Most of the witches turned and walked down the street as the unseen force dragged Karen behind them. Amelda broke ranks with them and a few others joined her in a circle around Thorn and Annika.
“Lay her down, sheriff, and walk away,” Amelda instructed. “Bring me that cat.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I’m here. I’m here,” Meri said, suddenly darting out from between two bushes. “I ran as fast as I could.”
“You will help me, cat?” Amelda questioned.
“If my mistress permits it,” Meri said. “I will lend your family my aid.”
“Yes. Please. Help her. Please help her,” I said.
“I have to go,” Thorn said. “I have to go get Karen from them. I need to arrest her.”
“I wouldn’t bother them, Thorn,” I said. “Not with all of them together like that. I wouldn’t try.”
“What do I do, then? Just let them take her?”
“It is the way of such thing sometimes, sheriff.” Amelda said. She’d turned from her work on Annika. “You are privy to us now, you should not try to intervene when we need to use the old ways.”
“I should at least follow them,” Thorn said to me. “I have to know what happens. I can try to make sure nothing happens to any of them.”
“Go with him,” Amelda said to me. “We’ll take care of our fallen. She is young and strong. We can cure her of the venom.”
It was then that I noticed Annika was covered in tiny red stings. Karen had turned scorpions on her. She must have taken Annika by surprise in the shop because there was no way otherwise that Annika would have let it happen.
“Okay,” I said to Thorn. “Let’s follow them.”
We got in the cruiser and drove slowly behind the procession of witches that held Karen captive with unseen forces. She struggled against the magical binds, but one of the witches had silenced her.
The streets were empty as the procession moved along. Magic kept the humans away so they would not witness.
Coventry Memorial Cemetery is where the parade ended. The witches moved toward the Skeenbauer Family Mausoleum in the center, and I knew what they intended to do.
Thorn went for the car door after parking on the gravel road inside the cemetery gates. I put my hand on his arm to stop him.
“Stay in here,” I said.
“Brighton, I can’t just let them do this.”
“They’re just going to put her in the mausoleum,” I said.
“And then what?” He asked.
“You sure you want to know?”
“No,” he responded.
“It’s probably better that way. It’s justice,” I said. “Think of it that way if you have to think about it.”
“But people are going to ask questions. What do I say happened?”
“You know as well as I do that no humans are going to ask questions. The magic that keeps them willfully ignorant of the other side of Coventry will protect you in this too. People will think she just left to go live somewhere else, and then their minds will drift off to other things. No witches will question the Skeenbauer Coven meting out justice for one of their own.”
“What’s in there?” Thorn asked as we watched them shove Karen in and begin to seal the doors. “What’s going to mete out justice?”
“I’m not sure how to describe it,” I said. He’d asked twice, so I figured I’d tell him something. “They’re kind of like zombie witches. The most powerful of the Skeenbauers. They’re contained in there, but Karen will be too.”
Another car roared past us and skidded to a stop in front of Thorn’s cruiser. Remy lept out of the driver’s seat and ran over to where the Skeenbauers had encircled the mausoleum. He joined hands with his aunts and cousins.
A shiver passed down my spine when he cast a glance over his shoulder at me. His eyes looked almost black, and his chestnut hair had turned ebony as well.
Knowing what I knew about how witches changed as they came into their craft, I had to wonder what it meant. Thorn took my hand, and I was glad to have him there as Remy’s cold stare sent another chill down my spine.
Epilogue
“It looks good,” Remy said, startling me as I planted the last of the flowers that Nailed It had donated to replace the ones Karen had given me. “We made a good decision hiring you for this.”
I stood up and brushed my dirty gloves off on my jeans. “Hey, Remy. I wasn’t expecting you. It’s good to see you.”
“I’ve been busy with family stuff,” he said.
“I can imagine. How is everyone doing? Annika hasn’t talked about it much.”
“My family is fine,” Remy said. “Annika is recovering, so that’s probably why she hasn’t said much about the rest.”
“How about you?” I asked. “How are you?”
“I’ve been fine too.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Remy said and slipped his hands into his pockets.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked. “What I mean is, your hair and eyes are different.”
“Your hair is different,” he responded.
“Yeah, and the theory on that is me coming into my powers. So what does that mean that yours is black now?”
He crossed the distance between us and, unexpectedly, kissed me on the forehead. “I’ve got to be going. We’ll talk soon.”
“Remy?” I called after him, but he didn’t turn or stop.
Broom with a View
Chapter One
“What is that?”
I sat up so fast and flailed so violently that Meri bounded off the bed with a hiss. The sheets were wrapped around my feet and I almost fell on my face as I sort of rolled off the bed and tried to propel myself to the window. In my sleepy haze, I thought nothing of my safety. I simply wanted to know what had woken me so ferociously.
The banging sounded like thunder at first, but then as my senses caught up with the fact that I was awake, I realized it was someone hammering. It was someone hammering outside in my yard. Dawn had barely broken the deep navy sky, and someone or something was outside making a disturbing racket.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“What is that?” Meri asked.
He’d composed himself since my abrupt awakening where I starfished and then tried to cartwheel off the bed all while threatening to launch him into the air with my disoriented floundering. Meri crossed the room and jumped up into the windowsill to get a better look.
I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands as they adjusted to the light and my wakefulness. When I looked outside, I couldn’t see anything but a van parked in front of the house. The banging was coming from the other side, and I was either going to have to look out the window at the end of the hall or just go outside.
Rushing outside in the near dark to investigate a strange noise was how people got themselves killed in horror movies. I retrieved my phone from the nightstand and predialed Thorn’s number in case I needed the police. While I didn’t hit the send button right away, I was ready.
When I got to the window and looked outside, I was more confused than frightened. There was a man in a black tank top and jeans building some sort of frame at the head of my driveway.
He was absolutely enormous, and not in a fat way either. I’d have put him at nearly seven feet tall with gigantic rippling muscles that I was sure probably glistened in the sun. Just looking at him made me wonder if perhaps a choir of angels sang whenever he walked into the room.
Then, I got ahold of myself. It wasn’t really that he was better looking than Thorn because Thorn was devastatingly handsome. But it was more like the man building something in my yard was… more. He was larger than life, and his biceps were…
Then, I got ahold of myself. Again.
“Who is that?” Meri asked after he jumped into the window I was using to observe the stranger.
Observe. Not ogle. I was not ogling him. I was simply observing to see if it was safe to go outside.
“
I don’t know. I think he might be lost.”
“Then you should go tell him that,” Meri said.
“In a minute.” I shushed him and turned my attention back to watching the muscly stranger line up two boards.
“Brighton.”
“Hush, he is about to swing that hammer again, and I’ve never wanted to see that as much as I do right now. He’s like that guy in the movie with Norse god and the hammer. He looks just like him.”
“Brighton,” Meri scolded.
“Oh, man. You’re no fun. Fine, I’ll go tell him he’s lost.”
“Maybe you should call the sheriff first. You know, your boyfriend. Or perhaps that might interfere with your checking out the muscle-bound stranger in the driveway. Hmm?”
“Don’t get all sanctimonious on me, cat. I was just looking. And I don’t really think I need Thorn just to tell this guy he’s at the wrong house. He doesn’t seem dangerous.”
“He doesn’t seem dangerous?” Meri scoffed. “He’s a seven-foot wall of muscle.”
“I think you need breakfast, Meri,” I said and pointed to myself. “Witch here. I can handle Adonis out there.”
“What if he’s a witch?”
“One, if he is, muscle doesn’t increase magic power as far as I know. Two, if he is, what is Thorn going to do about that?”
“Whatever,” Meri retorted.
“Whatever.”
I went into my room and pulled on a pair of jeans and my favorite gray Henley as fast as I could. Before I went outside, I stopped in front of the mirror and fluffed my hair before pinching my cheeks to give them some color. The thought of throwing on my black sundress and some makeup crossed my mind, but even I knew that was ridiculous. He was just a really, really, really good-looking man who I was probably never going to see again. And I had an amazing boyfriend, so getting all worked up over the guy in my driveway who looked just like a movie star was dumb. Right?
My hand was on the doorknob when it occurred to me that I probably had morning breath. Talking with someone when you had dragon breath was just rude, so I shot back up the stairs and brushed my teeth quickly. All the while, the banging outside continued, and Meri watched me judgmentally.
When I was finally presentable enough, I went outside to solve the mystery of why there was an imposing, movie-star type man building something at the end of my driveway. He was in the process of hammering two boards together when I approached him, so I stood back and waited until he was finished. It wasn’t that I wanted to gawk at his rippling muscles as he hammered. I just didn’t want to interrupt him and cause an accident. Safety first.
I’m not proud of my reaction, but my knees went a little weak when he turned to me and flashed a wide smile. I could feel the blush staining my cheeks, and for some reason, I’d begun batting my eyelashes.
“Hello, Ms…. Tuttlesmith?”
“It’s Longfield. Ms. Longfield. Ugh, Brighton. Brighton Longfield,” I sputtered.
He laughed good-naturedly, and it made me smile too. “Nice to meet you, Brighton. It’s okay if I call you Brighton?”
“Yes.” It came out as a squeak.
“I’d come shake your hand, but mine are quite dirty.”
“So dirty… But that’s okay.” I shook my head and tried to collect myself. Was I drooling? “I actually came to tell you that you must be working at the wrong house, but you’re supposed to be working for a Tuttlesmith?”
“Yes, I am under contract to build a garage for this address,” he said. “I’m Grey Bane. I own Bane Construction.”
“That’s interesting because I didn’t hire anyone to build a garage.” I was suddenly quite sad that I hadn’t.
“It is interesting,” Grey said. “It’s actually a funny story. I guess I could have called first, but I was nearby and wanted to get started.”
“It’s a funny story?”
“Oh right,” he said and chuckled. “The contract for your garage was drawn up a long time ago, but the deposit for the work was never paid. I recently had a large payment come through out of nowhere, and I was quite confused. After some searching, I was able to tie it back to the contract for this property. Since I had the money, I figured I should do the work.”
“How old was the contract?”
“Hmm. About thirty years? I can get it out and show you. My grandfather was actually the one who drew it up. I’m assuming you aren’t the original customer as you don’t look old enough to have been more than the promise of a notion thirty years ago,” he said with a wink.
“That’s sweet of you,” I said and giggled like a dang schoolgirl. “So it must have been my Aunt Maude that hired your grandfather to build the garage.”
“Yes, that’s the name. Maude Tuttlesmith.”
“But why would you have gotten a payment now? Maude is gone, and I didn’t pay you. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know about the contract.”
“That’s the other part of the funny story. I called the bank to inquire when I was trying to track down who’d sent me the money, and they said that the payment had been lost in their system. They’ve been doing some sort of huge records reconciliation project, and they’ve released a number of lost payments.”
“You’re going to do the work for the price Maude paid thirty years ago?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I mean, Brighton. I take this business very seriously, and I will honor the contract.”
“Do you normally start so early?”
“Not usually, but in this case, I wanted to get the work done as fast as possible. I figure if I work from dawn till dusk, I can get the garage built much faster,” he said. “I apologize if it’s caused any inconvenience, but since I am building it at the lower rate, I need to get it done and move on to my next job.”
As much as I didn’t enjoy the early morning noise, I understood. “Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
It was probably rude for him to start working so early without even checking with me first, but it’s amazing what you are willing to overlook for an attractive face and a huge set of biceps. Grey was doing me a favor too. I imagine he charged a great deal more for building a garage than my aunt had paid thirty years ago.
My stomach growled as I walked back into the house. I had a serious craving for breakfast and a cup of coffee. Oddly enough, when I checked the fridge and the pantry, they were empty. The house that normally gave me whatever I wanted had taken everything away. It was annoying, to say the least.
“There’s no food,” I said to Meri. “Even the diet soda is gone.”
“That’s so weird,” he said as he joined me in the kitchen.
I was standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open as if I could will some food into existence. The cool air seeping out from the appliance eventually sent a hard shiver down my spine. My skin was clammy with sweat, and I realized my heart felt like it was coming down from running a mile. I was in a state that I couldn’t tell if I was anxious or excited.
“It is weird,” I said, pushing my agitation aside. “The house is always giving me stuff. I can’t believe it took away all of the food.”
“Well, then I guess you’re going to have to go to the grocery store and buy some food like a normal person.”
“I’m not a normal person. Far from it, but okay. I’ll run to Mann’s and get us some breakfast and coffee. I wonder if he’s got the store open yet? It’s pretty early.”
“You could always look it up or call.”
“Nah, I’m going to go. He’s the only store in town, so I’m sure he’s open. If not, I’ll drop by Bubble & Brew and get something. They open early for the people who work at the hospital.”
“I’ll take a side of bacon from Bubble & Brew if you can’t get fish at Mann’s.”
“You’re not going to come with me?” I asked.
“Nope, I’m going to stay here and keep an eye on Mr. Muscles from the upstairs window,” Meri said as he sauntered out of the kitchen. “Someone has got to stay on top of things aro
und here.”
“You’re starting to sound like Thorn,” I said. “Though I suppose he’s not going to like that Mr. Muscles, I mean Grey, is here working and I still haven’t installed security cameras or changed the locks.”
“You’re a witch, Brighton. This whole house is protected by wards and spells. Oh, and me, of course. The only reason Langoria got in was because she was a more powerful witch.”
“Oh, yeah, then why did Hattie get in?”
“Hey, I was rusty, okay. I’ve since rectified the situation.”
“Sure thing. Well, have fun judgmentally staring at Grey,” I said and grabbed my purse.
“Try not to fall into his pants while you get your car.”
“Meri!” I scolded.
“Sorry,” he said and darted up the stairs to take his perch in the window. “Not sorry!” he called down from the landing.
When I went outside to get into my car, Grey was working hard at building the frame for the garage. He didn’t notice me right away, but I felt my cheeks get hot when he gave me a little wave as I started the engine. As I backed out of the driveway, he went back to work. I tried not to stare at his butt while he hammered away at more boards, but it was hard not to because his tush was A-plus.
The drive over was surreal. It was still mostly dark, and there weren’t many people around. At first, I didn’t realize what I was seeing when I pulled into the parking lot at Mann’s Gas & Grocery. I thought that Bob Mann had left a couple of trash bags in the middle of the lot. That would have been completely unlike him. His lot and store were always immaculately clean, but sometimes mistakes happen. The mistake was in my perception.
You’d have thought I’d have gotten used to finding dead bodies at this point, but I had to stifle a scream when I saw her. The young woman hadn’t been poisoned, suffocated, or any other method that produced a peaceful-looking corpse.
Wicked Witches of Coventry- The Collection Page 23