by Celeste Hall
Something Wicca This Way Comes
A Kitty Coven Prequel
By Celeste Hall
Something Wicca This Way Comes
A Kitty Coven Prequel
Copyright © 2014 by Celeste Hall
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Please purchase only authorized editions.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgement
This series is dedicated to my amazing “Katie-Cat”. Ever since she was a little girl, she was always bringing home stray felines. Despite being scratched, bitten, peed on, and a mild case of ringworm, she has never met a cat that she hasn’t liked. If anyone deserves to find happily ever after in the arms of a handsome werecat, it’s her!
Also by Celeste Hall
~ Seduction Series ~
These books have a continuous theme and are best read in the following order…
Ethan
Kye
Rico
Gavin
All The Queen’s Men
~ Kitty Coven Series ~
These books can be read as standalone stories, but they are best read in the following order…
Something Wicca This Way Comes
The Bare Witch Project
Love Is A Witch – Coming Soon!
~ Standalone novels and novellas ~
Fealty
Lady Silence
Prison of Dreams
Simple Musings
His Pale Prisoner
Error: Please Try Again
Secret Admirer
~ Short stories and Anthologies ~
The Inventor’s Throne
A Touch of Irish
Their First Time (A collection of just the first love scene from several of her other books)
The Pied Piper
The Seven Ravens (Once Upon an Apocalypse anthology, via Chaosium Inc.)
The Girl Who Cried Wolf (Once upon a Ménage anthology, via Ravenous Romance)
Beware of Wolves
A Handsome Stranger
She wasn't sure why, but Liz had always believed that her life was going to change once she turned eighteen. She'd find a boyfriend, fall in love, get married, have a family, and live happily ever after.
Yet, here she was, six months later and still living the same old boring life.
From under a veil of long brown hair, Liz stared down the street to where three of the Forsythe brothers were building a new fence for their elderly grandmother.
All of them were shirtless and so beautiful she thought she might cry.
"Someday," she whispered to the scrawny tabby cat in her arms, "I'm going to marry one of the Forsythe brothers and live in a big beautiful Victorian house like that."
The cat meowed and wiggled out of her grasp.
"Really?" Liz frowned, her soft brown eyes narrowing with disappointment as the feline quickly vanished under the hedge. "I can't even keep a cat's attention for more than five minutes."
"What is it with you and cats," Beth mused from behind her, delicate fingers brushing golden curls back from bright blue eyes as she grinned down at her friend. "Every time I see you, you've got some stray feline in your arms."
Liz stole one last peek at the neighbor boys before she stood and brushed off her skirt.
"I like cats," she stated simply, then added, "I thought you were going to the drive-in with Frank tonight."
Beth made a sour face.
"I talked to Karen about him. Frank has been telling all of his friends that he's only going out with me because he heard that I'm a witch, so I must be an easy lay."
Liz gaped, shocked that anyone could ever suggest that tight-laced Beth might have loose standards.
"He really said that?"
"Yeah. He claims that if I dance around naked all the time, it should be no problem talking me out of my clothes after a well-chosen chick flick and a few beers."
"What a jerk."
"I agree. I mean, think about it for a second. He goes to church on Sunday and symbolically eats the body of Christ and drinks the blood of Christ."
"So?" Liz asked, "Lots of people do, it’s part of the sacramental ritual."
"Exactly!" Beth pounced, "But does he go home and dine on human flesh and blood afterwards?"
"Ew! That's gross!"
"That's my point," Beth growled. "I choose to practice Wicca Skyclad because I don't want any barriers between me and the energy that we're summoning. There's nothing sexual about it. Just like there’s nothing cannibalistic about eating some blessed wafers and wine."
"I'm sorry, Beth. I know that you were excited about this date."
"Yeah, well it's his loss," she sighed miserably, obviously considering it more her loss.
Liz put her arm around her friend and hugged her.
"Hey, how about we go to the movie together? I'll even buy you popcorn."
"You're on, but first I have to know if you're coming this Friday. Judy keeps asking me and I promised her that I'd find out today so we could pick up extra snacks and drinks."
Liz hesitated. Beth was her best friend, but she wasn't sure how she felt about her friend's pagan beliefs.
"Will everyone be naked?"
Beth chuckled and shook her head.
"Not this late in the year, we'd freeze. Please tell me you'll come. I have a really special ritual that I wrote just for you and the whole coven will be there to lend me their power."
Liz thought that sounded more frightening than appealing, but Beth looked so hopeful she just couldn't say no.
"Okay, I guess."
"Oh good!" Beth gave a happy skip, a motion that sent all of her curls into a riot of bouncing. "Samhain is one of my favorite times to cast spells, and there will be a full moon on Friday."
Liz tried to look excited, but her smile fell a bit lopsided. Samhain? A full moon? What on earth had she just agreed to?
At least she was lucky that her parents didn't have plans for that evening. The family station wagon was available, but her father threatened six ways to Sunday if anything so much as a gum wrapper tarnished its pristine condition upon its return.
Beth was waiting on her front porch with Judy and Karen, two girls from her coven, and longtime friends.
"The girls wanted to go out tonight, but their parents wouldn't lend them a vehicle. Do you think they could go with us?" Beth asked hopefully.
"Of course," Liz smiled, "but I promised my dad I'd keep the car clean."
"That's an easy promise to keep since we aren't bringing any boys," Judy beamed as the trio piled in. Beth sat up front with Liz, but twisted around in her seat so that she could better talk to the girls in back.
"Liz said she'll come with us on Friday. That will make us a full circle of thirteen."
"There will also be a full moon," Judy gushed. "A full moon right on All Hallows Eve. We're going to have some amazing energy to work with."
"Isn't it perfect? I can't wait for you to read the ritual that I've been working on," Beth returned. "It's something special that I wrote for Lizzy's first night with us, but I know it's going to make all of our lives a lot more fun."
"Oh, I can't wait!" Karen swooned playfully into her friend. "You're going to love working with magic, Liz. It's such an amazing feeling to be out there surrounded by nature and filled with limitles
s power."
Liz was still questioning her sanity for agreeing to go, so she just smiled and focused on her driving.
The drive-in theater was located a couple miles out of town, but it was a popular place for dates and friends to hang out. By the time they reached the large double gated entrance, there was already a line of cars forming.
"Oh look, Sabrina is playing," Beth cheered, "let's watch that."
"That's not a scary movie. It's Halloween on Friday. We should watch something scary. Let's go see Alfred Hitchcock's film, Dial M for Murder," Judy argued.
"No scary movies for me," Liz shivered, "I already have trouble sleeping."
"Sabrina it is," Karen chirped. "Majority rules. Sorry, Judy."
They found a parking stall near the center of the lot, then headed for the concession stand.
As they waited in line to place their order, Beth abruptly straightened and nudged Liz with her elbow.
"Hey, that guy standing near the eastern door is checking you out."
"Wow, he's good looking!" Judy piped up from behind her. "Have you ever seen eyes that blue?"
Liz finally clued in on which guy they were talking about, but not in time to see his eyes. She just caught a glimpse of a tall broad shouldered figure stepping back out into the growing shadows of early evening, before the girl behind the concession counter was asking for their order.
"Get me some popcorn and a Cola," Beth abruptly called over her shoulder as she darted off into the crowd, heading for the eastern door the blue eyed mystery man had just vanished through.
"Whoa," Karen gaped. "Beth isn't usually so forward. I guess she must really, really think he's cute."
A few minutes later the girls had their arms loaded up with snacks and drinks, but there was still no sign of Beth.
"Do you think we should go look for her?" Karen asked as they walked slowly towards the car. "We don't know who that guy was, maybe he was a criminal or something. On the run from the authorities."
"A drive-in would be a terrible place to hide," Judy, the resident horror buff, argued. "Too many people, someone could recognize him and call the cops."
"You guys are giving me the chills," Liz shivered and looked more fearfully at each of the passing faces.
"Hey, there she is," Karen cheered. She pointed towards their car, where their friend was involved in an animated conversation with the blue eyed hunk from the concession stand.
Liz stumbled to a halt as she finally got a good look at the man the others had been talking about.
He was quite tall, with Impressive broad shoulders and a powerful torso that tapered down to a firm stomach and muscular legs.
From this range, she could see that besides stunning blue eyes, he also had amazing hair. It was the most unusual shade of ash blonde she'd ever seen. A thick and glossy mane of pale cream-silver.
In that instance, all of her fantasies about the Forsythe boys were shattered. They were nothing compared to the vision of male perfection before her.
She abruptly realized that her friends had continued on to the car as she’d been shamelessly staring. So with a small whimper, she hurried to catch up.
"Hi guys, I guess I lost you in the crowd," Beth waved as they approached, playing as if she hasn't intentionally abandoned them all to chase down her male companion. "This is Johnny, he's new in town. Johnny, these are my friends. Judy, Karen, and the brunette is Elizabeth, but she prefers Liz."
As Beth began introductions, sapphire blue eyes flashed up to greet the newcomers. His searching gaze flickered from girl to girl, before capturing and focusing upon Liz.
A dizzy rush of heat and pleasure flooded through her body, turning her cheeks pink and sending her heart skipping into her ribs. No man had ever looked at her that way. As if she were a fat and sassy lamb, and he were a starving lion.
His eyes devoured her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you.” Full lips curled up into a slow and sexy as hell smile that made everything and everyone else around them seem to fade a few colors. With that intense gaze focused on her, Liz found it hard to see anything else.
But he wasn’t just gorgeous. There was a smooth grace to the way that he moved as well, even shifting his weight from one side to the other.
He had an elegance and balance that reminded her of a large feline, which she found utterly fascinating. She could easily imagine him in some exotic country, walking with lions.
"Johnny was just telling me about how he plans to rent the old Bailey house on Liz's street." She was so focused on the man, Beth’s voice almost failed to reach her. "You'll be neighbors Liz, isn't that great?"
She managed a mute nod.
"Why on earth would you want to live in Aspire?" Judy broke in, sounding appalled. "This has to be the most boring town in the entire state of New York."
"I'm a biology major," he explained without the slightest hint of offense. "I'm doing a study on how the pollution from the larger cities south of here might affect wildlife in this area."
"Pollution?" Karen asked with a confused frown.
"It's not something you probably hear a lot about this far north," he explained. "But it's becoming a big deal in larger cities. In fact, a couple of years ago it got so bad in London they estimated that around four thousand people died prematurely and a hundred thousand more became ill. They called it the Great Smog. There was pollution in the air so thick you could hardly see more than a stone's throw in any direction."
"Is that for real?" Karen asked, growing a shade paler. "Is that pollution stuff here?"
"Probably," he admitted, "but only in a very diluted form. You don't have to worry about getting ill from it."
"That sounds like a dangerous job," Judy considered, tilting her head as if she were seeing him for the first time, a glimmer of newfound fascination in her eyes.
"Not at all," he assured Liz, oblivious to the disappointment it caused Judy. "It's no more dangerous than waking up and taking a long hike through the woods each day."
A flicker of light on the big screen warned that the movie would soon be starting.
"I'll let you ladies enjoy your evening," he smiled at Liz again. "I better be getting back to my own vehicle."
"See you around," Beth called after him as he walked away.
"He's gorgeous," Karen sighed. "But I think he has the hots for Liz. Did you see how he kept looking at her?"
"Like a lovesick puppy," Beth beamed. "And look what I got."
She fished a crumpled napkin from her pocket and waved it at them.
"I snatched it out of the trash after he threw it away. You can even see the smudge where he wiped off his mouth."
"Beth!" Gaped Liz, "Why on earth would you do something like that?"
"I needed something that belonged to a handsome stranger for my spell on Friday. This was prefect! I'm so glad we came tonight. Now I have everything that I need. It's going to be amazing!"
Liz stared at the handful of soiled tissue and silently debated that declaration.
A Ghost on the Road
As much as she loved her friends, Liz wasn't sure how she felt about them casting a spell for her. What if something went wrong? What if, instead of bringing joy or blessings into her life, they gave her a chronic case of bad breath or flatulence?
Judy still complained about the time she'd tried to change her hair color using an herbal potion. Her hair had turned to a lovely shade of deep chestnut red, but something in the potion had caused a reaction that made her whole face, neck and shoulders break out in the most awful case of acne.
It had taken months before the hair color faded and the acne went away. All three girls assured Liz that their magical skills had greatly improved since that fiasco, yet for all her fears, time would not stand still.
Beth, Karen and Judy showed up a little before six on Halloween night. Just as the first of the trick-or-treaters were finishing up their hasty dinners and racing out to collect their sugary bounty.
Resting next to
Beth in the back seat were several large bags filled with snacks, drinks, and a collection of ominous looking boxes and pouches.
The interior of the car was thickly perfumed by a strange but pleasant combination of herbs and spices, suggesting that at least a few of those mystery packages contained dried plant matter.
She silently prayed they were not the same herbs which had resulted in Judy's travesty.
"We still need to stop and pick up Mary, so we'll have to squish together a bit." Karen told her as Beth piled half the bags into Liz's lap, "Sue, Kathy, and Betty will be coming with Bev. Shirley, Patty, and Vickie will be riding with Donna."
"This is going to be amazing," Beth cheered. "I'm so glad everyone can be there tonight."
"Where exactly are we going?" Liz asked.
"There is a really beautiful meadow a few miles out of town, on that dirt road that has the old lumber mill," Judy piped up from the front of the car.
"Nobody ever goes out there anymore, so it's perfect," Beth added. "Although the mill is really spooky at night. Sometimes the wind blows through there and makes a sound like tortured souls sobbing in the dark."
"I don't think it's always the wind," Judy offered in a frighteningly solemn tone. "I think those are the lumber mill workers that died during the fire, back when my dad still worked there. I heard him telling my mom that three men were trapped in the basement when the stairs collapsed. He could hear them screaming, but nobody could save them."
Liz shivered in horror.
"I remember that night. My dad got a call in the middle of dinner and rushed away to help. Mom was so upset she couldn't eat."
"Bev's uncle died in that fire," Karen murmured. "They weren't very close, but her mom still cries for him when she thinks nobody is watching."
“Look out!” Beth shrieked as something small and ghostly pale abruptly darted out in front of their car.