“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I glanced at the body. Green hadn’t moved since Griffin dropped him. I wanted to be sad about it, felt I should be at least mildly remorseful, and yet I couldn’t make myself feel it.
“He is,” Dad confirmed. “His body will be part of the cleanup efforts, along with the rogue, who is also dead.”
“I should’ve checked on Redmond after … well, after. I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
“You had other things on your mind. Redmond took care of himself, although I had to remind him he had a tranquilizer gun in his pocket. He never used it. He claims he forgot.”
He wasn’t the only one. “Yeah.” I leaned into Griffin as he kissed my cheek. He couldn’t seem to stop from touching me, perhaps to anchor himself to reality. I was fine with it. I wanted to be close to him, too. “What are you going to do about Mom?”
“She claims she was trying to handle the situation without putting us in harm’s way.”
“Do you believe her?”
Dad shrugged. “She gave you the opening to take out the rogue and Green. She was hurt badly in the process. She’s pretty beaten up.”
“I barely saw what happened.” I felt guilty about that, too. “I guess I’m kind of sorry I suspected her. If she didn’t act so odd all the time it wouldn’t be so easy to accuse her in times of crisis.”
“I pointed that out to her.” Dad patted my hand. “She’s not angry. She thought she was helping. I don’t know what else we can expect from her.”
“So … you believe her?”
“Don’t you?”
I searched my heart. “I guess,” I replied after a beat. “She did seem frustrated that we were here, and for once I think it was because she was trying to protect us. She ripped the talisman off Green’s neck, which gave us the distraction we needed. She also tipped the scales in our favor when it came to the fight.”
“She fought to protect you.”
“So … that’s it? You’re ready to forgive her?”
“I didn’t say that. Your mother and I can never go back. But she still is your mother.”
“Does this have anything to do with your desperate need to keep Braden on an even keel?” It was an honest question and I didn’t miss the way Dad squirmed under my scrutiny. “Braden seems weak at times, but he’s strong. If you don’t want to allow her in, he can deal with it.”
“He doesn’t have to deal with it now,” Dad said. “For now, your mother is part of the family and she helped save the day. Redmond and Griffin helped, too. I think that deserves a prime rib feast. Maybe some lobster and scallops, too.”
“Now we’re talking.” Griffin brightened. “Can we have cake for dessert?”
Dad’s smile was heartfelt. “Whatever kind of cake you want. You are a hero, after all.”
I balked. “Hey! What about me? I was a hero, too.”
“You can have whatever cake Griffin selects.” Dad flicked my ear to let me know he was teasing. “I think we can work something out.”
“Does that something include time off?”
“I believe you’re getting two weeks off for your honeymoon in a few weeks – I’m going to be paying for that, by the way, and I have a surprise for you – you also get the week of the wedding off,” Dad answered. “Do you think you deserve more time off?”
I thought Griffin deserved it, but I didn’t want to say that out loud. “Maybe an extended weekend,” I hedged.
As if reading my mind, Dad nodded. “You can have the next few days off. I think it will be good for you to take a breather.”
“Yay!” I clapped my hands before something occurred to me. “Wait, that was way too easy. You’re up to something.”
“I’m not up to anything,” Dad corrected. “I am, however, a bit relieved. Our list for tomorrow already came through and there’s a familiar name on it. I didn’t want to give it to you, so this makes it easier to cut you out of the loop without having to come up with an excuse.”
“Familiar name?” I furrowed my brow. Then realization dawned on me. “Carol Davenport.”
“She’s passing tomorrow,” Dad confirmed. “I think it would be best if you weren’t the one to collect the soul.”
I thought the exact opposite. “I’ll do it. I’ll come in for the one job. It won’t take long and … I’ll do it.”
Dad cocked an eyebrow. “Will you tell me why?”
“Because I should be the one.” I thought back to my many fights with Angelina, and that day at my mother’s funeral so long ago. “It will be okay. Trust me.”
Dad didn’t look convinced, but he shrugged as he stood. “If you want it, you’ve got it.”
“I want it.”
“Then it’s settled.” Dad dusted off the seat of his pants. “They’re about to start the fire. I need to supervise. Why don’t you head back to Grimlock Manor and get cleaned up? We’ll meet you there.”
I remained confused. “How are you going to get away with burning a mausoleum and bodies in the middle of the day?”
“I know what I’m doing. Leave it to me.”
Because I was tired I did just that.
It took Griffin and me almost five minutes to ready ourselves to depart. We both walked on wobbly legs as we descended the hill, Griffin gripping my hand tightly and refusing to look at Green as Dad’s workers cleared the body. We stopped at the bottom of the hill long enough for me to wave at Redmond, silently acknowledging that we were both okay and would talk later, and then I stared at the fire for a few minutes.
“It will be over soon,” Griffin noted as Dad threw the disc into the flames, Cillian following suit seconds later with the other discs. They both turned their backs and focused on the workers as Mom approached the fire, her eyes blank as she stared into the abyss. “We’ll be able to put this behind us.”
I squeezed his hand. “We’ll definitely be able to put this behind us.” I was about to turn away – actually, I was about to turn toward him because I was ready to move forward – when something about Mom’s demeanor caught me off guard.
She dug in her pocket, her eyes never moving from the flames, and then tossed what looked like a fourth disc into the fire. She didn’t glance around to see if anyone was watching. She didn’t look in my direction. She merely tossed in the disc – and where did that come from anyway? – and turned to join Braden and watch the rest of the takedown.
I opened my mouth to call to her, to ask what she tossed away, but ultimately I remained silent. Was it something to worry about? Had I somehow miscounted? Did it ultimately matter?
In the end I couldn’t decide, so I decided to shutter it for a bit and focus on the good this life had to offer. I could think about the disc and what it meant later.
“So what kind of cake are you going to request?” I asked, falling into step with Griffin as we walked away from the cemetery and toward our future. “I think chocolate would be good with prime rib.”
“You know I like red velvet best.”
“Yes, but we’re about to get married. I think we should compromise.”
“How is you getting chocolate cake compromising?”
“I’ll share my kisses of gratitude with you after I’m done stuffing my face.”
“Hmm.” Griffin was smiling. “I think that sounds like the perfect way to spend an evening.”
“We can agree on that.”
“Yup. We definitely can.” He swung our joined hands. “By the way, what you said about moving on? It was never going to happen.”
“I know. I wanted to look magnanimous in what could’ve been my final moments. I didn’t want to be the person who told you it was wrong to let me go.”
“So it was all about you?”
“Yup.”
Griffin chuckled. “Never change, baby.”
“That’s the plan.”
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About the Author
> I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.
If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.
Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Books by Amanda M. Lee
An Avery Shaw Mystery
Who, What, Where, When, Die
If it Bleeds, it Leads
Buried Leads
Shot Off The Presses
The Preditorial Page
Misquoted & Demoted
Headlines & Deadlines
Misprints & Mistakes
Bylines & Skylines
Off the Record
Unwritten & Underwater
Extra! Extra! Dead All About It
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery
Any Witch Way You Can
Every Witch Way But Wicked
Witching You Were Here
Witching on a Star
Something to Witch About
Witch Me Luck
Life’s a Witch
Charms & Witchdemeanors
The Trouble With Witches
Murder Most Witchy
A Witch Before Dying
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short
Careful What You Witch For
Wicked Brew
On a Witch and a Prayer
You Only Witch Once
The Christmas Witch
Bewitched
A Solstice Celebration
Witchdependence Day
Happy Witchgiving
Merry Witchmas
Four-Leaf Clover
Thistle While You Work
Landon Calling
I Dream of Twila
How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy
Witchy Tales
A Witch In Time
Make A Witch
A Witchmas Carol
All My Witches
An Aisling Grimlock Mystery
Grim Tidings
Grim Offerings
Grim Discovery
Grim Reunion
Grim Expectations
Grim Holiday
Grim Rising
Grimlock Family Shorts
Grim Like Me
Grim & The City
Now & Grim
A Mystic Caravan Mystery
Freaky Days
Freaky Lies
Freaky Hearts
Freaky Games
Freaky Places
A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery
The Bigfoot Blunder
The Chupacabra Catastrophe
A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery
Witchin’ USA
Covenant College
Awakening
Whispering
Conjuring
Waxing & Waning
Graduating
Living Covenant Trilogy
Rising Covenant
Dark Covenant
Eternal Covenant
Dying Covenant Trilogy
Haunted Covenant
Desperate Covenant
Everlasting Covenant
Grim Tempest Page 29