“Well, something is wrong, I’m telling you. You would think a complaint filed by the Vice President of the Castor’s Corner Charmed Embers Women and Witches Social Club would be taken more seriously!”

  “A complaint? About what?” I asked, truly baffled.

  “Ask our illustrious mayor, who, by the way, is not seeing anyone this morning. Not even me! Seems she’s taken ill, rather suddenly, faking, I think. Too cowardly to show her face. I swear you young witches do not have the fortitude as witches of my time,” she lamented, and I gritted my teeth.

  Evie was a lot of things, mostly wonderful. Cowardly, however, was not part of her makeup. She risked a lot for this town time and time again. If she were ill, I had a hunch as to the reason. Likely he or she would arrive in a few months, and wouldn’t that be awesome?

  I was going to be an aunt! Sort of. More like a cousin, but whatever. Auntie Bella it was.

  “The stories I could tell you,” Mrs. Gennaro continued, and I realized I’d missed a good chunk of whatever she was saying. “Anyway, that’s not the issue. The past is in the past, but it’s your behinds not doing your due duty—”

  Is she talking about doody or duty?

  Now I was confused. I closed my eyes and prayed to the Goddess for patience. Dealing with the elderly was not always easy. Especially when they spoke in circles and riddles.

  “Now, my Great-Grandfather used to be a deputy here. He was full of stories of how anytime the town was under attack, the residents would band together under a Castor and run them out! Those were the good old days. When we had leaders with backbone. Of course, then they’d string up the trespassers. Why, you can still find the purse and book bound in the human skins of those who dared come to our town in the bowels of city hall—”

  Dear Goddess, does she have to keep speaking about skins and bowels?

  My stomach turned at the mere mention of anything gory. What could I say? I was a witch who loved sweets, not blood. I closed my eyes, willing it to pass.

  “Mrs. Gennaro, what are you talking about? There have been no trespassers.”

  “No trespassers?” she screeched. “Then who do you think has been setting fire to your shop? Messing up lawns? Raiding garbage cans and dumpsters all over town? Not to mention, my very own Mr. Snugglesby won’t leave my purse!” Mrs. Gennaro shouted, holding up her pocketbook where a scraggly lapdog who looked older than dirt and was wearing two pink bows tied around his ratty ears sat curled in a ball.

  I swallowed. The small animal looked well-fed and pampered for all his long, long years, but I had a strict no pets inside my shop policy. Trying for patience, I walked around the counter.

  “Okay, come with me to my office. We can get a treat for Mr. Snugglesby, and you can explain everything.”

  “It’s about time I be treated in a manner befitting my station,” she jabbered on, and I turned my head, catching Mira’s wide-eyed stare.

  The young witch was ringing up a customer, but apparently Mrs. Gennaro’s rampaging was starting to draw eyes. Moving this whole shebang to my office was a good decision.

  Finally, I was starting to make more of those now. Go me!

  I nodded at Mira, making sure she was watching before I mouthed instructions to her.

  Call Evie and Donny.

  The young witch nodded, and I exhaled, leading the way. Once Mr. Snugglesby was settled on a small throw rug inside my office, I wiggled my fingers and a dog friendly peanut butter biscuit appeared in front of him. The little guy went wild for it.

  Note to self, start a pet-friendly treats line of goodies.

  “As I was saying, the mayor and you and your friends are responsible for this—”

  “For what? I still don’t understand.”

  “That’s why I have pictures,” the old woman nodded, and dug through her purse.

  She pulled out a huge three-ring binder filled to the brim with notes and grainy images that looked to be printed from footage taken from security cameras And that wasn’t all. Next, she withdrew a laptop with recorded footage. And apparently, taped testimonies from some of the older residents of town.

  What kind of bag was that? The thing appeared to be average, but it held a shit ton of stuff. I was amazed as she set up all her evidence and leaned over my desk to peek inside the thing.

  “Don’t be rude,” she said, snapping the thing closed.

  “Sorry,” I murmured.

  My cheeks were burning like a kid who’d been caught doing something naughty. A few minutes into her speech, Donny walked into my office with Mrs. Fox whose hair she had in various foils, followed by Evie, who carried a bucket and was looking green around the gills.

  “We’re here! What’s going on?” Donny panted.

  “Oh my Goddess, Evie, sit down. You look like hell!” I said, leaping to my feet.

  “Sorry, I can’t seem to keep anything down this morning,” she mumbled miserably.

  “Well, I guess you really are sick.” Mrs. Gennaro frowned at us.

  “Um, girls. I don’t know if you know Mrs. Gennaro—” I began only to be interrupted by the older witch.

  “Of course they know me. I’m the Vice President of the Charmed Embers Women and Witches Social Club,” she stated proudly.

  Evie and Donny looked at her blankly, then at me, before nodding and agreeing with her. Mrs. Fox, however, had no such qualms.

  “Who?” she asked, and Donny tugged her hair.

  “Shh.”

  “Mrs. Gennaro seems to think we have been lax in our, uh, duties.”

  We all snickered at that. It couldn’t be helped. I mean, we were witches, but apparently, we had the same sense of humor as twelve year old boys. Go figure.

  “Really,” the older woman said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get on with it,” she grunted, pressing play on the video on her laptop.

  I squinted and moved closer. The image was crappy, and I was having a hard time making anything out.

  “While you three have been playing hide the salami with your mates, these creatures have been running amok!”

  Then I saw what she was talking about.

  “No way,” Donny muttered.

  “They can’t do that!” Evie yelped, before running out of the office to the bathroom.

  “Those furry little cretins! I knew it wasn’t my little Johnny eating those marigolds,” Mrs. Fox muttered.

  I could not believe what I was seeing.

  “Mrs. Gennaro, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will take it from here.”

  After she left, with MR. Snugglesby, who I actually kind of liked, I turned to Donny and Evie.

  “I think we need some advice from the big guns for this.”

  “I think you’re right,” Donny said.

  “What are we doing?” Evie asked, holding a damp towel to her head.

  “Uh, I think I have something to help your nausea.”

  Nervous energy abounded, and when that happened, my magic did what it did. I concentrated on Evie though, and instead of the inedible hardtack I normally made when I was agitated, a pile of light, crisp saltines appeared on my desk.

  “Thanks!” Evie said, grabbing a bunch.

  “Okay, ladies. Let’s Swoosh!”

  CHAPTER 10

  “Are we really following this plan?” I asked, uncertainty ringing in my voice.

  “Yes. It’s a good plan, one sanctioned by Zelda herself,” Donny whispered.

  “I’m gonna be sick,” Evie added, unhelpfully.

  “We told you to stay home!”

  “No way would I do that to you guys. We’re a team, a trifecta. We do this together,” she said, breaking off with a cough and dry heave.

  The three of us huddled inside a replica dumpster behind the bakery. The inside was completely clean, of course. No way I would have crouched inside a real one.

  Bad enough I had to worry about Evie inside this thing, but she’d insisted and by all accounts, Jaxson had still not told her about her condition. I’d given the wolf an ultimatum. He had till Solstice eve, after that I was breaking the news.

  “Stay close, my witchy,” Petyr whispered, and I nodded at him.

  Good thing our Domovyks were so fiercely protective of us. The three little fury dudes refused to part from us, concerned we could be hurt. They used their powers and cloaked us from the menace that had come to our town.

  We didn’t know why they were here, but clearly, they had a bone to pick. It was about time we found out what their deal was. And soon. I had other fish to fry.

  Conrad and I still needed to have our chat, but first, I had trifecta business. When Mrs. Gennaro had entered my store, I had no idea the old witch had something important to tell me.

  Never judge a book, or a witch, by its cover—another of Granny’s infamous sayings.

  There were a lot of things wrong with this little undercover operation of ours. First, trying to catch an arsonist in the act was probably dumb, not to mention dangerous. Second, we didn’t know if they would even try again so soon. Third, I was pretty sure I was in love with a Shifter, and that scared the crap out of me.

  Okay, my third point had nothing to do with the operation or the arsonist at all, but it weighed heavily on my mind. What if Conrad was only fond of the chase? What if me saying no was what turned him on?

  All I knew was it was way past time I stopped being afraid of going after the things I wanted. And I wanted Conrad. There, I admitted it.

  “What’s that sound?” Donny asked.

  “Shh,” I whispered, straining my ears to hear.

  “Ready?” Petyr asked me as the scratching noises got louder.

  Something or things were on top of the dumpster, and they were attempting to open the lid. We heard hisses and grunts. Then finally, a string of really bad words.

  “Hey yo, Scuzz Buckets, this here fandangled dumpster top is stuck,” an oddly deep voice mumbled.

  “Quiet down, Fang Daddy. We needs to set fire before the Draco camera tags our asses,” another replied.

  “Why you two furry jackoffs still yapping,” a distinctly female voice chimed in. “Hurry your asses up. These witches gotta pay for what they did. No one messes with the Etherworld Feline Familiar Union.”

  “EFFU is da bomb!”

  “FU?” Evie whispered.

  “That’s it. Now!” I shouted.

  A huge blast of magic rushed from our fingers and the lid on top of the not-dumpster we’d been hiding in started to rise. The little jerks on top of it howled and hissed angrily in surprise. But we were not done yet.

  “Goddess of power,

  Hear our plea,

  Villainous hearts,

  Shall never see,

  Castor’s Corner as a place,

  To infiltrate and deface.

  Keep our neighbors,

  Safe and free,

  As we will, mote it be.”

  The three of us rose from the dumpster like avenging angels with clouds of teal, gold, white, and pink magic sparking and buzzing around us. Our Domovyks reinforced our spell as we created a prison from the plastic lid, morphing polymers to pure steel.

  The creatures inside hissed and yowled as Jaxson, Ryan, and Conrad ran toward us. The boys had been waiting nearby, just in case we needed them.

  The fact they allowed us to do our thing while offering aid, but not taking over, was just another reason I was starting to come around to the fact these men might have actually been fated to crash into our town.

  “You got that right, sweetheart,” Conrad said, his grin radiant, while he pointed a weapon at the vandals.

  Was there anything sexier than a man who believed in his woman? I didn’t even care he’d read my mind again. It was actually kind of comforting. The realization was shocking.

  Ermagerd. I was in so much trouble.

  “Alright you three, you have a lot of explaining to do,” I said and pointed at the three furry menaces.

  “Cats? You’re cats!” Evie screeched.

  “Evie, you saw the footage,” Donny said.

  “I was puking my head off at the time, Donny. Forgive me for missing out,” she mumbled.

  “You okay, baby?” Jaxson asked, holstering his gun before gathering her close.

  “Yeah, I just can’t shake this stomach bug,” she told him.

  “Actually, Evie—”

  “Not the time,” I interrupted. “Okay, you three, spill. What is your beef with Castor’s Corner? And me, what is your beef with me?”

  The three angry felines hissed and spit for two whole minutes before I zapped them with an extra-large dose of hardtack. The stuff filled the interior of the cage, giving the little fuckers barely any room to move or breathe.

  “Ouch! Okay, okay, we’ll talk!” the female shouted.

  “We are here to represent the Etherworld Feline Familiar Union, EFFU for short.”

  “Why are you saying FU, shouldn’t it be E F F U?” Donny asked.

  “What she talking about?” Scuzz Buckets mumbled to Fang Daddy.

  “Witches aren’t known for their smarts,” he told his fellow feline, and I added a little more hardtack to the cage.

  “Ouch! Stop. Please!”

  I’d caught their names, but the female’s name, I did not know.

  “Leave them to us,” Petyr snarled. “We will take care of these vile felines! You who vowed to protect witches and have been harming them shall pay for your misdeeds!”

  “Actually,” I told him. “You don’t have to do that, Petyr. We’ve contacted the Baba Yaga, herself, and these three are going to get exactly what they deserve.”

  “Baba Yaga? Noooooo!” they howled.

  Just then, an enormous BOOM sounded. The shuffling of little paws had me, Donny, Evie, our boys, and the three Domovyks turning around to welcome our new arrivals.

  “Alright, wheres dey at?” Jango Fett asked.

  “That’s them alright. Dang EFFU reps causing a fussssss,” Boba added.

  “We gots it from here, youz fine trifecta badasses,” Fat Bastard said.

  “Thank you. I was hoping to hear why they did this.”

  “We’llnevertellyoutreachorouswitches,” the female mumbled. It was hard to hear since she and her two companions were smashed against the bars from all the hardtack piled inside the cage.

  “Dats easy,” Fat Bastard continued. “EFFU is a non-authorized organization of feline familiars wanting to control what kinds of familiars go to witches. Theyz fanatsics and shit. Theyz don’t respect the supernatural order, and now, we got the three worst bandits thanks to youz three smokin’ females.”

  “Watch it,” Jaxson muttered.

  “No foul, wolf daddy. Just remarking on they fine azzetssss,” Boba said.

  I grinned at the three famous familiars and thanked them before they took off with the EFFU crew.

  “Please make sure Zelda and Sassy get the small box of goodies. The three big ones are for you three,” I said, handing the large pile of bakery boxes to Boba Fett, who started drooling immediately.

  “Thank you very much, Bellicious,” Fat Bastard replied. “The goods shall be delivered to those two badasses pronto. Lezzz go, boyzz!”

  “I can’t believe it was cats,” I said, cuddled in the arms of my mate.

  Once everything was cleared away, and our friends had gone home, Conrad and I had our talk. Of course, one thing led to another, and we wound up at his place. I gave Petyr the night alone at the house to Swoosh call his family, and he invited Gryn and Ivan over for preferans, vodka, and of course, hardtack.

  “Actually, it all makes sense now that you think about it. Those cats were displaced familiars, all riled up because of their warped belief that all familiars need to be feline.”

  “I mean, who even knew word had gotten around about our Domovyks?”

  “You three are pretty famous in the supernatural world, Bella. I’d heard of the witch trifecta before, I just never knew I would be fated to one of you.”

  “And?” I asked, looking up at him. “How do you feel about it now?”

  “I feel positive, Bella. You are definitely my mate. The only woman to ever call to my python. I know it is soon, and you are a witch not a Shifter, so it is different for you. But I love you, Bella. And I will wait for you to be ready to accept my claim. However long it takes.”

  “That might be sooner than you think,” I whispered, and pulled him down for another kiss.

  No man had ever made me feel the way Conrad did. As we worshipped each other with our bodies and mouths, I felt his soul touch mine somewhere during the communion that was our lovemaking.

  “I’m ready,” I told him as he filled me with his delicious length.

  “What?”

  “Make me yours, Conrad.”

  “I can’t take it back once I do this, Bella. You have to be sure,” he growl-hissed, pumping his hips faster.

  Dear Goddess, the man was so damn good at this. He was beyond measure when it came to his incredible body and technique. The swivel, thrust, grind of his hips had me panting at the promised ecstasy I knew he would deliver.

  “I’m positive, mate. Claim me,” I moaned as the first tendrils of my orgasm gripped me.

  Conrad’s body vibrated with the power of his growl right before he struck, lighting quick. His mouth closed over my left shoulder and pain sliced through me, but it was quickly replaced by the most intense feeling of pleasure I had ever experienced.

  My orgasm crashed into me like a tidal wave on an unexpecting shore. He could topple buildings with that feeling, I thought inanely as I rode it out, gasping for breath.

  Mate. Love. Mate. Love. MATE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

  The words pulsed through my brain, and I realized they were not coming from me. They were his thoughts. Warmth and love and joy rose inside me as Conrad arched his back. Warm jets of his release filled me, and I had never felt so good, so right, or so close to anyone as I did right then.

  The pleasure went on and on, every little ripple and aftershock was something incredible and unrushed. Conrad held me through it all, making sure I was completely sated before he cupped my face gently and pressed his mouth to mine.

  His tender kiss undid me. All the power in the world was nothing compared to the love I felt well inside of me for this man. I couldn’t help myself. My magic filled me in a mad rush, wrapping around the two of us like a blanket of love and energy.

 

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