spies and spells 01 - spies and spells (3 page)

“Coffee please,” a male voice came from behind me.

I twirled around. There was another man in a black sweatshirt next to the white brow guy. He had his hands folded on the counter in front of him, staring ahead.

“Good morning.” I tried to greet him through the heavy tension between the triangle of the three of us. I flipped his white coffee cup over on the saucer and began to pour.

I glanced up, getting sucked into the depths of his blue eyes. An unexplainable brittle look hung around them. It was as though it was nervousness, excitement, and a sense of fright balled up on his face.

I couldn’t help but notice his muscular build underneath the white t-shirt he wore under his hoodie. His hair was as black as mine and with a nice widow’s peak. A sign of a strong man in the witch world.

Then something unexplainable happened. My insides shuddered as though my entire being was having an earthquake inside.  My hand started to shake. I forced my eyes to focus on the coffee pot.

“Shit.” I plucked a few napkins from the dispenser on the counter and tried to dab the entire pot of coffee I had dumped on it, completely missing the cup.

It was like slow motion; the streams of coffee were reaching the edge of the counter, about to spill over into the lap of
blue eyes
. The brown package had already been soaked.

The hooded customer grabbed the package, coffee dripping off the bottom, and darted out of the diner.

“I’m sssso. . .” I stuttered. I shook my head bringing me back to the reality of hot coffee dripping all over the good looking guy, one customer had darted, and Auntie Meme was sending me daggers.

I shut my mouth, put the pot down, and turned around to grab a couple towels from the shelf. When I turned back around,
blue eyes
was gone. The bell over the diner door swung from his abrupt departure.

“It looks like you need a night out.” Lilith whispered over my shoulder, lending me a hand with the clean up.

Chapter Three

Lilith was right. The rest of the day was miserable. After a packed house for breakfast and lunch, Lilith was off and I was left to finish out my shift. I had the clean up shift. I was responsible for getting everything ready so when Auntie Meme and Lilith came in the next morning, The Brew was ready to open. They didn’t have to worry about refilling the condiments, napkins, place settings; I did all of it.

“I swear, half of the food Auntie Meme made today made it on the floor.” I sucked in a deep breath and ran the pad of my finger around the shot glass in front of me.

Lilith and I met up at our hangout, The Derby; which was on the corner of Second Street and Magnolia. It was the only bar in Historic Old Louisville and not too far from The Brew. I had decided to walk down instead of hoping in Vinnie, who didn’t like it one bit.

I guess he decided on his own that I needed a keeper because he’d rolled down the street beside me as I’d walked. The air was good for my soul.

“I’m so glad I don’t have your shift.” Lilith lifted her shot glass to her lips. And in one motion she tipped back her head and hand, letting the elixir slide down her throat.

“You couldn’t handle my shift.” I chased her shot and did my own.

I lifted my hand in the air, letting Buck know I needed a refill.

Buck was a stocky five-foot-eight with big round arms and legs. He was a body builder and did a lot of those cage-fighting events. He had asked Lilith and I to come but there was no way I was going to be able to sit there and watch people tear each other up like animals. It was a big business around here. Strange to me why anyone would want to do that, but to each their own.

Buck was as bald as a cucumber. He wore a knit hat, for fashion as he said, but it still wasn’t a great look. He never strayed from his jeweled jeans with crosses and stuff all over them and shirts to match.

“I could so do your job,” Lilith said with a snarled lip and a cocked head.

“You would never get those nails dirty.” My brow lifted in amusement knowing her manicures cost more than she made, yet she mysteriously had enough money to get to the salon on a weekly basis.

I glanced around at the tables and chairs inside The Derby. It was busier than usual. The bar matched the old feel of the artistic suburb. The interior was dark wood with mahogany wainscoting halfway up the wall. The rest of the way up, to the ceiling, was painted a muted green giving a warm feeling. The stage in the back was buzzing with people with tattoos all over their arms, faces, any visible skin was adorned with body art.

The shelves behind the bar were lined with bottles and bottles of liquor, especially the delicious bourbons made in Kentucky. The top of the shelf was where local artists displayed their wood carvings of masks, eagles, horses, and a carved pair of a lady’s crossed legs hung over the top.

“Wanna make a bet on it?” Lilith asked, bringing me back to her dare. An evil smile I knew all too well crept across her pink-stained lips. “A dare?”

“I’ll take that dare!” It spurted out of my mouth before I could take it back. I had never won a dare from Lilith. Something childish we had been doing. . .well . . . since we were children.

“That one.” Lilith was snappy and sassy with her cocked brow and turned-up lips. Her long lean finger tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before she uncurled it, pointing through the smoky bar. “That one needs to be a kitty cat for at least one hour.” She wiggled her butt in the stool causing her shoulders to shake in delight. Her lips pursed with snarky spunk.

The toe of my high-heeled black, knee length boots tapped as I danced them on the ground, twirling my bar stool around. My eyes followed along Lilith’s finger across the dark, smoky bar. I sucked in and took a deep breath before blowing out a steady stream, piercing the dirty air, creating a clear path to the table of men.

“Oh, now you are being a Lily liver?” Lilith taunted me.

I twirled back around and took a dollar from my clutch and threw it in Buck’s tip jar knowing Buck would signal the Call To Arms and the group of men would come running to the bar.

Before I could even throw back the shot Buck set in front of me, he rang the tip trumpet siren from behind the bar setting off the Call To Arms we Louisville, Kentucky residents are all too familiar with since it happens to be the Kentucky Derby anthem.

Whenever Buck’s tips rose above the black Sharpie marker line on his tip jar sitting on the bar top, he hits a button that plays the trumpeter’s song, sells beer for a dollar and yells, “And they’re off!”

“Excuse me.” The guy Lilith had pointed to had shoved his way next to me. He raised his muscled arm in the air with his dollar stuck in between his fingers, trying to get Buck’s attention. His elbow jabbed me in the side.

“Watch it,” I growled, trying to ignore the toned bicep that was level with my eyes.

“Sorry.” He glanced down at me. His sharp blue eyes held mine for a minute. His smile broke the stare. “You are that waitress.” He brought his hand down and shook the dollar bill at me.

Lilith was leaning over from behind him. A big smile planted across her red painted lips. 

“That one,” she mouthed, pushing her blunt bangs out of her eyes.  Her thin hand curled around a cracked shot glass.

I took a deep breath when I felt the earthquake begin to erupt again from deep within me. He waved his dollar another time before Buck grabbed it out of his hand and slammed a glass full of beer on top of the bar.

“Cheers,” his voice broke with huskiness. He held the handle of his mug up in the air. The gold in his eyes flicked with interest.

“Cheers,” I said in a low, seductive tone, clinking his glass with my shot glass of whiskey.

I lifted the glass to my nose and took a nice long whiff. I could sniff out Makers Mark bourbon anywhere. I tilted my head; my long black hair flowed over my shoulder and past my chest. I smiled.

The sweet whiskey, smelling of caramel and vanilla landed on the front of my palate, soft and smooth, with a long, warm finish.

“Ahh.” Satisfaction came out of my mouth and I set the glass down.

“I’m glad you didn’t spill that.” He let out a soft laugh. His straight, white teeth glowed. “You like the hard stuff, huh?” blue eyes asked. His eyes were sharp and assessing. He stepped back, standing behind me.

This might be easier than I anticipated,
I thought about the dare. I curled a loose strand of my hair around my finger and tapped my feet until I had rolled the barstool to face him.

“Nothing better.” I lifted my brows in delight. I bit the edge of my lip. “Excuse me.”

I stood up. His eyes drew down my frame. I tugged on the edge of my tight black knit sweater over the waist of my skinny jeans.

“I need to go to the ladies room.” I winked, sending a spark to his heart before heading to the bathroom.

“I’ll go with you.” He caught up to me. “You can never be too safe in a bar.”

Bless his heart.
If he only knew what I was capable of. I glanced back at Lilith. An evil grin crossed her lips. She curled her nose and made a cat claw, raking it toward me.

“I mean.” The guy shook his head. I could tell he was trying to make sense of how he was following me to the bathroom. I winked at him again. “You, you,” he hesitated as we stood at the bathroom door.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I whispered, noticing we were alone in the small hallway, a perfect place to take care of my dare from Lilith.

“I’ll wait right here.” He nodded, taking another drink of his beer.

“By the way,” I tapped my finger on his chest. He was wearing the same white t-shirt without the hoodie, exposing exactly what I thought was under the sweatshirt. Muscles. The perfect size. “I’m sorry about the coffee this morning. I was going to apologize but you took off.”

“No problem. My friend,” he cleared his throat, “that was there with me is a bit shy and doesn’t like attention brought to him. So we took off.”

“Mick!” One of the other guys from the table stood at the end of the hallway. “Now!”

“I’ve got to go.” Mick shook his head. “You wait here. I’ll be back.” He took off with the group of guys running out of the bar.

“What the?” Confused, I walked out of the small hall and back over to Lilith.

“You better go after him if you want me to pick up your shift.” Lilith gestured toward the door. “Or you have to pick up mine.”

I grabbed my black sequin clutch off the bar top and darted out the door. The smell of impending rain hung in the air; which would explain the strange weather. Off in the distance a flash of light cracked the sky.

“One, two, three, four, five, six…” I counted until the distant sky lit up again. “Twenty minutes until it pours.”

It was true. For every second between distant lightning, it was a minute away. So I had twenty minutes to pull off the task Lilith dared me to do.

I snapped my finger. The clouds moved away from the full moon and like clockwork, Vinnie pulled up to the curb on the corner of Fourth and Hill Streets

My eyes darted back and forth before I got in. One could never be too careful.

“So now you summon me?” Vinnie asked.

“Do you think I want to get caught in the rain?” I asked. “Which way did the guy with the short black hair and compelling blue eyes go? He had on loose-fit jeans, brown slip-on loafers, no laces, and a white tee-shirt with nice muscles.” I gripped the steering wheel.

“Not again, Maggie?” Vinnie shifted gears, speeding off down Fourth. His dashboard lit up a map of Old Louisville. The red dots, which were the men, moved down Fourth toward Central Park. “When are the two of you going to grow up?”

“Tomorrow when she has to take my shift.” I pushed the gas pedal, encouraging my little sportster to go faster on Magnolia toward Central Park. Surely we could catch up pretty quickly because Vinnie’s map showed they were on foot. “When you are a witch living among mortals and can’t have any fun with the God-given powers you inherited, you take any dare you can get. Plus a day off at The Brew sounds really good right now.” I held my hands in the air taking a good look at my paint-chipped fingernails I had neglected for way too long. “I could stand a day at the spa. My nails are looking wretched.”

Vinnie slowed down. I snapped my fingers, calling the moon to shine down around me like a flashlight. He pulled into the parking lot at Central Park near the police substation, which was closed, and slowed to stop in a parking space, shutting his lights off.

“According to the heat sensitive data, he ran in there,” Vinnie snarled. “Maggie, I have to say I’m not getting a good read out on this dare. There is a reason this man and his friends ran to the park. As Auntie Meme says, not my circus not my monkey.”

Not only did I have a smart aleck familiar, I had a southern one.

“I think you should concede to your sister.”

“Ahh, hell no. I can’t do that, Vinnie.” I looked into the dimly lit park. The moon couldn’t penetrate through the tall trees and the carriage lights were gas and only meant to be decoration, not a true street lamp. There was really no need for extra security around Old Louisville. It was one of the safest, crime-free parts of Louisville. I put my fingers in my mouth and quickly pulled them out before I chewed what little nails I did have. “My nails need me.”

I opened the door and got out of the car. The air whipped around me, sending a chill up my spine. I ran my hands up and down my arms, trying to warm the frost that bit my bones. There was an evil lurking. I stood for a second to listen. The crack of branches echoed deep in the park. The rustle of leaves danced across the sidewalk.

“Damn,” I furrowed my brows, taking my first steps toward the sounds of footsteps.

The moon lit up the Colonnade. The shadows of the thick, old grapevines hanging off the concrete structure danced in the grass, creating an ominous feeling deep within it. I glanced back at Vinnie, but he was gone. I scanned the perimeter of the park, first Fourth Street, then left on Park Street where I could see my familiar rolling along, keeping his sights on me. Confident I was okay, even though my gut pinged, I swept across the park, at lightning speed, and hid behind one of the columns at the end of the Colonnade.