Witchin' Tricks Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Forward

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  For More Magic and Mayhem

  Thank You For Reading!

  About the Author

  Previous Books in the Magic and Mayhem Universe by Lissa Matthews

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2019 by Lissa Matthews

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.

  This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers 17 and under.

  The Author of this Book has been granted permission by Robyn Peterman to use the copyrighted characters and/or worlds created by Robyn Peterman in this book. All copyright protection to the original characters and/or worlds of the Magic and Mayhem series is retained by Robyn Peterman.

  Forward

  Blast Off with us into the Magic and Mayhem Universe!

  I’m Robyn Peterman, the creator of the Magic and Mayhem Series and I’d like to invite you to my Magic and Mayhem Universe.

  What is the Magic and Mayhem Universe, you may ask?

  Well, let me explain…

  It’s basically authorized fan fiction written by some amazing authors that I stalked and blackmailed! KIDDING! I was lucky and blessed to have some brilliant authors say yes! They have written brand new stories using my world and some of my characters. And let me tell you…the results are hilarious!

  So here it is! Blast off with us into the hilarious Magic and Mayhem Universe. Side splitting books by fantabulous authors! Check out each and every one. You will laugh your way to a magical HEA!

  For all the stories, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/. Grab your copy today!

  Chapter One

  “Ky! What has gotten into you?”

  I bounced onto my bed, then drew the blankets over my head. “Why doesn’t he want me?” Was that a whine? Was I whining? I never whined. I wasn’t a whiner. What had that cold-hearted, handsome as sin demon done to me?

  “Why doesn’t who want you?”

  “You know who. The demon. Your demons wanted you and Kandy. Why doesn’t mine want me?” Yep. Definitely a whine.

  “Maybe he’s not your demon. Maybe he’s not your mate.”

  “Don’t say that.” Her statements were perfectly logical. It was possible that Max the Demon wasn’t my mate.

  Kaydence stripped the blanket from my face and took in what was surely my most miserable expression to date. I wasn’t even trying, but knew it had to be pitiful. “Oh honey.”

  “Don’t oh honey me. They’re supposed to be ours. Morgan said they wanted to meet us. Merrick took one look at you and fell head over heels. Morgan did the same with Kandy. Max avoids me. He won’t talk to me. Hells bells, he won’t even make eye contact with me.”

  Kay settled herself against the headboard and pulled me close. I liked it when she stroked my hair. I was the baby of the three of us. Kay and Kandy were born one right after the other. I didn’t show up for another hour.

  They’d always said I was the fanciful one. Looking around my room, I took in its twinkling corners and sparkling ceiling with a critical eye. Maybe they were right. Did I need to be more serious and down to earth? Was that what Max preferred? That sounded boring and I didn’t want to do that. I wasn’t willing to change for anyone. Even Max the Reluctant Demon.

  Maybe I just needed to forget him. Maybe I didn’t need him.

  Or maybe…

  “What are you thinking, Ky?”

  “What? Why do you think I’m thinking anything?”

  “Because you stiffened all of a sudden.”

  “I’m not thinking.”

  “Uh huh. I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, that’s rude.” I finally managed an affronted tone. “Not believing your own sister. I’m not lying.”

  “Then at the very least, you’re fibbing.”

  “You don’t know that. And it’s still rude to accuse me of something like that.”

  “I know you better than you like to admit. Kandy and I both do.”

  I sighed and eased away from her. “Fine. I’ve decided that I’m going to just forget him. If he doesn’t want me, then that’s his loss.”

  She raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. “Have you? Really?”

  “Yes.” I maintained eye contact with her, not so much as batting an eyelash.

  “I still don’t believe you.”

  I kissed her temple. “That’s your problem, then.”

  She stood from the mattress and I did the same, on the other side. With a snap of my fingers, the blankets righted themselves and I flounced out of the room. Kaydence was right on my heels.

  “What are you planning, Ky?”

  “I’m not planning anything. Why don’t you believe me?”

  “Because not ten minutes ago you were near tears because Max didn’t pay attention to you.”

  “It was a very revealing ten minutes.”

  “Uh huh.”

  My small cottage sat on the edge of the valley, farthest from town. And when I say small, I do mean small. It was big enough for me and Barry the Cat. It wasn’t big enough for my sister to be dogging my every step without one of us tripping.

  The largest room was the kitchen. Outside my bedroom, it was my favorite. It was a large space with a brick fireplace at one end. The living room was the size of a closet. The bathroom was the size of a postage stamp. There wasn’t a designated dining area. I typically sat on the counter to eat, or the floor. There were a couple of chairs in front of the fireplace, and a small two person table under the enormous kitchen window, but I mainly used that when I needed to sit and concentrate on a cake decoration.

  I didn’t entertain, preferring my own company to anyone else. Well, except for my sisters. And Max. I’d love to spend time with him, but as previously deduced, he didn’t have the same inclination.

  I’d likely need a bigger house, too. He was a pretty big demon.

  When we got into the kitchen, I was able to put some space between Kay and myself. I hoped she didn’t settle into a chair.

  “Are you going to be alright?” she asked. She did care. I knew she did and I felt bad for telling a little white lie and giving her a hard time for calling me on it.

  “Yes.” I put on a smile that I forced to reach my eyes. “I have a couple of cakes to make and it looks like rain out. It’s given me a hankering for a big pot of pumpkin chili, so…”

  “Oh, that does sound good.”

  “I’ll bring you some.”

  “You’re tossing me out, are you? I get it. Thank you. Let me know if you need me, okay?”

  “I will, but I’ll be fine, Kay. I promise.”

  She appeared dubious, but I didn’t say anything more. There was nothing I could say that would make her feel better or believe me.

  “Okay.” She nodded, blew a kiss that brushed my cheek, and let herself out the front door.

  She could snap her way out of anywhere and to her destination, but she liked to walk. Kandy and I didn’t understand that because it took so much more time than just whisking from here to there.

  I watched from the edge of the window until she was out of sight, then turned to face the kitchen and Barry.

  “What are you planning?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “She’s right. You’re lying.”

  “I don’t need you on my case too.”

  “Then tell me the truth. Let me help.”

  Could he? Could I trust him? I wasn’t sure. He had some odd crush on me, and I didn’t want to hurt him by telling him what I was, in fact, planning. I did plan to make a large pot of chili because it was going to rain, and the temperatures had dropped. Autumn had officially arrived. The leaves were at peak brightness and fire and it was the perfect time for spices and warmth.

  I also had cakes to make. That had been a truth as well. Spice cakes. And cupcakes.

  Witchin’ Spice Bakery opened a couple of weeks ago and I’d been supplying Broo and company with them. They sold out as fast as I could make them. It wasn’t any different than the Witchin’ Spice Bakery’s famous Pumpkin Cheesecake.

  Magicals from all over came to town to buy Broo out each and every week. There was also a brand spankin’ new website on the magical web for online orders.

  The demand exceeded the supply, but it was a good thing for the town.

  So, there was that for me to do. I hadn’t been lying about that, either.

  “Ky?”

  “Okay, fine. But if I tell you, you can’t breathe a word of it.”

  “Not a meow.”

  “And you can’t get your feelings hurt.”

  He rolled his bright green eyes in a way that cats shouldn’t be able to do. It was creepy. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. I know you have fee
lings for me. Shari told Kay.”

  “I knew I couldn’t trust her. You don’t have anything to worry about. My feelings are fine. Now, what is it you’re up to?”

  I glanced around. No one was in the house but me and Barry, but still… “What do you know about love potions?”

  Chapter Two

  “Did a bomb go off in here?”

  “No. Just baking day.”

  “Isn’t everyday baking day for you?”

  “Well, yeah, but I usually only bake one flavor a day.”

  “How many did you bake today?”

  “Four.”

  “Did you sleep last night?”

  “Not really. I was a little too wired.” That was the truth. I wasn’t sure that what I’d come up with would work, but I’d been up all night experimenting with different combinations of herbs and florals and liquid bases and recipes to find the perfect mixture for a mildly sweet, yet mostly tasteless love potion.

  I wasn’t the best at potion making and I never used spells. I was little better at them than Broo and while she wanted to learn to master them, I didn’t care. Of course, I’d never really needed a spell for anything before. I’d never wanted for anything. Until Max.

  “Ky? What’s really going on with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Ky…”

  “I’m a little off, that’s all.”

  “That’s all, is it?”

  “Why do you and Kay insist I’m up to something? There’s nothing going on and nothing for you to worry about?” But I knew just by looking at my sister’s scrunched brow and thinned lips, Kandy was more than a little concerned about me. In all fairness, I suppose she had a right to be, but honestly, I wasn’t going to get away with anything if both she and Kay didn’t leave me alone. “Did she send you out here?”

  “Yes.”

  “You can tell her I’m fine. I’ve told her, but she doesn’t believe me.”

  “Your kitchen is a disaster.”

  “I said it’s baking day.”

  “You don’t like your kitchen being a disaster.” She drew her fingers through the flour dusting the counter. “So, clearly, you’re not fine.”

  I sighed and was on the verge of telling her just to get her off by back, but bit down on my tongue and instead, began flinging the dirty dishes haphazardly into the sink.

  “Kay said it bothers you that Max seems uninterested in you.”

  I shrugged. “It did.”

  “Did? You mean it doesn’t anymore?”

  My sisters were nothing if not tenacious. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “I see.”

  “You know me,” I said dismissively. “I overbake when I’m upset. I’ve overbaked. I’m feeling much better.”

  “Good. That makes me feel better.”

  “Awesome. So, we’re all good here.”

  “Almost.”

  “Almost?” Groaning, I dropped my head to the counter. “Ow.”

  “You know I’m not leaving here without a cupcake or two or twelve. What flavors did you make and how many can I have?”

  “Um…” I looked up and stood straight. “You want cupcakes?” I surveyed my finished stash in a slight panic, looking for the ones I’d brushed with the sweet potion I’d concocted overnight. “Blueberry, citrus, chocolate, and vanilla spice.” The potion, though primarily tasteless, resembled little more than sugar syrup in consistency, with a slight tanginess that would tingle on the tongue for a moment, then disappear.

  I wasn’t sure how I knew it would work, but I was. Something told me, something magical told me that I’d done it.

  “What about this one?” Kandy reached for a blueberry cupcake, but the glossy top gave it away. To me, at least. She’d found the ones singled out for Max. That was a plus. I’d been at this for several hours and my eyes were a smidge scratchy.

  I smacked her hand away from the one she’d intended to pick up and handed her a different one. “What did you do that for?”

  “Some of these are a little underdone. The shininess… See?” Lucky for me, Kandy was clueless when it came cake. Oh sure, she could work a pumpkin cheesecake with the best of them given she was once the head baker at Witchin’ Spice Bakery and their specialty was pumpkin cheesecake, but she wasn’t head baker anymore, not since Broo came to town and well, things changed quite a bit.

  “Underdone? You don’t bake less than perfect cupcakes.”

  “I had the oven set wrong.”

  “Oh.” She definitely didn’t believe that, though she said, “I get how that kind of thing can happen.”

  Over the last year, Kandy’s Witchin’ Stix had exploded, figuratively, not literally because that would have been bad and Broo had already cornered the market on blowing things up our once sleepy little forgotten town of Blue Balls Falls.

  Then, Kaydence’s cookies, the ones she now makes from an old prize winning recipe left by an aunt we hadn’t known existed, had taken off like hotcakes. Orders were coming in from all over the magical world. Again. Kay put her own twist on them, of course, decorating them with her own secret icing recipe, but they were a hit.

  Yes, things had been looking up for a while for my sisters. They had booming treat businesses they’d never intended to have and had found love with two of the three gorgeous demon brothers. Max was my mate. I knew it, felt it and he had to know it and feel it too, though to see him around me, one would think he didn’t even know I was standing in the same room.

  Kandy took a bite of the cupcake and moaned. “Good?”

  “Every cupcake you bake is beyond good and you know it, Ky.”

  “We each have our gifts.”

  She smiled around the edges of the wrapper. “We do. You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “I am.”

  I was the bouncy one. The one who was considered flighty by the town’s residents. I never had a steady boyfriend, but then neither had my sisters. I didn’t have a lot of friends, either, but neither did they. I was the one who smiled all the time though, who giggled and found the rainbow in the midst of the storm.

  I was also the one they said was a troublemaker. I never did understand what that meant. I didn’t do anything wrong, illegal, or questionable. Until now.

  “You’ll get your spark back?”

  “I haven’t lost it.”

  “Max will come around. No one can avoid you for long.”

  “I wish I understood why he does.”

  “I don’t know. But if you’re truly mates, then he won’t have a choice in the long run. His brothers wore us down.”

  “Yes, but that’s different. You and Kay didn’t want to be mated with them. My problem is turned around the other way. Max doesn’t want to be mated to me.”

  “I’m sure that’s not the truth. Maybe he’s the shy one. Maybe he lacks confidence. Maybe he’s scared.”

  “Scared? He’s a demon.”

  “Doesn’t mean he can’t be scared of a woman. He wouldn’t be the first male to be.”

  She had a point. She actually had a couple of points. Was he shy? Was he uncertain about being mated? For the first time since I came up with my plan, I had doubts. A love potion wasn’t the best idea, but I was desperate. I’d been waiting months for him to talk to me of his own accord, for him to approach me and it seemed he crossed the street to the other side whenever we were in town at the same time, which wasn’t often.

  “Could I be wrong?”

  “About Max?” Kandy leaned over the assortment of cupcakes. “Can I have another?”

  “Could I be wrong that he’s my mate?” I handed her a vanilla spice from the safe ones. I had to wonder if the potion would work, but I didn’t know anyone I could try it on. It was meant to work on the receiver toward the giver only. I made it quite specific because I didn’t want any cupcakes falling into the wrong hands and end up with people feeling lovey dovey toward people they shouldn’t.

  And if I gave the cupcakes to Max and the potion worked, then whatever affections it conjured, should be directed back at me.

  “Oh, I think this one is my favorite.”

  “You say that about every cupcake I’ve ever made.”

  “Can I help it that I can’t choose just one.”