Full Moon Madness by Elizabeth Eden (aka Jane Carver)

Lilly drove slowly through the early morning streets of Spellfire. Probably the only place in the whole state where I fit in. Heck, probably the only place in the entire world. Her sense of satisfaction at stopping the attempted robbery dulled a bit when she thought about her life and how her talents ran between being a blessing and a curse.

Spellfire, Texas appeared as normal as Mom’s apple pie to the casual observer but to those in the know, the town teemed with those beyond the normal. Those who fell more into what might be called the “para” normal category.

* * * *

Ah, now this is the life! Jordan Granger daydreamed as he drove down FM 601. With no deadline for arriving in the town called Spellfire, nevertheless he drove far too fast. He barely noticed the speedometer creeping faster and faster. Seventy miles per hour. Seventy-four. Seventy-six.

What he did notice eventually were the red, blue and white lights flashing in his rear view mirror.

Dang, where’d he come from? He glanced down to see that his speedometer registered almost eighty miles an hour Holy shit! His foot eased off the gas pedal and gently tapped the brake pedal as he looked for a good place to pull over. Coming out of his private world of make-believe, Jordan knew he was about to get his first speeding ticket. At last he found a flat safe spot to pull over and stopped. The patrol car pulled up behind him but no one got out immediately.

Checking out my car tags, he thought as he dug in his wallet for his driver’s license and insurance card. With both in hand, he watched in the rear view mirror as the deputy got out of the car and headed to the back of his. At the end of the car, the man paused then eased up to the driver’s side back door before speaking.

“Step out of the car, please.”

Wow, a woman cop. Jordan’s first thought. Man, is she big! His second thought. Ho-ly shit! His third and last coherent thought.

At the exact moment Jordan Granger looked up into the amber eyes of the Sheriff’s deputy, he fell in love. Hard and fast. Forever and ever.

* * * *

“Luscious Lupeen.” Jordan talked out loud when he drove, his way of sorting things through without anyone thinking he’d lost his mind. “Ah, woman. You are not only my story heroine, but my real life heroine.” A thought flitted through his mind, effectively erasing the smile of delight from his face. “Damn, Lupeen, why did you have to show up now? I have this damn deadline—the most important one of my life—hanging over my head and I just can’t do two things at one time.” Honesty forced him to admit he had a one-track mind and couldn’t juggle his newest project—worth several million bucks—with a love life. Writing wasn’t new to him but each new book was a challenge he gave himself to heart and soul. So his romantic organs were not available to give to Lupeen, even if she wanted them. Which he needed to find out…but not at the moment.

* * * *

How can one woman take charge of my mind so fast? His restless hand knocked a pencil off the desk. Bent over to pick it up, he heard a zipping sound zing past his head and the dull thud of something powerful hitting the wall behind him. An excellent mystery writer, he was no fool in real life nor in fiction. In a lunging motion, he dived out of his chair then reached up to turn out the lamp sitting on the edge of the table.

Alone in the dark, a long time from sunrise, Jordan suffered hour of contemplation: Who wants to kill me?

* * * *

Suddenly he stopped and dropped to his stomach. Ahead on the trail he took earlier that day ran two men. Large containers barely slowed their hasty departure. Confusion turned to anger. These jerks set fire to his home and tried to burn him to death! Why? That was the bottom line—why. Determined to get answers, Jordan slipped on to the path and set out to follow them.

Barely a hundred yards into the dense forest, he pulled up to such a sudden halt that he literally rocked back on his heels. Air left his lungs and refused to answer his call for more. Sweat broke out on his forehead and top lip. The palms of his hands dripped perspiration and his knees threatened to collapse. That wolf, the one he’d only seen from a distance, stood directly in his path, facing him, eyes burning as brightly as the cabin behind him, teeth bared and a growl like a summons to hell filling the night. Twenty feet or less separated Jordan from men who were out to kill him and a wolf that certainly looked like it could do a better and faster job than those two escaping yahoos. Tossing his brains aside and taking his courage in hand, he took a deep breath and pleaded with a dumb animal.

“Look here, wolf, you’ve been around long enough to know I won’t hurt you and I probably won’t taste too good. Too lean, Lilly might say. I got to get after those two guys. I don’t have time to get all nice with you. They’re getting away!” Energy filled him, making him practically bounce in place on the path. The cabin’s fire reflected in the animal’s eyes, making them look just as intelligent as he figured the thing was. “Come on,” he begged. “I gotta go before I lose them.” He took a step forward. The wolf didn’t budge. “Please.” His heart was in that one word.

In a move that scared the shit out of Jordan the wolf suddenly turned and headed down the path. Thinking the animal was going to leave, he pulled up short when the dark one turned and seemed to motion for him to follow. What the hell? Now I’m communing with animals. Call me Doctor Doolittle and let’s get this show on the road.

* * * *

“Hey Sheriff.” A DEA officer threaded his way between Jordan and Malachi. “Something odd going on here.”

“How’s that?” Each man almost had to read the other’s lips, they spoke so quietly.

“The guards on the four corners of the building are dead.”

“How? Can you tell how they were taken out?”

“Yes, sir. Their throats were torn out.” The officer gulped hard. “Damn bloody mess out there.”

“Humm,” Malachi scanned the area. “Carter,” he whispered into his throat mic. “You seen Lupeen lately?” Whatever Carter answered, the sheriff didn’t seem happy. “Damn.”

“Get ready,” he whispered into the mic again. “Wait for my signal.”

While Malachi and the other law enforcement agents prepared to storm the lab, Jordan did a bit of scanning himself. Something about that report on the guards being killed that way warned him that his wolf was still around. Suddenly his heart stopped. Just beyond the foliage, at a side window, he spotted the black wolf, down on its haunches, preparing to launch its body into the building.

“Nooo,” Jordan yelled.

Gypsy Mine by Jane Carver

Miranda sighed. Stacks of filing and paperwork waited in her office. Mr. Shepard expected his updated calendar for the week in the next hour, and here she stood. As the secretary for the library director, she tried to blend into the woodwork, not stand out at the circulation desk with someone as flamboyant as Crystal.

She did not understand flamboyant people. Ones like her sister, especially her mother. Megan Jones epitomized the word ‘flamboyant’. Her flowing gossamer clothes and large floppy brimmed hats were her trademark both as a realtor and as one of Spellfire’s resident gypsies. Miranda’s sister, Molly, was only less striking in her vintage dresses, driving her cream-colored English roadster.

Tried-and-true gypsies, both of them, complete with the talent to go with the title. I’m glad all that mumbo-jumbo skipped me.

* * * *

Like a tornado, Gavin Myers swept into town at four that Friday afternoon, the first day of his ten-day vacation. By five fifteen, a group of adoring ladies surrounded him as he drank a Coke while sitting on a concrete bench in the park. His grin spread wider with each lovely woman that joined the group.

“Oh Gavin, you’re perfect. Just what any woman would want.” A pert blonde named Sarah clung to one arm while a stunning brunette named Lana held his other arm captive. “You’re so handsome.”

“And you’re funny,” Lana added, referring to a joke he shared earlier.

“Oh my yes, you are quite witty,” a third beauty added.

“And charming,” a fourth asserted, as she batted long black eyelashes at him.

Day one and I have them eating out of my hand already. Charming? Like a snake charmer. Gavin smiled but refrained from laughing. Any laugh would be at these ladies’ expense, and he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. He had ten days to be their every wish, every hot desire and even sample the passion of Spellfire, Texas, a town as far from Santa Fe, New Mexico and his boring CPA job as he could get. Ten days before Cinderella time ended. Woo ‘em and leave ‘em happy.

* * * *

Miranda could not shake off the images of the man in the park. At a distance, she could tell he had light brown hair, neatly cut in a business style, and light colored eyes. Tall, though anyone was taller than her five foot-three, he seemed well-muscled, tanned and toned. Cravings to join that group of women crowding around him surged through her. Envy bit hard. She wanted to be like them—laugh and dazzle a man. But he was hot, and she was not.

* * * *

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing sitting by yourself?” Just over Miranda’s left shoulder stood the latest heartthrob of Spellfire.

Two emotions immediately sprang up inside her. First, a melting sensation caused by his attention and sultry hot good looks. Second, disappointment. What a hokey come-on. That line is older than me.

Forcing down the surge of desire that threatened to overwhelm her, she hardened her tone and said the first thing that crossed her mind. “That’s a pretty lame come-on. You could have done better than that.” Before he could respond, she added, “I’m here, by myself, because I want to be.”

“So you want me to leave?” His grin split his face with a show of pearly white teeth. And his eyes lit with a twinkle that said he doubted her statement.

Miranda did not gulp but wanted to. Up close, he was just too delicious. Golden brown hair and pale green eyes that seemed to bore right through her. His pastel green shirt complimented those all-knowing eyes. No, she really didn’t want him to go, but how was she going to say that without looking like all those other camp-followers hanging around him. Afraid her heart would follow their lead, she took the offensive. “Where are all your admirers? You know, those ditzy women in this town who act like they’ve never seen a man before?” Goodness, that sounded nasty. I never act like this.

For a moment, he looked uneasy then seemed to recover his aplomb. “I walked off, and they didn’t notice.” He leaned against the tree with both hands stuck in his jeans pockets and one foot crossed over the other. So perfectly at ease now, it appeared he lingered because he wanted to.

“I doubt that. They’ll find you. Then you’ll be gone.”

“Well, I’m here now. There’s no harm in talking to a beautiful woman.”

“Look, mister, I’m not beautiful, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say that.” Years of Megan Jones’ harsh criticism welled up in Miranda and spilled out in bitter words.

* * * *

Gavin raised his head from the pillow. “You went alone?”

“I had protection.” I’m not telling you what it was. You’re not up to hearing about a magic spell for protection against harm. 

“Okay, so did something happen?” He laid his head back down, but she could feel the tension in his arm.

“I always walk carefully so I won’t scare the wildlife. But I heard voices. That seemed kind of odd, so I sneaked up close to where I heard them and saw two men talking. Gavin,” she held his arm tight, “They were exchanging money for drugs.”

“Are you sure?” This time he leaned up on his elbow and pulled her over so he could see her face even in the dark.

“Yes, and Gavin…” The thought in her head froze her more surely than the frigid temperature in the room. “I think I recognized one of the men.”

* * * *

“A friend gave me some poems the other day, and one of them talked about truth. For good or ill, the truth would be known. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes, exactly. Truth has a beauty all its own, but often we are not prepared to deal with it. So we see it as ugly.”

“That’s one side of dangerous. I think I can handle that.”

The woman on the other side of the table cocked her head to one side then said, “I think you can, but you’ll have to remember I said that.” And she gave Miranda a warm smile that she returned.

“What else is dangerous about this spell?” Eager to get the magic now, she sat forward, knowing Gavin would wonder where she got the spell. Better he think her weird and the town a bit odd then learn the entire truth…the whole place seethed with magic and magical beings. They only came out to play as their real selves in the privacy of other magicals.

“Miranda, think about what you are asking for. This spell can kill you.”

“What…? What did you say?” Hoping she heard incorrectly, Miranda felt her jaw drop at Electra’s frightening words. “Kill?”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime spell. Pronounced incorrectly, combined in the slightest wrong way, a shift of attention, interference… All these can cause the spell to implode, to collapse inwards. And drag you into the chaos of destruction.”

“Destruction? Would anyone else with me get drawn in?”

* * * *

A door opened, and someone reached in for her. The ropes around her ankles came off, and she groaned at the tingles of returning circulation. Both men grabbed her under the arms and pulled her out, dragging her along the ground. So much for the movies where the bad guys blab about what they intend to do. These villains marched in silence. Unable to get her feet up so she could walk—they moved too fast, she stumbled along in darkness, with bound hands.

* * * *

“You all right, love?”

“Yes, just scared.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“I know, but now I want to.” She stood and began unfastening her buttons. Stepping away from the back pack, bag, clothes and Gavin, she stood in a spotlight of nocturnal beams, this time stripping for the moon.

Soon she stood before Gavin attired in her finery, the very image of a gypsy. Or at least what he imagined one would look like. Pride swelled in his heart, that and desire and need. And despair.

This spell might be the making of her and the unmaking of him.