Chapter 1
ONE
I used magic to convince Mr. Magic we weren’t food.
Six months after moving into my home at the end of Fox Hunt Drive, I questioned everything about my decision to move to the Crystal Lakes region.
According to my magic, which I used every day to keep my property pristine, there was no curse.
There was nothing except charms meant to keep the soil fertile, the vegetation healthy, and the animals thriving and safe.
Yet somehow, trouble had come calling from the day I’d become the homeowner.
I liked blaming Susie Marie Hauls down the street.
In an effort to be kind, she’d poisoned me with an apple pie.
I questioned how she’d pulled it off, but I suspected she’d used bad eggs and too low of a temperature, resulting in a nasty case of salmonella poisoning.
Had she added raw egg to the pie at the end of the process?
Somehow polluted the finished pie with raw chicken?
Allowed a lizard to cuddle with my treat?
Having met the woman, all seemed disturbingly possible.
Since trying to kill me off once hadn’t been enough, she’d brought over meatloaf the day after I’d recovered, resulting in a bout of E. coli.
Whenever I went to her place, I took a gator catch pole to discourage Mr. Magic the Bold from taking a bite out of me.
Half the time, the six foot monster angled straight for me, forcing me to catch him with the pole and lead him down the street like a leashed dog so I could deliver eggs, fruits, and other treats to my neighbors.
Susie Marie refused to call anyone to deal with him, as she claimed she had a relationship with him founded on love and trust.
In reality, I used magic to convince Mr. Magic we weren’t food and to leave my chickens alone. In exchange, he had a safe space on my property line, which he made use of most days of the week.
Thanks to my hedge witch ways, I’d dodged diseases from the mosquitos. Before Susie Marie had attempted to rid the Earth of me through her cooking, leading the rest of the neighbors into following her example, I’d laid down numerous wards against the more dangerous denizens living around my home.
My efforts hadn’t spared me from the incubus down the way, but he’d accepted my rejection with grace. Unlike Susie Marie and the rest of our neighbors, his pecan pies and other culinary delights only ran risk of adding inches to my waist.
Whenever Susie Marie showed up, Isaac followed in her wake, ready to swoop in and keep me from reaching a premature expiration.
As far as my neighbors went, I liked Isaac, tended to open the gate whenever he came around, and even let him play with my animals. My three horses loved hating him, and the incubus enjoyed fending the animals off, battling for his life whenever he made the mistake of going into their pasture.
Of the three, my Clydesdale worked the hardest to end Isaac’s life while my pair of thoroughbreds chased him like they were out for a prize purse. Some days, I thought about taking Alligator Bait back to the track.
I’d taken her out once, gotten some training on how to ride her, and had run a race over at Tampa Bay Downs as she was still registered to participate.
We’d gone home with a ten thousand dollar purse.
Following that race, I’d gotten more than a few calls about becoming a real jockey, which I’d refused.
I had everything needed to take her out again, and I thought about signing her up for a few more races.
I exercised her along a track I’d installed in a ring around their pasture.
Aware my grain guzzlers would be cranky if I didn’t visit them, I headed for the pasture to check on them.
David, my giant of a horse, engaged in carcass time, snoozing in the sunlight.
Alligator Bait whinnied when she caught sight of me and trotted up, thrusting her head over the fence to greet me.
I gave the chestnut a hearty petting and a kiss on her nose before shielding my eyes with a hand and scanning the field for Buttercups in the Meadow, my gray mare, who I found napping not far from David.
In good news for me, the wall around the property kept people from bothering me at all hours about the dead horses in the pasture.
The first time David and Buttercups had tricked a visiting neighbor, I’d enjoyed Julia’s scream when she thought the horses had come back from the dead as zombies.
My phone pinged, and I recognized the tone as the one I’d set to notify me when someone was at the gate wishing to be allowed in. I glowered at the device and tapped an icon to activate the camera.
The display showed a limo had come calling, and the driver waited for me to turn on the intercom. Curiosity got the better of me, so I activated the speaker and asked, “What can I do for you?”
“We would like to have a word with you, ma’am. We’re friends of Isaac’s, and we hope you can spare us a few minutes.”
As I liked Isaac, especially when he wasn’t trying to get into my pants, I chuckled and replied, “I’ll open the gate.
Park the limo in the court along the right side as you come in, then come through the gate along the wall there.
I’m at the pasture with the horses. It’s a bit of hike.
There will be a cobble walkway through the mango trees that goes to the track around the pasture. ”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
I tapped the button to unlock the gate, set it to close after the limo cleared, and decided I’d toy with my guests. After pocketing my phone, I ducked through the gap between the fence rails, vaulted onto Alligator Bait’s back, and rode her to the gate.
Fortunately for my sanity, in the four months since I’d gotten her, she’d learned to adore bareback rides. I’d let her fly on the track, but she’d wait for me to be ready to roll.
Breezing her once a week kept her happy, and breezing her without a saddle every rare now and again kept her behaved the rest of the time.
For her, the saddle meant it was time to work. Bareback meant she had the liberty to outrun the wind if she wished. Sometimes, she wanted to go on a leisurely walk. No matter what speed she wished, it was hers for the claiming.
The way I saw it, the mare was willing to work with me because I was willing to work with her.
Once I had her to the gate, I leaned over to open it, shoved it out of the way, and eased my mare through before closing and latching it so my carcasses wouldn’t get any ideas and attempt an escape.
I settled on my horse’s back, grabbed hold of her long mane, and gave her the cue to have herself a good morning.
I whispered my magic to life, willing the wind to stay out of my eyes for the ride. While without a saddle, my magic would either keep me on her back or ensure I landed safe and sound should I take a fall.
The thoroughbred’s ears turned back and she surged down the track. The first few times I’d ridden her, I’d been concerned about her ear position, but I’d learned the error of my ways early on.
I had a thinker, and when she decided it was time to give her best, she concentrated. Until she had pushed as hard as she could, her ears would stay plastered back. The instant she decided she had done her job, she’d prick them forward and wait for praise.
Win or lose, she got what she wanted.
When I’d purchased her, I’d wanted to save her from the fast lane to a slaughterhouse. In reality, I’d bought a racer with a heart of gold, and I hadn’t anticipated the left turn my life had taken the minute her trailer had arrived.
She’d had a few starts, but the previous owner had given up on her, selling her off for less than a thousand dollars so he wouldn’t keep wasting his money on a horse who’d placed last in all her races.
Sometimes, I wondered if Alligator Bait understood I’d spared her from an early death; she gave me her all every time I saddled her.
I spied my guests, which consisted of two men and a woman, who stayed out of the way and observed me thunder around the track.
As Alligator Bait would need at least a mile and a half to be happy with her breeze, I didn’t even bother with trying to slow her down.
I clicked my tongue to both encourage her and remind her she could do what she wanted, and she gave me a burst of speed.
Building the half mile track had cost me a pretty penny, but the horses loved their twenty-five acre pasture in the center, I loved being able to race my horses at my whim, and I didn’t mind the work keeping the dirt groomed.
Magic helped with that.
After the third round around, Alligator Bait slowed, easing back to a walk to cool off. I guided her with my legs, bringing her up to the folks waiting to meet with me. Rather than protest being asked to stop, the thoroughbred stood still for me, her ears pricked forward.
I patted her neck and praised her for her effort.
“Are you aware she gave you forty-six miles per hour?” the taller of the gentleman asked.
With a start, I realized he sported a pair of horns, a clear advertisement I dealt with some form of devil or demon. Otherwise, he reminded me of Isaac, falling into the tall, dark in a pleasantly tanned way, and handsome category.
I gave Alligator Bait another round of affection, leaned against her neck, and snuggled with my big bundle of chestnut joy.
“I took her to a race once after I got her, and we brought home ten thousand dollars. She had a few starts with a professional jockey, but she’d always come in last place.
I plucked her off the market for a pittance.
I knew she was fast, but it’s nice to know how fast. I’m Crystal. What can I do for you?”
The man pointed in the direction of Lake Hancock. “Do you know what’s out there?”