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

“Bernie!” Ridge pushed himself up and wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her to him with a grunt. “Stop, honey. Stop. Let Baba have him.”


She turned in Ridge’s arms and cupped his face with her hands and sobbed, “I thought you were dead. I thought we were all dead. I’m so glad you’re not dead!”

Ridge hissed when she brushed against his abdomen, the ugly stain of blood covering the lower half of his shirt.

Her hand went to the wound, covering it as tears streamed down her face. “I thought you were dead.”

Ridge rocked her. “Shhh, it’s okay now, honey. Don’t cry. You did it. You saved us all.”

She still wasn’t quite sure she understood how she’d saved them all, but she didn’t care. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Ridge rocked her harder and chuckled. “I’m okay. Just a scratch. My ears? Not as much.”

She stiffened, reaching for his ears to find them still attached to his head. “What is this gibberish?”

“A request?”

She leaned back in his arms. “Now, Cowboy? You have a request now?”

“Please don’t ever sing again.”

Fee bounced around her and Ridge, his tiara wobbling on his head. “God bless America!”

Everyone began to laugh, but then she realized the magnitude of what had just happened. “How did we survive that? Eddie hit the button on the detonator. I saw him.”

“Your magic, of course, Bernice,” Baba Yaga replied, smooth as butter.

But she wasn’t up to any of Baba’s lectures today. She’d shut up and put up for far too long.

Bernie moved away from Ridge with care to avoid his wound and rose to her feet, mud dripping from her hair and plopping in clumps down the front of her shirt. “I got a bone to pick with you, lady!”

Winnie rushed up behind her and gripped her shoulders. “Respectfully, of course. Right, Bernie?”

Her gaze narrowed, her eyes taking in Baba in all her ’80s fare. “The hell! Eddie is a psychopath, and you wouldn’t listen to a word I said. Not a single word! I told you I had no idea I was a witch, and you laughed at me. Everyone laughed at me! So how do ya like me now, Baba Yaga?” she yelled, pounding her chest for affect while everyone around her gasped.

But Baba didn’t become angry. Rather, her beautiful face lightened and she smiled. “I know, Bernice, and I like you just fine. Will you let me explain?”

“‘Will you let me explain?’” She mimicked Baba’s words with a roll of her neck.

“Bernie girl, I’m gonna demand that you shut it right this second, or I’ll shut it for you,” Fee ordered.

But Baba still didn’t lash out. “It’s okay, Fee. Bernice has every right to be upset, but I’d ask that you save your frustration and anger with me until after I explain.”

Like she could explain away ten months of Kotex slippers and mushy green beans? Bernie said nothing, but she nodded her head, her propensity toward caution settling back in.

Baba held out a hand to her, her eyes still smiling. “Come with me, Bernice. Let’s walk.”

Winnie gave her a nudge. “Go, honey. Let’s fix this once and for all.”

Ridge stood and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Go, pretty lady. I’m going to get patched up and we’ll meet back on what’s left of the front porch so I can have a beer with my favorite witch.”

Her heart skipped a beat of happiness, but she simply nodded, taking Baba’s hand.

Baba tucked it under her arm and pulled Bernie away from the rubble of the explosion. “I’m so sorry, Bernice. I’m so sorry for your parents, for what happened to them. I want you to know that was out of my control entirely, and had I known, Eddie would be dead. But there’s a method to my madness. The day I got you back to prison, I knew you didn’t know you were a witch.”

Disbelief almost left her speechless. Almost.

“You knew? Why would you lock me up then? If you knew what I was going through? How could you make me serve time for something I didn’t do?”

“Because it was the safest place to keep you, Bernie. Eddie couldn’t get to you if you were, in fact, an unwitting party to all this, but I could still protect you from him while I figured out what he wanted with you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but Baba held up a finger to quiet her.

“Listen to me, Bernice, please. I had to act fast when I found out about you. When I saw the video of that dirtball in the bank, I saw the book in his hand. Any witch can recognize it from twenty paces. He was easy enough to identify as a warlock with that tattoo of his. I just couldn’t understand how or why you were involved. My intention was to question you at county, but once I got closer to you, I smelled your magic. I sensed you were a shifter, but I wasn’t entirely sure.”