Page 18 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman (The Bewitching Hour #1)

“I find it interesting how you write letters on that,” Kit said, hovering over Stevie’s shoulder as she typed on her phone.

I’ll be there this afternoon with your delivery.

“It’s called a text.” Stevie grinned while pressing send. “Simple and fast and you don’t have to wait forever to receive a reply. I guess some people would rather not have that since Lucia will be waiting a bit for the Crowned Witch to get back to her.”

Kit lowered himself beside her on the couch. “Seems an easy opportunity for forgery.”

Stevie contemplated that thought and supposed he did have a point, but it was a slim chance her mom’s phone would be hijacked. Even then a warlock or witch could easily forge a letter with a spell if they wanted to.

A knock pounded on the door and Stevie tossed her phone on the couch to answer it. Lucia stood on the porch with two plastic sacks in one hand and a briefcase in the other. “I saw Reese pull up when I was leaving to mail out Adelia’s letter and run errands.”

“That pulse has officially flatlined.” Stevie shrugged.

Lucia pursed her lips. “I guess Gideon was right about you two not being twin flames.”

As if hearing his name, Gideon opened the door, his shirt missing and his feet bare as he grabbed the mail.

His eyes met Stevie’s and he tsked, scratching his hairy stomach.

“You should’ve told me you were cozying up with a ghost. And of all the ghosts out here you choose the Headless Horseman. Real winner, baby sister.”

“I am not cozying up!” Stevie squeezed the bridge of her nose. “If you tell anyone, Gideon, so help me.”

“I know. I know.” His gaze flicked to his wife and he smirked while taking the grocery bags from her. “Lucia already warned me she’d hold back sex if I opened my pretty little mouth to anyone.”

“You’re so gross.” Stevie wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Go back inside. I’m borrowing your wife for a little bit.” She waved Lucia into her house and shut the door behind them. “My brother, really? Of all the guys in Sleepy Hollow you could’ve married?”

“Are you going to say that thirty years from now?” Lucia batted her eyes innocently.

“Um, forever,” she said seriously.

“Just so you know, he doesn’t act like that when it’s just us.”

Stevie couldn’t see her brother as a proper gentleman, but he had to have some sort of buried attractive trait if he’d won Lucia over when she’d been highly sought after by every warlock in town.

Lucia stopped in front of the kitchen table and set her briefcase on its wooden surface. As she popped open the locks, Kit’s boots thumped across the tile flooring and he watched from the corner near the fridge.

The briefcase displayed rows of corked vials and tiny jars filled with a variety of different colored liquids. Small boxes labeled bones, teeth, crystals, hair, and stones rested on another side.

“Kit,” Lucia said, peering up from the briefcase at him in the corner. “You’re already in here, so come have a seat so we can start.”

“She’s got a knack for this,” Kit drawled and lowered himself into one of the chairs.

“He said you’re the best witch he’s ever met, and he’ll owe you whatever you want for helping him.” Stevie smiled as she sat beside Kit.

“I didn’t say that, Pumpkin.”

“But you will,” Stevie sang.

“I need to do something to confirm that Kit’s not a demon, even though we both believe he isn’t.

There’s always the small chance a demon slinked out from the Hollow to pretend they’re a ghost. The crucifix may not have worked since he isn’t living, but the holy water will.

I just have to make sure before we move on to the next step.

It’s for Stevie’s protection. Is this all right, Kit?

” Lucia asked as she slipped out a vial labeled Burn Demons .

Kit leaned back in his chair. “It’s fine.”

“The Horseman said it’s A-okay to use it on him.”

Lucia whispered an old prayer while clutching the vial. “This holy water was blessed directly at the Roman Catholic Church, and I can finally test it out!” She passed the contents to Stevie.

Stevie uncorked the lid and took a whiff of the sour flavor. “Smells a bit like lemon.”

“It’s infused with it. Demons hate it,” Lucia said.

Stevie straightened and turned to Kit. “All right. In three. Two. One.” She thrust her hand forward, the water splashing against his chest and invisible face.

For a second nothing happened, then an agonizing shout ripped through the room. “I’m on fire!” He thrashed in his seat before collapsing to the floor and writhing. “End the torment!”

“Cauldron’s teeth, he’s burning! He’s a demon!” Stevie screamed, shoving out of her chair and toppling it over.

“Demon!” Lucia screeched, reaching into her briefcase, then halting her movements. A frown formed on her heart-shaped face. “Hey, there’s no smoke…”

A loud chuckle erupted in the room, and Kit’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“You jackass!” Stevie ground out as he continued to laugh. She rolled her eyes and met Lucia’s gaze. “False alarm. It seems the Headless Horseman has a hidden sense of humor.”

“What did you expect me to do after I already told you I wasn’t a demon?” Kit shrugged and sank back in his chair.

“Not that !” Stevie’s lips twitched, hating to admit that she did find his stunt somewhat humorous.

“One up for the Headless Horseman,” Lucia said, corking the remainder of the holy water and sliding it back into her briefcase. “I have a couple more things I want to try to see if I can get his real head to appear.” She glanced back at Stevie. “Do you have his bone on you?”

“No, but let me grab it.” Stevie rushed into her room and snatched the bone from the safe.

Stevie returned to the kitchen, holding it out to Lucia. “Where do you want it?”

“On the table is fine.” Lucia fished out a wishbone from inside a small box labeled Special Bones and handed it to Stevie. “Grasp one side of that and press your other palm on top of Kit’s bone.”

Stevie arched a brow. “This is sounding a bit provocative.” Especially since she knew he could feel her touch on his bones.

Lucia ignored Stevie and focused on Kit.

“Ghosts generally can’t touch remains, but the wishbone is special.

It holds its own unique, magical qualities.

With my spell already placed on it and at play, your hand is meant to not pass through,” she explained.

“Now take hold of the wishbone’s other side while placing your palm on Stevie’s. ”

Kit leaned forward and wrapped his fingers around the opposite side of the wishbone. That part worked ! His other gloved hand didn’t slip through Stevie’s—instead, coolness rested against hers.

Stevie’s eyes widened. “I feel him!” she shouted, meeting where she just knew his eyes were. “Do you feel it?”

“I do,” he rasped.

“So it is working?” Lucia’s brows shot up. “I’ve never tried this spell, but I didn’t think it would! Okay, now I need you both to pull the bone toward you until it snaps. Each of you make a wish to see his true head. And go!”

They tugged on the wishbone until a loud snap pierced the air. Stevie clamped onto the larger piece, Kit’s gloved hand sinking through hers. “Looks like I’m the winner. But I can’t feel him anymore,” Stevie said.

“That means it’s still working,” Lucia confirmed. “All right, Stevie, place your piece on the table in front of Kit and let him slide the two bones back together.”

Kit collected the two pieces which only Stevie would now be able to see.

He then brought them together, and the seam fused.

A ghostly head attached to Kit’s neck, making Stevie’s heart gallop to see the spell working.

It wasn’t the head of the jerkwad ghost from the last new moon, but another she’d never seen.

Long white hair brushed Kit’s shoulders.

A strong jaw, chiseled features, and kissable lips accentuated his face.

Of course he had to be even better looking than Evan Peters.

Like her own personal Adonis. And then, just like that, the head vanished.

“His head was there, but it disappeared again,” Stevie breathed. However, the image was tattooed in her mind.

Lucia ran a hand down the side of her face.

“We need the Crowned Witch ASAP. If his head isn’t staying, then that means dark magic is fighting it and I would have to be near it to break the spell.

I want you to go to Ginger’s tomorrow when she gets back into town.

She might know something that I’m missing. ”

Stevie finished corking a row of brews, then placed them into velvet bags for local deliveries. “Do you want to come?” Stevie asked Kit, gathering the packages in Lucia’s basement.

“You’re inviting me to go with you?” Kit’s voice sounded surprised.

“I’m sure you would pop up in the back of my car again if I didn’t.”

“You assumed wrong,” he drawled. “I would be your visitor in the front seat.”

Stevie rolled her eyes, but the edges of her lips curled upward. Both Gideon and Lucia were already at work, so she locked up their front door.

After loading the deliveries into the trunk, the only thing Stevie could focus on was how she’d felt Kit’s coolness against her skin, the tiny spark that had ignited, and how perfectly shaped his lips were.

Calm down, Stevie. He’s a ghost . A ghost that could become a living member of society if they found his head…

She’d placed his bone inside her purse so it wouldn’t make things uncomfortable between them. Or for him since she apparently couldn’t stop thinking of his stupid gloved hand and what it would look like if he peeled off that leather... It’s a hand!

Heavy beats poured out from the car’s speakers and Kit groaned. “This music is terrible.”

“Another thing we agree on.” She laughed as she drove down her street, the fog covering the car’s hood. “Tell me what you like and I’ll see what I have on my phone.”

“Violins.”

“Um, can’t say I have anything just instrumental, but I’ll download some later. In the meantime, I’ll play Stevie Nicks. Both her solo and Fleetwood Mac catalog.” She scrolled until she found one that she thought he might like.

As the music played, the instruments doing their part, the voices blending perfectly, she watched Kit out of the corner of her eye who sat unnaturally still.

“So,” she nudged, trying to get him out of statue mode. “Do you find this one as terrible as the last?”

“It’s pleasant.”

“I’ll take pleasant.” Stevie laughed, continuing to smile as his fingers tapped his thigh.

After delivering the packages around the town, Stevie pulled into her parents’ driveway. She took the last sack from the trunk and knocked on the door.

Her mom answered, her arms folded, and her red lips set in a tight line. “This fog’s getting out of hand, isn’t it?” She was obviously in a damper mood and Stevie knew why. And it had nothing to do with the fog.

“Gideon told you, didn’t he?” Stevie frowned, gritting her teeth. “He’s four years older than me and gossips like a junior high kid, I swear!”

“He’s not telling anyone else that you have a guest at your house. Why didn’t you tell me that the ghost stalker was the Headless Horseman ?” her mom hissed.

“Your heart for one.”

“My heart is fine. Please don’t start treating me like a fragile piece of glass.”

“I promise I won’t.” Stevie’s face softened, guilt washing over her. “Besides, I told you everything except his identity.”

With a sigh, her mom wrapped her arms around Stevie and gave her a tight hug. “You’re forgiven.”

“How did Dad take the news?” She wasn’t concerned about her dad since he’d never batted an eyelash with any paranormal dramatics that went on in Sleepy Hollow.

Her mom released Stevie and stepped back. “Your father takes things better than I do. Which is still surprising to me.”

Stevie nodded and passed her mom the package. “Kit’s not the demon rider everyone believes him to be. He’s in the car if you want to offer any words.”

“And you didn’t start off by saying he’s here with you?”

Stevie waved toward Kit to get out of the car, and the stubborn man just sat there.

He finally listened when she frantically waved again, sauntering toward her, the fog caressing his strong thighs.

She swallowed deeply at the way his muscles flexed against his shirt, his assured movements, and she whirled back to face her mom before heat crept into her cheeks.

Fawning over Kit in front of her mom was too awkward. But that wasn’t what she was doing—she was only admiring the human, or ghostly , anatomy.

Stevie’s mom cocked her head, her eyes narrowing at where she thought the Headless Horseman now stood, but she was like two feet off. “I swear, if you’re fucking with my family, you fuck with me, Horseman.”

He let out a low whistle. “I see where you inherited your way of threatening from, Pumpkin.”

Stevie rolled her gaze toward the ceiling. “He said he likes you.”

“You have to earn my trust before I return the favor,” she warned Kit.

“So, Mom, I do have a question before I leave,” Stevie started. “I was wondering if you’ve ever crossed paths with anything that might stick out about the Headless Horseman. Anything that the witches or the residents here might not know.”

Stevie’s mom tapped her index finger against her chin. “Have you gone to the old cemetery? And I mean the old one where it’s believed the Horseman was originally buried. Maybe some lingering ghosts have more information.”

Both an obvious and good suggestion. “Seems I have a little trip to make.”

“Be careful.” Her mom pursed her lips.

“Don’t worry, I have my handy-dandy, sword-wielding Horseman with me if I need to scare anyone off.”