Scones and Slayers: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (Blue Moon Bay Witches Book 2) by Sierra Cross

Author:Sierra Cross [Cross, Sierra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enigmatic Books
Published: 2023-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

Finding Yolanda alive and well was an oasis of joy. A victory over the divisive forces that fought to tear apart our town. But only a couple of hours later, I sat up in bed with a start, so panicked it took several gasping breaths to orient myself.

I was in my peaceful loft in my cozy house. All was quiet, except for Graham’s snoring.

I was safe. Yolanda was safe. The vampire kidnapper was dead. So how come everything felt absolutely wrong?

Yolanda’s homecoming had been both sweet and tearful. She and Jacinta flew into each other’s arms in the doorway of their apartment above Purrfect Pancakes. Mother and daughter squeezed each other tight in such a vice of affection that I was honestly anxious for their ribs.

When they let go, Jacinta breathed the sigh to end all sighs.

“Thank God you’re home, sweet girl!” she said. “And thank goodness for the Vampire Hunters.”

Everything about that sentence went clunk, wrong in my brain. The hunters weren’t heroes. Them gaining clout among shifters and witches was frightening.

Yet at the same time, who could blame Jacinta for being grateful her daughter was home safe?

Yolanda, apparently.

She winced. “Mom… they’re not that great. They’re vigilantes who happened to be helpful once. I think in some ways, they’re as bad as the kidnapper.”

“How can you say that?” Jacinta demanded. “He was an evil bloodsucking monster!”

“Mama, stop. You hate it when people say ‘wicked witch’, how’s this any different?”

Jacinta frowned in confusion. “Well, of course it is. But let’s not argue tonight, unless it’s about what kind of pancakes I should whip up.”

Max, Britt, and I hung around while Jacinta frantically made pancakes for everyone. They smelled like butter, sugar, and chocolate chips. She was probably too drained and exhausted to add Green Magic.

“You should call Amethyst,” Jacinta nagged her daughter. “She’s been worried sick.”

Had she really? I wondered “Wait, where was Amethyst when the kidnapping happened?” I asked, remembering she had been upstairs in Purrfect Pancakes after having filmed the bad customer incident. “Why didn’t she hear the vampire dragging you away?”

Yolanda looked confused. “I… I don’t know. I was unconscious.”

“Sorry, of course,” I said. Why was I interrogating the victim? It was Amethyst who had quite a bit of ‘splainin to do.

We had then said goodbye to the two, leaving them to bicker gently on.

But now, waking up in the night, I marveled at how rational and articulate Yolanda sounded about her own kidnapping. How could someone who’d just been kidnapped be so stinkin’ philosophical and nuanced about it all? Most people would be in shock, taking years to process it. Yolanda’s resilience was inspiring. But it was also… well, if not suspicious, then odd.

Even odder than what happened to the ransom money, which, if you listened to Officer Murthi tell it, was, “Nothing. Nothing coulda happened to it. No cars drove up to Swole’s Gym all night. No people ever went through the doors, front or back.”

Be that as it may, he could not deny the locker was empty.

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