Twice the Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 2)

by Garrett,Danielle

  Nick glanced over at me. “You met her?”

  My eyes went wide as dinner plates and my heart crashed to the floorboards under my feet. “Uh—no. No, I didn’t. I just meant, you know, from what everyone is saying about her.

  “Right.” Nick sighed. “Just be thankful you don’t have to go and report back to her heartsick mother.”

  I cringed. “Do you have to tell her everything?”

  Nick shrugged. “That’s what she’s paying me to do. She wants to know what happened to her daughter.”

  “Well, I don’t envy you that task. That’s for sure.”

  We were silent for the rest of the trip up the hill to where the Beechwood Manor perched atop the bluff. Nick pulled up along the curb in front of the house and smiled. “It really is a beauty,” he commented, seemingly to himself.

  I unbuckled and turned to face him. “Thanks for letting me go with you.”

  “Anytime, Junior.”

  “Junior?”

  He laughed. “I’m trying out nicknames for you. You know, the best detective pairs always have catchy call signs.”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop from laughing with him. “First of all, we’re not detectives. And secondly, I’m not your partner. Remember?”

  Nick shrugged, his eyes still sparkling with amused delight. “I’ll come up with something.”

  “Good luck.” I opened my door and stepped out, still smiling as Nick waved and drove away.

  “Crazy man,” I muttered to myself as I went up the front steps.

  As it turned out, the real craziness was unfolding on the other side of the front door. Before I could even take three steps inside, Posy and Katerina were flying at me, their expressions panicked. “What in the Otherworld?”

  “She remembered!” Posy shouted—something that Posy never did. Especially indoors.

  Katerina nodded frantically.

  My heart skittered through my chest. “You remember who killed you?”

  “No,” she replied, slightly crestfallen. “But I’m remembering who I am. Or…was.”

  I tried to mask my disappointment. I was happy that she was getting pieces of her memories back but it wasn’t as exciting as if she were able to identify her murderer. “Okay. Start at the beginning.”

  We went into the formal sitting room and found Evangeline working her way through a tome on potion making. She had a stack of textbooks beside her and was clearly in the middle of studying. Why she didn’t work in the silence of her room was beyond me. I wouldn’t be able to get through one chapter if I plunked down in the middle of the ever-swirling chaos of the manor.

  “Posy and I were talking about hiking and I don’t know…it was like an explosion and all of a sudden I could remember!”

  Posy nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “It was so exciting, dear. It’s a shame you missed it.”

  Katerina didn’t wait for my questions, she started rambling off random facts about her life as though she was filling out paperwork at the doctor’s office. “I’m twenty-four. My mother’s name is Pearl. My father’s name is Ron, but he left when I was in kindergarten. I don’t have any siblings, but I have a cousin, Paisley, and she’s like a sister. I work at a bar. I hate it, but I make good money.”

  I frowned, finding it hard to imagine that she made much at the bar. “Do you remember Jess? Your friend? You worked together.”

  Katerina paused her list of facts and tapped her lips as she thought. “Oh! Yes, I do.”

  “Okay.” I hesitated, shifting my weight between my feet, wondering how to ask my next question.

  “I remember Bobby now too,” Katerina added, her tone dropping down an octave from elation. Her smile faltered and she stared off into space as though watching a movie inside of her head. All at once, she snapped out of it and her eyes locked with mine. “I thought I was going to marry him someday.”

  I nibbled on my lower lip, unsure of how to respond. It didn’t seem right to rag on the man when I really didn’t know that much about him. Although the stories of his temper were enough for me to pass judgment.

  “Katerina, do you remember a fight, at the bar? Right before you and Bobby broke up?”

  She pursed her lips, obviously still hung up on thoughts of Bobby. “Which one? There were always fights. Usually over pool games.”

  “This one was different. Katerina, I really need you to remember. Bobby fought with Lou, your boss.”

  Katerina screwed her face up in a look of concentration but released it half a minute later with a frustrated groan. “I don’t know. Some memories are really clear and others are sort of foggy.”

  “What about the day of the hike? Who was with you? Can you see the man’s face now?”

  Katerina slowly shook her head. “It’s not all clear yet. I’m sorry.”

  I raked a hand through my hair, combing the large sections back, out of my face. “Posy? What if we went back to the cliff? Do you think that would jog the memory?”

  Posy sighed. “I don’t know, dear. Gwen knows more about ghost matters than I do.”

  It went unsaid that this was mostly due to the fact that she rarely left the manor.

  “Can’t you…I don’t know. Cast some kind of reverse memory charm?” Evangeline offered from her place at the end of one of the large couches.

  Posy shook her head. “That won’t work. That much I do know.”

  “So we’re back at the beginning.”

  I couldn’t risk tainting Katerina’s memory or overwhelming her with too much information. If pushed too far, she could lose what little she’d recovered. It would serve my purposes, but I couldn’t have it on my conscious to turn Katerina into an aimless, wandering spirit with no memory of her old life. It wouldn’t be right. No, there had to be another way.

  I spun on my heels and faced Katerina. My heart sank at her solemn expression. Her pain was evident in the lines etched in her not-quite-solid face. “Katerina, we’ll figure this out. Nick is making progress every day. I’m sorry for putting so much pressure on you.”

  She nodded, but her expression remained vacant and faraway, as though she were only hearing half of what I’d said.

  I tore my eyes away from the distraught ghost and they landed on Evangeline who had gone back to studying. Something tugged and twisted up inside my gut but I ignored it and turned my attention back to the problem at hand. Posy crossed the sitting room and comforted Katerina in hushed tones.

  I suddenly felt out of place. “I’m going to go work on some potions,” I said to no one in particular. A general rumble of acknowledgment went through the room but no one glanced my way.

  I made my way to the kitchen, thankfully finding it uninhabited, and went to work on making a batch of Permasmile Draught, a specialty potion that I brewed for one of my newest customers, a local telepath, who had heard about my potions through the supernatural grapevine. She was newly married and her in-laws had recently moved in with her and her husband. She needed a weekly supply of the draught to keep a smile on her face in the midst of her mother-in-law’s—or, monster-in-law as she called her—constant onslaught of nasty thoughts, which she had the misfortune of hearing inside her mind. Not to mention the things she dared to speak out loud.

  It was a simple enough potion, but it took me twice as long as it should have because my mind kept wandering through a revolving list of possible solutions to retrieving Katerina’s memories. Sure, the case could be cracked without them, but just like finding her body, it would be infinitely easier if I knew what I was looking for. I shuddered to think what would have happened if I hadn’t met Katerina on the beach that afternoon. Eventually, she would have realized she was a ghost, but Nick would probably still be tracking down leads, believing she was alive, and just temporarily missing.

  I paused in my work and wondered how many other ghosts were out wandering around, aimlessly, while their family didn’t even know they were dead?

  The SPA should have some kind of branch solely responsible for
locating ghosts and helping those left behind in the case that the family members, friends, and authorities didn’t even realize a death had occurred. Surely a ghost couldn’t cross over to the Otherworld without at least that resolved.

  Is that what would happen once the case was solved? Would Katerina be able to leave this world and go to the next? I hoped so. She didn’t seem all that cut out for being a long-term ghost. She wasn’t like Gwen or Posy. But, then again, they’d been dead for decades, not just a handful of days. Maybe she’d adjust?

  Once the Permasmile Draught was bottled, the kettle cleaned, and the counters spotless, I decided that a long soak in the tub would be a remedy to slough off the day’s anxiety. I went to my room, gathered up my pajamas, and then wandered down the hall to my personal bathroom. I cranked on the tap to full blast and breathed deeply as steam filled the small room. I undressed quickly and waited for the tub to fill up. As I tied my hair back, I caught a glimmer of a sparkle in the mirror. The Larkspur necklace hung flat against my chest. It had caught the light just at the right angle to sparkle, and the gleam lit a bulb inside my mind.

  Surely if there was one person I could count on to help me get answers, it would be Grandmother Honeysuckle. With no disrespect to Posy or Gwen, my Great-grandmother Honeysuckle was much older and had seven plus generation’s worth of knowledge swimming around her permanently preserved mind. That is, if I could find a way to get her to unlock it.

  It took a certain level of finesse to get Grandmother Honeysuckle tracking with me. I usually avoiding asking her for help, but lately, she’d been proving more valuable than ever. The Larkspur was meant to enhance my magical capabilities but also had the fringe benefit of having a library’s worth of magical knowledge around my neck at all times in the form of my long-since passed grandmother.

  I wrapped myself in a cotton towel and kept an eye on the bath water to make sure it wasn’t close to overflowing. The magic that opened a channel of communication between me and Honeysuckle didn’t hold for long. By the time we were disconnected, the tub would be ready for me.

  The Larkspur was made of rose gold and although it was hundreds of years old, didn’t have a single scratch, dent, or imperfection on its smooth surface. I ran my finger over the gold locket and then dug my nail into the small latch on the side. The locket opened slowly and a silvery fog began to clear from the mirrored surface. I plastered a smile on my face—looking like I’d doused myself with some of the Permasmile Draught—and waited for Grandmother Honeysuckle to appear.

  But, she didn’t.

  The glass remained foggy. I scrubbed at it with my thumb but nothing changed.

  “Grandmother Honeysuckle?” I said, leaning closer to the necklace as though it were a cell phone with a microphone embedded somewhere. “What? You off playing bingo?”

  I sighed. “Weeble?”

  Weeble was Honeysuckle’s rambunctious little lap dog, turned immortal familiar, as his spirit had joined hers in the locket. He couldn’t talk—thank the stars—but I tried anyways.

  Still nothing.

  “Fine. I’ll try again later.” My bath was about ready anyways.

  I set the locket on the side of the counter and went to toss a few handfuls of bath salt into the steaming water.

  “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

  I jolted at the barking voice and spun around so fast that my towel dropped and the entire apothecary jar of the rosehip oil infused bath salt tipped into the water, creating a cloud of perfume around me.

  “I’ll put a hex on you and your whole family for disturbing me!”

  I lunged forward and snagged the necklace by the cord. “Grandmother, it’s me, Holly!”

  She screamed.

  I realized my towel was still pooled around my feet.

  I yelped, grabbed for the towel, and sent a second bottle of bath salt over the edge of the tub.

  “Bat wings!” I growled, wrapping the towel around me. I sat down on the edge of the tub and retrieved the necklace from the floor. “Sorry, Grandmother—”

  “Who are you? And why are you indecent?”

  I sighed and sat on the edge of the tub. “It’s Holly Boldt, your great-granddaughter, seven generations down.”

  Every time Grandmother Honeysuckle and I spoke we had to have the same get-to-know-you chat, even though I was fairly certain I was the only one who could access her preserved form.

  “I was about to get into the tub. I apologize for the eyeful…” I added, my cheeks blushing to what I’m certain was a lovely shade of crimson.

  “Holly?” she repeated, arching her brow at me.

  A small yap sounded in the background and I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I was already running out of time. I didn’t need that little puff of fur distracting her when I hadn’t even managed to get to the part where she remembered who I was.

  “Grandmother Honeysuckle, please, I need your help.”

  She frowned. “That much is obvious, Harlow. You’re a mess!”

  “Holly,” I muttered. “And thanks.”

  “Anytime, dear. I am half mirror you know, it’s my job to inform you on the state of your appearance.”

  “Fantastic. Maybe I’ll call back for fashion advice—”

  “I’d start with putting on some clothes,” she interjected.

  My fingernails scratched the side of the porcelain tub. The sound made me wince. “Right. Noted. Now, about my question—”

  “Holly! Oh, now I remember!” She smiled widely and leaned in conspiratorially toward me. “You’re looking for a young wizard to settle down with.”

  Why had I thought this was a good idea?

  “Not right now, Grandmother.”

  She pursed her thin lips at me. “Why not?”

  Might as well get it out of the way. “Because I’m already seeing someone.”

  Grandmother Honeysuckle’s eyes lit up like two fireflies. “Oh! Tell me everything, dear! You’ve been holding out on me.”

  Two seconds ago she didn’t even know who I was, and now, I’m holding out on her? Right.

  “Is he a nice wizard?” Honeysuckle pressed, oblivious to my dismay.

  “Grandmother Honeysuckle, we don’t have a lot of time. I need to ask you about ghost memories.”

  “Ghost memories?”

  “Yes. I recently met a ghost. She was murdered and I’m trying to help figure out how and by whom. But it’s difficult since she’s a brand new ghost and can’t remember everything. Posy, my landlord, is a ghost too, and she’s warned me not to push Katerina too far. She said it could scramble her memories forever. But if there’s a murderer loose, I need to know who it is. I’m afraid we don’t have time for her memories to come back on their own. If they do at all. Do you have any advice?”

  Grandmother Honeysuckle looked crestfallen that we were no longer discussing my love life, but the expression passed quickly, and she locked in on the new topic with a renewed interest. Weeble yapped in the background and she shushed him as she thought. “All of the ghosts I’ve ever met were well into their afterlife and could talk endlessly about their past life. And I do mean endlessly, dear. After all, where were they in a hurry to go? They were already dead!” Her tone wasn’t callous, but I flinched anyways. “Oh, Holly, you know what I mean.”

  I nodded, hoping to speed the conversation along. The edges of Honeysuckle’s animated portrait were beginning to fade, taking on the foggy appearance the mirror always had when first accessed. Besides that, my bath was nearly full. “So, no ideas on getting her memories back?”

  “There was a man, a warlock, that knew how to heal ghosts. Some kind of—”

  “Ghost doctor,” I said, wondering if it was the same one that Posy had mentioned.

  “Precisely. He was able to meld minds with ghosts and pull the memories directly. He had quite a thriving practice in my day. Apparently there are a number of ghosts with this problem.”

  “How did he meld minds?” I reached over and shut off the ta
p. The bathroom was filled with steam and perfume from the blended bath salts. Somehow, beside the magical fog at the edges, the small mirror wasn’t affected by the steam.

  “I believe it was some kind of—” her image flickered. “Oh, dear, it looks like it’s time for me to go. I really should have set a longer time constriction on this spell.”

  Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

  “Some kind of what?” I cried, my tone high and frantic.

  “Some kind—of—path connection.” Her words were garbled and broken.

  I leaned forward, straining to hear her voice as it faded. “Path connection?”

  “Telepath!” Honeysuckle repeated. “Be a good girl, Holly. And find a nice young wizard. Or an old one. Whichever you—”

  The image faded completely, nothing but the fog left on the glass. I breathed out a long exhale and snapped the locket shut. “Well, at least she didn’t have a chance to find out about Adam,” I muttered to myself before stashing the necklace with my discarded clothes and sinking into the tub.

  If Honeysuckle knew I was dating a shifter, she probably would have found a way to propel herself right out of the locket to personally hex me.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  AFTER A LONG SOAK in the tub, my stomach rumbling won out over the desire to fall into bed and spend a week nestled beneath the covers—a plan that Boots would love, as long as we occasionally got up for tuna breaks—and I dragged myself to the kitchen. On my way, I peeked into the sitting room and noticed that it was unoccupied. I glanced up at the ceiling, figuring Posy and Katerina were in the attic. As for Evangeline, I wasn’t sure. I still wanted to get to the bottom of whatever she was up to, but I had a murder to solve first.

  A pang of guilt went through me, thinking about the conversation with Posy and Katerina. The young girl had been so excited to see me when I got back to the manor and I’d crushed her within five minutes. I groaned to myself. How was it that I kept managing to stick my foot in my mouth around her? I could only hope that she was feeling better now.