Hotter Than Spell (An Elemental Witches of Eternal Springs Cozy Mystery Book 3)

by Annabel Chase

  “No, thank you. I don’t…like coffee.” In truth, I didn’t share drinks, or food, for that matter. The idea of someone else’s germs finding their way into my mouth…I winced. It was bad enough the other witches knew about my strong feelings on the subject. During the years, they’d hatched plenty of schemes involving switched coffee mugs and licked straws in the hope of watching me melt down. Most of the time, I managed to hold it together. Anything to deny them the satisfaction.

  “You’re in charge of the Battle of the Bands competition, aren’t you?” His face brightened at the mention of it.

  “That’s right,” I said. “Will you be attending?”

  His head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. “Not just attending. I’m competing.”

  “Is that right? I didn’t know you were in a band.” A necessary lie.

  “I was the drummer for Unpaid Interns,” he said. “But they decided not to play the competition.”

  “Why not?”

  He blew a raspberry. “Too much competition, apparently. They knew they didn’t have a shot with all these great bands flying in.”

  “Then how are you in it?”

  “I’ve replaced the drummer for Fat Gandalf,” he said. “They needed someone quickly and I was ready and able.”

  I pretended to be shocked. “The one who died? Pete?”

  “That’s the one,” Kyle said. “Poor guy. So close to his big break.” He shook his head sadly. “You were there when it happened, weren’t you? I thought I remembered seeing you.”

  “You were there?”

  “I stopped by on my way to work to check out some of the bands,” he said. “I talked to Keith and mentioned how my band was sitting out.”

  “And he remembered?”

  “Yeah, can you believe it?” Kyle asked. “He came looking for me to ask if I wanted to be their new drummer. It was like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one.” He rubbed his hands together in an effort to stay warm.

  “Is that your dream?” I asked. “To be the drummer in a band?”

  “I love music,” he said, “but I also want to be popular for a change, you know? In high school, I was a band geek, which on the popularity scale is pretty low. Then I became a tax assessor, the person everyone hides from. On stage with a band…it’s different.” He got a faraway look in his eyes. “People clapping and cheering. They’re happy to see me.”

  “You want to quit your job and tour with the band,” I said, more of a statement than a question.

  “Absolutely,” he said. “As much as I love Eternal Springs, that’s the real dream.” He sighed. “And I’m this close to making it come true.” He held his index finger and thumb an inch apart.

  I thought about Tiffany and her resistance to Pete’s dream. “What about your wife? Does she support you?”

  “One hundred percent,” Kyle said. “We’re practicing like crazy this week and she’s been a real trooper. I’m a lucky man.”

  “I’ll bet,” I said. Kyle certainly had motive and opportunity, but my gut told me that he didn’t have the stomach for murder. “Where were you when Fat Gandalf was playing onstage during the practice session?”

  Kyle’s eyes glistened with excitement. “At the foot of the stage with Steve’s girlfriend and his mother, Lila. Lila and I are in the same bridge group.”

  My brow lifted. “You play bridge?” With old women? And Kyle wondered why he wasn’t more popular.

  “My grandmother taught me bridge and my father taught me how to play the drums,” he said.

  “Is your grandmother in the group, too?” I asked.

  His head drooped. “No, she passed a few years ago. That’s why I joined Lila’s group. I missed playing with Nana Jo.”

  Sweet Goddess of mine. There was no way this guy killed Pete. He was simply reveling in his good fortune.

  “So if Fat Gandalf wins, is the plan to use the money to tour?” I asked.

  Kyle nodded. “We’ll make an album first, then a North American tour. I can’t say I’ll be sad to give my notice.” He entwined his index and middle fingers. “Fingers crossed.”

  I copied the gesture. “Fingers crossed for you, Kyle.” I found that I meant it. “Officially, I have to remain impartial, of course, but I’ll be cheering you on.”

  He beamed. “Thanks, Kenna. I don’t know why everyone says you’re such a…” He trailed off, thinking better of his intended statement. “Serious woman. It’s obvious you have a fun side.” It was a feeble recovery, but I let it go.

  “I need to get a move on before I freeze to death,” I said. “It was nice chatting with you, Kyle.”

  As I walked back to my scooter, my body was so stiff with cold that I could barely lift my bottom onto the seat. I waited until Kyle had moved on before focusing my magic on myself. I pictured a steaming sauna and chanted quietly, “Never fear, never doubt. Warm this body from the inside out.”

  My muscles immediately relaxed as my body temperature rose. By the time I crossed the border into downtown, my winter clothes were neatly placed in the scooter’s basket.

  I groaned when I recognized the golf cart in front of me.

  Buddy.

  I pulled alongside him and beeped my horn in greeting. Mitzi sat in the passenger seat beside him, intent on her knitting. The sight nearly sent me into a deep slumber, so accustomed was I to using her knitting show as a sleep aid.

  “Kenna Byrne, just the lady I wanted to see,” Buddy said, bringing his golf cart to a stop.

  Magic and mayhem, those were not words I wanted to hear.

  I stopped my scooter beside his cart. “How can I help you, Buddy?” I asked, injecting just the right amount of sweetness into my tone.

  “You’ve got to clamp down on this gossip about Pete,” Buddy said. “It’s going to make a mess of the competition. All that money we’ve put into the event will be wasted.”

  I wasn’t sure how I could put a stop to island gossip. “I’m doing what I can.” Unlike you, I thought.

  “I’ve been thinking about doing a little number at the start of the competition,” Buddy said. “I used to play the saxophone, you know.”

  “And the harmonica,” Mitzi added, without looking up from her knitting.

  I pressed my lips together. “The sax and the harmonica? A double threat.” Now if he could play them both at the same time, that would be impressive. And it would prevent him from talking.

  “I’ve been debating it because, well, I don’t want to show up the competitors,” Buddy said. When it came to music or politics, or basically anything at all, the mayor was his own biggest fan.

  “That’s a good point,” I said. “You don’t want to detract from the musicians. They might feel so outshone by you that they decide not to bother competing.”

  Mitzi tapped her husband’s arm with a knitting needle. “I told you. You’re the sun, Buddy. You’ll burn too brightly for that group.”

  Or he was just full of gas.

  Buddy smiled at his wife. “My biggest fan.”

  I couldn’t tell whether Mitzi was serious or simply placating her egotistical husband.

  “Your wife is right,” I said. “It wouldn’t be fair.”

  Buddy rubbed his chin. “I am kind of a big deal. I just hate to deprive residents of the chance to hear me play.”

  “Maybe next year,” I said. “We’ll work it into the schedule.”

  “If there is a next year,” Buddy grumbled. “If this Pete Simpson nonsense doesn’t die down, there won’t be a competition next year.”

  “Die down?” I repeated.

  “That’s a poor choice of words,” Mitzi said.

  Buddy snatched his wife’s knitting needle and pointed it at me. “Get a handle on the situation, Kenna. I’d hate to have to start thinking about your replacement.”

  I gritted my teeth, fighting the temptation to set Buddy’s golf cart ablaze. Maybe I’d settle for his toupee.

  “I’ll do my best,” I said tersely, and started the
scooter’s engine.

  “That’s what I like about you, Kenna,” he called after me. “You always do.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After my annoying run-in with Buddy, I decided to bypass the office and go home. Who was he to tell me to put a cork in island chatter? I had as much at stake as he did, but why was it my job to quash it? All four witches together didn’t have the power to stop people from gossiping.

  I fished my key out of my pocket and was about to unlock the front door when I heard someone call my name. My head whipped toward the sound and I saw a shirtless Lucas jogging along the sidewalk, Leia gracefully trotting beside him. I’d have mocked his shirtless habit if his abs weren’t so sculpted and enticing. No reason to give the guy a complex and force him to cover up.

  “Hey,” he said, approaching my front porch. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. Leia settled in the shade of a nearby tree.

  “Hi, how are you?” I glanced around furtively for Stuart, hoping he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Pretty good.” He noticed the winter clothes tucked under my arm. “Wow. I bet you overheated today.”

  With my eyes locked on those abs, I was in serious danger of overheating. “I had to go north today.”

  “You should’ve told me,” he said. “I could’ve flown you.”

  “No, thank you,” I said quickly.

  He didn’t miss my rapid response. “That’s right. You’re a big fan of gravity. Now I remember.”

  “You wouldn’t want to fly me anywhere,” I said. “I imagine I might get sick or something.”

  “You imagine?” His eyes widened. “You mean you’ve never been on an airplane?”

  Mother of magic. “No, I haven’t.” I’d come to the island by boat when I was younger in order to attend St. Joan of Arc.

  He broke into a broad grin. “I didn’t realize you were a virgin.” His cheeks flamed. “I mean, that you’ve never flown at all. We need to remedy that as soon as possible.”

  “We really don’t, but I appreciate the sentiment.” I unlocked the door. “Can I offer you a glass of water? You look like you could use a drink.”

  “I wouldn’t say no to a drink,” he said. He turned toward the Great Dane. “Leia, stay.”

  The command was only for show. Leia was perfectly content under the tree.

  “I can bring her a bowl of water,” I said.

  Leia barked as though responding to my offer.

  Lucas and I entered the house and I immediately called out to Gerald to make it clear that we had company. I didn’t need him fluttering into the room and casting a spell. Lucas already had to think my choice in pets was strange. No one else had a pink fairy armadillo.

  “Do you feed that odd-looking bird or something?” Lucas asked. “I see it every time I pass your house.”

  “Stuart?” I queried.

  Lucas looked perplexed. “The random bird has a name?”

  “That’s just what I call him,” I said, recovering quickly. “He’s an albino raven. I think he’s partial to the berries in my backyard.”

  How often is Mr. Ab-tastic passing our house that he’s noticed Stuart? Gerald asked.

  I ignored Gerald. I wasn’t even sure where my familiar was hiding in the house.

  Don’t call him that, I said. You sound like Tut.

  I went into the kitchen and filled a bowl with water for Leia and a glass for Lucas.

  “Do you always jog through this neighborhood?” I asked. I certainly would’ve noticed if he did.

  “It’s a new route,” Lucas said, gulping down the water. “I like to mix things up on occasion or I get bored.”

  “I see.” Maybe that explained his apparent interest in me. I was his attempt to mix things up until he got bored. That didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for a guy who flew airplanes for a living. He wanted excitement and adventure. I wanted a schedule that never changed. It would never pan out between us.

  “I’ll bring this to Leia,” he said, taking the bowl. “Thanks.”

  I waited in the kitchen, trying to keep my heartbeat steady. What did it matter if he liked to mix things up? I wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. How could I? My identity was secret and it had to stay that way. If I got too close to Lucas—to anyone—I risked exposing my witchy sisters as well as myself. As much as they annoyed me, I would never risk outing them to the rest of Eternal Springs. It would likely end badly for all of us. The residents wouldn’t react kindly to four witches in their backyard. They’d probably overlook the fact that we were protecting them from hellish creatures like flying monkeys and skip right to burning us at the stake.

  Gerald came around the corner, his bottom rising and falling as his wings attempted to hold his weight aloft.

  The front door opened and closed, alerting me to Lucas’s return. “I heard some gossip on the plane this morning that might interest you,” he said.

  “Gerald, your wings,” I hissed, motioning downward with my hand. “We have company.”

  Oh, right. Apologies, miss. Gerald dropped to all fours on the floor and smoothed his wings so they blended with his body.

  Lucas stopped short when he spied Gerald. “There’s your armadillo. Hey, buddy.” He stopped to pet Gerald’s back as though he were a garden-variety cat or dog.

  His hand feels strong, Gerald said with a deep sigh.

  “What’s the gossip?” I asked, ignoring Gerald.

  “I flew a group in from the mainland today,” Lucas said. “One of the bands for the competition.”

  There were only a handful that hadn’t yet arrived. I took a shot in the dark. “Look Mom, No Wings? Drunk Pandas?”

  “Nameless Faces,” Lucas said.

  I snapped my fingers. “Right. They’re supposed to be awesome.”

  “Turns out they played a gig in New York with Fat Gandalf a couple of months ago.”

  “Oh, nice,” I said.

  “They were a little shaken up because they’d heard about Pete’s death,” Lucas said. “And the guitarist mentioned seeing Pete backstage with a woman at the show.”

  “With a woman?” I repeated. “Like with her?”

  “Making out like high school kids, apparently,” Lucas said.

  I inclined my head. “Did you make out a lot in high school?” I couldn’t imagine Skywalker getting many opportunities, not with his lightsaber getting in the way.

  His cheeks flushed again. “Not really. Anyway, the making out isn’t the important part.”

  “It might be to his wife,” I said.

  Lucas’s gaze met mine. “According to the guitarist, he was making out with a wife, just not his. It was Keith’s.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Rachel Simonson?” I couldn’t picture the sleek blonde with messy hair and smeared lipstick. She was too much like…me.

  Lucas nodded. “The guitarist said those two seemed very familiar with each other, like it wasn’t the first time they’d hooked up.”

  I wondered whether it was the last. “Thanks for the tip,” I said. “I’ll be sure to pass it along.” To myself, because there was no way I was giving Buddy critical intel like that. He’d find a way to rationalize it and dismiss it.

  “I figured you’d want to know,” Lucas said.

  I certainly did. “I guess you’ve flown a lot of the bands to the island.”

  “Not all of them,” he said. “Some prefer to arrive by boat.”

  “I can understand that preference,” I said.

  Lucas laughed. “I’ll take you one day and turn your world upside down. Literally.”

  My stomach grew nauseated just thinking about it.

  “You’ll love it,” he insisted. “There’s nothing quite like being above the clouds.”

  Although I knew there was no way I’d feel the same, I didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm.

  “Did you always want to be a pilot?” I asked.

  “Not particularly. Mostly I wanted to get away,” he said.

  “I thought t
hat was why you went to the forest,” I said.

  “That was before I was old enough to get my license. I still go there, to mix things up,” he replied. “But taking to the skies and leaving the island behind…It’s so peaceful and quiet up there.” He became lost in thought. “Sometimes I need that distance. It’s how I cope.”

  Cope with what? I wanted to ask, but kept the question to myself. It felt too personal.

  “You make it sound very tempting,” I said. Then again, everything about Lucas was tempting.

  Like Adam and his apple, Gerald said.

  Gerald! Out of my head, I snapped. I was more interested in Adam’s banana than his apple.

  “Um, I’m glad you’re here, actually, because there’s something I need to ask you,” I said. Great balls of magical fire, I hated Skye more than hemorrhoids right now.

  Lucas eyed me curiously. “If you want me to demonstrate how Pete and Rachel were making out, I’m afraid the answer is no. I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t possibly show you.”

  Now it was my turn to blush. “Ha ha. Very funny. No, I was wondering if you ever go to Coconuts on karaoke night.”

  His brow creased. “Karaoke night? Why? Is that a tourist attraction?”

  “More of a local attraction, but we do get an influx of tourists every so often, depending on what’s happening in town.”

  “Why do you ask?” Lucas said. He raised his arm and leaned against the top of the door frame. Sweet Goddess above, that was a serious bicep near my face. I wondered what would happen if I just pressed my lips against it…“Kenna?”

  I snapped to attention. “Oh, yes. Um, I’ll be performing at karaoke night on Friday, so if you’re interested in a good laugh, please come by.”

  He gave me a lopsided grin. “You’re performing? What song?”

  “Not sure yet,” I said.

  “You don’t seem very happy about it,” he said.

  “I kind of lost a bet,” I said. I couldn’t tell him the truth. Skye wouldn’t want anyone to know she sat on stories and I didn’t want anyone to know I asked her to. We both wanted our integrity to remain intact.

  “Sounds like a fun time,” he said. “I’ll see if I can make it.”

  I admit, my heartbeat skidded to a halt when he didn’t respond with a resounding yes. Was he playing hard to get? Or was he just not interested?