Halfway Bitten
(Halfway Witchy Series #2)
by Terry Maggert
Blurb:
The circus came to Halfway, and they brought the weird.
When clowns, vampires, and corpses start piling up in town, Carlie has to break away from her boyfriend, Wulfric, to bring her witchy skills to the table- or grill, as the case may be.
When the body of a young woman washes up in the lake, it unleashes a spiral of mystery that will bring Carlie, Gran, and Wulfric into a storm of magical warfare. Spells will fly. Curses will rain. Amidst it all, Carlie will make waffles, protect her town, and find out if a man from the distant past can join her in happy ever after.
With love and honor at stake, Carlie has no peer.
Available for purchase at
Excerpts
Chapter One: Mail Call
The
moon hung full, meaning I would sleep on the couch to listen for the squeak of
my mail slot announcing the plaintive request for a secret spell. That was where people who I rarely knew would
push a handmade envelope through the slim space to fall into my home; the
letter would slide across the floor with a swishing rasp before coming to a
stop. I would then open each letter in the moonlight of my kitchen, where I got
down to the business of being a good witch.
In a
sense, I grant wishes.
I have
growing power. I’m a work in progress, I guess, and I feel it in my bones that
every little bit of effort must be made to keep the most subtle kinds of evil
at bay. Things like loneliness. Fear. A loss of caring. These are the things
that all of my spell requests are built around; the words change but the pleas
are always the same. I think that because of this ability to use my magic, I
understand that there must be goodness in the world in order to foster even
greater kindness. I’m okay with that. It’s my calling.
My Gran
taught me that goodwill should be freely given. The ability to be kind without
strings is the mark of pure magic; its sole purpose can only be fulfilled when
there is no expectation of reward. In a sense, the envelopes that fall to the
wood floor of my foyer are the closest thing to a physical prayer that I will
ever see. I treat each request with the care it deserves, and I am utterly
committed to lessening the suffering of the people around me. Gran always told
me that someday, I’d think of myself as a priestess who cared for the world
around me, and I think I’m starting to understand.
The
moon slides across my kitchen in a soft pane of light for three nights out of
each month, unless it’s cloudy, or snowing, or rainy. It’s during this transit
of light that I wait in a state somewhere between dreams and reality. If I doze
too soundly, Gus will wake me when an envelope arrives, but for the most part,
there’s a part of my mind that anticipates each quiet plea. To fill the hours
between now and then, I went to the kitchen to graze. It’s a scientific fact
that if you eat while standing over the sink, it is neither a meal nor does it
count against your alleged workout plan. Fortunately for me, the diner keeps me
in shape, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling a twinge of guilt when I eat
something that has no nutritional value whatsoever.
Like
right now. I selected a spoon that is just small enough to fit in my mouth,
opened the fridge, and pulled out a tub of homemade peach ice cream.
“Hello,
beautiful,” I murmured. “We’re about to get uncomfortably close for the next
half hour.” I spooned the first frigid bite of heaven into my mouth and let my
eyes close with the kind of pleasure that only ice cream or a lingering kiss
can bring. The spoon rested on my tongue, cold and brittle, and I was moving to
dredge another bite when the mail flap opened and an envelope slid onto the
floor. Gus eyed the ice cream with a feral speculation; he wasn’t above
pilfering licks if I left the tub unattended, so the ice cream went with me to
the foyer.
I bent
to pick it up and my hand stopped in mid-air. The paper was marred by three
dark smears, but I knew it wasn’t ash or ink.
It was
blood.
Moonlight has a curious effect on many things. It can spawn romance, or
poems. It can light the water at night and the snow, too, spangling the frozen
crystals with the second-hand sun from the other side of the world. In the
fall, it can turn an innocent night into something sinister, looming over the
harvest like a fat reminder that the veil between worlds is thin indeed. But
for blood, it takes that which is crimson and makes it black, and I knew this
because it’s something I’ve seen before.
I
reached for my power and let my senses drift across the innocuous paper, and I
was sorry that I did. Fear, like blood, can stain things, and this message was
fairly soaked with the kind of terror that can kill. Gus padded over and
uttered a low growl from the depths of his throat; he knew that something bad
had made the aura surrounding this plea for. . . .something.
“I
guess I have to open it.” Gus hunkered down next to me, an expectant look on his
broad feline face. I stood and turned on the hallways light, then plucked the
envelope from the floor and opened it in one smooth motion.
It was a torn
piece of paper, yellowed from sun or weather. The smell hit me first; a mélange
of age and the coppery bite of blood that was still too fresh to be oxidized.
The words were clearly written with a fingertip, and in a hand that shook so
badly I wondered if the author had survived to the end of the message. I read,
turned my eyes for a moment to steady myself, and then read the note once
again.
When
they find her, you will know. Please do not forget the rest of us.
My mind
screamed at the opaque meaning, knowing that somewhere in the depths of those
few words was a message that could save lives. I knew intuitively that what I
held in my hand had been written at great cost, and curling fingers of dread
hooked around my spine and began to squeeze, just to let me know that I was
powerless in that moment. I sat down on the floor of my foyer and felt the
first hot tears of rage spill down my cheeks, hating that all I could do was
wait.
If you
know me at all, there are certain things I’m not very good at. Reaching things
on the third shelf? Not my thing. Eating butter beans? No way. But the thing
that actually galls me is to wait, yet that’s exactly what I did, resting on my
couch with Gus until my gray eyes were dark hollows in my face. The sun rose as
my stomach roiled with frustration and guilt, but as the light became
impossible to ignore, I rose and went to make coffee.
I stood
sipping the first cup, my eyes gritty and red. I could feel the low simmer of
anger percolating within me even as I stepped into the shower. This was going
to be a bad day. I considered and discarded dozens of possible meanings for the
note before walking to work with my head down and eyes locked firmly on the
sidewalk. It was too early to bother Gran, but I resolved to call her when I
could steal a moment away from the grill at the diner. I knew we’d be slammed,
but there was something about the note that froze the marrow in my bones.
I
didn’t know what was coming, but I could tell it was going to be bad.
If I ride my bike to work, it takes three minutes;
walking takes ten.
I chose to walk.
The sun broke over the lake in a fury of gemlike flames.
Halfway is a lake made in heaven, and the town curls around it like a jealous
lover. At five in the morning, it’s sleepy and quiet, with only the
occasionally rowdy goose or loon breaking the silence. The only humans moving
around other than me and a few bakers are fisherman; they have the excellent
sense to limit their noise and speech under the auspices of not scaring their
prey. I applaud that kind of dedication to avoiding human contact before you’re
fully caffeinated.
I unlocked the diner’s side door and slipped into the
quiet cool. This was the magic hour before any other employees were around, and
the entire space was mine. Three days a week Louis would be waiting to greet
me—he started baking at two in the morning, but not today. There was no aroma
of flour or sweets and coffee, just the welcoming stillness and a lingering
hint of something fried and delicious. Glynna and Pat would arrive later;
between the two of them they could organize the invasion of a modest country.
They’re both seasoned veterans who know that coffee comes first, chit chat is
second, and smiles are constant. It’s no surprise that getting a job here is
rare, but keeping it is common.
I set coffee to brew, wrapped a snow white apron around
me, and slid easily into the kitchen to begin the dance of preparing for an
onslaught of bustling customers who came to eat, relax, and gaze out at the
brightening surface of the lake. There are some mornings that I lose time; it’s
as if the muscle memory of my job takes over and bliss descends to move my
hands in a familiar pattern of cooking, and plating, and smiling at the general
joyous chaos that erupts from the moment we open our doors. Most of the time, I
love my job. Other days I tolerate it, but this was not one of those days. This
day was going to be interesting.
I looked up from the grill and froze. Usually, the
diner—that’s the Hawthorn Diner, known to everyone in town simply as The
Diner-- is filled with a nice mix of tourists and locals. You know the types.
There are tourists wearing all manner of vacation uniforms with the occasional
sunburn mixed in for good measure. Dads wear khaki shorts, white sneakers, and
an expression of relief when their kids start eating. Tourist moms wear
anything that’s clean, drink coffee like their lives depend on it, and always
seem the smallest bit worried. Our locals wear baseball caps and an air of
infinite patience, waiting for me to cook their waffles just so without a hint
of hurry.
So, when I looked up and saw six clowns sitting at the
counter, I took a moment. Okay, if you want to get technical, I froze. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m not scared of clowns. As a witch, I actually find them sort
of relaxing when compared to the paranormal nasties I deal with now and again;
a little face paint and red noses don’t frighten me. But still, I just took a
moment.
Glynna smirked at me while she filled a row of coffee
cups; apparently even clowns enjoy a hot cup of joe. I nodded politely, looking
down at my current batch of home fries that were happily sizzling away, then
turned to add onions and mushrooms to an omelet that was nearly done. Despite
my, ah, stature, I can cover a lot of ground in the kitchen. I may not be tall,
but I’m really busy, and that goes a long way towards making me efficient. I
like that. So do our customers.
“Circus in town?” I asked Glynna, who began to hang
tickets in the window with a robotic efficiency. You’ve probably seen someone
like her before in a diner somewhere. Glynna is fifty, slender, has hair color
that changes like the weather, and brown eyes that are cheery and bright. She’s
an inveterate coffee and sugar addict, and she avoids vegetables, meat, and
milk like one would a dodge a radioactive badger. Glynna is fueled by caffeine
and sweets. I really need to look into her diet someday, if she’ll ever stand
still long enough to let me take notes about her eating habits outside work.
She pointed at the array of clowns and nodded sagely. “It
is. Rolled in overnight. They’ve set up near the park, although I’d say it was
more like a carnival. They’re nice guys; they were giving away tickets at the
lakeshore before they came in here to tank up on waffles.”
The lakeshore meant the walkway that followed a rough
outline of our park, which snugs up to the water. We’re are exactly halfway
between the beginning and the end of the Adirondack chain of lakes, hence our
name, and the park is your basic giant green lawn that acted as a picnic spot,
music venue, and general meeting place for friends, lovers, and the occasional
dog who wanted to stretch it out and run for a bit. My town is compact,
idyllic, vibrant during the summer, as all touristy places are, and frigid for
the winter.
It’s also lousy with magic.
Now, clowns aren’t from the Everafter, they just dress
that way. Trust me, if you’ve ever seen an actual Faerie Queen, you’d think she
got her wardrobe at yard sales held during the disco era. Just because you’ve
got royal fae blood doesn’t mean you have taste. I know this from experience,
and I’ve only just stopped laughing at a printed pantsuit that a fae court
member wore during a fight with a rogue Werebear. If it hadn’t been dangerous,
I would have been too busy taking pictures for posterity. I don’t care if your
beauty is magically enhanced; when you combine stripes and spots, I’m going to
laugh at you.
I breezed through the remainder of my shift in a happy
fugue, stepping out of the door at just past two in the afternoon. Actually, I
took two steps, because I’m just brushing five feet tall and my legs are
appropriately long; that is to say they reach the ground. Barely. My eyes are
gray, my hair is black, and I love my Doc Martens as much as any inanimate
object on the planet save my charm bracelet, which acts as a sort of repository
for my excess magic. I’ve got a hidden witchmark behind my right ear; from it
springs hair of every human color you can imagine, and a couple that I’ve only
seen on really unusual cats. I use the hair for spells, on occasion, and the
witchmark as a sort of early warning system for everything nasty that find
witches to be delicious or interesting. I couldn’t blame the beasties, since my
hair smelled of the grill, my clothes were speckled with waffle batter and I
needed a shower in that welcome sort of way you get if you love your job. I do.
I’m lucky like that.
So, I’m a witch,
and I come from a long line of witches. My Gran is sort of the de facto leader
of all things magical in our area; her decades of experience make her the go-to
for all questions about the arcane. I seem to be the designated hitter in terms
of pest control; I don’t know whether I should be flattered or angry that I
spend so many of my days off traipsing around the woods hunting down errant
demons, ghouls, or undead tax accountants. The spread of evil knows no bounds,
it would seem, so until you’ve had to cast spells at a guy with blue skin, a
pocket protector, and fangs, don’t you dare judge me.
Part of being a witch means having a familiar. Mine is a
cat named Gus. He’s of the Maine Coon variety, which means that his size rivals
mine, and his favorite hobbies include giving me the stinkeye, complaining, and
trying to smother me with his tail when I take naps. In other words, he’s your
basic cat, just three times larger and more attuned to my magical needs. Gus is
the only other occupant in my home; it’s a small bungalow that’s close to the
diner, and it once belonged to my parents. They’ve retired and headed for the
sunsets of New Mexico, leaving me my childhood home.
I love everything about my house. I love the deep cool of
the cellar where I perfect my magic; I love the green expanse of the lawn, and
the lonely apple tree that marks the eastern corner of my yard. Its branches
are few but heavy with fruit each September, and I pick each apple with a
reverent memory that stretches back to the first years of my life. I’m
twenty-one years old, and I’ve never known another place. I belong here, and I
love that fact, too. All of these things push together in my heart and leave me
full and happy, a fact which naturally irritates the rare cynic I’m forced to
deal with. Those people are inevitably customers who are cursed with real or
imagined special dietary needs. Egg white omelets make me sad, but the people
who order them make me angry.
I stepped through my door and tossed the keys on a tall
table that hugs the left hand wall. Gus waited to greet me from his usual perch
on the fireplace mantel; I refer to it as The Dais of Judgement due to his
unblinking stare and haughty bearing.
Then again, he’s a cat. They’re built for that kind of
subtle insult, so maybe I’m just overly sensitive since he’s so confident. I
admire that kind of moxie in an animal who is frightened of my sneakers if I
dare to leave them in a different position. He’s a creature of habit, as am I,
but you won’t see me shedding like a cheap sweater when I get upset. Big
difference.
Gus interrupted my thoughts with a single deep
mroooowwwt.
“Yeah, yeah. You
big galoot. I’ll get it.” I moved unerringly to the fridge and pulled out a
pitcher of actual cream— my snobby cat won’t drink anything but the good stuff.
After I filled a dish large enough to swim in, I started peeling off clothes
and heading towards the bathroom. I took an experimental sniff as I passed my
bedroom, sensing the lingering essence of Wulfric, my boyfriend. He’d left just
before dawn to go on what amounted to a patrol of his lands. I should probably
explain why I have a boyfriend who needs to patrol anything, so here goes.
Wulfric is a thousand year old half-vampire, half- Viking
who guards a section of the forest so that mortal hikers don’t get turned into
undead monsters by an evil spring that we sometimes call the Fountain of
Youth. He also has a daughter, Emilia,
with a no-good skank named Anna who is actually a Werepanther, hula-hoop addict,
litterer, and general malcontent. Anna’s also really hot, which means that for
the most part she got away with all manner of anti-social behavior, but
absconding with my boyfriend’s kid puts her squarely on my shit list, and I’ve
got news for that trampy little kitten.
I’m not scared of any kind of cat. I live with Gus.
Halfway Witchy Series
Halfway Dead (Halfway Witchy Series #1)
Available for purchase at
About The Author
Born in 1968, I discovered fishing shortly after walking, a boon, considering I lived in South Florida. After a brief move to Kentucky, my family trekked back to the Sunshine State. I had the good fortune to attend high school in idyllic upstate New York, where I learned about a mythical substance known as "Seasons". After two or three failed attempts at college, I bought a bar. That was fun because I love beer, but, then, I eventually met someone smarter than me (a common event), and, in this case, she married me and convinced me to go back to school--which I did, with enthusiasm. I earned a Master's Degree in History and rediscovered my love for writing. My novels explore dark fantasy, immortality, and the nature of love as we know it. I live near Nashville, Tennessee, with the aforementioned wife, son, and herd, and, when I'm not writing, I teach history, grow wildly enthusiastic tomato plants, and restore my 1967 Mustang.
You can find Terry at
Giveaway
Presented By
