Flea Market Magic (Southern Relics Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  “Then why did you ask us to consider you if we wanted to sell it?” I asked after he composed himself.

  Jackson cursed under his breath. “Because I thought I could use it and bring in real money to pay for either better treatment than we could afford or to take her on the vacation we never had. And even though I offered to buy it from you, I knew I didn’t have money to give. At least, not until I got the crystal ball and started using it.”

  “So, it was you who broke through our wards and into the storage barn?” Uncle Jo clarified, a little relief seeping into his voice.

  The man nodded his bald head. “I’m sorry, Jo, but I was desperate. I got inside your barn and started searching when that young man startled me. He got nasty really quick until he realized that we were there for the same reason. When neither of us could find the crystal ball, he got angry at me again, and I ran out of there, thinking he would chase me.

  “When he didn’t follow me, I knew I needed to get rid of him so I could look for myself. So, I armed myself with a shovel I found lying around and came back. He was crowing about whatever he’d discovered in the box, and before I could even think about it, I hit him over the head. I only meant to knock him out and take the crystal ball, not kill him. I swear, it was an accident.”

  Marilyn moaned and Jackson stopped his explanation, holding onto her and whispering how things would turn out okay. The whole scene broke my heart, and I wished I’d never found the crystal ball in the first place.

  The mournful husband opened the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a velvet box. “It wasn’t even the crystal ball he’d found, but something else he thought had value.”

  Handing it to me, I cracked it open and found a diamond tennis bracelet that had somehow gotten thrown into one of the boxes and forgotten. I passed it to Uncle Jo and rubbed the spot on my chest that still ached every time Jackson brought up the ball.

  “Wait, then you didn’t try to find the…object…because of your own need to use it again? Because you touched it, too?” I pressed. Although we’d found our murderer, it might not have been for the reasons I’d come up with.

  “No, I never connected with it. But Mary suffered terribly after that day. At first, I thought it was her pre-existing health issues. But sometimes when she talked in her sleep, she’d talk to someone who wasn’t here.” Jackson ran a hand down his face. “It took me a few days to understand what kind of hold that ball had on her, but it was too late to try and do anything about it. And ever since then, she’s gotten steadily worse each day.” He sat on the edge of the bed, barely holding it together and knowing his own fate would be changing after this.

  I turned to the policeman. “Officer Whittle, can’t you do something to delay arresting him? Let him spend the time she has left with his wife.”

  Barney grimaced. “I’m already out of my league. And if we want to keep this under warden control, then I have to do something now. If we wait, then we risk Caine getting involved.”

  “Actually, Jackson, I think your wife might have a chance if you’ll let me contact someone,” Uncle Jo said, dialing a number on his phone.

  “Who?” I asked.

  My uncle scrunched his nose. “Let’s just say we might have to let Ebonee have first shot at whatever she wants to purchase during the next midnight market.” He stepped outside of the room to talk to the regional coven leader.

  The distraught husband stopped fussing over his wife. “What’s Jo talking about?”

  “We’ve had some experience tonight in dealing with breaking the hold the crystal ball had on those who used it.” I clutched my chest again, knowing my turn with the doctor would come soon. “It’s possible we can ease some of her pain at least.” I didn’t want to overpromise nor think about how I’d have to voluntarily undergo treatment to cut off the hold the disembodied voice had on me.

  Jo joined us again. “Ebonee and her doctor are on their way. She’d like to speak with you, Barney, before you take any actions. And Jackson, all bills you have outstanding will be paid by me and my family since it was my decision to bring sorrow into your house.”

  The tired man didn’t put up a fight. “I swear to all of you, I didn’t mean to take his life.”

  It would have given him no comfort to know that only one person in the world mourned the man he’d killed. Barney let Jackson stay through the doctor’s assessment so he could hear the good news that there might be hope in easing a lot of the pain she suffered since touching the ball. Her cancer and the decision not to treat it couldn’t be helped, but she would be able to live out her life on her own terms.

  Jackson smiled for the first time as Barney put him with care into the back of his vehicle, “I can leave her knowing she’ll be okay.”

  Uncle Jo held up his right hand. “And I swear to you, she won’t be alone. Neither of you will. We’ll be there for both of you.”

  Ebonee made a lesser statement about helping to find a lawyer and letting the coven pay for any treatments Beverly deemed necessary. We watched the police car drive away and negotiated with the coven leader to have a member who lived close by volunteer to stay with Marilyn until better arrangements could be made.

  On the drive back home, my uncle and I sat in somber silence. Instead of celebrating that we’d solved the murder, both of us relived our regrets and wrapped them around us like heavy blankets. Our choices had cost us too much, and for the first time ever, I questioned staying in the family business.

  Chapter Twenty

  T he doctor cleared me to go back to my normal life long before my family and friends let me do so. They treated me as if I might shatter like a porcelain doll if someone dropped it. After Cate brought me another casserole and I’d run out of places in my refrigerator and my freezer to keep it, I threatened to use the crystal ball to see how many more dishes it would take before I would lose my mind. Nobody found my joke funny.

  By the time I rejoined my normal life, I figured someone in my family would have figured out how to get rid of the dangerous item that no one would talk about around me for fear I might relapse.

  Sure of myself and trusting the doctor Ebonee provided for me, I pushed the issue at a family dinner. “So, why haven’t you gotten rid of it yet?”

  My dad’s eyes snapped up from cutting his chicken fried steak. “How do you know we haven’t?”

  I chewed on a crumbly bite of cornbread. “It’s not because I can sense it or anything. It’s more because of how y’all are treating me. You’ve been having someone watch me at all times, probably because you’re afraid I might go searching for it.” I sopped up some of the pot likker from the collards. “And y’all are not stealthy at all in your plan. I figured it out after the first couple of days. But I kind of liked the company.” I winked at Dani and squeezed Luke’s knee under the table.

  “Well, you had us pretty scared,” Dad admitted. “So, we might have gone a little overboard in trying to protect you. I’m not going to apologize because that’s my right as your father.”

  “And ours as your aunt and uncle,” Aunt Delia joined in.

  Dani raised her hand. “Us too as your cousin and your best friends.”

  Luke kissed my cheek. “And it’ll be my privilege to look after you for the rest of your life.”

  I glanced at each one of them in disbelief. “Y’all are like a booger I can’t shake from the end of my finger.”

  Granny Jo came in while everyone voiced their disgust and scooped another helping of collards on my plate. “Well, I can see that going through the ordeal you did and getting a whole heapin’ lot of rest did nothing to help your manners at the table.”

  “Would you expect any less of me?” I blinked my lashes in mock innocence.

  She scoffed. “No, but I can always hope for a little more.”

  I reached out to shove her away, but she went invisible on me so my hand went straight through her. After my miss, she rapped the wooden spoon she carried on my head. “How fair is that using your spe
ctral status against me?” I complained.

  “You use what you’ve got, girl. That’s all anyone can expect of you.” She retreated to the kitchen, leaving her words ringing in my ear.

  I stopped eating. “Nobody’s answered my original question. Why haven’t you gotten rid of the crystal ball?”

  Uncle Jo finished his tea in three loud gulps and placed the glass down with an audible sigh. “Because nothing we’ve tried has worked. And nobody wants to get too close to it. The only one of us who can actually touch it is your boyfriend there.”

  I gaped at Luke who shrugged. “I could have told you, but you didn’t want to hear about my experience. But yes, I can touch it. Vampires cannot fall under the spell of a crystal ball. It doesn’t respond to us at all, probably because we aren’t really alive. Or we don’t possess a soul for it to drain.” He wiped his mouth off with his napkin. “There are a lot of theories, but they don’t really matter in this case.”

  “We’re tried conventional methods of destruction. Hitting it with metal things or dropping it from heights to break the glass. It actually bounced instead of shattering,” Dani exclaimed.

  “What about magic? Anyone try to spellcast something to break it?” I couldn’t believe that the whole thing was indestructible.

  “Of course we did,” Dad answered. “But none of us could even make a scratch on it. Even your friends got in on it, but Cate could only bury it beneath the soil and Crystal could sink it into the ocean if she was taken out far enough on a boat. But both of those options meant that someone could find the thing again.”

  I lifted my eyebrow. “What about fire?” They all burst into protests around me, but I held up my hand. “I think I might have an idea if you’re willing to listen.”

  Having learned my lesson about acting first and talking and listening too late, I gave them my thoughts and waited for them to counter with their opinions. I wouldn’t do anything until every single person in the room agreed.

  It took them finishing dinner and at least two helpings a piece of banana pudding before we combined all of our ideas and solidified the plan.

  * * *

  Luke met me on the shore. The almost-full moon bounced off the waves lapping nearby. The two of us had business to take care of before I went with my father in the boat out to our secret sea island.

  My vampire boyfriend pulled me into a passionate embrace, rocking me back and forth in a dance with no music but the rhythm of the evening cicadas. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, and wish it could have been because I asked you to do it, not because you needed to.”

  “Will it hurt or change me?” I trusted him to take care of me no matter what the outcome was. But it was a big step that I needed to take with my eyes wide open.

  “It’s hard to say since it’s different for every person who undergoes it. But it will give you the desired effect you need tonight. How long it lasts depends. We’ll have to just wait and see.” Luke took my right hand in his and placed it over his chest where his heart didn’t beat. “Are you ready?” he whispered.

  I shook my head yes even though a tiny part of me shook with the answer no. “Let’s do this.”

  Luke kissed the back of my hand and let go. His fangs elongated and gleamed in the moonlight. He lifted his arm to his mouth and bit his wrist, drawing his own blood to the surface until a large droplet waited for me.

  “I know I’ve already told you this, but I love you with everything I have, Ruby Mae Jewell. Once you taste my blood, you will temporarily gain what you need from me. But it may also affect you in ways we talked about, which is why you’ll only drink the smallest amount,” he warned.

  Without saying a word, I lowered my mouth to his skin and consumed the liquid drop before he could back out of the plan. The tang of metal rolled around on my tongue, like I’d eaten a penny. I swallowed and closed my eyes, waiting for some miraculous change to occur.

  I smacked my lips a couple of times. “You sure one drop is enough?” I questioned.

  “It should be. Besides, any other big exchange of blood will be done on one particular night only. Now, you better get to the boat because I can hear your dad heading this way.” He smacked my behind for good measure.

  I walked backwards so I could tease him again. “And what night would that be?”

  He replied in a soft, low voice without ever opening his mouth. His words reverberated through my entire being, causing chills to run all over my skin. “Our honeymoon.”

  I stopped in my tracks, wondering if I’d imagined it all or if the blood had taken effect. He kissed his hand and waved at me, and I met my father on his way to interrupt Luke and me.

  On the boat ride out to the island, the details of the night sharpened and my senses picked up the outlines of fish swimming underneath us as well my father’s heart beating inside him. The new changes reassured me that I’d be covered enough to pull off the plan, but they also freaked me out a little.

  I belted Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” in tribute to the one who’d given me a little more of himself than I’d expected tonight to open the door to the vault. When we got inside, I steadied myself for the challenge to come.

  Dad pulled the bag that contained the crystal ball out of a charmed metal box he’d kept it in for good measure. Not wanting to disturb the other items we kept in there, he carried it outside and set it down on the sandy ground. It had been my idea to make this attempt against the crystal ball on our island in hopes it might give my powers a little extra juice along with whatever I gained from drinking some of Luke’s blood.

  I hopped up and down and shook out my hands. “Let’s do this.” Perhaps a little too much energy coursed through me.

  “No more coffee for you for a few days,” Dad joked, trying not to show his worry.

  I pointed behind me. “Take your place. I don’t want you inside the zone unless the worst happens.” An expression of doubt covered his face. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

  With a flourish of my fingers, the neutralizing cloth flew off the crystal ball. Awakened again, the blue-gray glow grew in brilliance. “I’ve got this,” I repeated to build up my confidence.

  Leaning over, I picked up the ball and held it between my hands, giving into the vision it produced. Once again, the black fog surrounded me, and I stood in the middle. And yet, it could not penetrate the immediate area around me.

  “I informed you that you would return to me,” the voice rasped in my ear. “I will show you many things and you will feed me again.”

  Furrowing my brow, I waited for the same lightheadedness that I experienced before or to lose my intent or purpose. Nothing changed, and my head remained clear with my mission.

  “If you’ll give me a second, I’ll show you something pretty awesome.” Calling on all of my inner fire, I ignited it inside me without barely a thought. It swirled and rushed through my body until embers sparked off the ends of my hands faster than it ever had before. I got a little giddy from the supercharge of power.

  The seductive tone of the voice changed to one of concern. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m burning whatever you are alive.” I twisted my hands, lifting my palms in front of me to conjure flames inside them. “You chose to mess with the wrong Southern woman. Don’t you know I’ll bless your heart, then rip it out, show it to you, and bake it in a pie? All we need to do is turn up the heat.”

  With much less effort than I’d ever needed, I aimed the growing inferno into the center of the fog. At first, the smoky mist doused the flames, but with a grunt and an increase in intent, they licked back to life until they spread.

  “No! You cannot do this to me. I have power over you. I will show you everything you need to become rich. Help you shape your future any way you want,” the voice begged.

  My entire core turned molten, and an orange glow radiated under my skin. “And how many lives have you taken because you wouldn’t listen to their pleas?” Raising my hands higher in the
air, I willed the blaze to burn hot and fast until whatever it was collapsed in on itself and whirled around like a tornado of fog, trying not to be consumed and destroyed.

  Bringing my hands together, I shaped a ball of energy, pouring the rest of my magic and energy I had left into it until it resembled a small imitation of our sun. With my perfect aim from years of playing baseball with the boys, I pitched the fireball into the heart of the whirlwind. It exploded and torched the rest of the smoky mist until the final pieces of it floated in the air like ash, dissipating in the night air.

  I collapsed onto the sand and released the ball, the vision over and whatever it was inside of the glass gone. My father approached to try and hold me, but I warned him off, pointing out the steam rising from my skin. “I’ll take a raincheck on that hug, though.”

  “You did it, Ruby Mae. I’m so proud of you.” He kicked the ball of glass with his foot. “Is it safe?”

  “It should be.” I crawled over to where only the orb lay. The metal stand had melted away during the standoff with me.

  Trusting my gut, I picked up the crystal ball and turned it over in my hands. “Nothing. Whatever was in it is gone.” Tossing it in the air a couple of times, I had an idea. “May I have the honor?” I asked.

  “Be my guest.”

  Winding up like I used to on the pitcher’s mound, I threw the glass ball straight at the metal door to our vault. It shattered into a million glass shards small enough that someday soon, they’d return to sand.

  When we made sure everything within the vault was safe and secure, I closed up the door and locked it tight with a verse and a chorus of Patsy’s “I Fall To Pieces.” Whether it was the fraction of vampire blood I’d taken in or if I’d underestimated myself, it surprised me that I hadn’t been drained completely. After Dad and I got back to shore, I hustled to my cottage, hoping I still had enough energy to make a little more magic tonight.