Body Bags & Blarney (19 page)

She was jolted
awake when the front door opened and Joshua and Hunter stepped inside, flipping
the wall switch that turned on the overhead light. Vivienne squinted for a
moment as the bright light blinded her. She put her hands up over her eyes.
“Why didn’t you call?”

“Sorry, I
didn’t need to.” Joshua answered as he closed the door. “Hunter found me and
gave me a ride back.”

Vivienne’s
eyes adjusted to the light and she lowered her hands. “Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise.”
Hunter spoke up as he looked around the room. “This is a nice place.”

Joshua hung up
his coat on the wall rack and placed Hunter’s next to his. “We figured you
needed the rest after what happened today.”

Vivienne
forced herself off the sofa, leaving the cats alone with the warm blanket.
“Yes, that spell really sapped the energy out of me.”

 
Joshua walked over and wrapped his arms around
her. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my little brother.”

Vivienne
embraced him back. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“Yes, I do.”
Joshua squeezed her tighter.

Hunter stepped
a little closer to them both. “I would have died if you hadn’t cast that spell
to heal me up.”

Vivienne, now released
from Joshua’s embrace and fully awake, turned on one of the table lamps. “I’m
glad I could help.”

“I told Hunter
he could move into my house for the time being.” Joshua informed her. “After
all, I pretty much live here already.”

Vivienne
nodded. “That makes sense.”

“I told him
that he could stay for dinner. He hasn’t had a home-cooked meal in quite a
while.” Joshua cast a wary eye on his younger brother. “He needs to keep his
strength up after his close call.”

“Sure. I’ll go
pull something out of the fridge.” Vivienne replied.

“I’ll do
that.” Joshua smiled. “You just take it easy tonight and rest up.”

“I don’t think
I have that much in the fridge to even make a decent dinner.” Vivienne worried.
“I meant to go to the Monarch Grocery but kept getting distracted.”

“How does
delivered pizza sound?” Hunter asked.

Vivienne had
to admit that delivery and paper plates sounded just about perfect. “Like
heaven.”

“We’ll get
everything taken care of. You just relax and rest up.” Joshua insisted.

Vivienne
decided not to fight them on this. She was more than happy to let them take
over from here. “Will you order salami and extra cheese?”

“You got it.”
Joshua gave her a kiss just as Vivienne’s cell phone rang. “Tell whoever it is
we’re busy tonight.”

Vivienne
glanced down at the coffee table and noticed Miss Octavia’s name on the caller
display. “It’s Octavia.”

Joshua nodded.
“Just don’t make any big plans tonight. We’ve got quite a bit to talk about.”

Vivienne
smiled back and picked up the phone. “I promise.” She answered it. “Hello?”

“Vivienne, I’m
so glad you’re okay.” Octavia’s voice trembled.

“I’m just a
little tired.” Vivienne answered.

“When I saw
the map tonight I feared the worst had happened.” Octavia replied.

“The map?”
Vivienne puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

There was a
pause on the other end. “The map I’ve been working on charting all the magic
voids. The activity has been rising, but there isn’t much of a pattern to
follow. I was about to put it away for the night when a new void appeared that
caught my attention. It was the first time I’d seen one so close to another and
then I realized it was in front of your home again.”

Vivienne felt
a chill run through her body. “The sorcerer was here earlier?”

“Or still is.”
Octavia replied. “Have you seen anyone strange around?”

Vivienne could
hear Hunter’s voice talking to Joshua from the laundry room. “It can’t be.”

“What can’t
be?” Octavia asked with concern. “Do you see someone?”

“Joshua’s
brother just arrived.” Vivienne could barely get the words out of her mouth.
“He’s in my house right now.”

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Octavia had
advised her to keep a close eye on her grimoire and her dinner guest. There was
no sure fire way of discovering if someone was a sorcerer, other than catching
them in the act of using their talisman. At least, no way that she or Octavia
could think of. They made plans to meet again tomorrow afternoon, so Vivienne
could study the map with her own eyes and perhaps find a pattern.

Vivienne
thought back to what Octavia had explained about the nature of the sorcerer’s
motivation. How they were attracted to magic, draining it with their talismans
to gain power. There was nothing magical about her home that she was aware of,
but there was something inside of it that she was pretty sure would prove to be
irresistible. The sorcerer must have been sensing her grimoire, letting the
talisman take sips of the magic that emanated from the pages of lore. That was
the only thing that would explain the return visit.

She hadn’t yet
cast the power circle, nor did she feel up to it tonight after utilizing such a
powerful healing spell. It would have to wait until her body’s energy levels
could return to normal. She would just have to be extra vigilant when it came
to keeping the grimoire safely hidden away until she could set the trap.
  

After the
pizza delivery had arrived, Vivienne remained at the kitchen table with Joshua
and Hunter. She found it difficult to create conversation, but thankfully the
brothers spent most of the time catching up on family gossip that had little to
do with her.

“So, you’ve
been trailing these guys all the way from Georgia?” Joshua asked as he munched
on a piece of pizza.

Hunter took
another sip of his bottled beer. “That’s where I caught up with their trail,
but I think they may have been operating out of Florida.” He grabbed the next
to last piece out of the cardboard box.

Vivienne kept
a close eye on Hunter. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Being related
to Joshua, she felt incredibly guilty even thinking that he might be up to some
nefarious deed. He wore no visible jewelry on his body, so if he did have a
talisman in his possession it was well hidden from view. “Do you think that
this Johnny Guido character is one of the main guys involved in this whole
mess?”

Hunter’s brow
furrowed at her question. “I don’t know yet.”

“Maybe
Vivienne can help shed some light by casting a spell?” Joshua replied.

Vivienne
snapped to attention at the mention of magic. “What’s that?”

Hunter stared
at her from across the table. With his light brown hair that fell neatly down
to the nape of his neck, perpetual five o’clock shadow, and green eyes that
practically glowed from within, he exuded a naturally disarming charisma that
even she had to fight off with all of her willpower. It would be all too easy
to get lost in his good looks, believe every word that left his lips. No doubt,
this is what made him such an effective bounty hunter. “Joshua was telling me
all about what you’ve gone through here.”

“Oh, he has?”
Vivienne studied his face carefully.

“I once worked
with a witch down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee when I lived there a few months
ago.” Hunter revealed.

“Really?”
Joshua was clearly intrigued. “I didn’t know you’d moved from Mom and Dad’s.”

“You would if
you’d call more than once a year.” Hunter chided him. “I haven’t been home
since last August.”

“Was she
nice?” Vivienne asked.

“She was an
older lady, I’d guess her in her fifties or so. She dressed real elegant, with
this long silver hair that she pulled up into one of those big southern
styles.” Hunter reminisced. “She owned this nice mountain home in the Smoky
Mountains, real isolated and away from the hustle and bustle of the tourists.”

“What kind of
work did you do with her?” Vivienne pressed.

Hunter took a
bite of his pizza and swallowed. “I was chasing this young fugitive couple.
They’d jumped bail over some silly drug possession charges and they were very
skilled at hiding from the law.”

Vivienne
nodded. “Amazingly skilled if they could avoid being scent-tracked by a
werewolf.”

Joshua raised
his beer bottle up in the air. “You got that right.”

“So, what did
this witch do for you?” Joshua asked.

“I’d met her
in downtown Gatlinburg, following some leads. She had a small gift shop tucked
away on one of the side streets, selling knick knacks and offering psychic
readings for the tourists.” Hunter recalled. “Turns out, the couple had hired
her services only a few days before my arrival to help them keep one step ahead
of me.”

“No kidding?”
Joshua laughed.

“I swear.”
Hunter laughed back. “They were getting very accurate details about where I was
located and used that to stay as far away as possible. When I told her who I
was and what I was doing, she turned the tables and gave me a charm that lead
me right to them.”

“Out of the
goodness of her heart?” Vivienne perked up.

“I wish.”
Hunter continued. “I told you, she had a beautiful mountain home and those
things don’t run cheap. I paid her a hefty sum of money that would help to pay
the annual taxes on her luxurious abode.”

Vivienne
nodded. “I suppose witches need to make money like everyone else.”

“Frankly, when
Joshua told me that you run a bakery in town, I was a little surprised.” Hunter
spoke up.

“Surprised?”
Vivienne asked.

“If I had access
to magic spells and such, I think I’d use them to make as much money as
possible.” Hunter finished.

“I’m sorry to
disappoint you, but most of us like to blend in with the normal folk and live
ordinary lives.”

“Oh, Vivienne.
I don’t think Hunter meant anything against you.” Joshua jumped into the
conversation.

She smiled at
them both, feeling a bit silly at her behavior. “Forgive me, it’s been a long
day.”

“I’m sorry if
I offended you in any way.” Hunter apologized. “Your bakery is the talk of the
town. Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks the world of your talent.”

“Thank you.”
Vivienne looked at the wall clock in the kitchen. “Speaking of baking, I have
an early Monday morning ahead of me.”

“We’ll clean
up down here.” Joshua insisted. “You go to bed and I’ll be along in a little
while.”

Vivienne
pulled herself up from the kitchen chair and gave Joshua a kiss. “Thank you
both for doing this.”

“Thank you for
saving my life tonight.” Hunter’s voice went soft. “It’s something I’m not used
to having happen.”

She reached
over to give him a hug when a sparkle near his neck caught her eye. For a brief
instant, she saw a simple gold chain that was hidden beneath his shirt. “You’re
welcome.”

“It’s sort of
bare bones at my place.” Joshua interrupted them. “But the bed is soft and the
roof doesn’t leak.”

“I’ll take
it.” Hunter pulled away from Vivienne.

Vivienne
excused herself from the kitchen, with Tommy and Sammy cat following closely at
her heels. They raced her the entire way, occasionally stopping to swat each
other and hiss when the other was in the lead. Vivienne chided them both as she
stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

She walked
over to the oak armoire and pulled open the doors. She carefully moved her hand
along the right side until she found the seam where a false panel had been
installed to conceal her precious grimoire. She pulled the panel away and felt
the comforting warmth that emanated from the spell book’s cover. The more
familiar she was becoming with the ways of magic, the more she could sense the
location of the book no matter where it was stored. There was no real way to
explain the symbiotic connection between them except to say that it yearned to
be with her, and she along with it. Satisfied that it was safely secured for the
night, she returned the false panel into place and closed the doors to the
armoire.

After changing
into a silk nightgown, she crawled between the covers and thought about the
day’s events. So much was happening so fast, but she was still making little to
no progress in connecting the dots. Normally, she would be far from sleepy as
she utilized all of her ways, both mundane and magical, to start to make sense
of things. But her spell to restore Hunter’s health had eaten up a tremendous
amount of energy. She knew that the healing spell requirements changed
depending on the size of the subject. Small furry animals were one thing, a
human who also happened to be a werewolf was another. It was one of the costs
of magic and the wise witch knew how to plan things out accordingly.

But it was
noticing the chain around Hunter’s neck that concerned her more than anything.
She couldn’t tell if it was merely a decorative necklace or a holding place for
a talisman in need of a magical energy boost. When she had healed him at
Kathy’s store, she would have most certainly noticed a gold chain when she
removed his shirt to get better access to the wounds. Perhaps he had taken it
off when he had been discovered before she arrived? Despite the suspicious
thoughts floating around inside her head, she could no longer keep her eyes
open. The warmth of the sheets around her body, the softness of the feather
mattress topper, and the sound of snow pellets bouncing off the window glass in
the winter darkness lulled her weary mind into a tranquil bliss. She fell fast
asleep with Tommy and Sammy nestled on each side of her.

*
           
*
           
*

The morning
had been very busy with an assortment of cookies, cakes, and pies to make for
cash and carry sales in the store, not to mention a handful of custom orders
that were to be picked up before the end of business. But that wasn’t the main
reason she looked forward to getting off her feet for a bit to study the
enchanted map that Miss Octavia had put so much effort into creating. No, that
was mere child’s play.

She had awoken
just before dawn to cast a spell known in her grimoire as the ‘Raven’s Eye’.
She hadn’t the time to cast the power circle as that would require some
advanced planning to make sure the moon was in the right astrological position,
an assortment of oils and herbs, and several advanced incantations that
couldn’t be mispronounced or it would negate all the prior work. No, she
instead turned to a lesser spell that was fairly uncomplicated to cast and
would hopefully give her a much needed answer as to who was stalking her home.
Under cover of early morning darkness, she had marched the perimeter around her
home, making sure to extend the range out into the surrounding street. Thanks
to the light snowfall overnight, it had been easy to visualize the area upon
which the spell would record any intruder who utilized magical energy in any
way. She charged a piece of onyx about the size of her fingernail and set it on
the bedroom windowsill to finish the spell. When a streak of bright yellow
appeared on the stone, that would indicate that she would able to get a glimpse
at whoever it was that was taking an interest in her.

Miss Octavia
finished the sale of a tarot deck to a happy customer and joined Vivienne in
the area that was sectioned off with bamboo privacy screens. “That’s my fourth
sale today on those tarot cards.” She smiled. “I guess they must be working
exceptionally well with all the portals around us.”

“I wouldn’t
doubt it.” Vivienne replied.

“I’ve had a
few people come in asking for Ouija boards, but I had to send them away empty
handed. There’s too much bad juju floating around that could get ugly mighty
fast in the wrong hands.” Octavia explained as she unlocked an antique cherry
apothecary cabinet with a brass skeleton key. She rooted around inside one of
the drawers until she found the enchanted map and pulled it free. “Ah, here we
go.”

Vivienne
stared at a stack of Cayuga Tribune newspapers from the past week that were
piled up on one of the end tables. The front page with coverage of the fire at
Suzette Powell’s catering business jumped out at her. In all the craziness that
had been going on, she had nearly forgotten about that near tragedy. She pulled
the newspaper from the pile and stared at the striking photograph of the blaze
that the firefighters were in the middle of battling.

Octavia laid
the map out on the table and massaged the edges so that they didn’t curl back
up. “I still can’t make heads or tails of a pattern here, but a pair of fresh
eyes might make all the difference.”

Vivienne
stared at the corner of the photograph and gasped. There, standing amongst the
crowd watching the fire, were two figures just barely visible. They were both
wearing dark hoodies that were pulled up over their heads. “I don’t believe I
missed that before.”

“What do you
see?” Octavia puzzled at the map.

“Not the map.
This picture in the newspaper.” Vivienne brought it over to the table and
placed it on top of the map. “Look at these two figures here.”

Octavia squinted
at the area where Vivienne’s index finger was pointing. “What am I looking
for?”