Moonshine & Mischief: Moonshine Hollow #4 Read online

  “Then you need to learn to protect your thoughts better.” Lauren didn’t seem to see it the same way Zoey did. “For someone who has been practicing as much as you have been, I see where we need to focus some more effort.”

  Since Zoey and her father, Magnus, had reunited, the entire witch community had taken them in and was teaching them everything they should have learned as a young witchling. It was supposed to take two hundred years. It had taken them two weeks. It was as if she and her father simply absorbed the knowledge as soon as they were shown it. Now, they were only training with the oldest and most powerful of witches.

  Zoey and her father had never received formal training as they had both been born during the wars where Alexander had taken over the Tenebris and used his powers to steal the powers of the Claritase and kill anyone who opposed him. Two of those witches happened to be Zoey’s grandparents. But with Slade’s help, Zoey’s father was saved in infancy and a rebellion was born.

  Now, if only Zoey could marry Slade without another rebellion.

  “Jane, you look horrible.” Slade didn’t bother with tact. It took too much time. Jane had shown up in Moonshine Hollow a nervous wreck and hadn’t gotten much better in the month since she’d arrived. She hadn’t told anyone anything about herself or what she was running from. It was clear she was running from something or someone.

  That morning she sat in the sheriff’s station with her dark green eyes cloaked in exhaustion. Her curly shoulder length hair was a bit wild. It looked as if she hadn’t brushed it after getting up that morning . . . or possibly, that she hadn’t been to sleep yet. There were dark circles under her eyes and she seemed to fear both being around people and being alone. She only relaxed when Zoey joined her for walks in the woods.

  “Thanks, boss.” Jane sighed and took a sip of coffee.

  Slade shook his head as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “You know I’m not your boss. You work for the Forestry Department. I work for the town.”

  Jane just shrugged. “Minor technicality.”

  Slade looked at the little witch who, even under the heavy weight of whatever happened to her, was still a strong witch. Slade felt the power Jane had hidden deep within herself. When she was this worn down, it was hard for her to control the cloaking she used to hide her powers.

  “What can I do for you this morning?” Slade asked, taking a seat behind his desk. Since Zoey went to her bakery so early in the morning, Slade had taken to getting to work before his human secretary got in.

  “I found evidence of someone camping in the woods.”

  “And . . .?” Slade asked slowly. Camping was pretty big in the area, considering they were in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains.

  “This wasn’t some one night camping trip.” Jane held up her phone to show him the pictures she had taken. “The camp looks abandoned now but it looked to me as if someone was living there for at least a week. The fact that they left it set up makes me wonder if they are coming back.”

  “I’ll look into it, and if I see anything else, I’ll pass it along to the forest rangers,” Slade told her. Jane nodded, but didn’t look relieved. “What’s really going on, Jane?”

  Jane took a deep breath and Slade could see the battle that was raging behind her eyes. “I’m too tired to deny it. I’m having nightmares every night.”

  Slade crossed his arms over his chest almost as if he were determined to protect whatever danger was keeping her up at night. “About what?”

  Jane shook her head and her whole body seemed to deflate. “I don’t remember. I wake up feeling as if I’d been running all night long, but I can’t remember why or from what.”

  “Could it be from whatever you were running from when you showed up here?” Slade asked. He didn’t think she’d tell him why she came running through the woods, but it was worth asking.

  “I don’t know.” Jane looked away from him and took a deep breath.

  “Why don’t you see Zoey? Tell her what’s going on. She might be able to help.”

  Jane shook her head and him. “No. She’s too busy learning her magic and planning the wedding.”

  “She always has times for friends. And Jane,” Slade paused. He waited until she looked up at him before he continued. “Zoey and I are your friends.”

  Jane stood and her lips thinned as she pressed them together. She silently nodded. “I’ll think about it. Thank you, Master Slade.”

  “Just Slade. We’re equals here in Moonshine.”

  Slade watched the little witch walk out of the office with the weight of the world on her shoulders. He hoped she’d trust them enough to share her burden.

  2

  She was running for her life. Jane felt the dried leaves and mud under her bare feet as the darkness closed in around her. She felt the hand of death reaching for her and then there was nothing.

  Jane shot up from her bed. Her mouth was open in a scream that was making her throat raw; a scream that seemed to be ripped from her very soul. When she realized the only thing touching her were her sheets tangled about her body she was finally able to stop screaming.

  Jane sucked in deep breath after deep breath as her heart rate calmed. Her hands shook as she shoved off the sheets, damp with her sweat. Looking at the clock on her nightstand, she saw it was five in the morning. She’d finally fallen asleep at two. Another night of only a couple of hours of restless sleep.

  Jane shoved herself up. Her body felt as if it were drunk from the lack of sleep as she staggered to the bathroom. Tears sprang to her eyes at the feeling of absolute despair as she waited for the shower to heat up. She didn’t have a future. She was barely surviving each minute of every day. And she was desperate. Desperate to know what her nightmares were. Desperate to know if she’d be alive to see tomorrow.

  The shower woke her, but not nearly as much as the large cup of coffee did. The shaking in her body slowed as she walked through the dawning light toward Zoey’s Sweet Treats Bakery. She’d heard through the local grapevine that Zoey had powers similar to the Goddess herself. That she could see things through a simple touch.

  Yesterday Slade had mentioned talking to Zoey, and ever since she woke from her nightmare, she couldn’t get it out of her head. It was if a string was connecting her to Zoey and dragging her down the street and to the bakery.

  The front of the bakery was dark, but behind the counter was a glowing light. Jane tried the front door, but it was locked so she headed around to the back door. She shivered from the feeling of power coming from the shop.

  Jane heard the arguing as she approached the door. Even with the door closed to the cold early morning air, she could make out the words.

  “It should be a sleeveless sweetheart neckline!”

  “No, the dress should have capped sleeves!”

  “I always thought a fur cape looked lovely.”

  “Laced long sleeves! Haven’t you seen any royal wedding, like ever?”

  None of the voices were Zoey’s.

  Jane raised her hand and knocked.

  The door was flung open and Zoey’s eyes looked wild. “Thank Goddess you’re here. Took you long enough.”

  Zoey grabbed her hand and yanked her into the back of the bakery where Agnes, Vilma, Grand Mistress Lauren, and Grand Master Linus were all leafing through various bridal magazines.

  “I’m sorry,” Zoey practically sang with a gleeful voice that indicated she was anything but sorry. “But I have a meeting with Jane. Let’s pick up the wedding dress talk later.”

  “Later?” Mistress Lauren gasped incredulously. “Don’t you know we are now under three weeks until your wedding?”

  “I do.” Zoey looked as if she were talking between gritted teeth. “I understand the importance of the wedding and my duty. However, I need a moment alone with Jane. Then I promise to choose a wedding dress.”

  “Thank Goddess.” Mistress Lauren tossed up her hands. “That’s all we wanted.”

  Jane waited for everyone to leave as
she anxiously twined her fingers together. Jane opened her mouth to speak when the door shut, but Zoey held up her hand to stop her. The door opened again as Mistress Lauren popped back inside. “You swear you’ll pick a wedding dress?”

  “Yes.” Zoey rolled her eyes. The door closed again and Zoey finally exhaled. “Now we should have a moment alone. I’ve been waiting for you to come to me.”

  “You have?” Jane asked as Zoey motioned to a barstool near her prep table.

  “Yes. Since I touched you when you first arrived.”

  Jane watched as Zoey went around mixing ingredients for some kind of pastry that was sure to be delicious.

  “I don’t tell a lot of people, but I can sometimes see a person’s past, present, or future with a touch.”

  Jane’s fingers gripped tightly to each other as fear washed over her—the type of fear that chased her in her nightmares. “What did you see?”

  “I was trying not to see. I got flashes of you running through the woods and then you were happy.”

  Jane let out a burst of almost hysterical laughter. “Happy? I can’t sleep for the fear, and I’m supposed to be happy?”

  “Would you mind if I touched you again? Maybe when I actually concentrate on my power, I can see more.”

  Jane didn’t know if she wanted to know or not. She was there for just that, but did she really want to know her future? Did she want to know when and how she died? Because right now it felt as if everything in her life was careening toward death.

  “I don’t want to know my future. I just want to know about the nightmares I’m having. I can’t see them. I can’t remember them. I just want them to stop.”

  Zoey looked sympathetically at her and then held out her hand. The final decision was up to Jane. Jane stared at Zoey’s hand as the last debate was made in her mind. Jane held out her hand and closed her eyes. Fear seeped into every pore of her body as she waited to hear the horrors in her mind.

  Zoey’s hand closed over Jane’s and a warm sensation surrounded her hand and ran up her arm until it reached her head. Her mind seemed to float as something shifted. It was Zoey. She was in her mind. The warmth receded and then Zoey dropped her hand. Jane opened her eyes.

  The sadness in Zoey’s face told her everything she needed to know. “I’m going to die.”

  3

  Jane didn’t want to hear it. Instead, she turned away so Zoey couldn’t see the pain and fear on her face.

  “I’m so sorry, Jane. I know the fear that Ian can strike. I saw that you were to be married to him and that he’s come after you again.” Zoey placed her hand on Jane’s shoulder. Jane felt that warmth again and straightened. She hadn’t survived all these centuries by being weak.

  “Ian is a toddler throwing a fit because he can’t have the toy he wants,” Jane said stiffly as she turned around. “When will he kill me?”

  “That’s the thing,” Zoey said, her face marred with confusion. “I didn’t see your death, I saw your future. And since you didn’t want me to tell you about it, I will be vague. You will be happy. The trouble is when I’m in your mind there are these large black craters. I tried to look into them and it was like looking into a bottomless pit. Those are your nightmares. I’m so sorry. I failed.”

  Jane saw how upset Zoey was. What was in her nightmares that were so bad her mind buried them so badly?

  “I couldn’t see into your nightmares, but I did learn how to help,” Zoey said, reaching out to her again. “If you trust me.”

  Jane hadn’t trusted anyone in centuries. Zoey didn’t know what she was asking. Or maybe she did.

  “I trust you. After all, you did say I have some happiness in my future.” Jane nodded almost more to herself than to Zoey. She was trying to psych herself up for whatever this trust was going to entail.

  “Good!” Zoey smiled brightly and turned back to her prep table. “Can you pass me the chocolate chips?”

  Jane spent the next two hours helping with baking and setting up the shop for its opening. “Should I go?” Jane asked when Zoey flipped the sign on the door to read “Open.”

  “No. Take a seat and let me bring you breakfast after all the help you gave me this morning. Then we need to pay a visit to someone I think can help.”

  Before Jane could ask more, Zoey was handing her a plate of food and a cup of coffee as the shop filled with the morning rush. Jane talked to the human and non-human residents alike as the morning passed. Polly, a witch, and Maribelle, a human, both stopped to talk to her. They were Zoey’s best friends. Jane felt jealous as she watched the townspeople come together. She didn’t have friends like that. Even when she was a young witch, she hadn’t had many friends.

  Her parents had taught her at home rather than sending her to the witch schools. They were wonderful parents and she loved them very much. However, they were over protective. They thought their elite position made them targets for being used for their wealth and power. But then they fell for the biggest con man of all—Ian. He convinced Jane’s father that he was one of them and the only suitor who could protect Jane from the others . . . if he had enough power.

  Jane shook her head, trying to erase the bad memories and the fear. Here in Moonshine Hollow she needed to step out of the shadows and become part of the community. She needed to place herself and her trust in others. The first step was talking to the people who stopped by her table. The second was trusting Zoey.

  Jane looked at the doctor’s office that looked to be from another time—the 1970s to be specific. The lobby was presided over by a woman who looked to be as old as the avocado and burnt orange décor.

  “What are we doing here?” Jane asked.

  “I had Lauren hire a new doctor. Dr. Thurman fought it at first, but he agreed when she told him he only needs to come into the office once a week.” Zoey looked over at the stern looking woman behind the table and lowered her voice. “And it was also contingent on Doris staying on as the secretary.”

  A green light lit up on Doris’s desk and Doris glared at Jane and Zoey. “Dr. Sinclair will see you in room one.”

  Zoey stood up and began walking back to the exam rooms. “What can this doctor do?” Jane asked again. “You know a human doctor can’t do anything to help me.”

  “Just keep an open mind. Remember I used to be human and look at what I can do.”

  “You were never fully human,” Jane reminded her.

  “Yes, but do we know which humans carry a trace of witch blood? I don’t. So, you never know who might have that sense to fix things or that sense of right and wrong or that sense of otherworldliness.”

  Jane thought about it as they walked into the room with the large number one next to it. The one was yellow now, but at some point had probably been white. “Fine. I’ll keep an open mind.”

  The room was similar to the lobby, although the new doctor must have fixed it up some. His diploma hung on the wall as Jane went over to read it. Galen Sinclair graduated with honor from an Ivy League medical school that had been the go-to medical school for centuries.

  “Wow. The doc has cleaned this place up,” Zoey said, looking around. “The paper on the exam table was usually yellow. And look, current posters. There used to be one for the polio vaccine in here.”

  “What is a doctor of his caliber doing in Moonshine Hollow? I’d expect to see him in some major city. Did he flunk out of school? Is that why he’s here?” Jane asked, looking back at the diploma and doing the math in her head. He was thirty-six years old in human years. Dr. Galen Sinclair was in the prime of his life.

  “I saw an article he wrote and told Grand Mistress Lauren she should hire him. I didn’t ask how she did it.”

  Zoey took a seat, picked up a magazine, and gasped. “Oh wow. The magazine is only a week old! The ones in the waiting room are over twenty years old.”

  Jane didn’t know how Zoey could be so relaxed. Jane was a bundle of nerves as she paced around the small exam room. There was a knock at the door, and when it opened
, Jane almost stumbled over her own feet in surprise. She knew Dr. Sinclair was young, but she was expecting someone reed thin with balding hair. However, Dr. Galen Sinclair was definitely not any of that. She noticed his shoes first. They were sturdy low hikers from a well known brand. Then she noticed the strong muscular legs, the flat stomach under his button-down shirt, and the wide shoulders. Then she noticed the square jaw, the sexy angles of his face and then the dark brown hair streaked with auburn highlights that seemed to match his eyes.

  “Jane?”

  “Yes?” Jane said on a sigh and then felt like an idiot. Or more aptly, like a lovestruck teenage girl.

  “You forgot to put down your last name on the form, and I’ll need your social security or driver’s license number.” Dr. Sinclair smiled and prepared his pen to write it as she blinked with the familiar panic of trying to remember what fake name was on her license now.

  “Um,” Jane dug out her wallet and handed him her license after a quick glance to remind herself. “Farrow.” He wrote it down and then smiled at her again.

  “What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Sinclair motioned for Jane to sit up on the exam table as he stuck the stethoscope into his ears to listen to her heart and lungs.

  “Um . . .”

  “Your lungs and heart sound good.”

  “Um . . .” Jane saw Zoey roll her eyes and knew if she didn’t tell the doctor, Zoey would. “I’m not sleeping.”

  “Are you under stress from work?” Dr. Sinclair looked back down at her chart. “You work for the Forestry Department?”

  “Yes. That’s what keeps me calm. I clear trails and make sure they’re marked properly. I also lead education classes.”

  “So is it you who I have to thank for that new trail up Earnest Mountain?”

  Jane smiled widely and nodded. “That was my first trail here. Do you like it? Is it too hard?”

  Dr. Sinclair shook his head. “I love it. It’s challenging but not so hard you don’t want to do it again. The lookout points you created give such stunning views of the valley and the creek below. So, you said it keeps you calm. Calm from what?”