spies and spells 01 - spies and spells (13 page)

“Boyfriend?” My brows rose. “You can’t come around here expecting my family and friends to think you are my boyfriend. Dating. Got it?”

Mick’s face split into a wide grin.

“Now, come by the diner around ten a.m.” I didn’t find humor in his cute smile, and I couldn’t forget how his chest felt. It was tattooed on my mind. “It gives me time to get the breakfast rush out and start getting ready for the lunch crowd. We can go over what my role in the Mystic Couture thing will be.” I walked over to the large wooden front door. The leaded stained glass had little signs of my heritage embedded in it.

Mick noticed.

“Witch hat. Black cat.” He pointed to each glass picture. “Hmm.” His lips pressed together like he was contemplating something. “Yeah. I’ll be there at ten.”

“Wait!” Auntie Meme screamed, springing from the kitchen and rushing down the hall. She waved something in her hand. “I’ve got something for you to put on that big boo-boo of yours.”

“Oh no you don’t.” I shook my head with my arms extended out in front of me trying to stop her. “He has doctors, not home remedies.” I desperately tried to fend her off, but no one can keep Auntie Meme away. Not even SKUL.

“Oh honey, you need more than modern medicine. Maggie can tell you, I make good stuff.” She by-passed me, grabbed Mick’s hand and planted the round glass potion bottle in his hand. “Pour this on your side and use the cork to spread it. You will be fixed up in no time.”

Auntie Meme retreated back to the kitchen.

Mick inspected the bottle a little more closely.
Please don’t ask me any questions,
I begged inside my head. Normally I would have put a little no-questions-asked spell on someone but it seemed my colliding world problem was helping my spells bounce off Mick.

“Cute.” Mick found humor in the situation. He held the bottle up in the air. “She’s playing the part well.” He referred to her outfit.

“You should try it. She and Mom grow all their herbs in the garden and make the best home remedies.” I opened the door, rushing him hastily out the door. “See you tomorrow.” I shut the door and planted my back up against it wondering what the hell I was going to do.

Chapter Thirteen

The time alone with my back planted against the door wasn’t long enough to clear my head. Auntie Meme and her Spell Circle gathered in the foyer with all their eyes focused solely on me.

“Not tonight Abram.” Mom ushered Abram out the front door and shut it before he could protest.

“Maggie isn’t going to tell Mick anything about this.” I rolled my finger in a circle in the air.

The Spell Circle gathered around me.

“Auntie Meme?” I questioned what they were doing. Mom and Lilith gathered in the circle. They all held hands with me in the middle. “I don’t want any part in this.”

I might not have wanted any part of it, but what I wanted didn’t count. They were in charge and going to make sure I was able to merge the two worlds whether I wanted them to combine or not.

“Boom, cha, ka, la, ka. Boom, cha, ka, la, ka.” Auntie Meme, Mom, Lilith, and the Spell Circle chanted with pointy hats on top of their heads. “Boom, cha, ka, la, ka. Boom, cha, ka, la, ka.” Auntie Meme and Lilith had gotten into a good groove.

Mom broke the circle and grabbed me by the elbow; I went along with it. There was no sense in trying to break free of them.

“The Witchy Hour is among us,” Mom let go of my arm and lifted her hands into the air. All the members of the Spell Circle followed suit.

“The Witchy Hour?” I asked as though it was some sort of joke. “It’s a real ritual?”

“Yes. When the two worlds begin to collide for one of us, that is your fate. Your destiny. Your Witchy Hour.” Mom’s words made me a little squirmy and made me realize this was a big deal among our world.

She led me over to the edge of the circle, facing the kitchen.

Everyone continued to chant following behind us. Mom guided me through our old brownstone and opened the forbidden door. The basement.

I was never allowed to go to the basement. As a child, I was content with Mom’s explanation of monsters and scary things, but as I got older and understood I wasn’t like all the other people who lived in Louisville, I learned the basement was where all the secrets were held for our Coven.

 “Boom, cha, ka, la, ka. Boom, cha, ka, la, ka.” Lilith was much louder than Auntie Meme.

“Do you believe in magic?” Mom whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, taking each step with deliberate pause between each. “You have to answer the questions out loud.”

“Yes,” I said trying to take in all the surroundings.

Twinkling lights swung down from the ceiling, curled around the banister, and dangled over each step illuminating our way. 

“Do you believe you posses the power, the love, and the intuition to know when to use your magic for good and never evil?” Mystery lingered in Mom’s tone.

“Yes,” I whispered.

We made it to the final step where it narrowed into a cobblestone walkway, not a big basement as I had always envisioned it to be. We walked in a single-file line with Mom leading the way. The twinkling lights were long gone and gas-lit sconces were fixed on each side of the wall and spaced three feet apart.

“Boom, cha, ka, la, ka.” The chanting was almost down to a whisper.

My insides twirled in a knot. Excitement flowed through my veins. I knew I was in safe hands, but the fear of the unknown sent fright deep in my soul. The anticipation of my life really starting was almost too much to bear.

We stopped at the end of the corridor. A wooden door with black hardware and a circular stained glass window took up the entire center of the door. Muted light flowed through causing the three-stars design in the stained glass to cast a shadow in the corridor where we stood. The designs matched the designs on Lilith’s and Auntie Meme’s pointy hats.

“This is our family crest.” Mom tapped the window. She put her finger on the first star. “The first star represents family. The second star represents honor to the Coven. The third star represents honor to thyself.”

I’m not sure who it was, but either Auntie Meme or Lilith wrapped a cape around my shoulders and placed a hat on my head. I looked down and secretly wished I had on my cute Prada snakeskin skinny pants, black high heels and ruffled black tee for the occasion and maybe a swipe of the Mystic Couture lipstick.

“Anytime you come into the sacred ritual room, you have to wear your cape and your hat.” Mom made a quick rap in the door, followed by a knuckle drag down the door. “Two short, one long.” She demonstrated again.

“Dang,” I joked. “I wish I had a notebook to write all this stuff down.”

Mom’s eyes lowered. Her face set. “This is not a joke. Everything to you is and that is why I had wanted to ask the Coven to give you leniency on how you have brought the two worlds into your life.”

“I’m very serious about the Witchy Hour. And I’m sorry I joked.”

Mom sucked in a breath and the peanut gallery behind me let out big sighs.

“Now you do it.” Mom stepped beside me and nodded toward the door.

I took one step forward in my bare feet. The cold and dampness from the cobblestone radiated through my feet, sending chill bumps up my legs. I lifted my right arm from under the cape and folded my hand into a fist. I raised it to the door.

“Two short.” I knocked “One long.” I dragged my fist down the door and magically it opened in front of my eyes, leaving my fist dangling in mid-air.

There was a large gold chandelier hanging in the center of a red room with at least one hundred red candles burning, little puffs of smoke dotting off the wicks. A circular area rug with the Coven crest was strategically placed in the middle with a large black cauldron sitting on top of it.

Someone with a hood stood over the cauldron slowly stirring the frothy liquid with a large wooden oar.

“We have come to the Witchy Hour of Maggie Park.” Mom stepped up to the cauldron. “She has accepted her life heritage and entered into the Coven willingly.”

Mom took a step back with Auntie Meme and Lilith. All of them had their faces down to the ground and their hands clasped in front of them.

“Is this true? Have you accepted with glittering eyes your heart’s desire to use your powers for good and not for evil?” The shrill voice boomed from under the hood.

“Yes.” I wasn’t sure what to say.

“And you will use your familiar to protect and serve the family’s needs?” she asked.

“Pixie?” I cocked a brow, slightly turned my body toward Mom and looked at her. She nodded her head. “Um. . .yeah,” I agreed to something I knew nothing about.

The woman let go of the wooden oar and lifted the hood.

“Is this a joke?” My jaw dropped when I saw Pixie slip the hood to rest on her back.

“Maggie,” Mom scolded me. “This is why I said she wasn’t ready.” Mom threw her hands in the air.

“I’m ready.” I rolled my eyes and looked at Pixie.

“Maggie, this is serious.” Pixie’s face was stern. It was hard to take her serious with her small stature and buzz cut glistening under the chandelier.

“We are here tonight to give Maggie her full powers as the two worlds collide. Who among us will guide her, protect her, and teach her the family’s expectations of the three stars we bear on our crest?”

“I have taken the oath of Guardian.” Auntie Meme stepped up next to me.

“As it is seen, Meme Park is hereby appointed the Guardian of Maggie Park.” Pixie used the oar to stir the pot one last time before she brought it out of the mixture.

On the end was a ladle spoon with a cup full of the frothy mix. A fog swirled over top it. In silence, I watched Pixie offer the ladle to Auntie Meme. She cupped her hands around the bowl. She and Pixie together tipped the ladle up to her mouth and let the green liquid slide in.

“Abrado, abrada.” Pixie waved her hands over top Auntie Meme’s head. “Let the Guardian feel the need of Maggie in time of need and carry her through. Ha!” She clapped her hands together and Auntie Meme hopped on one foot, as did Mom and Lilith.

This is ridiculous.
I couldn’t help but find the entire ritual stupid and silly.

The three of them along with the other members of the Spell Circle gathered around me and did a little dance along with some chanting. I was feeling nothing. No different. No mysterious magical powers. Just tired.

Chapter Fourteen

“You look tired,” Lilith brushed past me, whispering in my ear as I made my way down the counter of The Brew filling the coffee cups of the last of the morning breakfast rush.

“I am.” I groaned thinking about the ritual Auntie Meme and her little circle of friends performed on me. “Why haven’t you had your Witchy Hour yet?” I asked.

“Who knows?” She shrugged. She patted her finger under my eyes. “You should put on your Mystic Couture lips. It’ll give you a little pop to your pooped.”

“I don’t have it anymore,” I grumbled, swiping the dirty dishes from customers who had just left and sliding the tip in the front of my apron. If I would’ve known my life’s journey had to do with Mick, I would’ve kept the makeup because God knew it was the only time I was probably ever going to get my hands on the pricey stuff.

“What?” Lilith’s head jerked, almost snapping off her shoulders. “What did you do with it?” Lilith faced me with crossed arms, leaning her hip against the counter’s edge. “I would have taken it if you didn’t want it.”

“Long story, but it’s back at the Mystic Couture warehouse.” There was no way I was going to tell her how I saw the informant get shot and that was how Mick got the wound on his side.

“Crap.” She brushed her hand down her black hair, batting down any static electricity. There was concern in her eyes. “I found the address on my floor. It must’ve fallen out of the box.” She shrugged. “Now they won’t know where the package goes.” Her lips smashed together in an awkward way.

“Address?” My heart stopped; my witchy sense kicked in. I grabbed her arm, coming nose to nose with her. “What address?”

As far as I knew, the package was supposed to be dropped off by the informant to Mick. Why would there be an address in there?

“Ouch.” Lilith curled her nose, jerking away from me. “That makeup has made you nuts.” She twirled her finger around her ear. “Nuts!” she yelled backing away.

“What’s going on out here?” Auntie Meme appeared through the pass way, her black hair dusted with flour, a scowl on her face.

“Nothing.” I smiled and went back to wiping down the counter, eyeballing Lilith when she walked in front of me. “I want the address,” I mouthed to her.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes like I was bothering her when she was the one who had stolen the package from me.

The bell over the diner door dinged.

Mick.

His ruggedly handsome looks took my breath away, or it could’ve been the fact that the realization of me helping him hit me. Nah. It was him. The black t-shirt fit perfectly, drawing my eyes down in a triangle from his broad shoulders to his slim waist. His shirt was neatly tucked into his blue jeans. He had shaved the five o’clock shadow and his black hair was neatly gelled to the side, leaving a hint of a widow’s peak. His blue eyes bore into me with a silent expectation.

My mouth opened to start to greet him, as we did all the customers, he was one exception, then I stopped. My head tilted, my eyes closed and I waited for the inner earthquake to rattle and roll inside me.

Nothing.

“Are you okay?” Auntie Meme popped her head out of the kitchen pass through. Her red hair was sticking up like a porcupine. She looked over my shoulder to Mick, then back to me, cocked a brow and disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Actually.” I smiled when I realized there was not a shake or tremor. “I’m great.”

“No inner demons?” Auntie Meme questioned as though she knew what I had been going through, but didn’t say anything. It would be just like her to make me figure things out on my own. I would have appreciated a warning. After all, she was supposed to be my Guardian.