Witch Hearts (28 page)

“He’d like the free food, but would spend the entire time searching the place for hidden cameras. Probably best we stick to public places where he won’t find your underwear drawer or be drawn to your spellbook.”

Ruby snorted and turned her attention back to Courtney’s book, held it up for him to see.
 

“Whatcha got?”

“Courtney’s book. Officer - I mean, Detective - Marshall brought it by, said the police couldn’t really use it as evidence.”

“Guess not. What would they know about it?”

Ruby touched her forefinger to her nose. “Exactly.”

“Detective, huh? Good for him.” Cooper pulled Ruby’s legs over his lap, leaning in to see the spellbook.
 

She handed it to him and he flipped through it. He took a few moments to smile at his sister’s handwriting on a particular page.
 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see it again.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to miss her every day.”

“Me too. I thought once her murder was solved, we’d have closure. Now I know there’s no such thing, not really.” Ruby looked down at her hands.
 

He tapped her shin with the book in his hand to get her attention. “Hey. We did more than enough. We both sort of almost died and still managed to get Courtney’s true killers. I’d say that’s worth a lot.”

“Let’s never do it again, okay?”

Cooper chuckled, but quickly nodded in agreement. “Agreed.”

They kissed on it.
 

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

Later that night, Ruby dreamt of Courtney. The sunset in the dream shone a brilliant red, with streaks of pink and purple in the sky. The moment Ruby realized she was sitting at their spot in the woods alone, she heard Courtney’s voice behind her.

“About time, witch.” Ruby turned to protest, but Courtney’s familiar grin and teasing voice made her relax. Courtney sounded like her old self, minus that whole ghost thing. Her white shirt was clean this time, with no signs of bodily harm.
 

“Pretty sure this is the last time you’ll be seeing me.” She sighed in a contented way, gave a last look at her surroundings. “I feel…pretty good, all things considered.”

“It doesn’t make it easier, but I’m glad for you.” Ruby breathed deep to keep back tears. “The police gave me back your book.”

Courtney snapped her fingers as though remembering something. “Excellent. By the way, if I were you, I might double check it for a new spell I wrote. Might help you find something that’s been lost.”

She shot Ruby a mischievous grin, a look she used to wear on her face more than a couple times a week. Ruby made a mental note to check her Book of Shadows when she woke up.
 

Courtney hadn’t flickered yet and Ruby took a chance. She reached over and put her arms around Courtney. Body met body in a real hug, surprising them both. Courtney returned her tight embrace and they held each other for a long moment. She pressed her lips to Ruby’s ear.
 

“Be happy, Ruby. I know it might call for therapy or something, but I’m serious. Move past this experience and
live
. For me, please be happy.”

Ruby nodded into her shoulder, blinked back tears and ignored a few that slipped away. Feeling Courtney begin to fade away, Ruby tried to hold on tighter.
 

Courtney gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek and they pulled back enough to look at one another. Ruby gave in, forgot about being brave and tears fell into her lap. Courtney, looking a little paler, also cried, though she had a smile on her face.
 

“Thanks for leaving my ashes here. I’m really glad it’s where I’ll stay.”

“I don’t know how I’ll do anything without you.” Ruby’s voice caught in her throat, the wall of tears choking her up.

“You’ll figure it out. Besides, you have Cooper now and while I’m annoyed I don’t get to be your hot maid of honor,” Courtney paused to grin at her and grew serious again, “I’m so glad it happened. You’re my two favorite people in the whole world and I want you to have the best life ever.”

Their grip faltered and they had to pull away as Courtney began to fade more.
 

“I love you, Courtney.”

“I love you too, Rubes. You and Coop take care of each other. And don’t be as hard on him as I was, okay? He got a little mixed up before but he’s a good person and he’s crazy about you.”

Ruby nodded and blinked back fresh tears. “We’re going to be okay.”

 
Courtney laughed. “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself. Honey, you
will
be okay. We’ve been through shitty stuff before.”

“This is definitely the worst.”

“Yeah, you got me there. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s what we’re left with and we have to move on. Both of us.”

Courtney looked up towards the heavens, cocked her head as if she heard something Ruby didn’t. She looked back at Ruby and a bright smile lit up her face, made her look as angelic as Ruby remembered.
 

“Vodka cranberries. It’s time for me to go, gorgeous.” She blew a kiss at Ruby. “Live your life.
Love
your life. Not for me, but for you. You deserve to be happy.”

Ruby could only nod as she watched her best friend lift her face to the sky again. Though it was almost dark, Ruby could swear a patch of light shone on Courtney, warming her face as she faded away. They gave each other a final look, one last smile, and then Courtney disappeared, fading away along with the last beams of sunshine as twilight took over.
 

Ruby opened her eyes to find her clock that read 7 a.m. She rolled over and Cooper squinted one eye at her.

“I refuse to get out of bed this early.” He smushed his face into the pillow and she laughed.

“You’ll change your mind after what I’m about to tell you.”
 

She told him everything about the dream and Courtney’s little hint. Cooper nearly fell out of bed, putting his gym shorts on backwards. They rushed into the living room where they’d left her Book of Shadows. Ruby flipped through until she found Courtney’s handwriting at the back. She chose the last page and found a spell she’d simply titled “R - To Acquire.”

Hidden in an unlikely space

This object stays in a secret place

Answers will come in darkest night

For one to find and see the light

Let it be hidden until discovery

Goddess watch over us, so mote it be.
 

Ruby gathered her tools together, combined ingredients as fast as she could per Courtney’s instructions. Cooper lit the candles on the coffee table. It called for the seeker’s blood and they both nicked their forefinger to contribute. Once Ruby finished the mixtures, she dropped a match in; purple smoke rose from the small cauldron and encircled them. Joining hands, they said the words and waited for the result. They looked at each other and waited for something to happen. A heartbeat later, a
thunk
sounded in the kitchen.
 

They got up to check and halted in their tracks. A box the size of a toaster oven sat on her kitchen table. Ruby looked around, baffled, until Cooper began to laugh. When she looked to him, she followed his pointed finger up to her ceiling. The scorch marks that Courtney had put there were now gone; in its place was a dark purple spot, a sign of magic. No amount of cleaning supplies in the world would rid her ceiling of that mark.
 

“Courtney hid the damn money right under my nose!” Ruby exclaimed.

“More like right over your head,” Cooper said. He went over to the box and found it locked. Courtney had put a numbered lock on it. Three tries later, he managed to unlock it, giving Ruby a small smile. “She used your birthday as the code.”

Ruby blinked in surprise. She hadn’t realized Cooper knew her birthday. “Really?”

“Yep. Not hers or mine. Yours. I’m almost offended - I think she meant for the money to be yours if something happened to her and I didn’t come back.”

He opened the box and they both took a moment to gape at the contents. Inside the box was cold, hard cash, a million dollars to be exact. Ruby had never seen so much money. She glanced at Cooper, who had set his jaw, perhaps remembering the cost of this prize. She laid a hand on his arm and he blinked, looked at her and shook the ghosts away.

“So what are we gonna do with it?” he asked her.
 

“We?” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “It’s your money. Every bit of it.”

He rolled his eyes. “This money is every bit yours as it is mine. I want to share it with you.”

“Shouldn’t we give it to the cops or something?” She stared at the box of money.

Cooper laughed. “Rubes, I’m a pretty good guy, but I’m no angel, either.”

“If you put it that way…”
 

“Could I finally convince you to leave town for a while?” His wicked grin appeared and almost against her will, Ruby smiled back.

“Only if you go with me and plan on returning at some point. I do like my job,” she teased.

“I go where you go,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes off hers. Ruby’s heart seemed to expand with joy.
 

After a second, he shrugged. “Besides, I wouldn’t take the High Priestess away from her coven but for so long.”
 

A grin slowly grew on Ruby’s face as she considered it. “Okay, then I vote for somewhere warm.”

“Anywhere that keeps you in a bikini or less,” he said without hesitation. She punched his arm and he laughed.

Aziza hopped up on the table, sniffed at the box. She rubbed her face against the corner and Ruby scratched her head. “Even Aziza likes the idea of a million bucks.”

“She’s my sister’s cat, for sure,” Cooper replied. He leaned in and bumped his head against the feline. “You probably want a diamond collar now, don’t you?”

Aziza purred and nuzzled her face against Cooper’s in reply.

“I can’t believe she hid it here.” Ruby looked up again at the dark purple spot on her ceiling. “She made a big assumption that we could figure it out.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t spend it on shoes. Courtney thought ahead on a lot of things besides our will, apparently,” Cooper said, straightening up. “No one would ever guess it was in your kitchen ceiling and even if they did, it looks like her spell would only work for you.”

“I don’t think it means she didn’t expect you to come back, though,” she said quickly, craning her neck to look up at him.
 

He shrugged. “I don’t blame her. I pulled a dick move on her, asking her to clean up my mess and leaving town.”

Ruby didn’t want him to feel bad and teased him. “I hope you don’t plan on skipping out on me now that you’ve got your cash.”

She elbowed him in the ribs and he laughed. Putting his arms around her, he kissed her nose. “Like I said, I go where you go. How about Europe?”

Ruby pretended to think about it for a moment. “Paris might do wonders for my stress.”

 
“You think Miranda would give you the next month off?” Cooper asked.

“I think you could help convince her,” Ruby said with a grin. She ignored the question on his face. “In all seriousness, you don’t have to share any of that money with me.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you and not only because of the other night. I’m not trying to scare you off, but I’ve loved you for a long time, Ruby Jackson.”

She stood on her toes to kiss him. “I feel the same way.”

“Good. What’s mine is yours, including my black witch heart.”

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

Later that afternoon, Cooper had a phone call. After he hung up, he turned to Ruby with a small smile.
 

“That was the coroner - we can get Courtney’s ashes today. Thought we’d go ahead and take them up to the spot in the woods this evening.”

After they picked up the cream-colored ceramic container that held Courtney’s ashes, they headed up in Ruby’s car to the forest. She hadn’t been here for a while except in her dreams and hoped she remembered the way.

She parked in the lot closest to the hiking trail and zipped up her green jacket. Crisp mountain air filled her lungs and she raised her face to the sunshine for a brief moment. As she locked her things in her trunk, her phone vibrated with a text from Lacy.

Glad to hear u r ok! Call if you need anything.

Thanks
, Ruby typed back.
We’ll talk soon?

Def. Coven needs new leader. I know a girl who’d be perfect ;)

Ruby chuckled at the text, shook her head at Lacy’s insinuation. Ruby wouldn’t have believed it a month ago, but she actually thought she could do it. She wanted to keep a coven together and safe, to teach others how to protect themselves against dark magic. Maybe she’d step up and try her hand as High Priestess. Cooper had mentioned it several times the last few days, but it was his offer to be in the coven as the High Priestess’ right hand that convinced her. With his help, she could get better and with a strong coven, he’d be safe from old habits or acquaintances.
 

Shutting the trunk, she and Cooper began the walk to the right spot. Cooper kept a firm grip on the jar at all times, dodged branches and roots like a regular child of the forest. Ruby felt as though she’d walked the path several times this week, even if she hadn’t physically been here. Neither of them said much as they hiked, but they shared a smile each time they caught each other’s eye.
 

When they reached the small clearing off the beaten path, they sat their bags down by the stone circle. Cooper set the jar in the center and arranged their tools. Ruby spread lavender around the site; while the killer used lavender as a weapon, she used it for protection, peace and love. Marjoram, for healing. She finished with thyme for purification, wanting to rid the area of any negative energy.
 

They proceeded to do a protection spell. Once they finished, Cooper gently shook the ashes out and Courtney’s remains mixed with the earth. Ruby felt relief that her best friend might finally be at peace.

“I love you sister,” Cooper said as they stood to face the center. “You will be missed everyday. I promise not to let our family down anymore.”