Page 6 of Air Of Mystery (Witches On The Hill #4)

I waggled my fingers at her. “Hey.”

“Well, well.” Estella glared at me suspiciously. “If it isn’t Skye Golden. The person who likes to stir up the crazy shit.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been accused of worse things.”

Estella dropped down into a chair at the table beside me. “So, is it true?”

“Care to be more specific?” I asked.

“Is it true that an entity attacked a man at one of the houses that you and your team often investigate?”

“We investigate many locations,” I said, purposefully being vague.

She pointed at me. “Don’t play games with me, chica .”

“Estella,” Amanda began as she stood, “you may want to hear the whole story before you—”

“So, what is the story?” she said, interrupting. Amanda had stepped into the attached laundry room to shift my clothes from the washer to the dryer. “Not that this one wouldn’t exaggerate.” Estella sneered. “Anything for ratings, right, chica ?”

Knowing my snark would piss her off, I batted my eyes and said sweetly, “Wow. You are charming, aren’t you, Estella?”

Estella’s responding smile was all teeth and zero warmth. “You’re sitting in my best friend’s house. Her children are here.”

“And they’re in no danger from me!” I retorted, beyond insulted.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Bottom line? I don’t want you here in my village.”

“I was invited by Amanda,” I pointed out as Estella narrowed her eyes. “And you’re being paranoid.”

“What I am is protective,” she argued, “and your energy feels bad. Sour for lack of a better word. Plus, you look like something the cat dragged in.”

From the corner, Nyx meowed indignantly at that comment.

“Sorry, Nyx,” Estella said to the cat, before focusing on me again. “Anyway, I’ve kept tabs on you for years, Golden. You love to cause trouble, and you crave attention with your stupid YouTube show.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d had such complaints leveled at me. However, it still rankled. Especially when a fellow Witch was the accuser.

Deliberately, I raised an eyebrow at her. “Have me all figured out, do you, Estella?”

As we argued, Amanda had stepped back into the kitchen. Folding her arms, she silently watched Estella and me.

“Did you battle an evil entity today?” Estella asked. “Or was this a publicity stunt gone wrong?”

“No,” I replied, “ I did not battle an entity today.”

Returning to her place at the table, Amanda took the seat between us. “Skye,” she said, “go ahead and tell her what you told me. Estella has had her own experiences with intense hauntings. She might be able to provide you with some insight.”

Estella leaned forward in her chair. “Do you actually trust her?” She spoke to Amanda as if I wasn’t even there.

“I do.” Amanda nodded. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t be sitting in my kitchen.”

“Fine.” Estella blew out a long breath and glared at me. “So if you didn’t take on an entity, then who did?”

I sighed in aggravation. “Long story short? My sister, Kenna, was in a spot of paranormal trouble. She called me for backup. Charlie Smythe and I arrived in time to help her—and her boyfriend, Tyler—get safely off the premises.”

“You drug Charlie into your mess?” Estella was practically seething.

“Estella…” Amanda gently laid her hand on her friend’s arm. “It was the Victorian era house on Henry Street.”

And with those soft words from Amanda, Estella’s whole posture changed.

“Oh, I see,” Estella said in a completely different tone of voice.

I sat there totally confused as Estella Marquette and Amanda Parker exchanged significant looks.

Maybe I was more tired than I realized. Because for the life of me I had no idea why a woman who worked as the bar manager at the Marquette Hotel, and a small-town librarian, would be so interested in the house in Alton.

Sure, it had a bad reputation, but most folks —and to be fair, most Witches—didn’t comprehend the level of paranormal issues that were present.

Maybe it was a Daughter of Midnight thing? I wondered.

Exhausted, I sighed again. “Tell you what, Amanda. Go ahead and pull my dress out of the dryer. It doesn’t matter if it’s still wet. I’ll call an Uber and be out of your hair just as soon as I can.”

Amanda dropped a hand over mine. “That’s not necessary—”

“I’ll drive you back to Alton myself,” Estella volunteered.

“No. That’s okay.” I waved the offer away quickly. “I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

“Oh, I insist.” She smiled. “I’ll run home and let Chauncey know. You put your clothes in a bag. I’ll see to it that you get back home. Right away.”

With that, she jumped up from her chair and rushed out the suddenly open back door. It shut—untouched—with a solid thump behind her.

“Estella’s very protective,” Amanda said by way of an explanation. “Sometimes overly.”

“I get it. You’re best friends.” I stood. “Thank you again for your help today, Amanda. If I have caused any problems for you—or your family—I apologize.”

“Nonsense.” She stood too. “I’m always available to help a fellow Witch. Now, I’m going to give you my number. If you need anything, please call me.”

“Sure,” I said, although I had no intention of bothering her again.

About five minutes later, I was on the highway with Estella Marquette, and she was driving along with the radio blaring. Crazily, her entire attitude had changed. Wearing mirrored sunglasses, she was smiling and chattering away.

Estella spoke of mostly mundane topics. She wanted to know how Cordelia and Tim were doing. She inquired about Brynn’s upcoming wedding…she even asked how my folks were in Florida. It was slightly concerning to me how she’d gone from hostile and suspicious to casually chatty and polite.

By the time we arrived back in Alton, and I gave her directions through my old neighborhood on the hill, I felt slightly sick to my stomach. I didn’t think she was throwing any negativity at me; it was more like the exhaustion from everything that had happened was finally kicking in.

Estella dropped me off out front, and I shut the passenger door, waving at her as she drove away. Fishing the keys from my purse, I opened the wrought iron gate, walked barefoot up the front steps, and let myself inside.

Oh hell, I thought, suddenly realizing I’d forgotten my sandals. Well crap.

Then I sighed. They’re probably toast anyway.

For once it was quiet in the manor house. I went down the main hall, past the family kitchen, and to the laundry room to hang my dress up so that it could air dry. Then I started up the main staircase to the third floor and my attic apartment.

Keeping my mind off Charlie and the enchanted evening that wasn’t , I dutifully texted Kenna, warned her to be careful, and to perform a cleansing on herself—and Tyler—as soon as possible.

She messaged back promising that she would and let me know that Tyler was settled in a private room where she was going to stay and watch over him all night.

Next, I texted my grandmother and told her what had happened with Kenna and Tyler. She called me back immediately. As we spoke, I changed into my own pajamas, snagged a sports drink from my mini fridge, and dropped down on my sofa.

“Grandma,” I said, after filling her in on the details, “I’m going to need you to contact the Guardian.

Enough is enough. Whatever is in that house on Henry Street is beyond bad.

We’re talking true evil. The Guardian is supposed to be a Magus.

Have them do their grand high poo-bah thing and get rid of whatever is out there once and for all. ”

“I will put in a request,” she promised. “And first thing in the morning, I’m going to go up to the hospital and check in on your sister and Tyler.”

“Perfect,” I said. “That’d be great.”

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

“Fine,” I said. “I figure a quick nap will do the trick.”

“Promise me that you’ll stay away from that house in the meantime.”

“I will,” I said. “My team and I agreed to that weeks ago. I only went back today to help Kenna.”

“I’m very thankful that you were there to assist,” she said. “I’m sorry that your date was interrupted.”

“I’ll get over it,” I said around a yawn.

“It’s going to take a bit longer than you like...we all know how impatient you are. But you will find your way to each other.”

“What’s that, Grandma?” I asked sleepily.

“It can wait,” she said. “Go take a nap, Skye and I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I replied. “Talk to you then.”

We said our goodbyes, and I ended the call. After placing my phone on a charger, I chugged the sports drink and stretched out on my sofa. I shut my eyes and figured I’d zonk out in seconds...and I did, but I did not sleep peacefully.

Instead, I had horribly violent and vivid dreams. And when I woke at two in the morning, I couldn’t go back to sleep at all.

***

Kenna came home the next evening. I tried to speak to her and was informed that she had decided to stay clear of Tyler for a few days to allow him time to come to terms with everything that he’d witnessed.

I figured I was currently in no position to lecture anyone on their love life and so, I nodded, reminded her again to do a cleansing, and left her alone to mope.

Which she did for three solid days. Eventually I got tired of her brooding and asked Brynn to intercede. With a nod, my big sister squared her shoulders and went out to confront Kenna in the vegetable gardens, where Kenna was hard at work trying to stay busy—and to keep her mind off Tyler.

From the window in my attic apartment, I watched as Brynn talked to her, and also saw the moment that Tyler arrived.

I kept watch over Kenna until I saw that she and Tyler were embracing and had clearly worked things out between the two of them.

With a sigh of relief for Kenna, I turned away from the window.

“Not everyone is destined for an epic love,” I reminded myself. “Some of us have other things...like adventures, excitement, and a career.”

Squaring my shoulders, I went back to work and tried to put romance out of my mind.

***

All too soon it was July and blazing hot.

Cranking up the extra window unit in my rooms, I added an oscillating fan to keep the air moving in my attic apartment.

I spent a good solid week meticulously editing the next installment of my show.

I’d barely spoken to anyone for days, but the episode was loaded up right on time—which would make my two hundred thousand subscribers very happy.

Worn-out, and sporting an eye-strain headache, I headed downstairs in a tank top and shorts to see what was for dinner, once again ready to interact with other humans. It was Brynn’s turn to cook tonight, and I wondered what she was making.

It hadn’t escaped me that I’d been using the intense editing of the past week to keep myself distracted from the fact that I hadn’t heard from Charlie… not since the day I literally disappeared on him.

I suppose the witchcraft had spooked him or angered him to the point where he wasn’t interested in being with me anymore.

Which was a damn shame, because I bet the sex would have been amazing—not that we’d ever managed to get that far.

There’d been too many interruptions. Still, it was a disappointment to be sure.

There was a part of me that kept wondering why he’d seemed to handle seeing Cordelia unleash her elemental powers without freaking out.

He’d also caught the tail end of Kenna’s protection magick and seemed to have taken it in stride.

Yet when I had tried to talk to him about magick, it hadn’t gone well.

Not at all.

Me going poof had apparently tipped the scales firmly and permanently against me.

My musings came to a sudden halt when I walked into the kitchen and discovered that it was empty—except for a note from Brynn left taped to the fridge where I’d be sure to see it.

It informed me that Kenna was out with Tyler, Cordelia and Tim had an appointment to go see a house, and that she was over at Austin’s having barbeque with him and Robbie. She invited me to join the three of them if I wished, but I passed on that offer. I truly wasn’t in a sociable mood.

“I’ll find something to fix or reheat,” I muttered, tugging open the fridge door.

I spotted some mixed vegetables and a piece of left-over grilled chicken. Slapping it on a plate, I nuked it and stood at the counter while it heated. I poured myself a large glass of water and sat at the island in the kitchen to eat my meal in solitary splendor.

At least that’s what I told myself. The longer I sat there in that too quiet house, the lonelier I felt. I ended up pushing the majority of my food around on my plate, eating very little.

“For goddess’ sake,” I muttered. “I’m acting like some mopey teenager after a bad breakup.” With a grim sense of resolve, I pulled my cellphone from my pocket and called my cousin Soleil.

Soleil, or Sunny as the family called her, was perpetually cheerful, smiling and as her nickname implied, filled with sunshine. If anyone could snap me out of my funk, it would be her.

She answered on the first ring. “Sunny’s Dog Grooming Salon, how may I help you?”

“Hey, girl,” I said.

“Skye! I was thinking about you.”

“Psychic connection,” I agreed. “Whatcha doing tonight?”

“I’m closing up in a few, then I’m going home, throwing myself in the shower, and relaxing with the love of my life.”

I smiled. “How is Manny the Wonder Dog?”

“Goofy as ever,” she said easily.

“Feel like some company?” I asked.

“Sure,” she agreed happily. “Give me...let’s say an hour?”

“Want me to bring over a pizza?”

“Yes!” she said enthusiastically. “Mushrooms, extra cheese, tomatoes and spinach.”

“I can make that happen,” I agreed.

“Fab,” she said. “See you in an hour.”

***

I stood on the porch of the brick ranch style house my cousin Soleil purchased the year before and knocked gently on the door.

The house was right on the outskirts of one of Alton’s historic districts.

Her home was tidy, and the front lawn was a flat square of grass with a lone tree planted dead center.

Needs some flowers, I thought. Knocking again—more firmly this time— Manny, her rescue beagle, let out a chorus of baying cries at the sound. A second later, her bright yellow door was whipped open. Sunny stood before me in a pair of summer pajama shorts and a tank top.

Her bright blue eyes were sparkling, and her cheeks were a rosy pink. There was a smattering of freckles across her nose, and her bright blonde hair hung down her back. She was fresh faced and absolutely gorgeous.

“Welcome. Come in!” She waved me inside.

“God damn it, Sunny,” I said, as I stepped around Manny who began to jump in excitement. “You’re not even wearing any makeup, are you?”

“I just got out of the shower,” she informed me.

Her skin was flawless and seeing it I couldn’t help but roll my eyes playfully. “If I didn’t love you, I’d hate you.”

“Good thing that you love me then,” she chuckled.