Freaky Witches (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 7) Read online

  Freaky Witches

  A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book Seven

  Amanda M. Lee

  WinchesterShaw Publications

  Copyright © 2019 by Amanda M. Lee

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  17. Seventeen

  18. Eighteen

  19. Nineteen

  20. Twenty

  21. Twenty-One

  22. Twenty-Two

  23. Twenty-Three

  24. Twenty-Four

  25. Twenty-Five

  26. Twenty-Six

  27. Twenty-Seven

  28. Twenty-Eight

  29. Twenty-Nine

  30. Thirty

  Mailing List

  About the Author

  Books by Amanda M. Lee

  1

  One

  “So ... witches?”

  My boyfriend Kade Denton slid me a sidelong look as he gritted his teeth and gripped the truck’s steering wheel more tightly. A kaleidoscope of emotions flitted through his eyes, and I could feel the nervous energy practically oozing from every pore.

  “Witches aren’t so bad,” I said hurriedly. “Besides, I’m not sure if we’re dealing with real witches or fake ones. The information has been hard to pin down because the stories are really … out there.”

  He flicked his eyes back to the rather rough expressway we were traversing — apparently Michigan had continuous problems with roads — and shifted his hands to get a better grip. “I’m pretty sure I don’t like witches.”

  He said the words with such authority that I couldn’t help but smile. “And what witches do you know?” I asked gently.

  “Well ... there’s the witch who tried to kill us by making living dolls. If I remember correctly, she had fake dolls that were murderous, too. There’re the witches who almost killed you in Utah. Oh, and the witches who turned that poor woman into a wendigo and almost killed us two weeks ago.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw and I knew that was the instance really bothering him. I wasn’t sure how to soothe his obviously frazzled nerves.

  “Technically the people in Utah weren’t really witches,” I said finally. “That was a whole big thing that’s better left in the past because we’re unlikely to fight that sort of monster again.”

  “And the woman who sent the living dolls after us?”

  “She was definitely a witch, but she had other things going on, too. I don’t think you have to worry about living dolls going after us in Michigan.”

  “You said it’s a town full of witches,” Kade argued. “There were several witches in the last town — and they spanned generations — and you saw what happened.”

  Ah. Now we were getting to the heart of the matter. “I did see what happened,” I confirmed, allowing my gaze to drift out the passenger-side window. The foliage was thick and lush in this part of northern Lower Michigan. We were about to turn off the freeway and point ourselves west, heading for a small town called Hemlock Cove, but Kade’s mind was clearly still in northern California.

  In some ways, my mind was back there, too, with a woman who was supposedly a monster. She wasn’t, though. She’d managed to maintain a sense of self despite the atrocious things done to her. In the end, it was the purported humans who moved on us — and paid the price — while the monster fought to save the innocent. It was a humbling experience, and I was still dreaming about the final battle.

  As for Kade, his aversion to the situation in Eureka was for completely different reasons. He was upset because he’d finally used magic he didn’t know he had. He was the son of a powerful mage, so I always thought it was inevitable that Kade would manifest. The way his father Max watched him made me believe he felt the same way. Kade, however, didn’t consider it most of the time. Sure, the possibility was always there, but he chose to believe he wasn’t magical because nothing had ever popped up.

  And me, Poet Parker, the resident fortune teller for Mystic Caravan Circus, I believed it was probably inevitable ... although I couldn’t tell him that because he was still freaking out about using his magic to save us during a tense standoff almost two weeks earlier.

  I would’ve thought he’d adjust to the realization relatively quickly. I expected a few days – maybe even a full week – of moping and whining. The fact that he was still struggling two weeks later, turning shrill whenever one of our co-workers brought up the subject, didn’t leave me feeling warm and gooey.

  “Kade ... .” I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but the notion of babbling until I made him feel better immediately died when he shot me a look.

  “I don’t need constant hand-holding,” he said as he pulled off the expressway and immediately started lowering his speed as we crested a hill and moved into Grayling, Michigan. It was a mid-sized town for this area (which wasn’t saying much), although we were told that Gaylord (one town over) had better stores to choose from. The shopping would have to wait until after we’d unpacked in our new digs.

  “I thought you liked holding my hand,” I teased, instinctively reaching over and grabbing the hand resting on his thigh. Something sparked between us, as it always did, and I saw him relax a bit at the tactile comfort offered.

  “I like holding your hand ... and other stuff,” he teased, his eyes lighting with mirth as I grinned. “I just ... don’t know that I want to talk about this right now.”

  He’d been saying that for the better part of two weeks as we made our way across the country with a caravan of circus workers and equipment. I’d let him get away with it until this point. However, I was no longer sure coddling him was the right move.

  “Maybe I’m not going to give you a choice,” I said finally.

  Kade arched an eyebrow. “And what do you mean by that?”

  “I’m worried,” I replied simply. “You’re one of my favorite people in the world, and I’m worried. You’ve been withdrawn since it happened, and it’s starting to give me a complex. If you don’t want to be with me any longer ... or here with us ... .” I trailed off, my heart aching.

  “Don’t you ever think that,” Kade hissed, his eyes going dark. Thankfully we were stopped at a light so he could ignore traffic to his heart’s content. “Is that what you think? I don’t want to leave. Not you or the circus, but especially not you. Don’t think that.”

  I held my hands up in surrender. “Okay. I’m sorry.” I turned my attention back to the window as the truck started moving again. I could feel him watching me, but couldn’t bring myself to turn back and face him.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” he said quietly, waiting until we’d moved past the town limits to speak again. “I didn’t mean to shut you out or anything. I’ve been trying to get a feeling for what’s going on.”

  “And you don’t like it,” I surmised.

  “I’m afraid of it,” he clarified, taking me by surprise. “When it happened ... when the magic flared to life ... it was like losing myself. You know what a control freak I am.
I don’t like losing myself.”

  Despite the dour curtain hanging over the truck, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “You are a bit of a control freak.”

  He reached for the hand I’d pulled back a few minutes earlier and gripped it tightly. “I’m sorry if I’ve been hurting you. That was not my intention. I just ... can’t wrap my head around this.”

  And that’s what worried me most. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to wrap your head around it if you don’t talk about it,” I said quietly. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be with me. I’m not a mage, so I don’t understand everything you’re going through. Max understands. Maybe you should talk to him.”

  Kade slid me a sidelong look, his fingers remaining linked with mine. “I’m not ready yet. I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I’m simply not ready.”

  I absently scratched my cheek as I regarded his strong profile. He was ridiculously handsome, like, criminally so. He had jaw bones that looked as if they were carved from marble and eyes that made me go weak in the knees (although I would never admit that to anyone, least of all him). Most importantly, he also had a good heart.

  “I don’t want to push you,” I said finally. “That’s not my intention. It’s just ... I don’t like feeling separate from you.”

  He flinched at the words. “I didn’t realize I was pushing you away that hard. I’ll do better.”

  “I don’t want you to react in a way that’s not natural for you.”

  “I’ll do better.” He was firm. “I’ve been afraid to touch you at night when we sleep.” It was as if he was reading my mind. We shared a trailer, one his father bought for us as something of a bribe. It was beautiful ... and we absolutely loved it for the first few nights we got to enjoy it. Since then, however, he’d been sleeping as far away from me as possible. It was a small crack in the foundation of our relationship, but I worried it would turn into a crevasse.

  “If you don’t want to share a bed ... .”

  “Don’t say that.” Agitation rolled off Kade’s tongue hot and fast. “I do. I’m just afraid that my hands are going to catch fire again in my sleep and I’ll accidentally burn you or something.”

  He was so earnest I knew it was mean to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself. The chuckle that escaped my throat was low and husky. The accompanying glare from him was cold.

  “I’m sorry.” I held up my hands. “I’m not laughing at you.”

  “It sounded like you were laughing at me.”

  “I just ... was laughing at the situation,” I clarified, and meant it. “I would probably do the same thing out of fear because it would kill me to hurt you. The thing is, you’ve had this power inside you the entire time. You’ve never hurt me. In fact, the power only manifested because you wanted to protect me.

  “I know you don’t believe it, perhaps can’t believe it, but you don’t have it in you to hurt me,” I continued. “You’re going to be okay. But you need to talk about it. And you need to practice.”

  “Maybe I don’t want it to ever happen again,” Kade challenged. “Have you ever considered that?”

  “Yes.” I nodded without hesitation. “I’m sure that’s true. I don’t think you’ll be able to stop it, though. Whenever one of us gets in trouble, the magic will be whispering in your ear to get loose and you’ll let it loose because you’re a hero.”

  “I don’t feel like a hero.”

  I smirked at his discomfort. “You’re my hero and you did a good job with the Falk ghosts. You have to trust yourself. I trust you. Everyone else trusts you. You’re the only one who doesn’t trust what’s building inside. Maybe you should figure out why that is.”

  He let loose a heavy sigh. “If I promise to think about it, can we let it go for a little bit? I just need to think.”

  “Sure.” I took pity on him and massaged the palm of his hand. I needed to change the subject, for his benefit as well as my own. “Have you ever been to Michigan?”

  Relieved that we could talk about something else, Kade relaxed. “No. I’ve heard good things about it. You’ve been here before, right? You grew up here.”

  “Never to this part of the state,” I replied, my eyes busy as the trees grew larger. “I’ve been to the Detroit area and even mid-Michigan. I’ve never been this far north.”

  “And why are we going to a new location?”

  “A place called Hemlock Cove is having a huge festival,” I replied. “I guess they always have festivals. I saw their schedule, in fact, and I think they have like forty-two a year.”

  Kade snickered. “That’s a lot of festivals when you consider there are only fifty-two weeks in a year.”

  “I know, but apparently that’s their shtick. My understanding is that the town used to be called Walkerville. Then, a few years ago, they changed the name and rebranded as a paranormal vacation destination.”

  Kade was obviously dubious because his eyebrows hopped. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “They’re a witch town,” I explained. “Everyone in town pretends to be witches. I guess they have a cauldron store ... and themed bakeries ... and other magic stores. Our scout warned me specifically to stay away from the porcelain unicorn lady.”

  “Is that a euphemism for something?”

  “No. Apparently there’s a woman who sells nothing but porcelain unicorns. She hired us, though, so I don’t think I’ll be able to stay away from her.”

  “That’s kind of a bummer.”

  “Isn’t it, though?” I grinned at him, something he returned, and then turned back to the packet of information I’d collected for this job. “The thing is, we’ve heard rumblings about this area for years. While the town is mostly filled with humans pretending to be witches, supposedly there is a group of women who are real witches pretending to be normal humans pretending to be witches.”

  It took Kade a moment to follow my line of thinking. “That’s a little ... .”

  “Funny?” I supplied for him.

  “I was going to say weird.”

  “I think it’s funny.” I leaned back in my seat and stretched out my legs. “How much longer?”

  “About twenty minutes. You have plenty of time to finish telling me about the real witches.”

  “I don’t know much about them,” I admitted. “I only know the rumors. Supposedly some very powerful magic has been wielded in this area, and it didn’t start recently. If there are real witches here, this has been their home for a long time. Max said he’s been hearing about it for, like, fifty years.”

  “So ... you think it’s true that there are real witches?”

  “I don’t see why not.” I lifted my eyes to the vista. “This is a beautiful area. It’s remote, though. Witches could hide here for a long time without discovery.”

  “If you’ve heard the whispers, then they’re clearly not avoiding discovery.”

  “Yes, but we’re a unique magical convergence,” I explained. “We hear more than normal people.”

  Kade was thoughtful as he slid me a look. “You’re excited about this, aren’t you? You’re not worried in the least that we’re going to run into real witches — just like the last bunch — and have to fight our way free.”

  “We’re monster hunters,” I reminded him, opting for pragmatism. “We fight monsters. If the witches here are monsters, then we’ll fight them. It’s as simple as that.”

  “It doesn’t feel simple to me,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Not all witches are monsters,” I said softly. “There are more good witches than bad. In fact, the vast majority of witches are really hippie chicks with a nature fetish. It’s rare to find a witch with real power.”

  “Do you think we will here?”

  It was obvious that he was nervous. I could’ve lied to make him feel better, but that didn’t seem fair. “I definitely feel magic here,” I said finally, my heart giving a little lurch as his lips twisted. “It doesn’t feel like bad magic, though.” />
  “So you say.” Kade was officially grouchy. “I don’t want to be attacked by witches again. Why can’t we fight something else? This is Michigan. It seems to me, with all the Bigfoot legends, that we should be fighting shifters. Why can’t we fight shifters?”

  I smiled. “Shifters are as dangerous as witches. Sometimes they’re even more dangerous, especially if you manage to stumble over a pack.”

  “Well ... I wouldn’t know. It seems we’re most often taking on witches.”

  “I think that’s perception.” I dropped the packet of information on the floor and unlatched my seatbelt so I could slide over the middle cushion and snuggle closer to him. If Kade was surprised at my sudden appearance at his side, he didn’t show it. “I’m here to help if you need me.” I was quiet as I rested my cheek against his shoulder. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

  He sighed. The sound was long and drawn out, as if he was suffering and it took everything he had to keep from exploding. I expected him to yell, or at least pull a Bossy McBossypants and tell me to fasten my seatbelt because it wasn’t safe to drive without one. Instead, he kissed my forehead three times in rapid succession.

  “We’ll get through this,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been paying enough attention to you.”

  I balked. “That is not what I was saying. I don’t need attention.”

  He chuckled at my outrage. “I guess I’m not the only one with buttons to push.”

  “Ha, ha.” I poked his side. “I just want you to know you can talk to me.”