A Charming Hex (Magical Cures Mystery Series Book 9) (6 page)

The food was already on the table when I got back and the bottle of wine was almost empty.

Oscar’s fingers drummed on top of the table and his other hand was curled around a wine glass. He brought the glass up to his lips and downed the last sip. His eyes focused on me. There was no spark, no sparkle or even a hint of happiness.

“I know.” Immediately I began to apologize. “You know Aunt Helena.” I gave a half smile and took the camera strap off my shoulder before I placed it on the table. “She wants to make sure we are going to be safe and sound. I’m sorry.”

He reached over and grabbed the camera. “This is really nice.” The smile that had always brought a sprinkle of joy in my soul appeared. “We need a good camera.”

“Yeah.” I bit my lip, my brows furrowed. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain the camera when Aunt Helena said I couldn’t tell anyone about my new, if only part-time, gift.

“This is an actual gift your aunt has given us that we can use.” He took the lens cover off and looked through the viewer. “I mean, like the crystal she gave us for the cottage porch as a wedding gift, what on Earth are we going to do with that?”

“Um. . .” I stuttered and pondered my options for about a split second. “Yes. I was thrilled she gave us the camera.”

Technically I didn’t lie. She did give us the camera by giving me the new gift.

“Now I don’t have to go to Locust Grove and get one.” I sucked in a deep breath and emptied the rest of the wine into my glass.

For a few minutes, Oscar and I sat in silence and enjoyed the amazing dinner Amethyst had prepared for us. By the time we finished our last bite, the sun had completely gone down over Whispering Falls and the wooded area was lit up by the fireflies. They darted about the branches and tree trunks leaving a little trail of sparkle behind them.

“Are you getting excited?” Oscar asked.

The discreet rattle of a pastry cart pulled up next to our table.

“I am.” I tried my best to make it sound as convincing as possible even though the tug at my gut and Mr. Prince Charming’s spiral charm told me to be careful.

To my delight, the cart was filled with real Ding Dongs.

“Don’t tell Raven.” Amethyst winked. A smile crawled to her lips and curled itself like a snake.

“Mums the word.” I grabbed one and tore into it giving Oscar the other half before I devoured it.

“Are you ready? We have a big morning ahead of us and I still need to pack.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Oscar joked and stood up to help me out of my chair. He turned me toward him and placed both hands alongside my face. His gaze was as soft as a caress. “June, you make me the happiest man on the earth.”

His lips met mine. He whispered, “Do you have time to do more than pack?”

Little did he realize that his kiss was more persuasive than he knew.

“Who are you?” The salt water swished up against my shoulders. The man’s diamond eyes stared at me. His coal black hair was slicked back. There was a mole on the side of his face.  “Please tell me.” I begged to know. I needed to know. “I can help you change your fate.”

The thunderous sound overhead caught my attention. The sound of lapping water curled around the both of us as the sandy sea floor underneath me gave way. A wave behind the man’s bobbing head was building.

“Tell me!” I begged before the wave plunged over him and me, taking us both under. An orange swirl dug deep beneath the water’s surface, circling around the drowning man. He stretched his arm toward me and I reached. . .

I sat straight up in bed, gasping for air. Mr. Prince Charming’s eyes glowed in the darkness of the bedroom. He pawed at me. The insides of Madame Torres swirled in a fit of orange rage, settling into a picture of the Magical Cures Book.

Meow
, Mr. Prince Charming’s lips moved, but nothing came out.

I peeled back the covers and eased myself out of bed so as not to wake Oscar. He would never approve of me getting up in the middle of the night to go to A Charming Cure to get the necessary items I needed to take with me.

I grabbed my clothes off the floor, where they had landed once Oscar and I had gotten home from all the food and wine drinking, and scurried out of the bedroom, getting dressed in the hall. Mr. Prince Charming was already waiting by the door. I grabbed my bag and my keys before I headed down the hill.

“Stop.” I waved the fireflies away from my face and ran down the hill as fast as I could. There wasn’t a lot of time to spare. Oscar might wake up and he wouldn’t be happy if he did and I wasn’t there.

All of the shops were dark. The gates glistened underneath the full moonlight. I stepped up on the sidewalk and took a few steps toward A Charming Cure; the Singing Nettles flowers in the flowerbox underneath the A Cleansing Spirit Spa’s window hummed a sleepy tune.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized when I walked by and a few of them were yawning.

“June?” The voice appeared before the person stepped out of the shadow. “Are you okay?”

“Petunia.” My heart thundered in my chest. Baby Orin was strapped in the Kangaroo pouch on the front of her. Lightly she bounced on the balls of her toes and patted his hiney. A bird’s head popped in and out of the side of her messy up-do with each bounce. “You scared me.”

I looked down at Orin and smiled. I ran a hand along his sleeping body.

“Orin was having a rough night, so we decided the Singing Nettles and full moon were just the trick he needed.” She looked down at her baby with pride on her face. “Now, what about you?”

“I guess I needed the Singing Nettles too.” I winked. I did love hearing them hum and sing in harmony. In fact, they were one of Darla’s favorite flowers to look at even though she couldn’t hear them since she wasn’t a spiritualist. She knew they were special even without knowing their true beauty.

“Want to talk about it?” She took her comforting hand off Orin and placed it on me. “I don’t know any woman who’d come out to the shop in the mid-morning hours before she left on a fabulous vacation unless something was wrong.” Her eyes drew down with a curious brow lift. “And the teenagers told me you were a little restless earlier when you were going to dinner with Oscar at Full Moon Treesort.” The teens flittered around and around, lighting our way over to the gate of my shop.

“Can’t get nothing past those nosy kids.” I joked and placed a hand on the gate before I opened it. I looked back but she wasn’t following me. “You can come on in.”

Mr. Prince Charming rushed in as soon as I opened the door. I flipped the lights on. A sense of calm swept over me as the shop lights lit up the magical bottles.

“Almost breath taking.” Petunia looked around the room at the twinkling glass. “You do amazing work.”

“Thank you.” I walked back to the counter to retrieve the Magical Cures Book and noticed my charm bracelet was lying next to the register. Mr. Prince Charming jumped up and pawed the bracelet. I glanced up at Petunia. I couldn’t tell if she was assessing the situation as a friend or as the Village President. “You might’ve picked where Oscar and I are going for our honeymoon, but it still won’t keep us completely safe.”

“How do you figure?” She pushed her hand up into her messy brown up-do and pulled a piece of catnip out of it along with a mouse toy. She tossed both onto the floor.

Mr. Prince Charming couldn’t resist. He jumped down and batted the mouse before he sniffed the catnip and rolled all over it.

“I keep having a nightmare about water that I can only think to be the ocean. There was even a salty taste in my mouth.” It wasn’t like I was breaking any of the by-laws; I was sharing with her. Allowing her to give an opinion. “You know as well as I do what happens when I have a nightmare.”

She brought her hands up to her face and drummed the pads of her fingers together. “Yes.” Her lips pursed. “Something bad happens—like a death.”

“Exactly.” I turned around and ran my finger down the shelf of glass bottles where I kept all of my ingredients for the potions and stopped at the Alder Bark. “This one will be good.”

I grabbed the bottle and returned back to the counter where I disappeared behind the partition where I kept my cauldron. I flipped on the switch and opened the Alder Bark, sprinkling a few drops into the cauldron.

“Here.” Petunia walked behind the partition and pulled a twig from her hair. “Blessed Thistle will help strengthen the potion and protect even more.”

“Thank you.” I smiled when I took it. “You are a good friend.”

It was then that I knew I could confide in her as a friend tonight. I returned to the cauldron and stirred the bark with the thistle, letting them dissolve into each other before I retrieved the Magical Cures Book from underneath the counter.

The tattered journal would do its magic as soon as I touched it and would open up to the exact page I needed. The potion of extra protection called for Laurel Leaves, which made me pause because it was used for males in weddings and since Oscar and I had already said our I-do’s, I wasn’t clearly sure on what this was for, but I still grabbed the bottle off the shelf. Echinacea didn’t surprise me since it was good for strengthening spells, but a pattern was emerging for me.

“There is a lot of strengthening in all of these ingredients.” I chewed the corner of the inside of my lip and read through it again to make sure. Before I could even pick up the ladle to stir, the cauldron smoked with jade streaks running up in the air. The smell of sugar drifted out of the smoke, leaving a chemical taste in my mouth after it was inhaled through my nostrils. I circled my hand over the cauldron and let the elixir dance the way it had chosen, which was in the motion of waves of the ocean as if it knew my dream. Underneath my fingertips, the mixture fizzled, bubbled, and moved as the ingredients became one.

On the shelf beyond the partition were the empty glass bottles that spoke to me when they glowed. The simple crystal with the cork top shimmered and glistened, calling me to pick it. When I touched it, I knew the small electric charge that hit my fingertips had a mighty power and it was the right bottle for the potion I was going to take with me for extra protection—even if I was just being overly cautious.

“And.” I looked over at Petunia, who was breast-feeding Orin. “I can’t let Oscar know because I told him that I wouldn’t do any sort of spell.”

“June.” Petunia’s jaw dropped. “You cannot do that.”

“He went to Izzy and talked to her about me taking Madame Torres, so he knows I’m worried.” I held the bottle over the top of the cauldron and let the potion magically fill up the crystal bottle. “If he’s worried, then I’m a tad bit worried.”

“Maybe he’s just being cautious.” She brought Orin up to her shoulder and burped the sleeping baby. “He always falls asleep feeding, but he will be right back up in a minute.” She tucked him back in the pouch. “I want you two to have a wonderful time.”

“I’m sure we will.” I picked up the bracelet and clasped it around my wrist. I grabbed the book and the potion and put them in my bag before I strapped it across me. “I better get going before Oscar wakes up and sees I’m gone.”

I took one last look around the shop once Petunia stepped outside with Mr. Prince Charming. Everything looked like it was ready for Faith to take over for the time I was gone and I liked how the shop welcomed her. I flipped the lights off and locked it up tight before I darted down the front steps, out of the gate and up the hill to where I was happy to see Oscar still asleep.

Our suitcases were packed and unzipped on the floor of the family room. I took the items out of my bag and pushed the book and potions to the bottom of my suitcase, sticking all the clothes on top. I crept into the bedroom and snatched Madame Torres from the side table.

“What are you doing?” Her face floated inside her ball. “It’s not time to awaken.”

“You have all morning to sleep.” I informed her and took a shirt out of the suitcase. “Snugged up tight in this shirt.”

“You will not put me in there!” Her voice echoed loud and clear. “I demand it!”

“Well, so do I.” I wrapped the shirt around her several times. Mr. Prince Charming lay on top of the shirt once I stuck it back in the suitcase. “You can’t go.” I shooed him out of the suitcase. My bracelet jingled from my wrist and I shook it toward him. “Remember, you gave me a new charm.”

Rowl!
He darted off in the direction of the bedroom just in time for the sound of Oscar’s alarm going off.

“Rise and shine,” I hollered from the family room and glanced over at the coffee pot then glanced at my hands. I shrugged. “One time,” I giggled and wiggled my fingers toward the pot. Instantly, a full pot of coffee was in the carafe.

I tried to stop the big smile from creeping across my lips, but couldn’t. I was feeling a little proud of the new fun gift Aunt Helena had given me and found myself wishing I had it all the time. I opened the cabinet and took out two mugs and filled them before I went back to the bedroom where Oscar was lying with a big grin on his face.

“Finally.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “We are getting out of here to enjoy our honeymoon.”

“Tulip Island here we come.” I planted the biggest grin on my face even though my gut churned with an uneasiness.

A car horn beeped outside.

“And the Karimas are here to take us.” Oscar jumped up and quickly threw on the clothes he had laid out the night before. “I knew they would be early.”

“I didn’t know they were taking us to the airport.” I walked back down the hall with the two cups of coffee still in my hands. I set them on the small kitchen table and opened the door.

Patience and Constance Karima were standing on the threshold. Constance shook her finger, Patience followed.

“I told you to be ready.” Constance tugged on the collar of her housedress. Her grey hair sat in tight curls around her round head. Her green eyes glared at me from underneath her glasses.

“Be ready,” Patience repeated. She too tugged on her housedress. Everything Constance did, Patience did. The twins had soft grey curls all over their heads and small wire-rimmed glasses. They were the oldest members of Whispering Falls and they owned Two Sisters and A Funeral. They were the only funeral home in Whispering Falls and it was perfect for their gift of being ghost whisperers.