Prelude to a Witch, Amanda Lee [ebook reader web txt] 📗

life together. They fell in love as kids, separated for an extended period when Stormy moved away, and then had to learn how love was different when hormones weren’t leading the way. I found watching them rediscover one another to be fascinating.

“I need to talk to your great-grandmother.”

If Stormy was surprised by the declaration, she didn’t show it. “May I ask why?”

“Aunt Tillie says she’s done a lot of research over the years — Goddess knows Aunt Tillie isn’t willing to do the work, so she makes friends with others who will do it for her — and I have a unique situation in Hemlock Cove.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Hunter murmured. “What unique situation?”

I hesitated and then barreled forward, keeping my voice low so nobody at the surrounding tables could hear. “I’ve seen things.”

“Like werewolves?” Hunter asked, frowning when Stormy shot him a weird look. “What? The body was found in the woods and she was stabbed multiple times. It’s possible it was werewolves.”

I had to laugh. “I see you’ve kept up on the story.”

“We’re only twenty minutes away,” Hunter reminded me. “If you have a killer there, it wouldn’t take much energy for him or her to drive here and kill someone else.”

“It’s not a werewolf. Twice now I’ve seen reflections in windows, people who aren’t really there and yet they seem to be watching me.”

Stormy’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t understand.”

That made two of us. “They’re evil entities. At least, they look like evil entities. I would call them ghosts but I’ve never seen ghosts trapped in reflections like that.”

“Sounds odd.” Stormy looked legitimately concerned. “Why do you think my great-grandmother can help?”

“I don’t know that she can,” I admitted. “But she’s my best shot. Aunt Tillie suggested your great-grandmother might have answers, something about her knowing a great deal of information about Salem.”

“Okay. That’s good enough for me.” Stormy smiled. “I have twenty minutes left on my shift. Are you okay hanging here?”

I nodded. “I’m fine. I’m going to bug your boyfriend about information on FBI profilers.”

Hunter’s eyebrows hopped. “Wait ... you have a profiler in town?”

“Yup, and she dated Landon when they were together at the academy.”

“You don’t think Landon still has feelings for her?” Stormy looked appalled at the thought. “I’ve seen you together. He’s completely in love with you.”

“I don’t. He thinks she might have feelings for him, although it feels somehow ... different than that. I don’t know how to explain it.

“I’m not worried about her having feelings for Landon,” I continued. “I’m worried about her being so intrigued by us that she starts digging and sees something she shouldn’t.”

“Oh, right.” Stormy bobbed her head. “That’s my greatest fear too.”

“You live in a town that’s supposed to be populated by witches,” Hunter pointed out. “Don’t you think that you can get away with almost anything, profiler or not?”

“No. We need to be careful. This woman ... she could blow our world out of the water.”

Hunter didn’t look happy with the response. “What are you going to do?”

“I honestly have no idea.”

ONCE STORMY FINISHED HER SHIFT, she bolted upstairs long enough to change clothes and then met me behind the restaurant. She volunteered to drive the three blocks to her grandparents’ house, and I was more than happy to have her navigate the Shadow Hills streets.

“It’s quiet here,” I noted. “Hemlock Cove is quiet most of the time ... until Aunt Tillie decides to go on a rampage.”

“I just love her,” Stormy enthused.

“Then you should borrow her a couple days a week. I’m sure she would love to have an impressionable new mind to bend to her will. When Belinda and Annie were living in the inn, she took Annie under her wing. Now that they’re out on their own she’s had more time to fill, and I think she would love to fill it with you.”

“No way.” Stormy was fervent as she shook her head. “My family is even kookier than your family. There’s no way I’m falling for that.”

“There’s no way your family is kookier than my family.”

“Um ... it totally is.”

“We have Aunt Tillie.”

“I have an uncle named Brad who believes the government has been overrun by aliens. He believes if you rip their skin off that they’re lizards underneath and they’re trying to take over the entire population.”

I had to bite back a smile. “He sounds ... fun.”

“I also have a cousin who prefers working at the gas station to the restaurant because he can wave around the gas nozzles and present them as phallic symbols to pick up women.”

“That sounds immature but normal for guys of a certain age.”

“He’s almost thirty.”

“Well ... .” I broke off and laughed. “Fine. We both have nutty families. Aunt Tillie is an unbelievable amount of work, though.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, but you have fun with her. You can’t pretend otherwise with me. I see it.”

“She’s not often fun.”

Stormy didn’t look convinced. “About a week and a half ago I was with you in Hemlock Cove when she made that woman with the porcelain unicorns so angry she started throwing them at her. I believe it revolved around making her store smell like a giant rotten egg.”

I smiled at the memory. “That was kind of fun. It was also loud.”

“There’s nothing wrong with loud.” Stormy parked in front of a nice house that boasted a pool, tennis court and an old-school trampoline that didn’t have a net to catch flying kids. “Wow. This is nice.”

Stormy slid her eyes to me as she pocketed her keys. “Yes, my grandparents built a wonderland here because they wanted all of us to hang out together. They thought this would keep us close.”

“Did it?”

She hesitated and then held out her hands. “I’m close with some of my cousins. There are a few that I would rather run over with my car than talk to. I think that’s normal of every family.”

I thought about Clove and Thistle. “Not my family.”

“Yes, but you have two cousins and were