“There is a demon on the loose in Whitefall Cove.”
A startled gasp echoed through the room, followed by murmurs and whispering. I glanced at Gran who was seated next to me in a black satin ball gown complete with top hat, then turned my attention back to Izzy who’d called this emergency meeting. Esmerelda Higgingbottom—Izzy for short—was the headmistress of Drixworths Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where young witches and warlocks study the craft before obtaining their witches license, and it was in one of her classrooms where we now sat.
“How did this happen?” Poppy and Hetty Oliver said in unison. “We thought this town was safe!” The two sisters ran a tea shop along the esplanade called The Tea Leaf. Poppy and Hetty weren’t twins, but they could have been. A year apart in age—somewhere in their fifties—and dressed eerily similar. Floral dresses, sensible shoes, short, curly hair, pearl necklaces.
Izzy nodded. “It is true, our ancestors warded the township hundreds of years ago to create a haven for supernaturals and humans alike. But those wards have been broken.”
“But how?” Poppy was genuinely puzzled. “If they were powerful wards, designed to last many lifetimes, how could they have been broken? And by whom?”
“Yes,” Hetty added. “We specifically chose to move to Whitefall Cove because of its non-demon rating. This is most disappointing.” She huffed, arms crossed, mouth downturned.
Izzy smiled gently at the two women. “I agree, it is of great concern. That’s why I have invited both a sorceress and a druid to assist us with re-establishing the wards and banishing any demons.”
“You’re sure a demon has gotten past the wards?” I asked, curious, along with everyone else, that one-day Whitefall Cove was its usual idyllic haven and the next we had a demon problem.
“There has been a possession, yes,” Izzy confirmed. A ruckus broke out, everyone talking over each other, voices rising as panic swept through the room.
“It’s not some prankster fooling around, is it?” A voice boomed from the back.
Gran stiffened next to me and I pinned her with a look.
“What?” she hissed. “It isn’t me, I swear. Although it does give me ideas.” She tapped her lip thoughtfully.
“Gran!” I warned. I wouldn’t put it past her to pull such tricks, but I also knew if she said she wasn’t responsible, she wasn’t. Gran liked to take full credit for her endeavors. Plus, possessing someone took a lot of power. I doubted if any of the witches in Whitefall Cove had the ability.
Jackson, who was seated on the other side of me, raised his hand. “If I may, Izzy?” Jackson was a necromancer and as such he had a close relationship with the spirit world and could often see and communicate with ghosts.
“Jackson.” Izzy nodded and he rose to his feet, addressing the room.
“I think Izzy is right—whether it’s a demon or something else, there is something amiss in Whitefall Cove. The ghosts are…panicked. Agitated.”
“Do you know why?” I asked, surprised he’d never mentioned this to me before.
“They’ve stopped speaking to me,” he replied, glancing down at me. “Whenever I approach, they vaporize.”
“Sounds to me like they’re scared of you.” Poppy sniffed. I swiveled to frown at her. Jackson had a very good relationship with the ghosts—they had nothing to fear from him and they knew it.
“Maybe they’re avoiding him because they’re scared he will ask them what’s going on?” I said in his defense. “Maybe the ghosts know about the demon and that’s what’s got them rattled.”
“Possibly,” Izzy agreed.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I whispered when Jackson sat back down.
He placed a hand on my knee and squeezed. “We’ve always had more interesting things to talk about.” He grinned. It was true. Jackson and I had been dating for a few weeks now and our time together had been spent doing much more romantic things, like candlelight dinners, walks on the beach, stuff straight out of a romantic movie. Gran said it made her want to puke, but I’d seen the teasing gleam in her eye and knew she was beyond happy for us.
“As I said,” Izzy continued, “a sorceress and druid are on hand to assist us. Please join me in welcoming sorceress, Morgan Healy.”
Heads swiveled as a woman at the back of the room stood. She was drop-dead gorgeous and, judging by the stunned silence, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. With tanned skin, winged eyeliner accentuating dark eyes and Icelandic white hair, it was a combination not to be missed. Add in the white bustier hugging her petite figure, long white nails, and a tribal tattoo that wrapped around her wrist, across the back of her hand and up her thumb and forefinger, she projected an overall badass vibe.
“Wowee,” Gran declared. I could see the cogs turning in her head, planning on how she could emulate Morgan’s look. We all watched, mesmerized, as Morgan moved to the front of the room. I cocked my head, studying her. She looked like she wasn’t walking at all, yet her body was moving and I wondered if she were floating. Her long skirt hid her feet from view so I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if she just moved with the utmost grace or if sorcery was involved.
“Thank you, Izzy.” Morgan’s voice was as seductive as her appearance, warm and husky, and we all sat with bated breath, fully prepared to hang on her every word. “I’m delighted to be here. Whitefall Cove is a beautiful town.”
“Yeah, if you don’t count the demon,” Gran grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, a frown pulling her brows tight. I glanced at Jackson, who quirked an eyebrow. Gran had that look about her, the one that said she was ready for a fight, and when Gran was in that mood she was like a dog with a bone. Morgan had better have some satisfactory answers.
“That is so.” Morgan inclined her head in Gran’s direction, then lifted one arm gracefully, and as if in slow motion, flicked her waist-length hair over one shoulder. I swear to God I saw gold dust sparkle in the air. Gran relaxed back in her seat, hands falling into her lap. Had Morgan done something with that fairy dust? Or had it all been an illusion? I felt a bit muddled, and Gran was strangely unanimated. For Gran, that is.
Morgan lifted both arms out from her sides, closed her eyes and tilted her head back. “I sense multiple creatures,” she breathed, “but they are nothing. A trifling nuisance, easily dealt with. Something worse is coming. Something dark. Something evil.”
We gasped, horrified.
“What is it?” Izzy asked. “What do you see?”
“Something dark is coming this way,” Morgan repeated, lowering her arms and opening her eyes.
“Really, Morgan? That’s the best you’ve got?” Heads swiveled to the voice coming from the doorway. He was a giant of a man, his dark head brushing the top of the doorframe, his broad shoulders touching each side. As much as Morgan had an ethereal beauty, this man had a commanding presence, not so much in his looks, that, when pressed you’d say were quite ordinary, but he had a magnetic quality. He was the type of man that men wanted to be, and women wanted to be with.
Izzy beckoned him forward. “Please meet Finn Hurley. Finn is a druid and he joins us from the Otherworld.”
My mouth dropped open. I’d heard about the Otherworld but had thought it was the stuff of fairytales. I’d never believed it actually existed.
Finn stepped into the room and mist swirled around his feet as he moved.
“Thank you for inviting me, Izzy.” He gave a slight bow and heat colored Izzy’s cheeks. I sighed. Finn nodded at Morgan who so far had refused to acknowledge him. I wondered if the two of them had history, the way she stood rigidly ignoring him made me think they were familiar with each other.
“Here’s how I see it, folks.” Finn addressed us and the room hung on his word much as it had Morgan’s. “Whitefall Cove is a special place. A magical town. And for good reason. It started as a conduit between worlds. A way for beings to travel from one dimension to another. Then the war came, allegiances were forged, and the portal closed. It’s been that way for millennia.”
“Until now,” Morgan drawled, studying her nails.
Finn inclined his head. “Agreed. Until now. But, and you’ll have to take my word for this as a seer and a druid, there is nothing sinister in it. Yes, the wards have been breached and they will be restored. Morgan and I will see to it.”
“How can you say it’s not sinister?” Jackson said. “Something powerful broke those wards, wards that have withheld attacks for, I presume, hundreds of years. Why now?”
“Whitefall Cove is built where the veil between dimensions is thin.” Morgan pinned Jackson with her dark gaze and he audibly swallowed. “Making it an attractive target. But also, a forgotten one. Who here knew of this? Knew of Whitefall Cove’s beginnings?”
We all looked at each other in confusion. I’d had no idea. It seemed neither did anyone else.
“I believe the wards were broken by accident.” Finn folded his thick arms across his chest. “They weren’t deliberately broken, it was fallout from some other activity.”
“And we’re here to discover what.” Morgan nodded, moving to stand united with Finn. “For the magic that broke the wards? Was dark.”
“You’re saying black magic?” Hetty Oliver squeaked, aghast at the very idea.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Poppy looked from her sister to the trio holding court in the front of the room.
“Correct on both counts.” Izzy nodded. She turned her attention to Finn and Morgan. “I should let you know that I’ve also invited someone else to assist us in our time of need.” She glanced at her watch. “I was hoping he’d be here by now, but he must have been held up.”
“He?” Morgan tossed her hair over one shoulder in apparent interest at the mention of another male. Finn crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
“Yes,” Izzy said. “A demon hunter. We need this situation dealt with quickly and efficiently.”
Morgan and Finn snorted in perfect unison.
“I assure you, we can take care of it,” Finn said.
Izzy arched one perfectly manicured eyebrow at him. “I’m sure you can. I’m also sure you’ll agree that your time, not to mention your skills and talents, would be best spent repairing the wards and getting to the bottom of how they were broken. Chasing down any creatures that have found their way here shouldn’t distract you from your task.”
“Who is the demon hunter, may I ask?” Morgan asked while Finn floundered for a response to Izzy’s words.
“Llewellyn Cox,” Izzy said. “You know of him?”
“I’ve heard of him, yes, but have not crossed paths with him before.” She inclined her head as if giving a nod of approval.
Izzy turned to the audience. “I know this has been a shock. We’ve lived a peaceful existence here for so long that the thought of demons, or any otherworldly creature for that matter, infiltrating Whitefall Cove wanting to do harm is difficult to fathom. But we’re taking care of it, as you can see.” She indicated Finn and Morgan by her side. “I urge you now not to panic. Be mindful, if you see a demon, or come across evidence of one, please let us know.”
“What signs should we be looking for?” Poppy asked, wringing her hands in anguish.
“Anything out of the ordinary. Strange noises. The smell of sulfur. Mysterious shadows. Anything odd. Don’t hesitate. Call any one of us. And as soon as Llewellyn arrives I’ll hand out his number and you can call him direct—he’ll be dealing with any creatures that have crossed over into this dimension. Do not, under any circumstances, approach a demon on your own. Call for help. Understood?”
Heads nodded grimly. With Gran on one side of me and Jackson on the other, I held both their hands and squeezed, an unsettling sensation wrapping itself around me that I just couldn’t shake. Maybe it was the thrum of magic in the room from the presence of Finn and Morgan, or maybe it was something more sinister…I just didn’t know, and I certainly didn’t like it.
