Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 2

by April Fernsby

  We watched as my tears stood out like diamonds on the back of his hand. They glowed silver and then turned into tiny stars. The stars grew bigger and floated towards Luca’s head. They settled on his hair like a crown.

  Stanley said to me, “Are you doing that?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know what’s happening to him.”

  The stars suddenly popped and vanished.

  Luca blinked in surprise and then gave me a studied look. “Cassia? Cassia Winter? And you, Stanley.” He blinked again. “I remember you; both of you. I remember everything.”

  Hope pierced my heart. “Everything? I said. “What do you mean by that?”

  He smiled and his blue eyes sparkled with warmth. “Everything. All our time together as children, and our time together when you came back to Brimstone.” His smile faltered. “I remember Astrid and what she did to me before she left. Oh! I’ve been awful to you. The things I’ve said! I’m so ashamed. Can you forgive me?”

  “We already have,” Stanley announced. “Do you really remember us? Are we friends again?”

  Luca nodded. He placed his hand on my arm and said, “We’ll always be friends. Cassia, don’t ever let that happen to me again. If I lose my memories, do magic on me! Get all the witches in the land to do magic on me! I don’t want to forget you ever again. Neither of you.”

  I smiled at him and my heart felt lighter than it had done in days, perhaps weeks. As I beamed at him like a fool, I recalled something he’d said a few minutes ago.

  “You said you were on your way to see me? Why?”

  “Your gran and Blythe have returned to Brimstone safe and well. They want to see you. They are too tired to come here themselves, so I offered to do so.”

  Fresh tears sprang from my eyes. “They’re back? And they’re safe?”

  “They are. Come here.” Luca put his arm around me and pulled me close. “There’s no need to cry. Everything is okay now.”

  “I know,” I mumbled into his chest. “These are happy tears.”

  Stanley sniffed in my arms. “Mine are happy tears too.”

  I let the tears ebb away and continued to rest my head against Luca’s chest. I knew I had to deal with Conway soon, and I was anxious to see Gran and Blythe again. But, just for now, those things could wait. This was a lovely moment, and I wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

  Luca sniffed and said, “You smell nice. You smell of roses.”

  I smiled and felt Mum’s love wash over me. Just one more minute and then I’d return to my life as a justice witch.

  One more minute. Maybe two.

  The End Of The Yeti

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  About the author

  Chapter 1

  “Astrid is dead? She’s actually dead? Are you sure about that?”

  Gran gave me a cheerful nod and said, “Yes, I’m sure about that because I’m the one who killed her. Would you like another cup of tea?”

  I stared at Gran in astonishment.

  Gran continued, “I had to kill her. It was self-defence. How about a chocolate biscuit?”

  I didn’t know what to say. Until recently, my life had consisted of working in an office and being surrounded by paperwork from nine till five. I’d had an apartment and a boyfriend. I’d had a normal life. However, that had all ended a few months ago when Gran told me I was a witch, and not just any kind of witch. I was a justice witch like her. She went on to tell me it was our duty to deal with crimes in the magical town of Brimstone; a town where supernatural creatures lived.

  Brimstone had been infected with black magic which had resulted in some residents killing each other. The black magic had come from evil witches in another town and we’d recently discovered that Astrid, who was a guardian of Brimstone, had been working secretly on their behalf.

  We were sitting in Blythe’s living room. Blythe was a three-hundred-year-old witch who ruled Brimstone. She didn’t look three hundred years old with her smooth skin, long black hair and purple eyes. She could easily pass for a person a fraction of her age.

  Sitting at Gran’s side, Blythe said, “Cassia, close your mouth. I can see right down your throat. Your gran had to kill Astrid. She had no option. If I’d have been in Esther’s position, I would have killed Astrid too. Astrid had Esther pinned against a wall and was gloating about how she’d fooled me and everyone else in Brimstone these last few months. Astrid said she’d particularly enjoyed how she’d interfered with your investigations, Cassia.” Blythe gave me a fond look. “Astrid has gone now. You don’t need to be concerned about her anymore. Unfortunately, the effect of the black magic will be felt here for a long time, but at least there won’t be any more of the evil stuff coming into our town. As you’re aware, it was my cousins who sent the evil magic our way and suffice it to say, I’ve dealt with my malicious cousins once and for all. Are you sure you don’t want a chocolate biscuit? The chocolate is quite thick and delicious. I’ve already had three of them.”

  I turned to look at Luca who was sitting next to me with my cat and familiar, Stanley, on his knee. I said to Luca, “Well? What do you think about this news?”

  Luca didn’t answer me for a moment. He looked down at Stanley and gently stroked his head. Astrid had been Luca’s girlfriend, and before she’d left town, she’d cast a spell on him which had interfered with his memories. He’d forgotten that Stanley and I were his friends and he’d taken an intense dislike to us. It had been awful for us to experience his hateful looks during his memory problems, but thankfully, his memories had now returned.

  Luca gave me a small smile and said, “Honestly, I don’t know what to think about Astrid. I’m not really sure how we ended up being a couple in the first place. I didn’t really like her that much, and I certainly didn’t like her cold attitude towards the residents here. When we started working together as guardians, I kept telling her she should be more sympathetic to whatever problems were going on in the residents’ lives, but she never showed them any kindness. Now that I think about it, I did try to end our relationship several times, but somehow, when I discussed this with her she managed to convince me to change my mind.”

  Stanley turned his head Luca’s way and said, “She probably put a spell on you, like she did the last time she talked to you. She most likely forced you to fall in love with her.”

  A muscle clenched in Luca’s jaw and he said bitterly, “I’ll never forgive her for what she did to my memories of you two. What if I’d have never got my memories back? What if I’d gone through life never remembering who you two were? It doesn’t bear thinking about.” Luca patted my hand and said, “Thank you for helping me get my memories back.”

  I gave him an embarrassed smile. “I’m not sure what I did to make that happen. It seemed to happen on its own.”

  Gran said, “Cassia, you haven’t told us what did occur between you and Luca at the end of your last murder investigation. How did you help him get his memories back? I hope you didn’t do any magic on his mind. That could cause him problems in the future.”

  “I really don’t know what I did. One minute I was crying – ” I began.

  Gran held her hand up. “Stop right there. Why were you crying? You caught the murderer. W
e’ve got them in custody. Did you get hurt in your confrontation with them? Is there something you’re not telling us?”

  “No, it wasn’t anything like that. It was the combination of many things. With you and Blythe leaving town and no one knowing where you were – ” I started.

  Blythe interrupted me this time. “We had to leave town to go after my cousins. We had to stop them before they caused any more damage. We left you a note to say we were going away for a few days. You got the note, didn’t you? You shouldn’t have been worried about us.”

  Anger flared up in me. “Of course I was worried about you! Your note said you’d be gone for a few days and we were not to worry about you! How could we not worry? We didn’t know where you’d gone; we didn’t know when you’d be back. You could have been kidnapped for all we knew! Your note should have made it clear where you’d gone and what you were going to do!”

  Luca’s hand tightened over mine and he said, “I agree with you, Cassia, but there’s no point shouting at Blythe and Esther now. What’s done is done.” He looked over at Gran and Blythe who were innocently drinking their tea and added, “Although, Blythe, I wish you would have told the guardians before you left. We could have helped you with your battle.”

  Gran placed her cup down and said, “That’s all in the past now. We don’t need to talk about that any further. Cassia, why were you crying? It can’t have just been because Blythe and I had left town. What else was going on?”

  “Like I said, it was a combination of things. It was with you two being away and then having to deal with a murder investigation on my own,” I shot Luca an apologetic look, “and Luca wasn’t there to help me through no fault of his own.”

  Stanley lifted his paw and said, “And don’t forget that I nearly died, and you nearly died too, didn’t you, Cassia?”

  Blythe spluttered, “You both nearly died? You didn’t tell us that.”

  I ran a hand across my forehead. “I haven’t had time to tell you everything yet. I’m just so relieved that you’re both back in one piece. I’ll tell you all about the investigation later. I think I will have that tea now. And a biscuit.”

  Gran quickly poured me a cup of tea and passed it over to me. She said, “Getting back to the crying business, how did that result in Luca getting his memories back?”

  Luca explained, “It was the strangest thing. Even though I couldn’t remember who Cassia was, as soon as I saw tears rolling down her cheeks, I instinctively put my hand against her cheek to wipe them away. Then the tears somehow turned into little stars that lifted off my hand and made a circle around my head.”

  “It was like a halo of stars,” Stanley said with a little chuckle.

  Luca smiled down at him. “I felt a warmth all over my head as the stars floated around me, and then suddenly, the memories came back to me all at once. I can’t explain it. One second I was looking at Cassia with distrust, and the next I was looking at her with,” he suddenly stopped, paused, and then added, “friendship.”

  As I sipped my tea, I kept my eyes on Gran and Blythe and I didn’t miss the look that passed between them as Luca concluded his explanation.

  I put my cup down and said to Gran, “What’s wrong? Why are you giving Blythe a funny look?”

  “Nothing is wrong, nothing at all.” Gran’s voice was too cheerful. She smiled at Luca and said, “Luca, dear, would you do us a favour and go to Mooncrest Café for some of Gilda’s marvellous coffee, please? I’ve had more than enough tea today and I don’t have any magical strength left to conjure up a cup of coffee.”

  Blythe declared loudly, “Esther, what a wonderful idea! I don’t have enough magic to conjure up a coffee either, and Gilda’s coffee is precisely what I would like to consume right now. Luca, would you also get us a slice of cake whilst you’re there, please? Any cake will do. Take your time about it, we’re not in a particular rush.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Gran and Blythe who had ridiculously large smiles on their faces as they looked at Luca.

  Luca said, “Of course. I’ll go now.” He picked Stanley off his knee and placed him on top on mine. He stood up and said, “Cassia, do you want anything?”

  “No, thank you. Tea is fine for me.”

  Gran flapped her hand in the air. “Luca, see if Gilda can make up some sandwiches for us too. We’ve been too busy to shop recently. Perhaps she could bake us a special apple pie as well? You take your time; we’ll make do with tea for a little while longer.”

  Luca shot me a quizzical look and I shrugged my shoulders in return. Like me, he must have known they were up to something and that they wanted to get rid of him for some reason.

  He gave me a small wink and said, “I’ll see you in a while. We’ve got lots to talk about.” He leaned over and gave Stanley a little tickle under its chin. “And I need to catch up on my cuddles with you, my friend.”

  He gave us a cheery wave before leaving the room.

  As soon as the front door closed behind him, Blythe and Gran’s smiles dropped from their faces and they turned their full attention on me.

  Gran said, “Cassia, how long have you been in love with Luca?”

  Chapter 2

  Intense heat flooded my cheeks and I was worried for a second that I was going to burst into flames.

  I mumbled, “In love with Luca? That’s a ridiculous thing to say. I’m not in love with him.”

  “You certainly are,” Gran argued. “Only true love’s tears can cause the reversal of such a powerful memory spell. And that’s what happened between you and Luca.”

  Blythe added, “I had a feeling that this might happen. I’ve seen how you’ve been looking at Luca since you came back to Brimstone.”

  The heat in my cheeks increased and I defended myself, “I haven’t been looking at him in any particular way. We’re only friends. You’ve got the wrong idea about me.”

  Blythe shook her head. “There’s no point lying to us. The truth is clear. You know it too, Cassia.”

  I sighed. “Okay, I admit it. I can’t help it. I’ve tried to, believe me. I’m sure the feeling will go away soon. It’s like a virus. It’ll run its course and then vanish. Luca doesn’t feel the same way about me so there’s no point in me having feelings for him.”

  Gran wagged a finger at me. “That’s where you’re wrong. I could see the change in him just now. Astrid must have cast a spell on him while they were together to stop him becoming aware of his true feelings for you.”

  Stanley piped up, “Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Luca and Cassia should be together. They would make a perfect couple. They can get married and we can all live together.”

  “Oh no!” Gran shot out. “That’s not going to happen. I won’t let them be a couple. It’s not possible. It’s not safe. Not after what happened last time!”

  Blythe reached out and laid her hand on Gran’s shoulder. “Esther, calm down. Nothing’s happened yet. We can end this relationship before it even begins.”

  I gave Blythe a confused look. “What are you talking about? Why would it be so terrible if Luca and I got together?”

  Blythe explained, “You’d put Luca’s life in danger if you were a couple. Your work as a justice witch involves you dealing with murderers. The murder cases you’ve dealt with in the past have resulted in you being put in peril, but you’ve protected yourself with magic. If you and Luca were a couple, he’d insist on being at your side in future investigations. Being in love would affect his mind and he wouldn’t think straight.” She shook her head. “People in love are stupid. If a murderer saw how close you and Luca were, they wouldn’t think twice about hurting him to prevent you from continuing with an investigation. He could be kidnapped or tortured.” She gave Gran a concerned look. “It’s happened before, hasn’t it, Esther? Do you think you should tell Cassia about it?”

  “I think it’s time that I did.” Gran looked at me and said softly, “Something happened to your mum when she was a justice witch in this town. She fell in love wit
h a guardian here.” She hesitated a fraction. “Your dad.”

  “Dad? I didn’t know he was a guardian. He’s never mentioned anything to me about that.”

  “That’s because he doesn’t remember.” Gran got to her feet, came over to me and sat at my side. She picked up one of my hands and held it in hers. “I had to erase his memories of his time here in Brimstone. It was for his own well-being. When your mum and dad fell in love, they knew I wasn’t happy about the situation and they eloped before I could stop their relationship becoming permanent. Once they were married, there was nothing I could do about it.”

  I nodded. “I know about the elopement. I think it’s romantic.”

  “It wasn’t romantic at all. It was sneaky. They did it to stop me interfering in their marriage plans. The devious pair.” Gran shook her head at the memory. “Anyway, once the damage had been done, they decided to live in Brimstone. We didn’t have many murders back in those days, but one did occur and your mum had to deal with it. During her investigation, she got closer and closer to the murderer.” She stopped speaking and pressed her lips together. Tears glittered in her eyes.

  Blythe said, “I’ll continue for you, Esther. Cassia, your dad was kidnapped and tortured by the murderer. The torture went on for days. The murderer wanted to scare your mum off, but it didn’t work. She caught up with the evil creature and used magic on them before making an arrest. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done to your dad. He had to deal with some awful memories which gave him nightmares. He wasn’t the same person anymore, and he could barely function. The only option was to clear his memories of the time he’d been tortured, and his time as a guardian. We couldn’t clear his memories altogether as your mum was already pregnant with you at this point. So, after some consultation with your mum and Esther, I decided to give your dad a new history which included a story about his marriage not working out. Your mum was heartbroken of course, but it seemed the only option. Your dad was too damaged for us to do anything else.”

  I gave her a slow nod. “Poor Mum. Poor Dad.”