"I don't give a god-damn if you're his fairy godmother. Big town law isn't going to work down here," Sheriff Burford said, resting his hands on his belt. "You don't want to be messing with me on this. I'll impound that truck and we'll take it apart piece by piece."
"Hope you're ready for a lawsuit in that case. Law is law, sheriff. Just because you say something doesn't make it right," Gabriella said.
"Sheriff?" The coroner called from where the dead woman lay. "You're going to want to see this."
"Stay put and shut up." Burford snapped and stalked over to where his coroner was looking at her phone.
"I like it when you're all momma-bear," I said. "I'm not sure we should antagonize him, though."
"My shirt has blood on it," Gabriella said so quietly I could barely hear her. My heart sank. If he found her shirt with the girl's blood on it, we'd be in trouble. I held my finger to my lips and strained to listen to the sheriff's conversation.
"… body is one of ours." I caught the coroner saying.
"Say that again?" Burford wasn't trying at all to be quiet.
"She's from our morgue," the coroner said. "Exposure case, came in three days ago."
"That's impossible," he said.
"Just verified her prints."
"These dumb-asses are up to something. I can feel it," he replied.
"I examined her body myself," she said. "Those are my stitches."
I strained to see what she was pointing at, but the tall grass and distance didn't allow for it.
"Shit," he said and walked back to us.
"I'm going to need to get some information," he sighed. "Let's start with names, addresses, and phone numbers."
About forty minutes later a dark blue van arrived and two men in coveralls emblazoned with Carter County on their backs packed up the corpse and carried it away.
"Looks like you've no outstanding warrants and your stories check out about being in Leotown yesterday. I'm inclined to let you go for now," the sheriff said, dragging his eyes up from the ground, disappointment written on his face.
"No good deed," I said.
"What's that?" The set of his mouth showed his annoyance.
"No good deed goes unpunished is the whole quote," I said.
"Word of advice," he said. "Lose the attitude."
It was good advice, not that I was likely to follow it.
"At least we got to see the river," I said as the sheriff walked off. "You know it's completely spring fed? That's why it's so clear."
"I just need a minute to change, these jeans have blood on them," She pulled a pair of dark red, leather pants from one of her three bags and slipped her jeans off right where we stood. I just watched, mouth agape, as she wriggled into the tight pants.
"Shit, I think my heart just stopped," I said, when she snapped the final button in place.
She looked up at me and grinned. "See anything you like?"
"Wonder what Sheriff Bumble-Butt would have said if you'd been wearing those when he arrived?" I asked.
"Pretty sure all that man saw was brown skin."
I took a deep breath, shaking my head to clear it. "If he'd seen all the brown skin I just saw, he might have changed his tune. Although part of me hoped he'd get his search warrant so you could take him apart in court."
Gabriella flashed a smile as she pulled on and laced up shiny, black leather boots. Straightening, she subconsciously ran a hand over her bottom, smoothing the leather. From my perspective, her well-rounded posterior was one of her best assets, although I knew she felt it was oversized.
The serenity of the morning had long since been disrupted and the roar of the Suburban's throaty engine was discordant with the beautiful wooded setting. Not caring to make it worse, I idled down the gravel path to the entrance of the park. With tires on the asphalt, I depressed the accelerator and roared out onto the narrow highway. The events of the morning dissipated as the wind buffeted through the open windows. Maggie barked happily, her head stuck out the window behind me; cheeks flapping in the wind.
Nightshade and Old Lace
The small town of Crabtree Valley hadn't changed in the two years since I'd left. A proud old courthouse stood at the center of the town square which was surrounded and faced by well-maintained red-brick two and three story buildings. While Crabtree wasn't a tourist town per se, nearby Asheville was. When people drove through or explored the area, a fair number of visitors landed here each year. As a result, tourism had become a primary business and Crabtree Valley boasted higher than average per capita coffee shops, restaurants, and gift shops.
Judy's shop, Nightshade and Old Lace, was on Jefferson street, half a block from the square. It sat just around the corner, in the same building as Mugsies, a twenties-themed coffee shop. I pointed to Judy's awning and slid into an open parking spot right in front.
Maggie jumped from the open window of the Suburban and joined Gabriella and me as I pushed open the old wooden door. I smiled at the sound of jingling bells, recalling a moment not so long ago when a similar sound had brought my attention to Gabriella entering a bakery. Maggie pushed past, nearly taking out my knees.
"Well, hello there, girl." It was Gia's voice, who I soon found, bent over, petting Maggie along the back. "I'm afraid we don't allow animals in the shop. It's a city ordinance," she said without looking up.
"How about service animals?" I asked.
"Oh dear!" Gia exclaimed, using the counter to help her stand up straight. The heavyset woman worked her way around Maggie and pulled me in for a bone crushing hug. I wrapped my arms around her and breathed in her lilac scented perfume. She'd always smelled like home to me, having been one of the few, steady, positive influences in my life. For a moment, I soaked up the joy she exuded.
"Gia, who is it?" Judy called from the back room. I suspected she'd been in the basement if she hadn't heard us come in.
"Felix! And he brought friends," Gia called back.
A moment later, Judy emerged from the curtained doorway which separated the shop from a small office and storage room. "Gabriella?" she asked, as her eyes moved from me to Gabriella.
"Judy, Gia, I'd like to introduce you to Lady Gabriella Valverde of Whyte Wood," I said formally. I didn't know much about witch protocol, but I did know that getting things on the table was important. "Gabriella, Mistress Judy Babcock and Georgia Baker of Nightshade and Old Lace."
Demurely, Gabriella made a slight curtsey, bowing her head, an action I'd never seen her perform.
"I am sorry to hear of the passing of Mistress Barrios, Lady Valverde." Judy bowed her head respectfully, closing her eyes as she did.
"Blessings to you and the earth beneath your feet," Gabriella replied.
I cut my eyes to Gia who looked on with a huge smile. "Am I the only one who feels they're in a movie and someone forgot to give them a script? What are you guys on about?" I asked.
"It is lovely to be greeted in the traditions of our mothers," Judy said. "May the fresh breath of spring forever embrace you."
A slight motion at the curtained doorway that led back to the non-public area of the shop caught my attention. When I looked up, my heart skipped a beat and my palms started sweating. In the doorway stood the woman I'd seen in my dreams. Older, thinner and dressed in a black dress that hung loosely on her frame, she stared intently at me, arms crossed, her fingers and ears laden with ornate, silver jewelry.
I quickly stepped around Judy and Gia, placing myself between them and her. "What do you want?" I demanded.
She looked curiously at me, raising a pierced eyebrow that boasted a low profile gem, but otherwise didn't move. Lace was just as beautiful as I remembered in my vision.
"Felix?" Judy asked.
"Stay back, Judy," I said. "She's dangerous."
This caused both of Lace's eyebrows to lift in surprise.
"Felix, stop. You're being rude. Lace works here," Judy replied.
"For how long?"
"I don't know what's gotten into you.
Lace, I apologize for my son's behavior." Judy stepped around and turned to face me, her back to the woman she called Lace.
"It is of no concern," Lace replied. "I am not unaccustomed to being judged on my appearance."
"It's not your appearance that concerns me," I said. "You bring trouble."
"That's quite enough," Judy said. "Felix. Outside." Judy nodded to the door, her face pinched. When I didn't immediately turn, she pushed my shoulder.
"Don't bother," Lace replied. "My shift is over anyway."
"Wait," Judy said. "We can't leave things like this."
"No, it's cool," Lace shrugged and slipped behind the curtain.
"I'll talk to you later," Judy said to me and hustled after the woman.
***
"Your dragon's breath isn't happy," I observed, walking through Judy's front garden patch. She hadn't said much at the shop and when it was time to close, we'd followed her and Gia home.
"It can be fickle," Judy replied. "Do you want to tell me what happened back there with Lace?"
"She's trouble," I said.
Judy tipped her head forward just slightly and gave me the "no-kidding" look she reserved for such moments. "As are you all."
"She's the girl from my dream, Judy. I saw her kill Gia," I said.
"A sweet young child like that would not have such an easy time facing off with me." Gia's lilac perfume arrived at the same moment her hand came to rest on my waist. I'd always enjoyed how freely Gia shared her affection. She preferred to be in physical contact with people as she talked. I wrapped a free arm around the portly woman.
"You cannot trust the narrative of your dreams, Felix," Judy said. "What you saw was a portent. There is danger around this girl, but she is not necessarily the cause of it. I’ve seen this much myself."
"But I saw her …"
"Stop. I invited her and the girls for a picnic tonight. Have you been developing your wizard's sight?" she asked.
I smiled. I was proud of the progress I'd made and was ready to fall into a familiar pattern of bragging to Judy and Gia. I'd also grown and wrestled with my need for approval.
"Then look at her aura before you accuse her," she said. "You need to be careful about who knows of your capabilities, Felix. Not all witches are to be trusted. We're as susceptible to lust for power as any people."
"This particular witch has 'different capabilities' she'd like to explore with him," Gabriella offered as she pulled up a long strand of Creeping Jenny.
Gia giggled. "I believe that's a different type of lust. And a nice looking, trustworthy male practitioner is never for want of companionship."
"I expect you to be nice to Lace if she comes tonight," Judy said. "She might bring trouble, but I won't abandon a sister who needs help and neither should you."
I sighed. "I might have overreacted, but you didn't see what happened. She turned into a demon."
"Look at her aura and then we'll talk," Judy said. "I have. She's bruised, but there is much good in her."
I saw auras much differently than Judy and Gabriella. They seemed to discern a person's history, their emotions and general bearing. For me, I saw a person's or object's power signature. The more powerful, the brighter the aura. Dark colors tended toward destructive capability, where lighter colors were restorative in nature. I had difficulty with intent, however, something Judy and Gabriella seemed to more easily understand. I'd learned from Willow Katty, however, that gauging intent wasn't an ability all witches shared. The first time we'd met, she had taken one look at my aura and been ready for a fight.
"I'll give her a chance," I said. "But I'm not happy about it. So tell me what's going on with your fickle dragon's breath?"
"Gia moved it last week and we're having a devil of a time. We're trying to get more light to it. The poor thing was already unhappy and the move might have been too much."
As with many witches, Judy's yard was given to useful plants and beautiful flowers. Having lived with her, I knew the really interesting stuff was in the back, hidden from casual observers.
"Do you want to fill this entire square?" I asked, looking at the recently tilled earth surrounding the anemic looking plant.
"Your lavender is beautiful," Gabriella observed hesitantly, still not past the I'm-just-a-visitor stage of her visit.
"Thank you, dear. Gia makes such beautiful candles with it," Judy acknowledged. "Yes, Felix, the entire patch."
I pulled off my boots and socks, laying them to the side. Digging my toes in, I was immediately able to feel the stored energy in the fertile soil. Having worked with Willow in Chatty Katty's greenhouse and gardens, I'd honed my ability to sense different signatures which reflected the auras of people who had worked the soil. Gia had definitely poured herself into this small plant. Her velvety, pale purple aura coursed through the dragon's breath and nearby soil. The problem, however, was the presence of larval cutworms, over-fat from dining on a plant that should have died days ago, but was being sustained by Gia's attention.
"You have cutworms, Gia," I said. "They're quite pleased with your snacks."
"I'll have their hides," she spat.
"Give me a minute," I said. "I don't think it's fatal."
I closed my eyes, sank to my knees and reached out for the mountain beneath me. It was something I'd been working on at Chatty Katty's. The witches nurtured plants with their hands and with blessings. Willow had pushed me to work less with my hands, to try reaching out more with my spirit. I wasn't sure if all wizards had this ability or if the talent was unique to me, but I felt I was tapping into the very soul of the Earth. Whatever the connection, it allowed me to access and benefit from Tenebrius Manerium's deep store of energy when I'd needed it desperately. According to Willow, it was a talent I shared with my missing mother.
Everything on this mountain was familiar; like a long lost friend. I hadn't known how to reach out to the earth's essence two years ago, but I recognized its presence and welcomed it like an old friend.
"Sweetie, what are you doing?" Gia gently grasped my hand with her own.
"Don't join," I whispered. "Just feel it."
I allowed the energies to pass over us, the first flows reflecting mostly Judy and Gia, although I also recognized my own latent energy from when I'd lived here. Reaching deeper, I discovered the energy I'd been searching for - the very mountain itself, faint, but not stagnant. The mountain was alive, albeit slumbering peacefully.
I pulled what appeared as a small gossamer thread toward Judy's property and a trickle of the mountain's wild energy snaked toward us. With a wave of my free hand, I gently nudged what felt like a thimbleful into the dragon's breath but ended up with more. It was too much for the plant, so I shunted it off into garden around us. A crackling sound broke my concentration and I opened my eyes to see the plant thickening. I pushed the energy across the small plot and shoots erupted from the red earth, growing into stems and leaves, sprouting until there was a thick mat in front of us.
"Felix?" Judy asked, standing with her hands on Gia's shoulders. "When did you learn this?"
"I've been helping a witch in Leotown with her garden. I guess it was something I developed over time," I said.
"I felt it," Gia said, hoarsely. "I felt the mountain whispering to us. It was beautiful."
"Look at the trees," Judy said, drawing our attention to a pair of dwarf apple trees that arched over the shallow streambed we'd worked so hard to re-route when we'd moved into the dilapidated log cabin so many years ago. The branches were weeping toward the ground, heavy with ripened fruit. "Those were barely the size of acorns this morning."
"Sorry, boss," I said. "I guess I was showing off."
Our conversation was cut short by the sound of a vehicle approaching, going well over the recommended forty-five miles an hour for gravel roads. A black convertible sports car careened into the small lane and skidded to a halt behind the Suburban.
"Oh, lordy," Gia said and worked to get off her knees. I stood and helped her. "I
'll be inside, working on dinner if you need me."
"Who's that?" I asked.
"Dinner guests are starting to arrive," Judy said uncomfortably, confusing me with her demeanor. I should have seen the trouble coming, but I didn't.
"That's great," I said, excitedly.
A flash of blonde hair caught my attention and while I recognized her, I was shocked at the transformation. Thea had changed. Two years ago, she'd been an attractive, leggy blonde; playful, but having no real sense of herself and not willing to let herself be pushed into a stereotype. The woman who approached now was confident and had fully embraced the model's body she'd been given. She was dressed in a short purple leather skirt, and a medium blue blouse with a deep plunging neckline.
"That's Thea?" Gabriella asked, brushing off her jeans and straightening her hair.
"I guess it is," I said.
"I meant to say something," Judy said, revealing the source of her discomfort.
"Peaches!" Thea threw open the garden gate, causing it to fall off one of its hinges. "I knew you'd come back for me. What? Are you just going to stand there? No hug for the girl you put in the hospital and left behind?"
I blew out a hot breath filled with adrenaline. She had me. I'd never made things right and she definitely hadn't forgotten.
"Hi, Thea," I said weakly and approached, not sure what I was in for. She opened her arms. I'd forgotten how tall she was and her heels put her right at my height. Her smile was friendly and I returned her embrace, her heavy breasts pushing into my chest.
"You smell of magic, Felix," she whispered as her hand dropped to my rear to cup my butt. "We have unfinished business."
I tried to pull back, but as I did she slid her hands up and grabbed the back of my head, pulling me in for a rough kiss.
She’d gone too far and I pushed away from her.
Laughing loudly, she pointed at me. "You should see your face right now. Fuck. You can't, but it's priceless."
"Thea," Judy said disapprovingly. "Don't you think that's enough?"
Wicked Folk Page 5