Phantom Quartz: A Stacy Justice Witch Mystery Book 6 (Stacy Justice Magical Mysteries) (17 page)

Chapter 34

When a goddess personally pays you a visit to tell you there is a target on your back and you may or may not have one week to live, you react in one of two ways. Either a quiet calm washes over you like a warm waterfall and you accept your fate come what may, or you run around like a piñata stuffed full of Mexican jumping beans.

I was a jumping bean kind of woman.

The first bar fight wasn’t so bad. A couple of twentyish jerks full of too many drafts raging over a football game. I tried the whole “knock it off, boys” and Monique threatened to call the police, but when one of the idiots lifted a stool to clobber the other one with, things got serious. I took the liberty of catapulting over the bar and swiped his knees out from under him with a swoop kick. He dropped the stool and it wavered in the air for a second before I caught it and set it down behind me. The other idiot took that as a cue to pounce on the man down, which was a dirty play in my book. I jammed my thumb into a pressure point in his neck t until I felt him grow limp. He slumped off his opponent to the floor, and their friends hauled the two guys out .

Luckily, Ponyboy didn’t jump into the mix. He just cheered me on from the sidelines with shouts of “kick his ass” and “you go, girl”.

An hour later, two women got into a heated argument. I have no idea what that was about, but after the first drink was tossed, it was two hellcats going at it. Claws were out, hair was pulled, and they ended up locked together in some sort of earring-caught-on-the-sweater situation.

After I untangled them and sent them to separate corners so I could call the cab, they decided I was the problem. They lunged at me—one from the left, the other from the right, swinging with more precision than they had on each other. I bobbed and weaved around them for a minute, not wanting to hurt them, before my patience was completely exhausted.

I considered using the poison pen clipped to my vest, but the tall blond aimed a left hook at me before I could grab it. I caught her wrist in my left hand, twisted her arm behind her back with my right, and slammed her, stomach down, on a table. I pinned her there with one of the knitting needles from my hair just in time to see the stocky burgundy-haired woman coming at me with a broken beer bottle. I ducked around her and she crashed into the table her friend was splayed across with no help from me. The bottle clinked to the floor and I yanked out the other knitting needle, pinning them together by their shirts on the table until Gus came to haul them away.

This was all after Cinnamon’s family had left for the evening, and I made the executive decision to close up shop before I ended up dead at the hands of some nutfugget who didn’t know how to hold her liquor.

That would be even more embarrassing than the naked-in-the-bathroom scenario I couldn’t shake from my brain.

I texted my mother a few times, but she didn’t respond. Ponyboy must have slipped out after the last fight, because I couldn’t see him any longer, and the jukebox was finally silent.  Monique and I were packing up the leftover food when Cinnamon came waddling through the door.

A glow like burning embers shaded my cousin’s face. “Did you really have two fights in one night?” she asked, eyeing my attire.

Monique didn’t say anything, just finished bagging the food and left it on the table. She trailed around the bar to count tips.

“Well it’s not like I started them, but yes. It was handled.” I went to put a pot of coffee on as Cin took a seat on a stool.

Three of Angelica’s cannoli were sitting on the bar on a plate that Lisa had brought over earlier. “I saved these for you,” she had said.

It didn’t cross my mind at the time, because I was busy serving drinks, but now I wondered how she’d known Cinnamon was coming?

The coffee started brewing and I grabbed three mugs.

“It was handled? That’s all you’re going to say?” Cin asked.

I shrugged. “You probably would have handled it better.”

Cin grunted. “How about you, Henrietta Harlot? How was your night?”

Monique parked a hand on her hip. “Hey at least I can see my feet, Teletubbie.”

I put the mugs on the bar, along with milk and sugar, next to the cannoli, ignoring them both. I was in no mood to play referee again.

Monique finished dividing the tips and handed me my half. I stuffed the bills in my bra and offered her a cannoli. She grabbed a napkin and bit in. Cinnamon helped herself to one, and I reached for the third.

Cinnamon looked around the bar. “Well at least nothing’s broken.”

Monique snorted. “Yeah except maybe a man’s pride and a bitch’s nose.”

Cin’s eyes widened. “You broke someone’s nose? What the hell happened?” She took a bite of the cannoli.

I did too, so I wouldn’t have to relay the story, but Monique was more than happy to oblige.

“Holy shit, Cin, you should have seen it,” she said. “Your cousin kicked some serious ass.”

Cinnamon leaned forward. “Really? What did she do?”

“I’m right here, guys.” I said, sucking on some filling.

“Yeah, but you should have seen it from my angle, Stacy. You were too close to it.” The entire night rushed out of her mouth in one breath and several hand gestures in which she mimicked the action.

Cinnamon looked at me as I poured the coffee. We each grabbed a mug.

“You did all that without a sword?” she asked.

Monique said, “She has a sword?” She sipped the coffee and took another bite of the Italian pastry.

“Just a little one.” Now, anyway, after seeing Tisiphone’s.

I sipped my own coffee and Cin said, “No way. That thing is huge.”

Monique pouted. “Damn, I want to see it. Can I see it?”

“Sure, I’ll show it to you. Come over sometime. We’ll get some wine.”

Cin pouted now. “Wine? Oh, you gotta wait until this kid is out of me.”

“We can do that.” Monique knocked back some coffee.

“Hey that reminds me. The three wise women brought gifts for the baby. I put them in the bag in your office.” I took another hearty bite of the pastry. Its creamy filling stuck to my fingers and I licked it off. “I’ll get it.”

Monique finished off her cannoli and wiped her hands. “I’ll clean the tables.” She grabbed a towel and got busy as I trotted off to the office.

“There’s a lot of food left, if you’re hungry, Cin,” Monique said.

“No thanks. Tony’s mom stuffed me silly.”

I gathered the bag, my things and Monique’s and locked the office door. I headed back over to drop all of our stuff on the bar and to finish closing up. The air was lighter, cleaner, like a fluffy white cloud was passing through.

Monique said, “So do you have any baby names picked out?”

Cinnamon said, “Not really. I want to see her first, you know? Choose a name that really suits her.”

The smell of cotton fresh from the dryer, gumdrops, and daisies.

Monique lifted a bar stool onto a table and grunted. “I know what you mean. I
hate
my name.”

Cinnamon said, “Oh no. I think it’s pretty. Monique. It sounds like
boutique
where they sell pretty things. By the way, I love your outfit.”

“Gee, thanks.” Monique looked down. “It was on sale.”

Cin said, “So cute.”

I stood there for a moment, absorbing the scene before me. I had never heard these two speak kindly to each other in all my life. In fact, as I recall, their first meeting ended a lot like the bar fight I had broken up earlier. I dropped the bags and my mouth at the same time, two thoughts stinging me like frantic mosquitoes.

Are we all getting along? Being
nice
to each other?

And what the hell was in those cannoli?

Chapter 35

Monique left, and a trail of sunshine chased her out the door. Cinnamon went around to the register and tallied up the night’s receipts. Her back was to me as she said, “Hey, show me what The Geraghty Girls brought the baby.”

I reached into her bag and pulled out the three bottles wrapped in the towel. That’s when I noticed a fourth. I scooped it out and examined it. It was round and fat like a Christmas ornament, made of thick black glass with a shadowy gray etching scrawled across the front in a fancy script. It read,
Nightmares
.

I quickly shoved the bottle into my own bag before Cinnamon turned around.

Who would do such a thing? Why would anyone want to give a child nightmares? A creepy-crawly sensation spidered up and down my back. The keys had been near me the entire night. I hadn’t seen a single soul slip into the office, but then again, I
was
pre-occupied. It made me wonder what kind of witch I was dealing with. A dark arts practitioner? Someone from Angelica’s family? Or one of the women sitting around the table in Evelyn’s house? And why would anyone want to harm the baby? Unless...were the nightmares supposed to be for Cinnamon?

One thing was sure. I would die before I let anything happen to my cousin or her baby.

Cinnamon was chattering about the baby gifts the aunts and Birdie had bestowed upon her as we gathered up the food and locked up the Black Opal. I walked her to her car, threads of happiness ribboned around her head like a halo.

Thor came trotting around the corner then, the white rabbit riding on his back. “Hey, Big Man. How’s the training going?”

Thor grumbled and his lips flapped as if to say,
the kid needs work.
His tail thumped against Cinnamon’s car, and the rabbit bobbed up and down. Thor sent me a picture of Cinnamon’s house.

My cousin stopped and turned toward me. “He’s doing it again, isn’t he?”

Ever since Cinnamon had gotten pregnant, Thor had taken it upon himself to act as her personal bodyguard.

“Yes, but this time he brought backup,” I said.

Cin took a closer look and spotted the bunny. Her face turned all squishy. “Oh my god, that’s the cutest freaking thing ever.”

She stopped, confused at her own emotions and possibly at the use of the word ‘cute’. Apparently the cannoli—whatever the hell was in it anyway—was wearing off. She walked over and caressed the rabbit. He didn’t flinch at her touch as he had with mine. In fact, it sounded like he was purring.

“I think that’s your baby gift from Thor, Cin. Although I do believe they are a package deal for the moment.”

Cin shot me a look of dismay. “Are you serious?”

I shrugged. “You can either let him climb in now or they’ll just follow you home. Your choice.”

“Fine.” Her phone chirruped then and she checked it. “It’s Tony, threatening to come and get me if I’m not home in five minutes.”

While she texted Tony back, I walked around and opened the passenger door. The bunny hopped in the front seat and I tilted it forward a bit so Thor could settle in the back. I set the food on the front floorboard, then leaned into the vehicle.

“Precious cargo, boy. Keep her safe,” I said to Thor.

He leaned his huge head down, pinned his ears back, and a murderous rumble gurgled in his gut before it charged the length of his throat and out his mouth. His lips curled up and over lethal fangs. He snapped twice, snarled savagely, and a deep, penetrating roar that I felt all the way down to my toes ripped from his throat. If he weren’t my dog, I would have had to change my underwear.

“Show off,” I said.

He grouched and set his eyes forward, ears erect. I shut the door.

I walked around to Cinnamon as she opened the driver’s side door. She climbed into the seat, but before I locked her inside, I stopped. A quiet hum buzzed from the baby bag on the seat next to the bunny, and something glowed through the opening, calling to me clearly is if it were shouting my name.

“Cin, do you still have the phantom quartz in there?” I pointed to the bag.

“Yeah, why?” She shoved the key in the ignition and started the car.

“May I see it?”

She reached over and plucked the quartz from the quilted bag, handed it to me. It glowed and warmed in my hand, pulsating with urgency.

Cinnamon said, “Wow, I didn’t know it could do that. With me, it just—” She stopped abruptly. Clamped her mouth shut.

I narrowed my eyes. “With you it just what?”

“Nothing.”

The quartz was heating up in my hand, my skin imprinting on the crystal. “Cinnamon, tell me.”

She shot me a lopsided grin. “It just shows me pictures. Not of the baby, but tiny little socks, bibs, onesies. And hats. Lots of hats.” She shrugged. “That’s all.”

The vibration was so strong now it shook my hand, telling me that I had to hold onto the quartz, that it was the key to...something. “Listen, is it all right if I keep it until the baby comes? I was thinking with all the people around, it might be best for now. Don’t want to charge it with any other energy. As soon as she comes, all the Geraghtys can help me bless it in her presence.”

Cin stared at the crystal for a long while and her eyes danced away on a moonbeam, as if entranced. I took that moment to hold the quartz, flat side down where the reception was best, to her swollen belly. I closed my eyes and called to Brighid, goddess of fertility and unity, and asked her to infuse the crystal with the spirit of the baby and my own energy. The heat from the crystal ran up the length of my arm and webbed around my entire body in a swirl of stardust. It exploded into the air like fireworks then rained down all around us and sailed straight through Cinnamon’s womb.

She jolted from her mesmerized state and said, “Whoa, that’s weird. I feel all tingly.”

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. What were you saying?” she asked, a bit breathless. “Right. The quartz. You can hang onto it if you think that’s best. It’s heavy anyway.”

I tucked the phantom quartz into my bag and shut the door to Cin’s Trans Am, wondering if she would soon be trading it in for an SUV.

As she drove away, I felt a shift in the night air as huge fluffy flakes began to fall from the sky. I lifted my head, opened my mouth to catch some of the icy cold glitter like Cin and I used to do when we were kids.

Something clicked within me as the first snowflake tickled my tongue. A lever pulled. Shades drawn. A door locked.

Signs that when this was all over, none of us would ever be the same.