Ghost of an Enchantment Read online

  When she walked through the front door, Aubrey stood with her back against the wall in the living room beside one of the plant stands, her phone clutched to her chest. Her friend’s ghost wasn’t here, but that didn’t surprise her. Finn rarely came to the house anymore.

  The regular scents of herbs and plants in their home mixed with a burnt wood smell. Aubrey stared at the center of the room, and when her eyes met Stella’s, her shoulders relaxed a fraction.

  “Oh, good. You’re here.”

  Stella took a cautious step inside. “What’s wrong?”

  “Um, maybe don’t come in any farther for right now, okay?”

  Stella paused, then looked where Aubrey was staring. A ring made of metal lay in the middle of the hardwood floor, about eight inches in diameter. Stella hadn’t seen anything like it before, but for some reason it had a sort of familiarity about it. It was unusual, but not disturbing, an antique artifact of some type.

  What was disturbing was the charred wood around the ring. About two feet wide, it made a perfect, black circle in the middle of the living room, a stark contrast against the beechwood of the floor.

  “What is that?” Stella took a step toward it.

  “Don’t.”

  Stella stopped, her eyes going to Aubrey’s wide ones.

  “Don’t get close to it,” Aubrey pleaded. “I don’t know what it is.”

  “Okay,” Stella agreed, not wanting to send her friend into a full-on panic attack. She’d been doing so much better with them lately. “Where did it come from?”

  A thin breath escaped Aubrey’s lips. “It came in with a bunch of stuff a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t know what it was and neither did my regular appraiser. I was going to take it to Langport tomorrow to see if someone there might know about it and how much it’s worth.”

  Stella moved closer to Aubrey but kept her distance from the ring. “Where did the burn mark come from?”

  “Um, this is where it gets kind of strange?”

  Stella nodded for her to continue

  “I dropped it.” Aubrey licked her lips. “I dropped it and it rolled.” She swiped at an escaped tear on her cheek. “It rolled and Loki started chasing it, you know how he likes to chase things, and he pawed at it making it spin on itself. There was this really loud noise, like a sonic boom or something. And that was it. Loki was there and then he was gone. Poof.” The word came out a whisper. “The only thing left of him was his collar and the scent of burnt wood and fur. I killed him. I killed Loki. I think he’s the black mark on the floor.”

  Stella’s heart pounded hard in her chest, now noticing the lime green collar on the floor beside the ring. Their cat was dead?

  Aubrey’s tears came out hard and fast now. “I’m so sorry, Stella. I killed our cat.” She grabbed Stella by the shoulders, yanked her against her chest, and squeezed her so tight it was hard to breathe.

  “Maybe he got scared from the noise and ran and hid in one of his favorite spots?” Stella asked as she rubbed Aubrey’s back, her own heart pounding a panicked rhythm in her chest. That theory wouldn’t explain how he got his collar off.

  Her friend shook her head. “I’ve looked everywhere. He was there one second and gone the next.”

  Stella stared at the black mark on the floor. That was their cat. No. It couldn’t be. There had to be another explanation. “What happened after the loud noise?”

  Aubrey sniffed. “Nothing. It hasn’t moved since.” She leaned back and met Stella’s eyes, her pupils huge. “What is it?”

  Hell if she knew. She’d never seen an object like it before. But if it burned a patch in the floor, there had to be energy coming off it.

  Focusing her gaze on the ring, Stella whispered her enhancement spell to open herself up to the energies in the room, and gasped. Aubrey’s energy was the highest, her usual musical vibe a sharp spike shooting straight up to the sky like an opera diva hitting high C.

  Next came the strong pull of the pendant hanging around her neck. Then came the plants from around the room, their low-key throb of life soothing the more erratic energies around her. She couldn’t feel any of Loki’s residual energy. She couldn’t sense the shimmer of his ghost.

  And no energy vibration came from the ring in the middle of the floor.

  “Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s harmful right now,” Stella said quietly, trying to reassure her friend. She wouldn’t be able to deal with whatever it was if she remained on the other side of the room. Taking a small step, she moved toward it.

  “Be careful,” Aubrey said, her hand tight on Stella’s arm.

  “I will.” Patting her hand, Stella tried to move again, but Aubrey wouldn’t let go. Stella had to peel each finger off her arm one by one.

  Taking a deep breath, she stepped toward it, waiting to feel something from the object to clue her in to what it was. The thing seemed dead, nothing emanating from it at all. When her toes touched the edge of the black circle, Stella crouched down to get a closer look, trying not to stare at Loki’s collar.

  Touching the edge of the black circle, her finger came away covered in soot, then her eyes went to the ring. She wasn’t sure what kind of metal it was made of. It kind of looked like brass, but not so…brassy. About two inches wide, it had an indentation in the inner half inch. She’d thought it entirely smooth, but the inner circle had some sort of markings on it. Not script, exactly, but something repetitive, symbols she’d never seen before.

  The pendant at her heart urged her to take a closer look, but if she stood next to the remains of Loki, she needed to be extra careful.

  “Before it fell and rolled, you’d touched it a lot?” she asked Aubrey over her shoulder.

  “Yes. I’ve had it for a while and looked at it a bunch of times. I had my appraiser look at. Nothing happened like this before today.”

  So if she touched it now, probably nothing would happen. Tentatively, she reached out a hand. No energy shift. She touched the edge. Nothing. Emboldened by the lack of anything remotely malicious coming from it, she picked it up.

  It was heavy—heavier than she would have thought. She stood and twisted it back and forth in her hands, tracing the symbols on the inner edge with her thumb. Beautiful and intricate, the markings were similar to Celtic runes…but not.

  “And you said it was spinning?”

  “Yes.”

  “On end like this?” Stella tipped it on its side.

  “Yes.”

  Stella turned it to the side. Nothing. Frowning, she examined the black mark, then the ring. Had their cat died from this object, or had something else happened? Was there a way to get him back? Only one way to find out.

  Crouching, she placed the ring on its end in the middle of the black circle.

  “What are you doing?” Aubrey asked, her voice wavering.

  “Testing out a theory.” Leaning away, she spun the ring like a top.

  A chaotic surge knocked Stella on her ass, her hair blowing away from her face. A deafening roar filled the room, and an energy vortex shot up to the ceiling. Aubrey screamed.

  What have I done? This was way worse than what she’d thought. Stella blindly kicked out in front of her. Her foot hit the ring, knocking it off its axis. The vortex collapsed in on itself, energy suctioning down into a single point—the black circle on the floor.

  Loki, fur bushed out, the gray ends singed, stood in the middle of the circle. His claws were out, digging into the burnt wood.

  “Meeaaaarrr,” he complained before bolting into the kitchen.

  Breathless, Stella searched the room, feeling another presence. They weren’t alone, but she couldn’t see anything with her eyes. Something had returned with Loki, its energy chaotic and mischievous, assaulting her senses from all directions. She stood, spinning around, searching for the entity. The sensation danced around her long seconds before disappearing into the walls.

  “What was that?” Aubrey asked, her voice small.

  “I have no fucking clue.” Th
at wasn’t the whole truth. It was a portal, and the ring a device of some type. Stella rubbed the ache forming between her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure what kind of portal she’d opened, or where it had opened up to, and she didn’t want to scare Aubrey with unnecessary speculation.

  The doorbell gonged, making them both jump. Aubrey hit her elbow against one of the plants on the plant stand beside her and it crashed to the floor.

  No way to pretend they weren’t home now.

  Stella felt it before she took one step toward the door—a familiar energy making her heart pound even more, every cell in her body tingling in awareness. Her eyes met Aubrey’s panicked ones. “Did you call anyone else?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “Just you.”

  Shit. Because Stella had only felt this kind of energy once before—last week when they’d been at the bar together, the night Aubrey had given her the pendant for her birthday. Lucas. It had the same effect on her it had that night, an energy so hot and seductive it took her breath away. And there hadn’t been a day since she hadn’t thought of him and the pull he had on her.

  She took a frantic look around. The burn mark stood prominent in the middle of the room, drawing the eye. “Help me move this,” she said, casting a quick glace at Aubrey then gesturing to the end table beside the couch.

  Pushing away from the wall, Aubrey grabbed the other side. They placed it on top of circle. It didn’t hide it much, and the end table looked odd in the middle of the room.

  Bang, bang, bang. Three knocks on the front door resounded through the house.

  Aubrey let out a little squeak.

  “Coming!” Stella yelled. She spied the portal ring on the floor where it had fallen and kicked it under the couch. As she walked toward the door, she whispered her dampening spell to dull the energy coming from the man on the other side. Because if it was anything like last time, she’d need all the help she could get, or she’d be rubbing herself up against him and trying to inhale his energy right through her sinuses.

  4

  It wasn’t a domestic violence situation.

  After about five minutes of listening to Mr. Pritt talk, and taking his statement, he shared a glance with Joe that spoke volumes. The man sounded like he’d had a few too many beers.

  Standing on the elderly gentleman’s front porch, Lucas consulted what he’d already written and cleared his throat. “And what were you doing when you heard this noise that was sort of like a bang, and more like a roar, but less like an animal and more like an explosion, but less of a real explosion and more like a fake explosion?” he asked, his pen poised above his notebook.

  “I was sitting in my recliner, eating supper and watching Jeopardy. The sound was so loud I didn’t hear the returning champ’s answer, and I think it was a good one because everyone was laughing.” He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his housecoat.

  “And where exactly do you think the sound came from?” Lucas scanned the street up and down.

  “Oh, I know exactly where it came from,” Mr. Pritt said with one firm nod. “It came from that weird house right there.” He pointed at the house next door.

  The cream-colored house sat behind a lush lawn, a blue Civic hatchback and a red Miata in the driveway. Under a covered porch, potted plants were tucked in the corners, and a trimmed hedge flanked each side of the steps.

  “Weird?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, weird. They’re up all hours of the night, doing strange things to the trees. I’ve heard the term tree-hugger before, but I mean, it’s not supposed to be literal is it?”

  “They?” Lucas asked.

  “The two girls that live there.”

  “Girls? As in underage?”

  “Girls, ladies, whatever you want to call them. They’re younger than me, anyway.”

  Lucas resisted the urge to sigh. “Women is probably the term you’re looking for.”

  Mr. Pritt eyes narrowed. “Are you going to go over there and arrest them for disturbing the peace or what?”

  Lucas’s eyebrows shot up. “Not likely.”

  “Well, what are you good for then?” Mr. Pritt shut the door in his face.

  Lucas blinked, then shared a look with Joe, who shook his head. That was…interesting. But at least it wasn’t someone reporting a break-in that never happened. Making a few final notations in his notebook, they headed down the front steps and down the curved walkway to the car.

  A roaring bang had him stopping mid-step, the hairs on his arms standing on end. Beside him, Joe’s whole body tensed.

  Mr. Pritt’s front door opened. “See! That’s what I’m talking about,” he yelled, then slammed the door.

  Lucas turned his body to focus on the innocuous house. Nothing moved inside.

  “Did you hear what I heard?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “What was it?”

  “No idea.” Hand resting lightly on his sidearm, he cut across the grass and headed to the front door, Joe right beside him.

  He slunk up the steps to the porch and tried to peer into the front room. Curtains blocked his view. After hesitating only a second, he pressed the doorbell.

  A heavy gong sounded from inside of the house followed by a crash. Lucas glanced at Joe, who already had his gun out. Lucas unbuttoned the snap securing his service weapon but didn’t draw it. He heard some movement inside and couldn’t figure out if someone was moving furniture or doing something else.

  No one came to the door.

  He knocked three times.

  “Coming!” said a woman from inside.

  A minute later, the door opened.

  Lucas sucked in a breath. It was the woman from the bar. The one he’d met a week ago and had thought about every day since. Stella. The woman who had smelled him. At least, he thought she’d smelled him. He still wasn’t sure about that.

  She stood right in front of him, cheeks flushed, eyes wide. A loose-fitting white blouse flowed over the top of skinny blue jeans showing off athletic legs.

  He’d returned to the bar every night he could since, trying to catch another glimpse of her. If he hadn’t seen her this week, he was going to bite the bullet and ask Cole, the bartender, how well he knew her to see if he could track her down.

  And now he stood on her front porch.

  Her gaze ran over him quickly, then came to rest on his weapon.

  “You’re a cop,” she said, her eyes meeting his. Disappointment fluttered over her features.

  Lucas lifted his chin, snapping the button closed on his duty belt. He liked being a cop and wasn’t going to apologize for it.

  Beside him, Joe holstered his weapon.

  Movement behind Stella had his eyes meeting those of another familiar face. The woman from the antique store earlier today, Aubrey Karle. And now he knew why she’d seemed familiar. She’d been at the bar with Stella the night he’d met her. Except, she’d been across the room, and he’d never gotten a close look at her, where as Stella had practically rubbed herself against him before even saying hello.

  His instincts went on high alert. How had he ended up on the doorstep of one of the non-break-ins from today? This couldn’t be a coincidence.

  “Officer Martinez,” Aubrey said quickly, walking up behind Stella. “Nice to see you again.”

  “Ma’am,” he replied, touching his hat.

  Stella’s eyebrows shot up as she whipped around to face her friend. “You two know each other?”

  Cheeks turning pink, Aubrey cleared her throat. “No. Not really. I called the police today and Officer Martinez was the one who came down to the store.”

  Stella inhaled a quick breath. “What happened? Why did you call the police?” Her eyes darted to his partner, then back to him.

  The full force of her gaze had him bracing himself. Her eyes seemed to pierce right through him, her blonde hair framing her face in gentle waves. Compared to her slender frame, he felt large beside her, even though she must be a least five-foot-seven. Were those freckles on her nose?
He’d never really thought much about freckles before and hadn’t noticed them in the bar. On her the adorable spots shone, the sunlight illuminating everything about her.

  Aubrey ran an agitated hand through her chin-length hair. “Nothing. Like, at all. I spooked myself, but nothing happened. Officer Martinez walked through the store with me and was very helpful.” She flashed him a smile.

  He smiled back, nodded.

  “Why don’t you and your partner come in?” Aubrey said, stepping back.

  Stella whipped around again, doing some hand gesture between them he couldn’t see. Aubrey’s face turned redder, her eyes widening.

  “I really don’t think these gentlemen want to—”

  “Thank you,” Lucas said, cutting Stella off and stepping into the foyer. He took off his hat. “This is Officer Rollison.”

  “Much obliged,” Joe added, following him in and doing the same. Stella closed the door behind him.

  The scent of plants and charred wood surrounded them, and Lucas took a look around: a threadbare plaid couch, two leather recliners with permanent head shapes in the cushions, and a small table at the center of the room that seemed misplaced.

  A cat made a plaintive noise from the kitchen. Lucas’s eyes tracked to the rear of the house. A pass-through between the kitchen and the dining room was filled with potted plants, some small, some larger. The only thing he could see beyond that was a window to the backyard and the top of the refrigerator.

  His eyes went back to the small table in the middle of the room. He took a step toward it.

  “What brings you to our neck of the woods?” Aubrey asked, grabbing his attention, her eyes darting between him and Stella.

  “We had a noise complaint from your neighbor next door.” His eyes settled on a mess of dirt and broken terracotta pot behind her. It looked fresh. The crash they heard after the strange noise?