Witch Confidential
A Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery Book Two
Lily Harper Hart
HarperHart Publications
Copyright © 2020 by Lily Harper Hart
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
Drink Recipes
Mail List
Acknowledgments
Books by Lily Harper Hart
One
“I’m not saying that I believe in love at first sight. I’m saying that I believe something chemical happens to certain people when they’re in close proximity to one another and that’s what people mistake for love at first sight.”
Huxley Benton, a cupid from Mid-City, sat at the bar of Krewe and waxed poetic about his take on life and love. He’d been a regular at New Orleans’ premiere speakeasy for as long as the owner, Ofelia “Fe” Archer, could remember ... and she had a long memory. Her father owned the establishment before her and she spent her childhood learning at his side. Now she was queen of the castle ... and sometimes the serfs gave her headaches.
Speaking of her father, Oscar Archer had the spot on the left side of Huxley and he was completely engaged in the conversation. “I get what you’re saying ... but I believe in love at first sight.”
Ofelia continued to mix drinks behind the counter, keeping one ear on the conversation. Occasionally she would slide a look to the opposite end of the bar, where a tall, handsome, and sometimes mysterious man sat by himself and pretended he wasn’t watching her work. It was a dance of sorts. She acted as if she wasn’t watching him and he feigned interest in everything but her. They both knew better.
“Why would you possibly believe in love at first sight?” Huxley was aghast. “It takes time to fall in love with someone. You should know that. You’re not a child.”
“I think there’s such a thing as destiny,” Oscar persisted. “I know when I met my wife, the second I saw her I recognized there wasn’t going to be anyone else for me. It might not have been love, but it was ... something.”
Huxley blinked several times in rapid succession. “You’re divorced.”
“Hey, I’m not saying it was perfect.” Oscar’s eyes flashed with annoyance and Ofelia shot him a warning look when it appeared he might slap his hands on the counter. She loved her father — he’d taught her everything she knew about running a business — but he was difficult at times. She refused to let this be one of those times. “I’m just saying that sometimes there’s no escaping what you feel, no matter how much your head screams something else at you.”
“And I’m saying you’re full of it,” Huxley shot back.
On a sigh, Ofelia shook her dark head and drifted down the bar area, smiling at various customers — who were mostly engaged with other customers and had no interest in her — until she landed on the single man at the end.
“Do you need something?” she asked, flashing what she hoped was a friendly, if non-engaging, smile in his direction.
Zacharias “Zach” Sully fiddled with his straw as he watched the sultry witch come to a standstill in front of him. He had no idea why he opted to head into Krewe on his only day off. On the surface, it made no sense. The only thing he craved when he had downtime was peace and quiet. At least that used to be the case.
Apparently now he craved something else ... and it had a sarcastic tongue, glossy black hair, and eyes that he was convinced could see into his soul.
“What?” he asked after a beat, realizing he hadn’t responded to her and he could no longer remember what question she posed.
Amusement, quick as lightning, lit Ofelia’s features. “I wanted to know if you needed another drink.” She inclined her head toward the cocktail he’d been nursing for almost an hour.
“Oh, well ... .” Sully had no intention of getting drunk. Drinking was part of the culture in New Orleans, there was no getting around that, but Ofelia was the type of woman who made him lose his senses without the aid of alcohol ... which could be dangerous. He had no intention of helping along the effort. “I’m good for right now.”
She didn’t bother to hide her smirk as she leaned against the counter. “You’re taking up a prime piece of real estate and sitting on an eight-dollar drink,” she noted.
He glanced around. The bar was busy, but hardly overflowing. He had a feeling the only reason she’d come down to tease him was because she couldn’t resist the pull either.
The pull. He didn’t know another way to describe it. Whenever he looked at her, he felt ... something. Finding the correct words to describe it was virtually impossible. All he knew was that he’d never felt it this strongly with another soul ... and she haunted his dreams. Of course, she was also a mouthy pain and his brain screamed at him that it was a mistake to flirt with her. He simply couldn’t help himself.
“If you want me to leave, all you have to do is ask,” he said on a wink.
She considered doing just that to see how he would react, but her heart wasn’t in it. Instead, she merely sighed and grabbed his drink. “You can’t sit there and sip bourbon-flavored water,” she complained, reaching for a bottle of top-shelf whiskey. “You at least have to pretend that you’re a customer.”
“Pretend, huh?” Sully arched a speculative eyebrow. “If I’m paying, how is that pretending?”
She shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know.” It was hard to hold his gaze because the blue of his eyes was so intense. “I just ... here’s another drink.”
Sully accepted the glass from her, stared a long beat, and then reached for his wallet.
Ofelia immediately started shaking her head and waving her hand. “I’ve got it. Don’t worry about it.”
“You’re running a business,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, but ... not everything is about money.” Her cheeks burned when she realized what she’d insinuated, but she held it together as Sully’s eyes flashed with amusement. “Don’t let it go to your head,” she admonished, narrowing her eyes as the door to Krewe shoved open to allow entrance to another familiar face.
“Felix,” Sully volunteered, shifting on his chair. He turned to watch every time the door opened. As a detective with the New Orleans Police Department, he was always aware of his surroundings. What Ofelia knew and others didn’t was that he was also a panther shifter, which meant he had a heightened sense of smell. Since his kind was exceedingly rare, he didn’t volunteer the information to just anyone. Ofelia knew because they’d ended up stumbling over a case together two weeks before. The information came out then. She found the truth only intrigued her more, which was frustrating for a woman who fancied herself “above” all the trappings of dating life.
Ofelia nodded as her brother scanned the crowd and then lifted his hand to wave, grinning at his sister as he cut through the crowd to get to her.
“Hello,” Felix boomed as he hopped onto the open stool next to Sully. “How is my favorite sister?”
Ofelia knew th
e game well enough to recognize that he was working an angle. “Let me guess: You need free drinks.”
Felix’s smile never wavered. “Oh, don’t say it like that. I have a line on a good gig. I’ll be rolling in dough before the end of next week.”
Ofelia was familiar with the routine and didn’t put up an argument as she grabbed the bottle of Grand Marnier. Sully watched with abject fascination as she mixed the cognac with Curaçao, maraschino simple syrup, lemon juice, and something he didn’t recognize. She deftly used lemon juice to wet the rim of a martini glass and dunked it in sugar before shaking the cocktail over ice, dumping it into the glass, and shoving it toward her brother.
“You’re limited to three tonight,” she warned, her gaze serious. “I can’t afford to keep up Dad’s drinking habit, your drinking habit, and my drinking habit. I’ll go broke.”
Felix merely winked at her as he sipped his cocktail, making a blissful face. “Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite sister?”
“Twice tonight alone,” Sully drawled.
Felix flicked his eyes to the detective and flashed a smile that somehow managed to be mischievous and standoffish at the same time. “Hello, Detective. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Not really,” Sully countered. “I believe almost every interaction we’ve ever had has been here.”
Ofelia shot him a warning look. She wasn’t a fan of his chilly greeting where her brother was concerned. Weirdly enough, she understood that he was trying to stand as a shield for her. She simply didn’t need anyone to act as her protector, least of all a guy who managed to fuzz up her brain and make her forget what she was supposed to be doing.
“Ofelia,” Oscar called out from the other end of the bar. “I need another.” He shook his drink so the ice clinked against the glass, but his attention was still on Huxley.
Ofelia took a moment to study Sully’s profile before responding, trying to ascertain if he would really pick a fight with her brother. Perhaps sensing her unease, Sully flicked his eyes to her. A jolt went through both of them when the connection was made.
“We’ll behave,” Sully reassured her, his voice husky. “Don’t worry about it.”
Ofelia hesitated a second longer and then nodded before moving down to take care of her father. That left Sully and Felix to size each other up.
“This is like the third time you’ve been in here this week,” Felix noted. “Is there something going on between you and my sister?”
Sully wanted to laugh at the question. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been interrogated by the brother of a potential date. Of course, he couldn’t remember the last time he had a potential date. Sure, he and Ofelia hadn’t actually been out — they were too busy dancing around one another and enjoying the process — but it felt inevitable. Before meeting her over a dead body, though, he’d been convinced he might be a bachelor for life. Now, things felt different ... and he didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about the development.
“You should probably ask her that,” Sully supplied, sipping his drink. “Last time I checked, she’s an adult. Actually, she might be the only adult in your entire family.”
Felix made an exaggerated face. “Oh, geez. You sound like my dad.”
“I don’t consider him an adult figure in this family either,” Sully muttered.
Felix didn’t take the dig to heart, instead grinning as he leaned over the bar and mixed his own drink. “You’re just saying that because you saw him at his worst. He’s not always like that. In fact, it’s one of those things that happens rarely enough that you can almost convince yourself that he’s normal ... until it happens again and you want to crawl into a hole and die.”
Sully frowned. He didn’t despise Felix. In fact, there were times he thought he and the gregarious journeyman could be friends. What he disliked about the man was his insistence on letting Ofelia take care of him when it came to the big things, like money. As far as Sully could ascertain, she took care of both the men in her family. Panther shifter families were patriarchies. He wasn’t used to things running another way.
And, sure, he knew Ofelia was a powerful witch. He’d seen her in action and it was magnificent. That didn’t change the fact that there were times he felt as if her family was taking advantage of her.
“Your father seems to be in a good mood tonight,” Sully noted, opting to change the subject as he focused on the man in question. Oscar was full of smiles as he and Huxley yukked it up. “When was his last episode?”
Felix shrugged. “I believe you saw it. If he’s had another since then, Ofelia hasn’t told me. She’s the one who deals with that stuff most of the time because it happens here. I can’t be with her twenty-four hours a day.”
“No.” Sully blinked several times and then sighed. Oscar had anger issues and undiagnosed mental problems. The detective was convinced he was bipolar, although Ofelia had informed him on more than one occasion that it was unlikely her father would ever know for sure because he refused to see a doctor. Sully would’ve forced Oscar to a licensed therapist whether he liked it or not if he were in charge ... but he wasn’t, and as difficult as it was to swallow, he recognized this was Ofelia’s cross to bear. It only made her that much more enticing.
“So, what’s going on with you and my sister again?” Felix asked.
This time when Sully snapped his gaze to Felix he found a pair of twinkling eyes staring back at him. “None of your business,” he muttered, swirling his drink. “Why do you even care?”
“Because I love my sister,” Felix replied, not missing a beat. “I want her happy.”
“And you don’t think I’ll make her happy?”
“Actually, I don’t know.” Felix’s smile was rueful. “I see you in here. I see you two flirt. You’re like magnets who can’t stay away from each other. I also see very little progression. You two aren’t going out on dates ... or walking through the Quarter holding hands ... or sharing a bowl of gumbo.”
Sully scowled. “I don’t know anyone who shares a bowl of gumbo.”
“Hey, if Lady and the Tramp had been filmed in New Orleans, it totally would’ve been gumbo.”
“If you say so.” Honestly, Sully hated being put on the spot. He couldn’t understand why Felix felt the need to pressure him. Of course, if he was being truthful with himself — and Sully was nothing but brutally honest when it came to self-reflection — he was mostly bothered because he’d been wondering the same thing. He wanted to ask her out on an official date but every time the moment arrived he chickened out. It was a fascinating, albeit annoying, development.
“Hey.” Felix snapped his fingers in Sully’s face to get him to return to the here and now. “Where did you just go?”
Sully’s lips twisted into a scowl. “Don’t do that again. I don’t like it.”
Felix’s smile was back. “You were just daydreaming about my sister, weren’t you?” He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “You’re a dirty pervert.”
“Oh, I wasn’t thinking anything gross.” Sully considered opening up to Felix because he needed someone to talk to and the guys in his department were out because then he would have to explain the witch and shifter thing and that always made him uncomfortable because he didn’t know who was in the know when it came to the paranormal world. “I was just ... thinking.”
“You were debating whether you were going to try and prove me wrong and ask my sister out the next time she comes down here,” Felix surmised. “Personally, I think that’s a good idea.”
“You do, huh?” Sully pursed his lips. “And why is that?”
“Because my sister is convinced you like her and that makes her preen like a peacock.” Felix held up his hands and wiggled on his stool for emphasis, which made Sully laugh. “The longer you go without asking her, though, the bigger hit her ego takes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like messing with my sister. Sometimes it’s fun. She’s starting to get antsy, though.”
Sully opened his mou
th to respond but ultimately nodded and snapped it shut. The last thing he wanted was to make Ofelia doubt herself. The problem was, he was struggling with his ego a bit, too. What if she was only playing with him? What if she said no? What if ... ?
“She’s going to say yes,” Felix volunteered, as if reading his mind. “She might drag it out a few minutes, but she’s definitely going to say yes.”
For some reason, the information was enough to make Sully feel better, if only marginally. “I’ll work on a plan and get back to you.”
Felix snickered. “That sounds like a fabulous idea.”
Ofelia picked that moment to return. “Do you guys need anything?”
“I would like some wings and mozzarella sticks,” Felix replied automatically, refusing to shrink in the face of her obvious annoyance as she pinned him with a look. “I was giving tours with the haunted vampire group and missed dinner. Sue me.”
Ofelia shook her head. As much as she loved her brother — he was her best friend and the only person she could always rely on — he also drove her batty at regular intervals. “You are so annoying sometimes,” she muttered.
Felix winked at her and then jerked his thumb toward Sully. “Before you put the order in, my friend here has something he wants to ask you.”
Sully almost choked on his bourbon when he realized what Felix was doing. “What?” he sputtered. “I told you I would get back to you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sick of this dance.” Felix was matter-of-fact. “Whenever you guys are together it’s like watching a bout of verbal foreplay right in front of me. I’m uncomfortable with it. I want to get this show on the road.”
Witch Confidential Page 1