“Be well, be whole, live in balance, and in good health, Delana Helen Smootz. Blessed be, blessed be, blessed be.”
Tori moved down the length of the table, holding her hands over her friend. The consecrated mist settled on Delana and sparkled like tiny green diamonds. Tori took her spot at the end of the table by Delana’s feet and watched the spell come to a close. Each minuscule droplet of potion touched Delana then rose like a tiny piece of emerald glitter. They flashed and gleamed in the candlelight and turned from green to gold to silver to pure white. The white diamond dust transformed again this time turning into a cleansing smoke that smelled vaguely of copal and amber. The smoke swirled together and formed a mid-air stream that unexpectedly circled the crown of Delana’s head before cascading upward past the delicate wire chandelier. Then the spell, infused with Delana’s pain and illness, drifted toward the moonbeams and out through the north window. The spell, the energy, and the magic would travel to the moon and transform back into the universe from which it was created.
They remained silent for many heartbeats. Why had the magic moved over Delana’s head? Tori couldn’t answer her own question. The steps they’d taken in preparation for the night’s ritual filtered like a review panel through her busy mind. Tori couldn’t pick out any part of the alterations in the spell that included mental health. But, there were extra ingredients Delana wanted to try and perhaps that was all the change the spell needed for the odd behavior at the end of the ceremony. She would make a note of the change in her grimoire when she returned home.
“Was there anything you forgot to tell me about tonight’s ceremony, sweets?” she asked Delana, careful to keep her voice light and inquiring.
Delana’s eyes were closed, her breathing steady and deep.
“No, my dear. Everything went exactly as I needed it to.”
“But the closing—”
“Felt absolutely wonderful,” she interrupted.
“Your head? Why did the spell circle you that way?”
“Shh… Let me rest for a minute before we clean up.”
Tori pressed her lips together and gave Delana the needed moment to let the magic settle.
“Did you hear something?” Delana asked. Her eyes opened, and she held her breath, concentrating on the surrounding silence of the two-story Victorian home.
A slight vibration rattled through the old house. “The garage door?” Tori asked.
“Weston,” Delana said. “He’ll be returning to his apartment.”
“But he never comes home on Monday night,” Tori said, already reaching for Delana to help her off the table.
“It is unusual. I don’t think he will come inside the house, but let’s play it safe and clean up now.”
Tori helped Delana into her chair and then opened the power circle surrounding the table and altar. Delana used the joystick on the electric wheelchair to exit the circle. Once safely across the room, Tori began a hasty onslaught to clean up and clear out. Candles extinguished, the chandelier brightened, and all potion ingredients, bottles, wood boxes, silver trays, herb garland, crystals, and stones levitated into the air and disappeared into the safe and Tori’s travel bag. The clinking and clattering overshadowed any noises coming from the direction of the garage, but the tidying up finished in minutes and Weston had not walked in.
“It’s a mess for next week, but at least it’s put away,” she said with a smile at Delana. She pointed a finger at the row of windows on the west side of the room and gestured for them to open. Airing out the space was a good idea, even if Delana suffered a moment of cold. The three a.m. chill of the spring air caressed her bare arms and brought the fine hairs to stand at attention. The smell of rain and forsythia blooms mingled with the darker scents of smoke and resin. Tori inhaled deeply.
Her client’s face registered she heard, but a distracted air clouded Delana’s normally vibrant eyes. Tori once again thought about the unusual way the spell behaved just before the session ended.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“Better than ever,” Delana said, sounding tired and not at all herself.
The door to the kitchen moaned. They hesitated, waiting to see if Weston would make an appearance in the hallway. They heard a faint whistle and knew it was the driver. He often whistled tunes under his breath.
“What’s he doing here at this hour?” Tori asked, perplexed. Weston never interrupted her time with Delana.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, my dear. But, I’ll go say hello. Why don’t you run home now? Weston can help me to bed.” She wheeled her chair into the entry hall, all but dismissing Tori. Something else that had never happened before.
“I always help you after our appointments. You have paint all over your body, Delana. Do you want him to see the sacred symbols?”
“It’s no matter. If he notices, I’ll tell him you were trying something new.”
The chair spun ninety degrees, and Delana faked a smile at Tori. “Come here.”
Tori stepped forward and took Delana’s outstretched hand.
“Go home and get some rest. You look positively wrung out. Weston is a dear. You can stay with me next week. Now say goodnight, and I’ll see you again.” Delana pulled Tori in close and planted a kiss on each cheek. She held her longer than a normal goodbye hug and gave Tori a blessing. “May the Goddess protect you and bring you harmony always.”
To say the action caught her by surprise would be putting it mildly. The last ten minutes were so odd and out of the ordinary that Tori was unsure how to respond. She returned a kiss on Delana’s cheek, mumbled something about seeing her next week and left through the front door.
Chapter Two
“Did you see the news about Delana Smootz?”
“I read the headlines this morning.” Paranormal investigator, and former cop, Leif Andersen leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. The expression on Breck's rugged face suggested he had more to share about last night’s tragedy, which claimed the life of the former Hollywood film star turned internationally renowned humanitarian.
“Did you see how she died?”
“House fire.”
“There’s more.”
“If there weren't, you wouldn’t be here.” He raised an inquisitive brow and waited.
Breck took the seat opposite Leif and crossed an ankle over his leg. “It wasn’t her body they found inside the house.” He didn’t go on, and Leif knew his friend gave him a moment to let it sink in.
He and Breck attended the police academy together. After completing his training, Leif moved a few counties over and began a career working for the Three Falls Sheriff's Department. The plan to live in a rural community and serve and protect fell apart after only twenty-two months. Leif was forced to quit and leave his adopted town when poor choices, a lying ex-girlfriend, corruption, and small town politics spit him out like a bad piece of meat. Leif moved back to the city and began working for his Uncle Oliver. It didn’t take long before his uncle handed over his private investigating firm to Leif. A couple months later, his uncle bugged out and retired in Hawaii. Never in his life would he have guessed that his career would lead him to investigate the strange, unusual, and weird cases often categorized as supernatural or unexplainable. While Leif had been busy working toward his goals, then picking up the pieces of his shattered dreams and rebuilding his life, Breck had been establishing himself as an officer with the Portland Police Bureau. Since they met, their friendship had developed into a partnership where they relied on each other’s knowledge and connections in their respective fields. If Leif could have divined the future, he would have applied at the Portland PB alongside Breck, but he didn’t believe in foretelling the future, and his fate in law enforcement was sealed. No matter what Akina, a member of his paranormal investigative team, said, their relationship was not a bromance.
“So, whose body was it?”
“We’re waiting on the medical examiner. The damage was extensive.”<
br />
“Charcoal and a few teeth?” he presumed.
“Plus a few bone fragments.”
“How can you say it wasn’t Delana then?”
“Because they found her body under Harbor Bridge at South Bank Park. The press doesn’t know yet. We want to keep it that way.”
Leif leaned forward resting his arms on the desk in front of him, fingers drumming. “Let me guess. There are signs of foul play. And that foul play includes some type of demonic hocus pocus?”
“Which is why I’m here, harassing you,” Breck concluded.
Leif took a breath and glanced out the window. The Oregon sky never failed to produce clouds this time of year. The gray overcast blanketing the city yielded a measly drizzle that was so insubstantial it couldn’t be considered a real rain.
“You and the team can sniff out a hoax better than anyone. What do you say? You up for it?”
“How soon do you need us out there?”
“Tonight. The team is finishing up now. I’ll have pictures and reports later today. You head out there and tell me what you find. Then we’ll figure out what the hell happened to Mrs. Smootz. This case already gives me the heebie-jeebies, and we’ve just started. Something tells me this one is different.”
“Different how?”
“She had strange markings all over her body and a few cuts that were too clean to call an accident. I’ve never seen anything like it. I had a bad feeling on the scene this morning, and that never happens to me. I swear every hair on my body was standing on end. I don’t understand how you handle all the woo-woo supernatural stuff day in and day out. Seriously, those freaks creep me out.”
“Those freaks are mostly scam artists. I haven’t met a single one of those weirdoes I couldn’t prove was a complete fake.”
“Another reason you’re the best at what you do.”
Leif’s jaw hardened, and he shook his head. “Don’t butter me up. I’ll be there tonight. Even if Cora starts moaning about upsetting our schedule.”
Leif watched humor flash through Breck’s sapphire blue eyes at the mention of Cora. When it came to details, meticulous record keeping, and schedules, Cora was a managerial whiz. You could also describe her as a whip-wielding menopausal tyrant if you changed the schedule without first receiving her approval. Suffice it to say, Leif might be the driving force behind Multnomah County Investigations, but Cora held the reins, and she’d done so since the day his uncle hired her.
“Where is that woman anyway? I didn’t see her when I came in.”
“We had a late night last night. She stayed up to wait on our return from the Hamilton Cove haunting case. I’m sure she’ll be in later. Cora may be in her sixties, but she can pull an all-nighter like the rest of us. Don’t you dare tell her I told you how old she is,” Leif warned, looking suddenly worried about his verbal slip-up. Cora could be a little touchy about her age.
A smile broke over Breck’s generous mouth. A matching grin spread across Leif’s.
“I never heard a thing about Cora’s age.” Breck’s smile quirked up on one side. “That is unless I need a little blackmail incentive in our future negotiations.”
“Like I don’t have an entire file on you at my disposal,” Leif said.
Breck gave a little snort. “I suppose we’re even,” he conceded with good humor. A beat of silence stilled the air between them, and the mood shifted back to work mode. “Listen, an anonymous tip came in this morning. That’s the only reason we found Delana. Whatever happened under Harbor Bridge, it looks weird. Weird enough to come knocking on your door. Once the photos are uploaded and cataloged, I’ll show you everything we found. Right now, the fire ring, candles, blood, and all the symbols on her body reek of paranormal foul play.” He raised his hands in supplication. “Out of my wheelhouse. I need you to explain to me what it all means.”
“Symbols?” Leif asked. “Akina should be able to help there.”
“I thought of her too. And you’re going to sniff out the perp.”
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The worst of these perps are mental cases who need to be put away in a safe place, but most of them are delusional assholes who watch too many horror flicks. I’ll find your guy, and you’ll nail him.”
Breck hefted his tall frame from the chair and took a deep breath. “God, I hate these high-profile cases.”
“I hear ya’. My team and I will keep quiet about Mrs. Smootz.”
“You will, but it’s all the damn camera phones and everyone else I’m worried about.”
“Yep,” Leif agreed. It seemed hardly anything was left to private investigating these days. Everyone and their mother carried a camera in their pocket. Fortunately, Leif relied on a lot more than just video and audio to solve his cases.
Breck stood in the open doorway.
Leif rose from his chair to walk his best friend out of the office.
“No need to get up,” Breck said, waving a dismissive hand.
Leif nodded. “Send me everything you’ve got as soon as possible. I want to see the pictures before we get there tonight.”
“Will do. Thanks, Leif. Keep me updated.”
“Will do.”
Leif listened to the outer door open and close. As he thought about the gruesome details of Delana’s demise and the mystery body inside the elderly woman’s torched home, a silver chill settled in the area near his liver. He sat back down and rolled his chair closer to his computer. Time for research. The nagging sensation to call Cora and tell her about tonight’s investigation niggled and prodded at him, but he didn’t want an earful just yet. The rest of his team needed an update, though, so he sent them a group text message. Akina and Afton were always anxious for a new case, and he counted them in before receiving their replies.
~ end preview ~
A Witch’s Fate is available on Amazon
(part of the Dark Fates box set collection for a limited time. Available as an individual title in late 2017.)
More from Jody A. Kessler
Death Lies Between Us
An Angel Falls series - book one
Winner of the Readers’ Crown Award for best paranormal romance.
Saving the life of someone you love should not be the worst thing you have ever done, unless you’re an Angel of Death.
Frustrated with his position as an angel, Nathaniel Evans casts aside the rules of the afterlife and rescues nineteen-year-old Juliana Crowson from freezing to death. His inability to watch Juliana suffer causes a sequence of deadly accidents, and he soon becomes her constant protector.
In the mountains of Colorado, Nathaniel comforts Juliana as she struggles to understand her paranormal abilities while coping with her guitar-playing brother’s recently exposed secrets. When an ill-tempered Native American shaman teaches Juliana the difference between ghosts and place memories, she decides she wants nothing to do with the supernatural world. Too bad she doesn’t know Nathaniel is part of it.
Will fate allow them to be together, or has Nathaniel made the biggest mistake of his afterlife?
The Night Medicine
A Historical Time Travel Romance
In 2012, Blackfoot tribal member, Dean Wolfsblood, is the reluctant guardian of a centuries old medicine pipe that makes time travel possible. When Dean’s former Marine buddy, Badger Lowell, bribes him to take the arduous trip into the past, the last thing either of them expects during the “Night Medicine” ceremony is for an intruding grizzly bear to chase Kai, a beautiful and complicated Cree woman, into the past with them.
Upon arrival in 1868, the three unlikely companions discover deceit, murder, buffalo hunters, and a kidnapping waiting for them as they travel across mountains and plains to the gold mining town of Helena, Montana. As hidden motivations are exposed, secrets are revealed, and all well-meaning plans for their journey are cast away into the winds of time. Can they survive history and each other long enough to make it back, or will the past change their futures forever?
; The Night Medicine is available on Amazon
~Thank you for reading~
On the Back Cover
A 500 year-old curse, a witch who will do anything to marry her one true love, and the heart of a secret that will either divide them or bring them together…forever.
***
Aspen Morgan is an extraordinary, beautiful, and talented witch with the power to control animals and earth magic. She also deeply desires to marry Rook Avesbury. Unfortunately, Aspen knows that being a Morgan means she is destined to a life of solitude. The Morgans of Lane County don’t get married, they don’t explain why, and their secret always dies with them.
While studying the stars along the northwest coast, Rook, a handsome and charming wizard from the British Isles, falls in love with the captivating Aspen Morgan. After seven blissful months together, Rook is ready to spend forever with her.
Will the Morgan family curse be the end of Rook and Aspen, or will she find a way to reveal the deadly secrets of an enchanted journal and break the five hundred-year-old spell that is preventing their happily ever after?
Heart of the Secret: A Witches of Lane County Novella Page 11