Shadow Web

  Shadow Web

  A Moonshadow Bay Novel, Book 5

  Yasmine Galenorn

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published by Yasmine Galenorn

  PO Box 2037, Kirkland WA 98083-2037

  SHADOW WEB

  A Moonshadow Bay Novel

  Copyright © 2021 by Yasmine Galenorn

  First Electronic Printing: 2021 Nightqueen Enterprises LLC

  First Print Edition: 2021 Nightqueen Enterprises

  Cover Art & Design: Ravven

  Art Copyright: Yasmine Galenorn

  Editor: Elizabeth Flynn

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any format, be it print or electronic or audio, without permission. Please prevent piracy by purchasing only authorized versions of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, or places is entirely coincidental and not to be construed as representative or an endorsement of any living/ existing group, person, place, or business.

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published in the United States of America

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Welcome to Shadow Web

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Playlist

  Biography

  Acknowledgments

  Welcome back to January Jaxson’s world—the world of Moonshadow Bay.

  Thanks to my usual crew: Samwise, my husband, Andria and Jennifer—without their help, I’d be swamped. To the women who have helped me find my way in indie, you’re all great, and thank you to everyone. To Kate Danley in particular, for running our author sprints that have helped me regain my focus in this current pandemic. To my wonderful cover artist, Ravven, for the beautiful work she’s done.

  Also, my love to my furbles, who keep me happy. My most reverent devotion to Mielikki, Tapio, Ukko, Rauni, and Brighid, my spiritual guardians and guides. My love and reverence to Herne, and Cernunnos, and to the Fae, who still rule the wild places of this world. And a nod to the Wild Hunt, which runs deep in my magick, as well as in my fiction.

  You can find me through my website at Galenorn.com and be sure to sign up for my newsletter to keep updated on all my latest releases! You can find my advice on writing, discussions about the books, and general ramblings on my blog. If you liked this book, I’d be grateful if you’d leave a review—it helps more than you can think.

  Brightest Blessings,

  ~The Painted Panther~

  ~Yasmine Galenorn~

  Welcome to Shadow Web

  The holidays are here, and this year, they’re deadly…

  It’s my first Thanksgiving back in Moonshadow Bay, and everything is hunky-dory until the Witches Guild assigns me a research project for the upcoming Winter Solstice Festival. Not only do I melt down my computer, but I download a demon who ends up stuck in my house.

  But Tarvish the Funtime demon is the least of my worries when my grandmother asks my BFF Ari and me to go undercover. A magical pyramid scheme has moved into town and it’s siphoning more than money off its recruits. Will we be able to take it down, or will the leader of the cult manage to silence us for good?

  Reading Order for the Moonshadow Bay Series:

  Book 1: Starlight Web

  Book 2: Midnight Web

  Book 3: Conjure Web

  Book 4: Harvest Web

  Book 5: Shadow Web

  Chapter One

  I turned up the music and danced past Teran as she handed me another spiked mocha. Ari sorted out cookie cutters on one counter, while Meagan measured out confectioner’s sugar on another. The kitchen smelled like a bakery, and we were all half-sloshed.

  Taking another sip of the mocha, I closed my eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. The blend of hot cocoa, espresso, and double-espresso vodka tasted like the best thing in the world right now.

  “Did you remember to set the timer?” Teran asked.

  I glanced at the oven. “Yeah, I did. Four more minutes.”

  The November Gale was an annual event in Moonshadow Bay held the weekend before Thanksgiving, and all proceeds went to the food bank. Ari, Teran, and I had recently joined not only the Crystal Cauldron—the coven that helped protect Moonshadow Bay—but the Witches Guild as well, for which we had been immediately pressed into service for the WG booth for the festival. We were slated to deliver fifteen dozen cookies on Saturday morning.

  In fact, every witch in the Guild was expected to bring five dozen cookies of one sort or another for the sale. When Teran suggested we get together and hold a baking day, Ari and I jumped at the chance. Not only was my aunt a champion cook, but she was a brilliant baker. With her help, we knew our cookies would turn out right.

  I had chosen to make chocolate and peanut-butter chip cookies, Ari was making sugar cookies, and Teran had decided to make gingerbread men. Since mine were drop cookies, I had extra time to help Ari and Teran decorate theirs. Meagan, Ari’s wife, wasn’t part of the Guild, but we had roped her in for good measure since she was a good baker.

  I pulled the last batch out of the oven when the timer went off and set it on the rack to cool. “I am so glad that Tad gave everybody next week off.”

  “What did he say about you taking today and tomorrow off as well?” Ari said.

  “Conjure Ink is focusing on catching up with paperwork right now, so he was fine with it. Wren told me that Tad never agrees to take a case the week before Thanksgiving, or the last two weeks of the year. I have to say, Tad may be a decade younger than I am, but he’s the best boss I’ve ever had.”

  “You were your own boss for years—” Meagan started to say, but I shook my head.

  “Nope. I may have made the magazine what it was, but Ellison took all the credit and he took the reins on everything. I just ignored the things he wanted me to do that would have ruined the publication.” I thought about how far my life had come in a year. “Everything seems so long ago and far away, even though I only left him a year ago. Well, a year ago this month, since I was wrapping up the divorce.”

  “By the way, has the asshole tried texting you again?” Teran asked. Her long hematite-colored hair was pulled back into a braid, and she was wearing a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved sweater, and a floral apron. Teran was sixty-eight going on timeless, and she was one of my favorite people in the world.

  “No, but I woke up three days ago and saw that he’d called me in the middle of the night, four times. I blocked his number so I’m not sure what he wanted, but I wish he would forget about me and start harassing his parents instead.”

  Ellison was my cheating ex-husband, who put the “A” in arrogant, and who had scammed me out of my half of the divorce settlement. But now, thanks to my magic and his stupidity, he was living with his family in Bellingham, and that was far too close for comfort. I wanted him to go back to Seattle and get lost in the sea of the literati he so loved.

  “Did he leave a message?” Ari asked.

  “Yeah, but it was garbled. I think he was drunk. I didn’t call back to ask what he wanted.” I began to remove the cookies from the sheet pan, carefully placing them on the island counter, where they awaited their turn to be frosted. T
hen, sliding onto one of the tall counter stools, I took the time to savor my spiked cocoa.

  Aunt Teran handed me a piping bag. “No rest for the wicked. Get busy. Those gingerbread men are naked and it’s up to you to preserve the morality of this kitchen.”

  I snorted and set down my mug. “All right, but don’t blame me if their clothes are all wrinkled.” I began to pipe out the outline of royal icing like Teran had shown us, trying to keep the lines even. “I’m beginning to regret joining the Guild. Do they do this every year?”

  “What, you resent helping the hungry? I think they might, as well as the Summer Solstice Splash,” Ari said with a laugh.

  “I mean… Oh, never mind.” I hadn’t meant it like that but we were all three sheets to the wind and I decided we were lucky to have made it this far without incident. I braced my elbows on the counter, trying to focus on making it through the last couple batches of piping.

  We were almost done when my phone rang. I sat down the piping bag and pulled out my phone, frowning when I didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

  “So you finally answer me!” The angry, raw voice rang out over the phone and I groaned, mouthing “Ellison” to the others.

  “It wasn’t intentional,” I said. “In fact, if I had known it was you, I would have sent you right to voice mail for this call. I’m going to hang up on you, Ellison. If you have something to say to me, send me a letter or an email. However, I probably won’t answer. Buh-bye.”

  I signed off and immediately blocked that number too. I had no idea whose phone he was borrowing, but if they were friends of his, I didn’t need to know them.

  “He needs to let go,” Teran said, glaring at the phone.

  “He needs to take a flying leap off a bridge,” I grumbled. “Okay, back to finishing the decorating. The last batch will be ready soon.”

  We finished making the cookies and headed into the living room, this time with some of the extra cookies we had made. I settled onto the sofa as it suddenly occurred to me that my Yule tree would be visible from both the dining room and the living room this year. Since I had the house renovated, I was still getting used to the differences. At least the nasty ghost who had taken up residence in my house was gone, and my house felt thoroughly cleansed and new.

  “I think this year I’ll bring out the special ornaments my parents had,” I said, staring at the wall. “Last year was still too close to their deaths, but this year I’m going all out and I’m going all-out early.”

  “I think we all need good cheer and shiny things,” Ari said. She finished off her mocha. “This has been fun. Next week is going to be insanely busy. I took today off to make cookies, and I’m taking Saturday off to go to the festival, but tomorrow, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are going to be a real bitch. I’m packed with clients from eight in the morning through six each night, all of whom want holiday updos.”

  Ari was a hair stylist and she was one of the best in town. She was also my best friend and one of the witchblood, like me. Only her magic ran to divination and the air element, and she was a natural-born empath.

  She bit the head off one of the gingerbread men. “I had to stop answering the phone because too many women wanted me to take them on Wednesday next week, and even though I could make a fortune off them, I decided nope. From Wednesday through Black Friday, I’m closed.”

  “I’m glad you set your boundaries. You let them take advantage of you,” Meagan said. “I wish you’d listen to me more.”

  Ari shrugged. “I know, but I can’t be rude.”

  “Firm isn’t the same as rude,” Meagan said.

  Teran sighed. “Well, I have a decision to make, though I’m deferring it as long as possible. Andrew has asked me to move in together. I don’t think I want to.” Andrew was Teran’s gentleman friend. She had never been married and I couldn’t see her agreeing to even live with anybody. I was about to say so when the doorbell rang.

  I swung open the door and there stood Ellison. He leaned against the doorframe, staring at me with a sneer I had almost managed to forget.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I immediately blocked the door so he couldn’t come charging through.

  “You fat cow, you damned well better answer me when I call.” His words were slurred, but they were still clear enough for me to understand.

  “Get off my doorstep before I call the Court Magika. And the police. You’re breaking the restraining order, and I’m pretty sure you’d rather see the cops than the Court. They’ll flay you alive.” I was suddenly sober, all the alcohol draining from my system.

  Teran joined me, peeking over my shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here, you son of a prick? Get out of here, now.”

  I turned to her. “Call the cops.” I wasn’t about to say another word to Ellison. I took a step back and prepared to slam the door when he lurched forward, jamming his foot in and shouldering the door open.

  Without thinking, I thrust my palms out, throwing my weight against Ellison so that he stumbled back, landing on his ass with a hard thump. He began swearing up a blue streak. While I swore, Ellison could sound like a trucker on speed. As he tried to stand up, he wove back and forth and I caught a whiff of beer on his breath.

  “Yeesh, you smell like a hops factory,” I said, unable to reconcile the cool, aloof wannabe-sophisticate with the drunken lout who was standing in front of me. I turned to Teran. “I don’t want him driving. He could kill someone. How long till Millie gets here?”

  “She’s sending Tanner. He’ll be here directly. I also left a message for the Court Magika.”

  Millie Tuptin was the chief of police, a German shepherd shifter, and she was one of the good cops. I had briefly met Tanner Smith, who was as trustworthy as his boss. He was human, but as a Black man, he had dealt with prejudice all of his life so he didn’t hold disgruntled feelings toward the Otherkin community. He knew how hard life could be for those considered on the outside.

  Ellison ranted as he staggered across the porch back toward the door. He started to sob at one point, and threw something at me. I was behind the screen door, which I’d latched, so whatever it was landed short and I wasn’t about to jump out and pick it up.

  “You’re to blame. She laughed at me. She said I was a loser—and she told me to get dressed and run home to my mother.” Now, Ellison dropped onto his ass, absorbed in his tears. “And I turned to you and you didn’t answer!”

  Ari and Meagan peeked around the corner. Ari gasped. “Ellison? What the ever-loving fuck is he doing here?”

  “Apparently, he’s crying on my front porch,” I said. “Am I never going to be free of this fool?” I turned to Teran. “Can’t we cast a forget spell on him—make him forget all about me? He didn’t want me when he had me, but now that he can’t have me, he won’t let go.”

  At that moment, a police car pulled up. Tanner Smith stepped out, buff enough to take on anybody. He was fiercely loyal to his job. He darted through raindrops that were pelting the ground. The wind had picked up and was shuddering past, whipping by with the few last leaves off the trees.

  “When did he show up?” he asked, pulling out his notebook.

  “Well, I blocked his number, so he found somebody else’s phone and called from that a little while ago. I hung up on him and he showed up here on my doorstep. You know I’ve got a restraining order from the courts, and from the Court Magika.”

  “This is the second time he’s broken it, right?” Tanner asked.

  That was easy. “Yes, he’s tried to call, tried to text, all which are forbidden under the ruling. Since we had no children together and technically, we have nothing to talk about, it’s a total no-contact order. He’s broken it right and left.”

  “Right, we’ll haul him down to jail and tomorrow, we’ll send him to the courts. Come down tomorrow morning to formally press charges.” Tanner slapped a pair of cuffs on Ellison and dragged him away.

  As I watched him go, I wished that I’d never see Ellison
or hear from him again.

  “Thanks, Tanner!” I spoke directly to Tanner, ignoring the now-blubbering Ellison. “I swear, that man is going to drive himself off a cliff one of these days to prove a point. He’s one of the most self-destructive people I’ve met.”

  “Hasn’t he always been?” Teran shook her head. We closed the door and headed back into the kitchen.

  By the time we had packaged up the cookies, it was almost time for Killian to get home. I foraged in the fridge for something to throw together for dinner but all I could find was a box of frozen fish sticks and some stale bread. We had used up all the eggs making cookies, and I’d run out of bacon the day before. Surprised that I hadn’t noticed the lack of food—I loved to eat and cook—I decided that I needed to go shopping soon. I’d been too swamped to shop of late.

  “What are you going to tell Killian?” Ari asked. “You know if he finds out, he’ll tear apart that jail cell and throttle Ellison.”

  “Which is precisely why I’m not going to tell him,” I answered. “The last thing I need is for Killian to get himself tossed into the slammer for storming the jail cells.”

  “Good luck with that. You know you have trouble lying to him,” Teran said, sliding into her coat.

  “Hold on, are you good to drive?” I pointed to the vodka bottle. We had put quite a dent in it. “I’m not letting you drive unless I know you’re sober. And I’m not going to lie to him. I’m simply not going to tell him.”

  “Good luck with that.” Teran gave me a long look. “I’m fine. You know I can handle alcohol better than most grown men.”