Familiar Spirits (Twilight Hollow Witchy Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  “The secretary?” he balked. “She was after Neil’s money from the start, she just didn’t realize that it was actually my money. She went after Desmond too, and was pretty bitter when he turned her down. But she didn’t kill anyone.”

  While he was talking, I managed to get my hand on the door handle.

  “Don’t you dare—”

  I threw the door open and rolled out as the truck went over a particularly large bump. I protected Spooky with my body, and we both toppled through the mud down the embankment.

  With my breath ragged in my lungs, I stumbled to my feet and started running, nearly slipping as a bullet whizzed past my head.

  Go left! Spooky shouted in my mind.

  I darted to my left as another bullet sailed by, then I started running. “About time you chimed in,” I rasped.

  My boots slid in the mud, nearly toppling me every other step. I heard Ike’s heavy footsteps behind me.

  My heart leapt into my throat as the foggy trees ahead began to glow green. I had a killer behind me, and dark magic ahead.

  Keep running, Spooky urged.

  The fact that I was depending on the cat to keep me alive was so ridiculous I might have laughed if my lungs weren’t on fire from gulping down the cold air. I ran head on into the green glowing mist.

  I knew it intended to kill me, but here was hoping it killed Ike first.

  Chapter Twenty

  I panted shallowly, trying to keep my breathing quiet with my back against a massive redwood. Spooky pressed against my ankle, peering around the tree trunk. The mist was so thick I could barely see five feet in front of my face, and it all glowed a vibrant green. The feeling of dark magic was like bugs crawling over my skin.

  The magic closed in. It whooshed into my lungs and filled my pores. I stifled a scream as it wrapped around my mind. It wasn’t trying to kill me, it was trying to take me over!

  It took every ounce of my will to keep the magic out of my thoughts. I noted distantly that Spooky was clawing at my leg, trying to warn me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  A hand clamped down on my shoulder. The cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against my head. “End of the line, Ms. O’Shea.”

  I did the only thing I could think to do. I dropped my guard, letting the magic rush in. If it wanted to use me, that meant it at least wanted me alive. Ike did not. The power filled me up close to bursting, then settled into place.

  “What the hell?” Ike’s voice was suddenly unsure. The gun pulled away from my head.

  My eyes snapped open, but it was like I was watching the forest on a movie screen. I wasn’t the one in control of what I was looking at. My head turned, my eyes landing on Ike.

  I wasn’t sure what he saw in my expression, but his jaw went slack. He stumbled backward, the gun forgotten in his hand.

  Spooky hissed at me as I started walking, but I ignored him. I stalked toward Ike. The dark magic pulsed through my veins, gathering in my hands. To my eyes, they glowed green, but I wasn’t sure what Ike saw.

  He staggered back until he hit a tree.

  It was only as I lifted my hands that I realized I was about to kill him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

  “Fight it, Addy!” my mom’s voice cut across the forest.

  “Drop the gun, Mr. Howard.” Logan’s voice, closer than my mom’s had been.

  I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of Ike. He dropped his gun into the mud and soggy pine needles, pressing his back against the tree. He raised his hands, palms out.

  I closed the space between us.

  I heard footsteps, then sensed my mom right beside me. “Fight it, Addy. You have to push it out.”

  My lip lifted into a snarl, my eyes still on Ike.

  His breath came out in harsh pants. His body trembled. He sensed a predator before him.

  I extended my glowing hands toward him, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious, but the fight wasn’t over.

  “What’s happening to her?” Logan hissed. Judging by the direction of his voice, he was right behind me.

  “It’s the same dark magic that was controlling Mr. Howard’s ghost,” my mom explained. “It has taken control of her.”

  I took one last look at Ike lying passed out on the ground, then turned my attention to my mom. Whatever was inside of me saw her only as a threat. My hands lifted. “Out of my way, witch.”

  She wore a long colorful dress, contrasting oddly with the foggy forest. She stepped fully in front of me, her hands down at her sides. “You won’t hurt me, Adelaide.”

  Spooky ran past me toward her, pressing against her leg.

  I gathered more magic into my hands. In my mind I was screaming, but I had no control.

  I lifted my hands.

  Addy, a voice whispered into my mind. You are strong enough to fight it. The voice wasn't Spooky, but felt somehow familiar.

  “Ida,” my mom gasped.

  Let me in, Adelaide.

  I could do nothing to control my body, but I still had some grasp on my mind. It was like opening a gate, letting the new spirit in.

  The strangely familiar presence filled me, and suddenly I could breathe on my own, but just barely. The dark magic was still inside of me, trying to control me.

  We will fight it together, but you must fight.

  “I’ll try,” I rasped.

  I wanted to reach out to my mom, but I was fighting for control of my hands. The dark magic wanted to use them to lash out, and I couldn’t let it do that.

  My mom seemed to understand my dilemma. She grabbed one glowing hand.

  Spooky pressed against my leg.

  It was like we all took a collective inhale, then we pushed the dark magic out. It went screaming through the forest, cast out, but not banished.

  I collapsed to my knees, maintaining my grip on my mom’s hand.

  She knelt beside me. “Ida?”

  Words that were not my own came out of my mouth, “I told you I should stick around.”

  She hugged me, and I wasn’t sure if she was hugging her daughter, or her long-dead sister.

  I sat there and let her hug me with Spooky rubbing his face against my extended hand. Maybe he felt like he was visiting Ida too.

  Logan came into view as he moved toward Ike. He kicked Ike’s gun away, then knelt to check the unconscious man’s pulse.

  I met Logan’s eyes as he glanced my way.

  He stared at me for a moment. “Are you . . . you again?”

  “Kind of,” I croaked. My mom pulled away so I could speak. “Ike killed Neil, and he tried to kill Sasha.”

  Logan took out a pair of handcuffs to put them on Ike. “I know, Sasha woke up and told me everything. Desmond had figured out what his father had done, and had confided in Sasha because they’ve been romantically involved. You didn’t answer your phone, then Luna called me and told me you were in danger. She told me where to go. I met your mom on the road.”

  I was exhausted, but I managed a crooked smile. Luna’s visions could be helpful after all. We had found the murderer, and had all come out alive.

  There was still one issue though. I looked to my mom. “No offense, but I’d kind of like it if your sister’s spirit would get out of me now.”

  My mom smirked. “She’s right, Ida, it’s time to go. We’ll talk later.”

  I lifted my eyebrows. “So you knew your sister’s spirit was hanging around all this time?”

  “Why do you think I came back to live out here? This is where we grew up, she likes the woods. They help her hold on.”

  I thought for a moment I could hear Ida’s spirit giggling like a little girl, then she left me. I slumped forward over my knees.

  Logan moved to my other side, then he and my mom helped me stand. “Is this another one of those things I’m better off not understanding?” he asked.

  I let out a weak laugh. “Definitely.”

  We all looked down at Ike as he struggled to
sit up, but he couldn’t quite make it with his hands cuffed behind his back. Spooky watched Ike like he was ready to attack.

  “Did Desmond lie about arguing with Neil because of Sasha?” I asked.

  Logan nodded. “The affair is what they were fighting about. Sasha didn’t want anyone to know.”

  “One last thing,” I began. “Why did Neil have my phone number in his pocket?”

  Ike glared up at me. “His latest scheme was to import coffee. He tried to blackmail me into funding the operation.”

  My jaw fell open. I had been drawn into a murder investigation simply because the dead man had wanted to sell me coffee.

  Logan shrugged. “That makes sense, I suppose.”

  Scowling, I leaned heavily on my mom so Logan could get Ike on his feet, then we slogged out of the forest together.

  I was glad Desmond was innocent, but had never expected Neil’s murderer would be his own father. Poor Max. First he lost his cousin, and now his favorite uncle would be going to jail for a long time.

  At least he didn’t have a powerful dark magic trying to take over his body like I did. Ida had helped me send it away, but it would be back. There might be a few things in life I knew for sure, but that was one of them.

  Epilogue

  The next day my sisters and I all went out to my mom’s house. Logan had called me that morning to let me know Sasha would make a full recovery, which was great, because we would both be needed to testify against Ike. He had also discovered Mary’s issue with providing extra ID. She had left a bad marriage and was living under a fake name. She also had a few counts of credit card fraud against her real name, but had apparently turned to trying to find a rich husband. Because of Neil and Desmond’s argument, she really had thought that Desmond killed Neil, who she’d been in love with.

  So Mary was a little bit criminal, but not a murderer.

  Callie had visited Sasha at the hospital first thing in the morning. Desmond had been there with flowers, distraught over his dad but just grateful Sasha would be okay. I hoped they’d be happy together. After all Sasha had been through, she deserved it.

  Standing in my mom’s spacious kitchen, I finished stirring the chocolate cake batter, then handed Callie the spoon to lick. On my other side, Luna mixed up the frosting.

  According to my mom, chocolate cupcakes had been Ida’s favorite, so we would be having some in her honor. I might just have to sneak out to the forest to leave a little offering for her, but not too far. No, I wouldn’t be venturing into that forest alone again. I knew I’d have to face the dark magic eventually, but first I intended to learn just what it was, and what it wanted with me.

  After I had poured the batter, Callie held the oven door open for me. “So, are you going to save a cupcake for your veterinarian friend?”

  “Or perhaps the detective?” Luna said to my back, as I shut the oven door.

  I knelt to look at the cupcakes through the glass to hide my blush. Max was coming by the cafe in the morning to hear the full story of what had happened, minus the dark magic stuff, of course. And I’d be giving my official statement to Logan at the police station that afternoon.

  Maybe I would save a cupcake for each of them. Heck, maybe I’d make cupcakes for the entire town. With an old dark magic to face, I might need all the help I could get.

  Author’s Note: Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed book one of Twilight Hollow. Please consider leaving a review, it really helps me out! You can also find the next book in the series, and sign up for my mailing list, by following the links below.

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  Note from the Author

  Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed the first installment in Twilight Hollow. While this is the first book in my new pen name, Sara Christene, I have many other fantasy and paranormal series under my main name, Sara C. Roethle.

  I do hope you’ll take the time to check out my other books by visiting my site:

  http://www.saracroethle.com