Walking on a Witchy Line: A Witches of Holiday Hills Cozy Mystery by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Author:Carolyn Ridder Aspenson [Aspenson, Carolyn Ridder]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magnum Grace Publishing
Published: 2024-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

Knowing that Lydia would likely call Elara after our visit, we headed straight to her house. Stella wanted to park at the lake and teleport there, but with magicals acting like Aunt Clara from the old TV show Bewitched, we didn’t take the chance. I dreaded the interview, knowing it would be more confrontational than our visit to Lydia’s. Elara had a reputation for being blunt and rough around the edges, and I suspected she wouldn’t hold back her opinions. Stella and I exchanged glances as we pulled into the driveway.

She met us outside her home, which was a good fifteen minutes from Lydia’s but felt like it was in another state. The house was plain, normal, and well-kept, like something a human would live in. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it wasn’t exactly that.

“Yes,” she said on her front porch. She’d crossed her arms. “I hate that stupid pact.”

“Hi,” I said, focused on lightening her dark mood. “How are you?”

“Innocent. That’s how I am.” She glared at Stella. I assumed Lydia had made her the bad cop during our interview when she called to warn Elara.

“We’re not here because we think you might have murdered Jasper,” I said.

Stella coughed.

“We just want to clear up a few things. The more people we can get off our question list, the easier it’ll be to find the killer. Elara, you know this is important. Magic is already off-balance. We can’t just sit on this and act like nothing’s happening.”

Her piercing blue eyes narrowed at us. Without a word, she stepped aside to let us in. The inside of her house was surprisingly plain, almost like a regular human’s home. The furniture was practical, the walls dotted with simple artwork, and the faint smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air. It was disarmingly normal.

Was that planned, or does she really live like she isn’t a witch when at home? Why not? My house didn’t look like a magical paradise. Neither did Stella’s, Bessie’s, or Gabe’s. Why am I being so judgmental?

“Sit,” she said curtly, motioning to the couch.

We took our seats, and Elara settled into an armchair across from us, folding her arms over her chest. “You want to know how I feel? Fine. I’ll tell you. The pact should be dissolved. Everyone should just go on as normal. Humans have no clue about magic, and they never will. We don’t need a pact to protect us from something that’s never going to happen.”

I frowned. “But the pact does more than just hide magic. It regulates how we interact with humans and keeps a balance between our worlds.”

“The balance is unnecessary,” Elara snapped. “It’s only off because we force there to be balance instead of making things just be normal. We’re hiding for no reason other than the Divine Council wants another layer of bureaucracy. One we don’t need, but that’s a discussion for another time. The point is we could be living freely, embracing our power instead of suppressing it.

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