4
Cope
After a quick sandwich from Cassie’s shop, Cope, Ten, and Carson set off for Jonas Crawford’s psychic shop.
When his own client appointments were over, Cope had gone online and found photos of the line of customers waiting in front of The Forbidden Eye, Crawford’s newly opened shop.
One photograph showed the line was ten deep.
Cope parked the SUV in the city parking garage and, with Ten and Carson, headed for Essex Street. Thankfully, with this being the first day of school, there weren’t as many tourists or families milling around. Reaching the shop, Cope saw there was no longer a line waiting to meet with Crawford.
Cope pushed through the door and was met with the scent of sulfur, taking him back to his childhood learning witchcraft spells at his mother’s knee. Sulfur was widely used in aggressive and forceful black magic spells. Based on the strength of the odor, Crawford had burned quite a bit of it.
“Good afternoon, friends,” Crawford said, stepping into the shop from the back room.
He was dressed in a grey suit, matching waistcoat and tie.
If Cope had to guess, he’d say the man was in his late fifties.
“Tennyson, Cope, and Carson, I’ve heard much about you.
It’s wonderful to finally meet you all at last.” He extended a hand, which Carson seemed hesitant to take.
The absolute last thing Cope wanted to do was touch this man. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he was so uneasy in Crawford’s presence and wasn’t all that keen on finding out.
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Ten said, holding out his fist to bump. Leave it to Ten to find a casual way out of the situation. “We hear that your first morning was a success.”
“Yes, I met with quite a few people. Citizens of Salem and tourists alike. I think I’ll be able to build myself an excellent clientele here. The moment I got to town, I felt as if I were home.”
“I felt the same thing when I arrived here,” Cope said, not knowing exactly why he’d opened his mouth. It hadn’t crossed his mind to ward himself before coming to The Forbidden Eye, and was regretting his decision now.
“Ah, yes, you’re from New Orleans and a member of the vaunted Devereaux coven. Your mother, Elizabeth, was known far and wide for her skills with black magick hexes and such.”
Crawford’s words stunned Cope. His mother had been known for many skills, but black magick was not one of them. She taught Cope how to wield it in order to protect himself and others, but he’d always been warned not to use it casually or on a whim. What the hell was this man’s game?
“I see I’ve touched a nerve.” Crawford offered a stately bow. “It is not always easy to hear upsetting things about loved ones, as your friend Tennyson knows all too well, what with his parents kicking him out of the house for being gay and psychic. Talk about a double whammy, huh?”
Carson stepped forward. “Mr. Crawford, we wanted to stop by today to introduce ourselves and to wish you luck on your new venture, not for you to use your gifts against us.”
“Oh, but I’ve not yet gotten to you Carson, son of Bertha.
You with your philandering father and your time as a fake psychic, scamming your mother’s hard won clients with your particular brand of bullshit until you grew into your gifts.
” Crawford smiled, darkening his eyes. “As nice as it was to meet you all, I’ll offer some words of warning: stay out of my way.
You will not like what happens if you cross me. ”
Without another word, Cope turned intent on getting out the door and into the fresh air.
“One moment, Mr. Forbes, if you would.” Crawford called after him.
“Yes, Mr. Crawford?” Cope didn’t bother turning around.
“You are welcome here anytime. I would very much like to learn Elizabeth’s dark magick from you. Rumor has it that you are in possession of the Devereaux death spell. It would come in ever so handy, don’t you agree?”
Cope felt himself wanting to agree with Crawford.
He wanted to stay in the strange shop and talk about Elizabeth and all that she’d taught him.
Instead of doing that very thing, Cope pulled his phone out and pointed the camera at Crawford.
The man wore a deep frown. “Just making sure you’re not a vampire, Mr. Crawford. ”
“How very humorous.” Crawford cracked a smile that was somehow even more terrifying than the annoyed look on his face.
“Guys,” Cope ushered Ten and Carson out the door and into the bright afternoon sunshine.
“What the fuck was that?” Ten asked. “I felt like I was being compelled. In all my years, I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“I felt it too,” Cope admitted. “Let’s get the hell out of here and we can talk about what happened. “Are you okay?” His eyes were on Carson, who looked as if he wanted to punch something or someone.
“No, I don’t think I am,” Carson admitted.
Cope led his friends to Lobster Charlie’s, which was half a block away from Crawford’s shop. He ordered each of them lobstertinis; a martini complete with a lobster claw garnish. With all that had just happened, Cope knew the alcohol would calm them down.
They waited in silence until the drinks came. Thankfully, they were the only ones on the patio, but all the same, Cope didn’t want anyone to hear the conversation that was about to take place.
“Who the hell is he?” Ten asked, after taking a long sip of his drink. “I’ve never felt anything like him before.”
“Neither have I,” Carson added. “I hope you won’t take offense to this question, Cope, but I have to know the answer.”
“How did Crawford know I can wield the death spell?” Cope hadn’t needed to use his gift to guess Carson’s question.
“Yeah, that. I thought we were the only ones who knew about it.”
“We are,” Cope said. Well, them and Everly, who could also use the spell. “Crawford is powerful, no doubt about it, but I wonder if he was hitting us full force with his abilities, while mining our brains for information.”
“You know,” Ten shivered. “That’s exactly how I feel, like I’ve come home to find everything in my house gone through.”
Carson nodded. “Me too. It never crossed my mind to ward ourselves before we left West Side Magick. We’re going to need Madam Aurora’s help. I’ll text her and see if she can meet us here with the supplies we’ll need to cleanse ourselves.”
“We’ve got sage and stuff back at the shop,” Ten said.
“No!” Carson said, forcefully, as if his word was the last word. “I don’t want us going near anything familiar with the stink of Crawford on us. Not to the car or the shop or home or the people we love.”
Cope nodded and ate his lobster claw while Carson texted Aurora. “Why did he want me to stick around and not the two of you?”
“You have something he wants,” Ten said. “Obviously he wants the death spell and to get his hands on your mother’s grimoire and he was trying to compel you into giving him what he wanted.”
“That’s why I checked to see if he was a vampire.” Cope laughed. It sounded hollow to his own ears. He wasn’t fooling anyone. None of this was anywhere close to being funny. In fact, it felt deadly serious. “This is the exact reason I moved the grimoire out of my house.”
“You did?” Carson asked.
“It’s somewhere safe.” Cope couldn’t help but feel like nowhere was safe with Crawford around.
Only Jude knew where it was and hadn’t shared those details with Cope.
With him not being able to read his husband, Cope would never learn where it was hidden.
He hoped Jude had a backup plan just in case something happened to him.
“For the love of the goddess, what the hell have the three of you gotten into?” Madam Aurora stood several feet away from the psychics.
“We went to see Jonas Crawford, the new psychic on Essex Street. We wanted to introduce ourselves and to snoop around and get the measure of him.” Cope shook his head. He wished he’d never heard of Crawford.
“Instead, he got the measure of you all,” Aurora said, coming closer. She carried a glazed bowl which she dipped her fingers into before flinging the liquid at Cope, then Ten, and Carson.
Cope instantly felt more at ease, as if he could relax in his own skin again. Carson and Tennyson looked as if they were feeling more like their old selves as well.
“Explain what happened,” Aurora commanded, taking the empty chair beside Tennyson.
“We saw ads for Jonas Crawford and his new shop. He was offering free readings and there were pics posted all over social media with a line stretching down the block.” Carson took a sip of his drink.
“We wanted to introduce ourselves to him and make friends. Our community works better when we’re all pulling the same way on the oars. ”
“When I walked into the shop, I smelled sulfur. It was nearly overwhelming.” Cope paused for a moment, his memory recalling something from long ago.
“Crawford used the sulfur as a ward around himself to protect his magic and his mind. My mother used it for the same reason and to destroy an enemy’s hold over her and her gifts.
Crawford knew we were coming and he was prepared for us. ”
“If he knew we were coming, he would have known we came in peace,” Ten said, looking confused. “All we wanted to do was welcome him to Salem and he put a hex or something on us to compel us to spill our deepest, darkest secrets.”
“He asked about the spell, Aurora,” Cope said, hoping she’d understand what he was saying.
“Your mother’s spell?” Aurora’s eyes went wide.
“In magical circles there have been rumors of that spell floating around for centuries. It’s possible Crawford had heard those rumors as well and was fishing for information about it.
He kicked Ten and Carson out of his shop, but invited me to stay to share my magic with him.
I feel like shit for even admitting this, but there was a part of me that wanted to stay and share.
” The thought of how close he’d come to staying made him sick to his stomach.
“That was his magic, Cope, not your own free will,” Aurora said. “You went into the lion’s den unarmed and nearly paid a terrible price.”
“Do you know anything about him?” Ten asked.
“He’s powerful. I felt his magic the second he walked past my shop.
Crawford is an old soul, but I’m not sure what that means in his case.
Is he the reincarnated spirit of someone else or is he an energy vampire, stealing energy and gifts from others in order to keep his own mask in place?
I’m not sure. He’s trouble, no doubt about that.
I assume he’s going to do everything in his power to lure your clients away and compel them to return to him. ”
“Damn, Aurora,” Cope said. “I thought he was a vampire. I actually turned my camera on him to see if his image would appear. It did, so I figured I was just being ridiculous.”
“Your subconscious was giving you the answer. Instead of working with known facts about vampires, you went with the Hollywood version of these creatures. Not your best moment.” Aurora patted Cope’s shoulder.
“What do we do now?” Ten asked. “Do we go home to our families and let them know we’re about to be run out of business by an energy vampire who wants Cope’s death spell?” Ten shook his head. “Ronan will think I’ve lost my mind.”
“Same with Jude.” What the hell had Cope gotten himself into?
“You’re all going to be okay. I promise.
I’ll send you the spell for the cleansing I did when I got here and you all can use it on yourselves as often as you feel you need it.
Ward yourselves completely when you get home.
Ward the house, your husbands, and your kids.
One of you needs to do the same for Fitzgibbon, Jace, and my little namesake.
” Aurora stood. “Call if you need anything and I’ll keep my ears open for any information about this guy and how we can get this cancer out of our city.
He’s not going to stop with the warning he gave you today.
He’ll come for all of us one by one unless we can figure out how to stop him. ”
“Thanks, Aurora. We appreciate you dropping everything for us.”
“You’re welcome boys. Blessed be.” Aurora walked off in the direction of her shop.
“Let’s get back to the office and use Aurora’s spell to cleanse it.” Cope was exhausted and there was still so much to do. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Jude about what happened today and the adverse consequences it could have on their lives and livelihood.
Jude had promised Cope he’d be by his side for better or for worse. Cope was about to find out just how seriously Jude took that vow.