious to get caught.”

  “She is devious,” Bridget allowed. “And she collects enemies. If it isn’t her, it could be any of several villains.”

  “I heard that Morrigan ruffled a few feathers too in their collection of artifacts.”

  “A possibility. But I’m still safe from the likes of murderous killers.”

  The doorbell jangled behind Xandie and she stepped aside as two Paladin agents stepped in.

  “Delilah. Customers, girl,” the owner bellowed. “Delilah, where the dang are you?” Giving up, he appeared behind the counter to serve.

  “I hope you’re right. For your sake. If you need help, we’re at Harrow House.” Xandie nodded to Elspeth’s nemesis and strode out, on the hunt for a cackling witch of a grandmother and no doubt a frazzled Holly. Speaking to Bridget raised more questions. She hoped she could answer some of them before they found another corpse...

  Nine

  “Is it dead?” Xandie poked the limp rat with a broom.

  “I’m a Banshee and I work at a funeral home. Yes, it’s dead.”

  “Kind of sad. Come in for some milk and head out on a stretcher.” Lila wiped a stray tear away.

  “It’s a rat,” Holly bit the words out.

  “So casual about death, cousin. The funeral home has changed you.” Lila shook her head sadly.

  “For death’s sake, can we just move the rat outside and get on with eating pizza? I am so sick of being surrounded by reanimated animals that haven’t had decent burial rituals performed. It’s damaging my psyche.”

  Xandie stifled an inappropriate giggle at Holly’s words. If her cousins were warring, she couldn’t show humor to any side. Both the Harrows held grudges for a long time. She was grateful that she’d left Elspeth at home, exhausted from fighting with Buchanan. When their grandmother decided to have an early night, the girls voted to grab some groceries and get a pizza. Otherwise, Elspeth would’ve been in the thick of the squabbling, enjoying the chaos, provoking and poking.

  “I’m so sorry, ladies. This has never happened before.” The leprechaun owner of Eat Right Grocery Store rubbed his hands together.

  “Having rats or them dying in the middle of our milk delivery?”

  “Both,” he burst out. “My regular driver didn’t turn up because he won some cruise, and then the new guy spills your delivery and disappears.”

  Cruise? Sounds just like her aunts, Amelia and Winifred, and Colin the pug, on their cruise. “Did your old driver tell you anything else about the cruise he won?”

  “That he was contacted out of the blue. Doesn’t even remember entering the competition. But he won a two-week supernatural singles’ cruise. All he had to do was pick the tickets up from the office of the cruise company ASAP. They were left under some woman’s name. That’s all I remember.”

  Exactly the same as her aunt’s prize-winning cruise tickets. “And your new guy?”

  “Popped up the same day my regular guy left. Asked for a job. I hired him on the spot. He was doing okay until this morning.”

  Until Harrow House’s milk run. “He was getting the Harrow order ready, then what?”

  The leprechaun nodded at the agent stationed at the front entrance. “My guy was getting the order ready. He popped his head out to speak to me and saw the agent come in. Next thing I knew, there was an enormous crash and he split. No sign of him, just a dead rat in the middle of the milk.”

  The same milk her grandmother guzzled every morning in a smoothie concoction.

  “Find a dead body and Xandie Meyers is in the same room.” Agent Ethan Jackson leaned against the doorjamb of the stock room, his mouth turned up in a grin that could melt most women into a puddle. Most women.

  Holly giggled like a little girl. “Just call the Harrows death magnets. What can we do for you, Agent Jackson?”

  “Please, call me Ethan.” He bowed with a deep flourish, causing Lila to snort.

  “I’m sure that rat doesn’t need a Paranormal Investigative Group agent poking his nose into Harrow business.” Xandie folded arms over chest and glared.

  “It does when a rat is dead in the Harrow milk delivery.” Ethan knelt, and using his wand, turned the dead rat over. He poked at a milk container and exposed a tiny hole in the carton. “Looks like it nibbled its way in and drank some of the milk. Judging by the blisters around his mouth, I’d say Toxicodendron Radicans.”

  “Huh?” Poisons were not her core interest. Jackson might as well be speaking gibberish to Xandie.

  “Poison Ivy.” Lila shuddered. “I had a run-in when I was a teenager. It was traumatizing.”

  “You were making out with Bronson, Cupid’s grandson, so it serves you right.” Holly sniffed in disgust.

  Lila waved her hands like a wild woman. “Argh. How many times do I have to explain? I had no clue you liked him. Besides, he jabbed me with his arrow. What was I supposed to do?”

  Xandie grimaced. That picture would last a lifetime. “But Poison Ivy doesn’t kill. You just get itchy and grow blisters, right?”

  Jackson wiped his wand off on a rag and stood. “Normally, over a week, you get rashes, blisters. Severe cases can even affect airways, but the killer paired the poison with an elemental hex. That would have beefed up the earth magic of the plant and boosted the poison. Toxicity and death would happen quickly.”

  “And if Elspeth had drunk a Poison Ivy-laced smoothie tomorrow morning when she woke up?” First the reanimated animal corpses, and now this. Xandie had better find the damn killer as fast as she could, otherwise she’d be eulogizing at Elspeth’s funeral.

  “Probably not enough to kill. But it would make her very sick.” Jackson whipped out a black bag and scooped the rat up. He threw it at the Paladin agent. “Catch. I’m betting Buchanan will want to have a look at that.”

  The agent snatched the bag out of the air. “I’ll notify Chief Braun and get the crime scene sealed off.”

  Jackson nodded in agreement and focused on the girls. “I’d suggest you head home and keep an eye on Elspeth instead of a night on the town.”

  “Pizza does not equal a hot night out, but we get your message.” Xandie gritted her teeth but agreed with the pain-in-the-neck agent.

  Lila grabbed Holly and whipped out her keys. “We can nuke the pizza when we get back. I’ll drive.”

  “Don’t you have an apartment to go to?” Holly grumbled.

  “Yeah, but Harrow House has leather-clad hotties guarding Harrow blood.” She grinned when her cousin shot out the door. Lila waved to Xandie as she scooted after Holly.

  “I can drop you home. You don’t have to walk in the dark,” Jackson offered to Xandie.

  “Fine. But I still haven’t forgiven you for wiping my memory.”

  Jackson led the way outside to a plain unmarked car. “If it’s any consolation, you’re the only person who has ever recovered memories after a wipe.”

  “Nope, no consolation.”r />
  A patrol car driven by Chief Braun pulled into the grocery store car parking lot as Jackson drove out.

  “Should we stop for Braun and update him?”

  “Considering the recent Paladin-Point Muse Police Department alliance, the agent can update Chief Braun sufficiently. If he wants more information, he can hunt one of us down.” Ethan pulled out onto the road but pointed at Xandie’s feet. “Have a look.”

  Confused, Xandie reached down and pulled a couple of files out. “What are these?”

  “One is your grandmother’s file. The other is what we have on Hellacious Whitburn.”

  Giving into her curiosity, Xandie opened the file on her grandmother. “Top secret classified?”

  “It was a special access program during World War Two. They were pretty much off the books. Minimal records. Field agents made up their own rules. As long as the missions were completed, the powers-that-be didn’t care about administration practices.”

  Xandie scanned the file. The first page of the file was Elspeth’s statistics. Age, weight, and aliases. Elspeth had an alias? “What’s a caster witch?”

  “Means Elspeth can cast without a circle, ritual, or spell ingredient. But her specialty are hexes. Detecting and casting them. Elspeth is powerful, dangerous, and erratic. Keep reading.” Ethan never took his eyes off the road as he navigated downtown Point Muse.

  Xandie flicked through the pages detailing Elspeth’s antics, most had black redacted boxes covering names and people. Albert Proctor’s name however caught Xandie’s attention, and she slipped out the report. “Elspeth Harrow is a highly skilled caster witch, blinded by her self-importance?”

  Jackson coughed. “Proctor wasn’t impressed by your grandmother. His reports are pretty scathing.”

  “Paranoid delusions, obsession with procuring magical artifacts. Flouts authority and ignores instructions. Yep, he hated her.” Shame he’d died. Proctor would’ve been her number one suspect.

  “Remember, Elspeth suspected him of acquiring and selling black magic artifacts. They detested each other.”

  “PIG should have listened to her.”

  “I think the evidence warranted a more thorough investigation than what occurred.” He shrugged. “But things have changed since then.”