A Very British Witch Boxed Set Page 22

  He called the number back.

  The receptionist answered. “Doctor Stansfield’s office.”

  “Tim Clarke here. Is Fred in by any chance?”

  “Yes, I think he’s available. Let me put you through.”

  The line went silent, then the coroner picked up.

  “Tim?”

  “Fred, good morning.”

  “Good afternoon. It’s almost three o’clock.”

  Tim checked himself, and then continued. “Right, listen. Did we talk yesterday?”

  “Yes, I called you.”

  Tim still didn’t remember it.

  “Right,” he said. “Listen, I don’t have my notes on me. Could you repeat what you told me yesterday?”

  “All of it?” He sounded skeptical.

  “Just the basics.”

  “Tim, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. A little groggy from oversleeping.”

  The taste in his mouth told him he’d had some alcohol.

  “I must have had too much drink,” he said.

  “Knowing you,” said the coroner, “you must have drunk the pub dry in that case. You’ve always been able to handle your liquor before. Is there something you need to talk about, Tim?”

  “Just remind me what you said yesterday.”

  “About the homicide case?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, we talked about the email I sent you.”

  “What email?”

  “Tim, now you’re starting to worry me. I sent you an email about my preliminary report and you read it called me back and we discussed the findings.”

  “What were the findings?”

  “That Bill Knight was exsanguinated.”

  Tim’s blood froze.

  Vampires.

  He crossed to the bathroom to find a mirror.

  “You’re saying the man had his blood drained.”

  “Yes, that’s what it means, Tim. We talked about this.”

  Stepping into the bathroom, Tim stared at himself in the mirror. He checked his neck for bite marks awkwardly juggling the phone at his ear. He couldn’t see any signs of puncture marks.

  “Tim, are you still there?” Fred’s voice came through the phone.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Listen. Something happened to me. I have no memory of our conversation. I have no memory of anything that happened to me yesterday.”

  “You remember nothing?” The coroner sounded alarmed.

  “Nope.”

  There was a long pause.

  Tim went back to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “I’m thinking you got too close to one of them.”

  “Possibly,” Tim agreed. He felt the investigation slipping away from him like his memories. “And now I’m back to square one.”

  “Well, there’ll always be next time,” said the coroner, with a tone of false optimism. “As long as you’re not hurt.”

  “I’m fine. Physically.”

  “One day at a time, then. Not like you haven’t been here before.”

  Tim sighed. “Yeah. We live to fight another day.”

  +++

  Aunt Tabitha’s Residence, Bicester, England

  Scarlett was glad to be back at her Aunt Tabitha’s place. The smell of flowers and fresh tea filled the kitchen as they sat across from each other.

  Tabitha poured Scarlett a second cup of tea, a dark flowing bronze that roiled with steam as it swirled and eddied in its curved ceramic wall.

  Looking now at her aunt’s homely smile, Scarlett felt comforted and reassured. And yet, there were so many questions left unanswered.

  “I feel like everything I thought I knew was a lie,” Scarlett confessed, glancing down into the tea cup.

  “Not a lie,” Tabitha corrected her. “Just one layer of the truth. It’s like an onion, you know. The truth. Many layers. And the more you peel them back, the more layers you find.”

  “And if you cut too deep, it makes you cry.”

  Again, her aunt smiled. “Sometimes, yes. But no one gets through life without tears, dear. And who would want to, anyway? Without tears, we’re not human.”

  “Am I though? Human?”

  “Of course!” Tabitha gave her a quizzical look, then chuckled. “Not only are you human, you’re more than human. You have the ancient blood in you.”

  “Witch blood.”

  “It’s something to be proud of.”

  “Proud? Like I did anything to earn it.”

  “You can be proud of your heritage, of your people.”

  “I don’t even know my people. Or my heritage. Or any of it. I feel like I just pulled back too much of the onion and my eyes are so blurry I can’t see straight.”

  Tabitha put a hand on Scarlett’s hand, patting it gently. “You’ve been through a lot this week, I know.”

  “How much do you know?”

  “Only what you’ve told me.”

  “There’s more.”

  Scarlett took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her aunt about the night in the town square, about recovering her memory, and her decision not to drink Tarquin’s stronger potion of forgetting.

  “Then you’ve made your decision,” Tabitha summarized for her. “I know that wasn’t easy. It wasn’t for me, either. But I’m happy for you. Now the life ahead of you will be so much more of an adventure.”

  Scarlett pulled the corners of her lips down. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

  Tabitha chuckled lightly. “If you were completely ready, then it wouldn’t be an adventure, now would it?”

  “I have so many questions,” Scarlett said.

  “I imagine you do. But take it slow, dear. There is so much to learn, and you don’t need to cram. There won’t be a test in the morning!”

  Scarlett couldn’t help but smile. “You know about the vamps and the werewolves? The ones in Bicester?”

  “Yes of course. Wherever you find witches, you’re bound to find the others. They’re attracted to our witch blood.”

  “Was my mum a witch too?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me I was a witch?”

  “I did!” Tabitha exclaimed. “Several times. You were young, so maybe you don’t remember. But don’t put that on me. If you forgot, then I suppose you wanted to forget. And you were never interested in learning the craft. Always with your nose stuck in a book, not wanting to look up and see the world the way it is.”

  “Well, I’m interested in learning now,” Scarlett said, almost deciding on the spot. “And I’ll be needing to know everything possible if I’m going to be staying in this town.”

  Her aunt nodded and pushed her chair back. “I guess we’d better get started then.”

  She left the kitchen and went to the back room where she kept her sewing and her books. When she returned she had with her a massive old leather-bound volume that looked like it was a leftover from the Middle Ages.

  “The family grimoire,” she declared, letting it thump down on the table with a resounding thud that clattered the cups and nearly spilled the tea.

  Scarlett stared at it for a moment. For years she’d seen that book on a shelf in the sewing room and never once thought to open it or even ask what it was. Once again, she was seeing familiar things in a new light. Her aunt was a witch, her boss was a vampire, and this was a book of spells. Family spells, no less.

  What might have sounded completely bizarre to her only a week ago now felt more real than anything she’d ever known. Deep down she knew that these sudden revelations were the hidden truths of her life, like she was waking up for the first time to see that everything she used to believe was just a dream.

  The grimoire now held a deep fascination for her. There were ancient secrets between those covers. Secrets that were meant for her to discover. She felt the pull of those secrets and she reached out to touch the book.

  Just then, before her fingertips man
aged to touch the ancient tome, her cell phone buzzed. It was sitting on the table beside her. She reached for the phone, more from habit than desire, and saw a text message from Cliff.

  “Wanna grab coffee?” the message said.

  Scarlett smiled, turned her phone over, and opened up the grimoire.

  Author notes: Izzie Crowley

  Austin, Tuesday, 27th November, 2018

  Hi there. Izzie here.

  As you might have picked up from this book being set exclusively in England, and the glossary, I’m English.

  I now live in Austin though, where I’ve picked up certain differences in the English language. In fact, it was my puzzlement at some of the US expressions (like rain check) that caused me to pop a glossary at the front of this book, to save you wondering what is meant by certain words.

  It’s a real struggle though!

  To say we speak the same language isn’t quite right. Almost every time I ask for water in a restaurant the server doesn’t understand me. (In English we pronounce it “war-ter”). I’ve since learned (not learnt, as we’d say in English!) how to pronounce it with an American accent. It saves time and makes proceedings much smoother.

  I’ve also learned a few other words in an American accent too. I can say “y’all” – which actually was quite an easy one to pick up here in Texas, and “banana”. We tend to say it more like “ban-nar-na”.

  Anyway, differences aside, I kept a few British-isms in there simply because it lends authenticity to the world. Other things like cell phones (we call mobiles) just didn’t seem worth interrupting the reading flow for, so I kept them American.

  I hope the concatenation of these two languages into one story wasn’t too jarring. Furthermore, I really hoped you enjoyed it. I’d love to hear from you – either in the Amazon reviews, or on my Facebook page:

  www.facebook.com/IsobellaCrowley

  Thank yous

  First of all, I’d also like to thank you for reading. Without you, there would be no point in spending the hours and hours to plot and write these books. It’s because of you that I get a reason to spill my daydreams and ideas onto a page, and for that I am truly grateful.

  Thank you also if you have taken the time to review this on Amazon. I understand from Ell that reviews are SUPER important in terms of making a series a success. And if this series is a success, I get to keep writing. So, really, thank you for reviewing.

  A lot of people go into making a book like this. I’d like to thank my friend, Ell Leigh Clarke, for not just helping me get this what started off as a hair-brained project off the ground… but also for publishing it with me. I’ve watched her journey from newbie writer and collaborator, through to publishing on her own, through to taking me on board to write this Urban Fantasy and Mystery series, and I’m psyched to see what happens next. Thanks Ellie!

  I’d also like to thank our super awesome JIT team. They’ve been instrumental in helping me get this right, and catching inconsistencies. I’m super pleased with the improvements since they mentioned it needed more humor too.

  Guys – thank you! You’re the best. :)

  I’d also like to give a shout out to the production team: David, Terry, Brittany, Bel, Amy, and Jeff. Thanks for rallying around this series and giving it the best chance of success.

  I truly appreciate you.

  XXX Group Theory and Jammie Dodgers

  Nods to Ell

  You may have noticed certain idiosyncrasies woven into the story. Things like the book on Group Theory and Vector Spaces, and Jammie Dodgers.

  There is a reason for this… and they’re kind of nods to Ell.

  If you’ve read anything from Ell before you will have noticed that she has a thing for physics. It’s super geeky… And if you follow her on Patreon you will no doubt have seen that she’s currently studying that particular Group Theory book, with a passion.

  I have no idea why though. It all seems frightfully dull and incredibly complex.

  You may also have seen that she likes Jammie Dodgers.

  (Ellie edit: Who doesn’t?! They’re yuuuuuuuummy!)

  In case you missed it in the glossary, Jammie Dodgers are an English biscuit – two pieces of shortbread held together by jam. I think it might be raspberry jam, though I’m not sure. The other thing to note is that in English a biscuit is a cookie. But a cookie in English is a particular type of biscuit.

  Confused yet?

  Anyway, I thought it would be cool to give a nod to Ell, given that Scarlett was based on some of her… qualities.

  (Ellie edit: Huh? What ‘qualities’?)

  Scarlett’s a Four!

  I know for those who keep tabs on Ell’s antics are already aware of the profiling system, the Enneagram. And you probably also know that Ell has been diagnosed by her friends as a four.

  For those who don’t know, fours are dramatic and artistic.

  Some might accuse them of being overly dramatic.

  So, when the JIT team told me that the story needed more humor, and being familiar with some of the ways that Ell could be… amusing, shall we say, I decided to imbue Scarlett with some of these qualities. And no, I haven’t seen Ell hang up the phone and mouth ‘wanker’ to the person she had been speaking to, but it’s just the kind of thing she does. Regularly.

  It seemed to fit and was a way of giving Scarlett some more personality.

  It’s almost like I’m using character traits like Pratchett would suggest time should be used: bottled from places where it’s not needed (like in the depths of the ocean) and then redistributed to places where it could be used.

  I’m just taking personality from someone who has (arguably!) too much of it and redistributing it somewhere I needed it in our story.

  (Ellie edit: thanks Iz!)

  (Izzie edit: you’re welcome, hon).

  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this story enough to want to carry on tracking Scarlett’s myriad adventures. We’re planning to have the next book drop seven days after this one, and the third within 28 days of the first.

  Looks like one of us has our work cut out for us!

  Thank you again for reading, and I really hope to be talking with you in the author notes of the books that follow too!

  Izzie-Bee :D

  Aka. Isobella Crowley

  Author notes: Ell Leigh Clarke

  Austin, Tuesday, 27th November, 2018

  Hi there, Ellie here.

  Thank you first of all for downloading and reading the story, and then also for ending up here at the Author Notes and reading these too.

  I am so grateful you are here and giving this series a try. I know most folks who find this will have come through my sci-fi series, and even though this may not be your number one genre to read, I’m so grateful that you’ve given it a go.

  I hope it didn’t disappoint.

  So why would an ex-theoretical physicist be interested in collaborating on a series that clearly isn’t sci-fi?

  Well, the reality is, we aren’t what we studied. Just because I studied physics, doesn’t mean that I couldn’t appreciate a good murder mystery or Harry Potter. However, having time to write a new series in a completely new genre, and then build up a readership, isn’t something I could commit to.

  Enter Izzie.

  Izzie has done most of the work on this project. Sure, I’ve been there to steer the beats and give it a punch and once over, but it’s down to Izzie and the JIT team members who crafted this story and made it fit for consumption and they should get the credit.

  What I loved about working on this book, and the next three that are already almost through production by the time you read this, is that we got to use the thriller structure. This isn’t something that is typical in sci-fi I don’t think. Particularly not in the kind of space opera stuff you’re used to seeing if you started out with Molly.

  (I do have a book I wrote before Molly, but it’s still kinda raw. It’s working title is the Neffy series. I’m dusting it off and getting i
t ready for publication, but that’s also based on the thriller structure. Now I have the confidence and I’m publishing on my own, it won’t be long before you see that hitting the ‘Zon too.)

  I love the power of the thriller structure. It’s not something you can pants (make up as you go along). It needs a tighter grip on the story, and everything has to funnel like a vortex to the end, tying in all the threads, all the clues and all the interpersonal dynamics, and they all have to bear down on the protagonist increasingly until the final show down.

  It takes a lot of thinking and rethinking to make this happen, and I’m in no doubt that I need more practice. Eventually I’m planning to write a psycho thriller, that will take everything I’ve learned in working on this series with Izzie, and the Neffy series in sci-fi, and produce a mammoth plot-twisting tale. I’m hoping it will be my answer to the greats like Stephen King, and Robert Harris. We’ll see…

  Around the same time as starting this project, Michelle, a writer friend of mine suggested that I get into writing paranormal cozy mystery, so this is kind of how this project started. But that genre is quite a long way from sci-fi, and would effectively mean starting a writing career from scratch. Plus, I didn’t want to confine the stories to the cozy tropes and structure. Under her suggestion, moving the series to the urban fantasy seemed like the way to go.

  So anyway, long story short (you should excuse the pun!) this collaboration was a way to get my story ya-yas out in a productive, and somewhat leveraged, way.

  Right now, I have no idea if it’s going to work large scale, but the JIT team seemed happy with it thus far. Rest assured that as you read this, and leave your reviews, I’m watching with bated breath, trying to figure out if this was a good idea or not!

  I’m sure you’ll let me know… ;)

  New Rex Baron coming soon

  In the spirit of collaboration we have another magically based series happening the background. My dear friend, and mage, Rex Baron will soon be following in Izzie’s footsteps, where we will publish a magical saga spanning three generations of witches and sorcerers. This will probably be more literary fiction than the book you hold in your hands, but it’s a super fun and fascinating read. He calls it his “pot boiler” of a saga.