Where Witches Lie: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #6
Where Witches Lie
A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery
M.Z. Andrews
Where Witches Lie
A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery: Book #6
by
M.Z. Andrews
Copyright © M.Z. Andrews 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1974128419
ISBN-10: 1974128415
All characters herein are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Also by M.Z. Andrews
About the Author
1
“What time did you guys get in last night?” I asked as I picked up a flat green tray from the beginning of the breakfast line and propped it up on my hip. The warmth of the steaming hot food enveloped me, and the smell of bacon and maple syrup flooded my nose. “Jax and I fell asleep waiting for you.”
Alba inched forward in the line. She looked back at the rest of our friends without moving her thick torso. “What time did we get in? I didn’t even look at the time,” she said to Sweets.
Sweets rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Oh wow. It was at least one. Longest. Drive. Ever.”
Holly nodded and leaned on Sweets’ shoulder. “It was. Oh my gosh, I’m exhausted!”
Alba puffed out her breath. “How can you be exhausted? You slept the entire way home from the airport! I was the one who stayed awake the whole trip to keep Sweets from nodding off at the wheel.”
Holly grinned and suppressed a giggle. “True story. But it was a long vacation, and I’m jet-lagged from the flight!”
Jax’s purple hair, her color of the week, brushed the tops of her shoulders as she shook her head with a smile. “You guys were so lucky that the airport rescheduled all the flights in and out of Pittsburgh after that storm. Otherwise, you might not have gotten to fly home for Christmas.”
Holly’s blue eyes widened as she nodded her head animatedly. “Oh, I know! Do you realize how boring Christmas vacation would have been if we’d have been stuck in the b&b the whole time.”
Jax’s bottom lip plumped out. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot Holly a look. “Are you saying you three didn’t have fun with us on Christmas?”
Sweets shook her head in protest as the breakfast line inched forward a little more. “That’s totally not what Holly is saying at all, Jax. We had a blast together at Christmas. I just think we all needed a break away from Aspen Falls and The Institute. We especially needed a chance to see our families. I know I did.”
Jax peered up at Holly with raised eyebrows. Holly nodded somberly. “That’s what I meant, Jaxie.” She held up two hands when Jax’s chin jutted out further. “Honest!” She giggled.
I laughed and took two steps forward as two girls at the end of the line finished filling their trays, paid, and exited through the door at the end of the line. “Oh, cut ‘em some slack, Jax. They spent Christmas morning playing board games with us, and you were even able to convince them to go sledding when the storm died down. I think they deserve some credit for that.”
Alba’s head bobbed without turning around to face Jax. “What she said,” she agreed, pointing at me with her thumb.
Jax’s fake pout wore off quickly. Her bright blue eyes twinkled as she uncrossed her arms and slid one hand into Holly’s bent elbow and squeezed her arm affectionately. “I’m glad you guys got to spend at least a little of Christmas break with us. Even if it was a crazy storm – I’m glad we were together. And flying through a storm like that – oh man, I’ll remember that forever!”
Alba and Sweets each took a green tray from the stack. “I can’t believe the amount of snow left on the ground,” said Alba. “I was hoping it would all be gone by the time we got back.”
I shrugged as I scooped up a big glob of steaming scrambled eggs from the serving line and plopped it down in one of the squares on my tray. “How could it have melted? The temperature hasn’t gotten a single degree above freezing since Christmas Eve!”
“I take it Hugh isn’t back from Texas?” Sweets asked, grabbing an oversized cinnamon roll from the tray.
“He got back late last night. I haven’t seen him yet, but we talked over break. We both agreed. No more messing with Mother Nature.”
Holly eyed Sweets’ food selection as our overweight friend moved forward in the line. “Is that the healthy choice, Sweets?”
Sweets looked down at her cinnamon roll sadly. “Does everything have to be healthy?”
Holly gave Sweets a sympathetic smile. “Don’t you remember what Harper and Ronnie’s ghosts showed us on Christmas Eve? We don’t want you to die from bad eating habits. We’re supposed to be keeping an eye on each other.”
Sweets sighed. “I know, but changes take time. I have been using the fitness tracker you guys got me for Christmas, though.”
“That’s awesome Sweets. Do you like it?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I do. It’s been fun trying to get my steps in every day,” she said, looking down at the plum colored Fitbit we’d all chipped in and gotten her.
“If you promise to work out with me later you can have the cinnamon roll,” Jax suggested brightly as she grabbed a tray and set it down on the metal serving line.
“Work out? You mean like running?” Sweets asked, curling her lip and scrunching up her nose as if the word running left a bad taste in her mouth. She shook her head resolutely. “I only run if something’s chasing me.”
Jax smiled. “There’s still too much snow on the ground around campus to go running outside. You could come with me to my yoga class?”
Sweets sighed. “Ok. Fine. I’ll do yoga with you. But I get to keep the roll, right?”
“Yes, you get to keep the roll,” agreed Jax with a satisfied nod. “It’s all about balance.”
“I don’t have a very good center of gravity, so I’m not sure how my balance will be, but yay! I get to keep the roll!” Sweets clapped her hands together excitedly.
When I had made all of my selections, I pushed my dark rimmed glasses up my nose and handed my student ID card to Brittany Hobbs to scan. She was one of Headmistress Stone’s lackeys. She usually worked in the front office doing secretarial work for Stone, but at breakfast and lunch, she also worked as the cashier in the cafeteria. “Welcome back, Mercy,” the young woman said cheerfully. “How was your Christmas break?”
I looked at her with contempt. As it had done on the first day of school, her cheerfulness still made my skin crawl. “Peachy,” I said without making eye contact
with her. I waited at the end of the line for the rest of the girls to fill up their trays. The clanging sound of a metal serving tray being changed caused me to look up. For the first time since entering the cafeteria that morning, I noticed Denise, the cafeteria lady. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she was fighting back tears. The Institute employed two cafeteria ladies. Denise and Midge. Of the two, Denise was my favorite.
“Denise!” I said louder than I had intended. “What’s the matter?”
Immediately the rest of the girls looked up at Denise. She was an amazonian woman with wide hips and broad shoulders. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun, highlighting the fact that she was graying at her temples. In that moment of looking at her closely, I became aware of the fact that I’d never seen her hair out of its net nor had I ever noticed the crow’s feet that adorned her face like an unwelcomed badge of time.
Sweets sucked in a breath at the sight of Denise’s puffy-eyed, haggard appearance. “Denise! What’s wrong?” she asked, stopping dead in her tracks.
The girl standing behind Jax groaned as the extraordinarily slow line stopped moving again. She threw her hand on her hip and cocked it out.
Denise glanced at the girl behind Jax, tucked her thumb into the collar of her shirt and used the material to blot her eyes. “Oh, it’s nothing girls.”
Jax shook her head with resolve. “This isn’t nothing. You’re a mess! What’s the matter?”
Denise’s eyes filled with tears as she looked out at the five of us. “Really, girls. Thanks for the concern, but I’m ok. How was Christmas break?” she asked, attempting to change the subject.
Sweets and Jax exchanged worried glances, but before they could turn the subject back to Denise’s obvious problem, the girl behind Jax shoved her tray into Jax’s, moving the convoy of trays ahead in a jerky fashion.
“Can you losers host this pity party in your room or something? The rest of us back here are starving,” said the girl.
Jax, Sweets, Holly, Alba, and I all made a face, as our eyes narrowed to pinpricks looking down the line. I was sure I’d never seen the girl before. She was a tad shorter than my 5’10” height with a slender, athletic build. Her long brown hair was swept up into a ponytail, and she wore an oversized taupe cardigan over a plain white t-shirt, skinny jeans, and a pair of UGG boots.
Alba lifted her tray off the end of the serving line. “Excuse me,” she grumbled angrily.
The girl rolled her eyes. “There is no excuse for you. Oh, and the 80’s called. They want their sweatsuit back.”
My jaw dropped. I’d never heard anyone speak to Alba like that before. Except maybe Holly, but only when Alba deserved it.
Alba’s face flushed red, and her posture straightened. She took a defensive step towards the girl. If Alba hadn’t been holding a tray of food, I was sure she would have been grinding that girl’s face with her fist by now.
Holly put a hand out against Alba’s stomach, to gently hold her back. Then she whipped around to face the new girl. “I’m sorry. Who are you?” Holly asked angrily as she stirred the air near her head with her hand.
The girl let out a chortle as she looked Holly up and down. “You’re right about one thing. You are sorry. And it’s none of your business who I am.”
Holly’s face filled with red and her nostrils flared as she stomped her foot down on the floor angrily.
“Let’s go, Holly,” I commanded. The new girl was apparently looking for a fight, and I for one didn’t have the energy or the desire to give it to her on our first day back at the Paranormal Institute for Witches.
Holly picked up her tray as she glared at the girl.
Sweets looked up at Denise, ignoring everything else. “Are you sure you’re going to be ok, Denise? Is there anything we can do to help?”
Denise smiled at Sweets gratefully, but before she could get a word in, the new girl interjected. “I’m not kidding. Either keep your personal problems to yourself or deal with them somewhere else. This is the breakfast line, not the counselor’s office,” growled the beastly girl.
Sweets furrowed her eyebrows at the girl. “You’re rude!”
The girl closed her eyes and raised her eyebrows as she shrugged. “You’re fat.”
Jax’s mouth dropped open as she turned towards the offender. “Uh!”
“What’s with the witch hat, Shorty?” the girl asked, looking down her nose at Jax disdainfully. “Is it dress up day in kindergarten?”
That was the last straw with Alba. Catching me off guard, she thrust her tray into my chest. I tried to balance both hers and mine without letting her food squish mine. She plunged herself forward and rushed the new girl, pushing back the sleeves of her oversized black crewneck sweatshirt. “That’s it. I’ve had enough out of you. Now we’re going to settle this like witches,” Alba said gruffly, tilting her head from side to side, cracking her neck.
Jax placed her body between Alba and the new girl worriedly. “It’s ok, Alba. Sorceress Stone is going to flip if you start a fight in the cafeteria,” said Jax nervously.
Alba shook her head. “Alright then, let’s take it outside.”
The girl laughed. “You really think you’d win, don’t you?”
With her shoulders pulled back, Alba pressed her chest into the other girl’s chest. “Oh I don’t think, I know.”
The girl shrugged. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
At the end of the line, Brittany Hobbs stood up nervously. She’d taken in the whole scene quietly, but now that things were getting intense, she knew she needed to intercede. “Alba, please don’t,” she said, her voice trembling.
Alba turned around, not to acknowledge Brittany, but to leave the line and take the fight elsewhere. With Alba's back turned, the new girl took the opportunity to grab an empty tray off the line. With two hands she held it over her shoulder, then with one even, steady, powerful move; she whacked Alba over the back of her head and shoulders with the tray, making a loud thudding noise.
I sucked in my breath as I watched Alba’s expression change from anger to rage. In a split second, she whipped back around to face the girl. “Jax. Holly. Sweets. Clear out.”
“Alba, I don’t think you should…” Jax began, her eyes filled with fear for Alba’s safety.
“Clear out!” Alba roared as the new girl turned around, laughing wildly with the girl behind her.
Jax, Holly, and Sweets scampered to the end of the line next to Brittany and me.
“Alba, don’t do it,” Brittany hollered at her. “It’s not worth you getting in trouble too.”
“Alba, please!” Sweets cried. “Don’t do it!”
But Alba didn’t wait. Once the girls were safely out of range, Alba unleashed a torrent of energy at the girl. Crackling, the bolt of green and blue energy tossed the girl against the stone wall behind her like a rag doll.
Brittany bolted then. I groaned. I knew where she was going – to find Stone. “Alba, Brittany is getting Stone. Don’t do this. Let it go. We’ll deal with her another way,” I assured her. But I knew Alba wouldn’t stop.
Alba moved quickly towards the girl, pouncing before she had a chance to recover from the fall and get to her feet. With her left hand, she gripped the girl’s sweater and pulled her up to her feet. Her right hand balled into a fist and pulled back, but before she could strike, Denise came out of nowhere and grabbed Alba’s arm, stopping the punch before it could land.
The diversion was enough for the new girl’s friend to pull her out of the line and through the doorway into the dining hall.
“Lemme go!” insisted Alba with wild eyes. Her chest heaved as she growled, “I’m gonna crush her face!”
Denise continued to hold Alba’s arms pinned behind her back until Sorceress Stone showed up.
Sorceress SaraLynn Stone’s long thin face was beet red. The contrast of her red face against her long white hair gave her the illusion of steam coming out of her ears. “What’s going on?” she demanded, looking at Denise and
Alba with shock and horror.
“That new girl struck her over the head with a lunch tray,” said Denise. “Alba tried to punch her, but I was able to restrain her.”
Sorceress Stone nodded, looking relieved. “Very impressive, Denise. Thank you for restraining her. What started the fight?”
“She insulted us!” Jax hollered out from the other end of the line.
“We were going to take it outside,” Alba hollered angrily as Denise slowly released her arms. Alba reached back and rubbed the back of her head. “But out of nowhere, she smacked me with a tray. I want her expelled!”
Sorceress Stone puffed air out of her nose. “You just said. You were going to take it outside. Looks like she got the best of you before you could get the best of her.”
Alba’s eyes widened. “You’re going to let her get away with that?!”
“I’ll have a talk with her,” Sorceress Stone assured us. She looked down her nose at Alba and with one long, bony finger pointing at her she muttered with tight lips, “No fighting in my school. Understand?”
Alba spun on her heels and walked towards me. “Whatever,” she grumbled before taking her tray from my arms. “Let’s go girls.”
2
Mumbling under her breath, Alba led us to a table in the dining hall. Snow covered the courtyard with drifts up to our elbows, so there would be no more eating outside until springtime. I looked around as I set my tray down. The dreary cafeteria had so much less to look at, but we had no other choice. Alba slammed her tray down on one of the rectangular tables near the far corner of the room.