All Too Familiar

  All Too Familiar

  Accidental Familiar 1

  By Belinda White

  Copyright 2019 Belinda White

  Kindle Edition

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  A Note From Belinda

  Other Books by Belinda White

  Chapter 1

  “STOP RIGHT THERE!” I put every bit of power I could muster into that command. Not that it really helped.

  The hulking pile of muscles masquerading as a man in front of me turned and looked at me. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open. An obvious look of disbelief if ever there was one.

  Yeah, I get that a lot. Especially in my new line of work.

  I’m five feet six inches—if I’m wearing two-inch heels—and not all that physically impressive. Most people, like the hulk here, would think that meant I was a lightweight. They were wrong, but that’s what they would think.

  Genius here was no exception to that rule of thumb.

  “You really think you are going to take me in?” he snarled. Then he laughed. “I’m special forces, lady.” The emphasis he put on that last word was more than a little creepy.

  My head tilted as my eyes traveled over him. “Actually, you are ex-special forces.”

  He grunted. “No such thing. Once you’re in, you’re in for life.” Then his look changed as he glanced around at our somewhat remote location and the distinct lack of people gained his attention. A slow smile started up on his face.

  A smile that quickly turned into a leer. Time to nip that in the bud. Things weren’t going to progress the way he thought they were. He might very well end up on the ground with me on top of him, but I could guarantee him that we’d still both have all our clothes on.

  While he was still gathering himself for his lunge, I held up one hand toward him. He stopped, the incredulous look back.

  “You didn’t give me a chance to answer your first question. You know the one about why I think I am going to take you in?”

  He grinned at me. “So, answer already. We got all night, babe.” That leer again. Maybe it would freeze there to show the people who still supported this jerk the kind of man he really was.

  I held up one finger. “Well, for one, you’re drunk. In case you didn’t know, being drunk can play a bit with your reflexes and your powers of observation,”

  He glanced around quickly. “My sight is just fine, sweetie.” He motioned to the emptiness of the alley we were currently in. “We’re all alone here. Not all that much to observe, is there?”

  The beast just wasn’t taking the hint. As far as he was concerned, I wasn’t a threat to his continued freedom. I liked it that way. Made my job a whole lot easier.

  “For two,” I continued, holding up the second finger as if he hadn’t interrupted. “I’m quite good at mixed martial arts. I’ve even been known to do a few cage fights back in the day. And I keep up with it too.”

  He actually laughed. “I’ll go in a cage with ya, darling. In fact, my current place is a lot like a cage. We could go there. I like a girl with a bit of fight to her.”

  Then he was going to love me.

  My third finger went up. “Three, my last name happens to be Ravenswind. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?”

  Okay, that got his attention. For the first time, he actually looked like he had a bit of doubt. What can I say? My family is kind of famous.

  What counted more than my last name, however, was the fact that his gaze went back to my upheld hand every time I held up another finger. Only for a second, but a second was all I needed.

  As I held up that critical fourth finger and his eyes went to my left hand, my right hand pulled my taser. There really isn’t much aiming involved with that type of weapon, and once I had it drawn, I pulled the trigger without hesitation. He never saw what hit him.

  A second later, I stood over him looking down at his now twitching and drooling body. “And four, I happen to have a taser.”

  I flipped him over facedown—much easier said than done—and applied zip ties to his wrists and ankles. Special Forces or no, he wasn’t going anywhere until the police arrived, and I did the handover.

  My friend Opie hadn’t been happy when I’d accepted this job. After all, I had kind of announced that I was giving up the whole bounty hunter gig. But Boswell Bonds had made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  The payment for this job wasn’t in cash. It was the one thing I needed most in the whole wide world. A car. Of course, I hadn’t seen it yet, but that didn’t worry me.

  The town’s mechanic had checked it out for me and had said it was in perfect running order, and only five years old. Practically new. I was trying not to think of the laughter in his voice as he’d told me that, though. There was definitely something there I was missing. It was a Boswell deal after all. The man always came out ahead of the game.

  When Opie showed up in his squad car, I stood back and watched as he and another deputy started trying to manhandle the bail jumper into the back of their vehicle. The beast fought them, even with all his limbs somewhat restrained. Couldn’t have that. Opie might get hurt.

  I held up one hand toward the perp and gave him a brilliant smile. “I’m running a bit late here, so I’d very much appreciate it if you would cooperate with the deputies here. If not...” I used that upright hand to point down to the taser I was still holding.

  Drunk or not, the beast finally took the hint that his fugitive days were over. Once he was in the car, Opie signed the custody paperwork for me, and I was done.

  Another fugitive successfully found and detained by Amethyst Ravenswind. Maybe I’d given this up as a career too soon. I was getting pretty dang good at it.

  IN THIS MIXED-UP WORLD, there are witches and then there are witches. The first variety are regular, ordinary humans that worship nature and use its many bounties to concoct potions, herbal remedies, and yes, even spells.

  The problem is that most ordinary humans have even less magic flowing through their bodies than I do. And trust me, that isn’t much.

  Their potions and remedies may work, but they aren’t going to have that extra special oomph. That oomph requires magic. Real magic. The kind that is passed from generation to generation through one’s bloodlines.

  For what it’s worth, the magic in my family is extremely strong. Which makes me a huge disappointment to my aunt.

  The exact opposite is true of my cousin Ruby. She’s a heck of a witch. I’ve always thought that as we were both born on the same day, and at the same time, that somehow my magic had mistakenly been given to her.

  It’s the only way I can make sense of my lack of power. In the entire history of the Ravenswind family, I was an anomaly. A single almost magic-less witch in generations upon generations. I could understand Aunt Opal’s extreme disappointment in me. After all, why should such an atrocity have to happen in the generation that she happened to rule?

  Luck of the draw, I guess. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that she and my mother had timed my birth to coincide with my cousin Ruby’s. And the fact that Ruby had struggled her way to beat me into the world by a whopping two minutes.

  What can I say? Ruby’s always been more competitive than me. Even as a newborn.

  So that led me to be the woman I am today. A witch, but a whole lot more on the human side than the magical one. I could still do spells and potions, but they lacked that special something that the rest of my family’s crafts had. I could live with that. Not that I really had a choice in the matter.

  The fact remained that even one hundred percent human witches could get their brewing license if they were good enough. It was just a piece of paper sanctioned by the witches’ council, but it held a lot of weight in our world. If you were going to get a decent price for your work, you needed that license.

  There was a proctored test involved, which I’d been studying and preparing for. It had been a long and hard road, but I had the required testing spell and potion down to a science. Which, in more than one way, it really was.

  I was as ready as I’d ever be. If all went well, after today, I’d be able to supplement my meager finances with yet another tiny stream of income. When you’re as broke as I am most days, every tiny stream mattered. A lot.

  Running into the beast on the way to the testing lab had been unexpected, to say the least. I’d almost passed up the opportunity to take him down. But the smarter part of me had put a stop to that kind of thinking. As much as passing this test might mean to me, I really needed that car.

  I just hated that it ran me so far behind schedule. That wasn’t even counting the fact that I wasn’t nearly as calm, cool, and collected as I had been when I left my house. Running late always gets my motor running in the wrong way.
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  Still, I managed to be on time, if just barely. The ingredients for my test were all laid out on the little kitchen counter. I took a couple of deep breaths to center myself and turned to the doorway. The witch proctors were a very punctual lot.

  When my aunt Opal stepped into the room, I knew that I was doomed. No way was I getting my license to brew today.

  There were four different examiners for this particular test. For the record, my aunt wasn’t one of them. Just another example of how bad my luck truly is.

  One by one, I shoved the ingredients I had assembled on the counter back into my oversized bag. I could feel the heat of Aunt Opal’s glare on my back.

  “Just like you to give up before you even try,” she said.

  I turned and met her eyes. “Even if I aced this brew, we both know you still wouldn’t give me the license.” I paused, but she never blinked an eye. Or denied my statement, either. “So why would I waste perfectly good herbs when you plan to fail me, anyway?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Do you really think you are ready for your license?”

  She would ask. We both knew I wasn’t ready. It had taken me months of practice to master this spell and potion. And they weren’t even difficult ones. Level one witchcraft at best.

  But then with the tiny amount of magic I possessed, I’d never be any more ready than I was today. I was sensing it wasn’t a coincidence that my aunt was filling in as a proctor today. She’d known I was up for testing.

  “You know your magic would be stronger with a familiar.” Just like good ole Opal to start that up again.

  I nodded slowly. “So would my allergies.”

  Opal chewed her lower lip. “A familiar doesn’t have to be a cat, you know.”

  I just looked at her. Yes, my allergies flared up worse around cats, but dogs weren’t exactly a walk in the park, either. At least with them, the allergy medicine I took on a daily basis was enough to keep me from sneezing myself into a frenzy. With cats, the medicine didn’t even make a dent.

  “Or a dog,” she said frowning. She might not be able to read my mind, but I’ve never discounted the possibility that she could. “I’ve heard that rats are quite intelligent.”

  Shivers ran over me from head to toe. No way was I creating a personal bond with a rat. No freaking way.

  I hefted the now heavy bag onto my shoulder and walked out of the testing kitchen. There just wasn’t anything left to say.

  Chapter 2

  THE DAY BEFORE HADN’T quite lived up to my expectations, that was true. But that minor setback—okay major setback in my magical dealings—still wasn’t enough to keep me from jumping out of bed this morning with a spring in my step.

  Today was the day I became a car owner. A day I’d been looking forward to for years. All I had to do was turn in the paperwork to Boswell, pick up the keys, and take a short trip to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get it all legal and road ready.

  I was pumped.

  Even the fact that there was a full-blown coven meeting tonight wasn’t enough to put a damper on me. Not today. In retrospect, I probably should have joined Ruby on her singles’ retreat. The prospect of spending the night dancing around a bonfire on the top of a hill surrounded by trees wasn’t all that appealing. Even less so considering it would be just me and Opal.

  Times like this I really just wish my mom would come home already. It’d already been a full year. Surely, she hadn’t left me alone with Opal forever. Had she? It was beginning to look like it.

  I was just buttoning up my flannel shirt when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

  Opening the door revealed Opal standing out in the hallway. “I wanted to talk to you about tonight.”

  I smiled at her. This could only be good news, right? Like she’d come to see the silliness of holding a bonfire coven meeting with only two witches in attendance?

  “I was thinking maybe we should just cancel the meeting tonight. I’m guessing you think so too?”

  She looked affronted. I could quickly tell that calling off the bonfire was not something she had even considered doing. So why was she standing in my doorway? I waited.

  “It’s the full moon. Witches show their gratitude to the God and Goddess on the full moon.” Her voice held more than a touch of rebuking. “You know that. How many of us show up is irrelevant.”

  I took a deep breath. Well, it had been a short-lived hope after all. “Then what did you want to talk about?”

  Her eyes left mine to focus on the wall behind me. Not a good sign. “I’ve invited the Windsong Coven to join us tonight.”

  My eyebrows shot up. She’d done what? The Windsong Coven had asked to join our monthly bonfires before. Numerous times. And every time, Opal had declined. She must have really felt that her back was to the wall to actually call and invite them.

  But then, without them, we would have been just two witches dancing naked around a fire. Now, at least, there would be more of us.

  She must have taken my silence as a sign of disapproval.

  “Is that a problem?”

  I shook my head. “No, not at all.” Then I thought quickly. I was okay with being naked with just me and Opal, but the Windsong Coven had a few male witches, and I wasn’t at all sure how comfortable that made me feel. “Although I should warn you, I plan to wear a swimsuit tonight.”

  If I’d been expecting an argument, I didn’t get one. “I can understand that. That suit of yours shows plenty enough skin to count as skyclad as far as I’m concerned.”

  Well, yeah, bikinis usually do. That was my whole point. I could cover the bits I wanted covered and still honor the Divine Ones.

  Her eyes finally made it back to mine. “You getting ready to go somewhere? This early?”

  I nodded. “I pick up my car today, remember?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. Then she left.

  Don’t worry, Aunt Opal, I thought. I won’t take your parking spot. But you won’t be the only one with wheels in the family anymore.

  Joint coven meeting or not, I was still pumped.

  There was a reason I was up and ready so early. Boswell had left the car at the mechanics for me to pick up. That meant two stops for me. The first to Boswell Bonds to finalize everything and get the keys, and then on to take possession of the vehicle. I knew it was a 2014 Dodge Challenger, and I’d looked them up online and fallen very deeply in love with the whole look of it. I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

  The book value of the car was a whole heck of a lot more than Boswell ever would have parted with money wise. From what I understood, it had been the Beast’s primary vehicle before he’d handed it over to the bondsman for bail money. And now it would be mine.

  I’d be worried that Boswell was pulling something, but I trusted Eddie the mechanic. He wouldn’t steer me wrong. For one thing, he was a believer in the power of my family. Not all townspeople were. Some thought we were just crazy eccentrics that liked to dance naked in the moonlight.

  Now and then, like on the days of the full moon, I had to agree they might have something there. After all, we could be both powerful witches—well most of us—and crazy eccentrics, too, right? The two didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

  I paused at the little locked lean-to under the outside stairs, took a deep breath, and kept walking. Yes, I would much rather take my bike and cut the time the trip would take me by more than half, but I just didn’t think the bike would fit into the trunk of my new car. No way was I leaving my bike behind. I might not want to depend on it for primary transportation, but I still loved every inch of it.

  Squaring my shoulders, I started walking. By now the sun was well and truly up and the day was actually turning out to be pleasantly warm. For once, the breeze was quiet, letting the sun’s warmth do its job.

  I hadn’t made it half a mile before Opie’s personal car, an old Chevy Nova that he thought was the pure embodiment of all things manly, pulled up beside me.

  “Want a lift?” He was grinning from ear to ear.

  I glanced down the open road and then back to him. Something was up, but if it saved me having to walk a few miles, I was game.

  “Sure, thanks.” I got in and buckled up then turned to him. “What brings you out this way, anyway?”