“And you’re sure Raisin is okay?”
“She’s fine. She sat next to you in the clearing while we waited for my father to arrive. I wanted to take you to the hospital, but everyone talked me out of it.”
“That was probably smart. There’s nothing they could’ve done for me. I was magically drained, and that’s not something they’re trained to deal with.”
“I get that, but ... you looked so vulnerable.” His hands attacked the tight muscles in my back, causing me to groan. “Eventually I agreed to bring you home. Whistler sat with you and cleaned the cabin until I could get back. I hated being away from you, but I’m really glad it was him because he’s a neat freak. I believe he also had a talk with Merlin about his toilet paper fetish.”
I laughed at the visual. “I’m sorry I missed that.”
“Yeah.” He exhaled heavily and rested his chin on my forehead. “Flint said they knew that Nexus cast a curse on them. They’d been searching for years to find someone who could lift the spell ... and came up empty.”
“Are they the ones who killed the people watching me throughout my childhood?”
“Flint says no.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I ... don’t know. Flint said they were aware of the bodies that were dropped throughout the years but didn’t realize it had anything to do with you. They were following someone else who happened to be in the same locations with you. A woman.”
I jerked up my head. “What woman?”
“All he knew was that her name was Claudette.”
There was that name again. “So Claudette was in the same locations I was. They were following her and bodies dropped in each location. That can’t be a coincidence. They had to be responsible.”
“I tend to agree, but Flint denied it. Given what was happening at the time, I’m not sure what he gained by lying.”
“It doesn’t make any sense otherwise.”
“Unless we’re still missing a piece of the puzzle, which is entirely possible. Flint said they modeled George’s death on the other bodies because they thought it would help them get away with it. They threatened George to remove the spell, but he either couldn’t or wouldn’t, and they killed him in a rage.
“They had one of the witches in the pack cast a spell to keep him awake for the torture. It was a terrible death,” he continued. “They used your name because they thought it would distract me, which was their ultimate goal. Flint swore up and down that he had no idea you were affiliated with Nexus as it was going down. I tend to believe him because he misunderstood what we said to him and swore he was going to torture you to remove the curse.”
“He was nothing if not predictable,” I muttered.
“I don’t know that he’s lying in this particular instance. We need more information. Drake is hanging around, so he might be able to provide some answers. We also have a name — Claudette — which is more than we had a week ago. I know it doesn’t feel like much, but it’s better than nothing.”
“It definitely doesn’t feel like much,” I agreed, pursing my lips. “I thought we would get more answers out of all this. It felt like we were close.”
“We still might get answers.”
“Not with Cyrus gone.”
“I admit that’s a blow. I thought he was telling the truth. I should’ve insisted my father put a guard on him. But at the time we assumed Drake was guilty.”
“Because Cyrus told us he was.”
“He was also technically guilty.”
That was true. “I can’t help looking at it as a disappointment,” I admitted as I rubbed my forehead. “I wanted answers.”
“You’ll get them. I promise. I’ll be there with you when it happens. What we really need to do is write all of this down and go through it from beginning to end. I’m not suggesting we do that today, but once you’re feeling better we’ll find a new angle. I guarantee we’re not done here.”
I was thankful for his enthusiasm, even if I couldn’t join in. Instead of prolonging the conversation, I rolled to look at his face … and caught sight of something plush out of the corner of my eye. When I focused on it, I realized it was a stuffed wolf, one that reminded me of the one I coveted as a child.
“What’s that?”
Gunner grinned when he saw where my eyes went. “That’s your first toy. I bought it for you yesterday. It’s a get-well gift.”
I didn’t know what to say. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Sometimes it’s not about ‘have to’ as much as ‘want to’ and I wanted to get you something. Besides, now you’ll have that to sleep with every night. You can name it Gunner Jr.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing. “I see.” I ran my hand over the wolf’s soft head. “Thank you.”
He hugged me tight. “You’re welcome.”
For the next few minutes, we eased into comfortable silence. I was the first to break it. “What do think we should do with our day? I mean ... we can’t grill Drake for information and Cyrus is gone. It seems we have an open day with nothing to do.”
A sly smile spread over his face. “I’m glad you asked, because I have a few ideas.” He edged lower on the bed so he was staring directly into my eyes.
“I bet I can guess what those ideas consist of.”
“I bet you can, too. I thought we would start with breakfast. I can cook — Whistler filled your refrigerator with every sort of food you could possibly want — and then we’ll eat in bed. Then we’ll watch some television and wrestle.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Wrestle? Is that what we’re calling it?”
“For now. Then we’ll have lunch in bed and repeat the process throughout the entire day. This is after you shower and brush your teeth, of course. Oh ... and shave your legs. We can’t have leg stubble in this bed.”
I laughed despite myself at his reaction. “And that’s what you want to do with your entire day?”
He nodded. “As long as we spend it together, I honestly don’t care what we do. I think that’s a marvelous idea, though. I don’t know how you could possibly argue with it.”
That made two of us. “I want pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Like, a big pile of bacon.”
Merlin perked up and meowed.
“I think the entire family wants bacon,” Gunner agreed, leaning forward and resting his forehead against mine. “I want something else, too, but you won’t allow it until you brush your teeth. By the way, I’m going to break you of that habit.”
“You wouldn’t be the first to try. They all failed.”
“Yes, but I’m special.”
Ah, another thing we agreed upon. “You can try. It’ll be harder than you imagine.”
“I happen to love a challenge.”
“Then we’ll get along fine.”
“I already knew that.”
We both did, which only proved that we were in for a magical adventure – and I was looking forward to it.
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About the Author
I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.
If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.
Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the auth
or’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
For more information:
author@amandamlee.net
Books by Amanda M. Lee
An Avery Shaw Mystery
Who, What, Where, When, Die
If it Bleeds, it Leads
Buried Leads
Shot Off The Presses
The Preditorial Page
Misquoted & Demoted
Headlines & Deadlines
Misprints & Mistakes
Bylines & Skylines
Off the Record
Unwritten & Underwater
Extra! Extra! Dead All About It
On Deadline & Under Fire
Above the Fold & Below the Belt
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery
Any Witch Way You Can
Every Witch Way But Wicked
Witching You Were Here
Witching on a Star
Something to Witch About
Witch Me Luck
Life’s a Witch
Charms & Witchdemeanors
The Trouble With Witches
Murder Most Witchy
A Witch Before Dying
A Breath of Witchy Air
Witch, Interrupted
Flip the Witch Switch
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short
Careful What You Witch For
Wicked Brew
On a Witch and a Prayer
You Only Witch Once
The Christmas Witch
Bewitched
A Solstice Celebration
Witchdependence Day
Happy Witchgiving
Merry Witchmas
Four-Leaf Clover
Thistle While You Work
Landon Calling
I Dream of Twila
How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas
A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy
Witchy Tales
A Witch In Time
Make A Witch
A Witchmas Carol
All My Witches
Close Encounters of the Witchy Kind
An Aisling Grimlock Mystery
Grim Tidings
Grim Offerings
Grim Discovery
Grim Reunion
Grim Expectations
Grim Holiday
Grim Rising
Grim Tempest
Grim Vows
Grimlock Family Shorts
Grim Like Me
Grim & The City
Now & Grim
Grim & Bear It
Grim & The Dead
Death Gate Grim Reapers
Only the Lonely
Only the Quiet
A Mystic Caravan Mystery
Freaky Days
Freaky Lies
Freaky Hearts
Freaky Places
Freaky Rites
Freaky Witches
A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery
The Bigfoot Blunder
The Chupacabra Catastrophe
The Werewolf Whoops
The Megalodon Mix-Up
The Undead Uproar
A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery
Witchin’ USA
Witch Out of Water
Freaky Deaky Tiki
To Spell With It
A Spell’s Angels Cozy Mystery
Bad to the Crone
Covenant College
Awakening
Whispering
Conjuring
Waxing & Waning
Graduating
Living Covenant Trilogy
Rising Covenant
Dark Covenant
Eternal Covenant
Dying Covenant Trilogy
Haunted Covenant
Desperate Covenant
Everlasting Covenant
2019 Shorts
Wolf on the Job
Luke on the Loose
Cupid in Crisis
Millie on a Mission
Elemental Witches of Eternal Springs
Bat Out Of Spell
Spell on Earth
Hotter Than Spell
Spell or High Water