Thyme for Murder by Elizabeth Rain

Author:Elizabeth Rain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, women's paranormal fiction
Publisher: Elizabeth Rain
Published: 2020-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

IT WAS AN EPIDEMIC. Grams opened the door and I blinked in horror. Her face was a dull, pasty gray and her eyes bloodshot. I wondered if one of her spells had finally backfired.

“Stop staring like a ninny and get in here.”

I came in and closed the door.

I started choking and coughing as soon as I entered and got a good look at the inside of the cabin. Soot blanketed everything. The fireplace stood empty and cold, the fire from two nights before absent. The cauldron still hung under the mantle, but whatever had been in it had bubbled over and spread in a mysterious gooey mass that had hardened on the pebbled floor.

I reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. Yup, it was Grams alright. I quirked an eyebrow. “Spell gone wrong?” I asked, tongue in cheek, hiding my concern.

“No, spell gone right and someone didn’t like it.” She growled, slapping at my hands.

“What happened? Are you alright?”

“Do I look like I am? Grab a broom and make yourself useful. Darned near burned the place down. I doused the fire quick enough, but there went the spell too.” She complained.

We went to work as she told me what happened.

“I decided the best way to figure out what was going on was to use a combination spell. I worked a ‘reveal spell’ to show me a global view of Veil Falls and then matched that with the ‘step back’ spell, which moves time backwards. So I could see Veil Falls at the time of the blip in the Ward. Tricky business combining spells over the top of each other, but it was working. The mist was just starting to clear and give me a decent picture when there was a knock on the roof and something came down the chimney and straight away into the pot. It boiled and bubbled out of control, and the fire fanned out of the fireplace. I used a ‘dousing’ spell and put the fire out. But ruined, all that work a waste.”

Grams swept up a pile of crumbling dried goo in her dustpan and emptied it in the garbage, banging the pan against the side in agitation.

“Any idea what came down the chimney? A walnut? Said squirrel chasing the nut?”

She glared at me and I snapped my mouth shut.

“Oh, I have an idea alright.”

“Stop the suspense. What was it?”

“A counter spell. Someone isn’t too happy with my meddling.”

“You said it was working—the spell?” I began pouring water and an extra dose of dish soap in the sink to wash every dish she owned.

Grams paused and looked up, an odd look on her face.

Uh oh. I wasn’t going to like this.

“Just a glimpse. I saw something right before the whole mess exploded in my face, literally.”

“What did you see, Grams?”

“You. I saw you and Restless.”

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