Book of Dark Magic Read online

  I didn’t get a chance to respond. As soon as we were outside, a bottle came flying at my head. I ducked and used a little magic to make sure it didn’t shatter on the wall right behind my head. The last thing I needed was shards of glass flying at my face and head.

  “Look what you made me do!” a woman named Esadora Darkmore screamed at Richard Jordan.

  “Come on, honey bear.” Richard slurred the words out. He also swayed on his feet like he was about to fall over but caught himself before he faceplanted on the sidewalk. “I’ve got a brand-new bottle of Jack back at my place. Let’s go make up.”

  “I hate you!” she screamed. “You’re lucky I don’t…”

  I had to put my hand up and stop the magic that Esadora was about to inflict on Richard. She was a witch, after all. One with a reputation for loving dark magic a little too much. We kept an eye on her, but I doubted Richard had any idea. If she’d succeeded in the spell she’d tried to cast on him, my Coven would have had to punish her. That kind of thing was not allowed.

  “Walk away,” I said to her. “Walk away now.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said when she realized who had just stopped her spell, but Esadora didn’t really sound like she meant it.

  She’d only said it to keep me from passing a judgment on her right then and there. Still, she cast her eyes down and walked away without another word. Esadora might not have liked it, but she knew better than to trifle with me or my family.

  “We’ll talk about this soon,” I said as she walked away.

  “What’d ya do that for?” Richard slurred in my direction, but seconds later he seemed to have forgotten the whole thing.

  As Richard stumbled toward the street, I turned back to Reggie. We started walking toward my car when I heard the sound of tires screeching, metal scraping, and then shouted curses.

  Reggie and I whirled back around. Richard was sitting in the road, rubbing his eyes. A truck must have swerved to avoid hitting him and had rammed into the parked cars across the street from the tavern.

  I rushed over to Richard, but he was unhurt. He must have just fallen when he stumbled into the road.

  The man in the truck was the one yelling. He pried his driver’s side door open and started screaming even louder when he saw the damage to his truck and the other cars.

  I bent over and tried to help Richard get up, but he took a drunken swing at me. “Get away from me you *$%@!”

  I jumped back from his wild attempts to hit me with his balled-up fists. All he managed to do was fall the rest of the way over so that he was sprawled on the street.

  “How dare you attack a woman!” the man from the truck yelled as he started over toward Richard. “And she’s trying to help you! What a piece of trash. I’m going to scrape you off that pavement and teach you a lesson!”

  Reggie and I backed up against the tavern wall as the man, whom I finally recognized as Al Peterson, yanked Richard up off the road. Before Al could do anything, one of the deputies turned the corner. The red and blue lights of his cruiser lit up the dark street, and he turned on his siren as he saw the melee about to go down.

  He flipped it right back off when he had everyone’s attention. “Drop him, Al,” Deputy Wayne said through his speaker.

  I liked Deputy Wayne Fontaine. He was one of the newer members of the Coventry Sheriff’s Department, and that’s why he was on the night shift. Wayne wasn’t the newest deputy that Thorn had just hired, but he’d started alternating night shifts with the newest guy. His wife was a nurse, and she’d been promoted to charge nurse on the night shift at the hospital, so Wayne wanted to be home during the day as much as he could.

  Al dropped Richard as instructed. Richard hit the street with a thud and a moan of protest.

  “Al,” Wayne said through the speaker.

  “Just doing as instructed,” Al retorted.

  I could see Wayne let out a huge sigh. He put the mic for the speaker down and got out of the cruiser.

  “Is anyone hurt?” Wayne asked.

  “No,” Reggie and I said.

  “Just my truck and these cars,” Al responded. “I’m pretty sure Richard here is too drunk to feel any pain.”

  “What are you ladies doing out here this late?” Wayne asked me.

  “We were just trying to go home when this happened,” I said. “We were walking to my car.”

  “You should get out of here,” he said. “Did you see who was at fault with the accident?”

  “Richard stumbled out into the street between parked cars. Al was just trying to avoid hitting him,” I said.

  “Alright, thanks. Go on now. I’ll find you tomorrow if I need anything else.”

  I looked back over at Al as we started to walk away. He mouthed “Thank you” to me. No doubt I’d spared him a ticket and a hefty increase in his insurance premiums. I offered him a slight wave in return, and Reggie and I hurried to my car.

  It wasn’t until we got back to my house that I realized Thorn had texted me at least a dozen times. Not to talk to me but wanting to know if I knew where Reggie was and if she was okay.

  Apparently, Jeremy had called him frantically looking for her because they’d had a huge fight, and she wouldn’t answer. Jeremy was beside himself with fear.

  “He didn’t try to call me,” Reggie said as she patted her pocket. “Oh no. I must have left my phone at home. I didn’t even know he was trying to call me. Oh gawd.”

  I shot Thorn back a quick text letting him know I had Reggie and that she hadn’t had her phone. I told him she’d be calling Jeremy from my phone and that I was going back to bed.

  “Here,” I said and handed my phone to Reggie. “Call him on my phone. Take all the time you need. I’m going back to bed.”

  “Thank you so much,” she said and hugged me.

  Fortunately, neither of us had to work the next day. The tour company didn’t have tours one day a week, in addition to Sunday, and those were our days off. I didn’t know what we were going to do if they ever started doing tours seven days a week. I’d probably have to hire someone to help at the shop in addition to Reggie and make an actual schedule.

  “I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow,” I said when Meri looked up at me. “Right now, I want to sleep.”

  He didn’t say anything else as I collapsed into the bed. Meri scooted off the covers a little so I could tuck myself in and then snuggled up against my back as my eyes drifted shut.

  I woke up standing in the middle of the road outside Hangman’s House. I’d sleepwalked again, and at first I was happy that I hadn’t gone very far.

  That was before I realized I was standing there in my underwear with my biggest kitchen knife in my left hand. I’d just been standing out there facing the house with a big knife in my hand practically naked.

  I hurried out of the street and back up to my front porch. It was still really dark out, and at least no one was around.

  When I went inside, there was no one in the living room. Reggie must have gone to sleep in one of the guest rooms.

  I took the knife back to the kitchen and found that every canister, pot, and pan from my cabinets were lined up on the counters and the floor. In the center of it all, I’d arranged the rest of the knives into the shape of a pentagram. It had to be the upside-down kind too because the other side of it was too close to the counter for me to have made it from that side.

  “What is going on?” I asked no one as I quickly picked up the knives and put them away.

  The book.

  I didn’t want to be up the rest of the night putting the other things away, so I used a little bit of magic to guide them back into their places. After that, I found my pajamas folded neatly in the pantry and put them back on.

  The book was on the mantle, and as I went back into the living room I felt that familiar pull from it. It was as if I craved the thing.

  I plucked it off the mantle and went over to the sofa. When I opened the book, it took my breath away. I still couldn’t read t
he words, but they were softly glowing red.

  When I ran my fingers over them, they felt warm, soft, and comforting. My heart rate started to slow as if I’d taken something to relax. It was like a drug, and that euphoria began to wash over me.

  Then I sensed that familiar flutter in my belly. It was more forceful and more insistent than it had ever been. The baby was moving. It was as if they were having a rave dance party in there.

  It snapped me out of the stupor from the book. The words began to glow even brighter, and the pull felt more intense. It was insistent, but I could sense the baby was warning me. They were trying to get my attention, and there was nothing in the world that could make me ignore my little peanut.

  I got up and put the book back on the fireplace mantle. “I need to get that book to my dad,” I said as I turned to walk away.

  But even as I started up the stairs to go back to bed, I’d pretty much forgotten the whole thing. The baby had quieted, and all I wanted to do was get back to sleep.

  Chapter Three

  “Kinsley, what are you doing up?” Reggie said as she stretched and walked into the kitchen. “Oooh, is this coffee from those beans you bought from Viv?”

  “Huh?” I asked, not quite aware yet of what was going on around me.

  “The coffee, silly? Did you make it from the beans you got from the Brew Station?”

  I then realized there was a hot cup of coffee in my hands, and I was sitting at the kitchen table. I had no recollection of getting up and coming downstairs. At least all of the stuff wasn’t out of the cabinets again, but I’d managed to sneak past Meri twice in one night.

  “Yeah, I guess it is,” I said. “Sorry, I’m a bit foggy this morning.”

  “Me too. I feel like I just went to bed, but my sleep schedule is so rock solid that I can’t go back to sleep. I guess I’ll just have to go to bed early tonight,” she said as she grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. “I’m so sorry about last night. I don’t know what got into me.”

  “It’s okay. It happens to us all,” I said and finally took a sip of the coffee. “Is everything okay with you and Jeremy now?”

  Reggie took a big breath and let out a long sigh. “Yeah. Everything is fine. It was a big misunderstanding, and the whole thing never should have happened. We’re going to be more careful with our emotions over the phone. He and I can get a little over the top sometimes, and we have to remember that we’re half a world away. We’ve got to remember to slow it down if we think we’re upset because most of the time, it’s just crossed wires.”

  “I’m glad you guys worked it out,” I said as I got up to get some milk for my coffee. “Will he be coming back soon?”

  “It could be as much as another month, but then he should be back for sure,” she said.

  “That’s good news,” I said.

  “Yeah, it is, but right now a month feels like an eternity.”

  “I can imagine,” I said.

  “So, any word on when Thorn is coming back?” Reggie asked as she plopped down at the kitchen table.

  “That’s right, I didn’t get to tell you,” I said. “He’s coming back today. He told me last night. He was going to come home yesterday, but I guess there were some storms, and he said it was really muddy.”

  “Yeah, that storm system just missed us,” Reggie said. “I forgot he was in the area that got hit.”

  “Amazing how different the weather can be when two places are just a couple of miles apart,” I said.

  “I’m so sorry that you had to come to get me last night. I hope it doesn’t mess up your plans with Thorn today.”

  “I’ll be alright,” I said. “I got some sleep, and obviously, I was up and at ’em this morning.”

  For some reason, I didn’t want to tell Reggie about the sleepwalking. We both had a lot going on, and it was a little embarrassing too.

  I didn’t realize that my reluctance to tell her was the book’s way of keeping me from reaching out for assistance. If I had told her, she would have been one more person who might have helped me get the book to my dad.

  “What are you freaks doing?” Meri asked as he sauntered into the room. He shot me a look that told me he knew I’d sleepwalked again, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Where’s my breakfast?”

  “Oh, breakfast is a good idea,” Reggie said. “Should we make something or go out. Then I’ve got to get home. Since it’s my day off, I’ve got to get over to the nursing home.”

  “Let’s go to the diner,” I said. “We’ll sneak Meri in, and he can have some bacon. I’ll take you back to your car after.”

  “You’re the best,” Reggie said.

  We both finished our coffee quickly, and I grabbed the bag I used to haul Meri around when I wanted to take him places that didn’t allow cats. Not that anyone at the diner would say anything to me about having him with me, but I would at least pretend to follow the rules.

  The book called to me as I walked by it, but I felt that familiar flutter in my stomach again. I ignored the book, and by the time I got out to the car, and we were backing out of my driveway, I’d forgotten it.

  There weren’t many cars in the diner parking lot because we’d apparently missed the morning rush. The “Seat Yourself” sign was out, so we grabbed one of the corner booths.

  I opened my menu to look while Reggie flagged down the waitress to get coffee. “The coffee’s pretty decent here,” she said before the waitress got to us. “Not as good as Viv’s.”

  “I think I’m going to have a big glass of iced tea,” I said. “I’ll stop at one coffee.”

  “Suit yourself,” Reggie said. “I’d get the tea unsweetened and put sugar in yourself unless you like it as thick as syrup. The sweet tea is real Southern sweet tea here.”

  My mouth started to water, and the baby began to flutter again, but that time it felt excited instead of frightening. I put my hand over my belly. “Ooop, I think the little peanut wants the sweet tea,” I said with a laugh.

  “Hey, then give the little prince or princess what they want. Do you know what you want to eat yet?” Reggie asked.

  “I just need a minute to look. I’ll know what I want by the time she comes back with the drinks. I promise.”

  “Coffee and sweet tea,” Reggie said to the waitress as soon as she was at the table. “We’ll order when you get back. Thanks.”

  “Thank you,” the waitress, whose nametag said Amanda, replied.

  I looked over the menu until I spotted the maple bacon pancakes with a side of more bacon. My stomach growled reading the description, so I knew it was the choice for me.

  “I’m going to have the maple bacon pancakes with bacon,” I said as I closed my menu and put it away.

  “That doesn’t sound like enough bacon. You should get an extra side of bacon,” Reggie teased.

  “You know, I just might,” I said. “It would actually be two extra sides of bacon because we need one for our little stowaway. Do you think the waitress would be horrified?”

  “Nah. Probably impressed given how thin you are, but when you work at a place like this, you definitely see worse.”

  “Well, that’s good…” I started to say something else, but the two strange guys from the other day walked into the diner.

  They sat down at a table close to us even though the diner was almost empty. The one who had actually spoken to me the day before sat so that he could look at me. And he did…

  I tried not to pay attention to them, but I wasn’t as good at tuning them out as Reggie. Every time I’d glance over, he’d have his gaze fixed on me.

  “They’re so creepy,” Reggie mumbled under her breath. It was just loud enough that I could make out what she’d said, so I hoped they didn’t hear.

  “I know,” I whispered back. “I thought they were gone.”

  When the waitress brought our food, we shoveled it in as fast as we could. We must have looked like complete pigs as we forked huge bites of food into our mouths and hastily swal
lowed. I didn’t care. I wanted to get out of there or, at the very least, disgust those guys enough that they’d stop staring.

  It didn’t work, though. In fact, when I glanced up again, the guy was smiling.

  As soon as the waitress came to ask if we wanted drink refills, I said we needed the check. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No, please. Just the check,” I said through a forced smile.

  “Those guys bothering you?” she said and cast a look over her shoulder. Obviously not afraid of them at all. “I can call the sheriff’s office,” she declared loudly.

  “No, not at all,” Reggie said, trying to defuse the situation, but you could tell by the tone of her voice that she appreciated the gesture. “I’ve just got to get over to the nursing home. I don’t want to be late for activity hour.”

  Amanda, the waitress’s face set in a grim smile. “Alright. I’ll be back in just a minute.”

  But while Amanda was gone, the guys got up from their table and came over to ours. I was shocked when they actually slid into the booth with us. I was so surprised that I nearly used magic on them out in the open.

  “You ladies look like you could use some company,” the one who’d been staring at me all the way through breakfast said.

  “Unless you’re together,” the other one piped up. “You work at the store together, and here you are having a nice cozy breakfast. Maybe you’re an item.”

  The sound of his voice was slimy. While I didn’t have any problem with people loving whomever they loved, his accusation raised my hackles. He wasn’t trying to be kind or polite. There was something darkly lascivious in his tone.

  “Get out of the booth.” Reggie’s tone was defiant and loud enough for the few people in the diner to hear. She wasn’t playing around, and either these guys didn’t intimidate her or she was good at hiding it. “We have no business with you.”

  “Calm down, honey,” the guy next to me said. “Don’t worry, we’re leaving. We’ve got important business of our own today.”

  And then they left. The guy who’d been next to me threw a few wadded-up bills on the table they’d been sitting at, and they walked out the doors.