Brewing Trouble Read online

  “Do you still think Meg was an unwitting accomplice?” Marcus asked.

  “I do. Kai, you said she was drugged and locked in that bedroom, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Sarah sighed. “I don’t know what to do about any of this.”

  “Well, for right now, I’d suggest you clean this up and we head home.” Marcus looked to Sarah for guidance. “Is there a ritual we must follow, or shall we simply start scooping salt?”

  “No, just sort of scoop with good intention,” Sarah said before groaning and sitting up. “Put it all in the hibachi. It’ll extinguish the last of the coals and be a little tidier, I think.” She suited words to action and carefully combed up a handful of the black salt into her hand and tossed it into the coals where they hissed softly. She pulled a metal scoop from her bag and stirred the coals while the men cleaned up as much of the salt as they could, and the fire went from cheerful glowing coals to grey, sandy ash in minutes. Sarah picked up the whole mess and went to stand where the ocean lapped at her bare toes. With another short chant and one final blessing, she poured the remains of the burned fetishes and the salt into the churning water of the Pacific ocean.

  “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you home.” Sebastian stepped close and took the empty hibachi from her hands and handed it off behind him. Sarah was so tired now that she wasn’t even sure who took it, but turned, unresisting, when he guided her back up the beach. She wasn’t entirely sure how she made it back to the car, but when she got there, he reached in and buckled her seat belt for her, then let her snuggle her head onto his shoulder. Sarah was asleep in less than a minute.

  21

  Sarah was sitting at her kitchen table, letting Sebastian top up her coffee when Kai walked in the front door. The exhaustion of being up late, then being woken early by the police knocking politely at her door, all on top of being drained from all the witchcraft she’d done over the past twenty-four hours was definitely about to bite her in the butt. Honestly, even the coffee was only going to work for so long, but she wanted to hear what Kai had to say after his visit to the hospital.

  “Well?” Sebastian asked.

  “Doc is awake and lucid. All those medical measurements they went over sound like Martian to me, but Doctor Collins seemed stumped but pleased,” Kai said. He accepted the steaming mug of coffee Sebastian held out to him and sat himself at the table. “So I’d say it worked. She looked like she had something to say, but there was always a nurse or a doctor in the room so we couldn't talk about hexes or Angela or any of that.” Kai took a sip of coffee then shook his head. “No, scratch that. I mentioned that Angela had some sort of drama last night and claimed that you were the cause of her problems, Sarah, and that you’d had some sort of thuggish backup in the form of myself and two others she didn’t recognize. And I plausibly know all of that because I had a visit this morning from the police who looked like they were already pretty much over it. I guess Miss Davila hasn’t made herself very popular. Doc seemed to understand that there was more going on that I wasn’t saying, but didn’t ask anything.”

  “Well, as far as that goes, I can tell her all about it when I visit tomorrow,” Sarah said. “How’s Marcus?”

  “Exhausted. I was at his place when the police showed up, and they kept us there for a while. I bet you at least got some sleep before they came here, but Marcus didn’t get to go to bed till almost lunchtime,” Kai shook his head. “So the middle of the night for him. I crashed on his couch a little before they showed up. Is that everyone?”

  “Meg is being released tomorrow morning, but they’re just keeping her for observation. I told her I’d pick her up while I’m there. I can’t blame her for not wanting to be alone right now.”

  “Yeah, what was that all about, anyway? Did she say when she called?” Sebastian asked.

  “Sort of,” Sarah sighed and leaned her head on her hand. “Apparently, she called Angela after Kai took her to the hospital the other day to get that cut looked at.”

  “Oh man, I left her in the waiting room for a minute to go to the bathroom, and she was hanging up the phone when I came back. She just said she’d arranged a ride so I didn’t have to stay. She was really chipper about it, so I didn’t worry.” Kai looked horrified at himself.

  “It’s not your fault, Kai,” Sarah said. She reached over and patted his arm. “Angela had no reason to hurt Meg— well, hurt her more than Meg was already— until Meg saw Davey sitting at Angela’s kitchen table and freaked out. Davey is apparently a very sketchy kind of guy because he’s the one that had roofies in his pocket all ready for Angela to slip into Meg’s water while she was fast-talking her way out of trouble.”

  “Oh wow.” Sebastian shuddered. “I guess we’re lucky that locking her in a bedroom is all that happened after that.”

  “Yeah. Still, Meg’s a mess. Her faith in her wonderful coven leader has been completely destroyed, and I think that she’d latched onto Angela pretty hard. I mean this whole witch thing is pretty much her whole self-identity right now. Anyway, she was in shock once she woke up and heard what happened, so she’ll be in the hospital till tomorrow, then they want someone to keep an eye on her after. So she called me.” Sarah said.

  “Looks like you’ve got another adopted sibling.” Sebastian grinned. “Gabe’s starting to weaken, and you were talking about it the other day, too, so maybe by this time next year all three of you will be in classes together!”

  Sarah groaned, but was too tired to do anything else.

  “One thing I’m worried about,” Kai said slowly. He was frowning and ran his empty hand through his hair, making it swing back over his shoulder. “Marcus told me that Angela talked about some woman teaching her how to do all this stuff. Stealing Doc’s magic and casting all those crazy spells, I mean.”

  “Yeah,” Sarah nodded. “The way Angela talked, this woman kind of prodded her into action. Not that I think it took much, she seemed like a vindictive, spiteful, grudge-holding woman to begin with. I mean who hangs onto unintended slights from college for thirty years? Anyway, it seemed kind of like this mystery goddess-person wound Angela up, pointed her at Doc, and helped her go to town. So… another witch, I guess? But not a very good one. Maybe just not a good teacher. Angela’s spells were wobbly at best. Are there that many witches in the area?”

  “Not that I know of,” Sebastian shrugged. “There was Miss Rosie, and Doc, and I know that there were a few other families when we were kids, but I haven’t heard from them in a while. We can check on them, though. Probably a good idea anyway with everything going on. We could drop by and warn them to keep a look out.”

  “The Wallace family moved to Canada somewhere, remember?” Kai said.

  Sebastian nodded. “Thats right, there was a job or something. And I know that old Mrs. Robertson finally passed away a few years back. She was ninety-six, and healthy as a horse till the day she died. It was like she just sort of shrugged and decided she was done, I guess,” Sebastian told Sarah. “Kai and Miss Rosie and I went to the funeral, and Doc sent a huge flower arrangement, but had to work.”

  “I’ll look up the others and see if they’ve been either scheming or in trouble. I have the feeling that this isn’t over by a long shot.” Kai sighed and finished his coffee before standing to wash his mug.

  “Maybe we can get Gabe to try to see something. We’ll take a few days and come up with a really solid question to ask him so that we can get a good vision from it.” Sebastian stood up as well. “For right now, though, I’m going to get this witch back to bed.”

  “Huh?” Sarah thought she could have come up with a more intelligent comment, but her head was firmly propped on her hand and her eyes seemed to be closed. She felt strong arms lift her from the chair and as Sebastian carried her from the room, she heard Kai’s voice rumble but she was too tired to really pay attention. She had stopped a mad witch’s crazy plan, ended dangerous hexes against at least a half dozen people, and maybe uncovered another plot against
the Village. She figured she’d earned a nap at least, and let herself drift off to sleep.

  22

  She sat on a park bench, scowling to herself and staring towards the Village at Rancho San Calafia. How do those to men keep escaping their punishment? Time after time they’ve wriggled out of her plans and it was getting more than tiresome. She was beginning to get angry.

  The sullen hedge witch she’d stirred into action was now useless. Just like the warlock that had been so convenient. The Hunters she’d stirred up had proved unmanageable, and as she turned the thoughts over in her mind, she was undecided about whether she should try that angle again.

  Maybe it was time for a new angle? The Russell family had to pay for its sins. Even though the ones that committed the sins were grave dust now, their blood ran in the veins of the grandsons, and that blood owed a debt to justice.

  She would find a way to exact that price from them. Somehow. Balancing those scales was, after all, her very reason for being. She needed a new plan.

  Acknowledgments

  Serious thanks to Lewis, Katrina, Marietta, Cate, Kelly, Jim, and Betsy for their help figuring out the various illnesses that Sarah had to cope with and random weapons and injuries folks could sustain. Sometimes coming up with a problem to inflict on the cast is harder than solving it! I’d also like to thank my husband for his constant support, and my family for being kind and gentle with me while I beat my head against the wall over this one.

  To my first Patron, Curtis: you’re a gentleman and a scholar, sir. And no, I haven’t forgotten about the HOA thing, I’m working on it.

  And to whoever let their goat eat those beans and then noticed in a very scientific fashion what happened after, then decided to market coffee to the rest of the world? I pledge to you my undying love forever.

  About the Author

  Katherine Kim is a lifelong lover of fantasy. She started early, being read Tolkien as bedtime stories, which honestly explains a lot. More recently she’s been drawn to more urban fantasy stories through both books and television, and reading continues to be a passion. She lives and writes in Tokyo with her husband and their young tornado. Er, son. She lives with her husband and their son.

  If you liked this book, I hope that you’ll leave me a review! I read every review and it makes a huge difference to me and to my work.

  Books by Katherine Kim

  The Demon Guardian

  A Demon’s Duty

  A Demon’s Sanction

  A Demon Saved

  The Riverton Demons

  Personal Demons

  Spirits of Los Gatos

  Sarah’s Inheritance

  A Spirit’s Kindred

  Finding Insight