Witch Hearts (16 page)

“At least you’d be safe there. Is that gorgeous hunk of man still staying with you?”

Ruby felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she resisted the urge to look to the bathroom where Cooper currently showered. “Yeah, he’s here.”

“Then you two should be plenty entertained,” Miranda replied with a cackle. Ruby’s flush deepened, but she remained quiet. The humor in Miranda’s voice died as quickly as it’d come.
 

“Rubes, what you’re going through right now is seriously bad. I won’t have him steal you off the street because you wanted to work, or barge in and throw magic around my store. After finding that girl…you need to be safe.”

“I hate to skip out on you, though.”

“We’re managing fine. Besides, you’re not skipping out if I’m forbidding you to work. So no coming in until this psycho is behind bars. Stock up at the grocery store, put some extra spells on your place and gorge yourself on Cooper until then.”

Ruby heard Miranda’s grin and rolled her eyes. “As long as you’re okay with it.”

“Baby doll, I’m almost jealous it’s not me. The Cooper thing, obviously, not the stalker,” Miranda corrected herself and Ruby snorted. “Go touch his abs for me. Matter of fact, touch
everything
for me. And then tell me all about it later!”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Ruby eyed the clock; thanks to a strange sleep schedule, her hours were all messed up. It was now past noon; what did she do until Lacy’s arrival this evening?

Ruby decided to take Miranda’s advice and headed into the bathroom for a joint shower.

*******************************************

At eight o’clock, Ruby’s door buzzer went off. She pushed the button to let Lacy up, waited at the door to unlock it and allow her into the apartment. Whenever Courtney had visited, Ruby had buzzed her up, unlocked the door and walked away. Now she was too scared to even leave the foyer in case the killer wanted to trick her and kick the door in. When a knock sounded, Ruby put her eye to the peephole to see Lacy and two other girls standing behind her.

Curious, Ruby opened the door to greet them. “Hi, Lacy.”
 

Lacy heard the question in her voice. “These are my friends Carla and Parker. When I mentioned I was coming over, they wanted to join in. I hope that’s okay.”
 

“Uh, sure. Come on in.” Ruby stepped back to allow them inside, taking their jackets as they looked around at her place. Carla and Parker shared the same tall height, high cheekbones and tiny, upturned noses. Carla’s hair was a darker brown than Parker’s sandy blond, but they could’ve been sisters for the most part. The girls shook hands with her; Ruby saw they wore the same gold necklace with a cursive “T” on it.

Carla noticed her gaze, her fingers fluttering to the charm. “It’s for Thomas. We’re cousins.”

“Though we’re closer than most,” Parker chimed in. “We’re sorry for tagging along uninvited, Ruby, we just…”

She shared a glance with Carla, who gave her an encouraging nod and she continued. “We don’t care for Michael or his coven. We practice with another group in the next town over, but with everything that’s going on, neither of us like to stray too far.”

Ruby nodded. “It’s okay - I probably need more human interaction, anyways. I’m glad to have you here.”

They all stepped into her living room where Cooper was stretched out on the couch, left arm behind his head as his right hand surfed the television with the remote. His hair stuck up in the back and the way he sat made his gray shirt rise up a bit, revealing several inches of his muscled stomach. Carla and Parker stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him.

“Whoa,” they both breathed at the same time.
 

Ruby pretended not to notice, but as she walked over, she heard Carla whisper to Parker (or maybe it was vice versa), “He’s plenty enough human interaction to me. Yowza.”

She introduced them and Cooper got up to shake their hands. When he smiled at the girls, Ruby thought Parker might have swooned.
 

“Hi again, Lacy. Nice to meet you ladies.”

He raised his eyebrows at Ruby with an “I told you so” look at the extra company. She cleared her throat and motioned for them to sit in a circle on her floor. Cooper had moved the coffee table to make more room and now turned off the TV to watch them work. Aziza came in to watch, bumping her head affectionately against Ruby before taking a seat on the top of the couch behind Cooper.
 

“So what are we doing tonight? I wasn’t totally sure where to start,” Ruby said. “We can always make a few potions to keep attackers at bay.”

The girls agreed and Parker pulled her Book of Shadows out of her backpack. Carla and Lacy followed suit by placing their own books on the floor beside them. Ruby had already set up her book and cauldron, along with several small jars of herbs from her kitchen that they could use as needed.
 

They spent the better part of an hour taking turns to make their spells. They mixed their herbs, occasionally checking against book pages to confirm ingredients. They’d made plenty of these before, as one of the first things witches learned was how to make a strong self-protection spell to prevent any unwanted magic from sticking to them. It could protect them from something as simple as a newbie witch’s headache spell gone wrong or if a witch (maybe named Ruby) was the target of darker magic (like being stalked by a serial killer). Protection spells were always better when made by a group, however, often lasting a few more days than if a witch performed the spell alone. After grasping hands and intoning the spell that would seal in the potion’s magic for their three vials, they relaxed again.

“That was fun, but I was hoping we could do a little more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate y’alls strength in the protection spell, but let’s do something fun,” Carla said.
 

Parker spoke up first. “We should totally help Lacy amp up her gift.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Lacy said. She ducked her head, curls brushing against her reddening cheeks.
 

“This is gonna help grow that backbone of yours,” Carla said.
 

Ruby looked at Lacy with a curious expression. “What is it?”

“I can move stuff with my mind sometimes, if I concentrate hard enough. Not super heavy stuff or from far away, but the occasional book when I’m lazy or if a baking utensil is out of reach.” She looked down at her hands in her lap, biting her lip.

Ruby’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? That’s awesome, I’m so jealous!”

“See?” Carla and Parker spoke in unison, their voices raised in excitement. Ruby spoke up to bring the heat off Lacy.

“How do we help make you better?”

 
Parker flipped through her book, settling on a well-worn page near the front. She tapped the page with one well-manicured finger as she spoke.
 

“You guys probably have a strengthening spell, but this one I found specifically for Lacy’s needs. Turns out our great-great-grandmother could move things with her mind, too. Her mother helped write up a little piece to give her better control, so she didn’t accidentally move stuff without command.”

“I suppose that would’ve scared quite a few people back in the day, floating candles and whatnot,” Carla interjected. Ruby hid a smile; the cousins talked and sounded alike, but she could tell Carla was much more sarcastic than Parker, who had a cheerier attitude.

“This spell is to gain better control, then? Not a transfer of power?” Cooper asked from his seat.

Parker nodded. “Yeah, it doesn’t take anything from us except a little energy. Oh, and I need to add lemon zest to the bowl.”

Ruby offered up her kitchen and Parker handled the ingredients. Lacy leaned in to whisper to Ruby.

“Parker and Carla are good, don’t get me wrong, but could you lead the spell when we get started? You’re the most powerful one here so I think it would do best with you in charge.”

Ruby nodded, pushing down the flattery she felt at the request. Cooper raised an eyebrow at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but remained quiet.
 

Parker carefully set the bowl in the center of their small circle. She and Carla exchanged excited glances and grinned at Lacy as though she were about to win an award.
 

“It says it works best if the person on the receiving end lights it,” Parker said.
 

Lacy dropped a match into the herb bowl and the citrus smell floated up to sting Ruby’s nose. Smoke began to pour out around them, more smoke than would be normal, but it didn’t choke them the way smoke from a regular fire would.
 

“May I?” Ruby said, motioning to Parker’s spellbook. Parker immediately handed it over, looking pleased Ruby would lead the magic with her family heirloom. Sitting it in front of her, she and the other girls clasped hands, completed their small circle and its boundaries.
 

Ruby felt Lacy suck in a deep breath to calm her nerves; she glanced at Lacy, who nodded at her to begin, her red corkscrew curls bouncing with the motion. Ruby cleared her throat and carefully enunciated to avoid confusion, reading the spell word for word. She felt the magic crackle in the air, the spell waiting to be instructed.
 

“We call upon the powers that be

Give Lacy help so that she might lead

Objects, people, her power will say

Use her mind to guide the way

Witch times four, we offer energy

That she might grow, so mote it be.”

Ruby didn’t move, but she could see the spell working its magic. The herbs smelled pleasant with the tang of lemon as smoke unfurled and hung in the living room around them in a fog. She snuck a peek at the room to see all the small objects on her tables floating, hanging in the air as though suspended by invisible wire. Lacy’s eyes were clenched shut as she whispered to herself to keep it together. Ruby caught Cooper’s eye and he flicked his glance to her foyer, where she saw other objects also floated. Lacy’s power was surprisingly strong as it now affected things further out of her reach. Carla and Parker were no novice witches; with them and Ruby to help, Lacy would be more powerful than ever before.
 

Another minute or two passed. They waited for the smoke to clear and looked to Lacy, who shot them a nervous glance. Without a word, she closed her eyes, focusing on something beyond the room. Seconds later, Ruby’s coffeemaker floated out to them in midair. A grin broke out on Lacy’s face as she opened her eyes to see her handiwork. She settled it onto the coffee table using only her mind and turned back to the women, her chest puffed up with pride.

“I did it!”

“Maybe next time you pick the colander or something,” Ruby advised. “We’d be having a much different conversation if you’d dropped my most precious kitchen tool.”

She threw a grin at Lacy to let her know she was joking and they shared a laugh, the girls congratulating Lacy on her new skill. Because all witches were different, Lacy’s improved power would put her above several others in skill, plus give her more of a say when it came to coven meetings. Michael prided himself on everyone in the coven being equal, but Ruby knew he especially valued those with talent and secretly took their opinions a little more seriously than others.
 

Parker clapped her hands together. “Now what?”

“Actually, while you’re here, I sort of have a favor to ask,” Ruby said to them.

“Sure, what is it?” Lacy asked. Carla and Parker waited with excited looks on their faces.
 

“It has to do with the murders, so if you want out, here’s your chance,” Ruby warned. The smiles faded away and the three of them exchanged a glance but no one declined. Without speaking, they turned back to Ruby and waited, so she continued.

“I want you three to put me under a spell so that I can see the killer.” She inhaled another breath before she spoke. “I want you to put me under as one of his previous victims, so I know what he’s doing to them and why this ritual.”

Cooper, who’d so far watched in silence from his spot on the couch, jerked so hard he stood up, disbelief on his handsome face. “You want to live Courtney’s last moments. You can’t do that.”

“Sure I can.” Ruby swallowed hard, heard the doubt in her voice. “It’s harmless. I’ll be right here with you all sitting around me.”

“But Ruby,” Lacy spoke up, concern in her eyes, “if you see the victim’s last moments, you’re going to feel the pain.”

“I know, but it’s all in my head. It’s not on the physical plane. I need to see what he did to Courtney, what he does to their hearts. If I can recognize anything, get even the smallest clue to use in his capture, it’s worth it. I’ve already written a spell but can’t do it alone.” Her Book of Shadows open on the floor, she flipped to the newest page she’d included and pointed it out to Lacy.

The women remained silent but Cooper knelt next to her, his eyes pleading. “Don’t do this. You might never sleep again if you do.”

“I’ll never sleep again if I don’t do everything I can to stop him, to avenge Courtney. You were willing to dive back into your past to get information. I can handle a little magical reenactment.” She put her hand over his on his knee and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine.”

Ten minutes later, Ruby lay flat on her back on the carpeted floor. More herbs and crushed petals burned in a bowl on the coffee table, the perfumed smoke settling into another haze around them. She glanced around to see Lacy on her right, Carla on her left, and Parker at her feet, all of them solemn and sitting on their knees as they prepared to chant over her. Cooper positioned her head comfortably in his lap; he brushed the hair off her face and looked down at her.

“You still sure about this?”

Ruby sucked in a deep breath and nodded, closing her eyes. “Do it.” Paper crinkled as Lacy examined the spell again and cleared her throat to begin.

“Goddess hear, I call upon a memory

Of my most dangerous enemy

Spirits take her to the sight

Keep her safe in blessed light