A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (10 page)

T
he next morning
, Issy, Ember, and Raine all piled into Brown Betty and headed to the outskirts of Silver Hollow to visit Karen Dixon’s house. The day was overcast, and the air was more humid than Issy ever remembered it being that far north in the White Mountains. Still, the weather seemed to echo her growing sense of foreboding about the upcoming meeting with the dark witch.

Brimstone was along for the ride as well, stretching his long feline form across the back of the bench seat in the truck and grooming his front paws as if they were coated with catnip. Issy caught his orangish gaze in the rearview mirror, and the cat sighed loudly, his whiskers twitching with disdain as only a cat’s could.

“You look as though you’re going to a hanging,” he said, stretching. “Surely, this Karen person isn’t
that
dangerous.”

“We don’t have enough information about her to know if she’s dangerous or not,” Issy replied. “I’ve got a bad feeling about her, though.”

“I’ll alert the presses,” Brimstone said, his feline tone dripping with sarcasm.

Ember snorted from her seat against the passenger-side door, and Raine elbowed her in the side. “Don’t laugh. Poor Issy’s been traumatized.”

“I’m not traumatized,” Issy said, giving her cousin a sideways glare. “I’m just super cautious these days.”

“Right,” Brimstone piped in again. “Traumatized.”

“Listen, I—” Issy started to say then was cut off by Raine’s loud, impressed whistle.

“Look at
that
!”

Issy followed Raine’s pointing finger and spotted the back end of an expensive candy apple—red sports car peeking through the thick pine forest lining both sides of the road. The fact that the car was parked in Karen Dixon’s driveway didn’t escape her attention either. “Uh-oh. I’ve seen that car before.”

“You have?” Ember leaned forward to see Issy around Raine. “Where?”

“First at Hans’s office. The day Raine and I went over there to drop off Mortimer.”

“Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that.” Raine nodded. “I remember now. The car was leaving just as we were arriving, right?”

“Yep.” Issy slowed the truck and pulled off onto the berm near the end of Karen’s driveway. “We should go back to Hans’s office later today and pick up Mortimer too, if you’re free. Hopefully, he’s heard something we can use to catch Louella’s murderer.”

“I’ve got a couple of accounts to check on after this, but my schedule’s open later on.”

“Great.” Issy jammed the old truck’s transmission into park then cut the engine. “I saw that car a second time too. The day I ran into Karen in the street and we talked. I didn’t realize it was hers, though.”

They exited the truck and stood near the end of the long driveway. Hard as it had been, Issy had left Bella back at her shop with her assistant, never wanting to put another of her precious familiars in peril due to dark magic again.

Even Ember had left Bellatrix and Endora at home, it seemed, so all three of them were without their magical companions. Perhaps not the wisest choice, considering where they were going, but the safest where their beloved animals were concerned. Witches weren’t powerless without their bonded familiars, but they acted like prisms, focusing a person’s magical powers and providing bewitching assistance when needed.

But they had Brimstone, who had insisted on being there when they interrogated Karen but refused to tell them why. One never knew what his ulterior motives were since he wasn’t any one witch’s familiar but rather seemed to serve them all. When it served him as well, of course.

Brimstone sauntered farther up the driveway then stopped and turned back, giving the Quinn cousins a superior look over his shoulder. “Are you planning on gawking all day, or are you actually going to ring the doorbell?”

Issy exhaled and followed after Brimstone, her steps heavy and her heart pounding. Raine and Ember trailed behind her, their footsteps crunching loudly on the gravel. Birds twittered in the gray sky above, and a slight breeze ruffled through the pine-scented air, and if she weren’t going to have what might be the scariest conversation of her life, Issy might’ve appreciated all the natural beauty surrounding her. As it was, all she could see in her mind’s eye were flickering images of what had happened during that last deadly battle—a bright flash, sparks everywhere, her brave bulldog, Luna, lying there, still and lifeless, with her eyes still open in sickening shock. The cruel cackle of the evil sorceress who’d killed her…

A sharp poke in the arm brought Issy back to the present. “Ow!”

“Hello? Earth to Issy,” Raine said as they reached the bottom of the wooden stairs leading up to a large wraparound porch.

“What?”

“I asked if Karen’s even here. Doesn’t look like there’s any lights on inside,” Raine said.

Brimstone trotted up the stairs to the porch. “Only one way to find out.”

“Wait for us,” Issy hissed under her breath. “We need to stay together.”

Ember went up the stairs next, followed by Raine, and finally, Issy.

The boards creaked under her feet, though the whole house appeared to have been built recently. It was actually quite lovely, built in the Victorian style, with lots of gingerbread detailing and pastel blue—colored paint. The kind of house Issy would’ve loved to explore, if there weren’t a real possibility that the owner had killed someone.

Hands and knees trembling, she took a deep breath and raised her tight fist to knock on the door then gasped as it was suddenly pulled open in front of her. Karen Dixon stood there, looking as surprised as Issy felt. Her dyed-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail today, and her dark eyes were still rimmed in thick kohl eyeliner, but her usually perfect red lipstick was slightly smudged, and her cheeks looked pale and chalky. Her long, black gauzy dress billowed in the breeze, and a short-cropped black cardigan covered her arms and shoulders. Rows of tiny diamond earrings still sparkled up and down the rim of each ear, and a tiny stud gleamed from Karen’s right nostril. She looked every inch the epitome of what non-paranormals would stereotype as a witch—all goth edge and eerie attitude.

“What are you doing here?” Karen demanded, her eyes darting from Issy to her cousins then back again. “I’m on my way out.”

Despite the lump of alarm wedged tightly in her throat, Issy managed to find her voice. “We’re here to talk to you about what happened to Louella Drummond.”

“I’ve already told you what I know about that.” Karen frowned down at Brimstone, who shoved his way past her leg and into her house. “You need to watch your familiars.”

“And you need to watch your step, Karen,” Raine said, moving in beside Issy, her shoulders squared. “We know you like to dabble in dark magic, and we know you were there the day Louella died. Now, either you talk to us today, or we go to Owen with what we know.”

“That’s right. And if you won’t talk to us, I’ll cut you off at Divine Cravings too. No more chocolates. Period,” Ember said from the other side of Raine.

Issy bit her lips to hide a smile. She’d never loved her cousins more than she did right at that moment. Her family was the best. Always there for her in her time of need.

Karen crossed her arms and inhaled slowly. “Fine. But keep control of that cat, or I will.”

She stepped aside, and Issy and her cousins stepped into the house. The rooms were large and decorated with antique furnishings and artwork. Scents of apples and cinnamon and lavender drifted through the air, and exquisite white lace curtains covered the windows. Again, it was all quite lovely, except for the whole evil-killer vibe.

Issy rocked back on her heels, the toes of her hiking boots tapping on the shiny, dark hardwood floor, and shoved her hands into the pockets of her khaki shorts. “So, how long have you lived here?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Brimstone piped in. He’d wandered over to a small black Persian cat curled onto a cat bed in the far corner of the living room and now stood nose to nose with the creature, which Issy supposed was Karen’s familiar. “Get to the point.”

“Is he always that rude?” Karen asked, staring warily at Brimstone.

“Yes,” the cousins answered in unison.

“I’m not rude,” Brimstone said. Issy narrowed her gaze as he raised one paw and tapped the air surrounding the other cat lightly, sending shimmering golden light arching over the other animal. Nose wrinkled, Issy blinked and looked again. Yep. A cage. Karen’s familiar was locked in a cage! A sort of magical lockdown. Swift anger filled Issy’s blood. She would never, ever lock Bella up in some kind of jail, no matter what mischief she’d done. Neither would any other law-abiding witch that Issy knew.

She opened her mouth to tell Karen just that but halted when she saw the forlorn expression on the other woman’s face. Perhaps it wasn’t Karen who’d locked up the cat after all. “What happened to your familiar?”

All the bluster seemed to leave the other witch, and her shoulders sagged. She crossed her arms and pulled her black cardigan tighter around her. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about me.”

“That you’re evil?” Ember said before Raine elbowed her in the ribs. “What?”

“Let’s sit down,” Issy said, taking Karen by the elbow and guiding her to a delicate-looking parlor chair covered in needlepoint rose chintz. “We’re not here to judge you, Karen. We’re just here to find out the truth.”

The three cousins took a seat on the sofa across from her and waited.

“I did get caught.” Karen stared down at her hands in her lap, their long red nails glowing in the lamplight. “Doing dark magic. But it was just the one time, I swear, and I wasn’t going to do anything
really
bad, and now I’m ashamed that I even did it at all.”

“Is that why there’s a cage around your cat?” Raine asked.

“Yes. They have me and Cynster under house arrest.”

The despair in her voice made Issy’s heart pinch. Locking a witch’s familiar away and stripping her magical powers even for a short time was unthinkable. Poor thing. “How long is your sentence?”

“We have another month to go before the committee has me on probation for three months. At least then I’ll be able to come and go as I please and practice minor magic. Right now, all my movements are monitored, and I’m only allowed to go to town for supplies, groceries, and appointments.” She held up one ankle to show off a thick silver chain. Every few seconds, the metal would glow white-hot before blipping back to normal steel color again. Karen lowered her skirt and met Issy’s eyes for the first time since they’d entered the house.

“Wow! I’ve never met a magical criminal before,” Ember said.

“She’s not a criminal,” Issy said, surprising herself. Fifteen minutes ago, she’d been scared senseless about coming in here, and now she was defending Karen. Odd, but deep inside, it felt right. Karen wasn’t a threat to them. Not for the time being, anyway. “She made some bad decisions, that’s all.”

“So you’re reformed?” Ember said, her expression filled with curiosity.

“I hope so.” Karen said, tucking a stray hank of black hair behind her ear. “When all of this is over, I’d like to open up a juicing bar in town. Maybe sell healthy juices, smoothies, and teas that are charmed to improve whatever ailments the patrons might have. If I can get the committee’s approval and the town council will zone it, of course.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Issy said, giving her a small smile.

“Did you kill Louella Drummond?” Raine asked, her gaze narrowed and her arms crossed.

“Raine!” Issy said.

“What? That is why we’re here, isn’t it?”

“No, I would never kill anyone. That goes against everything witches stand for and everything I believe in,” Karen said, sincerity filling her onyx eyes. “I have been looking into it, though.”

“So have we,” Raine said, her posture still stiff. “And the FBPI.”

“Yes, I’ve seen those agents around town. I don’t like strangers poking into our business. And that one man, the ferret-looking one?” Karen shuddered. “He scares me.”

“Us too,” Ember said, nodding. “He’s a fanatic where paranormals are concerned.”

“That’s why we’ve been looking into the murder ourselves,” Issy added. “Since he seems to be hunting for paranormal suspects in particular, we figured if we discovered the identity of the real killer, we could get him out of here quicker and keep our secrets hidden.”

“Blessed be, yes!” Karen said. “Plus, I figured if I found the true killer and turned them in to the committee, then they might quit focusing on me and knock me off their radar. After all, no one died from what I did. That murder makes me look like an angel in comparison.” She straightened her sweater and glanced up at her guests. “Okay, maybe not an angel. A pixie, perhaps. But still. Definitely
not
a murderer.”

“What about the appointment book?” Ember whispered to Issy.

“Oh, right.” Issy nodded. “We saw Louella’s appointment book at the planning office yesterday, and her last appointment before her death said only that it was with someone she identified as ‘K.’ Was that you?”

Karen exhaled and frowned. “Yes. It was with me. We belong to the reptile society together. Louella had called me all excited and said she discovered something amazing out in the woods.”

“Did she tell you what?”

“No. I waited for an hour for her, but she never showed up. She had mentioned wanting to get some pictures of whatever she found before she came here, to make sure I believed her. I was worried when she didn’t show up, but Louella could be flighty sometimes when it came to lizards, so I just assumed she’d gotten wrapped up in her research or something. Then the next day, when she ended up dead…” Karen’s voice trailed off, and she shook her head, her expression sad. “She was my friend, and no matter what she found, she didn’t deserve to die like that. No one does.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ember said, reaching across to pat Karen’s hand.

“Me too,” Issy said.

“What about the shut-up spell? What do you know about that?” Raine asked, her tone gentler. “And I’m sorry for your loss too.”

“Thanks.” Karen sniffled then pushed to her feet and walked over to a nearby bookshelf. She pulled down an ornately bound book then resumed her seat as she flipped through the dusty, yellowed parchment pages. “That spell is dark magic, and it takes a powerful witch to invoke, especially remotely. And here it says they’d need a lock of Louella’s hair or some of her fingernail clippings, an animal tongue, lemon, salt, and pepper.”