Doom and Broom (Spellbound Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Annabel Chase

  I shot a death glare at my owl, now at the back of the room. Thank you, Captain Obvious. I was being sarcastic.

  In that case, you must try harder. I am fluent in sarcasm and I failed to detect your tone.

  Did you find Daniel?

  He flew behind me into town.

  I hoped no one got to him before I did.

  I stepped up to the front of the room and held my wand vertically, as Laurel had done. Then I focused my will.

  "Out of the darkness and into the light,” I said. The tip of my wand glowed a brilliant white.

  Applause erupted.

  "But she didn't use a rhyme,” Millie howled in protest.

  "Settle down, witches," Lady Weatherby said. "I have said before the rhyme is not always necessary. As long as the will is strong, you can achieve results."

  Inwardly, I was beaming. I had no idea why I chose not to do a rhyme. The incantation just came to me. I was relieved that it didn't backfire. The last thing I needed was to extinguish every fey lantern in town.

  Millie raised her chin. "Lady Weatherby, may I please try without using a rhyme?"

  "You've shown off quite enough for one day Millie," Lady Weatherby said.

  I bit back a smile. I liked Millie, but I had to admit that I enjoyed hearing Lady Weatherby put her in her place. This was supposed to be the remedial class. We should all suck equally.

  "While you're up here," Lady Weatherby said to me. "Why don't you try a water spell?"

  "What does a water spell do?" I asked. Although it seemed self-explanatory, I wanted to be sure before I performed the spell.

  "Laurel, you may tell Miss Hart the effect of a water spell," Lady Weatherby said.

  "Water sprays from the tip of your wand like a hose," Laurel said. "It's handy in a fire."

  "Couldn't it be used as a defensive spell?" I asked.

  "Any spell can be used as a defensive spell," Lady Weatherby said. "But these spells lean toward the practical. If you are lost in the mountains, for example, and you need water."

  "I can drink from my wand," I finished for her. Knowing that water would spout from the top, I wasn't sure in what position to hold the wand. If I held it vertically, it would rain back down on my head. If I pointed it at anyone else, it would douse her. Lady Weatherby seemed to sense my apprehension.

  "There is a bin at the back of the room,” she said. “Aim for that."

  I stepped over to the left so that the bin was in my direct line of sight. I extended my wand and said, “Wand let the water zoom/to the bin across the room."

  The water formed a perfect arc as it streamed into the bin. I couldn't believe it. I was on a roll today. I turned and flashed Lady Weatherby a proud smile.

  "Good," Lady Weatherby said. She didn't return the smile. "Why don't you see if you can complete a summoning spell?"

  "What am I summoning? Something in the room or not in the room?"

  "If you’re within range," Laurel said, "you can just point the wand and the item will come to you. If you can't see it, you have to think hard about it and do the right incantation."

  "What's the right incantation?" I asked.

  "As always, that is a matter of trial and error," Lady Weatherby said.

  Fabulous. "Doesn't matter what I summon?"

  "I vote for a hot guy," Begonia said.

  Lady Weatherby narrowed her eyes. "There will be no summoning of residents. Items only. You know the rules, Begonia."

  Begonia’s cheeks reddened.

  What would be the easiest thing to summon? Pencil? No, of course not. There were no pencils in Spellbound. An article of clothing? No. It was probably best to summon an item in the room. Don’t overreach.

  I surveyed the classroom. My gaze alighted on a ceramic rabbit on a shelf in the back of the room. I pointed my wand and said, “Leave the shelf bare/bring forth the hare.”

  The ceramic rabbit remained on the shelf. I looked at Lady Weatherby over my shoulder. That quickly, one of the witches screamed in horror. I turned back to see the hair on Millie growing at an exponential rate. Not just the hair on her head. Hair was growing out of every follicle of her body. It slid down and covered her clothes like vines. Her beard extended to the floor—she made circus freaks look like freshly scrubbed army recruits.

  “Uh oh,” I said. "What did I do?"

  Lady Weatherby pressed her lips together. I recognized the gesture as her effort not to show annoyance. It wasn’t working.

  “You said to bring forth the hair, so it did,” she said.

  “H-a-r-e, like the rabbit,” I said.

  “Spells do not always distinguish between homonyms,” Lady Weatherby said. “You must take care when choosing your words.”

  “Can someone please fix me?” Millie’s voice was muffled by the layers of hair.

  I looked at Lady Weatherby, waiting for her to snap her fingers and correct my error.

  “Get to it, Miss Hart,” the head witch said. “Your classmate is counting on you.”

  I stared at the bearded wonder that was once Millie.

  “If you can’t change her back, we can always introduce her to George,” Begonia said, stifling a giggle.

  “Who’s George?” I asked. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

  “The Yeti,” Laurel said and burst into laughter.

  “You always said you wanted to grow your hair down your back,” Sophie added, barely containing herself.

  “Fff...ot…unny,” the hairball said.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Millie said it’s not funny,” Lady Weatherby interpreted. “And I concur. Please correct your mistake, Miss Hart. We don’t have all day.”

  I tapped my wand against my chin, thinking. “Okay, I think I’ve got it.” I pointed my wand at Millie and said, “You look better bare/get rid of the hair.”

  I was optimistic as the hair began to recede—until it continued to recede. And then her eyebrows disappeared. Warning bells clanged.

  Millie shrieked as her hands cupped her bald head. “What is wrong with you?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. She looked like the love child of a mole rat and an alien. “Let me try again.”

  Millie was lost in a haze of distress. “I don’t even have eyelashes right now. What if a piece of dust hits my eye? I have no defenses.”

  “I can get rid of any dust particles,” Laurel said and picked up her wand. “I clean my house all the time. My dad has allergies.”

  Lady Weatherby held up a hand. “No more spells, Laurel. Not until Miss Hart has figured out a way to undo her mistake.”

  The pressure was on. The mature part of me understood what Lady Weatherby was doing. Like kids, new witches needed to learn how to clean up their own messes. The immature part of me, however, felt singled out and humiliated. I struggled to convince myself that Lady Weatherby had my best interests at heart, that she was only trying to make me the best witch I could be.

  I held out my wand again and said, “Fix my newbie mistake/for my friend Millie’s sake.”

  The hair sprouted on her head and grew back to its normal length. Her eyebrows reappeared and I assumed the rest of the hair I couldn’t see was restored as well. I’d leave it for Millie to check later.

  “You did it,” Laurel cried. She seemed to be the only one overjoyed by my achievement.

  “Take your seat, Miss Hart,” Lady Weatherby said. No pat on the back for me.

  “You are so getting your own voodoo doll,” Millie hissed at me as I took my seat.

  I’d been introduced to the voodoo dolls a few weeks ago, when my classmates shared their secret hideout with me. It was a place they went to get away from the coven and take out their frustrations—hence the voodoo dolls.

  My face paled. Millie was my friend. I didn’t want her to be angry with me.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” I said in a low tone. I tried to think of something I had to offer and came up empty-handed. It was a horrible feeling—to realize how useless I wa
s. I doubted Millie planned to commit a crime anytime soon, so my legal services weren’t an option.

  “Just do us both a favor and keep your distance,” she said, still seething.

  My stomach tensed. I didn’t like people to be upset with me. I was a helper by nature and I took it hard when I managed to make things worse.

  Laurel patted my hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll blow over.”

  I hoped she was right. Only five of us were remedial ASSes. I didn’t want to be the source of any tension in such a small group.

  When class drew to a close, I bolted before Millie could threaten me with bodily harm, not that I thought she would. She was a good person, just a very annoyed good person.

  “Wait up, Emma,” Begonia called. She caught up with me before I crossed the road toward the town square.

  “That was a nightmare,” I said.

  “Millie will cool off. I promise. She tries to act like the grown-up in our group, but she’s totally not.”

  Her comment made me think of Kayla. With the discovery of her cousin’s dead body, she’d crossed the line into adult territory today, whether she liked it or not.

  “Say, do you know Kayla?” I asked.

  “The blond werewolf chick?”

  “Yes. I met her today over at Jolene and Alex’s house.”

  Begonia pinched the skin on my arm. “You were over at the murder scene? Are you trying to make Sheriff Hugo hate you more?”

  “I don’t want him to hate me at all.”

  “Then stop trying so hard.”

  Sedgwick appeared above me. He’s waiting outside the coffee shop for you, Oh Merciful One.

  Keep it up and see how merciful I am, I said.

  “I need to go, Begonia. We’ll catch up later, okay?” I hurried over the cobblestones before she could stop me.

  As promised, Daniel was waiting for me outside Brew-Ha-Ha. For a brief moment, I was able to observe him unnoticed. One look at his tall, muscular frame was enough to get my blood pumping. When he turned toward me and smiled, I nearly melted into the cobblestone.

  “Your owl can be very aggressive,” he said.

  “Good afternoon to you, too,” I said.

  “Seriously, what do you feed him? Testosterone-laced mice?”

  That sounded vile. “Sedgwick is what humans call an overachiever,” I said apologetically. Actually, Sedgwick was what humans called a jackass, but I wasn’t about to disparage my owl to the angel.

  “So what’s the emergency?” he asked.

  I moved closer to him and lowered my voice. “Has Sheriff Hugo come to see you yet?”

  His brow furrowed. “Sheriff Hugo? No, why?”

  I took him by the elbow and guided him down a quiet alleyway. “Have you heard about Jolene?”

  He blinked. “Jolene? No, what about her?”

  I gave his arm a supportive squeeze. “She’s dead, Daniel.” It seemed incredible that I’d heard about Jolene and he hadn’t. Then again, he was an expert at spending time off the beaten path.

  His serene expression crumbled. “What happened to her?”

  “No one knows. She was found on the kitchen floor by Kayla.”

  He nodded. “Her cousin.” He blew out a breath. “Holy trumpets in heaven. Poor Kayla. And Alex…”

  I mentally prepared for my next statement. “Kayla mentioned that you’d been coming around some mornings after Alex left for work. Is that true?”

  “Kayla said…?” His hand covered his face. “Oh.”

  “I don’t know how to interpret that, Daniel, and I’m damn sure the sheriff will take that tidy ball of incrimination and run with it. Anything to make his life easier.”

  His hand slid upward and combed through his blond hair. “I wasn’t there today, Emma. I swear.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.” Or maybe it did.

  I could see he was struggling with his grief, so I gave him another minute to process the sad news. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give him any longer than that because I knew Sheriff Hugo or his deputy, Astrid, would be hunting him down for questioning. They’d probably already been to his house by now.

  “Daniel,” I said. “I don’t want to end up defending you in court. Let’s nip this in the bud now. Tell me everything so I can help you.”

  He grabbed my waist and pulled me toward him before attempting to launch us both into the air. Great balls of fire, I needed a warning before takeoff.

  “Daniel, stop,” I said.

  “I won’t drop you.”

  “That’s not what I mean. Let’s just sit in the coffee shop and talk. I’m sure we can find a quiet corner.”

  “But I need to think,” he protested.

  “Again?” He did more thinking than the statue of the thinking man and the statue had no other options.

  “I need to figure out what to say.”

  I didn’t like the way that sounded. “Daniel, please don’t make statements that make you sound guilty.”

  He peered into my eyes. I stopped talking, momentarily dazzled by their turquoise hue. “Do you think I’m guilty?”

  I snapped back to reality. “Of course not.” I took his hand and dragged him inside Brew-Ha-Ha. “That’s why I’m here to help you before this spirals out of control.”

  We were in luck. I spotted an empty table in the back corner of the room, right near the restrooms. Under different circumstances, I would have preferred to sit as far from the restroom as possible, but we didn’t have the luxury of choice.

  “Would you like me to order something for us?” he asked.

  “You stay here,” I commanded, pointing to the secluded table. “I’ll go and order. Try to keep a low profile.” I didn’t want the sheriff hunting him down before I had a chance to talk to him.

  I placed my order and returned to the table, adjusting my chair so that I could block Daniel from the room’s view. Not that it was easy to block a gorgeous, ridiculously tall angel.

  “So describe your relationship with Jolene,” I said. I cringed inwardly, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

  “Strictly friends,” he replied. The knot in my stomach unraveled slightly.

  “Why were you visiting her in the mornings?” Specifically, why were you waiting until her fiancé left the house?

  “We were offering each other support,” he said. “She didn’t want anyone in the pack to know.”

  Two mugs floated down in front of us, looking frothy and delicious. I’d ordered Daniel’s latte with a shot of common sense. I wondered if he’d notice.

  “Thank you,” he said, and plucked the mug from the table for a greedy sip. “Gingerbread. This was a good choice.”

  I took a sip of my cinnamon latte with a shot of compassion. I figured if I was going to listen to Daniel’s side of the story, I needed the boost.

  “Support for what?” And why didn’t she seek it from Alex?

  He lowered his gaze. “Depression,” he said softly.

  “Jolene was depressed?” That wasn’t a good sign for a woman about to walk down the aisle.

  “She struggled with the town curse,” he said. “She hated knowing she was trapped here with no way out.”

  A flicker of recognition sparked in my mind. When I first met Daniel, he was contemplating suicide on a cliff top. If I hadn’t jumped out of my beloved green 1988 Volvo to save him, I wouldn’t be trapped here now. Not that I blamed Daniel. To be fair, he saved me from getting crushed by my runaway car, which now lived at the bottom of Swan Lake.

  “I see why she chose to confide in you,” I said.

  “We started talking last year. It was completely by chance. I was in the forest one night contemplating the state of the universe…”

  I held up a hand. “You really have to stop saying things like that.”

  “But it’s true.”

  What was the expression the other witches used? “Spell’s bells,” I said. “Okay, so you were Ralph Waldo Emerson-ing your way through nature…”

&nb
sp; “Who?”

  “Henry David Thoreau-ing?”

  He shook his head. “I stumbled upon Jolene in a clearing. She was naked and crying.”

  Oh.

  “What happened to her?”

  Daniel looked thoughtful. “She was upset about the shifting ordinances and had decided to risk getting caught and go full werewolf. She chose an area away from town, not far from your house in fact.”

  “Did she hurt herself?”

  “No, she’d shifted back to human because she felt guilty about breaking the rules. Then she was crying because she felt lost and alone. The wolf in her was desperate to roam. To leave Spellbound.”

  “But she couldn’t.”

  “No, as you’ve learned.”

  I inhaled sharply. “So you talked.”

  “We did. And I shared my own feelings about the curse and how it made me feel. It seemed to help to know she wasn’t alone.”

  “She didn’t think Alex would understand?”

  He polished off his latte. A bit of foam stuck to his upper lip and I fought the urge to lick it off. Down, girl.

  “You have to understand pack mentality. Werewolves are top of the food chain. They’re all about power and strength. For them, depression is a sign of weakness. She was mated to a rising pack leader. She couldn’t afford to drag Alex down.”

  “So you kept talking?”

  “We began to meet regularly in the mornings after Alex left for work. We’d have coffee in her kitchen and help each other through the rough patches.”

  “Was Kayla there?”

  “Not initially.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “I can’t remember exactly when she showed up. It was after a big fight with her parents. Anyway, it was good for Jolene, to focus on someone other than herself. It was only after Kayla came that Jolene started talking about having children. I viewed talk of the future as a positive.”

  “Did Kayla ever join your conversations?”

  “Absolutely not. Jolene didn’t want to burden her.” He dipped his head. “She seemed to be doing much better lately.”

  “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  He paused. “I think it was last week. She was ordering the flowers for her wedding in Petals. I passed by the window and saw her, so I went in to say hi.”