A Fistful of Demons
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A Fistful of Demons
A Hannah Hickok Witchy Mystery Book Two
Lily Harper Hart
Copyright © 2019 by Lily Harper Hart
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
Mail List
Acknowledgments
Books by Lily Harper Hart
1
One
“Howdy, pardner.”
Hannah Hickok, her barmaid uniform putting her assets on full display, leaned over the partition in the saloon so she could flirt with Cooper Wyatt, the head of security at Casper Creek. Technically, Hannah wasn’t a barmaid. Sure, she was playing one for the day, but she was actually the new owner of Casper Creek, a cosplay Western town set in Kentucky. She’d inherited the town from a grandmother she didn’t know until the woman was already gone. Now she was settling into her new reality with as much energy as she could muster.
She was having more fun than she ever imagined.
Cooper, mirth filling his eyes, leaned back in his chair and gave her a long stare. “No one here says pardner,” he said finally.
“I do ... and I’m here ... so that’s not really true.” Hannah’s grin was so wide it threatened to swallow her entire face. “What are you doing?”
Cooper wasn’t sure how to answer. In truth, he wasn’t doing anything. He didn’t want to admit that though, because then she might turn suspicious about why he was hanging around in the saloon in the middle of the afternoon when he should be working. In truth, he simply wanted to be around her... which was a humbling thought.
Before Hannah came to town, Cooper was happy with his life. He wasn’t involved with anyone, a deliberate choice, and he opted to focus on his job. All of that fell by the wayside the minute Hannah showed up. As fond as Cooper was of Abigail Jenkins, the woman who took a chance on him after he returned from active service overseas, Cooper couldn’t help being attracted to her granddaughter.
He hated himself for it, but that didn’t stop him from flirting.
“I’m keeping Casper Creek safe,” he teased, smirking when she rolled her eyes. “That’s my job.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She glanced around the empty saloon and then skirted around the counter so she could slip onto the stool next to him. She looked to have something on her mind. “There’s one more group coming through.”
He nodded, unsure where she was going. “I know. They should be here at any moment. They’ll hit the south side of the town before coming here, though.”
“Yeah.” Hannah cocked her head and rubbed her cheek. She appeared fidgety, which immediately put Cooper on edge.
“What’s wrong?” He was legitimately worried. Hannah had only been in town for a little over two weeks. She’d settled in her grandmother’s digs above the saloon relatively quickly — and with only minimal fanfare — and had quickly thrown herself at the business end of her inheritance. She’d never been in this particular position before, but she was gung-ho to learn. Her first week in town had been a busy one. A body dropped, evil witches from across the creek had made their presence known, and she’d found out she was magically inclined, something she swore she knew nothing about.
Since then, after the takedown of a murderous witch, she’d slipped into her role as town leader with little complaint. Honestly, Cooper was so impressed with her attitude he couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was an act. He’d spent the last two weeks watching her for signs of a mental breakdown — it’s not every day one finds out they’re a witch with actual magic at their disposal, after all — but she’d held strong.
This was the first whiff he’d gotten that she might be uneasy.
“Why does something have to be wrong?” Hannah asked. “Why do you always jump to that conclusion?”
“Because I’m head of security and it’s my job to keep the workers — and you — safe. You’re acting like you need to tell me something I’m not going to like. I’m preparing myself for the worst so I can handle it.”
“Huh.” Hannah ran her thumb over her plump bottom lip, which was enough to drive Cooper crazy. She had outrageous sex appeal in his mind — especially in the barmaid outfit, which hit every one of her curves in a manner that caused his libido to fire into overdrive — and he often found he could think of nothing but her. She didn’t even have to be in close proximity for him to drift off into a daydream. His mind was often fixated on her without prodding, which was something that legitimately worried him.
“Did you hear what I said?” Hannah prodded, causing Cooper to jerk his head in her direction. Unfortunately for him, his mind had wandered again ... and right when she was in the middle of a sentence.
“I was just thinking about the new group of guests,” he lied. “It’s supposed to be a whole contingent, which is a lot of people. We don’t generally play host to an organized group for the last tour of the day.”
“I’m the one who okayed it,” Hannah admitted, rueful. “The girl at the reservation office — I think her name is Sadie, although I can’t quite remember — called to ask if we could arrange it because it was a local business that was running a giveaway that benefited us and I didn’t see why it would be an issue. Now I kind of see why it’s an issue.”
He couldn’t help himself from smiling. She was adorable when fighting her earnest nature, which is exactly what appeared to be on the menu this afternoon. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said after a beat. “It will all work out. The people here know what they’re doing. One late night isn’t going to kill us. Besides, it sounds to me as if this group is made up of return guests rather than first-time tourists. I bet that means they’ll be in and out relatively quickly.”
Hannah hoped that was true. She didn’t want to keep her workers from their families a moment longer than necessary. “Yeah.” She trailed off and flicked her attention to the window. “There’s one other thing, too.”
Cooper’s shoulders stiffened as he girded himself for bad news. “What? Is it Astra?”
Hannah’s eyes widened as his tone turned vicious. Astra Bishop was one of the evil witches who lived in the hills surrounding the town. She was one of Abigail’s former students, a woman who claimed an affinity to light magic but turned dark. She was also Cooper’s former girlfriend, which made for several tense conversations.
“If she’s been giving you a hard time, I want to know about it,” Cooper insisted.
Hannah understood where his anxiety was coming from. He was a good man caught in an untenable situation. Abigail was like a grandmother to him. She took him on when he was having issues re-assimilating to civilian life. He suffered from nightmares and anxiety at the oddest of times. He was loyal to her. His past relationship with Astra made for uncomfortable conversations, but he understood he made a mistake with the dark witch ... and it was one he continued to regret. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again, which meant he would keep Hannah safe no matter what he had to sacrifice to do it.
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“It’s not Astra,” Hannah reassured him quickly. “You don’t have to worry about her. She hasn’t shown her face since Leanne went off the rails and tried to kill me.”
Cooper’s expression darkened at the memory. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of Leanne Cortez. As one of Astra’s minions, Cooper understood the woman was dangerous long before she tried to kill Hannah. His mistake was assuming that she was acting out on Astra’s orders. For once, the coven leader wasn’t the one spearheading potential evil. That didn’t mean he trusted Astra with Hannah’s safety. In fact, far from it. Cooper assumed Astra would become more and more dangerous the longer Hannah remained in town and didn’t allow her to take over as she so desperately wanted.
“What happened with Leanne was ... a tragedy,” he said finally, searching for the right words. “I wish I would’ve realized what she was up to before you were forced to take her on like that.”
Hannah stared at the strong lines of his face for a long time before shaking her head. “It wasn’t your fault.” She meant it. There was no way Cooper could’ve realized what Leanne had planned for her. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened.”
Even as she said the words, Hannah recognized they were a mistake. She didn’t want to talk about that night any more than Cooper did. It was too late, though. She’d managed to shove her foot into her mouth ... again.
Cooper’s expression was hard to read as he regarded her. “Who should I blame? I mean ... you managed to protect yourself against a dark witch who was hellbent on killing you — something I’m profoundly grateful for — but you had to kill her to do it.”
Hannah swallowed hard. Even though she couldn’t forget what she’d done to protect herself, it was difficult to think about. She’d taken a life. Heck, she hadn’t even given it any thought before she unleashed the spell. Her instincts kicked in and it was either conjure or perish. “I know what I did.”
Cooper looked pained when he noticed the expression on her face. “Oh, Hannah, I’m sorry.” Instinctively, he reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “I didn’t mean to bring that up again. I just ... it’s not your fault.” He turned plaintive. “You did what you had to do. I don’t want you spending all your time dwelling on this ... which is exactly why I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s fine.” Hannah waved off the apology. “You’re right about what I had to do. I don’t feel guilty or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He studied her for a long beat. That was a lie. He had no doubt about that. He hadn’t known her all that long, but it was often easy to read her emotions. She wore them every second of every day. She was still struggling with what happened in the wild tempest that descended on the town that day, and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to do it.
“Hannah ... .”
She shook her head to cut him off. “You don’t have to make up empty platitudes to make me feel better,” she reassured him. “I’m coming to grips with it. I’m ... fine. Seriously.”
He didn’t believe that. Now wasn’t the time to pressure her, though. He had to change the subject or they would be mired in maudlin conversation for the rest of the afternoon, to the point where they were both so uncomfortable they would have no choice but to flee. That’s the last thing he wanted.
“What about the cabinet?” It was the only thing he could latch onto and he almost immediately regretted going that route. Abigail left a locked cabinet in her apartment — which was now Hannah’s apartment — and there were magical items inside that required Hannah’s attention. She’d been frustrated with her inability to open it even though Abigail’s ghost, who was still hanging around, assured her that she would be able to unlock it when the time was right.
Hannah made a face that would’ve caused Cooper to laugh under different circumstances. “I still can’t get it open. I think I’m going to quit trying. I bet what’s in there isn’t even that important.”
Cooper believed the exact opposite, but it was a thorny situation. “I don’t see why you can’t take a break,” he offered, realizing with a start that his hand was still on top of hers. How did that even happen? How long had they been sitting like this? Did she think he was being a moron? “Everyone needs a break now and then.”
Slowly, he drew his hand back. When he finally got up the courage to meet her eyes, he found she wasn’t even looking at him and seemed distracted. Relief washed over him at the prospect. That probably meant she hadn’t even realized he’d been holding her hand for an extended period of time. That was good. So, so good.
“Yeah. I’m not too worried about it.” She flashed a brief smile and then got to her feet. “It looks like the final group is here.” She tilted her head toward the window, where guests were starting to stream into the street. They looked excited, as if they were having a good time, and it was a good distraction. “I should head behind the bar. Will I see you before you leave for the night?”
He nodded without hesitation. Only a handful of people remained in Casper Creek after dark. He wasn’t one of them. “I’ll make sure to check on you before I go. Maybe ... maybe we can get dinner together or something.” The invitation was out of his mouth before he thought better of it. They’d been flirting nonstop since they met. Neither one of them had taken the initiative and tried to move beyond that, though. They both seemed frightened at the prospect.
She brightened considerably. “Sure. That sounds great.”
Her reaction calmed him … at least a little bit. He’d been nervous she would shut him down. Apparently that wasn’t the case. “We’ll talk about it once everyone is gone.” This time the smile he offered was legitimate. “I should get back to work, too.”
“I’ll see you in a few hours.”
He winked because it seemed the thing to do. “You definitely will.”
BY THE TIME THE TOUR WAS winding down, Cooper had made three passes through town. The final group wasn’t the sort to cause trouble, which was known to happen when the saloon got involved. Instead, most of the late guests this evening were families ... which meant the only headache he had to deal with was a pair of squabbling brothers who both wanted to feed the horses gum. He quickly nipped that in the bud before sending them on their way, laughing as he shook his head and leaned against the paddock fence.
“Thanks for stopping them,” Tyler James offered as he joined the security guru. The blond livestock coordinator seemed more amused than concerned. Of course, he wasn’t the type to fly off the handle.
“I don’t think the horses would’ve taken it, but you never know,” Cooper replied. “It does sort of look like a sugar cube.”
“They eat almost anything so I wouldn’t rule it out. It probably wouldn’t have been harmful, but I don’t like taking chances.”
“I don’t blame you.” Cooper rolled his neck and stretched his arms above his head. The wind had picked up and there was a bit of electricity in the air. “It feels like a storm.” He couldn’t help being a little disappointed because he thought that might put a damper on his dinner plans with Hannah. “I didn’t see anything on the radar before, but the atmosphere feels heavy now.”
“It does,” Tyler agreed, glancing over his shoulder when he heard a distinctive bark. Jinx, Hannah’s beloved black mutt, was having a good time trying to herd the baby goats. “Be careful around them,” he chided, as if the dog could understand him. “They’ll bully you if you’re not careful.”
Cooper followed his gaze and grinned. He was fond of the dog, and not just because he belonged to Hannah and she obviously adored him. “I didn’t realize you had him today.”
“I offer to take him whenever Hannah has a shift in the saloon. He likes to run and it doesn’t seem fair for him to be cooped up inside when I can easily watch him. Besides, he doesn’t get in much trouble. His fascination with the goats notwithstanding, he’s mostly happy to sun himself and watch the guests file through.”
“They don’t like anybody. They’re little jerks, quite frankly. If they weren’t such a draw at the petting zoo, I would get rid of them.”
Cooper didn’t believe that. Tyler talked big when it came to the animals, but he was poor on follow-through. He had a big heart and he loved the goats as much as he did the other animals. He simply liked to complain, which Cooper was used to. “Well, they’re a big draw so I guess they’ll have to stay.”
“I guess.”
They lapsed into amiable silence for a beat. They’d known each other for a long time and were tight. They were the sort of friends who didn’t need words to fill in the gaps. Of course, they were also the sort of friends who liked to tease one another. That’s what Tyler had on his mind when he broke the silence.
“So, when are you going to make your move on Hannah? I’ve never seen two people work as slowly as you guys.”
Cooper scowled. “What makes you think I’m going to make a move?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her. There’s no doubt in my mind you’re going to make a move. The longer you wait, my friend, the more combustible you two are going to become. You realize that, right?”
“Ugh.” Cooper slapped his hand to his forehead. “I’m not talking about this with you.”
“Because you’re embarrassed that you have no game?”
“Because it’s none of your business.”
Tyler snorted, genuinely amused. “Oh, you’re so cute. I can’t wait to see how this plays out. You’re both acting like flirty idiots with no courage. It’s almost painful to watch.”