Covens and Cocktails

by fox, angie

  “Don’t think you’re getting off that easy. You take two,” I said.

  “I don’t need this trick. I love one man only. Now have at it.”

  We each named our hazelnuts as we tossed them into the fire in front of us. Frost looked supremely uncomfortable with the whole thing, but she played along, naming Corbin—which made her face turn bright red and Selene smile.

  We all recited, “If there is love in our future, pop and fly. If there is none, burn and die.”

  “Now what?” Frost asked.

  “Now we wait to see which ones pop,” Leslie said.

  “And which ones die,” I added.

  We all settled back into our spots, watching the fire.

  “Do you think it will work?” Leslie asked.

  “I think the hazelnuts are just a trick,” I said.

  “Not that. Do you think we can really talk to Devin?”

  “I think so,” Selene said. “I know you guys don’t see it, because your magic isn’t as flashy as what I can do, but you’re both strong and so is Frost. We should be able to talk to her and to Gram.”

  “Are we limited to two spirits?” Frost asked.

  “I guess we could do as many as we want,” I said. “Who would you like to contact?”

  She gave half-hearted shrug and drew in the sand with her finger.

  One of my hazelnuts popped.

  “Which one was it?” Leslie asked.

  I peered into the coals. All the nuts had shifted around and I didn’t know which was which. “I have no idea.” I looked up and smiled. “I guess it will just have to be a surprise.”

  We waited another twenty minutes but no more popped. Selene stood up and walked a few steps toward the ocean, holding her arms out wide and staring up at the moon. “It’s time.” Her voice was soft yet strong. Leslie and Selene made a protection circle in the sand, while Frost and I made sure we had everything we needed. Selene took a bundle of sage and lit it, then handed it to me.

  “Cleanse the area. We don’t want anything unexpected coming to us tonight.”

  I cleansed the circle with the sage, Frost filled a cauldron with distilled water and set it in the center, and Leslie carved initials into two black candles. Selene set a board over the cauldron, then placed a purple candle in the middle. When everything was to her liking, we all took our positions. Selene faced north, Frost south, Leslie west and me east. We called down the guardians and the elements to watch over us and protect us. With almost a click, the magic snapped shut around us.

  “Let’s start with a Samhain blessing,” Selene said.

  “Shadows, whispers, and dark

  remove yourself from our hearts

  Standing together

  we welcome the change in weather

  As spirits surround us in double

  Protect us from trouble.”

  We repeated the words three times, then Selene nodded and Frost stepped forward to light the purple candle.

  “Samhain is a good time for clairvoyance. Each person can ask the flame one question. Be silent, breathe deeply, and gaze into the flame, opening your mind to your intuition,” I said.

  “Do we say the question out loud?” Frost asked.

  “No, just think it.”

  Focusing on the candle I let all doubts and worries flee my mind. There was really only one question to ask. Am I on the right path?

  I loved living in the Abyss in a castle—a freaking castle—with Selene and Cheney, but sometimes it felt like I was hiding, letting real life pass me by. Coming back here though, after living in the Abyss, seemed so boring. I didn’t want to get a desk job or get married right away, but I did want purpose. Real purpose, but the only thing I was good at was being a witch.

  The flame danced and flickered in front of me. Spots formed in my eyes and I focused on those until my vision completely blurred out everything but the flame. Random images flashed through my mind: candles, bottles, a bell ringing, the ocean, a complete circle of witches, and Selene’s grandma’s house.

  I remained quiet until everyone blinked back to reality. Mostly they looked confused, except Selene who smiled to herself. Her answer must have been clear and what she was hoping for. I still needed to think about my images. But later—

  Now it was time for what we really came here to do: call back the dead.

  Chapter 6

  Leslie removed the purple candle from the cauldron and replaced it with the two black candles. I stepped forward to light them, muttering a soft spell to myself. Next to the candles, we placed Gram’s favorite tea and the necklace Devin always wore.

  Starting with Selene, we each stepped forward and dropped two bay leaves into the water saying the same two names: Devin Morgan and Edith Warren. We all took hands.

  “Through the Abyss down to the infinitely darker

  Hear our words, heed our power

  To the space between worlds lie

  Cross the barrier, yield to our power

  Beings of light and spirits of love

  Come to our aid with strength from above

  Accept our gifts and share your wisdom

  Speak to us now in this hour.”

  On our third repetition of the incantation, steam rose from the cauldron.

  Selene stepped forward and cut her hand over the cauldron. “Grandmother, I call to you.”

  Leslie came forward and dropped a couple hairs into the bubbling water. “Devin, I call to you.”

  Fragrant vapors formed around the cauldron, then swirled and circled, faster and faster. The steam started upward, then abruptly changed directions and plummeted down, revealing Edith standing over the cauldron, stirring the liquid.

  Selene sucked in a breath. “Grandma.” She started forward.

  “Don’t break the circle, dear,” Edith said still focused on the simmering pot. “You and the baby look well. Have you settled on a name?”

  “Bella. After Cheney’s sister.”

  She smiled. “Pretty. Do you have questions?”

  Selene’s eyes filled with tears and her hand squeezed mine. “I’m sorry you died. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. I should have tried harder, come up with a better plan.” She sniffled. “It’s my fault.”

  “Hush now, child. My destiny was my choosing. Just as yours will be your choosing. You have turned into a fine woman, Selene. Don’t let the elf cloud your judgment or your heart. You have more lives than your own to care for now.”

  Selene nodded.

  The old crone peered deeper into the steam. “Your friend is here now.” She stirred faster and a trickle rose, swirling into Devin’s face.

  Devin smiled widely at us. “My friends, hello.” Her voice was soft and her image undulated in a slow circle. “Where is Jessica?”

  I bit my lip, tears filling my eyes. “We haven’t found her yet.”

  “Don’t despair. She can still be reached, but you must believe. When you find her, tell her I forgive her.”

  Tears streamed down Leslie’s face. “I miss you so much.”

  “I’m okay. I promise. Do not be sad for me. You each made my life wonderful, but now it is time for me to move on to something new. I will always carry you in my heart.” Her chin lifted. “I must go. Find Jess and take care of each other. Goodbye, my friends.”

  Chapter 7

  I couldn’t sleep. I rolled over in the musty bed for the twentieth time and sighed. The images from tonight’s spell played over and over in my mind. The stuffy room was smothering. I got up to open the window, but it wouldn’t budge.

  Creeping down the stairs, heart heavy from seeing those we lost, but determined to find my future, I went outside and sat on the porch, taking company with the early morning sounds and breaking darkness.

  “I knew you’d come down if I waited long enough,” a familiar voice said from the path.

  “Jack,” I said, though I couldn’t see him. “Just for the record I was never dressed as a prostitute. You can’t kill me.”

 
; He laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I shook my head. “Who are you? What are you?”

  “If I tell you, then I rob you of the chance of figuring it out on your own.” He stepped mostly into the light. He was still dressed as the Ripper and handsome as ever.

  I wasn’t scared, but I probably should have been. “How did you know where I was?”

  “You ran off without saying goodbye tonight. We didn’t finish.”

  The knee-melting kiss came back to mind, but I pushed past it. “Who left the note?”

  “A witch who is more than a witch.”

  I pressed my lips together tight. Despite his tendency to speak in riddles, I understood immediately who he meant. “Jessica,” I said. “The people in the hoods?”

  “Hers,” he confirmed.

  “What did she want?”

  He shook his head. “I have no idea. I shouldn’t have even interfered, but”—he flashed a large grin— “where’s the fun in minding my own business?”

  “She said I can’t trust you.”

  His smile morphed into a dare, challenging me to take a chance. “But you can trust her?”

  “I have for as long as I’ve known her.” I stood up and placed a hand on his chest, just to confirm to myself that he was real. “No offense, big guy, but we aren’t finishing what we started during the party. It’s been a long night and I don’t trust either of you.”

  He moved back into the shadows, then returned, dragging the hooded man, bound and gagged, into the light. “So I should just kill him?”

  I took a step back. “No. Just wait right here.”

  I went inside, woke a very grumpy Selene, and brought her down.

  Selene lifted the man from the ground with a flick of her finger. “We can take it from here,” she said coldly.

  He nodded. “See you soon, Katrina.” Then he disappeared into the darkness.

  “Call Cheney,” Selene said. “We have to go home.”

  Cheney and Sebastian were there in seconds. Selene filled them in, and I went back to my seat on the porch. Devin said to find Jessica and take care of her, but how could we do that when she was trying to kill us? How could we ever forgive the things she’d done?

  “You okay?” Sebastian sat beside me.

  “You know me, a party isn’t a party until we take a prisoner.”

  He didn’t smile. “You don’t have to be funny. Not with me.”

  His silver eyes shone, but his mouth was a serious line on his smooth face. I touched a finger lightly to his sharp cheekbone. “If I can’t find a way to laugh about this stuff, Sebastian, then I’ll go crazy.”

  “I just want you to be happy. I haven’t meant to hurt you.”

  “I know. I’m gonna be fine.”

  He patted my leg and kissed my forehead. “I never had any doubt.”

  We sat together for a few moments. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, not at all actually. I had always felt comfortable with Sebastian, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to be swept off my feet and maybe he just wasn’t the type. We were so different.

  “So is this it? Are we giving up?” I asked.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked, just as quietly.

  I shook my head and he squeezed my hand.

  “Sebastian.” Cheney waved him over.

  He gave me a look then went back to Selene and Cheney. The two men took our captive back to the castle. Selene came over to me. “We should get dressed and say goodbye to Leslie and Frost.”

  I nodded. “What did you ask the flame tonight?”

  “Whether or not the baby would be happy and healthy. What about you?”

  “Direction.”

  Selene’s eyebrows pulled together. “In what?”

  I shrugged. “Life. I sort of feel stalled, you know? Maybe it’s time for a change. I mean you and Cheney don’t even know whether or not you’ll win the election, and you have a child on the way. . . . I should probably get out of your hair and figure out what I’m doing with my life.”

  “You don’t have to go, Kat. We love having you with us. You’re part of our family.”

  I nodded, throat tight. Change was hard. “Maybe. But I can’t help but think the time is coming to stop being a sidekick and to become the hero of my own story.”

  “Is this about the guy? Jack the Ripper?”

  “Seriously, stop calling him that. I’m starting to think of him as that in my head. And no, it isn’t about him. I was thinking about this before I even met him.”

  She looked out in front of her as we gently swung back and forth on the porch swing. “I’ll miss you,” she said after several moments.

  “I won’t go far. I had an idea, a couple of them actually.”

  Selene looked at me. “If all of your ideas are like moving out, then I don’t know how many more I can take.”

  “Well, they’re all in relation to that, sorry. First, I was thinking . . . since this house is sitting empty and all, and I assume even if the election doesn’t go well you won’t be coming back here, that maybe you would consider renting Gram’s house to me?”

  Selene smiled slowly. “It would be great to have someone here to keep the place up. We can work something out.”

  I couldn’t contain my grin, and swung my feet back and forth. “Excellent. Housing crisis averted. My next thought was, we need to rebuild the coven, but this time it should be a full coven.”

  “You want to bring in ten strangers.” She didn’t look thrilled, but at least she was thinking about it.

  “Not necessarily. Yes, we need thirteen witches for a full coven, but I don’t want just any random people. When have you ever known me not to be entirely selective? Frost would make a good addition. She’s strong, she can navigate the Abyss, and she doesn’t have anyone else. I also don’t think we should give up Jessica’s position just yet. We have to believe and have hope we can get her back or it will never happen. Right there, we have five members. The rest we’ll gather along the way.”

  She was nodding as I spoke. “I don’t know how much time I can devote to this.”

  “I’ll take care of it. I’ll vet everyone.”

  She threaded her arm through mine and squeezed. “If last year was the year of the elf, I think this year will be the year of the witch.”

  No matter what we did in life we couldn’t prevent change. Sometimes it was for the best, and sometimes for the worst. The two were often hard to tell apart. However, the one thing I knew without a doubt was the only way you could make the most of life was to go all in: no fear, no hesitation. The road before each of us was entirely our own making so we had to choose wisely. So mote it be.

  The end

  MANY AUTHORS CLAIM to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn't always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more.

  When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.

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  Check out more books by Liz:

  URBAN FANTASY/PARANORMAL ROMANCE

  The Guardian Trilogy: Secrets

  Choices

  Consequences

  Easy Bake Coven

  Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo

  Pickup Styx

  Tiddly Jinx

  MYSTERY

  Dark Corners

  Dark Passing

  The Ninth Floor

  ANTHOLOGIES

  Naughty or Nice Christmas Anthology (Ella Reynolds Christmas short story)

  Christmas Yet to Come (Baker Christmas short story)

  SHORT STORIES

  Be Light (A Guardian Trilogy Short Story)

  Sweet Little Lies (A Sekhmet Short Story)

  Spirits of Bourbon Street

  By Deanna Chase

  From New York Times bestselling author Deanna Chase, Spirits of Bourbon Street.

  It’s Halloween on Bourbon Street, and white witch Jade Calhoun is ready to party. But when a sexy spirit traps everyone in the past, she’s forced to forgo the cocktails in order to save those she loves...again.

  Chapter 1

  “Holy abs,” my best friend Kat whispered as she gawked at the half-naked male standing in front of Pyper. He was dressed only in beige linen pants and brown leather work boots. “Where did she find him?”

  I laughed and hung our costumes on a rolling rack. We had converged in a meeting room just off the grand ballroom in the Jean Baptiste Hotel. In just five short hours, we’d be throwing the most exclusive Halloween party on Bourbon Street. And part of the entertainment was body-painted servers. “Probably the modeling agency. Or he could’ve answered the call on her website.”