Witch's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1 Read online

  When she got back up front Berny asked in a shocked voice, “You’re going?”

  Celia nodded sharply and grabbed the man’s arm that seemed just as surprised and started to drag him toward the door.

  Celia said loudly over her shoulder as they left the store, “We can discuss salary and hours when I get back.”

  Chapter 3

  Celia wondered if she was being reckless given the last few weeks. The man seated next to her in his large pickup could probably squish her like a bug, but she didn’t feel any fear at all. She just felt an urgency to get to where they were going, wherever that was.

  Celia asked, “Who are you?”

  The man startled at her voice and said, “You can call me Joe. My wife is Lily, son Josh. I already told you Josh’s mate is Kelly. That’s about it.”

  Celia’s eyes narrowed in thought, “Bear shifter?”

  He growled, “Rude question, but seeing as you’re going to help, yes. Grizzly to be specific.”

  She blushed at his tone and wasn’t sure how much of a good idea it was to ask more questions, but Celia needed to know what was going on with Kelly’s labor. She’d guessed they were bears because of the small amount of people. Bear shifters tended to be immediate family only, a lot like humans that way. Wolf shifters were in packs, usually all extended family together although they’ve been known to take in strays as well. Tiger shifters were loners, only coming together to mate, so a father wouldn’t be around for the birth, much less grandpa.

  What she knew about shifters was basic though, she’d had no idea her question was offensive.

  She got angry at her own timidity and growled back, “Finish telling me what you were saying in the store, I need to know what I’m getting into.”

  He turned his head her way a second before looking back at the road, a bemused expression on his face. His voice returned to gravelly and calm when he answered.

  “Kelly’s in a lot of pain. Too much pain, the labor has been going on for hours, which is odd for shifters. Bear shifter births are usually fast, and although painful no more so than shifting. I wasn’t in the room, but my wife said there’d been too much blood. I thought it worth the risk to come.”

  She almost snorted at that, risk? Well she wasn’t about to clue him in that his biggest danger from her was a draft, or possibly setting a few hairs on fire. Most fire witches could turn him into a bonfire in moments. She kept her thoughts to herself for the rest of the ride, they moved quickly from the city, and then into the more rural areas.

  It wasn’t very surprising to her when he pulled down a dirt road onto private property that was right next to one of the larger state parks in the area. The feeling of urgency had lessened during the ride. That was normal, once she got on the suggested path the magic faded. But in this case it wasn’t making her feel better. As she lost that impetus she started to wonder what the hell she was doing.

  She took a deep breath and focused on her job. There was a pregnant woman out there that needed help delivering a baby, which was all that mattered right now. The winding road went through some trees and when they reached the other side she saw a fairly large two story house, and an old dilapidated barn. At one point this had been a farm, now it was just a lot of space for shifters to stretch their legs and conveniently located near a forest.

  She also noticed her headache was completely gone. She wasn’t going to complain, but she really wished she understood why.

  They pulled up in front of the house and got out of the truck. She followed Joe into the house and down the hallway. As Joe entered one of the back bedrooms, a younger man that must have been his son Josh blocked the doorway.

  Josh grated out, his eyes glowing a light brown, “I’ll be watching you witch, you’d better make sure my wife and kid live.”

  He was as tall as his father, and as large. His eyes stopped glowing, and they seemed to be green now.

  She had heard shifter eyes glow the same color as their shifted hair, and only when they were angry or upset. She frowned up at him and felt the urge to push past him, or maybe kick him in his family jewels, but she suppressed the anger, now wasn’t the time to lose it to her new violent mood swings.

  Not to mention he was a bear, and she was the aforementioned extra squishy.

  “Move, or I’ll leave,” she said in an even tone.

  She was proud of how bored sounding it had come out while internally she was gibbering in fear at what she’d gotten herself into. What was she thinking?

  Josh opened his mouth but Joe cuffed his son on the back of the head, “Don’t be an idiot, let her through son.”

  He turned to me and grinned, “Try not to provoke him. He’s not old and mellow like I am.”

  She snorted and walked in the room. A more mature woman she assumed was Lily was sitting on the bed next to Kelly. She was almost surprised as she took the room in, it was a typical bedroom, nothing betrayed the fact they were shifters. She blushed slightly at that though, what had she expected? It wasn’t like anyone walking in her bedroom would cry witch. Maybe slob, but witch wouldn’t come into it.

  Celia examined Kelly for a moment. The soon to be mother was trembling in pain, exhaustion, and covered in sweat. She checked Kelly’s dilation and took her blood pressure.

  The blood pressure was a little high but not alarming. There was a bit more blood than she would expect, but it didn’t appear she was bleeding out. She pulled out a couple of potions, one should help her dilate, the other would help Kelly clot and in general heal her body faster. It was a risk, she wasn’t sure if they would work exactly the same on a shifter like they did on witches and humans.

  At worst though, they should just not help. None of the ingredients would react badly with shifter physiology, and of course the added magic wouldn’t either. To Celia’s relief Kelly seemed to respond well, in a short time she was fully dilated and didn’t appear so wiped out. She wondered though what could stop a shifter from fully dilating, after all aren’t their bodies changing all the time? She was relieved she didn’t have to ask though, perhaps she would ask another time if it came up.

  Yeah, right, she thought sarcastically, maybe at the next witch and shifter patty cake convention.

  Within twenty more minutes the baby was out. She clamped and cut the cord.

  Celia smiled brightly, shifter or not, she never got tired of seeing the miracle of a new life entering the world.

  She said softly, “It’s a girl,” as she gently handed the baby to Lily.

  Lily began to clean her up and wrapped her in a small blanket before handing the child to the excited but exhausted Kelly.

  Once the after birth had been taken care of, Celia began to clean her instruments, and pack up the bag. She was wondering what was wrong with her, every time she felt intimidated she felt anger rise up in her. That wasn’t exactly healthy, or even wise right now.

  Kelly had tears in her eyes when she said, “Thank you Celia, if you ever need anything…”

  Celia smiled and nodded once. She knew emotions were running high so just took it as a thank you and nothing else. She followed Joe out of the room and he led her out to the truck. She was thoughtfully silent on the way back to the store and glad she had gone.

  Joe handed her an envelope when he dropped her off, “Thanks again Celia, I… just thank you. I never thought you would actually come.”

  She patted his hand, “Go home and spoil your granddaughter.”

  He grinned widely at the thought and drove off after she stepped out.

  She looked in the envelope, it appeared to be her usual fee plus a healthy bonus, but she didn’t count it on the street and just put it in her bag.

  She looked up at the store with dread; she’d just had close to two hours headache free. She was also positive now it was something in the store giving her a headache, not just her grief. It was something that affected her apartment above the store as well, just not as strongly. What the hell could it be?

  She felt l
ike a coward as she walked up the block away from the store. But it was her first time pain free in weeks; she just wanted a few more minutes. She pulled out her cell phone and called Berny and asked her what she wanted for lunch as she walked into the Deli that was four stores down from hers…

  Celia almost dropped the small cardboard box holding the drinks and sandwiches as she walked into the shop. It wasn’t just the headache rushing back that made her feel like she’d been punched in the head. Bruce, her ex-boyfriend, was leaning against the counter and chatting with Berny.

  Their breakup had only been the week before. She had been in full meltdown the first couple of weeks after her mom’s death. Instead of being supportive, he’d bailed on her because of the mood swings and fighting, and had told her to call him when she stopped acting crazy. They’d been together for a couple of years, and once she’d calmed down she went to his house to work things out but found him in bed with another woman, a young witch named Mira from Fran’s coven who was barely twenty years old.

  Celia knew she was attractive and on the upper side of average. She had light wavy brown hair, warm liquid hazel eyes, and her skin had a light tan complexion. She kept her body in shape and even ten years later at twenty eight could fit into the same clothes she’d graduated high school in. But Mira was years younger and off the scale gorgeous.

  She’d gone into a jealous rage at the time, which resulted in a lot of screaming and ended up with her breaking things off permanently and fleeing before he saw her tears. She’d had breakups before, but coming on top of all the other stuff in her life she’d handled it rather badly.

  She’d managed not to hit him or throw things at the time, but she wasn’t sure that trend would last as he turned to her and smirked. She was actually angrier at herself for not noticing what a sleazebag the guy was, she hadn’t seen past his artificial charm and chiseled good looks until they’d hit a rough spot in life. Now that he wasn’t manipulating her into bed anymore his true face was more than apparent.

  The most shocking thing about it was she hadn’t really missed him at all with everything else going on. The older happy her would have been miserable without him, but this new person she’d been becoming since her mother’s death felt a cold anger settle like a blanket over pure contempt.

  “Get out,” she said shortly as she put lunch on the counter.

  Berny looked uncomfortable and said in a reasonable tone, “Fran sent him to pick up the supplies since I’m working here all day.”

  Celia nodded slowly and pursed her lips. She picked up the bag sitting on the counter and pushed it into his chest until he reached up and took it.

  “Now get out,” she demanded harshly.

  Bruce replied in an oily voice, “Just keeping Berny company until you got back, no need to blow up.”

  I nodded, “So what, Mira too old for you now? Get the hell out, you’re not welcome here.”

  He turned to Berny and said in a smarmy voice, “I’m sorry, I should have left before she got back. I didn’t realize she’d still be so… distraught,” the implication in his voice that it was all Celia’s fault and that he thought she was unbalanced had been clear.

  There was a loud sound of a slap that seemed to reverberate in the store. Celia froze as she realized what she’d just done. She was torn between wanting to hit him again and the urge to laugh at the shocked look on his face.

  Bruce looked thunderstruck, and then pissed off as he walked toward the door. He looked over his shoulder and said threateningly, “You’ll regret that.”

  She spat out one word at a time, “Don’t come back, ever.”

  When the door closed Berny said, “Damn Celia, I can’t believe you did that. Not that the smarmy bastard didn’t deserve it, I told him to leave twenty minutes ago.”

  They enjoyed their lunch after that, she was glad Berny seemed to be taking her side but she was worried about what happened. Bruce had definitely deserved it, but she had just reacted instinctually from her anger, never even made the decision to strike out. It made her feel… out of control and she worried about that. She had never been a violent person at all.

  She was a healer, and she hardly recognized what she seemed to be turning into.

  Despite the headache she enjoyed the rest of the day with Berny, it was nice having company in the store again and she felt more centered as she taught Berny more about herb lore and potions. Berny left at four, once they’d worked out a schedule and had her fill in all the paperwork.

  Celia got to work getting all the packages ready for shipment for today’s phone and internet orders and had everything ready for the UPS man today with plenty of time to spare.

  The day had been filled with surprises. First she got a new employee, and then shifters asked for her help which was beyond odd. She frowned as she remembered Bruce. She still didn’t miss him at all, or even their relationship. She wondered what that said about her state of mind. Shouldn’t she care more than that? There had been a time she would’ve sworn she was in love, but no matter how hard she looked all she could find was anger and contempt.

  But the day had one more surprise for her as UPS picked up and dropped off some packages.

  Two of the packages were stock, one was for her personally and the return address was the lawyer’s office who’d handled her mother’s will. She stared at the box almost afraid to open it. Her mother she did still miss, every moment, and she was afraid she couldn’t handle it. The box sat on the bench in the back room for the rest of the night, until she closed the store at nine and made her way upstairs.

  Chapter 4

  With unshed tears in her eyes she jumped into the shower to wash the day away. It was only after she felt clean and relaxed from standing under the hot water so long that she sat at her kitchen table. She grabbed a box cutter and opened the package, there was a piece of paper with the lawyer’s letterhead on it lying on top, and she picked it up.

  Celia Winters,

  I hope this finds you in good health. There was a provision in the will to hold back the contents of this box until the third day before the next full moon. Unless you have any questions, your mother’s possessions are now all in your hands and we will not contact you again in the future.

  She frowned, the words sounded… cold, not to mention confusing. She guessed it was sent overnight, since the full moon was still two nights away. She put the letter aside, and in the box sat a small book the size of a diary that she could sense magic coming off of, and a letter. She sent a brief thought to the goddess, asking for patience, and picked up the letter.

  It had her name on it in the beautiful flowing script of her mother’s handwriting. She slowly opened it with mixed feelings, she wanted to read it but at the same time she dreaded it. Would her letter answer some of the mysteries surrounding her life since her mother’s death?

  She pulled out the letter and started reading.

  My dearest Celia,

  If you’re reading this, I have died before revealing certain uncomfortable truths. If so, I am sorry for that, but I have faith you are strong enough to bear this and make the right decision. You will be faced with a choice in a couple of days, and I cannot council you either way. Only you can decide what will be right for you now.

  Unfortunately before now you were too young and I was forced to make a decision myself. One I wrestled with all the days of your life. Along with this letter is our family’s book of magic that has been passed down for many generations, it contains the spell you will need if you decide to continue as you were before my death, or the knowledge you will need to control your new power should you choose otherwise.

  Before I tell you what you need to know, I want you to know that I loved you dearly, and the knowledge you gain from my story will not change that.

  Celia sighed and closed her eyes, not sure if she wanted to keep reading. What could be so bad her mother reminded her she loved her before disclosing it? She stood and walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer. She f
rowned and put it back, beer was for fun and relaxation, not for courage. She grabbed the tin on the counter and brewed some of her special blend tea. It would help her focus and calm her frayed nerves.

  She reminded herself she was stronger than this, but everything had taken its toll the last few weeks. She didn’t feel very strong at all. When she was halfway through the mug she sat down and picked up the letter to continue reading.

  Our family line is old and strong. Fire and air are not our only gifts; we also hold sway over the weather. Because of that I felt compelled during the war to do what I could in facing the shifters who were slaughtering our kind every chance they got. I am ashamed that we weren’t much better, and I lost count of the number of shifters I have killed with my magic over the years. Perhaps that is why I died so young…

  She stopped and rubbed her eyes, the words on the page blurry. That last sentence was strangely worded, as if her mother was projecting to the moment Celia would be reading this.

  One night Fran and I were patrolling for any incursions into our lands when I was overtaken. I won’t go over the details, suffice it to say we took many to the grave before being overwhelmed. Instead of killing us they took us prisoner. They questioned us, trying to learn the exact locations of other witches, their powers, and other intelligence. The drugs they had me on kept me from using my magic and I was absolutely helpless to stop them.

  It was a very dark time in my life. I lived in a hell for weeks as they tortured us in various ways.

  We were rescued with the help of a powerful coven and I was a mess for a long time. Three weeks later, I discovered I was pregnant.