Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (7 page)

“
Could someone hose her
down, please?” Anthony leaned against a bookcase with his arms
folded in front of his chest.

Oh, it was so hard not to speak to
them right now. I felt a nervous twitch starting in my eye. The
only way to stop the words from spewing from my lips was to bite my
tongue. I wanted to tell Mae to go find a Chippendales show,
although she might implode if she did. Men overload.

Deputy Fredericks clicked the top of
his pen repeatedly. “Somebody do something. I’d like to get out of
here sometime before next year.”

Would it be possible to go back to my
date? Could we salvage it after all this? Maybe sending a ghost
along with Mindy wasn’t such a bad thing. I’d feel safer knowing
she wasn’t completely alone with this Cooper guy. I knew what Mindy
would say, though: I’m a big girl and I can handle
myself.

Mindy pulled me forward. “Okay. I’ll
be right back, Cooper. Why don’t you keep Callahan company? You can
discuss sports or whatever it is guys talk about.”

Chapter Ten

“
So, are you two going back
to your place tonight?” Mindy whispered while wiggling her
eyebrows.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. After this,
it kind of kills the mood, don’t you think?”

“
With him, how could
anything kill the mood? Not doing it with Callahan is like getting
a cupcake without the icing in the middle.”

I laughed and rolled my
eyes.

“
It’s like dinner without
dessert.”

:Did you skip dinner?” I
asked.

She nodded. “All I had was a handful
of pretzels.”

“
I thought so.”

The deputy approached and stopped our
conversation. After signing the necessary paper, Mindy and I
returned to the front of the store. With the police asking
questions, I hadn’t had time to discuss Cooper with Mindy. The
front of my store was quite a scene. Anthony had a look of relief
across his face, while Mae leaned close to Cooper. Seth stood in
the corner of the room, shaking his head at his fellow ghosts’
antics. Callahan leafed through a magazine while Cooper held a
book.

The police had departed, leaving me
with the prospect of placing books back on shelves for the rest of
the evening, not to mention cleaning the broken glass. I’d thought
maybe Callahan and I would get some up close and personal time
together tonight. Little did I know it would involve a broom and
dustpan.

The bell above the front door jingled
making all of us turn to see who’d entered. Karyn Bentley, the
coven leader, and another member of the coven, Becky Schultz,
walked toward us. I met Karyn at the door, squeezing her in a big
hug.

Karyn was the head witch…the woman in
charge, and it showed. The aura around her really was electrifying.
Her movements were gracious and effortless. A ghost was no match
for me, but witches might be an entirely different story. I’d never
dealt with witchcraft until recently.

“
Larue, my heavens, is
everything all right? We saw all the lights on and the front door
smashed.” She brushed back her long blonde hair. She wore a dark
pants suit with a crisp white shirt and heels.

“
Apparently, someone
decided to vandalize my store.” I gestured over my
shoulder.

“
I can’t believe this. What
is happening in Magnolia? Are you okay?” Karyn asked.

“
Yeah, I’m fine. Just a
little shocked.” I looked at Becky and smiled. “It’s good to see
you.”

“
Larue, I’m so sorry this
happened,” Becky said with a cigarette-roughened voice, as she
looked around at the mess.

“
Mindy. Callahan. How are
you?” Karyn waved, then lowered her voice. “Larue, I need to talk
to you about something. I know this may be a bad time, but it’s
kind of urgent.”

“
Um, sure.” I looked over
my shoulder. Callahan smiled. I turned back to Karyn. “Is something
wrong?”

“
No, no nothing like that.
It’s just that I’ve talked to the rest of the coven and they agree
with my decision.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “What decision?
I’m confused.”

“
Well, I’m stepping down as
coven leader.”

“
What? Why?” I
asked.

“
I’ve decided to move. I’ve
met someone and we want to be together all the time. He can’t come
here, so I’m going to him.”

“
Well, in that case, it’s
wonderful. I’m so happy for you.” I reached out and touched her
arm. “Where are you moving?”

“
I’m going to Louisiana.
Baton Rouge, to be exact.”

“
That really is great,
Karyn. But I’ll miss you, of course.” I still didn’t understand why
she said this was urgent. She could have told me this news any time
before she left. Unless she was leaving tonight.

“
Oh, Larue, I’ll miss you,
too. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I feel like we’ve
been dear friends forever.” She looked over my shoulder, paused,
and then said, “There is one more thing I wanted to discuss with
you.”

“
Okay. Is this the urgent
part?” The look in her eyes had me nervous. She’d led with the good
news, now she was going to hit me with the big whammy.

“
Yes, this is the urgent
part. Since I won’t be the leader anymore, we’ll need someone new.”
She locked me with her gaze. “I want that someone new to be
you.”

I almost choked. “What?” I looked to
Becky and she gave me a pity grin.

“
Now hear me out,” she
said.

“
This has to be a joke.
You’re pulling my leg.” My mouth didn’t have an off switch at that
moment. My thoughts raced. “I’m not a witch. I haven’t the
slightest clue about any witchcraft. And you want me to lead the
coven? Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Did you hit your
head?”

She chuckled. “No, I didn’t hit my
head.”

“
Well, something must be
wrong if you want me to lead the coven.” I looked at Becky and she
grinned. “Wouldn’t it be better if you got, say I don’t know, a
witch?”

“
You have natural talent,
Larue. I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t want to scare
you off.”

What was I, a wild dog? It wasn’t like
I’d take off running at the mere words.

Karyn continued. “I’ve never seen
anyone with your talent.”

“
Well, if you say so, but
even if I do have talent, don’t I need some practice before taking
on the whole shooting match?”

“
I’ll give you plenty of
practice, don’t worry. Well, some practice.” She looked away.
“That’s where the urgent part comes in. I’ll be leaving in a week.
We need to get started right away. Mercury will be in retrograde
soon, there’s a waxing moon, and Jupiter is aligned. It’s the only
time to teach you to be the coven leader.”

“
I think I’m having a panic
attack,” I said, attempting to catch my breath.

“
Oh, no, no panicking,” she
said.

Maybe this would show her I wasn’t cut
out for leading covens. I ran a bookstore. I helped ghosts move on
to the other side. Those were my talents. Nothing more, nothing
less.

“
There’s nothing to it,
honest. I want someone who has their act together. A
businessperson. You fit that description.”

I looked to Becky again. Wouldn’t she
have been a better choice? I didn’t ask. Maybe she didn’t want the
job. She was probably thankful I’d come along and saved her from
having to do it.

“
At least think about it,
okay?” Karyn asked.

“
All right, I’ll think
about it,” I said around a sigh.

I’d think about it all right, then I’d
tell her no. There was no way the coven would really want me as
their leader. I looked over my shoulder at Callahan. He was talking
with Mindy. They looked so adorable talking to each other. Would I
have to break the news to him, that not only did I talk to ghosts,
but I was the coven leader? Talk about paranormal
overload.

“
It doesn’t take much. I
know you’re a busy woman, but there’s a monthly meeting, then a
little get-together every other week. It wouldn’t interfere with
your other work. I wouldn’t ask if I thought it would.”

Good to know, but she didn’t know the
extent of my other work. She had no idea I had ghosts following me
around twenty-four-seven. I couldn’t believe she’d hit me with this
bomb. See, I knew she had saved the bad news for last. I suppose I
should be flattered though. But me, a coven leader? How crazy was
that?

“
I would have waited to ask
you, but time is running out. That’s the reason I stopped by, then
I saw all the chaos. Larue, there is a bit of a hurry, so will you
let me know soon?”

“
When did you say you’re
leaving?”

“
In a week. Becky has
graciously agreed to help me with my house while I’m gone. I’ll put
it up for sale soon. She’s such a dear friend.” She smiled at Becky
and Becky squeezed her shoulders, returning the smile. “You two are
going to get along just fine.” When I had Karyn alone, I needed to
remember to ask her why Becky didn’t want the job, or any of the
other women, for that matter. Oh sure, give me the job that no one
else wanted.

Karyn removed the necklace from her
neck and stretched her hand toward me. “Here, you’ll need
this.”

I reached out and took the necklace.
The pendant was silver with an intricate wreath of vines
surrounding a pentagram in the center. “What’s this?”

“
That pendant is for the
coven leader. You’ll need it now. It’s been passed down for many
generations. Whoever holds the necklace holds the power of the
coven. It’s used for everything from mental clarity to banishing
evil spirits. I know you’ll take care of it.”

No pressure. No pressure, at all. I
was beginning to wonder if Karyn had lost her mind. It looked as if
she wasn’t giving me the option of saying no. What should I do with
the necklace? Shove it in my pocket? No, that seemed a little
rude.

“
Are you sure about this,
Karyn?”

A lump formed in my throat when she
nodded. I slipped the pendant around my neck, unsure of what else
to do with the thing. Why couldn’t I just come out and say no,
thank you?

“
You said you’d train me
before you leave. You propose training me to lead the entire coven
in one week? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard
of.”

“
I know it sounds crazy,
and I will train you as much as I can in a week, then the other
coven members will help.”

“
So, let me get this
straight, the coven is going to train their new leader. Yeah, that
doesn’t make any sense.”

“
Life doesn’t always make
sense, Larue. In fact, it rarely does.”

“
Oh, I’m well aware of
that, but that doesn’t mean I have to seek out the craziness to
make my crazy life any crazier. That’s about ten too many
crazies.”

She laughed. “See that’s another
reason the coven needs you, your sense of humor.”

“
I’m no comedian,” I
mumbled. I’d better get back to the mess.” I motioned over my
shoulder.

“
Do think about it, Larue.
Let us know if you need anything.”

“
I’ll call you.” I
nodded.

Becky waved as she followed Karyn out
the door.

“
There is no way you’re
going to do that, right?” Anthony asked.

Chapter Eleven

“
What makes you ask that?”
I scowled.

“
It makes me nervous,” Seth
said. “All that hocus pocus isn’t good. Black magic zinging around
town. Messing with things that aren’t supposed to be messed
with.”

“
You know, I could say the
same thing about what y’all are doing. Messing with the afterlife
when it’s not supposed to be messed with.” I bit my lip to keep
from laughing.

No comment from the ghost
gang.

“
Anyway, I need to get back
over there before they catch me talking to a bookshelf. I already
appear loopy enough.”

“
Well, you really will be
crazy if you decide to do that coven stuff,” Anthony said, crossing
his arms in front of his chest.

“
Don’t listen to these men,
sweetheart. You do whatever your heart tells you to do. I never
listened to anything anyone ever told me, and look how I turned
out. Pretty damn good if you ask me.”

If you asked Seth, he’d say he thought
she looked pretty damn good, too.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Whatever you
all say, but I know everything will be fine. Trust me. I’m not
going to do anything crazy. Besides, their witchcraft is more like
Samantha on Bewitched, except they can’t turn people into toads or
goats.”

“
Too bad, that part could
be fun.” Anthony wiggled his eyebrows.

Seth shook his head in disgust. “Just
be careful, please. I’m trying to look out for you for
Callahan.”

“
I don’t need looking out
for, Seth, but that’s very sweet of you.”

As I walked back over to the living
crowd, Cooper looked up from his book. “Listen, Larue, I’m sorry I
didn’t notice anything tonight. I was in the back office the entire
time I was at the boutique. I never heard a thing. This town’s very
quiet.”