Party Hexed: Cozy Witch Mystery (Witches of Winterfield Book 4) Read online

  Party Hexed

  by

  Sara Bourgeois

  One

  “So, will you marry me or not?” Ben asked still down on one knee.

  “I want to see the goods first,” Belladonna said with a playfully wicked smile splayed across her face.

  “Fine, we’ll do it your way,” Ben said and stood up.

  “That’s something you’ll need to get used to if you’re going to be a Nightshade,” Bella said as she took his hand and started towards the store.

  “Let me guess, Nightshade women don’t take their husband’s name.”

  The look Belladonna shot at Ben was all the answer he needed. She pulled him along since he was walking a little too slowly, and her enthusiasm to get inside the store warmed his heart.

  Belladonna gasped when they walked through the doors. The glass jewelry cases and soft red lighting gave the entire place a mystical feel. Along the back wall of the shop, three salespeople waited with an array of black velvet lined cases out on the glass.

  Bella could see that the velvet backing had a selection of rings, bands, and loose stones. The light caught the gems just right, and she felt almost hypnotized by their beauty.

  The man in the center stayed put, but the other two salespeople came out from behind the glass cabinets to greet Belladonna. One had a glass of Champagne, and the other had a tray of hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries.

  “Belladonna, our most honored guest, please come in.” The man behind the counter beckoned.

  “Baby, are you okay. I think you’re drooling.” Ben joked as Belladonna practically drifted towards the cases.

  “Uh huh.” She said without peeling her eyes from the jewels in front of her.

  Her eyes darted from diamond to diamond, but while they were exquisite, none of them were the right ones. Bella took a bite of her first strawberry and a long swig of the Champagne, and she resolved to find the right ring. It would, after all, be the one piece of jewelry that she’d wear for the rest of her life.

  That’s when it hit Belladonna. The Jinn magic was hypnotizing here. A knot of panic rose into her throat. Was this why she cared so much for Ben?

  Her fingers had been resting lightly on the cold glass as she leaned over and studied the gemstones before her, but Belladonna suddenly pulled back as if the cases were on fire. The room started to spin around her at the same time that the walls began closing in.

  “Are you okay, Honey?” Ben’s hand on her shoulder helped bring Bella back down.

  “I don’t think I can do this.” She stammers so quietly Ben can barely make out her words.

  Belladonna turns to face Ben, and as she does, he brings his other hand up to hold her shoulder. She started to feel the world go out from underneath her feet, but Ben was there to hold her up.

  She felt some of her strength returning, but just as the world starts to go right again, Belladonna is sucked into a vision. Suddenly Bella was standing in the middle of a living room she doesn’t recognize. She rubs her eyes and looks around.

  That’s when it occured to her that this was her living room, but it’d been redecorated. The room she stood in used to be the formal living room in her home, but it was transformed into something a great deal comfier. Before she thought too much about it, the sound of children laughing and running filled her ears.

  A little boy and girl came running down the stairs. It’s obvious that the girl is older and that the boy was her little brother, and that she was teasing him relentlessly as they chased each other through the house.

  Then came the biggest surprise of all. Running behind the two children is none other than Ben. Belladonna told them to stop running in the house, but it became apparent that she was not part of this vision. She could see everything that went on, but Ben and the children could not hear her.

  Belladonna took a good long look at the children. She was surprised to see that the little girl looked almost just like her when she was a child. The little boy, on the other hand, had Ben’s eyes and her nose. He even had that same devilish twinkle in his eyes that she remembered seeing in Granny Pepper’s eyes when she was still alive.

  Bella quickly realized that she was in the middle of the vision of her future. Seeing Ben and the children made her heart swell so much that it felt like it would burst from her chest.

  She wanted so much to reach out and touch them or be able to pull them into her arms. The vision of Ben looked up at her, and for a moment, Belladonna swore he could see her.

  It was that very second she knew what she had to do. Belladonna shook her head as she tried to free herself from the vision, and she found herself standing back in the middle of the jewelry store again.

  Ben was holding her shoulders, and he had a terrified expression on his face. Belladonna realized right away that her hesitation was heartbreaking for Ben, and that was something she vowed never to do again.

  "Belladonna are you okay? Bella, baby, please talk to me," Ben pleaded.

  “I’m okay. I’m sorry. I just got a little bit overwhelmed. Let’s look at more rings. I know the perfect one is here somewhere." Belladonna said with a smile.

  She turned back to the cases and continued searching. The right ring still wouldn’t appear for her, but she was determined. After a few minutes, Belladonna realized she couldn’t find the right ring because the ring didn’t matter.

  All she wanted was to marry Ben. Getting caught up in the details was one of the things that caused her panic. Any of these rings would have been perfect as long as it meant she got to marry the man she loved.

  Just as she was about to close her eyes and point at any ring, a saleswoman stepped out from the back room. She was wearing a red skirt suit, and her hair was done up in a high ponytail. Belladonna couldn’t help but think that she looked like a classy, suited genie.

  In her hands, was one small, black velvet ring box. Every step the woman took made it look as if she were floating towards Belladonna. She stopped directly in front of Bella and opened the box. A broad, knowing smile crept across the saleswoman’s face.

  Belladonna’s face lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July when she laid eyes on that particular ring. Somehow, this Jinn knew exactly what Bella wanted and needed.

  “I think we’ve got a winner," said the saleswoman.

  The woman snapped the tiny box closed and handed it to Ben. All of the salespeople quickly and quietly made their way into the back room and left Benjamin and Belladonna all alone.

  Ben sank down to one knee again and opened the ring box. Belladonna rubbed her hands together with anticipation because she was finally starting to feel excited about the prospect of getting married.

  “Belladonna Nightshade, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife," Ben asked.

  He sounded a little choked up, and Belladonna was barely containing happy tears as well. Ben took the ring out of the box and held it out to her. Bella started to nod her head yes before she could even get the words out, so Ben began to slip the ring onto her finger.

  “Yes." She said breathlessly.

  It was then the Belladonna stopped and took a good long look at the ring on her finger. The oval cut pink diamond was haloed by what appeared to be a dozen smaller diamonds. The ring caught the lights in the jewelry store, but it also seemed to sparkle from within.

  Ben stood up and pulled Belladonna into his arms. He never felt so happy in his entire life. Somehow they both knew that this was the beginning of something very special.

  Their reverie was short-lived, however, because the woman who showed Belladonna the ring r
eappeared from the back room. She had a Cheshire cat-like smile on her face, and that’s when Bella remembered that there is always a price to pay when it came to the Jinn.

  “Now for the matter of the bill sir," said the Jinn saleswoman. “How will you be settling your account, sir?"

  “Credit card please.” Responded Ben as he reached for his wallet.

  The saleswoman made her way over to a cash register in the back of the store. Ben crossed the store as well and met her at the counter. The two of them spoke in hushed tones that Belladonna could not overhear, but it was okay because she really didn’t want to hear what they said.

  When the matter of paying for the ring was settled, Ben rejoined Belladonna at the case where she was quickly trying to finish up the chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. There were only a couple of them left, and Bella had a mind to eat them all.

  “Hey, save one of those for me," Ben teased.

  “Not on your life Mr. Carmichael," Belladonna said completely seriously.

  He made an adorable pouty face, and Bella relented. She made it quite clear with her eyes, though, that if he took more than one, it would be the end of him.

  Belladonna looked around the store, and it looked abandoned. Apparently, now that the sale was completed, the jinn had no more interest in them.

  Ben took Belladonna’s hand, and led her out of the store. Bella looked up at the sky wanting to get a glimpse of the mother moon, but she was alarmed by what she saw. The celestial body was tinted the same color as the ring. Most people would consider it beautiful, but Bella knew it was a bad omen.

  “Blood on the Moon," Bella whispered.

  “You’re not thinking of taking back your answer are you?" Ben asked nervously.

  “I know I’m important, but I don’t think I’m the center of the universe. It’s a bad omen, but I don’t believe that it’s about our impending marriage.” Belladonna said, and gave Ben’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “What do you think it is?" Ben asked as he opened the car door for Bella.

  “I have no idea, but it can’t be good."

  Two

  The first place Belladonna wanted to go was to see Muri and Luke. Muri looked a little confused when Bella rang the doorbell.

  “What are you guys doing here?" Murielle asked.

  “Oh my God! Ben asked me to marry him!” Belladonna gushed. ‘And, I said yes! We’re getting married. Ben and I are going to be a family. We’re all going to be a family.”

  The squeals of delight were enough to wake up any of the neighbors that were sleeping. The witches embraced, and Belladonna squeezed her friend into a crushing hug. They did that half jumping up and down and half spinning thing that people do when they are so excited they can barely stand it.

  “Belladonna, that such fantastic news. Luke and I are leaving for our honeymoon in the morning, and I won’t get to celebrate with you until we get back. I want to throw you guys a party right now." Murielle said as they pulled apart.

  “It’s okay. I can wait an entire week. We’ll do something when you get back. I’ll let you throw me the grandest engagement party that Winterfield and the Nightshade witches have ever seen." Belladonna said.

  “You guys should come in right now. We can have a cup of cocoa. I’ve got five different kinds of marshmallows we can put in our hot chocolate." Muri said, and stepped back from the doorway so that Ben and Belladonna could come through the door.

  “Nonsense. You need to get back inside with your husband. We’ll have plenty of time to party when you come home. Ben and I are going to go back to my house and make the announcement to the rest of the family." Belladonna said, and pulled her friend into another hug.

  “Fine, but I’m sending some of these marshmallows with you for Aunt Sumac. I’d rather she eats them while we’re gone than have them sitting here going stale.” Murielle said before retreating into the house to grab the treats.

  The newly engaged couple said their goodbyes to the newlyweds and walked across the street to Belladonna’s house. What they didn’t see was Lexi watching their every move. At that point, Ben and Belladonna didn’t know she was back, but they were about to find out.

  As soon as they started to cross the street, Belladonna spied Aunt Sumac sitting on the front steps of her house. She had the look of someone whose puppy had just died plastered across her face. Bella’s heart sunk into her stomach as soon as she saw her Aunt, and she knew that the blood moon omen was worse than she’d expected.

  Aunt Sumac stood up and walked halfway down the sidewalk to meet them. Belladonna couldn’t recall a time she’d seen her Aunt looking so sullen. Sumac was usually the boisterous and fun family member everyone could count on for levity.

  You had to be careful judging Aunt Sumac, though, she was a powerful witch who harnessed ancient magic as if it were a child’s plaything. She was a good witch to have on your side and bad witch to cross.

  “I have something to tell you. I wish I didn’t because I can sense good things going on with you, Belladonna, but the universe must be demanding balance.” Aunt Sumac said gravely.

  That’s when Aunt Sumac told them about her Lexi sighting. She had to explain what she was doing when she saw the dark witch, and that involved filling Ben and Belladonna in on Old Man Jenkins’ outer space adventures.

  “Wow, he took off without telling Granny where he was going and she didn’t turn him into an amphibian?” Belladonna was shocked.

  “Yeah, she must really like him. I actually had no idea that ghosts could have crushes, but that’s beside the point. We have a real problem here, and we can’t go getting all caught up in this love stuff.” Sumac said, but her eyes went wide when she saw the bags of marshmallows Bella was holding. “Oh, but I suppose we can get a little distracted by some treats.”

  Belladonna handed her the bag full of strawberry shaped marshmallows that Muri must have bought from a specialty store. The smile on Aunt Sumac’s face warmed her heart despite the fact that she’d just found out her arch nemesis was back in Winterfield.

  “We’re going to need to attempt to bind her. Then, we need to figure out why she’s here. Is she going to try to let dark magic loose again? Does she want revenge? If we can understand what her motivations are, it might help us stop her.” Belladonna said.

  “Granny Pepper is with Old Man Jenkins and Murielle is getting ready for her honeymoon. So, if we can swing it, it’s just you and me. Think we can handle it?” Aunt Sumac said with a wink.

  “We can do anything we put our minds to, Aunt Sumac,” Belladonna said. “Ben, you might want to find something to do. I’m not sure you’ll want to be around for this.”

  “Bella, this is going to be my life now. I won’t hide from what you are. Besides, maybe I can help.” Ben said confidently.

  “Yes, he can help.” Aunt Sumac said. “He can fetch all the things we need while you and I set up the cauldron in the backyard.”

  Ben had no idea that he was going to be elected errand boy, but it was better than being sent home. Aunt Sumac gave him a long list of ingredients she and Belladonna needed for their ritual.

  He had to gather herbs from the pantry plus a few that were still magically growing in Bella’s garden despite the colder weather. Ben also had to find black and white candles. That part wasn’t too difficult once he discovered the stash of candles in one of the spare bedroom closets.

  There were so many different shapes, colors, and sizes that Ben guessed a person could make a decent living just selling off the stockpile. He wasn’t sure why, but his intuition told him to grab a yellow, gold, and silver candles as well.

  After getting the herbs and the candles, Ben only had two item left on his list. One was parchment paper, and the other was dragon’s blood. He looked up from his list, and Sterling was sitting in front of him in the hallway.

  “Dragon’s blood?” Ben said aloud.

  Sterling howled and scrambled off down the stairs. Ben shrugged his shoulders and chased after
the cat. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he vowed to be as gentle as possible. Maybe they just needed a drop.

  When he got outside, Sterling was at Belladonna’s feet. He made a motion towards the cat, and she transformed into a dragon. Smoke was wafting up from her nostrils, and Ben didn’t realize how close he’d come to becoming a barbecued jinn.

  “What are you two doing?” Belladonna chastised. “Sterling you know you can’t be out here like that.”

  Sterling took a step behind Bella and turned back into a cat.

  “The list you gave me says you need dragon’s blood,” Ben said sheepishly.

  “Sweet Goddess bless!” Aunt Sumac called out. “Dragon’s blood oil is what we need. It’s in the oils’ case on the floor of the same closet you found those candles in. You’re not supposed to get actual blood from a dragon. You’re lucky she didn’t roast you.” Aunt Sumac started to laugh.

  “Oh. Okay. Sorry, Sterling.” Ben whispered.

  The cat made her way over to him and rubbed up against his legs as a sign of forgiveness. Aunt Sumac took the ingredients that he’d already gathered, and Ben went back into the house to grab the oil.

  “Well, you just about lost your husband before he officially became your husband.” Aunt Sumac said.

  Belladonna hadn’t told Sumac about the engagement yet because she wanted to wait until they were done with the binding. So, she was a bit confused that her Aunt already knew.

  “I’m not blind,” Sumac said and nodded her head towards Bella’s ring.

  “Oh, right. We were going to make an official announcement to the family, but the Lexi thing seemed more important.” Bella said as she adjusted the ring on her finger. It was going to take some time to get used to its weight.

  “I don’t need a big, fancy announcement. I’m just glad you found somebody. I know most of the Nightshade witches act like they don’t want or need a man in their lives, but it’s mostly because we can’t find somebody who fits. I thought I found someone once, but that did not end how I expected.” Aunt Sumac said with a chuckle.

  “I didn’t know you were seriously involved. Who was he?” Belladonna’s curiosity was running hot.