Forever Charmed (The Halloween LaVeau Series, Book 1) (23 page)

She knew part of the reason for the tension was her. I wasn’t falling for the innocent act.

“Look, we need to have a discussion about what you’re going to do.” I said, slipping behind the wheel of the car.

“What do you mean?” she mumbled as she stuffed a bite of bagel in her mouth.

“What are you going to do now that you are living again? I mean you can’t continue to live with me. Don’t you have family you can stay with?”

“Oh yeah.”
She pointed the half-eaten bagel at me. “I’m working on that. I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

I glanced at her. “You’re sure?”

“Oh yeah, positive. I’m just thankful that you allowed me this journey back to the living world. I’m forever grateful to you and I’ll repay the favor.” The tone of her voice didn’t sound sincere, but I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

That offer didn’t sound appealing to me. I’d been around a lot of backstabbing women in the past and I could tell when someone wasn’t being sincere… and
Isabeau definitely had her own agenda. Did I have time to figure it out or should I just kick her out on the spot? Who was I kidding? I knew I couldn’t kick her out. I’d gone over this a million times in my head. I was a pushover in this type of situation.

As much as I didn’t want to go back to the manor to deal with Nicolas and Liam, I had no choice. What else would I do? I had nowhere else to go. I’d almost killed my mother with the news about
Isabeau. What would she say about the whole Underworld business?

The first thing I wanted to do when I got back to the manor was snatch up the book and
find a way to get rid of it. Liam had said he would take it, but I didn’t trust him. I’d get rid of the thing and all my problems would be over. But was the book the reason that I’d been able to do the spell last night? I wouldn’t lie, that had been cool. I wished I could do magic like that all the time. Maybe before getting rid of the book I needed to try out another spell or two and see if my powers really had improved or if last night was a fluke.

Regardless about last night, the spell to turn
Isabeau had worked. I had the proof sitting right next to me stuffing a pastry into her mouth.

“You do know all that stuff has calories, right?” I asked as I navigated a turn.

She studied her fingernails. “I haven’t eaten in fifty years. I think I’m entitled to a few cheat days on my diet.”

“So you’ve been dead for fifty years!” I exclaimed. “Finally, I have a little detail about your life.”

That was when it hit me. Why hadn’t I tried to research her while I was in town? Duh. There had to be a death certificate. I’d have to put that on my to-do list. Or better yet, maybe Annabelle could research it for me. She could do it without Isabeau even knowing what we were up to.

Isabeau
frowned at her slip-up. Why didn’t she want to divulge any information about herself? Why was she so secretive?

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been dead.” She licked her fingers.

“No,” I said with a sly smile. “It doesn’t matter.”

With any luck, Annabelle would soon find out all there was to know about
Isabeau, whether she liked it or not.

When I steered onto the driveway, I let out a deep breath and steadied myself for what was ahead.

Neither man’s car was there. I knew they wouldn’t be too far away though—after all, they were after the book. It was just as well that they weren’t there. It would give me time to try out a few spells though. If only I had something to keep Isabeau occupied.

When I was looking for a spell to test in the rest of Aunt
Maddy’s stash of books, I’d look for a spell to get rid of Isabeau. If there was a spell in the mysterious book to bring her alive again maybe there was another book with a counter-spell to send her packing for the rest of eternity. Heck, I didn’t care where she went. I just wanted her to get out of my house.

When we reached the front door, I said, “You go on in,
Isabeau, I’ll be just a second.”

She shrugged, but eyed me suspiciously before entering the house.

I reached in my purse and pulled out my phone. After dialing Annabelle’s number, I stepped over to the side of the veranda where Isabeau couldn’t eavesdrop.

“Are you okay?” Annabelle asked when she picked up.

How did I even begin to tell her? The story of the Underworld was definitely something that she needed to hear in person. I’d have to share that delightful news later.

“How would you like to do some research for me today?” I asked with hope in my voice.

“Sure, what am I researching?” she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder. “You’re researching
Isabeau Scarrett. There has to be a death certificate on file for her if she lived in Enchantment Pointe.”

“I’m on it,” Annabelle said.

I could always count on her. After a couple more minutes of assuring her I was fine, I slipped the phone into my purse and headed for the front door. I spotted the man and woman out of the corner of my eye. They were hiding just behind the trees in the distance again. I was pretty sure I saw another ghost with them this time, but I couldn’t say for sure that it hadn’t just been a shadow.

When I opened the door, I let out a scream and clutched my chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

Isabeau
was standing right in front of the door. She obviously had been trying to eavesdrop on my conversation with Annabelle. I had to get rid of this woman.

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“You just ate!” I said.

She shrugged. “It wasn’t enough. Do you have cupcakes? I like chocolate cupcakes with white icing and sprinkles too.”

I glared at her. “If I find you cupcakes will you leave me alone?”

“Of course.”
A sly smile slid across her face.

“It’ll be a bit while I make them, okay? Why don’t you watch TV or something? You’ll probably be fascinated by the reality shows.” I waved her off.

“What’s a reality show?” She scrunched her brow.

“You’ll figure it out,” I said over my shoulder.

“Why don’t you just use your magic to make cupcakes? They’ll be done in a second.” She snapped her fingers.

I turned around. “I’ve tried that in the past and it didn’t work out so well.”

She shrugged and walked off. Her statement put a thought in my head though. Maybe I really could whip up a batch of cupcakes with magic this time. After all, I’d cleaned up the kitchen until it sparkled. Then I remembered. I’d forgotten about the food I’d left out in the kitchen. I’d left it in a mess this morning when Nicolas and Liam had dropped the bomb on me.

Now was a chance for me to test the magic out again. Would I be able to do the cleaning spell again? I stepped into the kitchen and stood in the middle of the room. I waved my hands through the air and recited the words.

Again the wind whipped and moved the objects around the room with ease. Nothing exploded and nothing broke. Thank goodness no fires started either. I giggled on the inside. My new skills were pretty darn awesome. Maybe I really could make those cupcakes.

I reached for one of Aunt
Maddy’s magical cookbooks and picked out a recipe for the cupcakes. After pulling a few ingredients from the shelves, I recited the words listed on the page.

Make me a perfect white cake confection with fluffy buttercream frosting and sprinkles adding to the perfection. So mote it
be.

The next thing I knew, there was a giant puff of smoke and when the smoke settled, a gorgeous tray of cupcakes was on the counter in front of me. Sure, they looked great with creamy swirls of frosting and delicate sugar adornments on top, but what would happen when someone ate one? The good thing was I had someone to be my guinea pig. If one exploded when bitten into, it wouldn’t be me with the singed eyebrows. That was mean of me, right? Hey, she was the one who’d wanted cupcakes. I would definitely get a bad review if this cupcake thing went badly.

Since Isabeau wasn’t expecting cupcakes for a while, I decided to use the time to search the books for a spell to get rid of her. I didn’t care if it was just a spell that would banish her from my house. I’d get rid of the other ghosts lingering outside too. Books lined the shelves in a sea of hardback bindings. I got dizzy just looking at all the titles. How would I ever find the spells I was looking for? If they were even there.

I pulled off a couple of books and curled up on the velvet chair in front of the stone fireplace. Page after page and there was nothing that even resembled a spell to banish a ghost who had been turned back to the living. I did find a spell that would keep the ghosts out of the house. I’d have to try it because I knew the ghosts would finally enter the manor. Once they came in, I knew I’d never get rid of them. I didn’t want my place to turn into a ghost motel.

I placed a piece of paper between the pages to mark my spot and continued looking. After an hour of searching, I hadn’t found anything useful and the sound of footsteps made me slap the books closed and slip them back onto the crowded shelves. Isabeau must be restless and wanted her cupcakes.

When she appeared from around the corner, I said, “I made you cupcakes.” I forced a smile on my face.

She frowned and eyed me suspiciously. “What did you do to them?”

I frowned. “I’m offended. What makes you think I’d do something to them?”

“Because you don’t like me.” She walked past and toward the kitchen. My jeans fit her better. The hem didn’t drag the ground like when I wore them.

“I never said I didn’t like you,” I mumbled.

She scoffed. “You don’t have to.”

“Well, I get the feeling you don’t like me much either.” I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the counter.

“So you do admit you don’t like me?” Her eyes widened when she spotted the tray of cupcakes.

“No,” I said defensively. “I just said I had the feeling you don’t like me.
Just like you have a feeling. Your feeling is wrong though.”

“Oh, so you do like me?” She smiled and snatched a cupcake like she hadn’t eaten in years. “I have a feeling we’ll be the best of friends.” She took a big bite out of a cupcake.

I held my breath, but nothing happened, other than Isabeau making mild noises of enjoyment.

“I’m glad you like them,” I said with an innocent smile.

She shook her head as she grabbed another one. I had a feeling the tray wouldn’t last long.

The doorbell rang and I froze. It was not the sound I wanted to hear. Unless it was Annabelle, I knew it couldn’t be good news. Annabelle was supposed to be going to town to research, so I doubted it was her.