MAKING MAGICKAL ALLIANCES: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel

by Leigh Raventhorne

  “Nope.” This part I’d already thought out and everything Jeremy had just told us about the woman confirmed it should work beautifully. I smiled, letting a little slyness show. “We’re going to walk in like I own the place.”

  Rand guffawed as Jeremy gave me a look that told me he was reevaluating just how dangerous I might be—and he liked it.

  I strode in ahead of the two men as Rand held the door for me. Jeremy had pulled a pair of mirrored Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses out of his glove box, which Rand now wore, giving him an even more edgy dangerous look than he normally had. With as disdainfully bored an expression as I could muster—hoping it didn’t just make me look constipated—I stopped just inside the doorway as the bell on the door jingled as it closed. I picked up a small baggie off the nearest shelf and inspected it. The label said it was an all natural herbal blend useful for heightening the senses, but a careful sniff told me there was at least a little weed in there. Dropping it dismissively back in the basket, I looked around, schooling my face to what I thought of as ‘courtroom Sam.’ There were only two others in the shop browsing at the moment—a couple of teenage girls in goth clothing and heavy makeup who were pawing through a bin of clearance items.

  Rand stepped closer to me, looking away as he murmured, “Two cameras, one in each corner, facing the door and windows.” Turning slightly, his lips barely moving, he added, “There’s one more on the outer wall, facing the register.”

  Whether she was responding to the bell on the door or had watched us enter from a monitor in the back room, a woman of average weight and build, who could have been anywhere between my age and my aunt’s human appearance, pushed through the heavily curtained doorway that divided the retail space from whatever was in the back. She was dressed like a cross between a gypsy and hippy. She scowled at the teenagers, who studiously ignored her, before pasting a smile on her face and moving around the glass checkout counter that doubled as a display case.

  “What can I help you with today? Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?” Her sharp eyes took in my clothing, making me very glad I’d taken more care in dressing than I usually did. Her gaze moved on to Rand, warming appreciatively as it moved down his well-muscled form. When she looked behind us and recognized Jeremy, though, there was a definite flash of fear, just before her eyes turned cold and hard. She must not have been watching the monitor if she hadn’t realized he came in with us. Her smile took on a more forced appearance.

  My own smile showing a bit more tooth than usual, I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I casually strolled down a row of shelves displaying more baskets of what appeared to be glass beads, sticks of incense, kitschy incense holders, and a minutiae of other trinkets. I ran a finger along the top of one of the shelves, made a point of looking at the dust on my finger, and brushed the dust off. Finally, I looked at her.

  “I assume you know who I am?” I kept my voice soft, but haughty. Oddly enough, I was enjoying this a great deal more than I probably should.

  She narrowed her eyes, pointedly not looking at Jeremy, though her eyes did flick to Rand, now standing at parade rest, more than once. I didn’t have to see him to know his face was an expressionless mask, especially with the mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes. “You must be Roxanne Devraux.”

  “Got it in one. Good job.” I let my smile broaden with approval.

  “What can I help you with, Ms. Devraux?” Margo’s voice was cool, not betraying so much as a hint of the nervousness she had to be feeling.

  “I’m taking a small tour of some of my holdings.” There it was. Just a tiny flash of anger in her eyes before she let her lids drop to hide it.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. I’m sure you received notice of the change in ownership of this building when I inherited. My legal counsel assures me everything was sent out in a timely manner.” I strolled toward the counter, being sure to make a point of cringing away from some displays and brushing imaginary dust from my sleeve.

  She noticed every nuance I allowed her to. If her eyes narrowed any more, they’d be screwed tightly shut. She did manage to maintain that clenched, wooden smile, though. “I did. I was hoping to speak directly to you about it, but the letter didn’t have any of your personal contact information, only that of a representative at Lido Law. But now that you’re here in person, perhaps we can discuss what terms you’d like for the purchase of this shop.” She made an elegant gesture to encompass the space we were in. “I don’t know how much your aunt told you of our friendship before she passed, but we did discuss her selling this place to me. Unfortunately she passed before we could make that happen. She and I knew each other for a very long time. She entrusted this shop to me nearly twenty-five years ago, you know. I’ve been leasing the space for almost fifteen years now.”

  She was fishing. “Oh? How odd that she never mentioned you. I’m afraid you really would need to discuss anything like that with my business representative.”

  Her gaze turned calculating. “Of course. I too, found it unusual that she never mentioned having a niece. Or even a sister. Do you have a card with your address or a phone number where you can be reached?”

  “As I said, that’s something you’ll have to discuss with the firm, should I even decide I want to sell. Many of these little places,” I flicked my wrist dismissively and looked around, “do generate a surprisingly impressive amount of income.” I saw her eyes lock onto my bracelet as my sleeve slid down. Oops. Dropping my hand, I turned to hide the movement and noticed the two teenagers surreptitiously watching Margo. With Margo’s attention on me, one of them slipped something from the bin into her pocket, then the two of them walked out the door like they didn’t have a care in the world. As the bell tinkled, I felt a small flare of . . . magick? Interesting. Margo’s eyes snapped over to the door, and she started to move. She passed me, but pulled up short when Jeremy stepped over, effectively blocking her path. Backing away, she moved back behind the counter, but her eyes followed the teenagers until they were out of sight. Since I was standing further back, I saw the two duck in the store next door—probably to see what they could pocket there, also. When I turned back to face Margo, her eyes were on the wall that divided her shop from that one. And they still seemed to be following some sort of movement. A quick glance at Rand told me he’d noticed that too. Curiouser and curiouser. Did she have some sort of spell on items that left the shop? Something that allowed her to follow where that item was? If so, how was she able to do it? My gaze dropped to the jumble of necklaces around her neck. If any held pendants or stones, they were hidden beneath her clothing and scarves. She had a row of earrings on one ear, but only a couple on the other. Her wrists were hidden beneath the voluminous sleeves on her blouse, but she could have been wearing any number of bracelets.

  With a shake of my head, I approached the display case and perused the jewelry in it. Most of it looked vintage, but nice quality, which was definitely reflected by the price tags. Maybe I could put that spell or whatever it was to a little test.

  Margo’s interest in the two girls warred with the chance at a potential sale. I saw the moment the idea occurred to her that she might get more than just a sale out of this and I ducked my head to hide my smile. “Does something in the case interest you, Ms. Devraux? I can assure you, it is all very high quality.”

  “That necklace, there.” I pointed to an elegant piece encrusted with either tiny rubies or garnets, I couldn’t tell which. “And this ring, here.” The ring had a huge, pale yellow stone set in silver.

  “Excellent choices.” She pulled them from their displays inside the case, and set them on the black velvet board she produced from somewhere I hadn’t seen, rather than on the glass of the case. “The ring is citrine and the stones in the necklace are garnet.” She slid the velvet board toward me. The catty smirk on her face gave me enough pause that I almost questioned if this was the right course.

  Gingerly, I picked the ring up, wondering if I’d be able to tell
if there was magick or any kind of spell on it. Turning it slowly, as if to examine it, I reached out with my own magick. The ring lit up so bright, I nearly dropped it. With a nervous glance up at Margo, I breathed easier when she didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. When I picked up the necklace, it lit up, too, though not quite as brightly as the ring had.

  Zara, are you seeing this?

  Yes. They look familiar. Purchase them. And take a look at her while you’re at it.

  From beneath my lashes, I glanced up at her. She was lit up like a christmas tree. Each earring, all of her necklaces, both wrists, and something under her clothing that was probably a belt, glowed with magick. What the heck?

  Setting the pieces down, I slid the board back to her. “I’ll take them both. Is cash okay?”

  When we left the shop, we went straight to Jeremy’s truck. As soon as we pulled away, I told the two men about what I’d seen and asked Jeremy to take us over to Lido Law while I texted Sam to see if Rayna was there today. Sam texted back ‘yes’ and offered to meet us in the lobby. Next, I sent a quick text to Clyde to update him on our whereabouts and let him know I’d message him when we were headed back to the resort. Jeremy pulled into the parking space reserved for me, but chose to wait for us in the truck, saying he had a few calls to make. Rand and I went through the tightened security process of having to be buzzed in, and just as she’d assured me, were met by Sam and Rayna in the lobby. I waved to Louise, the receptionist, before following the two women through the doors and into the corridor leading to the offices and conference rooms. Sam eyed the small package I carried.

  “Does that have anything to do with needing Rayna?” she asked.

  “Possibly. Oh, and don’t be surprised if Margo starts bugging the firm about buying the shop. Who else is here?” She knew I meant witches.

  “The whole coven. Why?”

  “Call them in, please. This will be a good exercise for them. Plus, they probably need to know about it anyway.”

  We got to the conference room. Sam pointed us toward Marla, who was setting up coffee and tea at the credenza-turned-coffee-bar at the back. “I’ll go get the others, they’re up on the roof.”

  No one recalled whose idea it was to set up a training area on the rooftop of the building, but it was working out exceptionally well. Together, the firm’s five witches had spelled it so it was not only hidden from any of the taller buildings around, but also lightly shaded to combat the intense Louisiana heat. They had even set up a small garden area with dozens of potted plants and herbs and three large raised garden beds which doubled for growing ingredients for potions and provided a pleasant space in which to relax during breaks. Either Clyde or Dutch practiced self defense classes up there twice a week with them, along with any other of the firm’s employees who were interested in learning. The rest of the time, they used it for honing their magick and learning to work as a team. Tess had once jokingly called them the firm’s personal coven and somehow the moniker had stuck. The firm’s shifters even addressed them as that, but more importantly, their employment with the firm was slowly bringing two factions of the paranormal community—who had previously kept themselves almost completely separate from one another—together.

  While Rand took a seat further down the table to allow all of the witches to sit at my end, I grabbed a napkin from the coffee bar and dumped the jewelry on it. Rayna leaned over to look at it.

  “Oh, those are gorgeous. What are we doing with them?”

  “When everyone else gets down here, I want to see if any of you can detect magick on these pieces, both individually and as a team. Then, I want to see if we can nullify all or part of it. I’m hoping your purification magick will help.”

  She tilted her head, her expression pensive. “I don’t see why not. Let me think about what kind of spell that would take.”

  I looked up gratefully as a cup of coffee was set in front of me. “Thanks, Marla.”

  “You’re welcome, ma’am.” She gave me a reserved smile at my exaggerated wince. It had become something of a joke after I’d asked her not to call me ‘Madame.’ She went back for another cup, placing it in front of Rand. He winked at her as he thanked her. She arched a stern brow at him and turned away to get the teapot ready for anyone wanting something other than coffee. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the jewelry, inspecting the clasp.

  “Marla, do you know if there’s a loupe or even a magnifying glass around here?”

  She straightened, considering my question. “If there isn’t, I’ll arrange for one to be here within the next ten minutes. Would that be sufficient?” At my nod, she left the room. The woman was nothing if not efficient.

  “You do know we’re all still trying to figure out what she is, right? She can’t possibly be one hundred percent human.” Rayna kept her voice low, her eyes on the door. Marla had hearing that rivaled that of the sharpest-eared shifters in the building.

  “So I heard. Let me know when you figure it out.” When we’d first met her, Marla was the front desk person for the firm and we’d been sure she was human. She didn’t show up as anything more than that in my Sight, but I’d discovered that didn’t always mean anything in this world.

  I looked up as the rest of the coven filed in, Sam right behind them. They greeted me, looked curiously at Rand, though they were mostly used to him by now, and grabbed what they wanted from the coffee bar before seating themselves.

  Sitting back in my chair, I waited until Sam shut the door and everyone’s attention was on me before I launched into the explanation about why I was here. The coven knew about the pixies and had agreed to keep their existence a secret until they were given express permission otherwise. If I’d expected to see any surprise when I told them about the water fae and their situation, I would have been sorely disappointed. By the time I got to my visit to Margo’s shop, the outrage in the room was palpable.

  When I finished, I spread my hands. “Thoughts, ladies?”

  They all started speaking at once. Sam cleared her throat and they immediately fell silent. “Let’s just go around the table.” She pointed to Ruthann, one of the hedge witches.

  “Margo is dangerous. None of us go near her shop, not since your aunt leased it to her.” Ruthann’s voice quavered indignantly. She was a tiny, dark-skinned woman with a shock of closely shorn, nearly white hair and large, soulful eyes. She was well-spoken, appeared to be in her mid-to-late fifties, and had proven herself formidable since she joined the coven. As a hedge witch, her specialty was potions, but she knew some offensive magick, too.

  “How is she dangerous?” I asked.

  Selma, the other hedge witch in the group, answered. “Your aunt used to supply the majority of the ingredients we use in our potions and spells. When Margo took over, we were assured we would still get the same quality ingredients. Margo immediately raised the prices much higher than those your aunt ever charged. The first witch who complained disappeared the next day. A couple weeks later, someone complained that something she’d ordered had been substituted with an inferior product. She was found badly beaten, almost to the point she was unrecognizable. The healers we have here had to send her to another territory, because her injuries weren’t responding to their magick. And so it went, each time anyone complained. Things continued to worsen until, as a whole, we quit using her to supply anything and she turned to selling gimmicky items to humans. Incense and cooking spices mixed with a pinch of marijuana, to ‘heighten’ their senses. Pardon my French, but that’s a load of bullshit!” she huffed.

  Trina, our earth witch, wrapped her hands around her coffee cup, gazing at the dark liquid within, her eyes sad. “My mother told my sister and I that Margo stole several magickal Items that had been in our family for generations. We wanted to try to retrieve them, but she warned us from going anywhere near the shop. She mentioned several . . . incidents . . . like the ones Selma mentioned.” She lifted her eyes and let her gaze move around the table, pausing br
iefly on each of us, until it finally settled on me. “My sister didn’t listen. I haven’t seen her in almost ten years.” Her voice dropped to an anguished whisper. “I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

  Shocked, Sam, Rand, and I just stared. My heart went out to her. The other four must have known her story, because they didn’t look surprised by her words. How had things gotten so bad without my aunt knowing any of this? How had my aunt been able to call the woman a friend? I met Rand’s gaze across the table and saw he was just as affected as I was.

  Clearing my throat, it took me a moment to find my voice. I looked at Rayna and then Willa, our resident air and weather witch. “Are your accounts the same?” They nodded. “I get the gist of it. Thank you. If any of you are uncomfortable with being involved in this . . . exercise . . . I completely understand. You’ll be excused and you can go now.”

  They all started speaking at once again, each talking over one another. I held up a hand. “How about a show of hands? Any who want to participate, raise your hand.” Every hand in the room went up. I began to slide the napkin with the jewelry on it forward. “Good. Now, take a—” Before I could begin to explain, Marla walked into the room, carrying a small package.

  “Here you are, ma’am. One jeweler’s loupe, as requested.” She glanced at her watch. “Sorry it took so long.”

  I looked at the clock on the wall. It had been eleven minutes. “Thank you, Marla. I’ll ask Sam not to count it against you on your next performance review.” That earned me a half-smile. The woman knew she was worth her weight in gold and then some. I also suspected she had to have realized by now we knew she probably wasn’t human, as we’d all thought at first. “Take a seat please, and Sam will catch you up before we’re done here.” I opened the package and pulled out a loupe identical to the one I used in my aunt’s workshop.

  “Now, if you would all take a look at these pieces and see if you notice anything unusual?” I slid the jewelry to the center of the table and sat back as they murmured. After a few minutes, I asked, “Anything?”