Third Time's a Charm (Halloween LaVeau) (5 page)

I shook my head and he sat up as if he’d been poked with a hot poker.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I sat on the edge of the bed next to him. “It’s okay. It’s just that we have a few guests.”

“Oh, you have customers?” he asked.

I released a deep breath and said, “Not exactly.”

He frowned. “Tell me everything.”

I climbed into bed and curled up next to him and began recounting the story.

“So once again I didn’t use my best judgment and performed a spell. In my defense, I really felt like the book was trying to help me. I’m beginning to wonder whose side this book is truly on. But anyway, when I cast the spell…” I sucked in a deep breath,
then released it slowly. “I reanimated an entire coven.”

His eyes widened.
“An entire coven? Where are they now? Did you send them back?”

I shook my head. “No, they don’t want to go back. Figures, right? They said that obviously they are here to help
me for a reason and until they figure out what that reason is, they aren’t going anywhere.”

“Maybe they are here to help you figure out
whether spells have been added to the book like Giovanni claimed,” he said as he caressed my arm.

I shrugged.
“Could be. I just hope I figure it out soon. Giovanni will be back and I won’t have an answer. I’ll have no choice but to give him the book, right?”

Nicolas wrapped his arms around me. “Under no circumstance will you give him that book. I’ll take care of him, okay?”

“I don’t want you to fight with him,” I said.

“I won’t fight. I’ll handle it in a civilized manner. I promise,” he said with a grin. Nicolas touched my cheek with his fingers. “What are the women doing now?”

“I gave them rooms for the night. They wanted to rest and said we can figure out the problem in the morning after we have a fresh start,” I said.

“That sounds like a good idea to me.” He pulled me and I landed on top of him. My body tingled when my skin touched his. Nicolas rolled me over and embraced me in a kiss.

The sunlight streaming across my face woke me the next morning. It only took a few seconds for the memories of the night before to come floating back to me. Had I been dreaming? It had to
have been a dream. I looked over and discovered that Nicolas was not in the bed with me. I had no idea where he’d gone this early, but I hoped he hadn’t run in to the coven members on his way out.

After slipping into my clothing, I eased out into the hallway. Both bedroom doors were open and the bed was made in the room across from me. It was the room where I’d placed Rebecca and Sarah. Now I really was questioning my sanity. It had all seemed so real. There was no way I could have dreamed that vividly, right? I was questioning everything that I thought was real.

Moving over to the bedroom down the hall, I peered in and saw that the bed was made in that room as well. Just as I was turning around, something caught my eye. It was a gold wrapper on the floor beside the bed. I recognized it right away. The gold paper was from the chocolate candy that I’d left on the pillows. Now I remembered leaving the candy there and Kimberly eating them as if she hadn’t eaten in ages… well, I guess she hadn’t.

Then I
hadn’t dreamed it after all. Were the women still hanging around though? I needed to find out right away. I checked each room of the house and didn’t find any sign of the women. And Nicolas wasn’t around either.

Since it appeared that I was all alone in the house, I decided to once again take the Book of Mystics downstairs to see if I could find the spells that Giovanni claimed
had been added. With any luck, I wouldn’t conjure up any more of the dead.

I made my way across the quiet house, placed food in Pl
uto’s dish, then climbed up onto a stool and set the book on the counter in front of me. Maybe things would make more sense in the light of day. As I opened the cover and studied the pages, the book sprang into action and the pages flipped again. This time the book took me to another spell.

You would think that after bringing an entire coven back to life that I would have thought twice about doing another spell, but you’d be wrong. It was like I never learned my lesson. I guess I just kept holding out hope that things would work out right the next time I cast a spell. Unfortunately, each next time never worked out and the cycle of bad magic continued.

When I finished the spell, nothing happened. Well, nothing magical seemed to happen. However, there were four witches standing in the kitchen, glaring at me. They were still dressed in period clothing. If they were going to be here long then I’d have to find them new clothing so that they didn’t draw too much attention. But I hoped that they would be leaving today.

“What are we having for breakfast?” Rebecca asked with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

The women nodded in agreement. Obviously they were hungry and I was expected to provide food immediately. I pulled ingredients for pancakes from the shelf and prayed that I didn’t burn them.

It was funny how one minute I’d been living a normal, boring life
—casting a little spell here or a little spell there—but now I was making breakfast for a coven of witches from the 1700s.

“Aren’t you a little too savvy for witches who have been dead for two hundred and fifty years?” I asked as I flipped a pancake.

At least I’d improved my cooking skills… slightly. I’d only burned half the pancakes. After wiping pancake batter off my hands, I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

“We may be dead, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t see what was going on around us. We know about iPhones, Honey Boo
Boo, and peanut butter Pop-Tarts.”

I spit out my orange juice; I hadn’t expected her answer.

“Are you okay?” Sarah patted me on the back.

I coughed a few times,
then managed to say, “I’m fine now.”

I gathered the breakfast items, placed them on a tray and carried them into the dining room. When I turned around, the women were standing directly behind me again. Louder footsteps sounded from behind us and I whirled around. Nicolas’ smiling face was looking back at me.
He wore faded jeans that were low on his hips and a button-down navy shirt. He looked around at the woman. They straightened as they looked him up and down.

Silence as thick as mud hung in the air. Why were the women looking at him like they’d never seen a man before? Their eyes widened as they stared at him.

Finally, when I was just about to speak, Rebecca stepped forward. “Who might this be?” she asked.

“Ladies, this is…” I paused, trying to think of my next words.

Who was Nicolas to me? My boyfriend? I hadn’t introduced him since we’d taken our relationship to the next level. We also hadn’t had the important conversation as to what we called each other. Was he just a friend?

After the long pause, I finally said, “This is my boyfriend, Nicolas Marcos.”

Nicolas smiled and a wave of relief fell over me.

“Your boyfriend?
You didn’t tell us you had a man friend,” Rebecca said.

“This is your suitor?” Sarah asked.

I nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t think it was something that you all needed to know.”

Barbara scoffed. “Well, it would have been nice if you’d shared this information with us.”

Rebecca stared at Nicolas again. I knew attention from the coven was making him uncomfortable. Heck, it was making me feel weird too. I was sorry for putting Nicolas in this situation.

Finally, she tapped her finger against her lip and then walked a circle around him. “He’ll do.”

What was that supposed to mean? Nicolas gave an uneasy smile.

“He’ll do for what?” I asked.

Rebecca waved off my question. She might not have felt it was important to tell me, but I thought it was of great significance. I wouldn’t have blamed Nicolas if he had taken off running out of the manor.

The women grabbed his arms and guided him over to the table. “Please sit at the table and enjoy this wonderful breakfast with us,” Barbara said.

The women cackled as Nicolas took a seat. Nicolas chuckled, but it wasn’t a fun laugh, more of a ‘get me out of here’ laugh. I didn’t know what the witches were up to, but I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Nicolas.

“Look, ladies, I don’t know what scheme you all are thinking of, but Nicolas is off limits for any little games. So leave him alone or you will not be happy with the outcome,” I said with a stern voice.

They glared at me, but finally backed away from Nicolas.

He gave a half-hearted smile,
then said, “Breakfast looks wonderful. How about we enjoy it before it gets cold?”

“That’s a good idea. Breakfast is ready for you all.” I pointed at the food on the giant mahogany table.

Annabelle would be proud that some of the pancakes had turned out edible.

“Please have a seat, ladies. I have bacon, eggs, and fruit, too. There’s maple syrup and blueberry too.” I pointed around the table at the items.

“We haven’t eaten a breakfast like this in years,” Kimberly said as she piled food onto her plate. “I could eat this whole table of food.”

That was probably an understatement; by the look in her glazed
-over eyes, it looked as if she could eat three tables full of food. The women pulled out chairs and sat around the table. They batted their eyelashes at Nicolas and giggled.

Within seconds, they were grabbing food and piling it on their plates. Rebecca swirled half the bottle of syrup on her pancakes. Barbara shoved three strips of bacon in her mouth at once.

I stared with my mouth open. “I can make more, ladies, if you all need it.” Although from the look of the way they were putting away the food, I wasn’t sure that I could afford to feed them. Nicolas stared with his mouth open too, but he didn’t say anything.

“Obviously, the Book of Mystics thinks you need us, but why do you think you need our help?” Rebecca asked with
scrambled eggs stuffed into her mouth. A few crumbs spilled out as she spoke.

I handed her a napkin, then said, “I don’t know why you’re here, but I can tell you about something that happened right before you all got here.”

“Let’s hear it,” Barbara said, then shoved a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. Syrup dripped down the fork and onto her arm. She licked the syrup off her skin. I stared, unable to take my eyes off the train wreck.

“We’re waiting,” Rebecca said, while waving a strip of bacon through the air.

I finally snapped out of the trance and said, “A man showed up and said that he was the true owner of the Book of Mystics. He said that only the true owner can add spells to the book and that his mother added a spell.” I released a deep breath then continued, “I haven’t added a spell—heck, I can barely do the spells, much less add one. Anyway, Nicolas’ mother was the leader before me, but she was killed.” I gestured toward Nicolas.

The coven members gasped. “How tragic,” Sarah said.
“We’re terribly sorry.”

Nicolas nodded and continued to stare in awe of the women’s table manners.

“My great-aunt Maddy had hidden the Book of Mystics after the leader’s death, and now that I found it, the book is mine. Apparently, I have the skills to unlock the book’s magic, but I can’t add spells to the book. Have you ever heard of anything like that?” I asked.

They shook their heads in unison.

“No, we’ve never heard of that, but that doesn’t mean that’s it’s not true,” Rebecca said.

“I’m sure things have changed over the years,” I said.

“Could I have a look at the book?” Rebecca asked.

I wasn’t sure I trusted her. Heck, I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone anymore. The way I felt suspicious of everyone was sad, but true. I guess I’d have to take the chance and let her look at the book though. I needed her advice because at this point it was all I could get. I’d just have to be on guard in case she tried anything funny.

I pushed to my feet. “I’ll go get the book.”

Nicolas looked at me as if he was pleading for me not to leave him alone with these women.

“I’ll be right back.” I gave a sympathetic smile and rushed out of the room.

Once upstairs, I grabbed the book from my hiding spot. As I came out of the bedroom, the sound of chatter came from down the hall. I paused and listened. It sounded like chanting. As if the witches were reciting a spell. I knew that I’d left them downstairs. When I walked down the hall, I noticed that their room doors were open. The voices had
stopped and there was no one in sight. Figuring it must have been my imagination, I headed downstairs with the book under my arm.

When I returned to the dining room, Nicolas looked even more uncomfortable then when I’d left him. The women were in the middle of asking him twenty questions.

“Are you going to marry her?” Rebecca asked.

Nicolas’ eyes widened and he looked as if he’d seen a ghost. “I don’t…” he stammered.

Oh, for heaven’s sakes. It was way too early to ask about marriage. I hardly knew Nicolas, and I wasn’t sure about my feelings for him.

“Here’s the book,” I announced as I entered the room.

A look of relief spread across Nicolas’ face. “I think I’ll go for a walk,” he said, pushing to his feet. “I’ll be back soon.” He kissed me lightly on the lips, lingering for just a moment.

I felt the women’s eyes on me and I turned around to glare at them.

“You all scared him away,” I said as he walked out of the room.

They looked at each other. “How could we possibl
y do that?”

I waved off the question.
“Never mind.”

“Let’s see the book,” Rebecca said, pointing toward the table.

I walked over and placed the book onto the table. If they pointed out the spell that had been added, I’d be forever grateful. I flipped open the cover and they gathered around, looking over my shoulder as if they were afraid to get too close.

“Can you flip to the back of the book?” Rebecca asked.

She wiggled her finger and motioned for me to move the pages. I did as she asked and moved to the back of the book.

“Now flip through a few more pages. If the spell was added recently, the witch would have started at the back,” Rebecca said.

“Well, I could have guessed that much,” I said.

She scowled and asked, “Is that right? Well, did you try checking at the back of the book yet?”

“Well, no, not yet. Besides, how will you know if a spell has been recently added?” I asked.

“I have my ways,” Rebecca said matter-of-factly.

“Didn’t you say that you can’t read all the spells?” Barbara asked.

“Yes, that’s what I said. Can you?” I asked.

“No, I can’t. Only the leader can,” she said.

I shook my head. This conversation was going nowhere.

“There is a symbol that will stand out if you are familiar with the way the spells are written,” Rebecca offered. “I’m assuming you’re familiar with the language of the spells by now.”

She quirked a brow when I frowned.

“Well, that’s an important detail you should have shared to begin with,” I said.

She scowled. “Don’t blame me. You should know these things.”

“Okay, you can’t read the spell, but are you familiar with the way the spells are listed on the page?”

The other women gathered around us, but continued to eat their breakfast. I’d never seen anyone eat pancakes without a fork before.

I was expecting another dirty look from Rebecca, but instead she stared blankly for a moment, then said, “As a matter of fact, yes, I am familiar with the way the spells are listed.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I knew the alchemist who helped write the book.” Rebecca pointed at me.

“An alchemist?
He helped write the book?” I asked.

“Yes, your great
-great-great-grandfather, I believe,” she said without looking at me.

My eyes widened. “That’s another important detail you should have admitted to sooner. You knew him? How did you know him? I thought he disappeared. Do you know what happened to him?”

She looked away. “I do not know what happened to him. I’m sorry.”

Obviously there was something she didn’t want to discuss. She wasn’t being completely honest with me. I’d have to press for more information later. What was the story behind my great
-great-great-grandfather and the Book of Mystics?

“
Here’s the symbol. It’s kind of like an initials stamp,” she said, pointing at the book.

I flipped through a few more pages, looking for this supposed stamp. Nothing was popping out at me.

“Right there. That one has the stamp.” She pointed.

I stopped on the page and peered down at the words. It was written in the strange language that had become so familiar, yet unfamiliar to me. The spell wasn’t changing for me this time. If Rebecca claimed this was a new spell, then I had to find out what the spell was for and what the spell did
.

Maybe once I discovered that, I could find out if Giovanni’s mother had added the spell to the book. Not only that, but I needed to know more about Giovanni and his mother. Who was his mother? Was it
true that only the rightful owner of the Book of Mystics could add a spell? I peered down at the spell which Rebecca claimed had recently been added. Giovanni’s claim had to be the truth, right? Why else would the spell be there?

My phone rang, breaking me from the contemplation. “Don’t touch that book,” I warned as I hurried toward my cell. Peering down at the screen, I saw that it was Liam calling. I hoped that he was having an easy time now that he was the leader of the New Orleans Coven.

“I hope you’re calling with good news,” I said.

There was a pause and Liam let out a deep breath.

“That wasn’t the response I’d hoped for.”

“Do you want the good news or bad news first?” he asked.

Normally, I would ask for the bad news first and get it over with, but after the recent string of dreadful events, I needed a little good news to soften the blow.

“I’ll take the good news first,” I said.

“I found out very little about Giovanni.” He paused. “But I have a bigger problem.”

There was the bad news that I hadn’t wanted to hear. He hadn’t wasted any time letting me have it. That couldn’t bode well for me.

“What is the bigger problem?” I asked in spite of not wanting to hear the news.

“There’s a woman here who claims to be a part of a coven
.” He rushed his words.

For a moment the room spun. Had I heard him correctly?

“What coven is she with?” I asked, fearing the worst. My voice was barely above a whisper.

“Enchantment Pointe
, but not from the coven you know,” he said in a low voice.

My stomach dropped. “I can explain.”

“What? What do you mean?” He continued before waiting for me to answer. “The strange thing is she claims to be from the Eighties.”

“They said they are from the 1700s.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

“The coven members
.”

“What are you talking about?”

I released a deep sigh, then said, “Last night I accidentally reanimated a coven from the 1700s. I thought that was who you were talking about.”

“No, this woman says she died in 1986.”

“You’re kidding. Why is she there?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She just popped up in the living room last night. One minute I was reading a book and the next I was looking at this woman standing in front of me,” he said.

“What time did this happen?” I asked.

It couldn’t be possible, right? There was no way that I had made another person pop up at his house with that one spell, right?

He paused, then said, “Actually, it was right after I got off the phone with you,” he said.

That definitely wasn’t the answer I had hoped for. It looked like my bad magic had struck again.

I glanced over my shoulder again to see if anyone had slipped up behind me. Luckily, I was still alone. “What did she say?”

“Well, needless to say, she’s a little confused. I told her that I would call you.”

Of course the first person he thought of when a random spirit was reanimated was me. Didn’t that happen to anyone else? No, of course it didn’t happen to anyone else.

“I guess I should meet her,” I said around a sigh.

“I can bring her to you,” he said hesitantly.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to her.”

Sure, he just wanted to get rid of her. Now I would have yet another guest.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” he said in his soothing tone.

My heart skipped a beat when he said he would be here soon. An image of Nicolas’ face popped into my head. The coven members really knew how to get rid of a guy. What would they do when they saw Liam? It would be twice as much fun for them.

I’d just hung up the phone when a knock sounded on the door. Jumping up, I eased over to see who was there. Relief washed over me when I saw Annabelle standing in front of the door. I’d told her many times just to come on in, but she never wanted to
risk being in the manor by herself. I opened the door and motioned for her to hurry in.

“How’s everything going?” she asked as she brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Annabelle wore the jeans she’d bought online a few weeks ago and a silky beige blouse. Her makeup and hair were perfect as usual. I hadn’t had a chance to call her to tell her about my guests. It had been late and when I’d fallen into Nicolas’ arms, well, I’d kind of forgotten about everything. Before I had a chance to tell her about my new guests, I knew that the women had walked up behind me because Annabelle’s blue eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder.

I gave a half-hearted smile. “They’re behind me, aren’t they?” I asked.

She sucked in a deep breath and nodded. “There’s only one woman behind you. Who are they?” she whispered.

“Hello,” Rebecca said as she walked beside me.

Rebecca seemed extremely curious about Annabelle as she looked her up and down. Before Annabelle answered a loud crash rang out. I was afraid to find out what they’d done, but I knew I had to before they accidentally tore down the whole house. Kimberly was probably looking for more food. Rebecca looked at me innocently and I knew that was another bad sign.

Black streaked across the foyer and Annabelle let out a scream. She jumped and turned toward the door. I grabbed her arm to stop her from running out the front door. Pluto meowed loudly and then began licking his paws. He looked at Annabelle like she was crazy.

“What the hell is going on in here, Hallie?” she asked, clutching her chest.

Before I answered, another crash rang out and I noticed smoke filling the parlor.

“Oh my gosh, the house is on fire,” Annabelle yelled out.

I took off in a sprint across the room with Annabelle following me.

“It’s just a little smoke,” Rebecca said as she followed behind us.

The sound had come from the kitchen, so we ran in that direction. “Maybe we should call the fire department,” Annabelle said breathlessly.

I waved my arms to fend off the smoke as I pushed forward. When I reached the kitchen, I stopped in my tracks. The other coven members were standing around with innocent looks on their faces, but that wasn’t the thing that concerned me the most.

Smoke billowed out from the cauldron and floated across the room. I coughed and waved my arms through the air. The women weren’t the only people in the kitchen. The room was full of men. They were handsome men who strangely enough resembled Nicolas. Where had they come from? I counted and six men were now standing in my kitchen.

“Someone has some serious explaining to do,” I said, glaring at the women.

They stared at me, but no one volunteered to give me an explanation. The men were equally silent.

“What? No one can speak now?” I stared at the witches.

“What’s happening,
Hallie? Who are these people?” Annabelle asked.

I didn’t have time to answer her at the moment. Instead I looked at Sarah for an answer. For some reason, I felt she was the only one who would tell me the truth. She looked down, then finally looked up and met my gaze.

In a soft voice, she said, “Rebecca really liked the way Nicolas looked so she decided to conjure up a few guys of her own.”

My mouth dropped and Annabelle let out a little gasp.

“Well, this is a first for me, and I thought I’d been in some crazy situations in the past. This totally tops all of them… combined,” I said.

I looked at Rebecca. “Why would you do something like that?”

She turned and walked away from me. Without so much as a glance back, she placed her hands on one man’s chest. “They are so handsome, don’t you think,” she said with a purr in her voice.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Rebecca, I’m shocked.”

I looked at the man’s face. He was good-looking, but totally devoid of any expressions or any emotion. His blue eyes were blank. Rebecca stiffened, but didn’t respond.

“Who is he? What did you do to bring these men here?” I asked.

The men stared blankly. Occasionally they flexed their muscles.

She shrugged. “I just did a little magic.”

I shook my head. “That answer is not good enough. You cannot come into my house and wreak havoc like this.”

“They are good-looking,” Annabelle whispered.