“Honey, your ego’s getting away from you.” I straightened my shoulders. “Do you have a clue what I can do, sweetheart? Did Ralph tell you who I am?”
“Some booze-soaked, washed-up witch, that’s all I know.” Honey began to braid the roots together, muttering under her breath.
“Put down the roots. All I want to do is send you home, Honey. I don’t want to hurt you.” I held out my hand, coaxing a flicker out of my fingers. The flames burned steadily and I thought if I could just get the right shot at her, I could knock out her roots without catching her clothes aflame.
But Honey wasn’t listening. She kept braiding away and I felt the edge of a shadow push into the room. It was thick and heavy, like smog, and felt dirty in a way that soil never should. It was the shadow of slugs and maggots, and the scent of a fetid earth that had turned sour from decaying flesh. It was reaching out for me, the tendrils of energy looking for something to latch onto. Honey’s eyes glowed with a dangerous light, and a snarl of a grin appeared on her face, cunning and foxy.
I condensed the flames into a ball of burning light. “Don’t make me use this.”
“Go ahead and try,” she whispered, almost done braiding the roots. Whatever she was conjuring was almost in the room. At that moment, the door slammed open and Ralph stood there, along with Sandy.
“Ralph, restrain your cousin or I’m going to hurt her.” I looked straight at the satyr. “You already sicced her on my household and now one person’s dead because of it. Thornton was killed by her hex. Do you really want to be party to that?”
A look of surprise washed across Ralph’s face. “Dead? Somebody died?”
“What do you think?” Honey said, not even glancing at him. “I don’t play games. You told me somebody was messing with you, I went after them.” She went back to whispering her incantation and she came to the end of the roots.
“Stop—don’t do it—you don’t want this.” I increased the size of the ball of flames, holding it up so that Ralph could see. “Stop her.”
He began to twitch a little. “Honey, she’ll use it.”
“She’ll have to get through my shadow poppet first!” Honey finished braiding the roots and blew on the poppet. The shadow in the room increased and solidified into a hulking creature that promptly stepped on the bed, breaking it. The beast looked like a tall, narrow dinosaur with a serpentine neck. It was a muddled mass of smoke and shadow, with glistening scales that shimmered through the immediate darkness. Its eyes glowed with a pale amethyst light and its face reminded me of an odd bird—feathered with fur, with a sharply curved beak that had a piercing tip to it. It twisted its head, curving down toward me in one blur of movement.
I let loose with the fire, aiming it not at the creature, but at Honey. She was controlling it, and I was pretty sure that I’d need to knock her off her guard before we could dissipate the shadow poppet.
Sandy let out a string of curses and a sudden gust of wind knocked me out of the way as the creature struck. Its beak shattered the floor where I had been standing.
Ralph cried out, racing forward to drag Honey back but before he could grab hold of her arm, the fire hit her, blazing so bright that the shadow poppet screamed and withdrew. Honey let out a piercing shriek as the flames clung to her, beginning to eat at her clothes.
Sandy body-slammed her, knocking her to the ground and sitting on top of her. The braided roots slid across the floor toward me and I grabbed them up, ripping them apart. The shadow poppet began to flop and flounce as I did so, and I realized I was tearing it to pieces.
Ralph stared at the scene with a look of horror on his face. He grabbed Honey’s planter and I tossed him the salt. With a look of mingled sadness and fear, he poured a handful into the dirt and began working it through.
Sandy managed to put out the flames on Honey’s shirt, but I got a look at her face and could tell that the Dirt Witch was going to have some nasty blisters. The next moment, Honey jerked away, turning to Ralph.
“How could you? I helped you fight this bitch and you’re…” She was beginning to fade, and was almost translucent by now.
Ralph set the pot down. “I never meant for you to kill anybody. I don’t…that’s not what I do.” He sounded heartsick.
“Coward.” Honey let out one last snort and, holding her hands to her blistered face, she faded completely away. The last of the shadow poppet vanished with her.
Sandy was putting out stray fires that had started from my spell. I quickly moved to help her, tossing salt on top of the flames. We managed to corral them all before they became a bigger problem. Ralph stared at us, his mouth hanging open. For the first time in a long while, he looked contrite.
I walked over to him. “Listen, Ralph, enough. Just enough of the fighting and the arguing. Because of our bickering, a man is dead. There’s no proof that our fight played a part, but you and I both know that Honey’s spell was dangerous. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the rest of the damage you did. I think it’s time we put our feud to rest, don’t you? And this time, I mean it.”
His shoulders slumped and he hung his head. “I didn’t mean for anybody to really get hurt. She said…never mind what she said. I shouldn’t have asked her to help.” He held out his hand. “Truce? For real this time?”
I honestly wanted to just stand here and bitch him the fuck out, but I decided that we already had too much collateral damage. “Truce. But see that you abide by it. And don’t you ever invite her here again. You want to see her? Go visit where she lives.”
“All right.” He turned, starting to shuffle away, then stopped. “Maddy? What say we do a joint promotion? Maybe we can entice more tourists if we go in on something together?”
I was about to say, “You’ve got to be kidding,” but stopped myself. “On one condition. You send Snow and the boys home right away.”
He squirmed. “There’s a little problem with that. I can’t. It was Honey’s spell and I can’t undo it. I don’t even know if another Dirt Witch could.”
“Great…just great. All right, then—new condition. You stop making cheesy porn flicks, you pay for Snow White and her boys to find a place to live and you help them find jobs. Good jobs that they want to do.” I leaned toward him, hands on my hips. “Do that, and we’ll figure out some joint advertising venture, as long as it’s tasteful.”
Ralph shifted from hoof to hoof, but then just shrugged. “Fine. I’ll help them, and until they find a place to stay, I’ll make room for them here.”
I looked at Sandy. “Are we done?”
She thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think we are.”
“Well, I’m not.” The voice from the door was one I hadn’t heard in a couple of days and had been longing for. I whirled as Aegis came slamming into the room, and before I could say a word, he decked Ralph with a right hook that sent the satyr careening onto the already broken bed.
Ralph groaned, pushing himself up as he rubbed his jaw. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“Oh, I’m not done yet,” Aegis said, his hair flowing over his shoulders. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and in his leather pants, he looked entirely yummy as his eyes blazed crimson.
“Stop, love. I already had a long talk with Ralph. And we sent his cousin home to where she came from.” I stepped between the two men.
Aegis glared at Ralph, but then he paused, staring at me, before he swept me up into his arms. “Maddy, I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he covered my face with kisses. And then his lips met mine, and the feeling of his kiss was all I could think about.
Relieved and grateful that he was all right, I whispered, “I love you.”
And Aegis whispered it back.
Chapter 21
THE NEXT EVENING, I entered the Memoriam, which was next to Wyers Undertakers, my arm wrapped around Aegis’s. Sandy and Max were there, near the front, and a number of people were milling around looking for a seat. The urn sat on a podium, and I
saw what had to be Bart’s parents sitting in the front row.
“How’s Sandy taking this?” Aegis whispered to me.
“Hard, but Max is helping her through it, and she has me, too. Bart was really a good guy, but his parents wanted him to be the all-American son, and because of that, a lot of people got caught in his deception, and hurt.” I leaned on his arm, my head resting against his shoulder. “Aegis, will you come visit Essie with me? She called last night and left a message asking to see me. I know she wants to discuss the situation with the Arcānus Nocturni, and I don’t know what to do or say around her. I’d feel better if you were there.”
“I’d be happy to, love.” He kissed the top of my head. “I wish we could have stayed home tonight. I really didn’t enjoy being stuck in bat form, and it’s put me behind on rehearsals and a number of things. But most of all, it took me away from you for a couple of days.”
We found our seats and settled in. The hall filled up, and Sandy took over, introducing various people who knew Bart and were slated to speak about him. We listened quietly, the mood solemn and melancholy, as people allowed their grief to have its reign. When Sandy was ready for the Cord Cutting, I would lead the ritual, but for now, we were all just a group of people saying good-bye to someone who had been a part of our lives.
I thought about all the people I had left behind, all the people I had lost in my life, and I found myself wondering: what drew us together? Why did we instantly click with some people who became a part of our lives forever, while with others, we moved on and left them behind?
Sandy was in my life from near to day one. We were best friends. Soulmates, of a sort. I couldn’t imagine her not being part of my life. Bubba, too, was here to stay. And Aegis—he was quickly becoming a fixture in my life. The thought of being without him made me want to cry.
There were others who passed through, and then, like a glimmer of sunshine on a cloudy day, vanished. Tom, my sweet Tom, who was stolen by vampires and roamed in a realm of shadow and fire, forever taken from me.
And then…there were some who walked in twilight, appearing and vanishing at will. We loved them, and yet, we dreaded the thought of seeing them again because when they entered our lives it was on a whirlwind of chaos, and they left a trail of debris and love in their wake. Fata had been one of those.
As the service progressed, I found myself thanking the gods for my life, for Bubba and Sandy, for Aegis and Max and even Delia. As much as I loved playing with fire and power, and as much as I loved the parties and mayhem and exploits that I had lived through, what mattered most were my friends. The family of friends that I had gathered around me. Because when it came down to it, when you stripped away the glamour and glitz, in the end, we had only our deeds to be known by, and the love in our hearts, to walk us through the veil.
~End~
If you enjoyed this story and haven’t read the earlier books in my Bewitching Bedlam Series, hop on over and pick up the prequel, BLOOD MUSIC, and the first novel—BEWITCHING BEDLAM. A novelette—BLOOD VENGEANCE—is available for preorder, and the third book—SIREN’S SONG—will be available in October 2017.
If you like dystopian paranormal romance, check out my Fury Unbound Series! FURY RISING (available for $2.99), FURY’S MAGIC, FURY AWAKENED are available now, and the final release in the first story arc—FURY CALLING—will be available soon.
Book 19 of my Otherworld Series—MOON SHIMMERS—is available, and KNIGHT MAGIC, a novelette, will be available in September 2017.
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to ensure you always get updated on new releases! You can find out more about ALL my books on my web site at Galenorn.com, and in the Biography/Bibliography at the end of this book.
Upcoming Releases
(Subject to Change)
August—December 2017
Fury Calling (Fury Unbound—Book 4)
Blood Vengeance (Bewitching Bedlam—Novelette)
Knight Magic (Otherworld—Novelette)
Siren’s Song (Bewitching Bedlam—Book 3)
Witches Wild (Bewitching Bedlam—Book 4)
Tiger Tails (Bewitching Bedlam—Novelette)
Silent Night (Otherworld—Novelette)
Playlist
I often write to music, and here’s the playlist I used for this book.
AC/DC: Back in Black; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution
Amanda Blank: Make It Take It; Something Bigger, Something Better
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: Zombies; X; Sunshine Coolin’; Heart Attack
AWOLNATION: Sail
Beck: Qué Onda Guero
The Black Angels: Don’t Play With Guns; Always Maybe; You’re Mine; Phosphene Dream
Black Mountain: Wucan; Queens Will Play; The Way to Gone
Blind Melon: No Rain
Boom! Bap! Pow!: Suit
Cake: Short Skirt/Long Jacket; The Distance
The Clash: Should I Stay or Should I Go
Cobra Verde: Play with Fire
Crazy Town: Butterfly
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Susie-Q; Green River; Run Through the Jungle: Born on the Bayou
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs; China Girl; Cat People
The Doors: Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar); Hello, I Love You; Hyacinth House; Moonlight Drive; My Wild Love; We Could Be So Good Together
Elektrisk Gonner: Uknowhatiwant
Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
The Hollies: Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)
Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit; Plastic Fantastic Lover
The Kills: Nail In My Coffin; You Don’t Own The Road; U.R.A. Fever; Sour Cherry; No Wow
Ladytron: Paco!; Ghosts
Lord of the Lost: Sex On Legs
Men Without Hats: The Safety Dance
Nilsson: Coconut
Nirvana: Heart Shaped Box; Come as You Are; Plateau; Lake of Fire
Oingo Boingo: Dead Man’s Party; Elevator Man
People In Planes: Vampire
Rob Zombie: American Witch; Living Dead Girl
The Rolling Stones: The Spider and the Fly; Mother’s Little Helper; Lady Jane
Shriekback: Underwaterboys; Over the Wire; Big Fun; Dust and a Shadow; This Big Hush; Nemesis; Now These Days Are Gone; The King in the Tree
Simple Minds: Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Tom Petty: Mary Jane’s Last Dance
Warrant: Cherry Pie
Biography
New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and is the author of over fifty books, including the Otherworld Series, the Fury Unbound Series, the Bewitching Bedlam Series, and many more. She’s also written nonfiction metaphysical books. She is the 2011 Career Achievement Award Winner in Urban Fantasy, given by RT Magazine.
Yasmine has been in the Craft since 1980, is a shamanic witch and High Priestess. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Kirkland WA with her husband Samwise and their cats. Yasmine can be reached via her website at Galenorn.com.
Yasmine’s Currently Available Indie Books:
Bewitching Bedlam Series:
Blood Music (prequel novelette)
Bewitching Bedlam
Maudlin’s Mayhem
Blood Vengeance
Fury Unbound Series:
Fury Rising
Fury’s Magic
Fury Awakened
Otherworld Series:
Moon Shimmers
Earthbound
Otherworld Tales: Volume One
Tales From Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection Two
Moon Swept: Otherworld Tales of First Love
For the rest of the Otherworld Series, see Website
Chintz ‘n China Series:
Ghost of a Chance
Legend of the
Jade Dragon
Murder Under a Mystic Moon
A Harvest of Bones
One Hex of a Wedding
Holiday Spirits
Bath and Body Series (originally under the name India Ink):
Scent to Her Grave
A Blush With Death
Glossed and Found
Misc. Short Story Collections:
Mist and Shadows: Short Tales From Dark Haunts
Once Upon a Kiss (short story: Princess Charming)
Silver Belles (short story: The Longest Night)
Once Upon a Curse (short story: Bones)
Night Shivers (an Indigo Court novella)
Magickal Nonfiction:
Embracing the Moon
Tarot Journeys
For other and upcoming work, see Website
Yasmine Galenorn, Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam Book 2)
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