Just A Little Wicked: A Limited Edition Collection of Magical Paranormal and Urban Fantasy Tales

by Lily Luchesi

  "Aunt May, do something about Solstice," Sylvia said, swooping on the tea pot and pouring herself a cup, a vision in gold and green. "Four times today she leapt up in the middle of tarot readings and disrupted my cards."

  "Solstice knows more about tarot than you or I will ever know," May said.

  Sylvia frowned into her cup after the first sip. "Why do you always make the most ridiculous tasting teas. This one tastes like flowers."

  "I make what the customers want. We sell more tea than anything else in the shop," May said.

  Sylvia took another sip, grimaced, and slammed the cup back into the saucer. "You have to do something about that crazy cat. She knocked the card right out of my hand. My reading was ruined."

  "Was it?"

  "I did not tell him what he wanted to know. He needed reassurance."

  May tsked. "Sometimes, you cannot give them what they want. They pay for truth."

  Sylvia huffed and blew a perfect lock from her face. "What would they know about truth? You know nothing about business."

  May's sunken lips twisted into a little smile. "True enough, Sylvia."

  Sylvia stepped closer to a wavery mirror, ancient and made with blown glass, to admire herself. "This mirror is worthless."

  May said nothing, though the ancient mirror was technically priceless and she'd been offered more than one fortune for it.

  Pouting, Sylvia leaned on the counter and a huge black cat with tufted ears and long luxurious fur rubbed against her. She made a sound of disgust and pushed it away. "I don't know why you insist on filling my shop with all these fuzzy monsters when you know I'm—I'm –achoo!"

  "You're not wearing the medicine bag I made you," May said, gathering up the huge cat in her arms and cooing to him.

  "That pouch of herbs? I'm not wearing that. I told you. It's ugly and it smells funny."

  May sighed. "And you needn't be mean to Beltane. He's the only one that likes you."

  "More fool him." She glanced around the shop and nodded at the more obvious depleted stock, notably some soft cotton dresses in flowing fabrics imported from India, several nice silver jewelry pieces, and a statue of a dragon that had graced the entryway for nearly a year. May was already limping around the shop, pulling out additional dresses and jewelry from the cupboards behind the counter. "I see you sold that stupid dragon. I told you it would never sell. I can't believe someone bought it."

  "You were right. I gave him to someone who needed him."

  Sylvia shook her head with a tinkle of jewelry. "You gave it away? Who in the world needs a dragon statue?"

  "Joe did. I knew someone would," May said placidly, hanging more of the dresses on the hangers.

  "Whatever. I'm glad to be rid of the eyesore. This is the list of spells I was asked to cast. Write up the invoices after you restock. Did we sell anything expensive?"

  May set down the box of jewelry and fished a notebook from behind the till. "A few things. I made a list," May said, handing her a notebook and taking the single sheet of paper Sylvia offered her. May looked over the list of spells and her skinny brows rose. "You didn't actually agree to a death hex? Spells like this have a karmic backlash that you can't just shrug off.".

  "None of your business," Sylvia said. She looked over the notebook, snorted, and tossed it back. "Good thing I'm making money, or this place would go under in a week. And I heard you severely discount that necklace earlier."

  "She needs it and only had enough to pay a hundred. She'll come back soon enough."

  "You're a fool," Sylvia said. "Give me the money from the till."

  "Sylvie, you can't just use the money however you want. You need to keep records, yes of your activities, too, for restocking and taxes. The replacement items can't just be conjured up."

  The huge dog snorted at that as Solstice, a slender black cat, leapt to the counter and began to lick Beltane.

  "You keep the books for me," Silvia said, tossing back her hair. "Use whatever estimate you want for the money I make. Isn't that what you have been doing? I pay you a salary for you to sit up here and do nothing but give away my stock. I don't think you should worry if I grab a couple extra measly dollars for myself."

  May gave her a toothless smile. "That reminds me. You're three months behind with my pay."

  Sylvia blew out an angry breath. "Right. I'll get it to you this weekend. I've got something I want to do. Don't get greedy. Thanks to your pal, the owner of this dump, you can live here for free."

  May's smile grew. "You, too, and your shop as well."

  "This place ought to be condemned. Can't turn on the air conditioning in an apartment if anyone else is using theirs or you'll blow a circuit breaker. This whole town is so last century."

  "The last century wasn't that long ago," May said.

  Sylvia pressed her perfect lips into a hard line and left with a flounce.

  May slumped on her stool before beginning to write up the invoices.

  She's a brat, Ostara said. Did you see the tea leaves for Adele? She'll be pregnant within the month.

  "I did, Ostara, but I prefer you wait until the customer's gone to check them out."

  But I like that tea!

  That woman, Solstice said, curling into a tiny ball at Beltane's feet, knows nothing about Tarot. She always picks the wrong card and doesn't understand the depth of the meanings. If I hadn't distracted her, she would have lied to that woman.

  She smells good, Beltane said. Too bad she's a fool.

  Smells good? scoffed Mabon, licking his backside, his curling fur glistening under the lights. What, like tuna fish?

  Maybe a little, Beltane admitted.

  She treats us like unwelcome ambiance. We're the only reason her readings are even slightly accurate, Solstice grumbled. And if she manages to hit me, like she tried to today, she'll get a new scratch on her face.

  May thought it was telling that none of the cats ever called Sylvia by name. Still, Sylvia was family. "Now, now, my pretties. She's thoughtless and not particularly appreciative, I grant you. But you all know how grateful I am for your help," May said, snuggling her face into Mabon's curling fur, then stroking the slender Solstice.

  You shouldn't talk to us when customers are here, Ostara said. You look like a crazy.

  "So what?" May asked, tickling her chin.

  That woman would slap you in an institution if she could, Solstice said, going back to Sylvia.

  "She doesn't dare do anything to me with Sam here owning the building."

  What will you do about the hex? Samhain, May's huge black hellhound, asked her.

  "Nothing," said May, placidly. "No blood bond is enough to force me to do harm, and whoever asked for it deserves to be left disappointed."

  Dangerous, Samhain said, shifting back into his human form as the sun set beyond the windows. She handed him a black kimono embroidered with a wolf in silver thread. He straightened only after he donned it for the sake of someone walking by. Samhain—a truly handsome creature as a hellhound—was just as devilishly handsome as a man, and May touched his cheek lovingly as he rose.

  "I shouldn't have kept you downstairs so long. It's too dangerous."

  Samhain shrugged that off. "That's not what I meant. It is because you cover for her that her lack of talent is not obvious. Now she's selling dangerous spells to dangerous people. What will they do when she fails as, of course, she will?"

  "There is only so much I'm willing to do for her, however I want to help her," May said. "My sister's daughter, torn from her dead womb. How could I not answer when she sued me for help?"

  I see none of Michelle in her, Solstice said.

  May sighed. "Little enough I see of her. Only that father who left his fortune to a wife younger than Sylvia was. But what could I do?"

  "That blood bond you use as an excuse to pervert your own powers and even change your appearance to suit her…"'

  "She doesn't really like competition," May admitted.

  "As if she could ever be tha
t. Your blood bond has become an excuse for her to take and offer nothing in return. If I was not her landlord, she'd have your ass out on the street in a heartbeat. She cares nothing for true witchcraft or ability. Solstice and Mabon are the only reason her tarot readings aren't wildly inaccurate.

  "It is what it is," May said, straightening with a groan to her true height, nearly six feet tall.

  "That hideous reverse glamor she asked you to create for yourself… How do you bear it?"

  "In some ways, being an irrepressible old woman is freeing. But it is uncomfortable. I bear it because you are by my side. Would you forsake me for my ugliness?"

  Samhain snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. I did not come to love you for your beauty, though it is very compelling." Samhain had lifted Ostara to one shoulder, and Beltane jumped to his other on his own. Solstice jumped to May's shoulder, but Mabon preferred to walk. "Someday, my beloved, you will regret giving the glamor of ability to your niece with your labor, for that has its own karmic backlash. You'd best pray that no one suffers for it but you and she."

  May shuddered, the frisson of prescience going through her. "I shall." She followed her lover from the room, upstairs where she would fill out invoices, do the books from memory, and cast four very benign spells.

  * * *

  Over the next week—which did not provide May any back pay—things seemed quite the same except that Sylvia grew more on edge as the days went by, her temper flaring for the least thing. Her tarot readings, always sporadic, became so wildly off-kilter even Solstice gave up helping. Several clients left in a huff.

  Sylvia held four seances that week, but May had never been involved with those. They were as meaningful as they ever were, namely not at all. Those with dead loved ones were always willing to believe anything to hold on a little longer.

  A week after the Friday when May had been promised her back pay, Sylvia broke into the front office. "Has no one else come for a reading?" she asked impatiently.

  "Not since yesterday, when you predicted ol' man Destry would become a papa. If his wife hears about it…"

  "She's not too old to have a baby."

  "That'd be true, but she had a hysterectomy three years back for uterine cancer. Whole town had a raffle to help with hospital bills."

  "Why do you live in such an archaic town? It's like you live in a whole other era, one that thinks magic makes sense." She huffed, smoothing the silk of a gown in a very attractive shade of blue.

  May's voice became a little harder. "You came to me, begging me for help." Under the counter, Samhain growled.

  Sylvia narrowed her eyes. "I did you a favor thereby. Wasting your time as an herb witch, handing out potions for a few pennies, delivering babies for the unwashed."

  May ground the teeth she wasn't supposed to have. Before she could reply, Sylvia asked, with a great show of unconcern. "Has Mr. Mabley come by?"

  Mr. Mabley had been on the invoice for the hex. "What did you do? Didn't I tell you those spells were dangerous?"

  "You're so sure I have no talent," Sylvia said. "You think I don't know you do the silly useless spells on your own? Well, I have my own resources. You probably think I don't know about the secret stash of books you keep in the back of your kitchen behind the false panel."

  May blanched. "You had no right to touch those."

  "I didn't steal them," Sylvia said blithely. "I put them back. I only borrowed them."

  May glanced down at Samhain.

  I'll move them later. I'm not leaving you alone. She's dangerous.

  "Just because the books were mine did not mean they were safe. Those who came before us were not always wise in the spells they chose to make."

  "Those who came before you weren't afraid to use real magic, the kind you fear to do, not the half-ass stuff you practice. Real spells with real effects that can bring in real business and secure a reputation as a real witch. Mr. Mabley is my ticket out of this town and out of Loserville. I gave him his hex and made sure he was tied to me besides."

  "What else did you do?"

  Sylvia opened her mouth to answer but was given no chance. The bell at the door rang as a frantic young man in a business suit burst into the room. "My daughter! You have to help me find my daughter! The woman at the daycare sent me here!"

  "What happened?" May asked sharply.

  "I was supposed to pick up my daughter from daycare, but the train broke down and I was late. Someone else came and claimed her and the usual woman running the place—"

  "Fran," May said. "Got food poisoning again. Told her to stay away from the oysters."

  "Yes, Fran was out sick, and her substitute didn't know any better than to let her go."

  "Poor Sukie. She's too trusting," May agreed.

  "Are you frequently late?" Sylvia asked.

  "I've been late a few times, but I try to get Amy on time when I can. It's just Amy and me. I make time for her."

  Sylvia humphed.

  The man seemed confused between the two women and appealed to them both. "Look, I don't care what you think about me. You have to help me find her. If anything happens to her…"

  Sylvia looked him over closely. "Five grand."

  "Five?" he said, shocked. "Fine, fine, whatever it takes. She's only six. Please help me."

  "I'll help you," May said. "And it won't cost you a dime."

  "Don't get in my way, May," Sylvia growled. "He came to see me."

  "This isn't a game, Sylvia. This is a child."

  Sylvia smiled at the man, standing in confusion. "Don't listen to her. She's senile. Five grand it is." She pulled a silver and quartz pendulum from a stand and held it carefully over a circular board with yes and no and letters and numbers engraved on it. "Does the kidnapper mean Amy harm?" she asked and watched as the weighted crystal slowly began to move.

  "Do you have anything of Amy's on you?" May asked, ignoring Sylvia entirely.

  "Hmm? Yes. She dropped her barrette. I meant to put it back in this morning, but we were running behind."

  "Give it to me," May said. "Quickly. There may not be much time."

  He handed over a plastic dainty with butterflies and flowers riveted on it as the pendulum Sylvia held began clearly indicating yes. "He means Amy harm," Sylvia said. "What is his name?" She stilled the pendulum and then let it free again.

  May held the barrette in one hand and, with her other hand, pulled off a long chain where a single black crystal dangled. With the barrette still in that hand, she went to a stack of local maps and chose one seemingly at random, then spread it out. It was part of the same town, but a few blocks away, at the harbor. "Did you call the police?" she asked, holding her pendulum above the map.

  "The woman at the daycare did and sent me here to wait for them."

  May nodded and the pendulum, despite hanging perfectly still for a few seconds, began to gyrate madly almost at once. With the hand holding the barrette, May dialed a number on her cellphone from memory, leaving it on speaker. "Joe," she said when the man picked up.

  "Hey, May! How ya doing? You were right. Installing that dragon over my bedroom window stopped the nightmares cold. I haven't slept so well since the war."

  "I'm so glad, Joe. Joe, I need a favor. At the corner of Third and Pine, there's a large building, do you know what it is?"

  "Used to be the shipping office, but they moved that to First Street because hardly anyone uses the Northern wharves. Bunch a nasty bars and drug dealers all you'll find around there now."

  "Anybody supposed to be in that building now?"

  "May, what is it?"

  "I think someone kidnapped a little girl and has her in that building."

  "I'll be right there. Call the cops."

  The phone cut off and the cops came in as Sylvia got to "d" in TED. May told them she thought the little girl had been taken to the former shipping office on Pine and Third. She also told them that there was a burly taxi driver on the way there now that could sure use police backing him.

  Cop
s were on the radio seconds later, leaving with the kid's father, but one of the cops looked back as he left. "Thanks, May. I'll have some questions for you after I get back. You figure out anything else, call me."

  "I will, but come by in the morning," May said. "You'll be tied up until midnight and a gal needs her beauty sleep."

  Sylvia had been totally ignored by the cops and the father since May began her divination. After they were gone, she stamped her foot. "They ignored me."

  "Of course, they did. You didn't know what you were doing."

  "His name is going to be Ted."

  May looked at her, her brows wrinkled. "So what? That's not what they needed."

  "Who was that man you called?"

  "The one I gave the dragon to. He's a taxi driver and I knew he'd know what that building was."

  "And now he's going to just jump in there? What if the criminal kills him?"

  "He gets nightmares because he's an ex-Seal. If the girl is still alive, he'll save her. That dragon is one of destiny and Joe has quite the destiny ahead of him. That means he won't be dying today."

  "Did you know the girl would be kidnapped when you gave him the dragon?"

  May shook her head. "Of course not. If' I'd known, I would never have let the girl be taken. Of course, I would have shared the information so she would be safe. That's now how it works, Sylvia, magic is for good only, always truthful, always for the betterment of others."

  "And you did it for free!" Sylvia slammed the pendulum so hard on the glass display case the case cracked. "You made me look like a fool."

  "You were worse than a fool. You would have taken money from that desperate father. What do you think magic is for?"

  "Magic is crazy! It's make-believe. No one really believes it."

  May's cellphone rang. "Yo, May," Joe said on the line. "Thanks for telling them I'd be there. Coulda gone ugly when they came in and saw me whaling on the guy, the little girl in the corner, cryin'. Poor baby. He scared her half to death with what he wanted to do to her, well, he's lucky the cops showed up before I finished, that's all I'm saying."

  "Thank you, Joe. I'm so glad you got there in time."