Son of a Witch: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #2

by M. Z. Andrews

  “Yeah, so we start at the park and then we can go from there? Sound ok?”

  “That sounds amazing!” Jax gushed as they jumped into his shiny black sports car. Jax kept me on her lap as we drove and Reign sped off down the driveway like a crazy man.

  At the park, we all unloaded and after Jax and Reign had stretched a bit. Then Jax pulled out the little box of treats that Sweets had sent with her.

  “Isn’t that nice of Sweets to make us a treat for our first date?” Jax asked as she pulled the little ribbon off.

  Reign looked down at the box. “Yeah, she seems like a sweetheart, I guess that’s why everyone calls her Sweets.”

  Jax laughed, “That and she loves sweets! Anyway, she made these just for our walk. I think they are like energy snacks. We should definitely eat them before we take off.”

  Reign chuckled. “Having chocolate before a workout seems kind of counterproductive, but hey, I like chocolate just as much as the next guy, so count me in!”

  “Awesome,” she said with a smile. “Here, this one’s yours.” Jax handed him a small ball of chocolate that he popped into his mouth immediately.

  “Mmmm, so creamy, that Sweets is an amazing baker!” he gushed with his eyes closed.

  Jax nodded as she popped her candy into her mouth next. I watched as they each let it melt away. Jax’s eyes were trained on Reign, just waiting for him to so much as make a hiccup.

  “How was yours?” Reign asked.

  “Super delish!”

  I barked at them. I didn’t know exactly what game Sweets had been playing with that potion, but I certainly didn’t want Jax to kiss him and then they were suddenly a match for life. Jax was a nice girl, a good friend, and roommate, but she was too young to be my sister-in-law and after hearing Reign’s lies, I knew he wasn’t necessarily the best guy.

  I barked again. Reign knelt down to me. “You alright lil guy? You want a treat too?” I stuck my tongue out and panted. I wasn’t really sure how a dog would react to a question like that, so I just went with what came naturally to me.

  On one knee, Reign looked up at Jax. “I think he’s hungry. Has he eaten lately?”

  Jax shrugged. I could tell she was trying not to talk. She was just waiting for him to have a tickle so she could pounce.

  Reign looked at me again and tousled my fur when all of a sudden his eyes looked kind of bulgy and his hand went to his throat. “Uh-hum!” he coughed. “Uh-uh-hum!”

  “You alright?” Jax asked him nervously.

  I could tell it was the tickle. I hurled myself into his arms to prevent Jax from getting there first. He stood up with me in one arm and his other hand at his throat. “Uh-hum,” he coughed again.

  “Tickle-swoop,” I heard her whisper before launching herself at him. Her skinny little arms surrounded his neck and her legs wrapped themselves around his waist. She squeezed the three of us together, turning me into a Chesney sandwich. I barked furiously as Jax pressed her mouth against Reign’s. It was too late. She’d managed to kiss him!

  Reign’s tickle was still there though. “Uh-hum,” he tried to cough while Jax’s mouth was smashed against his. His cough couldn’t go anywhere because Jax was covering his mouth and he began to choke. My barking continued.

  Reign’s face turned crimson red as he tried to unload me and Jax from his arms as he coughed. “Jax!” he managed to utter between choked coughs.

  But Jax wouldn’t let go, she clung to him for dear life.

  “Jax! Get off!” he muttered.

  Jax finally pulled her mouth off of his and jerked her head back, but yet her wiry frame was still firmly attached to his body.

  “Jax! Can’t breathe! Get off!” he muttered again.

  She untangled herself from him and jumped down onto the pavement. Reign handed me to her and spun around to get the coughs out of his system. When he finally was able to compose himself again, his face was scarlet red and he looked at Jax as if she were a crazy woman.

  “What the hell was that? I was dying there!” he hollered at her.

  Jax’s face crumpled. She stuttered, “I – I, I’m sorry. I thought maybe I should give you mouth to mouth resuscitation.”

  “That wasn’t mouth to mouth. That was a kiss. And a very inopportune kiss if I might add,” he said angrily, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “I’m sorry, Reign. Sweets said to…” she began and then quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

  “Sweets said to what?”

  “Nothing,” she said, pinching her lips together between her front teeth.

  “You’re acting strange,” he commented. “Maybe we should just start walking.”

  Jax gave him a nervous smile. “Yeah, maybe,” she said.

  He tried to collect himself. “Ok, let’s go.” He jogged ahead of her. “Come on Chesney,” he called.

  I ran behind him while Jax finally took off to catch up with the two of us. He ran faster than he had before and I had to work hard with my little legs to keep up with him. I sucked in a deep breath and ran harder. My asthma began to kick in and I suddenly felt myself wheezing. It made me wonder if dogs could have asthma.

  Jax breezed past me until she was caught up to Reign. “So, whatdidyadoafterhighschool,” Jax rattled off a mile a minute.

  Reign looked at her curiously. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t catch a word of that.”

  Jax smiled and tried again, “Whatdidyadoafterhighschool,” she speed talked again.

  “I caught high school in there,” he said with a nervous laugh.

  Jax waved a hand in front of her face nervously. “Feelinkindaweird,” she mumbled. It sounded like she had a swollen tongue.

  “Are you ok? I can hardly understand a word out of your mouth.”

  Jax turned to give Reign a little smile, but the second she took her eyes off the sidewalk, her foot caught in a crack and down she went. Reign’s reflexes were like magic, and in hindsight, perhaps they were magic, as he caught her before she hit the pavement.

  “Are you alright, Jax?” he asked her, cradling her head inches away from the ground. I snuck under his arm and crawled up Jax’s torso to peer into her eyes. She looked fine, just freaked out. I suddenly wondered if the chocolate potion had done this to her and this had been Sweets’ plan all along to sabotage their date.

  Jax sat upright. “OmigoshIamsoembarrassed.” Her words blurred together. Even I had a hard time understanding her. She popped two hands over her mouth again as she heard how her words were coming out all jumbled together.

  Reign helped her to her feet as I bounced around her ankles. “You talk really fast.”

  With her mouth still covered, Jax shook her head. Her eyes were wild from fear of not understanding what was going on. She jerked her head towards the sidewalk and began to jog again. He shrugged and followed along with her as well.

  “So, what kind of witch are you?” he asked her, trying to make small talk.

  Jax’s face flushed bright red. Her least favorite topic. She shrugged. “Idoalittlebitofeverything,” she lied.

  “Are you feeling alright Jax?” Reign asked, stopping on the path once again.

  “I’mfeelinfineIjustdon’tknowwhat’sgoingon,” she rattled. I tried hard not to laugh, despite the fact that my friend’s date was going nowhere fast, it was quite the funny prank Sweets had pulled on her.

  “Maybe I should just take you home then? It seems like maybe you’re tired or something.”

  Jax nodded. “Ok,” she whispered, clearly disappointed.

  Despite the fact that my chest was tight from the asthma attack, I bounced around on my toes, excited that Sweets’ plan had worked. We were going home! Yay! I thought I was going to have to be the one to sabotage the date, but Sweets had managed to do it all on her own. I had to give the girl some credit!

  Jax was silent on the way home. I watched as she bit down on her lips to keep from accidentally speaking. Reign told her it was alright and they’d do it again, but in guy speak,
I knew that meant he wasn’t going to call her. I felt bad for my friend and I felt even worse that it was my brother crushing her, but I had warned her that I didn’t want her dating my brother. When we got back to the dorm, Jax jumped onto her bed and promptly fell asleep in a ball of tears.

  { Chapter Fifteen}

  Holly’s dinner date was later in the evening. As she finished getting ready, I could barely look at her without blushing, her dress was that revealing. Not only did the little black dress hug her curves perfectly, but the front also dipped low past her breasts, nearly touching her stomach.

  “Why do you always have to shove those things in everyone’s faces?” Alba asked her.

  Holly looked down at her chest. “I’m not shoving them in your face.”

  “Why can’t you cover them up?”

  Holly primped her hair once last time and then looked at Alba. “We’ve had this conversation before.” She turned to me. “Are you ready to go?”

  I groaned. Even though I didn’t want to go with her on a double date, it had been my idea. I needed to make sure that her date was properly botched and while the Chesney enchantment spell had worked great for disturbing Jax’s date, I knew Holly wouldn’t want to take Chesney out to a restaurant. Plus, the idea of getting to go out with Hugh again had secretly put a smile on my face.

  “Why are you groaning? This double date was your idea! You better not be negative like that when we’re with the boys,” she said bluntly.

  “I’m not going to be negative, I just really don’t like the fact that you’re going out with my brother.”

  Holly gave me a coy little grin. “I’m not just going out with your brother. I’m going to marry your brother,” she asserted.

  I rolled my eyes. “Sweets did the spell?”

  Holly swiveled around and looked at the clock in her room. “She should be here any minute.”

  “What kind of spell is she doing?” Alba asked.

  “A matchmaking spell. She’s going to make sure that Reign and I are together forever!”

  There was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Sweets standing before us with a little white paper sack sealed shut with a big pink bow.

  “Hey Sweets,” I greeted her. “Come on in.”

  “Hi Mercy. I brought Holly’s love potion.” With a wink, she held up the sack.

  I hitched my thumb towards Holly. “Over there.”

  Holly rushed over and took the sack from Sweets. “This is it? What do we need to do? Just eat it?”

  Sweets gave her a devilish smile. “Pretty much. He should eat his first and then you eat yours next.”

  “That’s it?” Holly asked.

  “Yeah, doesn’t she have to, like, kiss him or something?” I asked with a little chuckle.

  Sweets’ eyes grew larger and she shot me a look that clearly read, shut up Mercy. “Nope, this one is a no kissing required spell. In fact, I think kissing may reverse the effects of the spell, so no kissing until the second date.”

  Holly looked forlorn. “Really? Not even at the end of the date?”

  I glared at Holly. “You’re not supposed to kiss a boy on the first date anyway.”

  “Seriously Mercy? It’s not the 40’s. You can kiss a boy on the first date now.”

  I shrugged and plopped down on the saucer chair in their room. “I think you should wait anyway.”

  “Are you telling me you didn’t kiss Hugh on the first date?” Holly asked.

  By their long stare, I could tell Sweets and Alba were curious as well.

  “I don’t kiss and tell,” I said quietly.

  “You didn’t!” Holly guessed. “You didn’t kiss the cowboy on your first date.”

  “Well, we’ve only been on two dates,” I asserted.

  “Did you kiss him on the second date?” Holly pressed.

  “Who shares this kind of information? Because I don’t!”

  Holly smacked herself on the forehead. “Oh my gosh! You haven’t kissed him yet, have you?”

  Sweets giggled.

  “Holly, I’m not going to go with you if you make a big deal out of this,” I told her angrily. I could feel my temperature rising.

  “Ok, ok, I won’t say another word. But gosh, I can’t believe…”

  “Not another word!” I cut her off.

  “Fine,” she mumbled.

  “Ok, we should go,” I said. “Do I look alright?” I spun around. I was wearing a pair of jeans, my Converse sneakers and a sweater that Holly had loaned me. Surprisingly it covered my chest, I couldn’t believe Holly owned a shirt that did that, but it was tighter than I was used to and I thought at least Hugh would be reminded that I was indeed a female. I had unleashed my long red hair and brushed it out until it shone brightly around my shoulders. With my bangs pulled to one side, I was satisfied with how I looked. I just wanted a little validation from the girls.

  “You should have worn a dress,” Holly said disdainfully.

  “I don’t wear dresses.”

  “You wore one on your first date,” Alba pointed out.

  “That was like a one-time only occurrence.”

  “Hugh liked the dress though, right?” Sweets asked.

  I glared at the three of them. “Fine. I’ll wear a dress on my wedding day, happy?”

  Sweets giggled and Holly rolled her eyes and put away her makeup case.

  “Ok, I’m ready, let’s go.”

  “Bye girls, wish me luck!” Holly squealed excitedly as she grabbed the little paper bag from the counter.

  “Bye, good luck,” Sweets said, but I could see her finger crossed by her side as we left the room.

  ***

  The restaurant was crowded that evening, but with Hugh by our side, we got in right away.

  “Booth please,” he suggested to the waitress as she led us towards an empty table. With that request, she veered to the right and to the back corner and seated us at the only empty booth in the room.

  Holly and Reign sat on one side of the table and Hugh and I sat on the other side of the table. “I can’t believe we got in right away,” Holly said, bouncing on the seat.

  “Hugh’s charmed in that way,” I shared. Hugh gave me a glare and I wondered if that was perhaps supposed to have been between the two of us.

  “You go to the Institute, Hugh?” Reign asked him.

  “I do,” Hugh acknowledged. I appreciated the fact that the two men in my life were trying to be civil with one another.

  “And how long have you known my sister?”

  Hugh squeezed my hand. “I’ve known this lovely lady since the beginning of school. She’s quite the lil sweetheart, your sister.”

  Reign rolled his eyes. Thankfully Hugh didn’t catch the little slight. “Yes, my sister is a sweetheart. As is my gorgeous date this evening. Doesn’t Holly just look spectacular?”

  Hugh and I both glanced at Holly. I noticed Hugh quickly averting his eyes like a true gentleman. That made me smile. I knew I was with the right guy. “She looks very lovely,” Hugh answered politely.

  Even though the boys were on their best behavior, tension at the table was high and I was thankful when Holly pulled out the little bag that Sweets had given her and set it on the table.

  “Sweets sent along a little treat for the evening,” Holly shared.

  I bit my lip hard to keep from laughing. Hugh felt my body jerk and looked at me. I squeezed his hand and tried to play it off.

  “Did she now?” asked Reign. Considering the fact that he had just gotten one of Sweets’ sweet treats earlier in the day, he did a good job of acting surprised. “That Sweets, she must really do a lot of baking.”

  Holly giggled. “Oh, I asked her to make us something special.”

  “Oh! Well then! What do you have?” Reign asked as he ran a hand through his thick hair.

  Holly opened the sack and reached in and pulled out two small brownies.

  “Brownies?” Reign asked with furrowed eyebrows. “These don’t have pot in them or so
mething?”

  Holly laughed. “Of course not! They’re just brownies, but, um, Sweets makes the best brownies and I wanted you to try them.”

  Reign didn’t know what to think. “Well, maybe we should save them for dessert?”

  Holly shook her head. “Of course not! They are supposed to be good luck brownies. You eat them at the beginning of your date.”

  “Ahh, good luck brownies. Got it. Ok, well, there are only two here. Hand me your knife and I’ll cut them in half so Mercy and Hugh can have a piece.”

  Holly’s eyes opened wider. “No! They can’t!” she admonished.

  Reign looked around curiously. “Holly, we’re being rude by not sharing.”

  I raised a hand in protest. “Oh, don’t worry about us at all. We don’t want to ruin our suppers. You guy go ahead and eat your brownies. Right Hugh?”

  “Well, I’ve got quite the sweet tooth myself, I don’t mind having a little, ow!” he hollered as I kicked his leg.

  “We’re fine, Hugh!”

  Hugh rubbed his leg. “Yes ma’am, we’re just fine,” he said changing his mind.

  “Ok, well, if you’re sure,” Reign said. He grabbed a brownie as did Holly. Reign held it out front of him and made a little toast. “To getting lucky.”

  Holly smiled broadly. “To getting lucky.”

  I rolled my eyes then let my head fall into my hands on the table. When I looked up Holly and Reign had both devoured their brownies and a waitress had come to bring us our drinks and take our orders. Once she’d gone, I looked at Holly again. I wasn’t sure if it was just me, but the bodice of her skin tight dress appeared a little looser. It had been a long week, I was probably just getting tired, I took a sip of my soda.

  “Mmm, that’s a really great brownie. You’re right, Sweets is a fantastic baker,” Reign gushed.

  Holly nodded emphatically while she wiped at the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

  “So, Holly, where are you from originally?” Reign asked her.

  “I’m from California,” she said. “How about you?”

  Reign looked at me. “Umm, I’m from a small town. Nowhere exciting.”