A Total Witch Show, page 4
“Not only did you bring Miss Cartwright a message, but you did this to her eye.” Win pointed an accusatory finger at my face.
Aw man! He’d done it now. Win did exactly what he always told me not to do. Don’t become emotionally involved.
Compartmentalize, Stephania. Compartmentalize.
We weren’t going to get a dang thing out of him now.
Now Dale Rainwater wasn’t only angry, but freaked out as he looked around surreptitiously to see who was watching. “I dang well did not hit a lady! Are you bananas? I would never hit a lady. Never. You people are trying to start trouble where there ain’t any, and I don’t know what you want, but you ain’t gonna get it here. Now go away and leave me the frack alone!”
I gave Win my displeased, “shut up, thank you very much” look. Turning back to Dale, I tried to soothe him. “Please, Mr. Rainwater, hear me out. I’m not here to accuse you of anything. I’m here to understand. Are you sure you don’t remember seeing me in Ebenezer Falls?”
He gave me another shocked look, his pudgy face scrunching up. “You just said I hit you, lady! I’d say that’s an accusation. I can’t have a thing like that floating around. I’m a security guard at a prison. My reputation is stellar. I won’t let you ruin it!”
“I didn’t accuse you of hitting me, he did.” I pointed a finger at Win, throwing him directly under the bus for breaking the rules because he sure as heck wasn’t compartmentalizing.
“Lady?” A tall, lanky man with unusually muscular arms and a lean waist approached us, standing in front of Dale, who was obviously well-liked by his peers. “I don’t know who you are, or who your fancy guy here is, but Dale would never hit anyone. Now, you’re causing a real scene, and it’s not the time or place. I think you’d better get in your little toy car and go on home. If Dale hit you, the best thing for you to do is file a police report and call our superiors.”
As a crowd began to gather, Win said, “Do pardon me,” he flipped the man’s ID card attached to his shirt by a clip upward with two fingers and squinted at his name, “Leonard, but we’re not here to speak with you. This man accosted my fiancée, of that I’m sure. So I’ll kindly ask once—and if you value your safety, you’ll take heed—for you to please move along and let us speak with Mr. Rainwater.”
Holy spumoni, I was going to kill him. I ground the heel of my boot into his shiny leather shoe and grabbed him by the arm. “We’re sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Rainwater, but if you remember anything about our meeting, please call me.” I pulled a card out of my purse and held it out to him.
Leonard grabbed it, his jaw tight as I pulled Win back toward our toy car. “Get in the car before I show you what I know about the five-fingered death punch!” I hissed at him.
He slid into the driver’s side soundless, and with the entire parking lot staring at us, drove away.
I was so angry, I wanted to stop the car, jump out, drag him out with me, and challenge him to a mud wrestling fight. I didn’t even have words for how angry I was. And to think, I was only moments ago pontificating about how well we worked together.
We sat silent for at least half an hour on the highway before I could even consider speaking.
“What was that about, Crispin Alistair Winterbottom?” I demanded as the gray day rushed past us.
“I recall you reminding me, it’s Christoph Alexander Winningham now.”
“Don’t you play semantics with me, Spy Guy! What was that about back there? What happened to compartmentalization and keeping your emotions out of an investigation?”
He sighed, looking positively defeated, very unlike Win. “I know, I know. I lost my cool. It’s not something I do very often, but seeing the face of the man who clobbered you, looking at you as though he’d never seen you before in his life, incited me to behave poorly. My deepest apologies.”
I loosened the grip on the handle of my purse, my eyeball throbbing, suddenly feeling badly for being so angry when he’d done what he’d done out of love.
But then I wondered, “Didn’t you fight battles with Miranda and other spies all the time? Your emotions didn’t get the better of you then, did they?”
“Quite honestly, Dove, I didn’t love Miranda the way I love you. Also, you’re not as skilled as Miranda was at handling a situation.”
I ignored the part about how I didn’t go to spy school and focused on the fact that he loved me more than he had Miranda. “Then let’s let it go. But please don’t do it again. We got nowhere because you scared him.”
He reached for my hand and kissed the tips of my fingers, sending tingles along my spine. “Forgive me?”
I squeezed his hand. “Yes. Of course, I forgive you. So let’s forget about that and discuss the blank look on Dale’s face when he saw us. It was freaky-deaky. I mean, he had to know what I looked like so he’d sock the right person in the face, right? But it didn’t look like he knew who I was at all.”
“It was as though you were a complete stranger.”
“So you believed him when he said he didn’t have a clue who I am?”
“I did. Didn’t you?”
Folding my hands in my lap, I looked out the windshield and nodded. “I did, and it weirded me out. But that says to me there are afterlife hijinks at play here. Someone’s been in Dale’s ear. How they did it, I don’t know. How they made Dale forget he punched me yesterday is curious, too…”
“So, Sal’s found a way to reach out from the afterlife. Is it time for a séance of sorts to see if we can find out if he’s been talking to Charles Rawlings? Shall we reach out to the otherworldly and dig about?”
I leaned forward and turned the radio to my favorite preset satellite station. “We definitely should. I don’t know if it’ll help. I don’t know if anyone from the other side will help me. All my old contacts still won’t show up—probably for fear of retribution, but we can try. I’ll tell you this,” I said as I pressed a button. “I’m not going to live in fear that every time I go to the mailbox, someone is going to knock me out.”
As the music began to play, Win made a face of sheer distaste. “Haven’t I asked for forgiveness. Wasn’t that enough, Dove? Must you subject me to this caterwauling?”
I smiled at him. “You owe me after that sideshow at the prison. So, Mr. International Man of Mystery, it’s ‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’ on repeat, and according to GPS, we have an hour and twenty minutes until we reach our destination,” I said, my grin widening. Grabbing his hand, I placed it at my heart and sang the chorus as loud as I could. “Sing with me, Win. C’mon. You know the words! I’ll never break your heart. I’ll never make you cry!”
CHAPTER 5
We stopped at the house to grab Whiskey and Bel and headed straight to the shop. I don’t know what we were going to stir up upstairs, but we had to try something.
Something was amiss. I felt it in my bones.
As we entered the store, mostly closed for the winter months, I inhaled the scent of sage and lavender smudge sticks and the smell of the hardwood floors, just recently cleaned, as I headed for the beaded back room where our reading table was.
“So the guy acted like he’d never seen you?” Bel asked, his tone perplexed.
I set out the battery-operated candles and put on my Madam Zoltar turban. I always wore it in her honor, whether the séance was mine or someone else’s.
Nodding, I said, “Looked right at me and his face was totally blank. But someone’s been at him, Bel. I know it. Why would some guy who’s never seen me before in his life dress up in a mask and hit me in the face to deliver a message from a dead guy?”
Bel flew to the table and waddled toward me. “So you think that derp Sal didn’t cross, and he’s been haunting Charles Rawlings in prison? Because I’ve been thinking about this all day and you’ve made a lot of enemies, Boss. Some dead. Some still in prison. I’m worried this is bigger than we are.”
No kidding. I, too, worried this was bigger than I was. Something I couldn’t handle without the backup of my coven. If magic and trickery were involved, I was stewed.
The only witches who would talk to me were Winnie and Hal, if you didn’t include my mom and dad, that is. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to involve the people I love on the off chance they might end up hurt.
I ran a finger across Bel’s soft head. “Let’s not think about that yet. Let’s try and make contact and see what we can see.”
Win sat across from me, voice activating the lights to dim. “Arkady? You with us?”
“Always, Zero,” his voice boomed from above.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Then let’s do this.” Reaching for Win’s strong hand, I gripped it tight and closed my eyes. “Hey, guys? You up there? Anyone? We need a little help.”
Nothing. Only the sound of our breathing. “What about you, Sal? Are you up there having a good laugh at my black eye? The one you only wish you could have given to me, but I killed you before you got the chance?”
“Petal!” Arkady hissed with a harsh buzz that echoed in the room. “Do not incite.”
“Bossss,” Bel whispered in my ear as he sat on my shoulder. “Tread lightly.”
But I felt like it was the only thing Sal would respond to. He certainly wasn’t going to answer me if I asked nicely and said pretty please with sugar on top.
I squeezed Win’s hand, mine a little clammy, just to let him know I had my reasons for provoking Sal.
I lifted my chin and pushed harder. “What’s the matter, Sal? Wouldn’t the light accept you? Or are you still bouncing around from plane to plane, lost and alone? Poor Sal. You mad?”
Now Win looked worried, as the candlelight flickered over the planes of his face. “Stephania…” he said in a low tone, gripping my fingers.
“Trust,” I whispered back. Before I said, “Do they make fun of you up there because a girl whooped your behind? Is that why you’re sending me messages through Charles and some prison guard? Can’t you do it yourself? Or are you too weak to do anything more than whisper sweet nothings in an inmate’s ear? Why don’t you leave them out of it and come talk to me? Or are you too chicken?”
The table rumbled then, rumbled and shook, but not hard enough to frighten me. Sal—if this was Sal—was clearly still too weak to accomplish much but make suggestions to vulnerable people. All the fear I’d had building up all day began to fade.
I chuckled in mock laughter. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. You’re too big of a wimp to do much. Next time pick a guy who hits harder. Dale was a pussycat compared to some I’ve fought with—especially you.”
When nothing happened, when Arkady didn’t intervene with any information, I decided to call it. I was hungry and not nearly as worried as I’d been at the beginning of the day.
Sal had been up to some hijinks, and he might try again, but in comparison to what I’d been up against before, I figured I’d be all right.
“Welp, Sal. It was good talking after all these years. Oh, wait. You didn’t talk because you can’t unless you use someone to do it for you, can you? Anyway, I’m hungry and tired. So see ya around, douchecanoe.”
I was about to rise from my chair when I saw a flicker of a shadow in the corner of the room.
I squinted and looked to Win. “Win, do you hear anyone?”
“No, Dove. There’s nothing. Tell me what’s happening.”
The moment he said the words was the moment an apparition appeared, staticky at first and then clear as day.
I gasped. I gasped so loud, the intake of breath to my lungs hurt.
No. It couldn’t be. She’d crossed over. I’ll never forget when she crossed over. My heart had hurt for days afterward.
My fingers gripped the edge of the wood table and I swallowed hard.
“Malutka? Talk to Arkady Bagrov. What is happening? You look like you see ghost.” And then he laughed at his own joke because, well, I do see ghosts, and I was seeing one right now.
But this ghost? It was one I’d thought was long gone. One I was sure had crossed over. How was this happening?
Win rose, too, moving to stand near me, keeping me at his side. “Tell me what you see, Dove. Tell me what’s happening!”
“Sophia…?” I whispered, swallowing hard, my trembling fingers at my throat where I felt my pulse pound out a beat. “Is that really you?”
Win’s head whipped around as he cocked his ear. “Sophia? As in Dana’s dead girlfriend?”
“Ye…yes.”
She was right in the corner, her dark hair billowing behind her, her beautiful skin incandescent, her hand outstretched.
“Listen, Stevie,” she said, her voice hoarse, her tone a clear warning. “Listen to me. Listen carefully. Your life depends on this. Do you understand?”
I shook my head in confusion. I didn’t understand. I could hear ghosts again? I hadn’t been able to hear ghosts since what felt like forever. Not since I’d made my own visit to Plane Limbo and we’d taken down those jerks selling body parts at the funeral parlor.
Tears sprang to my eyes. “How…? I thought you’d crossed? How can you be here?” I whispered
“Sophia?” Win called out.
“You can hear her, too?” I asked.
Win looked around the room as though he might actually see her. “Yes…but clearly so can you, Dove.”
“Stevie!” she hissed my name, her eyes wide and filled with fear. “I can’t stay long. The veil is only thin enough for me to push through for mere moments before it disappears. This is why you must listen. Run, Stevie! Run as far as you can. He’s coming! He’s coming for you!”
Her image shimmered and shook, warbled and distorted. “Who? Sal? Is it Sal? Who’s coming for me?”
She reached out a slender hand to me, her eyes wildly imploring. “Go, Stevie. I’m begging you to go now!”
“Where? Where do I go, Sophia?” Panic rose in my voice and my heart crashed, thumping in my chest.
I felt her urgency. I felt it in every cell of my body. It was hot and persistent and filled with the worst fear I’d ever experienced, but I didn’t know where I was supposed to go. What was I running from?
Who was I running from?
She shimmered again, the words she spoke becoming unclear and garbled, but I distinctly heard her say “Sal” before she disappeared.
“Did you hear what I heard?” Win asked.
I sighed, pulling off my turban and setting it on the table. “You mean did I hear Sophia say Sal’s name?”
Win nodded, his eyes riddled with concern. “Yes. I distinctly heard her say the name Sal.”
I gulped. Sophia had managed to find a way through the veil to warn me about Sal. Not an easy task. Not easy at all. Whatever this was about, the afterlife wanted me to know. At least somebody up there still liked me.
Win grabbed me by the shoulders as I thought about seeing Sophia after she’d crossed over. If I had time to consider it, I’d remind myself it was a remarkable feat at the time.
Win looked at me, his face wreathed in his handsome smile. “Dove, you do realize what this means, don’t you?”
I shook my head, my brain spinning. “I don’t know what any of this means, Win.”
He tipped my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “My beloved, you can hear ghosts again. Not just see them, but hear them! You haven’t been able to do that since the incident in the funeral parlor when you were almost cremated. This is wonderful news!”
I gipped his forearms, my hands trembling. “Is it? Because it sure doesn’t feel wonderful. First Dale Rainwater, now Sophia, all warning me about something bad. That somehow isn’t my definition of wonderful.”
Belfry flew to buzz in front of my face, his tiny yellow snout twitching. “Boss, take a whiff. Take a deep whiff. It’s clear as day.”
I inhaled deeply, fighting a shudder before I muttered, “Oooo.”
“See? ya smell it, don’t ya? It’s your magic, Boss. I told you!” he sang out, zooming around in happy circles, making Whiskey bark and chase him through the store.
I did smell it this time, and it was a familiar scent as old as time. The scent of my magic, that tangy, lemony odor mixed with sandalwood and herbs.
Each witch has a unique scent, all unto her own, and as much as I wanted to deny it, this time I did smell it.
“Stephania!” Win praised. “I know this frightens you, but it’s wonderful news, my Dove.”
“Dah, my malutka. Is good. So good! I am happy for you.”
But I waved it off. I’d been happy before. I wasn’t going to let this fool me again. “Look, we don’t know if this is just another glitch in the universe, toying with me. It’s happened before and then for months, nada.”
“But it hasn’t happened with your scent. Something big’s about to happen, Boss. Something really big!”
The moment Belfry said those words, something big did happen. Something a little bigger than even I could anticipate. It was one thing to possibly have my magic return and be able to see and hear ghosts.
Quite another to be shot at.
Yes, folks. Someone took a shot at me.
With a gun.
Directly through Madam Z’s glass picture window, shattering it into a million pieces.
As the bullet whizzed past me, I heard Win bellow, “Stephania, duck!” moments before he steamrolled me, covering me with his body and knocking me so hard to the ground I think my bones crunched.
As I lie there stunned and breathless, I heard another shot, and yet another ring out.
“Zero! “Arkady yelled. “Roll under table with my petal now! Do as I say. Take cover! She is coming. You must hide!”
All I could think was she? as Win tucked me beneath him and rolled me under the table What she wanted to shoot me?
As I heard gunshots ping haphazardly off the walls and various knickknacks, I continued to wonder who she was. I’d tussled with a lot of people, but I’d never tussled with a woman who’d ended up dead. And even if I had—if she was a ghost I’d somehow angered, how the heck had she gotten her hands on a gun? How was she physically holding a gun?
Man, the afterlife was sure changing. Ghosts were getting stronger, they were more easily manipulating the vulnerable. The afterlife had gone mad.
