Karin made a face. “I never liked that lawyer.”
We sat in silence for a long time.
“Raven and O’Hare were there. Afterward.” I tugged nervously on my bottom lip.
“There? You mean at Maya’s house?”
“At Maya’s and at Angela’s. I think they saw the anthrophage.”
“Did you tell the sheriff?”
No. If the sheriff asked, I’d claim I hadn’t seen them. No one could prove I had. But I gnawed my bottom lip, worried. “They just walked away. They didn’t say anything.” It was a loose end. And while normally I was a live and let live sort of person, this loose end bothered me.
“That’s sort of their thing, isn’t it? Watching?”
“But watching what? Us? They’re no innocent tourists. There’s more to them.” My stomach quivered. “They should have reacted.”
“Which means they bear watching,” she said. “And we will. I’m done with getting caught by surprise by magic. And that’s what we’re saying, isn’t it? That there’s something magical about them?”
“I never sensed anything, but I didn’t sense Maya either.”
“Because she was blocking you. We’ll try again, the three of us. If there’s something not right about them, we’ll figure it out. Now, what else aren't you telling me?”
“Brayden.” I swallowed, the back of my throat aching. “He seemed… I think this has really hurt him.”
Her face creased with sympathy. “I can't imagine what that must have been like, being forced to do things against his will.”
“It's not just that. Well, it is, but it's the magic too. I thought he accepted who I was. But the way he looked at me…” I swallowed hard and studied my silver toenail polish.
“He just needs time,” she said gently.
My shoulders curved inward, and I pressed myself deeper into the multi-colored throw pillows. “That's what he said.” I met her gaze. “But he's hurting, and I can't help him. I'm just a reminder of what he went through, the force that controlled him. And if he can’t talk to me, I don't know who else he can talk to about this.”
“Nick. Connor.”
Desperate hope lifted my chin. “Do you think they’d understand what he went through?”
Picatrix hopped onto the couch. The ebony cat sniffed my untouched food.
“Nick's seen the dark side of our magic,” Karin said. “He might not know exactly what Brayden experienced, but he’s smart, and he’s kind, and he’s got empathy.”
I shook my head. “That may all be true, but it doesn't matter. Brayden would hate it if we told Nick or anyone what happened. And today he’s going to wipe my tracks from the area around Maya's body and pretend to be the one to find her, if he hasn’t already done it.” Blinking rapidly, I clawed my hands through my hair. “This is such a mess.”
She came to sit beside me and placed one hand on my knee. “He's protecting you. Brayden loves you.”
“I don't know. The way he looked at me—”
“Doesn't matter. Look, he's only the right guy for you if he accepts all of you, and this dark side, what could happen with our magic, is a part of you. He's asked for time – that's reasonable. He went through something terrible, and he's going to have to deal with that. Trust that this will work out.”
“Tomorrow is another day?” I laughed brokenly. I wanted to trust it. I wanted to believe.
“Well, technically, it is.”
“I was so stupid. I thought Brayden and I were getting stale and boring. I wanted our relationship to be more exciting. And this is what I got.” But I’d been wrong from the beginning. Bars and parties weren’t what made a relationship exciting. And now, the mundane day-to-day business of pull-out garbage bins and lights over the door seemed like paradise.
Familiar footsteps thudded up the stairs, and my heart beat faster.
In the window over the door, the outside light popped on.
Karin gathered up her purse. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”
I walked to the door and threw it open.
Paradise.
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About Cloaking and Glamour Spells
Cloaking and glamours are two sides of the same magical coin. Both spells change people’s perception of you because they change your perception of you. Here’s how they work.
1) Know what you want. This may sound simple, but often your subconscious and conscious wants are at odds. Consciously, you may want to look awesome for a party, so you decide to cast a glamour. But if subconsciously you want to hide, your glamour isn’t going to work.
2) Align your subconscious and conscious intents. The easiest way to do this is with emotion. Using the example of a glamour, take three minutes to sit quietly and imagine yourself lighting up the room wherever you’re going. Imagine heads turning, people smiling and being drawn to you. Then imagine yourself feeling confident and happy. Really try to feel that emotion. (It may take several attempts to get there, but soon it will become easier).
3) Create a magical gesture. Once you’re feeling the alignment, make a magical gesture that says glamour to you. Jayce makes v’s of her index and middle fingers and, without touching her face, draws her fingers from her nose out to the edges of her eyes (think 60’s go-go girl).
4) Say a magical phrase that triggers this glamour feeling for you. It can be anything – hey gorgeous, looking good – whatever makes you feel confident and glamorous.
For a cloak, you’d take the same approach. Again, take three minutes to imagine you walking down the street or into a room and no one noticing. You are a ninja, silent and invisible. Imagine yourself pulling in your power, so it’s available whenever you want it but unseen. Feel your subtleness and your firm intent to go unnoticed (FYI, you won’t be invisible – a cloak will only make you less noticeable). Imagine while you are moving about unnoticed, your gaze, both intent and disinterested, notices everyone around you. Your calm gaze gently meets others’ – but only for a moment – and as they pass, people avert their eyes, forgetting they saw you.
Next, think up a gesture that says “cloaked” to you. You could, for example, mime covering yourself head to toe in a cloak. Jayce mimes pulling up the earth and covering herself with it like a blanket. Then say a magical word of your choice as you make your chosen motion.
But make sure you never cloak and drive. You definitely don’t want to be hard to see on the road!
Eventually, you may not need to meditate. All you’ll need to do is make your gesture and say the word, and the feeling will come automatically. As with everything, practice makes perfect!
The World of Doyle Reading Order
About the Author
Kirsten Weiss has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching Ghost Whisperer re-runs and drinking red wine. The latter gives her heartburn, but she drinks it anyway.
Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes genre-blending cozy mystery, supernatural and steampunk suspense, mixing her experiences and imagination to create vivid worlds of fun and enchantment.
If you like funny cozy mysteries, check out her Pie Town, Paranormal Museum and Wits’ End books. If you’re looking for some magic with your mystery, give the Witches of Doyle, Riga Hayworth and Rocky Bridges books a try. And if you enjoy steampunk mysteries, the Sensibility Grey series might be for you.
Kirsten sends out original short stories of mystery and magic to her mailing list. If you’d like to get them delivered straight to your inbox, make sure to sign up for her newsletter at kirstenweiss.com
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a picture of this book to Instagram and tag her @kirstenweissauthor, or send her an email. She’ll answer you personally…which may be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.
Copyright
Copyright ©2018 Kirsten Weiss. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites and their content.
Visit the author website: KirstenWeiss.com
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites and their content.
misterio press / ebook edition August, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1-944767-32-7
Witch Page 24