Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2) (6 page)

“What are you doing?”

I heard Harley’s muffled laughter behind me, and I spun around, cooking fork in hand. She threw up her hands in mock surrender.

“Okay, I give up, sorry I was a bitch earlier. Seriously, what are you doing?” She came over to where I was staring vacantly at a pot roast sitting on the counter in its tidy plastic wrap, with no clue as to what to do with it. The counter was a mess, with chopped vegetables spread everywhere, cans of beef broth opened with gaping lids, and a wealth of flour dusting everything lightly, as if to mimic a winter wonderland.

“Noah is going to be staying the night indefinitely, until this whole Padraigan thing is done. I figured it would be nice if I cooked a nice meal to thank him.”

“I could think of something else you could do for him, and it doesn’t involve you trying to cook. I think he would appreciate that more.”

I brandished the fork at her menacingly, but she just laughed.

“I’ll do this. Step back, and watch the master work.”

Conceding defeat without even a whimper, I went to sit in the breakfast nook and watched her for a while, not even bothering to pay attention to what she was doing. I could make a dark day bright, but I could not cook worth a damn.

“I will say this, though. It’ll be a little weird seeing Noah in the house in the mornings, not that I’m not grateful that he’ll be here. Our spells are one thing, but it’s nice to have a sorcerer in the house.”

I looked at her, nonplussed. What did she just say?

“I know, I know, but Noah is different. He’s not like any other sorcerer that I know. He’s honorable, thoughtful, and not too cocky. A little bit of arrogance is attractive, I always say.”

I was struck speechless. My mouth opened and shut as my brain tried to process what she said. Granted, Harley had always been the more accepting of us, her mind more open to sorcery, but it was still a shock to hear her say something like that.

Noticing my lack of response, she turned toward me. “What? Did I actually shut you up for once?”

“I’m just not used to you saying something like that. What brought it on?” I finally found my voice, but was still just as puzzled as before.

She turned back to the counter and lifted the pot roast into the frying pan. I watched as she seared the meat, at least I thought that’s what she was doing, and waited for her to go on.

“Well, we’re all in this now, tied in somehow. Gareth and Anna because of the cure, Noah because of his loyalty to Gareth, although I think there’s something more there, and me because of you. I would love for us to get to the bottom of your night time trip to his house, and maybe having Noah here will give us the extra strategizing brain power needed to figure that out.”

It was glaringly conspicuous to me that she left Damien out of her little equation.

“What about Damien? I noticed you didn’t include him, although by my estimations, he’s part of this, too.”

She shrugged nonchalantly, but I could see that she wasn’t unaffected by my question. I didn’t have to be tuned into her feelings to know that.

“He has his own issues that have nothing to do with us.”

“Oh by the Goddess, Harley, quit it. Just stop. I don’t know what is going on with the two of you, because you won’t let me in on it, but he is as much a part of this as we are! He saved Anna’s life, and if Padraigan wasn’t already holding something over his head, that would have brought him into the mess just as much as we are. Give the poor man some credit. He can’t help who he is any more than we can.”

“You think I’m like this because he’s a werewolf? Teagan, you should know me better than that. If I were that type of person, I wouldn’t like Gareth, either.” She muttered, almost throwing the roast into the slow cooker. She started tossing vegetables in, almost making as much of a mess as I would have. Carrots and celery bounced out of the pot to land back on the counter. 

“But you do like him, Damien, I mean. You can’t fool me, Harley.”

“OH! Just drop it, okay? We’re talking about you and Noah.”

“No, we were talking about how you thought it would be nice having a sorcerer in the house.” I let her change the subject, as she was obviously getting agitated over it.

“Well it will be nice. Ooh, maybe I can get him to fix the toilet on the ground floor.”

I snorted out a laugh.

“I get it now, you just want a handyman around. I can dig it.”

The bell rang inside the door, announcing someone downstairs. I jumped up, glad for the excuse to escape.

“I’ll get it, you just keep roasting.”

“But it’s ready to go! It’s just clean-up now!”

I heard her yelling at me as I ran down the stairs to the second floor, only to run into someone already there. I stopped in my tracks, the surprise of seeing someone that I didn’t know in this section of the bookstore making me freeze.

“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice a little standoffish. She wasn’t someone I knew, and Harley and I knew everyone in town that would come up to the second floor. The second floor was reserved for true Occult books, ancient tomes bound in leather, grimoire’s, Wiccan spell books. Books that only pertained to a certain clientele.

She spun around from where she was perusing a section of books on mystical beings to face me, a smile pasted on her mouth. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, though.

“Yes, I was wondering if you had any books on Shamanism.”

I stood back for a moment, taking her measure. She was dressed head to toe in Anne Klein, from her hound’s-tooth blazer to her grey three inch heels. I don’t like to label people, but she didn’t strike me as our usual clientele.

“We do, follow me.” I turned my back to her and walked toward the back of the store, but even that bothered me. Something about her was off and I couldn’t place my finger on it.

“So how did you hear about us?” I asked as I stopped in front of a bookshelf dedicated to Shamanism.

“Oh, you know, the usual circles.” She waved a hand breezily, not quite looking me in the eye.

“No, actually, I don’t know. Enlighten me.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her, debating whether or not to break my own rule of reading stranger’s minds. I couldn’t place her, but she seemed very, very familiar, as though I had seen her around recently. It hadn’t been in the bookstore, of that I was certain.

Her eyes grew cold and she raised her chin an inch in defiance.

“I’m sure you’re aware how people of our,” she paused here, a smirk on her face, as she searched for a word, “talents, shall we say, find your little store.” She gave a disparaging look around, as though the store fell below expectations.

I tried not to let it get to me, asked the Goddess for a little bit of patience, and took a deep breath.

“Then you would understand why I’m a little suspicious when someone who is new to the area comes in unannounced. Usually, someone would come in with you for introductions.” I said, my voice dripping with kindness, tinged only lightly with suspicion.

“I understand. We can never be too careful, can we? Gemma Conklin.” She replied, extending her hand out. I took it slowly, giving it a cursory shake, then let go, trying to contain my revulsion. Her skin was…wrong, somehow. Not quite cold, but not the same temperature as my own skin, and the texture was off, somewhere between soft and hard.

“I’ve heard of the store for years now, just have never come in. My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had to come in, take a look around.”

Her eyes never strayed from mine, the glittering black almost unnerving me. They stood out from her pale face and platinum blonde updo, making them seem almost depthless. Convinced that if I stared at them long enough, I would fall into them and be lost in the depths of hell, I managed to let my gaze drift around the store, striving to give the impression of nonchalance.

I knew that I couldn’t lose it, couldn’t let her know that I was suspicious of her for more than just showing up unannounced at the store. I didn’t know who or what she was, so I nodded slightly, keeping my expression even.

“Have a look around then, let me know if you need any help.”

“Help? Yes, I will be sure to let you know if I need any of that.” Her voice dripped with disdain for a moment, but she quickly masked it with sarcasm.

I frowned as she turned her back on me and perused the shelves. I called out to Harley, her answer echoing in my head.

I need you down here.

Be right there
.

I didn’t trust Gemma Conklin for a moment and I needed a second pair of eyes to keep on her.

She didn’t even bother to look up as Harley came down the stairs, and Harley, upon seeing her there, gave me a sharp look.

Who is she?

I just shook my head slightly, the frown still wrinkling my forehead. Harley moved around the second floor, called a greeting to someone as they came up from below.

“Peter, how nice to see you. I have that new book you asked for,
Scottish Witchcraft
. Let me get it for you.” Harley gave me a glance as she went towards the stock room, and I shrugged, keeping my eye on Gemma.

“Teagan, how are you?” Peter asked me, so I turned to him reluctantly, not wanting to let her out of my sight. I kept her in my peripheral though, so she couldn’t leave without me seeing her.

“I’m good Peter, how’ve you been?” I looked up at him and gave him a slight smile.

“Good, good. Work and play, you know?” He returned my smile with a bigger one. This was awkward. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask me out on a date, which he did every time he was in the store.

“I heard that you were seeing Noah Jacobs.”

I don’t know who was more shocked, me or Gemma. I saw her jerk, turning her head slightly, the better to hear our conversation. I, however, stared at Peter with my mouth open.

“Ah, did I hear wrong?” Peter guessed, smiling a bit too widely at my expression.

“Where...where, um, Peter, where did you hear that from?” I stammered just as Harley came back in, book in hand. She took in my startled expression and cast a wary glance at Gemma.

“Around, you know how these things get twisted. I have to say, though, that I’m glad it’s not true.” His smile remained plastered on his face, got bigger if that was possible. Wonderful. I should have just told him it was true.

“Well, it’s not. We’re just friends. We have a mutual acquaintance in common.”

“Really? You? Friends with not one, but two sorcerers? Must be a really good acquaintance. Who is it?”

I could see Gemma struggling to hear our conversation and be slick about it at the same time, but she wasn’t very good at it. I wondered why it was so interesting to her that I was friends with Noah. Ex-girlfriend, maybe? For some reason, that thought made me mad.

“Peter, here’s your book! If you want to come with me downstairs, I’ll get you on your way.” Harley practically shoved the book into Peter’s hands and grabbed him by the elbow, but he didn’t move, his curiosity piqued.

“I can’t think of anyone that you would know that would have a sorcerer as a friend, especially someone like Noah Jacobs.” He chuckled, looking at me expectantly.

“The Jacobs’ are a very well-respected family. What’s wrong with them? What’s wrong with Noah?” I said heatedly, hands on my hips.

“Nothing, Teagan, I actually like Noah, but everyone knows how you hate sorcerers. I didn’t think you would hang around anyone who had a differing opinion about them.”

“Teagan…”Harley tapped on my shoulder, but I shrugged her off.

“I hang around plenty of people who like sorcerers, and I think that is a bit exaggerated, what you said about how I feel about sorcerers. I don’t hate them.” That was a bald-faced lie, or had been until very, very recently.

“Teagan…”Harley tapped again, her voice a little sterner.

“What, Harley?” I gave a sigh and turned to her.

“She’s gone.” Harley pointed to the bookshelf where Gemma had been standing not thirty seconds before.

“Where the hell did she go?” I ran to the stairs leading to the bottom floor but she wasn’t on them, and the front door was shut, the bell silent and unmoving.

“I don’t know. I was trying to keep my eye on her, but then you started defending sorcerers, which frankly took me by surprise, so I was distracted. It was only for a couple of seconds, though, and now she’s gone…who is she?”

It was cold comfort to me that even Harley was puzzled by the woman, and she hadn’t even been close to her to see her eyes and feel that odd skin.

“I don’t know who she is, but how did she move so fast?” I asked, to neither one of them in particular, but was shocked even more when Peter answered.

“She’s in flux. Gosh, couldn’t you tell?”

Harley and I both fixed him with glares.

“What do you mean, she’s in flux? What the hell is that?” Harley demanded, tapping a foot agitatedly on the floor.

Peter swung his gaze from Harley to me then back again.

“She’s changing.” At the blank looks from both of us, he shook his head sadly. “And you two call yourselves witches.”