“Just an hour,” Cooper called nervously to her back. “I’ll come looking for you after that so ... make sure it’s just an hour.”
Hannah raised her hand and waved. She understood why he was worried, but she was an adult. She didn’t need to justify wanting to take a breather. She felt penned in at the town. She needed to breathe ... and that’s exactly what she planned to do.
SHE ENDED UP AT THE CREEK. In hindsight, she figured that was inevitable. The creek was one of the first places she discovered upon moving to Casper Creek and she always felt relaxed when visiting. Technically she didn’t set out with the creek in mind as a destination, but she wasn’t surprised when she saw the familiar water. It felt right. It was the woman sitting next to the water who threw her for a loop.
Astra Bishop was a witch, and not a naive one like Hannah. She was trained in dark magic and had made a name for herself in certain circles in the area. Long before Hannah inherited Casper Creek from her grandmother, Astra worked at the town and trained under Abigail. They were close for some time — and Astra and Cooper were even closer — and then they had a falling out. When Astra left, there were hard feelings. As far as Hannah could tell, they remained ... although Astra always made it a point to talk to Hannah whenever they crossed paths.
Those meetings could hardly be described as friendly.
“What are you doing down here?” Hannah grumbled as she removed her shoes and plopped her feet in the water. Even though she wasn’t surprised to see the white-haired witch, she hadn’t been lying to Cooper when she said she wanted time alone. Honestly, that’s all she could think about right now. Blissful silence. It was at the top of her shopping list for the day.
“And a fine howdy-do to you, too,” Astra drawled, making a face as she caught Hannah’s steady gaze. The women were never going to be friends. Astra was convinced Casper Creek should’ve been hers following Abigail’s death, and that was on top of the lingering feelings she harbored for Cooper, and Hannah didn’t like the other witch’s attitude and had made no bones about it when they’d clashed during previous meetings. Despite that, they managed to coexist at the creek on a regular basis without coming to blows.
“Hello, dog,” Astra said as Jinx sloshed through the water toward her. She didn’t look particularly happy to see the animal but there was no malice on her face either.
“Jinx,” Hannah automatically corrected.
Astra furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying. I didn’t jinx anybody.”
Hannah’s lips curved. “His name is Jinx.”
“Oh.” Astra’s eyes drifted back to the dog, who was happily splashing around in search of frogs. He didn’t go to Astra for attention, but he didn’t shy away from her either. “He’s a nice dog.”
That was as close to a compliment as Astra had ever gotten as far as Hannah was concerned and the blond witch decided to accept it at face value. “He is,” she agreed, pursing her lips. It was a nice day and the water felt heavenly on her feet. “How come you’re down here? I would’ve thought you’d be busy at your store in the middle of the day like this.”
Astra owned a magic store one town over and only ventured out to the creek when she had an opening in her schedule. The magic line that the Casper Creek coven had drawn to keep Astra’s witches out ended at the water, which meant this was as close as the white-haired witch could come without risking an issue.
“I’m just taking a breather,” Astra grumbled, rubbing her cheek. She seemed surlier than normal, which was saying something because Astra wasn’t known for her gregarious spirit.
“You seem grumpy,” Hannah noted.
“I am grumpy.” Astra finally wrenched up her eyes and glared at Hannah. “Does this have to be a talking day? Can’t we just sit here in silence and enjoy nature? I only have thirty minutes before I have to head back to the store and I don’t want to spend it talking to you.”
Hannah’s eyebrow arched in amusement, but she held out her hands in a placating manner. “If you want silence, I’m totally fine with that. I’m not in the mood to talk either.”
“Great.” Astra went back to staring at the water.
“I came down here because I wanted to get a break from talking, and feeling uneasy,” Hannah continued, talking more to herself than the other woman. “There’s an FBI agent in town investigating a death. A random tourist shot another tourist for no reason yesterday and now we’re in trouble.”
Astra remained silent.
“I think whatever is happening is magical,” Hannah admitted. She was incapable of shutting her mouth right now. Astra’s knowledge of magic was impressive and Hannah was hopeful she might be able to offer up an explanation that would solve the deepening mystery. “I saw a man while they were fighting. He was in between buildings. He was ... dancing. He seemed gleeful.”
Astra finally lifted her eyes. “Dancing?”
Hannah nodded. “I think he was controlling the men. Tyler didn’t seem as affected as the others, but that could be because he came in late.”
“Or it could be that he’s gay and doesn’t do the alpha thing,” Astra mused. She looked intrigued at the prospect.
“He didn’t actually like that suggestion when I made it,” Hannah hedged. “You might not want to bring it up in front of him.”
Astra snorted. “Where is it you think Tyler and I go to spend time together? He hates me. He always has.”
“I don’t think Tyler hates anybody.”
“Well, that’s not even remotely true.” Astra lips flattened into a
