Mercy's Magic (Mercedes Cruz #1)
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Mercy’s Magic
Mercedes Cruz #1
P.J. Day
&
Elizabeth Basque
Acclaim for P.J. Day & Elizabeth Basque:
“A fun departure from the usual vampire tale, with King’s Blood author P.J. Day has introduced a whole new kind of vampire.”
—sookiestackhousebooks.com
“P.J. Day’s The Sunset Prophecy is The Da Vinci Code meets Percy Jackson meets Beautiful Disaster, all with a much bolder and unique twist.”
—J.R. Rain, author of Moon Dance and The Witch & the Gentleman.
J.R. Rain & Elizabeth Basque did it again. Zombie Patrol (sic) is a fast paced book that has you wanting more...Can't wait until the next installment is released!
—N. White, Love my Kindle
BOOKS BY P.J. DAY
King’s Blood: A Serial Novel
Average rating: Four Stars
Episode One: Vampire Revealed available on Kindle
Episode Two: Vampire Unleashed available on Kindle
Episode Three: Vampire Lust available on Kindle
Episode Four: Vampire Descent available on Kindle
The Complete Serial Novel available in two versions:
Boxed or Uninterrupted
The Sunset Prophecy (Love at the End of the World #1)
Average rating: Five Stars
The Sunset Prophecy available on Kindle
Coming soon…
King’s Blood: Vampire Terminus
Zombie Party & Other Stories w/ J.R. Rain
Daughters of Eve w/ J.R. Rain
Vampire Mind w/H.T. Night
BOOKS BY ELIZABETH BASQUE
Sharpened Edges Trilogy
Average rating: Four Stars
Sharpened Edges: Book One available on Kindle
Zombie Plague Trilogy w/ J.R. Rain
Average rating: Four and a half Stars
Zombie Patrol: Zombie Plague Trilogy #1 available on Kindle
Zombie Rage: Zombie Plague Trilogy #2 available on Kindle
Coming soon…
Sharpened Edges: Book Two
Zombie Mountain: Zombie Plague Trilogy #3 w/ J.R. Rain
California Witch: Mercedes Cruz #2
Mercy’s Magic (Mercedes Cruz #1)
Published by P.J. Day
Copyright © 2013 by P.J. Day & Elizabeth Basque
All rights reserved.
E-book Edition, License Notes
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the both the copyright owner and/or author.
Dedication
To the sights, smells and tastes of the Chapman Coffee House.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to J.R. Rain and to Mami and Papi for all their help.
A Note from Co-Author & Creator, P.J. Day
Mercy’s Magic was a fun idea I came up with while eating on the patio of my favorite restaurant in downtown Orange, California.
Old Towne Orange, with its infamous and surprisingly orderly traffic circle, is rich in history, tradition, and is truly a glimpse into what Southern California looked like at the turn of the 20th century. That part of the city is so full of character, I just had to use it as a backdrop for Mercy’s casework and for Mercy’s Magic and beyond. Not only do the old buildings, restaurants, and antique stores make such wonderful props and backdrops, but also its mixture of wealthier and newly immigrated Hispanic residents who seem to live at ease with each other. It is truly a rare sight whenever I encounter someone on the sidewalk, walking around the circle and taking in the sights, who’s frowning or experiencing a bad day.
Through one of my good friend’s recommendations, I thought it’d be a great idea to recruit Elizabeth Basque in helping me write Mercy, as she’d had a wonderful reputation for being both punctual and absurdly creative. She had just finished her collaboration with J.R. Rain on their Zombie Patrol series when she picked up my call.
We decided to meet in person, and while having a wonderful lunch at Felix’s Cuban Café, I handed Elizabeth my barebones outline, along with a description of who Mercy was, her family dynamic, and the setting where our witchy detective worked, lived, and played. Two months later, Elizabeth handed me a first draft filled to the brim with magic. She inserted so many of her own ideas, personal experiences researching Brujeria (Mexican Witchcraft), and also her own struggles that it turned Mercy’s Magic into a story that clearly comes from both the heart and an imagination infused with the local culture of Southern California. In my heartfelt opinion, I truly believe she’s created a unique, deep, rich and amazing witch story that readers, familiar with paranormal mystery and romance and those who are not, will thoroughly enjoy.
I’d like to thank you for giving Mercy a try. I really hope you enjoy the introduction to the series and her world. Elizabeth and I look forward to having you around for our future Mercedes Cruz installments.
Mercy’s Magic
Mercedes Cruz #1
Chapter One
Mercy downed her coffee and poured herself another cup as she watched the drama unfold on her favorite telenovela, Ámamame, Maldito, whose translation in English of Love me, Bastard always put a smile on Mercy’s face. The curvy, vivacious, raven-haired Carmen just found out that her daughter, Teresa, was pregnant, with none other than Marco the mechanic, son of Carmen’s nemesis, Margarita! This handed the catty rivals an ironic and fateful twist: both were now grandmothers and both were now related by blood.
“I knew it...this is so predictable, but I can’t stop watching,” Mercy muttered to herself, as she leaned over the island counter, watching the living room T.V. from afar.
“Mercy!”
She tore her eyes away from the television and faced her young daughter, Terra. “Call me mom, please,” Mercy said gently.
“I did,” Terra countered. “I called you three times, but you didn’t answer.”
Mercy smiled. Terra was eating a bowl of oatmeal, the homemade kind, that Mercy had prepared for her right before the telenovela’s revelation of Carmen and Margarita’s cursed entwinement. “What is it?” she asked her daughter.
“Did you sign my homework?” Terra’s beautiful, dark, chocolate-colored eyes gazed up at her mother’s.
“Of course I did,” Mercy answered. “You did a great job.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Burke wants to talk with you again,” she said.
“Why, Terra?”
“I got in trouble at school yesterday...”
Mercy rolled her eyes. She had been up all night working on a case and had just started her new P.I. business at the start of summer. Like clockwork and on weeknights, Mercy had been burning the midnight oil on a case. She kept odd hours, maintaining deadlines for clients and Orange P.D., and doing research, which sometimes meant just staring at a faded black and white government-issued photograph of someone’s expressionless face for hours. It was certainly a skill that sounded easy enough and ridiculous to most, but to someone with Mercy’s talents, this required hours of unfettered concentration.
But this was her daughter, and much more important than any case. Being tired was no excuse. She made it a point to always be present. “Spill the beans, sweetie.”
“Well,” Terra began dramatically. “Thomas was going to try and push David off the swing at recess...I saw it happen before it happened. I could tell mommy.”
Mercy breat
hed in through her nose and exhaled. She knew there’d be a day where Terra’s inherited skills would have to be addressed. She was also relieved that she didn’t get a call from school this time around, and thankful that Terra always told the truth.
“David didn’t do anything wrong, mommy. It made me mad. So I told Thomas he was a poopyhead. I know you told me not to say that word, but he shouldn’t have decided to push David.”
Mercy held back a smile. “Next time use your nice words, Terra. What did Mrs. Burke do?”
“I got in trouble for saying the bad word,” Terra admitted. “But while I was in time out, I saw David pushing Thomas off the swing again—I saw it, mom, in my head.” Terra pointed to the side of her noggin to emphasize the point. “He was going to try again.” Terra then folded her arms. “So after timeout I threw sand in his face. And I’m not sorry, even though I was told to say sorry.”
Terra looked up at her mother, her expression worried and defiant.
Mercy kept a poker face. Terra got in trouble more than anyone in her class, and Mercy chose not to be too hard on Terra, as she saw a miniscule amount of her daughter in herself. But since Terra seemed to be having more visions as of late, Mercy now felt that the two of them might be more alike than she’d previously imagined.
Mercy pulled up a chair, sat next to Terra, and made it a point to make eye contact. She smoothed back her daughter’s long, silky black ponytail that was a perfect clone of her own, and spoke softly. “Territa, listen to me. Sometimes kids get mad, like Thomas and David. But you’ve got to let them learn their own lessons. You can’t interfere with every little problem you see in your head.”
Terra nodded. Mercy continued. “Did they put you in time out again?”
“Yeah. I had to sit against the wall at lunch.”
“Well, what would have happened if you’d just let Thomas push David?”
“David might have gotten hurt!” Terra exclaimed.
“Maybe a little.” Mercy remained calm. “But not a lot, right?”
“No, probably not,” she answered.
“So, if you had left them alone, who would have gotten in trouble?”
“Thomas.”
“And who would have been sitting against the wall at lunch?”
“Thomas.”
“So,” Mercy said, raising her eyebrows as if she were Mrs. Burke. “What are you going to do next time?”
“I’ll try to stay out of it,” Terra answered despondently. “But mom...”
“No buts. I know it’s sometimes hard, Terra, but you have to be responsible for your own behavior. You do the best you can and let others be. The other kids don’t know the things you do. Right?”
“Right. I don’t think they do. Why is that, mommy?”
Mercy let the question slide, for now. “You’re just lucky that way. But just keep these things to yourself. Alright?”
“I’ll try...”
Mercy kissed her daughter on the forehead and rose. “Now we have to hurry...finish your oatmeal. I don’t want you to be late for school, or Mrs. Burke will have me sit next to the wall.” Terra giggled and shoved spoonfuls of oatmeal into her mouth.
Mercedes Cruz’ third cup of coffee had now cooled and that was alright. Mercy didn’t drink the strong black brew for the flavor; she drank it for the effect. She hurried and gulped the second one down too.
* * *
Outside their home—a comfy, two bedroom, corner apartment that sat right above Mercy’s office at ground level—a construction crew was busy placing large letters above Mercy’s storefront door and windows.
Magic Eye Private I
She and Terra watched with pride as the two got into their car parked out front. A couple of crewmen on a scaffold were having trouble balancing the letter M just above the varnished, antique door. Mercy and Terra looked on, wondering if the letter would stay in place as it kept falling into a slant.
Mercy felt a sudden urge to touch the air when she saw the men struggling. She reached her hand out as if she were tapping the letter from afar and tilted it to the right ever so slightly.
Terra gasped as the letter magically lurched upward, spitting in the face of Newton himself.
“Dios Mio,” Mercy whispered. It seemed her own powers were growing, too. Terra knew her mother had done it and with just the flick of her hand.
Terra and Mercy caught the glances from the crewmen. They shrugged and smiled at them through the windshield right before the crewmen burst into laughter at the minor occupational miracle.
“I thought you said to let others figure stuff out on their own,” Terra said.
Mercy sighed. “I know, Mija,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. I guess we all make mistakes.”
Terra nodded, but Mercy couldn’t help but smile as she merged their into the slow flow of cars that looped around the traffic circle in front of the office, before heading toward Terra’s school.
Chapter Two
“So, what’s the problem?”
Mercedes leveled a cool gaze onto her ex-husband, Grant. “There’s no problem, really,” she stated.
“You just told me Terra’s teacher had a long talk with you. Terra’s misbehaving in school. Christ, Mercy, she’s only in kindergarten! What kind of trouble could she possibly get into?”
“The teacher doesn’t understand her.” Mercy tried to explain. “She thinks Terra’s acting out because she’s got A.D.H.D. But I know she doesn’t.”
“Of course not,” Grant agreed. “But something must be going on if the teacher has to talk with you over and over.”
Mercy sighed. Grant really hadn’t known what he was getting into when he married her. She’d never been able to bring herself to tell him she’d come from a long line of witches, and Grant stopped trying to understand Mercy toward the end of their marriage anyway. This, compounded with Grant’s strong traditional and Catholic beliefs, was a recipe for divorce.
“She’s just...very sensitive,” Mercy told him. “And perhaps a little intuitive. She cares about the other students, and she tries to set things right. Terra just needs to learn to mind her own business, that’s all. When she does, I’m sure she’ll calm down.”
“And in the meantime?” Grant asked. “I don’t want our daughter labeled from kindergarten on. Those labels can stick around a long time. They’ll affect her self-esteem.”
“I know, Grant, I know. I don’t want that either. I’m working on it...talking with her all the time.”
Grant nodded but with a pout. Mercy understood his moods and stopped the conversation. She noticed his hair was greying a little too and her eyes softened. He’d run the business since his father retired, and Mercy understood he was under a lot of pressure. And she also knew Grant loved Terra as much as she did.
“Look, I didn’t come to argue with you,” Mercy said, softly as she knew dealing with Grant was all about the tone in her voice. “I’m just keeping you informed. Okay? And I thought I’d save you some time and pick up the check.”
Grant walked up to his desk and pulled out a pre-written check from underneath a stack of invoices and handed it to Mercy.
“Thank you.” She paused a moment, trying to find the right words. “She’ll be fine, Grant.”
“I know, Mercy.”
Despite the disagreements, Grant regarded Mercy as a wonderful mother. It was a shame the way things turned out between them; he still cared about her, and loved Terra deeply. She was the light of his life. If only Mercy had succumbed to his definition of a stay at home wife and mother, they’d probably would have remained married. But Mercy was stubborn, and she’d refused. He knew she didn’t want that kind of life. And there was a mysterious nature about Mercy that Grant never did comprehend. She always seemed as if she were reading his thoughts, answering his questions with miraculous accuracy, almost clairvoyantly, to the point of irritation.
He shook his head, dispelling the haunting memories of spousal mind control. “Well
, I’d like to spend more time with her, if that’s okay with you?” he asked.
“Of course, Grant,” Mercy said. “Terra loves spending time with her daddy.” This brought a smile to his face. “Just don’t spoil her too much,” she added. “It’s hard for me to get her back into a routine after you give her tons of ice cream and let her stay up all night watching videos on your tablet!” But she smiled, too. Let him spoil her. After all, he didn’t spend half the time with their daughter as Mercy did.
“Is it okay if I have her over for the whole weekend?” Grant asked.
Mercy hesitated only a moment. Her heart ached when her daughter wasn’t with her. They were very close. But she was grateful that Terra had a father who loved her too.
“I suppose,” she answered. “I’ve got a lot of work to do anyhow.”
“Hey, how’s the business going, anyway?” he asked.
“Good,” she answered with a smile. “I’m hustling work, but that’s alright.”
“You need more work?” His tone was casual, but Mercy sensed a serious undertone.
“Always,” she answered, leaning forward. “What do you have?”
“You know Javier, right?” he said, nervously scratching the back of his head. It wasn’t really a question either; he knew that she did.
“Javier?” Mercy said, surprised and concerned. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Grant answered. He then cleared his throat. “He’s...uh...he’s been missing for four days.