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

by Garrett,Danielle

  From my brief—and scattered—conversation with Grandmother Honeysuckle, it appeared that I had a little homework to do in regards to telepathic spells. It wasn’t an area of magic that I’d dabbled in before, but if that’s what it would take to get inside Katerina’s head, then I would do what I could. Generally speaking, I didn’t like to cast any kind of magic involving the mind. Some witches and wizards performed erasing spells on mortals and other supernaturals alike, even though they were against magical laws. I’d never considered casting such a spell. Not because of the legal ramifications, but because I didn’t think it was right to enter someone else’s mind. It was the ultimate violation in my opinion. Taking or invading memories was too personal.

  Posy wouldn’t like my proposal, but I didn’t know what other choice we had. It wasn’t like there were security cameras on the hiking trail. Without a witness or some physical evidence, the case could easily slip into the unsolved files and go cold forever. I couldn’t let that happen. Even if it meant doing a little mind magic. Besides, the only memory I would be accessing would be the worst—and final—memory of Katerina’s life. Surely she wouldn’t mind if something happened to damage or erase it.

  Still, it weighed on me, and as I’d soaked in the tub, every few minutes I changed my mind on whether it was a good idea or not. As I pushed into the kitchen, I was of the mindset that it wouldn’t hurt to try.

  What else could we do?

  I reached for the light switch to the left of the door and then froze, my hand hovered a whisper above the plate. Evangeline was standing off to the side of the stove, an orb of light showing at the tip of her wand, like a pointed, high beam flashlight. And she was rummaging through my warded potion supply cabinet.

  “What in the Otherworld do you think you’re doing?” I growled, smashing my palm against the switch to throw light over the entire space.

  Evangeline whirled around, her beam of light hitting me in the eyes. I squeezed my eyes closed against the harsh light. “Turn it off!”

  The light went out with a small popping sound. “Holly, I’m so sorry. I was just, um—”

  “Stealing from me?” I narrowed my eyes on hers. Magic pooled in the palm of my right hand, and I raised it so she could see it right at the tips of my fingers. She had a wand but I knew that I could cast faster than her. She was no different than the girls from my academy days. Every once in a while, I would be challenged to a duel. It was always a mistake. For my opponent.

  One wrong move and Evangeline would find herself stunned. Or worse.

  It depended on how angry she made me before the spell fired off.

  I would never seriously harm her, but I knew spells that were as effective as a solid right hook.

  “I wasn’t stealing. Holly, I swear!”

  “That cabinet was warded. That should have been a pretty clear sign that you weren’t welcome to help yourself. And don’t even try to tell me that you were just looking for cookies. You know full well that’s where I keep my potion supplies from the day I let you sit in while I worked. That was my first mistake obviously. The second was letting my guard down around you. I thought that maybe after you helped me find Katerina’s body that we could be…I don’t know. Friends.”

  Evangeline’s eyes went wide and round, like a child trying to convince their mother they didn’t sneak a chocolate bar before dinner. “Holly, I promise, I wasn’t going to take anything.”

  “I don’t believe you!” I snapped, the words cracking through the air like a bolt of lightning. “I suppose you also know where my missing love potion is? What were you going to do with that? Dose Adam so he’d pay more attention to you and lose interest in me?”

  It was an ugly accusation but I didn’t even flinch as it echoed back to me. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I’d known Evangeline was the thief. After all, she’d seen me make it and then asked a lot of questions about the effects during our hike.

  “What? No! Of course not! I’m perfectly capable of lining up love interests of my own, thank you very much.” She dropped the Bambi routine and a slight snarl tugged at her upper lip.

  “Oh, believe me, I’ve noticed! Quite a charming collection you’ve built up since you’ve moved in.”

  “What is your problem, Holly? You have been cold and mean to me since the day I arrived. What is it? Can’t handle a little competition? You wanna be the only witch in town?”

  “Yes, actually, that’s exactly what it is! I don’t appreciate you waltzing in and nearly blowing your cover and the cover of everyone in the manor. You live in your own little bubble and pay no mind to the fact that you’re endangering others. Not all of us have options. This is my home. Not just a temporary crash pad for the summer.”

  Evangeline paused and something flashed in her eyes.

  Before she could fire off her next retort, the door opened and Adam popped his head into the kitchen. “Everything okay in here?” he asked tentatively. He glanced at each of us and then fully entered the room.

  “She was in here stealing from me!” I declared, leveling my stare back on Evangeline.

  “I wasn’t stealing!”

  “Then what were you doing?”

  Evangeline’s eyes flew from me to Adam, as though hoping he would take her side. Instead of backing her up, he came to stand beside me in a silent move of solidarity and crossed his arms. “What happened?” he asked.

  She licked her lips nervously. “I was looking for something—”

  “To steal?” Adam said.

  Evangeline slammed her wand down onto the counter and then planted her balled fists on her narrow waist. “To read,” she countered. “I was looking for Holly’s potions book. The one I saw her using when she was working the other day.”

  “Why?” I demanded, only slightly lowering my hand that contained the charged pool of magic.

  Evangeline sighed and raked her hands through her long, black tresses. She pressed her eyes closed, as though suddenly in some meditative trance. When she dropped her hands, her eyes popped back open again and I noticed the surface coated in a glossy film.

  Was she about to cry?

  Adam dropped his arms, apparently noticing the same thing. “Evie? What’s going on?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t talk about it.” Tears slipped past her thick lashes and she flicked them away before they could slide down her cheeks. “I won’t go through your things again.”

  “You won’t get the chance,” I said. “I’m going to tell Posy what you did right now, and she’ll send you flying outta here on whatever broomstick you flew in on!”

  Adam grasped my hand and the magic drained away. “Come on, Holly. Let’s not drag Posy into this. You know how she’ll react.”

  I glared at Evangeline for another long moment, my wheels spinning at a dizzying pace. “Fine.”

  “But Evie, if you violate Holly’s trust again—or any of ours for that matter—I’ll call the SPA myself.”

  Adam’s words warmed me and a faint smile crossed my lips as I glanced up at his hard set jaw. He liked Evangeline but when crossed, he would treat her just like any other threat. In the supernatural world things escalated a lot faster than in the human world. Messing with forbidden magic or attempting to steal another super’s spells or powers was against the law and punished harshly. Magic in the wrong hands could be a threat to the entire paranormal community.

  Evangeline nodded, sending another rush of tears down her cheeks. Without another word, she grabbed her wand and stumbled into a run as she made her way out the back door.

  When the door fell shut and latched, we both sighed. Adam raked a hand through his hair. “That was weird.”

  “No kidding.” I crossed over to the cabinet and took a quick mental inventory. It appeared that Evangeline had been telling the truth. As far as I could tell nothing was missing. My potions handbook was stored in the chest under my bed. A hiding place that no one in the house knew about. Not even Adam.

  A scratch sounded at t
he door. I shut the cupboard, sealed it with a new security ward, and tracked back to the door to let Boots come into the kitchen. His eyes were half-closed as though he’d just roused from a deep sleep. I folded my arms and gave him a mock look of disgust. “And just where were you when Mama’s stores were being raided?”

  He meowed and waddled over to his food cabinet.

  Adam barked a laugh and went to his own stash of snacks. “A cat after my own heart there, Bootsie.” He paused, a dazed look on his face. “Wow. Never figured I’d say that.”

  I laughed and stooped to get Boots’ bowl ready. “Yeah, seems like that goes against the canine code of conduct, sympathizing with a cat.”

  Adam smiled and gave a shrug. “Oh well. I trust you’ll keep my secret.” He gave me a wink and spun to assess his options, pulling the cabinets open as wide as they would go, for fear of missing something delicious hidden in one of the corners.

  “Just this once,” I replied. “You want a real dinner?”

  Adam perked and craned around to look at me, still squatting beside Boots, absently stroking his back as he chowed down. “I’m listening.”

  I laughed and popped up to my feet. I nudged the cabinet closed but didn’t ward it. No one would want to steal Boots’ revolting smelling kibble or collection of tuna. “I’m starving.”

  “McNally’s?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know there are other places, right?”

  “The bakery?” he tried, his eyes wide and hopeful.

  “Something that’s not covered in frosting.”

  “Well then, what’s the point? If it’s not deep fried, or slathered in either peanut butter or frosting, I’m not really interested.”

  I scoffed and opened the fridge. “Yeah right, Adam. I’ve known you long enough now to know that you’ll eat just about anything. Spaghetti?”

  I turned to gauge his reaction. He smirked at me and then gave a shrug. “For the record, I’m resisting the urge to be difficult.”

  “The stars bless you,” I muttered, retrieving a jar of marinara from the back of the fridge.

  Adam laughed and went to get a package of pasta from the pantry. I flicked a hand at the stove and a fire sparked to life. I filled a pot with water from the copper faucet that snaked up the back splash above the stove and grabbed another pot to warm the sauce.

  While everything was cooking, Adam gave into temptation and helped himself to a colossal scoop of peanut butter. “Do you believe her story? That she was just looking for your handbook?” he asked, before popping the spoon into his mouth.

  I leaned against the L-shaped counter and sighed. “I have no idea. It seems odd. I mean, it’s a family heirloom and has at least a book’s worth of notes and tips scrawled in the margins, but besides that, there’s nothing there that she couldn’t find out from other spell books. And she has about a million of them. I swear, every time I see her, she has a different book. I don’t think she’s fully reading them. I think she’s scanning. Like she’s looking for something in particular.”

  Adam nodded and swallowed his bite. No easy feat, considering the amount of spread he’d chomped onto. “Isn’t there an easier way to look that stuff up?”

  “What? Like witchy Google?”

  “Yeah! That’d be awesome!”

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Nope. Believe it or not, we’re old school when it comes to spellcrafting and potion making. Everything is still on paper.”

  “How very retro of you.”

  “It’s easier to charm handbooks, scrolls, and collections of parchment to only reveal their true contents to other witches and wizards.”

  Adam nodded and dunked his spoon in for another bite. He paused, the heap of peanut butter hovering at his chin. “You know, we still haven’t taken that walk. Whatcha got going on tonight?”

  “I’m making spaghetti,” I replied, grinning over at him. “But after that, I’m available.”

  “Perfect.” He smiled and my knees went wobbly at the stove. How could he still manage to make my heart flutter like that? “In fact, besides the ghost girls, I think we’ll have the place to ourselves. I doubt Evie’s coming back anytime soon and Lacey’s on her way out with the undead parade.”

  The look in his eyes sent my heart racing at triple speed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “HOLLY! DOOR’S for you!” Lacey bellowed from the foyer, shattering the moment and interrupting Adam mid-sentence.

  He cringed. “Ah, how lovely, our own undead butler.”

  I giggled and brushed my hands off on a kitchen towel. “Who could be here? It’s almost eleven?”

  Adam shrugged and dove in for another bite of peanut butter.

  I pointed a finger at him. “Save room for dinner. I’m not eating all this spaghetti by myself.”

  “You’re really worried about me not having an appetite?”

  “Right.” I laughed and gave him a playful roll of my eyes. “I’ll go see what’s up. It might be Cass. We kind of had a…thing earlier.”

  “Drama, drama!” Adam called after me. “Play nice, gorgeous.”

  I pushed out of the kitchen and headed to the front door. Lacey was standing there, all dressed up for her pageant practice, her hair in long, blond curls, her makeup glammed out to perfection, and a long, ocean blue gown setting off nicely against her pale skin. And she was grinning—

  At Nick.

  Oh my stars!

  Nick and Lacey hadn’t had the opportunity to meet. I tried to keep humans away from the manor in general, but especially at night when Lacey would be awake and roaming. She was…hard to explain. I usually fibbed and said she worked swing shift but that would be a hard lie to pass off with her dressed like Prom Night Barbie.

  “Nick? What are you doing here?”

  Lacey snapped her cold eyes to mine, as though I was interrupting her moment, even though she’d been the one to holler for me moments before. “He said it’s urgent he speak to you.” Something about the way she said it made it clear she’d tried to flirt with him and had only called for me when she realized she was ramming into a brick wall. Not that Lacey couldn’t get her hands on a guy like Nick. She definitely could. Especially if she used a flicker of glamour to seal the deal.

  Nick looked from Lacey to me and offered a small smile. “I know it’s late. But I’m on my way to Jess’s and wanted to see if you could come with me.”

  “Why are you going to see Jess?”

  “She called me about ten minutes ago. She was—”

  Lacey sighed and then pushed between us. “Excuse me! I have an appointment.”

  Nick flashed me a quizzical glance but I waved it off. “Ignore her. What did Jess call about? Is she all right?”

  He shook his head. “No, she was completely freaked out. She was working tonight but was starting to feel sick. So Lou let her go home early. When she got there, her house was ransacked and she heard someone crash out the back door before she could get a look at them.”

  “Oh my stars! Did she call the police?”

  “No. See, that’s the thing. She called me first and said there’s something she needs to tell me. About her and Katerina. She insisted that I didn’t call the authorities.”

  My stomach churned. This couldn’t be good. I glanced up at the ceiling, halfway wondering if I should have Katerina come along too. Neither Nick nor Jess would be able to see her and it might help jog her memory. But I decided against it. I had no idea what Jess was about to divulge. It might be more than Katerina could handle.

  “Let me grab my sweater,” I said, turning to go down the hall to my room.

  The kitchen door swung open. “Holly? You coming? Tell Cass we have enough for her to join in.”

  I froze in place and squeezed my eyes shut at the sound of Adam’s voice.

  Bat wings!

  “Nick? What are you doing here?” he asked.

  I pivoted on my heel and saw the two men squaring off. Well, technically only Adam was squared off. Nick was s
till in neutral, hands in the pockets of his dark jeans, and an unconcerned expression on his face. “Adam, Nick got a call from a girl that Katerina used to work with. She needs to give us some information.”

  “Us?” he repeated.

  Wrong word choice there. Good job, Holly.

  “I just mean that she knows Nick and me from the night we went to visit her and ask her about Katerina’s disappearance.”

  Adam didn’t look angry, but I knew he wasn’t happy all the same. His jaw was slightly tensed and his hands looked stiff and awkward at his sides, like he was forcing himself to keep from reacting. “So, I guess that means dinner for one?”

  My heart twisted in my chest as I glanced between Nick and Adam. I didn’t want to disappoint Adam, but I needed to know what Jess had to say. Nick could relay the information to me tomorrow but…no. I wanted to hear it for myself. I wanted to see her face and hear the sound of her voice.

  “I won’t be long,” I said, hoping it wasn’t an empty promise.

  Adam nodded. “I’ll keep some warm for you then.”

  “Thanks, Adam.” I scurried down the hall to my room, wishing I could outpace the ache in my chest.

  Nick and I didn’t speak until we pulled into the short asphalt driveway that sat to the side of Jess’s house. After Nick killed the engine he turned toward me. “Holly, I’m really sorry if I messed up your night. It’s just that Jess asked if we could both come. I figure she didn’t want to invite a strange man over after what happened to her.”

  I pasted on my best smile. “It’s fine.”

  His eyes lingered for another moment, as though there was something he wanted to add, but if there was, he quickly decided against it and pushed out of the driver’s side.

  The house was quaint, probably no more than two bedrooms, and it appeared that every light available had been switched on. A whoosh of pity tore through me. Poor Jess. She must be scared out of her mind. But why had she wanted Nick and me instead of the police? What was so terrible she couldn’t tell the cops? It didn’t make sense.