Rolling out of bed, I head downstairs to my kitchen. The metal stairs are cool under my feet. I wave my hand at the kettle, and it turns on. I go in search of my tablet and find it on the coffee table where I’ve plugged it into the wall to charge. Needing to write myself a list of all the things I have to do, I sit down at the bench.
The kettle starts to whistle, I wave my hand at it again. A cupboard door opens, and a cup flies out. From another cupboard comes a teabag, that flies into the cup. The kettle then lifts up and fills the cup with hot water, the tea bag jiggling up and down, turning the water dark. The kettle sits back down on the bench, and the cup floats up and towards me before gently setting down next to my tablet. A wisp of steam floats up towards the ceiling as I wave at the fridge, and it too opens, the milk floating out. It makes a wobbly path to the bench, and sets down rather abruptly, teetering to one side. I make a snatch at it with my hand before it can tip over. Hmmm, my magic muscles need a lot more work. Opening it up, I add it to my tea.
Taking a sip, the warmth slides down my throat, soothing me, and calming my erratic thoughts. Grabbing my tea and tablet, I wander out to the sunroom, throwing myself on one of the couches. Leaning back with my drink in one hand, I admire the view out of my sunroom windows.
Surrounded by trees on all sides, all that can be seen of the manor is one of the spires at the top of a turret through the dense foliage. It’s why Regan and I used to like playing down here when we were little and visiting our grandparents at the manor. We loved the feeling of freedom, playing all kinds of games. As we got older, we’d have campfires and parties with our friends. Booze flowed, and the games got more mature. But through all the ups and downs, kisses and fights, we all stayed friends.
Which brings me to thoughts of the Tempting Ten. Obviously, the spell is still affecting them, as no one else has returned yet. I must speak to mom about all the spells surrounding the island and influencing the people. But first I need to talk to Tatiana. I click my fingers, and my phone lands in my lap. I put my cup of tea down and dial her number, waiting while I hear it ring, but it rings out and goes to message bank.
“Tats! Its Rubes! You need to ring me back as soon as you get this. Shit is happening, and I need you. Both your Mom and Maddock are in trouble. Call me.”
I press the button to disconnect, dropping the phone back in my lap and blowing out a breath of air in frustration. If that’s not enough to put a rocket up her ass, I’m not sure what is.
My phone rings, making me jump in fright, wow that was quick, but when I look it's not Tatiana, it’s Bram. “Hey Bram, what’s up?”
“Hey Ruby, sorry to be calling so early, but you may want to come down to the store. I’ve just arrived to start work, but the front window has been smashed, and it looks like the shop has been trashed. I’ve called the Sheriff, but he may want to talk to you and your parents.”
I jump up off the couch, my stomach drops. Rushing back into the house to grab my car keys, with the phone shoved between my ear and shoulder. “Crap, ok. Have you rung mom and dad?”
“No Regan and Maddock are both here too, and Regan’s on the phone at the moment.”
“Ok, I’ll get dressed and be right there. Don’t let the sheriff go in until mom and I arrive. There are some spells we can do to check for sabotage or for traps.” I tell him in a rush.
“Yeah ok, I’ll let him know.” He hangs up.
I race around looking for clothes when I stop abruptly. Seriously, when am I going to get used to using magic again? Clicking both fingers and the tank top and pajama shorts I was wearing disappear. Instead, I'm now wearing red capri pants and a white, fitted, scoop neck top. Joggers appear on my feet. Grabbing the keys off the bench, shoving my phone and table into my backpack, I run back out the door, pulling it shut behind me. Looking around the empty front yard, I realize my car is not here, it’s still parked at the Hamster. Damn it. Regan is in town already, and mom and dad are probably on their way.
Taking a deep breath in, I try to calm my heart rate. My magic has slowly trickled back into my body since I have been home and released from that spell, but I still haven’t tried to teleport yet. Clearing my mind and soaking up the energy of nature, I picture in my mind the front of the shop and clap my hands together. There’s a flash of light, then absolute darkness. When I appear back into the light, I’m directly in front of my shop. Dropping to the ground, dizzy, and disorientated, I try desperately to hold the vomit inside when a wave of pain hits me.
I can hear voices, but I’m still disoriented, and I can’t tell who’s talking to me. Unknown hands help me to stand up, then arms are lifting and carrying me. I’m placed down on the wooden bench that is sitting a little further down the street. My head pushed between my legs, a hand rubbing up and down my back. My breath saws in and out as I try to control it.
“Deep breaths Rubes, deep breaths.” I can hear Regan say as my hearing returns to me.
“What were you thinking?” a voice screeches at me, and I silently wish my hearing hadn’t returned. Slowly I sit up, and my mother is looking at me with murder in her eyes. I guess she’s going to finish what the portal started. I roll my eyes at her.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, young lady. You are not too old to have your bottom paddled.” Ha, she always threatens that but has never done it. “You haven’t used your magic regularly for years, and you think you’re ready to portal. It’s like a muscle Ruby, you don’t use it, it wastes. For Goddess’s sake, what you just did was the equivalent of a fat man attempting to run the hundred-meter sprint. It’s amazing you didn’t suffer a stroke.”
My breathing has finally slowed, and I start to reply, but she holds her hand up.
“No, I don’t want to hear it. It was reckless and stupid, don’t do it again until you’ve had more practiced. I don’t care if you are the strongest teleporter we have.”
“I’m sorry Mom, you are right.” A look of shock crosses her face. She looks at Regan.
“Did you hear that?” He nods with a smirk.
A look of triumph crosses her face, and she does a little victory dance in the street. I ignore the gloating and turn to look back towards the shop. “What happened? Have you checked for spells or a hint to who did this? What about the security cameras?” Still not steady, the words rush out.
From where I am sitting with Mom and Regan. I can see Dad, Bram, Maddock, and the Sheriff, all standing in front of the shop. My spirits drop when I realize Maddock wasn’t the least bit concerned about me. He was always the first to help me when we were kids, and I hurt myself. Regan pats me on the knee and draws my attention back to him. The look on his face is worrying me.
“Taylor only just got here, so we are not sure. He was over at the Hamster. I’m sorry, Rubes, but someone has slashed all the tires on your car and smashed the windows. It looks like someone has it in for you.”
“Your dad looked at the video surveillance of the store from his phone, but it's blank. It’s been switched off. So, it shows us nothing. If you are still not feeling up to it, I’ll get the boys to help with the spell to check for residue and traps.” Mom says to me.
I shake my head, “I’m alright, just give me a few more minutes, please.” Regan gets up and walks over to the others, leaving Mom and me. The town is still relatively quiet at this time of the morning. I can hear the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels somewhere along the street. I watch as a few people go in and out of the Buttered Biscuit for their morning coffee. I click my fingers, and a couple of takeaway cups appear in my hand.
I smile as I hand one to mom. “Don’t worry, it’s all coming back to me. I just forget to use it.” She smiles and takes one from me, “Make sure to leave some money on the bench for Beatrix,” I nod. “Already taken care of.”
I continue to watch while I recover my bearings and breath. A small crowd has gathered, watching what is going on around the store. I recognize a few of the locals, but most are unfamiliar to me. I turn to her and lowe
r my voice to make eavesdropping difficult.
“Mom, while we are sitting here, can we do a discovery spell? I just have a funny feeling that the spell on us was not the only one. Yesterday I found one on Maddock. It's suffocating the light out of him. I fixed it, but when we were at The Hamster yesterday, it was replaced. Have a look at his aura, it’s muddy and writhing with negativity.”
She looks up, her lips pursed in thought as she focuses on Maddock. Her forehead creases in a frown. She nods her head and grabs hold of my hand. Discreetly she sends out a searching spell; what comes back to us is shocking. Both of us gasp at the backlash.
“Holy crap! Mom, there is so much wrong with this town. I count three.” She nods her head in agreement.
“There seems to be two circling the island. One repels humans, the other supes. The other one seems to be embedded in the town. That one is encouraging young people to leave the island. I can feel the negativity, and it’s like a fog. I don't know how I hadn't noticed before. But there is some very dark magic at work.”
“Don't blame yourself, mom. It probably got spelled in layers, and you didn't notice because it was done overtime. The other thing I noticed is the older female coven girls were chased off, but most of the boys are still here. So many questions, and very little in the way of answers, we need to do more.”
Mom’s nodding her head in agreement, her red curls bobbing with the action. “It will take some powerful spells to remove the ones from the island, we will need some more of the girls back before we attempt that. But we should be able to deal with Maddock's spell today. Let’s deal with the shop, and then we will figure out how to deal with Maddock. We will have to get him away from that Klingon.” She nods towards Maddock.
We both watch as Sheree walks out of the group of people that had been watching all the commotion. She strolls up to him, draping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss, interrupting the conversation he was involved in. I watch as his mother tries to get his attention from the doorway of her shop. Both Mom and I gasp in shock as he ignores her, grabs Sheree by the hand, and they wander off in the direction of the blacksmith; ignoring both his mother and the guys standing around the store. We watch as Lucille wrings her hands together and turns to go back into her shop, the light shining on the tear sliding down one cheek.
“Motherfucker!” My mom whispers under her breath. I turn to look at her, my eyes wide in shock as a snort escapes out of the side of my mouth. “Right,” she says, standing up and reaching a hand down to help me, “we’re wasting time, let's get on with it.”
We walk over to the shop to hear the end of what Sheriff Crimson is saying to dad. “And unfortunately, we have no other leads. It’s like the area has been magically cleansed.”
Dad reaches out and shakes his hand. “Thanks, Taylor, for coming and letting us know.” He turns to us, “Taylor says all the surveillance cameras in the areas were wiped for a period of half an hour last night, and he can’t get any trace of a scent. There was a really thick fog that rolled in late last night, keeping people inside, and those that were around saw or heard nothing.”
“Do you think you can try a spell on the store—see if you can get anything, please Prue?” Taylor asks my mom. She smiles at him and nods her head. A look of determination crosses her face,
“Nobody messes with my town and my friends and gets away with it. Time to pull out the big guns.”
She pulls me over until we are standing in front of the smashed window. I stand on my tiptoes and peer inside over the broken glass, my heart sinking to the bottom of my stomach. The store is in ruins. Displays have been trashed; the candy is strewn from one end of the shop to the other. Ants are crawling everywhere throughout the store. From what I can see, nothing is salvageable. We need to get in there to be sure, so first, we need to check for booby traps and spell residuals from the caster if there are any.
We clasp hands, and she starts to murmur the spell under her breath, I channel power into her to boost the spell. She finishes casting it, and a flash of light illuminates the inside of the candy store. Traps or attack spells would show up as crimson patches of light, but this is all clear. Just as the spell dissipates, the caster's residual is felt. It is the same as the one I touched on Maddock yesterday. Still not familiar to me, I turn and look at Mom, she just shakes her head in response. The light fades, and we give the Sheriff the all-clear to go inside. He shoves open the door, made difficult by the debris blocking the entrance.
“Whoever did this must have broken the window first and then portaled into the shop, as there is no way they could have climbed through that jagged glass without cutting themselves. And they blocked the door with all the debris,” I say to everyone, pointing out the window and the trouble with the door.
Taylor grunts in agreement and starts to sniff around the store, literally. We all stand still while he assesses the smells, but his frown and the shake of his head tells me everything I need to know. “Sorry Ruby, I just can’t pick up anything amongst the smell of the sugar. All this crushed candy and the different flavors are muddling everything up. Nothing stands out.”
I’m really not surprised. I can tell just by looking that nothing can be saved. All the products are damaged beyond salvation. I look into the kitchen out the back, and I can see the bags of sugar have been slashed, the colorings are emptied over the sugar, creating a rainbow mess, and the flavorings are poured out over the floor. The machines have been smashed beyond repair. I can see the arms of the candy puller have been used to break the display cabinets. A shiver of despair crosses my body, and I wrap my arms around my body, hugging myself. “Not your fault, Sheriff, but thanks anyway.”
“I’ll continue to ask around if anyone saw anything, but I won’t get your hopes up. If you come across the caster, you make sure you let me know. And Rubes, I’m off tomorrow if you need help to clean up.”
“Thanks, Taylor, I appreciate it.”
He walks out, leaving, mom and dad, Bram and Regan, to survey the damage.
“Oh well, nothing to be done for it now. Lucky we were redoing the store anyway,” says Dad, trying to be positive.
“I would have liked to have kept the inventory. Do you know how busy I’ll be trying to restock this place? You know I love making candy, but I don’t think I will be sleeping any time soon.” I complain to them all.
Mom just waves her hand, and the store is instantly empty. All the mess, the broken glass, the trashed candy, the ants, are gone. Left is a blank shell, empty and barren. “There, sorted. A fresh, clean slate for Bram to work with and less work for us. And honey, you know we will help as much as we can,” she says, her voice echoing through the empty shop. Putting her arms around my shoulder, she starts to issue orders like a drill sergeant. “Bram, you and Gerald have got the store, yes?” He nods at her. “Regan, you go back to the Manor, I know you’re busy. Alastair you go with him, help with what he needs. Ruby and I will head back to her place and write a list of everything we need to make, and start on the inventory. We may need to make a trip to Toronto to get supplies since we have lost everything. Maddock can take you, as we are all busy, and he has some amends to make,” she says, turning to me.
I snort in disgust. “I can’t even get him to look at me Mom, even when I just about splice myself when teleporting. What makes you think I can get him to take me shopping?”
“I will make it a coven decree; he will have to do it. Before you go, we will make a protection potion for him, which will make it impossible to drape the negativity spell over him again. You can add it to a drink and give it to him on your trip. We will anchor it with a drop of your blood Ruby.”
Regan snorts, “Sounds a bit like a love spell mom, I know Maddock is into Ruby, but don’t take away his free will.”
“No, nothing like that,” she argues. “This will allow Ruby to feel if it is tampered with at any stage, but the potion itself is strong and should protect him permanently. We may need to get it into every one o
f the townspeople so that individuals cannot be messed with. I will talk to the mayor and see if I can have it added to the town water supplies, it may be the easiest way. It will protect the residents and any of the tourists visiting the town against negative influences.”
My spirits start to brighten, now that we have some plans being put into place. We all agree with our orders, and Dad and Regan head off to the manor as Gerald walks through the door of the store to help Bram out with the renovations.
“Hello Ruby, Prue,” he says, nodding to us both. “I hear you have had some bad luck, but on the bright side, we can get going with the new stuff now.” He gestures to the picnic basket he carried with him, “Beatrix sent plenty of food along to keep up our strength, it shouldn’t be more than a couple of days to get the store up and running again.” He winks at us, and a weight lifts off of my chest. The store is in good hands. We wish them goodbye and Mom, and I stroll outside to her car.
Chapter Twelve
Ruby
Before heading back to my place, I ask mom to drive me to the Hamster. When we arrive in the parking lot, there is no sign of the Mustang. I ask Mom to wait while I go inside to see if Josh knows what happened.
When I try the front doors to the bar, they are shut tight; the sign next to the door telling the open hours reminds me how early it still is. I wander around the side of the building, and I can hear clanging sounds, so I stroll in that direction. Rounding the corner, I find a lovely sight.
Both Josh and Galan are there, shirtless! Rolling empty kegs from the back door of the pub into the brewery facility. Standing back, I admire the glistening, rippling muscles for five minutes. After my morning, I deserve a little sugar. One of the kegs bangs against another, a loud ringing sounding out and knocking me out of my daze. “Hi guys,” I shout above the noise. They both stop what they’re doing and look up. “Why are you doing manual labor when you could click your fingers and move them.?”
Candy Conniptions (Arbor Vitae Coven Book 1) Page 9