His hand froze with a ladle of sauce. “You’re serious?”
I nodded. “I’d never kid about that.”
His brows dipped as he handed me dinner. “Maybe I should stay at your cabana tonight. I don’t like you living out there alone.”
“I’m never alone,” I answered. It was true. My cabana was frequented by ghosts every few days. It had become a way of life, my normal. I was okay with that. They kept me entertained and I never felt truly alone.
“I meant someone living should be with you,” he said, crowding me like a bully, as if looking deep into my eyes would make me see he was serious.
“Birdie is always home, and she lives thirty feet away. You know she’s warded that entire section of the beach. No one will get close enough without some type of wonky alarm going off. I’ll be fine. I’ll just pretend that I’m having a staycation.”
“In that case, you should take a bottle of wine or maybe an entire case.” He loaded me up with more goodies.
“This is the reason you’ll always be my favorite brother.”
“I’m your only brother.” He chuckled. “But I’ll remind you that you said that when your metabolism slows down.”
With an arm full of delicious goodness, I headed down the beach toward home, grabbing a coconut along the way. The coconut wasn’t for eating or drinking. No, I had a much more strategic use for that. As I neared Birdie’s cabana, I used the coconut to roll like a bowling ball down the white sandy beach, and it worked like a charm.
Mist appeared in the pattern of a purple checkerboard. If I stayed in the white zone, I was home free with no warning system going off, and that meant no unnecessary conversations with Birdie today.
Don’t get me wrong. Birdie is a crazy eccentric, and that was what made her fun. But with the omen, the last thing I needed was to start the unofficial gossip chain. That woman had a mouth as big as a great white shark and a bite just as strong if someone ever got on her wrong side.
I’d made it through the obstacle course and inside my house where I found my mom, Margo, hanging out, trying to read the newspaper I’d left open.
“What are you doing here?” Margo asked.
“Uh. I live here.” I answered, heading for the kitchen.
“Your trip?”
I sighed. How many more times would I need to explain my father’s attempt to keep me from leaving the island? “Canceled until the Halliwells leave.”
Margo abandoned her news and floated across the room, coming closer. “Those dreadful witches are here?”
“Afraid so.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You remember what happened last time they showed up?”
“Not really. I think I was two.”
Margo shivered. “They did a séance and conjured an entity.”
“Cool.” I chuckled.
“Not cool.” She gasped. “It took a month for their magic to dissipate. I agree with your father. They need to go.”
I slid a fork from the drawer and waved it at her. “You’re welcome to go try to scare the beejezus out of them, although they didn’t strike me as the scaredy-cat kind.”
I grabbed the chocolate cake from my bag, making my mother scoff. “Dessert first, dear? I thought I taught you better than that.”
“If you don’t mind, you’re interfering with my pity party. I have a long night of binge-watching NCIS and eating myself into a chocolate coma, and if you must know, I’m following Gibbs’ rule number 5. You don’t waste good, and this German chocolate cake promises to be fabulous.” I slid my fork through the chocolate cake and slid a bite between my lips, earning a moan.
I’d fallen asleep some hours later when my eyes shot open as my chest bowed off the couch. A silvery mist floating above me held me suspended in mid-air before diving into my chest and knocking the wind from my lungs. I struggled to breathe until the last speck of mist entered my body, and then I dropped back to the couch with a thud. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, a ghostly invasion of some sort. Had the Halliwells tried to conjure something new, or had my brother baked something into his cake?
I’d barely had time to think it might be the chocolate cake than my eyes grew heavy, and my lids slid closed. I fell back to sleep.
The cabana phone rang, jolting me awake. Cell service on the island was spotty at best. Only those that lived here long enough or asked the right person knew exactly where to be standing for a cell to work.
I slid off the couch and stumbled haphazardly across the floor, swallowing around the dryness in my throat.
“Hello?” My voice croaked as I squinted my eyes, peering out the blinds in the kitchen to see if the sun had even started to rise.
“You need to get down here,” Watson whispered into the phone.
“Why are you whispering, and what time is it?”
“It’s five in the morning, and I’m whispering because your dad demanded that word not get out yet. The omen struck.”
His words had every nerve in my body strung tight and me standing taller. “Who died?”
“The Halliwell matriarch; Vinette. This is bad, Tess, really bad.”
“Oh crapola,” I whispered. The last thing we needed was a clan full of pissed-off witches causing havoc at the hotel. “Natural causes?”
“I’m no coroner, but judging by all the blood and her charred clothes, I’d venture a guess that it was murder. Just get here quick. The police want the research you did from your guest list.”
Chapter 4
Murder on Venture? That was unheard of. Like literally. In my entire life, it had never happened on the island. Dying of old age, sure. Dying of an accident, rarely, but it wasn’t unheard of. But murder, never. I hurried to my bedroom and changed clothes getting ready for the day in record time.
I’d just glanced into the mirror before turning off the light when I paused. An icy chill skirted my spine. “What the hell?”
I pressed a finger against my cheek and pulled at my eye socket to see if maybe I’d blown a blood vessel and my blood had turned green. It was a long shot, but nothing could explain this. Leaning into the mirror for a better look, I saw my once vivid blue eyes were now bright green. I blinked in quick succession to see if they’d change back to no avail.
My cabana phone rang again, tearing me from the mystery, and I hurried out of the room, grabbing my keys from the countertop. I grabbed the phone. “I’m on my way.”
“Ms. Venture? My name is Mic—”
I sighed, not even waiting for him to get his name out. “Listen, whatever you’re selling, I already own three. I’ve already found Jesus, and I don’t read magazines. I’m more of a mystery sleuth. Speaking of which, if you’re just calling to tell me I’m still at the top of the sleuth leaderboard and my next monthly murder mystery box is free, then I know. I checked last night. If it’s anything else, I don’t have time to talk.”
“But—”
“Sorry, dude. If it’s important, call back later. I have an emergency, and I’ve got to run. Okay? Okay. Have a nice day.” I hung up and ran for the door and promptly turned back around to grab my sunglasses. No way could I explain the creep factor of my eyes.
I was running up the beach when Birdie opened her door. “You’re in a hurry. You set off the alarm.”
I waved my shoes in the air. “Sorry, no time to explain, I’m late.”
“Your dad should give you better hours. The sun hasn’t even risen,” she called out.
I gave her a thumbs-up without turning back around, only slowing when I turned the bend. The police chief and coroner were moving a body onto a gurney while the mystery man from yesterday watched nearby. Blood had discolored the indentation in the sand from where the body had laid. Next to it in the same discoloration a symbol was drawn into the once pristine white sands. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my shock.
“It’s true.” I must have said it louder than I’d thought for everyone to turn and look at me as I approached.
“Tess, you
shouldn’t see this,” Police Chief Harold Stein announced, blocking my view.
“What happened, Chief?”
“You tell us,” the mystery man said as he neared. “And while you’re at it, you can tell us what you’re doing on the beach.”
My mouth parted at his questions.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Shields. This is Tess Venture, and she lives in a cabana around the bend. Tess, ignore him. This is Ryder Shields,” the chief said, glancing up at the guy. “He’s an investigator of sorts and visiting.”
“You a witch?” Shields asked with a nod of his head.
“You’re not very good at your job if you think that,” I growled. “I got a call you wanted my research on all of the guests. I was just heading to the hotel to make you a copy.”
The chief nodded. “We’d appreciate a copy of the list.” His gaze dropped to the covered body. “I’ll be by to pick it up after I get the coroner settled and inform the family.”
“You think that’s wise to go in there alone?” I asked, my eyes bulging. “The Halliwells can be… temperamental. I’d hate for them to turn you into a toad.”
“How did you know it was a Halliwell?” Ryder asked. “Her body was covered by a sheet.”
“I was told when I was called for the list.”
Ryder and Stein shared a questioning look. “We never told anyone at the hotel who it was.”
I sighed. The cop should know better. “This is a big deal, Chief. Whoever found the body and reported it had to use the hotel phone to call you guys. You know that cell service is spotty unless you’re either at the bend”—I pointed behind me—“or at only a few places in town.”
“You’re right,” the chief said, jostling Ryder. “She’s right.”
“So who told you?” Ryder asked, unfazed by my response.
“The head of security called me,” I answered, narrowing my eyes.
Ryder gave a slight nod, but doubt still shined in his eyes, so I turned back to the chief. “I’ll get the list, but I really suggest that you don’t inform the rest of the Halliwells on your own if they’re all together.” I glanced at his gun. “I’m not sure your weapon will be able to stop their temper tantrums.”
“She’s right, Stein. I’ll go with Ms. Venture and get the list and then go up with you to inform them about their mother.”
I couldn’t stop the smirk that landed on my lips. “You think you’re a match for those people?”
“That’s need to know,” he answered.
Chapter 5
I started walking up the beach with Ryder. He was a good-looking man, I’d found that out yesterday, but his condescending attitude needed an adjustment.
“Ever heard the saying you’ll get more flies with honey?”
“Heard it, and I disagree.”
Of course, he would. I was starting to think that this man wouldn’t agree with anything I had to say. “It’s not polite to accuse the locals of murder, so maybe you should learn to keep your thoughts to yourself until you have real evidence.”
He glanced at me. “Like the head of security?”
I gawked. “Watson may be a big guy but he would never hurt a fly. I’ve known him my entire life.”
“Ever heard the saying that looks can be deceiving?” he countered.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Take you for instance. You look like frosting on blender tines, but in reality, you’re the cold metal underneath.”
“You’re more astute than I gave you credit for.”
Oh no, he hadn’t just said that I looked like a brainless ninny. My blonde hair and flippant attitude might suggest otherwise, but this man didn’t know a thing about me. I could use that.
“How did she die?” I asked.
“That’s classified,” he answered.
The automatic doors opened as we approached, and I bypassed Watson, who was waiting by the check-in desk. I gave him a slow shake of my head to stifle any comment as I headed straight to my office.
Flicking on the light, I slid the sunglasses off my head and tossed them onto my desk, heading straight for the filing cabinet pressed up against the wall. I yanked the drawer open and thumbed through the files by weeks and pulled out the current week with all of my research, and the list of this week’s guests.
“Let me make you a copy,” I said, turning around.
Ryder was lightning fast, pulling a gun and pointing at my body. My feet froze.
“What are you doing? Put that thing away before you scare people.”
“Drop the files, nice and slow, and raise your hands.”
I glanced at the floor. No way was I dropping these files, only for the chief to make me put them back in order. “I’m not dropping the files unless you’re cleaning them up.”
Ryder’s eye twitched, and he motioned me to the desk, where I laid the files down.
“Raise your hands,” he growled.
“Shields, what the hell are you doing?” Chief Stein asked from the doorway.
“Her eyes, sir.”
The chief glanced at me. “What about them?”
“When a witch takes her last breath, her power transfers to the nearest living witch, and considering a witch battle is what killed Halliwell, that means Ms. Venture must have been nearby, if not the perpetrator.”
“Chief, this guy needs some serious meds,” I said, resting my hands on my hips.
“It’s true,” Chief Stein said, stepping around Shields and lowering the man’s weapon from pointing at me. The chief cupped my face and lifted it for a better view. “Tess, what did you do last night?”
“I went home and ate dinner while binge-watching NCIS. I fell asleep on my couch until the phone call this morning.”
“Nothing strange happened?” he asked.
“I had a weird dream.”
“That you killed someone?” Ryder asked.
“No, dipshit.”
Stein snapped his finger for Ryder to keep quiet. “What kind of dream?”
“It was nothing, probably just from too much chocolate cake.”
“Tess. What kind of dream?”
“You won’t believe me.” I sighed.
“Chief, I need to put the cuffs on her before she kills you too.”
“I’m not going to hurt my godfather. Are you insane?”
“Tess.” The chief’s bark of my name was filled with irritation. “Tell me the dream.”
“A silver mist lifted me off the couch before piercing my body, and then I fell back on the couch. I’m telling you it was probably just the wine.”
“This is worse than I thought,” he announced. “Tess, honey, has your dad told you about your mom?”
“She liked to dabble with spells.”
He shook his head. “She did more than dabble, honey. She was powerful, and you must have the same genes. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“You can’t be buying this, Stein,” Ryder growled. “No way has this woman grown up not knowing she can perform magic.”
I narrowed my gaze at Ryder, mentally kicking his ass out of my office and slamming the door behind him in one breath, and in the next, that was exactly what happened.
His body flew backward with hurricane force winds, and the door slammed.
I covered my hand with my mouth and hurried to the door to open it again. Ryder was on the ground, spearing me with an angry look. “I…”
“Yeah, tell us again how you didn’t know and don’t practice witchcraft. Stein, we need to get the binding bracelets on her,” Ryder said, shoving off the floor.
“She doesn’t practice, and she didn’t know,” my father said from down the hall. He gestured back into my office, and they all stepped inside, including my dad.
“It’s true that Margo was a powerful witch, but she bound Tess’s powers before she died. She wanted Tess to grow up and have a normal life.”
“Dad?”
He held up his hand to stay my questions. “Tess never knew because I neve
r told her.”
Chapter 6
I plopped down in my chair. Whatever else my father was saying was drowned out by the ringing in my ears.
“Contessa,” my father said.
I glanced up at him. Anger and hurt filled my veins.
“The bind only works if she’s on the island,” he said, holding my gaze.
“Not anymore,” Ryder said.
“That’s why you canceled all of my vacations?” I searched his eyes for answers as I rose from my seat.
“It was for your own protection.”
My mouth gaped. “How could you not tell me?”
He sighed. “We are not having this conversation now. We have other pressing matters to tend to, like finding out who killed Vinette.”
My brows pulled together. “How did you know who was dead?”
Ryder shifted his confused looked to my father. “How did you know?”
“Because I’m the one who found her on the beach. We took a walk last night to hash out past grievances, but when I left her, she was alive.”
“What time was that?” Stein asked.
“Nine o’clock, and when I went for my morning run, I found her.”
“Dad.” I shook my head. “Tell me you didn’t…”
“I didn’t kill her.” He gawked. “She wanted to discuss an arrangement between you and her son. A future marriage if everything went well.”
I held up my hand. “My what!”
Dad crossed his arms over his chest. “Her son, Peter, is a strong warlock. Vinette knows what you are. She could sense it when she stepped on the island. She was trying to arrange for you to meet Peter. She said it would bridge the gap between our families.”
“And you agreed?” I screamed.
“To a meeting, yes. To a marriage, no. This isn’t the 1800s.” He answered without a flinch. “You’ve been lonely long enough, but I agreed only under the stipulation that you liked him and that you are not leaving the island.”
“I can’t even do this right now,” I said, heading for the door. I yanked it open and turned back to the chief. “The files are on my desk; take whatever the hell you want.”
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