Witch Is The New Black (Paris, Texas Romance #3)

Eddie cocked an eyebrow. “Remember I mentioned my impulsivity? Things went too far that night with Marie and I rather lost control…Before I knew it, she was dead. But I learned from my mistakes.”


“And why would you think my parents had the book?” God, just saying the words tore at her heart.

“It was a last desperate guess after searching for it for decades. Never in a million years would I have considered Marie would actually leave the whereabouts of that book with humans. But then it occurred to me that maybe, by some crazy fluke, they might have some information about where she kept her personal affects. By that time, I’d already broken into your apartment and come up dry. The next logical choice was your parents’ place. I would have left well enough alone, you know. But they came home while I was prowling through their house. I couldn’t leave them alive as witnesses when they’d caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. But I left them nice and comfy in their bed. You understand my dilemma, right?”

A sharp wave of disgust rushed through her, making her clench her teeth.

“Of course, that was all before I realized you knew nothing about your being a witch, and that’s how I came to the conclusion Marie never told your parents what she’d done.”

This was diabolical. “So you only asked me out because of this book…”

Eddie gave her a look of apology, his eyes searching hers. “I’m such a cad. I ended up having to do everything backward because of that damn book. So, I courted you, thinking maybe you’d hidden the book somewhere. Or maybe there was some small hint about its location that you kept trapped in that bungled little brain of yours. Boy, was I wrong.”

Jesus, she felt like a complete idiot. All the messes she’d been in, every disaster she’d wreaked, and Eddie knew exactly what was happening to her the entire time.

“My life was such a mess for so long…” she murmured, regretting the words the moment they left her mouth.

He barked a laugh, the first sign of true animation on his face. “That’s an understatement. You were a disaster. As you bumbled your way around, I figured I already had half the equation on lockdown—meaning you—and finding the book was just a matter of time. For as long as it took, I’d have dangled you along.”

And then a thought occurred to her. “How did you finally find the book, anyway?”

“Ahh, that’s where Doris comes in; she’s an amazing private detective—an unsuspecting human, looking at this case of the mysteriously missing book with human eyes and human resources. Naturally, being witches, everyone was sure Marie had hidden the book on top of Mt. Fuji or someplace equally exotic. Interestingly enough, Marie’s method was far less complex than any of us ever guessed.”

The bank. Marie had hidden the book in a place most witches wouldn’t consider worthy of looking. “You mean like hiding the book in an obvious place?”

Eddie winked. “You got it. It triggered the memory of a conversation I’d had with her once about hiding her prized possessions in a human world. The rest was easy. Finding old bank records was a breeze once I found Doris.”

“How did you get her to go along with something like this?”

“The same way I got you into my bed, Bernie. My charm. What I lack in powers I make up for in charisma. I just promised her we’d spend the rest of our lives together. Easy-peasy.”

His matter-of-fact answer made her stomach roll again. But then her eyes flitted about the room in panic. “Where is Doris?”

Eddie snapped his fingers, illuminating the ceiling of the storm cellar. “There,” he replied, as if she’d asked him where something as mundane as the salt was.

Doris was pinned to said ceiling, her mouth literally sewn shut, her limbs clamped with iron cuffs, but thankfully she appeared to be unconscious.

“Forget her. She’s useless. I sent her in on bingo night and she blew that attempt to nab you by turning tail and running over a little devastation spell. I’ll handle her when the time comes.”

Bernie scrunched her eyes shut and forced the image of Doris from her mind. She swallowed hard, fighting the next wave of hysteria. “Didn’t anyone miss this book, if it’s so damned important?”

“Oh definitely. It became one of the great unsolved mysteries in our world. It’s a little like the Holy Grail in the human world. I have to admit, knowing who the next keeper of the book was made it very difficult to stay out of all the barroom speculation about where it could be. No one would have listened, I suppose, me being from a weak line of witches. Still, I wanted bragging rights. I wanted everyone to know that I knew who the most powerful blood witch was, but you know how that goes. Sometimes it’s better to be smug on the inside.” He circled his chest and smiled.