What's a Witch to Do?: A Midnight Magic Mystery

by Jennifer Harlow

  “You’ve done more than enough,” I say with a chuckle. “Thank you. I already feel like I’ve taken advantage of you.”

  “I have no problem with you taking advantage of me, Mona,” he says as his smile grows mischievous. “As I remember, it was quite enjoyable.”

  I blush from the memories and look back at the magazine. “You know what I mean. I don’t want to talk about that.”

  His smile wavers a little. “Not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

  That’s the problem. It’s all too damn easy. I stand and turn around. “I’m going to check the online orders. Excuse me.” I walk into the back and take a deep breath, letting it out slowly before I reach the desk. Damn it, Billie, get here before I lose my damn mind. I don’t—

  I sense him before I even spin around. By the time I do his arms are already around me, pulling me into him. Those delicious lips find mine, instantly matching his intensity on instinct. Oh … mama.

  I press my body into his as his tongue parts my lips. He tastes good. Never tasted anything better. I swear he’s drugged me. I’m already a damn addict. I clutch onto his back to anchor myself, as he does me. Something real and solid to keep us from being swept away. I barely notice my legs hit the altar as he backs me into it. As he lifts me onto it, his lips move to my ear, whispering, “See how easy this is,” before trailing my neck with light kisses down to my collarbone. I go cross-eyed as he gives me a playful nibble. I wrap my legs around his waist, and his bulge bears down on my engorged nethers, sending me into frenzy. I hate clothes. We are never wearing them again. His mouth is on mine, giving me another fix, as his hand sneaks up my shirt to my breast. I groan, scraping my nails down his back. Heaven. We kiss and kiss, and rub and rub, and …

  “Oh shit!”

  I make the mistake of opening my eyes only to find Billie standing at the door, mouth agape. I didn’t hear the bell. He has his hand under my shirt, and I’ve been writhing like a cat in heat. My legs drop, and I push Adam away, beyond mortified. “Um … ” I say.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Billie says through her chuckles. “Don’t stop on my account.”

  I straighten my shirt and hop off the altar as Adam smoothes his hair. “We were just—”

  “I can figure it out.” She puts her purse on the hook. “Carry on,” she quips as she leaves.

  We’re alone again. Not good. “I’m late,” I mutter. I step toward the door and so does he. Don’t look at him. “No. Stay. Just … stay.” I grab my purse and hightail it out of there. “Alice will be here in two hours. Call if you need me,” I tell Billie as I rush out.

  Air. Now that I’m outside I can breathe again. Through the window I see him step out of the back room, and I sprint down the sidewalk like a coward. At least I make it to the park faster. Things are shaping up here. Rides are being tested, the food is being brought in, and stuffed animals are being hung in the booths. The world carries on.

  I find the overwhelmed mayor screeching into her cell phone about missing tables. I simply wave and rush off to find a task. Overseeing the setup of the stage for Sophie’s show tonight will do. All thoughts of Adam are pushed aside as I decorate the replica of our town—well, most of the time. Bits of the scene on my altar flash through my mind, sending my body into a frenzy all over again. I just stop, close my eyes, and will the feelings away. I’m a master after so many years. About thirty minutes in, my cell buzzes. “Hello?”

  “Where are you?” Tamara asks.

  “The park by the stage. Why?”

  “Oh, I see you.” She hangs up. A second later I spot her coming my way. I walk off the stage as she reaches me. Before I say a word, she grabs my arm and pulls me away from the crowd. “The FBI just interviewed everyone at the diner about Cheyenne, and it’s all over town they’re here about her. What the hell is going on now?”

  “They’re the preternatural police. They’re here to build a case. What did they ask?”

  “Strange behavior, grudge against you, stuff like that. If she hasn’t heard, she damn well will pretty soon. What if she tries to shoot you or something?”

  “Then the squad will arrest her, and all will return to normal.”

  She puts her hand on her hip. “You should still have Adam with you just in case.”

  “That … is not a good idea,” I say.

  “Why the hell not? Let the man do what he came here for.”

  “I can’t be around him right now, okay?”

  “Why? Because you slept with him?” My mouth drops open. “Oh, save the protests. I saw the love bites, and I’d know the stink of your pregnancy protection potion anywhere. I didn’t say anything yesterday because I know you’re weird about sex stuff.” She smiles. “Reprieve over. Was it good?”

  I want to lie but can’t keep it in anymore. “Fucking fantastic,” I laugh. I take her hands and drag her even farther away. “It was incredible. One second I was crying, and the next we were attacking each other. It was like he knew what each inch of my body wanted.”

  “Oh, hon. I’m so happy for you. You had your first real orgasm.”

  “I had more than one,” I chuckle. My smile fades. “But then I woke up the next morning and panicked. I didn’t know what it all meant. Then … Tam, he says he’s in love with me. He has been for years.”

  I expect surprise but no emotion surfaces. “So he finally told you, huh? Damn, I owe Debbie twenty bucks. I bet he’d tell you right before he left.”

  “What?” I ask, eyes bugging out of my head.

  She laughs. “Come on. I had my suspicions from the start. We all did. I mean, why would a guy risk his life otherwise? And the way he looked at you. Damn. I’d give my right arm for a man to look at me like that again. Debbie and I got the truth out of him right after you left for the auction. We even convinced him to go, bid you away from that doctor, and confess his love right there. Did he tell you then, I mean before he died and all?”

  “He told me last night.”

  “A whole day after you slept with him? Well, what’d you say?”

  “I … what could I say?”

  “Uh, how about, ‘I love you too’? It’s tried and true for a reason.”

  “But I don’t … know if I do,” I say weakly.

  “Oh bull-fucking-shit girl. It’s written all over your face, has been for days. You light up! It’s adorable. Even Clay noticed for God’s sake.” She pauses. “He’s a good man, Mona. He may not be a doctor, and he may turn furry once a month, but he loves you. Hell, I think he even loves those troublemakers of yours. He already proved he’d die for you. What more do you want?”

  Oh fuck. No. No. Yes, that voice says inside my head. Oh shit. She’s right. She is so right. It’s been staring me in the damn face for days, but I just wouldn’t open my eyes. I love him. I’ve fallen in love with him. Hell’s bells. I should be happy, right? That’s the appropriate response. Then why am I petrified?

  “I have to get back to work,” I say, stepping away.

  “Mona, we are not done talking about this,” she says, following me.

  “Oh yes we are. I’m busy.”

  She takes my arm and swings me around. “You cannot bury your head in the sand this time. You can’t. If you do, I guarantee you will live to regret it. This is a gift you’ve been given. True love is pretty fucking rare, don’t throw it away cause you’re scared. Sometimes things do work out the way we want them to. Real stories can have a happy ending. You just gotta have faith.”

  Faith. The word turns my stomach.

  “I have to get back to work,” I whisper. I rub her arm. “Thank you.” This time she doesn’t follow me.

  Tamara’s right about one thing: real stories can have happy endings. I just have no faith that mine is one of them. Faith. I used to be capable of it. Faith that Daddy would always be there. That Granny would pull through. That the universe would balance good and evil. Something can only let you down so much before you shun it, even hate it a little. Faith broke my heart an
d now it’s knocking on my door, begging to be let in again. I just don’t think I can turn that knob. Not for him. Not for anything. I just don’t think I have it in me.

  So that’s that. The end.

  Emergency call

  After the stage is dressed, I move onto stocking the game booths with fluffy bunnies and toy guns. Before I know it, it’s one thirty and I’m starving. Time for a meal break. I start walking up the street when my cell buzzes. “Hello?”

  “Mona, it’s Collins. I need to talk to you,” she says, sounding scared.

  “What is it?”

  “Cheyenne. I—I can’t believe it.”

  “What happened?”

  “Those agents came and interviewed Meemaw. She called me all upset, so I came over and … I need to show you something.”

  “You’re at Maxine’s?” I ask, speed walking toward the shop.

  “Yeah. Get here soon. Meemaw called Cheyenne, and she’s on her way too. I have to go.” She hangs up.

  “Crap.” I take off in a run to the shop. Alice is behind the counter helping a customer and Billie is replacing our stock on the new shelves when I rush in. “Adam?” I call.

  “He’s not here,” Billie says. “He took off a few minutes after you.”

  “Shit. Did he take my car?”

  “No. An SUV picked him up.”

  “Great.” I run into the back, getting an athame and protection amulet before sprinting out of the shop toward the parking lot. When I get there, I peel out of the lot and down Courtland as I pull out my cell and call George, rattling out the facts and Maxine’s address before hanging up. Adam’s next. He deserves to be there for the take down.

  “Hello?” he asks, with another man’s voice in the background.

  “It’s Mona. Collins found something. I’m on my way to Maxine’s now.”

  “I’m with the squad,” he says through the pants. He’s running. “We just heard. Wait for us to get there before you go in, okay?”

  “How far are you?”

  “Most of us are at the barn. Others might get there sooner. Just wait, okay? Please?”

  “I’ll try. Just get there.”

  I’m about to hang up but he says, “I love you.”

  “I lo—” I stop myself. “Bye.” I hang up.

  A minute later, I pull into Maxine’s driveway, the only free space for blocks, and cut off the engine. There’s no sign of Cheyenne. I beat her here. I guess now I wait. They better—

  The front door is tossed open, and Maxine barrels out, scowling as usual. “You get the hell off my property, Mona McGregor!”

  So much for waiting. I climb out of the car, all smiles. “Hello, Maxine.”

  The scowl grows. “Troublemaker! Liar! Get out of here!”

  Collins steps out. “I called her, Meemaw.”

  “Collie, how dare you invite this viper here! You know what she’s been saying!”

  “With reason,” Collins says. “Come in.” I don’t think I have a choice now. I walk up the driveway, past Maxine’s death stare, into the house. It reeks of cigarette smoke and cat pee with shabby furniture scattered around. This must be where Cheyenne learned to decorate.

  “Collins, what is going on?” Maxine asks.

  Collins leads me into a small bedroom with only bunk beds and a small TV on a rickety stand. She immediately moves to the closet, bending down inside. “Cheyenne used to keep stuff Meemaw wouldn’t like in here. Drugs, booze, you know.” She pulls up a floorboard and extracts an athame, books, charm bags, potions, and a small notebook with red splotches on it. Blood. “I found this.”

  The books are worn, one on black magic, another on necromancy, and the last about demons with a page marked. Lilith’s page. It gives her biography, powers, and there’s even a picture of her in her true form with six breasts, fangs, and twisted body. Dang. The notebook is what really draws my attention. There are some pretty serious spells in here. Love potions, memory erase charms, hexes, spells to paralyze, raise the dead, kill, and raise a demon. “I leafed through it,” Collins says. “I can’t believe she would do this.”

  “Meemaw?” the wicked witch of Goodnight says in the front room before the door shuts. “Are you okay?” Crap. Adam, get your ass here now. I follow Maxine into the living room where Cheyenne stands. I take one step out of the door and our eyes lock, stopping me dead. “You bitch. Get out of here!”

  I’m the bitch? My blood boils, and I have to fight the urge to leap across the room and slug her. “We found your secret stash.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” she asks.

  “The notebook. The demonology book. I know you summoned Lilith.”

  “What?” she shrieks. “Notebook? What … ? Meemaw?”

  “My granddaughter would not do that,” Maxine shouts. “You get out of my house!”

  “Stop covering for her, Meemaw,” Collins says behind me. I turn. She’s almost next to me, leaning in the doorway. “You know she’s a bad seed. Always was.”

  “Fuck you, Collins,” Cheyenne spits. “You’re just a jealous bitch.” She glares at me. “Both of you. What, because your cousin would rather screw me than put his dick in your cobwebbed vag, you’re framing me? Why the fuck would I summon a demon?”

  “Because you want me dead, and you’re too much of a coward to do it face to face. First you got Alejandro to do your dirty work, and when that failed, you brought in a demon!”

  “My Cheyenne didn’t do any of that,” Maxine shouts. “You’re crazy. Why would she?”

  “Because she’s tired of being the town whore,” Collins says. “High Priestess has a better sound to it.”

  Cheyenne’s eyes narrow. “What?” Her eyes dart behind me. “I don’t—”

  “Stop lying,” Collins cuts in. “No one’s buying your bullshit anymore. Goddess, are you so fucking dumb you don’t get that?”

  “Will you shut the fuck up!”

  “It’s over,” Collins shouts. “Like everything else in your life, you’ve failed!”

  “Shut up.”

  “Collins,” I warn.

  There’s no stopping her. “You’re not going to lie or fuck your way out of this one! You’re going to prison for the rest of your miserable life!”

  “What? No!” Cheyenne shrieks.

  “They’re gonna come here with guns … ”

  “No,” Cheyenne whimpers.

  “Slap those cuffs on you … ”

  “No … ”

  “That’s if they don’t shoot your dumb ass on sight!”

  “No!”

  It’s so tense in here the thump on the front door makes all four of us jolt and scream. Collins leaps behind me, pressing against my back and clutching onto my shirt for protection. I momentarily close my eyes, and when I open them across the room I see Cheyenne’s hand raising out of her purse with something shiny. My instincts know what it is before my brain catches on because all my muscles clench. Oh hell. The small revolver points at me first, then Collins, then back to me as its owner breathes heavily, eyes bugging out of her head. “Nobody fucking move!”

  “Cheyenne!” Maxine shouts.

  “Don’t move, Meemaw. I’m sorry,” she says through the pants.

  “Cheyenne, put the gun down,” I say calmly. Collins clutches even harder.

  “Shut up!”

  “Cheyenne, the police were following you and agents are on their way. If they see you pointing that gun at us, they will shoot you on sight! Do you hear me?”

  Her hands shake violently. “No, no,” she whimpers.

  “Right now all you are guilty of is attempted murder. If you kill one of us, that’s murder. You will never get out. Is that what you want? Put the gun down.”

  “Put it down, doll,” Maxine says. “She’s right. Put it down.”

  With a whimper, Cheyenne’s tear-filled eyes move to her grandmother’s. She’s still that scared, angry little girl I used to try to play dolls with twenty years ago. I think she might listen. She lo
wers the gun halfway, but then that pitiful gaze moves back to me and the fear morphs into anger as if a switch was flicked. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  I avert my eyes. “Sorry.”

  She’s quiet for a second. “You … ” she whispers, “you did this!” she shouts. “You bitch! I fucking hate you!”

  “Cheyenne … ” Collins says behind me.

  “Fuck you!”

  It’s true: the world slows to a crawl when you’re about to die. My cousin raises the gun again, and I can see the dust particles in the air shift in her wake like flakes of silver in the light. My brain works in overdrive trying to figure out a solution in the second before death. Rushing her, trying to grab the gun, just running are all discounted because of the distance. She’s too close. I’m done. That’s it. I’m going to die.

  My eyes close, and my life flashes by like I was flipping through a picture book. Mommy pushing me and Ivy on swings. Us all dancing in our old living room, with Daddy dipping Mommy and kissing her nose. Mommy’s coffin lowering into the ground as I held baby Debbie. The last time I saw Daddy as he waved goodbye from the driveway. The first time I saw Adam as he was walking inside a party with Jason, that bright smile turning to shock when he laid eyes on me. Granny and Papa doing dishes together side-by-side. Cuddling with Debbie after Papa’s funeral. Opening the front door and finding Ivy and the girls on my porch, all haunted by whatever they had just escaped. The first time Sophie hugged me after months of shrinking away from my touch. Adam gazing up at me the night of the auction as if I was the only woman in the universe. I stop there. That’s the moment. That’s the moment I fell in love with him. When he made me believe I was beautiful. It’s the image I want to take with me. One brimming with love.

  Okay. I’m ready.

  “Excessum!”

  My eyes fly open just in time to see Cheyenne’s eyes roll back into their sockets and her body crumple to the carpet, the gun dropping beside her. What the … ? My head whips to my left where Collins’s arm is still outstretched over my shoulder with her finger pointed right where her sister was. A curse. She cursed her. She’s dead.