by Shaw, J. D.
“We’ll get everything taken care of. You just relax and rest up.” Joshua insisted.
Vivienne decided not to fight them on this. She was more than happy to let them take over from here. “Will you order salami and extra cheese?”
“You got it.” Joshua gave her a kiss just as Vivienne’s cell phone rang. “Tell whoever it is we’re busy tonight.”
Vivienne glanced down at the coffee table and noticed Miss Octavia’s name on the caller display. “It’s Octavia.”
Joshua nodded. “Just don’t make any big plans tonight. We’ve got quite a bit to talk about.”
Vivienne smiled back and picked up the phone. “I promise.” She answered it. “Hello?”
“Vivienne, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Octavia’s voice trembled.
“I’m just a little tired.” Vivienne answered.
“When I saw the map tonight I feared the worst had happened.” Octavia replied.
“The map?” Vivienne puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
There was a pause on the other end. “The map I’ve been working on charting all the magic voids. The activity has been rising, but there isn’t much of a pattern to follow. I was about to put it away for the night when a new void appeared that caught my attention. It was the first time I’d seen one so close to another and then I realized it was in front of your home again.”
Vivienne felt a chill run through her body. “The sorcerer was here earlier?”
“Or still is.” Octavia replied. “Have you seen anyone strange around?”
Vivienne could hear Hunter’s voice talking to Joshua from the laundry room. “It can’t be.”
“What can’t be?” Octavia asked with concern. “Do you see someone?”
“Joshua’s brother just arrived.” Vivienne could barely get the words out of her mouth. “He’s in my house right now.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Octavia had advised her to keep a close eye on her grimoire and her dinner guest. There was no sure fire way of discovering if someone was a sorcerer, other than catching them in the act of using their talisman. At least, no way that she or Octavia could think of. They made plans to meet again tomorrow afternoon, so Vivienne could study the map with her own eyes and perhaps find a pattern.
Vivienne thought back to what Octavia had explained about the nature of the sorcerer’s motivation. How they were attracted to magic, draining it with their talismans to gain power. There was nothing magical about her home that she was aware of, but there was something inside of it that she was pretty sure would prove to be irresistible. The sorcerer must have been sensing her grimoire, letting the talisman take sips of the magic that emanated from the pages of lore. That was the only thing that would explain the return visit.
She hadn’t yet cast the power circle, nor did she feel up to it tonight after utilizing such a powerful healing spell. It would have to wait until her body’s energy levels could return to normal. She would just have to be extra vigilant when it came to keeping the grimoire safely hidden away until she could set the trap.
After the pizza delivery had arrived, Vivienne remained at the kitchen table with Joshua and Hunter. She found it difficult to create conversation, but thankfully the brothers spent most of the time catching up on family gossip that had little to do with her.
“So, you’ve been trailing these guys all the way from Georgia?” Joshua asked as he munched on a piece of pizza.
Hunter took another sip of his bottled beer. “That’s where I caught up with their trail, but I think they may have been operating out of Florida.” He grabbed the next to last piece out of the cardboard box.
Vivienne kept a close eye on Hunter. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Being related to Joshua, she felt incredibly guilty even thinking that he might be up to some nefarious deed. He wore no visible jewelry on his body, so if he did have a talisman in his possession it was well hidden from view. “Do you think that this Johnny Guido character is one of the main guys involved in this whole mess?”
Hunter’s brow furrowed at her question. “I don’t know yet.”
“Maybe Vivienne can help shed some light by casting a spell?” Joshua replied.
Vivienne snapped to attention at the mention of magic. “What’s that?”
Hunter stared at her from across the table. With his light brown hair that fell neatly down to the nape of his neck, perpetual five o’clock shadow, and green eyes that practically glowed from within, he exuded a naturally disarming charisma that even she had to fight off with all of her willpower. It would be all too easy to get lost in his good looks, believe every word that left his lips. No doubt, this is what made him such an effective bounty hunter. “Joshua was telling me all about what you’ve gone through here.”
“Oh, he has?” Vivienne studied his face carefully.
“I once worked with a witch down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee when I lived there a few months ago.” Hunter revealed.
“Really?” Joshua was clearly intrigued. “I didn’t know you’d moved from Mom and Dad’s.”
“You would if you’d call more than once a year.” Hunter chided him. “I haven’t been home since last August.”
“Was she nice?” Vivienne asked.
“She was an older lady, I’d guess her in her fifties or so. She dressed real elegant, with this long silver hair that she pulled up into one of those big southern styles.” Hunter reminisced. “She owned this nice mountain home in the Smoky Mountains, real isolated and away from the hustle and bustle of the tourists.”
“What kind of work did you do with her?” Vivienne pressed.
Hunter took a bite of his pizza and swallowed. “I was chasing this young fugitive couple. They’d jumped bail over some silly drug possession charges and they were very skilled at hiding from the law.”
Vivienne nodded. “Amazingly skilled if they could avoid being scent-tracked by a werewolf.”
Joshua raised his beer bottle up in the air. “You got that right.”
“So, what did this witch do for you?” Joshua asked.
“I’d met her in downtown Gatlinburg, following some leads. She had a small gift shop tucked away on one of the side streets, selling knick knacks and offering psychic readings for the tourists.” Hunter recalled. “Turns out, the couple had hired her services only a few days before my arrival to help them keep one step ahead of me.”
“No kidding?” Joshua laughed.
“I swear.” Hunter laughed back. “They were getting very accurate details about where I was located and used that to stay as far away as possible. When I told her who I was and what I was doing, she turned the tables and gave me a charm that lead me right to them.”
“Out of the goodness of her heart?” Vivienne perked up.
“I wish.” Hunter continued. “I told you, she had a beautiful mountain home and those things don’t run cheap. I paid her a hefty sum of money that would help to pay the annual taxes on her luxurious abode.”
Vivienne nodded. “I suppose witches need to make money like everyone else.”
“Frankly, when Joshua told me that you run a bakery in town, I was a little surprised.” Hunter spoke up.
“Surprised?” Vivienne asked.
“If I had access to magic spells and such, I think I’d use them to make as much money as possible.” Hunter finished.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but most of us like to blend in with the normal folk and live ordinary lives.”
“Oh, Vivienne. I don’t think Hunter meant anything against you.” Joshua jumped into the conversation.
She smiled at them both, feeling a bit silly at her behavior. “Forgive me, it’s been a long day.”
“I’m sorry if I offended you in any way.” Hunter apologized. “Your bakery is the talk of the town. Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks the world of your talent.”
“Thank you.” Vivienne looked at the wall clock in the kitchen. “Speaking of baking, I have an early Monday morning ahead of me.”
“We’ll clean up down here.” Joshua insisted. “You go to bed and I’ll be along in a little while.”
Vivienne pulled herself up from the kitchen chair and gave Joshua a kiss. “Thank you both for doing this.”
“Thank you for saving my life tonight.” Hunter’s voice went soft. “It’s something I’m not used to having happen.”
She reached over to give him a hug when a sparkle near his neck caught her eye. For a brief instant, she saw a simple gold chain that was hidden beneath his shirt. “You’re welcome.”
“It’s sort of bare bones at my place.” Joshua interrupted them. “But the bed is soft and the roof doesn’t leak.”
“I’ll take it.” Hunter pulled away from Vivienne.
Vivienne excused herself from the kitchen, with Tommy and Sammy cat following closely at her heels. They raced her the entire way, occasionally stopping to swat each other and hiss when the other was in the lead. Vivienne chided them both as she stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
She walked over to the oak armoire and pulled open the doors. She carefully moved her hand along the right side until she found the seam where a false panel had been installed to conceal her precious grimoire. She pulled the panel away and felt the comforting warmth that emanated from the spell book’s cover. The more familiar she was becoming with the ways of magic, the more she could sense the location of the book no matter where it was stored. There was no real way to explain the symbiotic connection between them except to say that it yearned to be with her, and she along with it. Satisfied that it was safely secured for the night, she returned the false panel into place and closed the doors to the armoire.
After changing into a silk nightgown, she crawled between the covers and thought about the day’s events. So much was happening so fast, but she was still making little to no progress in connecting the dots. Normally, she would be far from sleepy as she utilized all of her ways, both mundane and magical, to start to make sense of things. But her spell to restore Hunter’s health had eaten up a tremendous amount of energy. She knew that the healing spell requirements changed depending on the size of the subject. Small furry animals were one thing, a human who also happened to be a werewolf was another. It was one of the costs of magic and the wise witch knew how to plan things out accordingly.
But it was noticing the chain around Hunter’s neck that concerned her more than anything. She couldn’t tell if it was merely a decorative necklace or a holding place for a talisman in need of a magical energy boost. When she had healed him at Kathy’s store, she would have most certainly noticed a gold chain when she removed his shirt to get better access to the wounds. Perhaps he had taken it off when he had been discovered before she arrived? Despite the suspicious thoughts floating around inside her head, she could no longer keep her eyes open. The warmth of the sheets around her body, the softness of the feather mattress topper, and the sound of snow pellets bouncing off the window glass in the winter darkness lulled her weary mind into a tranquil bliss. She fell fast asleep with Tommy and Sammy nestled on each side of her.
* * *
The morning had been very busy with an assortment of cookies, cakes, and pies to make for cash and carry sales in the store, not to mention a handful of custom orders that were to be picked up before the end of business. But that wasn’t the main reason she looked forward to getting off her feet for a bit to study the enchanted map that Miss Octavia had put so much effort into creating. No, that was mere child’s play.
She had awoken just before dawn to cast a spell known in her grimoire as the ‘Raven’s Eye’. She hadn’t the time to cast the power circle as that would require some advanced planning to make sure the moon was in the right astrological position, an assortment of oils and herbs, and several advanced incantations that couldn’t be mispronounced or it would negate all the prior work. No, she instead turned to a lesser spell that was fairly uncomplicated to cast and would hopefully give her a much needed answer as to who was stalking her home. Under cover of early morning darkness, she had marched the perimeter around her home, making sure to extend the range out into the surrounding street. Thanks to the light snowfall overnight, it had been easy to visualize the area upon which the spell would record any intruder who utilized magical energy in any way. She charged a piece of onyx about the size of her fingernail and set it on the bedroom windowsill to finish the spell. When a streak of bright yellow appeared on the stone, that would indicate that she would able to get a glimpse at whoever it was that was taking an interest in her.
Miss Octavia finished the sale of a tarot deck to a happy customer and joined Vivienne in the area that was sectioned off with bamboo privacy screens. “That’s my fourth sale today on those tarot cards.” She smiled. “I guess they must be working exceptionally well with all the portals around us.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Vivienne replied.
“I’ve had a few people come in asking for Ouija boards, but I had to send them away empty handed. There’s too much bad juju floating around that could get ugly mighty fast in the wrong hands.” Octavia explained as she unlocked an antique cherry apothecary cabinet with a brass skeleton key. She rooted around inside one of the drawers until she found the enchanted map and pulled it free. “Ah, here we go.”
Vivienne stared at a stack of Cayuga Tribune newspapers from the past week that were piled up on one of the end tables. The front page with coverage of the fire at Suzette Powell’s catering business jumped out at her. In all the craziness that had been going on, she had nearly forgotten about that near tragedy. She pulled the newspaper from the pile and stared at the striking photograph of the blaze that the firefighters were in the middle of battling.
Octavia laid the map out on the table and massaged the edges so that they didn’t curl back up. “I still can’t make heads or tails of a pattern here, but a pair of fresh eyes might make all the difference.”
Vivienne stared at the corner of the photograph and gasped. There, standing amongst the crowd watching the fire, were two figures just barely visible. They were both wearing dark hoodies that were pulled up over their heads. “I don’t believe I missed that before.”
“What do you see?” Octavia puzzled at the map.
“Not the map. This picture in the newspaper.” Vivienne brought it over to the table and placed it on top of the map. “Look at these two figures here.”
Octavia squinted at the area where Vivienne’s index finger was pointing. “What am I looking for?”
Vivienne tapped her finger on the newspaper photo. “Those two figures in the dark hoodies. Hunter said that he saw them outside of Kathy’s store before he was attacked. When I probed Seamus Kilpatrick’s memory of the day Father William was killed, he ran into someone who looks like one of these guys too.”
Miss Octavia took a deep breath. “You think they might be the ones using the amulet?”
Vivienne pulled the paper off the map and leaned close. “Okay, so let’s start with the magical voids.” She scrutinized the detail of the streets and landmarks and came to a stop at the approximate location of the Cayuga Cove library. “This was the first event that seemed abnormal, when Seamus Kilpatrick collapsed after his confrontation with Father William at the Luck of the Irish carnival meeting.” There was a diamond that marked the location of a magic void.
“There it is.” Octavia marveled.
“We might be on to something here.” Vivienne scratched at her chin. “But we need to trace the order of the events to see if anything jumps out.”
Miss Octavia hustled over to the apothecary cabinet and rummaged through another drawer until she returned with a pencil and old-fashioned wooden ruler in hand. “Ready when you are.”
Vivienne paused for a moment to make sure she had the correct order for the chain of events that followed. “After that, there was the fire at The Formal Affair Catering.”
“What’s the address?” Octavia asked.
Vivienne studied the map and pl
aced her finger on the location of Suzette Powell’s former business. There was another red diamond to mark a magical void location. “That would he right here.”
Octavia lined up the wooden ruler and drew a faint line from the first point to the second. “Got it.”
“The next event I can think of would be when Nathaniel and Tristan won the lottery.” She moved her finger across the map. “Carriage House Antiques is right here.”
Octavia lined up the ruler once more and traced a line to the new point which also had a red diamond marking in front of it. “Keep going.”
“I found Father William dead at Our Lady of the Lake church.” She moved her hand across the document to a red diamond that marked the location.
“You’re doing great Vivienne. Keep it up.” Octavia remarked as she traced the line.
Vivienne ran the timeline through her head and then pointed to the Shoreline Baptist Church. “I think the next event would be the tent collapse at the revival meeting here.” Just like the other location, a red diamond awaited Miss Octavia’s pencil and ruler.
“Goddess protect us.” Octavia muttered as she completed the next line on the map.
Vivienne stared in disbelief at the image that the connected points and lines created. It was a perfect five pointed star, otherwise known as the pentagram. “What does this mean?”
Octavia’s hand trembled as she held the pencil. “This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.”
“What do you see?” Vivienne asked with trepidation.
Octavia pointed to the first location. “You’ve done enough ritual casting to know where you begin casting the pentagram symbol.”
“With North to represent the element Earth.” Vivienne replied.
Octavia nodded. “Because you’re casting light magic. Beneficial spell work.”
Vivienne stared at the map. “Of course.”
“Well, whoever is casting this pentagram is starting with the inverse.” Octavia pointed out. “The library is at the southern point of this map.” She folded her arms together. “Dark magic. Nothing but evil going on when you invoke that.”