Hexes and Hops (Magical Misfit Murders #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Friendly Ravens and Threatening Misfits

Declan

The raven outside my window tilted its head when our gazes met. I lifted my hand to wave at it, then I lowered it. Because what was I doing? A bird wouldn’t understand waving.

Still, I wondered if this was the same bird that’d been following me around town since I’d arrived in Ravenstone. And that made me think we might—I don’t know—share a connection or something. That sounded super strange, didn’t it?

But I’d just discovered magic was real, so who knew?

The raven lifted its wing, almost as if waving back.

I glanced over my shoulder to see if Elwood, my grandfather, who was making his lunch, was seeing this.

But he was puttering around the kitchen, making his lunchtime tea, which was only moderately less noxious than his morning tea.

Then again, I’d always preferred coffee—strong and beautiful coffee—ideally in a gigantic mug with heaps of sugar and cream. Yum.

I checked the oven timer. A few minutes remained before the croissants were ready, so I turned back to the window. The raven was still there, still watching from atop the streetlight, high above the growing busyness of the street below.

From Elwood’s second-floor apartment, which is where I’d been crashing since I’d left my cheating ex, I had a fantastic view of the mountain town’s downtown.

I could see all the way down the picturesque, cobblestoned Main Street to the town square, where people milled amongst a throng of festival tents.

The week-long Get Hopped Up Beer Festival was set up at the town square.

I was more of an Old Fashioned guy myself, but I was still looking forward to attending with Gideon, my… well, my something.

Boyfriend? That was a weird description for two adults, but we’d only been dating a few weeks, so I didn’t think partner or significant other was quite right.

Some days, I wondered if I should even be in a relationship with the sexy wolf shifter right now, given how recently my last relationship had ended. But I wasn’t giving Gideon up. No way. The mere idea of it turned my stomach almost as much as the smell of Elwood’s tea.

The timer beeped behind me, and I hurried over to the oven and peeked inside. Heat from the oven fogged up my glasses, but I could still see the croissants through the haze. They looked ready.

“What did you make today?” Elwood asked. The charms he wore at his neck clicked and clacked together as he leaned over to see into the oven, too.

Instead of answering, I pulled the hot baking sheet from the oven and set it on a cooling rack. The fog cleared from my lenses as I studied the croissants’ light and flaky texture.

“Not your usual.” Elwood’s unruly gray beard wiggled a little as he scrunched up his nose to sniff the air.

Gideon was always sniffing the air, too, but that’s because he was a wolf shifter.

I didn’t know what my grandfather was doing it for.

“But it smells buttery and tempting, with a light touch of magic mixed in. Well done.”

My chest warmed at the compliment. Ever since I’d discovered I could wield magic, I’d been trying to get a better handle on how to use it.

Unlike Elwood’s magic, mine was connected specifically to baking.

But I was new to it, so there was still a chance my magic would grow and change as I used it more.

“I’m still trying to find Gideon’s favorite. He says he likes whatever I make, but it’s obvious he’s not much for sweets…”

Elwood shot me a knowing grin but didn’t comment. I always got the sense he wanted to say more about my relationship with Gideon, but he was waiting for me to figure something out before he did. His approach to grandfathering could be so damn annoying sometimes.

Instead, he said, “If you decide to open that bakery you were talking about, having a variety of choices would be practical.”

And that was the other thing. I did want to open a bakery. Really.

The doorbell buzzed through the apartment, and my heart leaped.

Gideon was here.

I ran down the stairs to the door and flung it open without looking through the peephole first. Gideon’s handsome smile made me feel like melted chocolate as he held out a coffee for me.

“Hi,” I whispered a little breathlessly as I adjusted my glasses with one hand and accepted the coffee with the other.

Why was he so ridiculously good-looking? With his amber eyes, sexy smile, and beautifully muscular body, his attractiveness was a little overwhelming, in the best possible way. He was so far out of my league; it wasn’t funny. But for some reason, he liked me.

He sniffed the air. “Have you been baking again?”

“Yes! Come. I have something for you to try.” I climbed the first step to lead him upstairs.

His hands dropped loosely onto my hips to stop me. My heart skipped happily at the feel of his hands on me. “No kiss first?”

I spun around, careful not to spill the coffee. “I was so excited about you trying the croissants, I can’t believe I…”

Whatever else I could’ve said was muffled as his mouth met mine in a sweet kiss that turned heated in an instant. It was always like that when we came together. So wickedly hot. Especially when we’d been apart for a while… and I hadn’t seen him since last night, so yeah…

Sometimes I wondered what it’d be like to sleep in his bed every night, but everything was still so new and that seemed like a big step.

We hadn’t dated long enough for that yet.

I mean, if I wasn’t sure if I should call him my boyfriend, I figured that was a sign we weren’t ready to share a closet yet.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had me pulling away from Gideon’s embrace.

“You can continue as soon as I get around you,” Elwood said from farther up the steps.

He was carrying a mug of his stomach-turning floral tea and a plate loaded with a thick sandwich on whole-grain bread and a handful of raw vegetables.

I jumped at the sight of a mouse scurrying down the skirt board beside him, until I realized it was his pet, George.

Elwood usually kept the rodent tucked into the pocket of his linen shirt, so I wasn’t used to seeing it running around freely.

How often did it do that? I really hoped George didn’t have a four-legged extended family anywhere in the building.

“Hey, Elwood.” Gideon greeted him casually, as if my grandfather hadn’t just caught us making out in the stairwell like two horny teens who couldn’t keep their hands off one another. We shuffled to the side to make room for Elwood. “Are you seeing any traffic from the festival?”

“A bit, but I doubt I’ll have as much as you,” Elwood said. His sandals slapped against the steps as he moved around us.

“Yeah, The Den’s been hopping,” Gideon said. “Lots of people are coming in looking for the beer in the competition.”

“I’m glad your pub is busy, but wouldn’t they get that at the festival?” I asked.

Gideon shrugged. “Not everyone wants to pay the festival entrance fee. Besides, Leon’s posters say we’ll be carrying the first, second, and third-place beers after the judges make their selections. Unfortunately, people keep forgetting that the winners won’t be chosen until this afternoon.”

I tensed at the mention of Leon’s name. As Ravenstone’s mayor, owner of the local antique shop, and head of the festival committee, Leon Doyle was the reason the Get Hopped Up Beer Festival was happening.

Holding one festival after another was all part of his scheme to get people to visit our little town and spend money here.

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad plan. And if anyone but Leon had thought it up, I might even say it was a great plan.

Until I’d moved here, he’d been in charge of all the advertising and social media for the events, but the festival committee decided, given my experience in PR, that I should help him. He still had trouble letting go of it… or keeping me informed about changes he made.

But I didn’t like that dictatorial, sweater-vested man, and I knew the feeling was mutual. I doubted he’d ever forgive me for accusing him of murder, and I couldn’t forgive him for doing the same to my grandfather, so we were even.

Elwood shook his head, as if commiserating with Gideon over how unobservant people could be. Then he moved toward the door that led into his magical shop.

“If things get busy,” I reminded my grandfather, “call me. I can come back.”

Elwood just rolled his blue-gray eyes at me and disappeared into the store.

He’d been running his shop on his own for a long time, so I knew he didn’t need my help, but I needed something to do. I was helping the festival committee and a few local business owners with their social media accounts, but that wasn’t a long-term plan. On the other hand, opening a bakery…

Speaking of baking, I had a croissant that needed tasting. I grabbed Gideon’s hand and dragged him up the stairs.

“Oh, wow. That’s amazing,” Gideon mumbled a few minutes later. He licked a few stray flakes from his lower lip.

I relaxed a little at his blissed-out smile. His reaction to my baking was gratifying, but I needed to know more. I set my empty cup aside. Gideon eyed the empty cup in surprise, but didn’t comment on how quickly I’d guzzled the coffee. He was such a good man.

“So you like it?” Yeah, I was terrible at hiding how invested I was in his reaction.

“I like everything you make,” he said, wiping crumbs from his fingers.

“You say that, but you must have a favorite,” I pressed.

“But I do like everything,” he insisted.

“Fine.” I huffed, although I was secretly pleased with his praise. Then I noticed the time. “We should probably head over to the festival. Isn’t something happening soon?”

Gideon nodded. “The judging. I don’t need to be there for that, though. Just the award of the prizes. But I wouldn’t mind checking out the vendors a bit before then.”