Page 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Do you want me to spend the night?” Crystal asked.

“Given what just happened, I’m going to take you up on that offer,” I said. I wasn’t keen on spending the night by myself.

My nightgowns were more like shirts on Crystal, given how short I was compared to her, but I found one of my aunt’s robes for her. I grabbed a bag of Oreos and we settled in my bed—which was king size—and Miss P. joined us.

“Kind of like old times, isn’t it?” I asked.

“We haven’t had a sleepover since we were kids.” Crystal leaned back against the headboard. “You don’t mind crumbs in the bed?”

“Oreos are worth it. What time do you need to get up?” I asked.

“Tomorrow’s Friday, so eight-thirty. I don’t have to be at work until ten, since Karina’s opening tomorrow.”

“Karina?” I had met the barista. She was good at her job but seemed awfully young. Though now, at forty-three, anybody under twenty seemed young to me.

“Yeah, I’m training her to be my assistant manager,” Crystal said, grinning. “She’s a good worker, she has a five-year old and needs a steady job, and I could use someone to take over now and then. I haven’t had a real vacation in years.”

I let out a sigh. “She has a five year old? How old is Karina? I thought she was twenty.”

“Twenty-one. She’s somehow managed to make it on her own with a young child and I can’t overlook that. Her parents kicked her out when they found out she was pregnant, and she moved in with her boyfriend. He promptly cheated on her, then dumped her with nothing. The scumbag vanished, leaving her without any child support.”

“Fucking hell. Why do men have to do that? Creep knocks her up and then disappears. I hate that. Deadbeat dads don’t deserve to be fathers.” I frowned. “Good for you, for giving her a chance.”

Crystal bent her knees and wrapped her arms around them.

“Two years ago, on the day she asked for an application, she promised me that she’d prove herself. I gave her a chance, and she’s more than earned the promotion. She needs the extra money, I know that. I also hire her to work on my yard, for the same reason. She’s good with growing things. Anyway, so on Mondays and Fridays, I let her open up and organize things. In about a month, I’ll start letting her run the shop at least one day a week, to give myself a break.”

I yawned. “Hand me one of those cookies.” As I twisted it open and scraped the cream off with my teeth, Miss P. stretched out on her back. “I think we fixed the grid. Miss P. wouldn’t be rolling around like that if the entity was still here.”

I turned on the TV in my room and we snuggled under the covers to eat cookies and watch a late night movie about an beauty queen who hadn’t aged well— Sunset Boulevard . Crystal and I loved old movies and the glamour girls that had populated them. Finally, with Gloria Swanson quoting one of her most famous lines, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close- up,” we turned off the TV and fell asleep, tired out from the evening.

Morning came with slightly warmer temperatures. It was thirty-two, right at freezing. With snow expected this weekend, temps were going to still be chilly but we weren’t expecting sub-freezing weather the next few days.

Crystal and I woke up to the alarm.

She quickly dressed. “I’d better go home, take a shower, and change. Thanks for the movies and food.”

“Thanks for staying. Whatever that thing was really unnerved me last night. I’m going to do some research and see if I can figure out what might be going on. I don’t know if the entity was wandering past and noticed the hole in the grid, or if it deliberately broke through. Whatever the case, I’m not too keen on chancing a repeat. I need to figure out if the hole in the grid was there before it came by, or after.” I frowned. “I’d better call Astra and talk to her.”

“Good idea. I’ll see you later. I’m glad I could help,” Crystal said, waving as she shouldered her bag and headed for her car.

I watched as she pulled out of the driveway, then took a shower and fixed my makeup. As I dressed, Miss P. roamed around my feet, mewing. I followed her into the kitchen and fed her, hoping that was all she was asking for. Before I left for work, I took a walk around the house, feeling out the protection grid to make certain it was intact.

Once satisfied everything felt intact, I grabbed my phone and purse, and headed for the car. I’d buy my breakfast at Crystal’s.

Midnight Point was bustling by the time I got to the shop. Shoppers were out in full force, surprising given January usually involved cutting back to pay the holiday bills that always came in around this time.

As I stepped out of my car, I noticed that someone had shoveled the walkway in front of my shop. A shovel sat propped next to Kevin’s bridal salon, so I peeked in to thank him.

“Hey, whoever shoveled my walkway, thanks! I appreciate it,” I said. The shop was still empty, except for Devon, who was one of the consultants.

She winked at me. “No problem. I had to do ours, so I figured I might as well help you out.” She paused, then added, “Maisy, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said, coming fully into the shop. It was too cold to stand at the open door. “What is it?”

“I wondered if you offer readings on relationships? I have an issue I need advice on. If you don’t, I’d still appreciate your input, given you specialize in love and romance.” She sounded worried.

I stifled a laugh. I didn’t realize people thought of me as a romance expert, even though I supposed I was. Kind of. “Of course, I’ll try to help. I can’t guarantee an answer, but we can delve into it.” I pulled out my mini-planner. “When do you want to come in?”

“Can I come over this afternoon?” she asked.

“Sure. When do you have a break?”

“I get off work at 2:30, so how about then?” By the way Devon was fidgeting, I could tell that she was nervous.

“I can do that. I’ll pencil you in. My rates are—” I always felt awkward about reminding people that this was part of my job, that I wasn’t a vending machine for free psychic advice, but Devon put me at ease.

“I’m not worried—whatever they are, I can cover them,” she said. “I’ll see you at 2:30,” she added, turning toward the door as a young woman entered the shop. “I’ve got a client so…”

“I’ll see you then,” I said, heading out the door, past Devon’s client. She looked was both excited and worried. No doubt, she was hoping that she’d find her perfect wedding dress, but afraid that she wouldn’t.

Back at my shop, I dropped off my tote bag, then—carrying my wallet—headed to the Mocha Express. The rush had died down and I had to wait a moment before Karina could take my order. Crystal was nowhere in sight. She was probably in the back, taking care of business.

“Triple peppermint mocha, with a sausage and cheese muffin. Also, add a maple bar to that, please,” I said, handing her a ten and a five. “Keep the change.”

“Sure thing.” Karina adeptly pulled three shots of espresso for my mocha, then heated a sausage muffin. She bagged it separately from the maple bar, so the glaze wouldn’t melt, then handed me the cup and the bags.

I gave her a little wave, then returned to my shop. As I settled in behind the counter, I turned on my computer to find that I had several emails from several would-be clients. I noted down their names and numbers in a spread sheet, then sent out the preliminary information—my rates, what to expect, and what the next steps were if they were interested in proceeding.

After that, I ate my breakfast, then put in a call to Astra.

“Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?” Astra sounded positively joyful.

“I’m okay. You sound like you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I am. Teran and I are having as much fun as we can, given her back. I plan on staying for a few more days, then I’ll be home.”

I sighed. “Something happened last night that I need your input on. You know the protection grid around the house?”

Astra’s voice dropped. “Yes. What about it?”

“Either there was already a hole in it, or something punched through. Crystal was over for dinner, and we ended up coping with a visitor.” I told her about the mist-snake. “We got rid of it, but I’d like to know what it was and how it got in.”

Astra paused for a moment. Then, she said, “What happened directly before then?”

“We were just watching a movie. We ate dinner, but that shouldn’t have caused anything to happen.” I frowned. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it had to be random. Nothing else would make sense.

“I’ll talk to January. The company she works for—Conjure Ink—has a database of beasties. They specialize in hunting down freakshow things. If anybody’s heard of something like this, she should be able to find out. But remember, we reinforced those wards a month ago. You helped.”

“I know. So they should have been strong as steel.”

“Stronger. Neither you nor I are slouches in the magical department. I’ll talk to January, but this worries me. That something was strong enough to punch a hole in our wards and actually did , and that it threatened you… No, we shouldn’t take it lightly. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Don’t ditch Teran while she needs you,” I said.

“Tell you what. I’ll call my friend, Ona Sera. She’s one of the Strega, and they deal with this sort of crap all the time. I’ll set up a meeting. She can sense all sorts of things that live on the astral and etheric planes. It sounds to me like this wasn’t a ghost or spirit, but some sort of creature.” Astra sighed. “Teran went to the chiropractor yesterday, and she’s better today. I’ll see how things go by tonight.”

“Please, stay with her as long as she needs,” I said, even though I wished that she could come home. Astra made me feel safe in a way few other people did, probably because she had raised me for most of my life.

“Don’t worry, honey,” she said. “Everything will be all right. Talk to you later.”

I brought up the matchmaker’s database again and began searching on male star witches. There were five listed in the database for the entire peninsula. I added Moonshadow Bay to the search perimeters, and that brought the total to six.

I then pulled up a search engine and typed in Starlight Williams’s name, and the words “Whisper Hollow.” A number of links came up. Starlight Williams was known as the socialite over there, and she could make or break your reputation. I jotted down her phone number and address, and managed to find an email addy for her. I couldn’t very well email her asking her if she knew any male star witches looking for love—that would be weird. But having her information might prove helpful down the line.

I sorted through the six male star witches in the database, taking a closer look at their profiles. Three automatically went on the no-go list. The first was too young, the second was absolutely dying to have kids. The next three, I didn’t get any pings on—my mental alarms were silent. They might work out, but chances are they wouldn’t. I’d been wrong before, though those times were few and far between.

One, however, caught my eye. His name was Jamison Wanderson, and he lived in Port Ludlow, eighteen miles from Port Townsend. He was thirty-two, in Brenda’s age range, and he was five-nine and looked reasonably fit. I read his bio. He worked at home as a remote software tester, had two dogs and a cat, and he loved reading, hiking, and cooking.

The only red flag I could see was that he’d been on the database for over a year, and his profile had been tapped by a couple matchmakers over that time. I looked at the hidden notes.

There was a section for any matchmaker to leave a note about someone they actually tried to match. None of the clients could see it, if they somehow managed to break into the app, but those of us of us marriage brokers—to use a euphemism—who signed up for the service could access the section. I logged in, looking for any notes.

There was one note, from some matchmaker named Kindra, who said that he was too quiet and sedate for her client. Jamison didn’t seem to have much of an adventurer inside him. That didn’t really trigger off alarms so I jotted down his information.

“Well, he sounds pleasant enough,” I said. “I might as well take a flier on him.” I called Brenda. She answered first thing.

“Hey Brenda, this is Maisy. I have a potential date for you, and I was wondering if this was a good time to run his information by you.” I’d tell her about him, then contact him and—if he was interested—set up a meeting.

Brenda sounded exhausted. “Sure. But, before you start—I had another dream. It was about you. I wasn’t in it, this time. I dreamed that you were home—though I don’t know what your home looks like. Anyway, I dreamed that something was following you, and you went to sleep and it attacked you. I woke up and, once again, felt like something was watching me.”

One dream could be explained away as a one-off. Two dreams, in such a short time? Something had to be up.

“Would you like me to come over and examine your house? I can tell you about your possible date at the same time,” I said.

“Sure. I can’t tonight, but tomorrow I’ll be home in the afternoon. One o’clock all right?”

“One o’clock. And you live at…” I read her address off her file folder.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll see you at one tomorrow,” Brenda said.

I sat back, staring at my phone. Her dreams worried me. Even more so the fact that, in the second, I was the target. But I tried to shake off the feeling and I prepared myself for my reading with Devon.

At two-thirty, Devon appeared. She settled in at the table.

“Welcome to Clearwater Street, by the way. Your shop is so pretty,” she said, looking around. “Kevin said you used to live in Midnight Point?”

I nodded. “Yes. I left after I turned eighteen. I backpacked through Europe, then moved to Seattle and lived there until two months ago. Now, I’m back.” I gave her a bright smile. “You said you have a relationship question?”

She worried her lip. “Yeah. I think I’ve met someone who I knew in a past life. The chemistry was instantaneous. Now, I’m trying to walk away, but I can’t seem to let go.” She paused, then said, “You won’t tell anybody what I’m about to say, will you?”

I gave her a firm nod. “Right. If you ask, it’s confidential. What is it, Devon?”

“He makes me feel like crap about myself, but I can’t stay away from him. He won’t leave me alone and I just…I can’t walk away. I keep telling Marcus it’s over, but he always manages to draw me back in. I want to know why. Am I under a spell? Is it past life?” She hung her head, blushing. “I feel like such a bad person.”

I bit my tongue. I didn’t like abusers, and it sounded like Marcus was—at the least—psychologically abusive. But I didn’t want her to feel like I was judging her, because it was clear she needed help and I didn’t want to drive her away.

I held the cards, focusing on them. After a moment, I could see the nexus point over the cards. I reached out, opening the pathway for Devon to feed her question into them. The number five appeared, and I was ready.

Then, I handed them to Devon. “Shuffle them five times, please. Focus on your question, and tell me the exact way you phrased it in your mind, so I read the answer correctly.”

She took a deep breath and shuffled them five times, deftly interweaving the cards. She finished, then handed them back to me. I knocked three times on the back of them, then spread them out, curious to see what would come up.

The fourteen-card spread was telling.

“Oh dear…” I didn’t like what I saw. The eight of cups, the seven of cups, the prince of cups, the two of cups reversed, the five of swords, the Tower…

“What?” she said, leaning forward.

I took a deep breath, trying to ascertain whether she was the type of person who preferred her advice clear and blunt, or whether I should cushion it. I looked into her eyes and saw hope, but I also saw a clarity I seldom found in clients.

“He’s a psychic vampire, and he has you hooked,” I said. “I’m so sorry, but everything here tells me that he’s siphoning energy off of you. And when you move away, he’s got you glamoured to return to his side.”

Devon let out a long breath and touched her neck. “You mean, he’s an actual vampire?”

“Yes, in the sense that he feeds off your energy, though…” I leaned in, looking at her neck. “I don’t think he’s one of the traditional vampires, but I’m not entirely sure what he is. You have to ward against him. But first, we have to break the attachment, or he’ll continue to drain you until you have nothing left. He feeds on luck, too.” I found myself wanting to push her—to urge her to break this today. Something big was coming her way via this creep, and it wasn’t good.

She held my gaze for a moment. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

I nodded. “Yes, see the Tower? This indicates a shower of destruction in your life. You need to break this off now, Devon. And you need to ward up—to protect yourself. I assume he knows where you live?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice hesitant.

I wanted to urge her to move, but the truth was, if he lived here, he’d find her eventually. I thought about it for a moment. “All right, here’s what I want you to do. Rather than go home tonight, I want you to check into a hotel and don’t tell anybody about it. Meanwhile, I’m going to do some research and consult a friend. Give me Marcus’s address. Meanwhile, I’m going to call a friend over so we can figure out what to do. Marcus has planted cords into your third chakra and your sixth chakra.”

When someone corded into you, they hooked your energy and were able to draw off or to feed energy into you. Usually, cords were problematic. Some were fine—the ones our pets connected to us through, or the ones our loved ones connected to us that were more loving than draining. But most people who corded were looking for something—sympathy, help, or even the misery loves company mindset. And then, there were the psychic vampires, seeking life force and energy.

“Do you have any pets at home?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave them to his wrath, once he figured out she had vanished.

Devon shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She sighed. “I feel overwhelmed.”

“I know you do,” I said. “But your life depends on listening to me, and I’m not exaggerating. His energy is swirling around you right now. When we break that link, he’s going to be furious.” I sighed, sitting back in my chair. I never intended to be doing something like this, but Devon needed me. If Astra was home, she could help. But since she wasn’t, I’d have to handle this myself.

Devon leaned her elbows on the desk and buried her face in her hands. “I thought it was all too strange, but I love him,” she said, looking up, tears streaming down her face.

“I know you do, but honey…he doesn’t love you. He’s feeding off of you.” I thought about it for a moment, then decided to ask Crystal for her ideas. “I’m calling in backup.”

Devon nodded as I texted Crystal and asked her to come over. I wasn’t sure what I planned on doing about Marcus, but I had to do something . And with that, I decided to text Astra, too, asking her to come home as soon as possible.