The Gold Touch That Went Cattywampus Read online

  The Gold Touch that went Cattywampus

  Lost Southern Magic Book One

  Amy Boyles

  LADYBUGBOOKS LLC

  Contents

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  1. Pepper

  2. Blissful

  3. Gary

  4. Blissful

  5. Blissful

  6. Pepper

  7. Blissful

  8. BLISSFUL

  9. BLISSFUL

  10. BLISSFUL

  11. BLISSFUL

  12. BLISSFUL

  13. Pepper

  14. Gary

  15. Blissful

  16. Blissful

  17. Pepper

  18. Blissful

  19. Blissful

  20. Blissful

  21. Pepper

  22. Axel

  23. Blissful

  24. Blissful

  25. Blissful

  26. Pepper

  THANK Y’ALL!

  Also by Amy Boyles

  About the Author

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  Pepper

  People who don’t have magic tend to romanticize it. They think that it’s easy being a witch. They think all you have to do is wiggle your nose and poof, you’ll have changed from jeans into an evening gown.

  Well, okay, that part might actually be true.

  The small spells are the easiest. It doesn’t take a lot of power to perform them. All it takes is the right combination of power, belief and ability.

  I have those three things. I have power, belief and ability in droves; I have them coming out of my ears. But there’s one thing that’s missing—my town.

  I’ve lost my magical town.

  Okay, let me back up. It’s not like I actually lost it, like the place up and disappeared like Atlantis—and not the Atlantis that’s in the Bahamas. You know the one I’m talking about, the getaway you see commercials for.

  Not that Atlantis.

  The place I’m talking about isn’t even called Atlantis. It’s called Magnolia Cove, and it’s my fault that it’s broken.

  Wait a minute. Let me back up even farther. Let me start at the beginning.

  “Honey, Betty will be here any minute for the ceremony. Are you ready?”

  I trotted downstairs and found my brand-spanking-new husband, Axel Reign, leaning his hips against the kitchen counter and sipping from a cup of coffee.

  His chin-length ebony hair looked razor-sharp, giving Axel a dangerous aura.

  I have to admit, I liked my men dangerous.

  A seductive smile tugged on his lips, and his ocean-blue eyes held a world of warmth.

  I flexed my fingers toward the cup. “Coffee. Give me.”

  He slid the cup away. “No way. Not tonight. You don’t need anything else that will make your heart race. What you’re about to do will give you enough adrenaline.”

  I pouted. “But I’m so tired. I’ve been up since four this morning.”

  He entwined his strong arms around my waist and pulled me to him. “Nerves?”

  “Yes, nerves. Absolutely nerves.” I stretched up to my tiptoes and kissed the edge of his nose. “Not even one sip?”

  “No way,” he said. “Betty should be here soon.”

  I shook my head. “I still don’t understand why we’re doing this here. Why aren’t we doing it at her house?”

  Axel brushed a strand of my cinnamon and honey colored hair from my eyes. “Because she wants you to accept the heart in the place where it’s going to live.”

  My own heart stuttered against my rib cage. Sweat poured from my hands.

  Axel threaded his fingers through mine and brought my knuckles to his lips. “You’ll be great. This will go smoothly. You’ll see.”

  I crossed the fingers of my free hand. “Let’s hope.”

  He brushed his lips against mine. “And when the ceremony is over,” he murmured, “you and I will head upstairs.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled. “And do what newlyweds do best?”

  His fingers stroked the tickle lines of my stomach. I giggled. “That’s right,” he said.

  The doorbell rang, and then the door flew open. My feisty grandmother, Betty Craple, and my two cousins, Cordelia and Amelia, stood in the doorway.

  I scowled. “Is there a reason why you rang the bell and then kicked in the door? Could you not wait for us to answer?”

  Betty waddled inside. “I’m holding a burning heart in a box. How comfortable do you think this is, kid?”

  “Oh. Well. When you put it like that…”

  Using her massive bosom, Betty shoved me aside. “Hot potato coming through.” She crossed into the den and settled the box onto the grate.

  The wooden container burst into flames. Betty brushed her hands. “You see? That’s what I’ve been dealing with. You try crossing town with a heart that wants to incinerate everything it touches.”

  “And this is the power going inside me,” I murmured.

  “It’ll be fine,” Axel said. “You’ve taken it before.”

  “But not all of it,” I said nervously.

  My cousin Amelia shot me an excited look. Her features were delicate, like a pixie’s, and her soft platinum hair curled over her ears and at the nape of her neck.

  “I’m so excited, Pepper. You’re about to take in the heart fire. Now you will house the power that keeps our magical town, well…magical!”

  Cordelia pulled her long blonde hair over one shoulder. “I know you must be nervous. Don’t be. If Betty can handle the fire, you can, too.”

  Speaking of, I clasped my hands and approached my sour grandmother. “So, is it all out of you? Every last bit?”

  Betty thumped her chest. “Pepper, it’s all out of me. In a few minutes you will be the vessel that holds the crux of the heart fire’s power. Don’t forget, the fire will still burn in your hearth, but the majority of its power will live inside you.”

  My grandmother splayed her hands wide as she swelled with pride. I swear she grew almost an inch in the process. “Every magical point in our town, from the Conjuring Caves to the Potion Ponds, wouldn’t exist without this heart and its connection to us, the Craples. You are taking on a great responsibility. Because of you, the magic of Magnolia Cove will live on.”

  Even though I smiled, eels squirmed in my stomach. I fought them down and puffed out my chest. “Okay, I think I’m ready for this.”

  Axel took my hand. “You’re the absolute right person. No one else in this town is strong enough to take the heart’s magic.”

  “Plus,” Betty said in a grumpy voice, “I’m old and tired. It’s time for this to go to a youngun’ like yourself.”

  “I’m a youngun’,” Amelia added smartly.

  “Yeah, but you get lost in your own closet,” Betty snipped.

  Amelia rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know why that’s worth mentioning.”

  Betty cackled. “’Cause it is, kid. It is.” She pulled a corncob pipe from her pocket, pinched some tobacco from a pouch and tapped it into the bowl. “Let me just have a smoke first, and then we’ll get going.”

  I watched with anticipation bordering on being totally freaked out as my grandmother smoked her pipe. This was it, the moment that had been coming for ages.

  I would take my rightful place as the keeper of the heart fire.

  Axel
came up from behind and squeezed my shoulders before running his palms down my arms. A shiver fired down my spine. “Don’t be nervous. You’ll be great. You’ve been waiting for this.”

  I inhaled a sharp breath. “I have. But I wonder…”

  He placed his mouth to my ear. “Nothing bad is going to happen. Nothing. There are guards posted, and Garrick said he would keep watch. Stop worrying.”

  I smiled up at him. “You promise?”

  “I swear.” He kissed my temple. “You were born for this.”

  Betty tapped the tobacco from her pipe. “Y’all ready?”

  I sucked in a large shot air. “I’m ready.”

  My family circled around me as Betty approached the fire. “Pepper, stare into the heart fire.”

  I frowned. Wasn’t that bad for my vision? I knew staring at the sun was bad, but was a fire any better? Seriously? “For how long?”

  “For as long as it takes,” she snapped.

  Maybe I shouldn’t ask any questions if I was just going to get snappy responses like that.

  I exhaled another deep breath and stared at the hearth fire. The flames seemed to dance for me as the fire hissed and spit. Sparks popped from fingers of red and orange flames. Nestled deep within the tendrils sat what looked like a heart-shaped rock. But I knew better—that heart had belonged to one of our ancestors. It was power incarnate.

  As I stared, the fire dissolved, melting away. In its place was my town.

  I flew above, riding my dragon, Hugo. Hugo roared as I hunkered down on him and willed him to go faster, farther.

  We rode past the gingerbread-like picturesque houses and past Bubbling Cauldron Road, which was our version of Main Street.

  I saw people I knew and waved, smiling and laughing as we continued on. We passed the Potion Pond. The water shimmered as if diamonds danced atop it, and the Cobweb Forest loomed ahead. Tree branches trembled as the trees rearranged themselves, pulling up their roots and finding new spots to secure.

  Joy bloomed in my heart, and I wondered how I’d ever lived without this magical town. How had I ever existed without it? Because now it was as much a part of me as I was of it.

  And I was about to be even more a part of it.

  “Ready fire,” Betty said.

  The fire cracked in response. My grandmother seemed so close but yet so far away, as if she lived behind a veil.

  “Pepper,” I heard her say, “when I tell you to, I need you to pick up the heart.”

  That sounded dangerous. The heart was burning, always burning, and she wanted me to pick it up?

  It felt like a magical blanket of comfort had been thrown over my shoulders, soothing me, whispering that touching the fire would be safe. “Okay,” someone who sounded like me said.

  Oh, wait. It was me.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Betty said. “There is plenty of security out there. Plenty of folks protecting you. Nothing will happen.”

  Famous last words.

  I inhaled a deep breath and picked up the heart.

  The flames enveloped my flesh as the heat licked at my skin, crawling up my arms. The fire danced over my flesh, and I heard a voice in my head say, Take me.

  The heart itself had spoken. I dared a glance at Axel, who gave me an encouraging smile. He nodded and I exhaled one last breath.

  It would be the last breath I took when I was free and not tethered to the heart fire. As I pulled it toward me, a crash sounded outside. It was loud and screeching, sounding like a giant hand ripping open a tin can.

  A man screamed.

  My body jerked as I was jolted from the trance the fire held over me. “What was that?”

  Betty waddled forward. “Hurry, Pepper. The heart is vulnerable.”

  The door crashed open. I sucked air as a man in shadow stalked into the room. His very darkness seemed to suck all the air from the house. Even the warm fire felt cold in my hands.

  Axel moved in front of me protectively. “Who are you?”

  A man’s voice, thick with contempt, erupted from the figure. “Don’t y’all recognize me?”

  The blood in my veins became ice. My bones became liquid, and my fingers shook. “Blake,” I whispered. “Blake Calhoun.”

  Blake stepped into the light. He was tall with short, chocolate-colored hair that was coiffed at the top and shaved slim on the sides. He wore his dark beard pointed, and muscles bulged under tattoos that snaked from down his biceps. Long vampire fangs protruded from his mouth, glinting in the light.

  To top it all off, Blake’s eyes glowed red. “Hand me the heart and no one gets hurt,” he drawled.

  “You’re standing in a roomful of witches plus one werewolf,” I said. “You’re outnumbered.”

  “I learned my lesson from the last time.” Blake’s lips curved into a smile. “I brought reinforcements.”

  A thousand thoughts flashed through my head—how did Blake get through the town’s shields? How would we fight a legion of vampires? How was I supposed to protect the heart fire?

  Before I had a chance to answer any of them, Blake surged forward. Betty and Axel both flung out handfuls of magic.

  The vampire, with rocket speed behind him, darted past their attacks with ease. Within half a heartbeat, he stood in front of me, one hand on my throat and the other on the heart.

  His dark eyes drew me to him. I fought hard, trying to keep myself from succumbing to the vampire’s trance, but I could feel myself dissolving.

  “Give it to me, Pepper.”

  My mind was so cloudy, I should have called on my magic, used it, but it seemed so far away and I was walking in a fog, unable to reach it.

  In the distance I could see through the haze that Betty, Axel and my cousins were fighting, throwing magic at the vampires Blake had brought.

  Then Blake chuckled. The sound reminded me of a devil’s blackhearted laughter. When he finished, he buried his nose in my neck and inhaled my scent.

  His lips tickled my flesh. “You will hand over the heart now.”

  I felt myself tumble, falling into the vampire’s power. My hands went slack, and I wanted to give Blake the heart, wanted to hand it over.

  But the other half of me, the one that was still partly in control, screamed, yelled at me.

  Don’t give him anything! He’ll destroy us. Destroy our town.

  My brain snapped, and I cracked, my mind splintering. I jutted back my head. “You will never have this heart.”

  Surprise filled Blake’s eyes as I yanked it away.

  But he was fast and he reached, getting hold of it. I didn’t know how he could touch the heart. Surely, since he didn’t have magic, it would kill him, but as I watched, Blake’s fingers held the beating instrument of magic.

  So did mine.

  I called on my power and released a whirlwind of magic that I shot straight at Blake.

  But his hold on the heart didn’t loosen. It didn’t give. He grasped tighter.

  Axel and Betty continued to fight the vampires that were progressing, pushing their way into the cottage. If the vamps gained control of the house, we would be lost.

  It was down to me and Blake, Blake and me, as we both pulled on the heart, trying to win it for ourselves.

  I used all my magic, trying to fuel my strength. Sweat tinged red like blood poured down Blake’s forehead.

  He groaned, straining. “You. Will. Give. It. To. Me.”

  I dug deep and glared at him. “Over my dead body.”

  “Promise?”

  Blake pulled hard, and I felt the heart slipping away. I reached into my well of magic and snatched the last bit of power I had left.

  I pulled the heart with all my might.

  Rip!

  A jagged lightning bolt of a seam ripped straight down the middle of the heart. I grabbed at it, Blake did the same, and it ripped again, this time horizontally.

  I gasped.

  Blake recoiled. The heart rose into the air. Light splintered through the cracks, shining out. Powerfu
l rays of magic tore through the walls, shredding wood and stone.

  The heart vibrated as it rose higher and higher, ripping a gash in the ceiling.

  The ceiling crumbled down, collapsing. A hand grabbed my arm. It was Axel’s.

  “Run,” he shouted. “It’s coming down!”

  Blake had run, disappearing out the front door.

  The holes in the walls and ceiling grew, threatening to collapse the house. My home shuddered and quaked. It wouldn’t be able to stand. There was no way it could take so much structural damage and still remain strong.

  I took one last look over my shoulder as Axel pulled me through the threshold.

  The house broke in two like the heart itself. A great sound like a gasp erupted from it before the roof caved in and the walls toppled.

  Dust plumed to the sky, spiraling up into the heart, which, though broken, still floated above.

  The vampires fell back.

  Betty threw out her arm to the vampires in warning. But there was no need to frighten them.

  No one was fighting now. All gazes were pointed at the sky.

  Every hair on my body soldiered to attention. My bones popped and fizzled as fright bolted all the way to my toes. I watched the heart shudder one last time before a shock wave of power coursed from it.

  My eyes flared as the rips in the heart opened wider. The light seeping from the tears brightened. It contracted, and for a brief moment I prayed that it would mend, that the heart would pull itself back together.

  A loud boom ripped through the night. The heart cracked into four pieces that splintered in different directions before disappearing into the night.

  I inhaled a quick shot of air and turned to Blake Calhoun. I fisted my hands and stalked toward him.