To Be Kindred To A Witch

CHAPTER 1

Erin leaned across the sales counter of her Aunt and mother’s store. Books N’ Things was a shop that couldn’t really be filed under one particular category. They had everything anyone could possibly want. 

A tearoom in the front and in the back… well… anything someone who knew about magick could ever want.

The front of the store with all the hippy crystals and herbs and odds and end books was just for show so the locals wouldn’t get suspicious. They sold everything from mood rings to special creams to enhance sexual pleasure. 

Erin’s mother, Katherine Banfield, and Aunt Siobhan claimed that every person in Somewhere had stepped foot in their shop at least once —even if it was just for the tea and cakes.

In addition to actually being witches, real magickal potion-making-spell-casting-witches, they had the brass balls to open the shop next door to the Long Rock County Sheriff Office and across the street from the Long Rock County News Office. Aunt Siobhan even had lunch with the Sheriff’s front desk secretary, Edna Walters once a week.

If ever there wasn’t a place to practice witchcraft, it was right where the Banfield sisters had decided to hang their not-so-pointy hats.

The little bell above the door tinkled as it swung open and one of the cutest guys in Somewhere strolled into the store. Of course he had Kara McClure on his arm. So that negated any attempt to flirt shamelessly with him. Luke VonBrandt was one of those guys that every girl dreamed of calling her boyfriend. He was sweet, intelligent, and drop-dead gorgeous. Erin was pretty sure just his presence in the room made her heart palpitate a little faster.

“Good morning,” she called out, leaning against the counter to hopefully mask her shaking knees.

Luke flashed her a hundred watt smile and Erin could’ve sworn the entire front room lit up. “Morning, Erin. Mom sent me over to pick up that special bath salt mix your Aunt makes. She said to make sure I got five bottles.”

“Five?” The relaxing lavender bath salts were wildly popular —probably because Aunt Siobhan infused them with a touch of magick to aid in the relaxation of the person in the bath.

“Office gifts,” he answered, explaining the need for multiple bottles.

Kara left his side and walked toward a shelf of trinkets. Erin watched her touch several of the crystals on the shelf and noticed that Kara had the same tattooed Celtic knot bands on her wrists that Luke did. She knew enough about magick to know it was a bonding spell. But why would Kara or Luke VonBrandt be practicing magick? 

Maybe they’d just seen the tattoos on others and liked them. It could be a coincidence … but in all honesty —true coincidences were rare.

“Erin?” Luke’s velvety soft bass voice drew her attention from Kara’s wrists.

“Of course,” she said quickly. “Let me go look in the back. I think there’s only two bottles on the front shelf right now.” Erin turned and disappeared through the two saloon doors behind her.

She took a left into the storage room in the back of the store and quickly found the box of extra bottles of bath salts. Her Aunt was in the back of the room mixing up something that smelled like the base liquor for the Texas Sunrise drink down at Everyday Joe’s.

“Who came in?” Siobhan asked, looking up from her stone pestle.

“It’s Kara McClure and Luke VonBrandt. Did you know they are sporting suspicious-looking bonding tattoos on their wrists?” Erin asked, counting out five bottles of the bath salts.

Her aunt shook her head. “Doesn’t surprise me in the least. He’s been head over heels for that girl since junior high. It was only a matter of time.”

Erin paused at the door. “But the tattoos?”

“What about them?”

“Are they magick?”

Siobhan’s lips pressed together forming a tight line, and the muscles in her cheeks tightened. “You’re still a witch in training and this is not the time, nor place to discuss such things.”

“So they are.” Erin flashed her Aunt a smirk and slipped out of the room.

“Leave it be, Erin,” her aunt’s voice called after her.

Erin pushed through the swinging saloon doors and looked up —straight into Luke VonBrandt’s dark brown eyes. His face had been pleasant when she left but now… not so much. Now he looked like a man who wanted to tear her limb from limb. What the hell? He couldn’t possibly have heard her talking to her aunt way in the back. She hadn’t been that loud.

“Is everything okay?” Erin set the bottles gingerly on the counter in front of him and reached beneath the counter for a paper bag.

He slapped down a hundred dollar bill and just continued to stare. His gaze was suffocating and Erin just wanted to melt between the floorboards and disappear from sight.

Kara had returned to Luke’s side, but neither of them spoke to her.

They just stared. Luke’s emotions read furious and Kara’s face was creased with worry lines. 

Fear tugged at Erin’s heart and she found breathing more difficult with every passing moment.

“Everything is fine,” Luke answered, flashing her a wide very-fake smile. “As long as you follow your Aunt’s advice.”

Erin blinked in surprise. Oh. My. God. What had just happened? He couldn’t have heard what I said… but he did.

“I… Um, of course,” Erin said, the words sputtering out of her mouth like food in a blender without a lid. “Is this all you need today?”

Luke nodded.

She took the hundred-dollar bill from the counter and handed him his change along with the paper sack loaded with the five bottles of bath salts. “Thank you f-for shopping at B-Books N’ Things.”

The little bell above the front door to the shop rang, and Erin breathed a sigh of relief when her mother appeared in the doorway.

“Thank you,” Kara said, taking the bag from Erin’s hand.

Luke turned away without a word and caught her mother’s gaze. “You have a problem brewing, Ms. Banfield.” His words were slow and his tone as serious as her Aunt’s had been just moments before.

Her mother flashed her emerald gaze to meet Erin’s and frowned before turning her attention back to Luke. “I’ll be sure it’s remedied. Please be sure to say hi to your mother for me. Kara it’s so good to see you. Is the lavender oil helping you sleep better?”

Erin watched as Kara’s face lightened and she smiled. “Yes, thank you Ms. Banfield. It’s helped very much.”

Holy crap. Who knew mentioning a couple of tattoos would turn into a mess of epic proportions.

Once Luke and Kara had left the store her mother strode toward the counter, her cowboy boots echoing painfully in Erin’s mind with each step.

“What did you say to him?” her mother hissed, keeping her voice low and under her breath. There were still customers in the dining area of the store enjoying tea and cakes.

“I didn’t say anything… to him,” Erin said, also keeping her voice to a whisper.

“The VonBrandts are a very powerful family and we very specific agreements with them to run this business in Somewhere. If we don’t respect their privacy, they will make us leave.”

“Leave Somewhere!?” Surely not. She’d been born here. Raised here. How could one family hold so much sway over her life?

“Shhhhh,” her mom said with a warning glare. “We’ll talk tonight at dinner. It’s time for you to know a little more about this town and the family that I owe everything to.”

Owe? What had her mother needed from the VonBrandts?