“Finn?” I asked as I approached him. I wasn’t sure what I expected to find. I’d never dealt with a faerie ring before, and I was worried maybe it had frazzled his mind somehow. Maybe he wouldn’t be the same child?

  He looked dazed, but when his eyes landed on me, they widened. “Mom!”

  He was up and off the couch in a heartbeat, running towards me as I held my arms out and hurried to him. He hit me like a speeding bullet, nearly knocking me over, but I managed to keep myself upright as I held him as hard as I could, never wanting to let go again.

  He was safe. He was safe. He was safe.

  I’d never known relief like I did just then.

  And when huge tears began falling out of my eyes and soaking into his blonde hair, I couldn’t say I was surprised.

  “Everything is okay now, sweetie,” I crooned into his ear.

  “I was so worried about you,” he whispered as his own tears sunk into my shirt.

  “You don’t have to worry anymore, Finn,” I hummed. “I’m fine.” I peeled his face away from my chest and held it between both of my hands as I looked down at him.

  “How are you?”

  “I’m okay, Mom.” His voice was so small, so quiet, and my heart squeezed so hard, I thought it might actually burst.

  ***

  “Jonathan won’t be happy about the measures I had to take with Cain Morgan,” Fox said as he stood in my living room a few hours later. Apparently, he’d apprehended the Todhchaì and was now on his way back to Jonathan. He’d stopped in to say goodbye.

  Meanwhile, Marty, Roy, Wanda and Henner were still in attendance. I’d put Finn to bed in my room and when he’d requested I sit with him until he fell asleep, I was only too happy to oblige him. Once he’d closed his eyes, I’d drawn lazy circles in his hair and he’d been asleep in five minutes. Clearly, the little guy had had one heck of a day. My uncles had also retired, and I assumed they were now asleep, seeing as how it was pretty late. And RJ, being the early riser he was, had left an hour or so ago.

  “Measures?” I repeated.

  “Wiping his memory clean,” Fox answered. “And… something needs to be done about Ophelia.”

  I looked at Roy, and his lips were tight. Fox looked at him, as well.

  “She attempted to kill Cain Morgan,” Fox said as Roy just looked at him and then nodded. “These abuses of power can’t continue.”

  “Will Cain be alright?” I asked.

  Fox faced me. “I think he should make a full recovery. He’ll just feel exceptionally tired for a few days and he’ll have one hell of a headache.”

  “And what about the human population of Haven Hollow?” I continued. “Are they still none the wiser?” I took a breath. “Finn’s principal knew he was missing.”

  “And all you have to do is simply report back that he was playing hooky,” Fox responded with a shrug. “Easily solved. As to the human population of Haven Hollow, I am unconcerned. Hollows are crafted on ley lines, a foundation of solid magic, with a latticework of spells woven over them. The average mundane should go about their business, never taking notice of ours, unless they possess magical blood of their own.” He looked at Marty and his gaze lingered.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Marty asked, shaking his head.

  “Cain Morgan and his family are an extremely rare breed as far as magic is concerned,” Fox answered with a shrug.

  “Magic?” Marty scoffed, shaking his head. “My family is about as magical as a pair of dirty socks.”

  “Not so,” Fox argued.

  “Um, aren’t all magical folks supposed to be able to see ghosts? I haven’t seen so much as a wisp of fog.”

  “You come from a family of nulls.”

  “Now you sound like every report card I’ve ever gotten,” Marty answered.

  “What are nulls?” I asked, facing Fox.

  “Humans who can ground magic,” Fox explained.

  “Um, can you repeat that in English, please?” Marty asked.

  “It means any enchantment placed on you will inevitably wear off. I doubt the memory charm on Cain will last more than a month, and you seem to be even harder to beguile.”

  “Why do you say that?” Marty questioned.

  Fox smiled. “Because I’ve been attempting to breach your mind for the last thirty seconds, to no avail. Your shielding is quite marvelous and seems to be completely unconscious.”

  “Whoa,” Marty said.

  “Whoa,” I echoed.

  Fox nodded. “My employer, Jonathan, would be quite fascinated with you.” Then he shrugged. “If you’re ever interested in a career change, he’d take you on in a heartbeat.”

  Marty blinked. “As a... a monster hunter?”

  Fox nodded.

  Marty shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’m good.”

  Fox shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Then he turned to face me. “I must be on my way, but I wanted to say goodbye and to thank you for… all your help.”

  “I’m just happy and so relieved things ended the way they did,” I said and then raised my hand to my eyes, just in time to shield them from another flash of red-gold light. By now, the faerie prince was beginning to get a little predictable.

  ***

  An hour later and Wanda was the last to leave. Roy had wanted to stay, but I’d told him I wanted to wake up with Finn and spend the day just the two of us. And, of course, Roy was understanding.

  “Night, gypsy neighbor,” Wanda said as she paused at the door.

  “Thanks for all your help tonight,” I said, looking at her with serious intensity. “You were… awesome, Wanda.”

  She waved away the comment, but there was a smile on her face and I was glad to see it there. “I did what anyone would have done…”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Well, let’s not get sappy.”

  She turned on her toes and started down the stairs. Then paused and turned around again. “Oh, I did something a little… special for that kid of yours. I figured he’d been through the wringer and could use a… gift.”

  “A gift?”

  She nodded, and her grin was a naughty one—full of impish mystery. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  And with that, she disappeared into the dark night, heading for the graveyard that separated my house from hers.

  I closed and locked the front door and then just sighed as I leaned against it and thought about everything that happened in the last week. I’d very nearly lost my son and the panic I’d felt, the fear and the sadness was almost indescribable. When you experienced life events like the ones I recently had, it really helped to put everything into perspective—how little blips along the road of life really shouldn’t mean much.

  I was just so grateful, so happy, so relieved to know Finn was happily sleeping in my bed upstairs and that he was safe.

  “Thank you, Universe,” I whispered.

  “You’re welcome,” a high-pitched, tinny voice answered, and I nearly jumped out of my shoes. I looked to the stairs and saw Finn’s cherished, stuffed-animal, Piggy, standing on one of the stairs and facing me with his sewn-on button eyes.

  “Oh. My. God,” I said, swallowing hard.

  “Hi, my name is Piggy and I love Finn more than anyone in the whole wide world. I’m his best friend and I’m a pig!”

  “Ahhhh!” Darla screamed as she blipped into existence, saw the animated pig and then made a mad dash for me, breezing right through me so it felt like I’d just been assaulted by a freezing wind.

  “It’s alive!” she yelled.

  “It sure is,” I grumbled as I shook my head.

  “I love to eat!” Piggy said and then laughed, the sound about as frightening as a laugh could be.

  “Wanda, you’re going to get an earful about this one!” I promised.

  Chapter Twenty

  Marty turned the check over in his hands for the third time and let out a low whistle as he shook his head. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen that many zeros in my life.”

  I hid a grin behind the rim of my coffee cup, keeping an eye on the woman who’d wandered in the front door of my shop a few minutes before. She was moving aimlessly from shelf to shelf. If she didn’t find what she was looking for soon, I’d ask if she needed help. For now, I was enjoying my conversation with Marty. It was the first chance we’d had to talk in the last week.

  Cain’s recent memory loss was being attributed to a fall down the stairs. One of his subordinates had found him unconscious in his office, with a knot on his head, and no clear memory of the last week.

  Zane, Emma, and Anne were doing well, from what I’d heard.

  Today was Finn’s first day back at school. I’d decided to keep him home though, even going so far as to have Lorcan write up a note claiming Finn needed emergency dental surgery. The council had worked its magic on Principal Schultz and all concerned human parties in the end. Every ruffled feather had been smoothed by the magic woven into this place. It was as if the whole thing had never happened.

  I flicked the check in Marty’s hands. “So, are you going to take him up on his offer?” I smiled more broadly. “Marty Zach, monster hunter… it has a nice ring to it. And like you said, the salary is nothing to sneeze at.”

  Marty’s mouth mashed into a line. “I don’t think I can. Hunting ghosts is one thing. But this... this is a whole different level. I just… don’t think I can join an organization that hunts the sort of people I call friends.”

  “Well, maybe they just hunt bad monsters?”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe.”

  “Excuse me, could I get some help?”

  Marty and I lifted our heads in unison to find a woman striding toward the front counter. She was about my age, but at least five inches taller. Five-nine maybe, and that was in her plain black dress shoes. In heels or boots, she’d probably have been six feet tall. She was leggy, but wearing loose-fitting charcoal slacks that didn’t really accentuate her long legs very well. She’d tucked a plain gray blouse into the pants and thrown a wool overcoat over the whole ensemble.

  She had sandy brown hair artfully streaked with silver in places, and when our eyes met, I was hit with the strangest sense that I’d already met her. Which was silly, because I’d never seen her before. Her eyes were a bleak winter sky blue, set in a delicate triangular face. I was still struggling to find my voice when Marty stood up straighter and grinned.

  “Tally?”

  She blinked in response as she stared at him and a few seconds later, couldn’t hide the shock in her eyes. “Marty?” Her smile was beaming. “I haven’t seen you in years!”

  “Not since we were kids,” he agreed as he walked around the counter to give her a hug.

  I glanced between the pair of them, while Marty chuckled, reaching down to muss her hair. She dodged him, lips pressed into a line like she was trying to hold back a smile. It might have been a trick of the light, but I swore the silver in her hair shimmered.

  “Tally, this is my friend, Poppy Morton.” Then he looked at me. “Poppy, this is my cousin and Cain’s adopted sister, Taliyah Morgan. And, just like Cain, Tally’s also a cop.”

  I held out a hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

  Taliyah shook my hand and gave me a big smile.

  “So what brings you to town?” Marty asked her.

  Her expression darkened. “Cain’s accident.”

  Marty and I exchanged a brief glance. “Yes. It was terrible what happened,” he said.

  “That’s why I came here, to your store, Poppy,” Taliyah continued, sighing deeply as she shook her head. “Nothing has helped with Cain’s nightmares so far, so I thought I’d try something… different.” She motioned to the potions surrounding her. “Any suggestions?”

  I wasn’t sure speeding Cain’s recovery was a good idea, but I didn’t think I had much of a choice. Besides, leaving him to suffer nightmares alone seemed cruel. So I offered Taliyah a few options to start with: Guardian Oil, Healing Oil, and Dream Chaser Oil, sold her a diffuser, a few candles, and a large Amethyst crystal.

  “Thank you,” she said, offering me a weary half-smile.

  “Good luck and I hope he feels better very soon,” I answered, before ringing her up.

  After giving her the total, she handed me her credit card and I swiped it, handing it back to her. It wasn’t until I printed the merchant copy of the receipt that I caught her full name.

  I froze.

  TALIYAH OLWEN MORGAN.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered as I looked up at her.

  Marty’s adopted cousin was a faerie princess, and the woman Janara had been trying to kill! He’d grown up brushing shoulders with an actual faerie, and he’d never known. None of them had!

  When they both looked at me, I realized I had to explain. “Your middle name is Olwen,” I said as I faced Marty, giving him an insistent stare.

  “Olwen?” he repeated, shock registering in his features as he looked from me to her.

  “So what?” Taliyah asked, frowning at us both.

  “We just… we have a… a friend named Olwen,” I started, realizing I probably sounded completely nuts because I was such a terrible liar. “And… well, it’s just a really… unique name.” I looked at Marty. “How… how come you didn’t mention Taliyah’s middle name was Olwen when it’s such a… rare name and we… have a friend with the same uncommon name, Marty?”

  He frowned and looked back at his adopted cousin. “I didn’t even know you had a middle name!”

  And that was when it all started to make sense. Jonathan Moses, Fox’s boss, had taken a calculated risk, placing Taliyah in the last place Janara would think to look: a family full of humans! And not just any humans—first responders, a family of warriors who would be armed and capable of pumping the fae full of metal if they came knocking.

  Not only that, Taliyah herself was a cop, fostered by a family full of nulls who couldn’t be easily bespelled.

  I looked up at Taliyah again and found her already studying me. The blue of her eyes was piercing enough to make me squirm. I plastered on my most sincere customer service grin and crushed the merchant copy in my palm.

  “Please give Cain my best,” I said as I sincerely hoped that faerie ring was going to keep Janara and company imprisoned for quite a bit longer…

  The End

  ~~~~~

  Return to Haven Hollow in:

  Spandex Sorcery

  ~~~~~

  Turn the page for a list of ingredients and directions to all the potions in this book, and to learn more about Haven Hollow!

  ~~~~~

  Return to the Table of Contents

  Poppy’s Potion Recipes Referenced In This Book:

  From ‘The Complete Formulary Of Magical Oils’ by Celeste Rayne Heldstab

  Faerie Enchantment Oil:

  2/3 part Rose

  1/3 part Thyme

  Evening Primrose in Master Bottle

  This oil will aid in opening up your third eye so you may view the Faerie Realm.

  Mystic Veil Oil:

  1/8 part Cinnamon

  ½ part Sandalwood

  1/8 part Clove

  ¼ part Myrrh

  This oil is used for pathworking, psychic endeavors, or to break through the Astral Plane.

  Confusion Oil:

  1/2 part Coconut

  1/4 part Lavender

  1/4 part Violet

  ¼ part Blake Pepper

  2 drops Ginseng

  Add the above to 2 ounces of base oil, add contents of one Vitamin E capsule

  Will help to confuse others who are working against you, aids in breaking hexes.

  Guardian Oil:

  1/2 part Lemon

  1/8 part Rosewood

  1/8 part Patchouli

  1/8 part Clove

  1/8 part Pennyroyal

  This oil is used for protection. It increases the strength of the aura against psychic attack.

  Healing Oil:

  3/4 part Rosemary

  ¼ part Juniper

  Wear to speed healing.

  Dream Chaser Oil:

  1/3 part Lavender

  1/3 part Violet

  1/3 part Sandalwood or Rosewood

  Lemon, a few drops

  Lemongrass, a few drops

  Keeps negative forms out of the dream state.

  Dreamtime Oil:

  1/3 part Carnation

  1/3 part Vanilla

  1/3 part Sandalwood

  This oil is for peaceful, healing sleep and creative dreaming. Use it in a diffuser or make it into incense.

  Gypsy Magic Oil:

  3/4 part Peppermint

  1/4 part Thyme

  ½ ounce Borage Seed Carrier Oil

  Divination Oil. Use this to anoint your third eye prior to spellwork.

  Moonlight Grove Oil:

  3/4 part Jasmine

  1/8 part Lemon

  1/8 part Frankincense

  A lunar oil with romance in mind. Brings psychic visions of those you love and wish to be with.

  Divination Oil:

  1/4 part Musk

  1/4 part Ambergris

  1/4 part Vetiver

  ¼ part Violet

  Lilac, A few drops

  Opens up the psychic facilities for clarity and increased sight. Anoint the forehead and temples.

  Faerie Ring Oil:

  1/4 part Elderflower

  1/4 part Lavender

  1/4 part Musk

  1/8 part Lilac

  1/8 part Frankincense

  Myrrh, a few drops

  For use in Faerie Circles

  Return to the Table of Contents

  SPANDEX SORCERY

  Haven Hollow #4

  (Wanda’s Witchery)

  by

  J.R. RAIN

  &

  H.P. MALLORY

  Spandex Sorcery

  Published by Rain Press

  Copyright © 2021 by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes 2.0

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.