Page 53 of Haunted Eclipse
“There’s nothing you can do, Edgar!” I egged him on, trying to make him angry.
“She’s right—she’s helping me and you’re not going to be able to do a thing!” Brenda was shouting now. “You low-life piece of crap! You’ll never be able to hurt me again?—”
Her threat must have been the last straw, because the mist dove for the lodestone. There was a moment where Edgar froze and tried to pull away, but the magnetic properties of the stone had hold of him and, as we watched, he went swirling into the lodestone, and—in a matter of seconds—the air cleared.
I waited for a moment, watching.
“You did it,” Astra said, coming up behind me. “He wasn’t particularly strong, as Haunts go, but he was strong enough to cause harm, and that’s too strong.”
“Do you think he’s really trapped? He’s not hiding, is he?” I asked.
“What do your instincts say?” Astra asked.
I closed my eyes and took another breath. As it whistled out between my teeth, I could see the stone in my mind. Edgar was trapped inside.
“He’s there,” I said, relaxing. “Now, I need to find someone who can push him through the Veil, and he’ll be gone for good. But he won’t bother you again,” I said, turning to Brenda. “And now, we can get on with finding you a mate.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier,” Brenda said, blushing. “When I was at the hospital, I met someone. I’m going out with him tomorrow night, but we’ve been texting. He might be perfect.”
I stared at her. “But…I’m supposed to find you a star witch.”
“He is!” she said. “He’s a star witch, and he’s single. He said that he’s been feeling that someone would come into his life in an unexpected way. I met him at the hospital. He sprained his ankle, and was there getting it looked at. His name is Jamison Wanderson, and I can’t tell you how right this feels.”
“Jamison Wanderson? That’s who I was going to talk to you about!” I laughed. “I can’t believe it. I feel like I’ve wasted your deposit?—”
“Of course you haven’t. For one thing, I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital if I hadn’t been in the car with you. So, you’re still responsible for us meeting. And you just said you were planning on fixing us up for a date! Also, you cleared my house—that’s worthmorethan my deposit. You exorcised Edgar, and you’ve cleared the way for me to move on. I’m going to redecorate the hell out of this house, I’ll tell you that.”
She seemed so happy that there wasn’t much I could say, except, “Hey, invite me to the wedding.”
Brenda laughed. “I’ll pay you your commission if we end up getting married. I don’t care how the job gets done, as long as I find myHappily Ever After. And…I really think I have, Maisy. I feel it in the depths of my heart.”
There wasn’t much I could say to that.
Before I opened the circle, Astra and I cleared the rest of the house of residue energy, and then we saged it and blessed it. We took the lodestone with us. Astra promised me she’d find someone to get rid of Edgar. Then—after saying goodnight to Brenda—we headed back to our house.
“I’m so confused,” I said. “I’m not sure what happened.”
“I think you’ll find that in Midnight Point, things run as they will. Don’t question how the job get done, how the sausage gets made… Now, let me drop off Edgar here, and then let’s go out for dinner. We have a lot to celebrate.”
When I thought about it, we really did. We were healthy, Brenda’s ex was taken care of, she’d actually met a star witch and seemed ecstatic, and I was about to pledge to Aphrodite. Life was changing, and I decided to roll with it rather than fight it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Next morning,I stood outside Ellie’s Elegant Designs, wondering what I’d find inside, and whether it would be appropriate for my pledging ritual. I knew that Ellie’s shop was size-inclusive, so I wasn’t worried about finding something that would fit, but I wasn’t sure I should wear. But I shouldn’t have worried.
As I walked into the shop, the first thing that caught my eye was a gorgeous seafoam colored dress with a halter top and a skirt draped like a Grecian gown. I didn’t usually wear dresses like that, but something about it enchanted me.
“That dress, do you have it in a size twelve?” I asked.
“I believe we do.” The woman behind the counter came around to shake my hand. “Hi, I’m Ellie Masters. I don’t think I’ve seen you around town.” She was around my age, but she was tall and willowy, with long chocolate colored hair and dark eyes.
“My name is Maisy Tripwater. I run Married At First Bite, a matchmaking service over on Clearwater Street. I also offer tarot and psychic readings, and house clearings.” I picked up the dress. The material was smooth and gentle against my skin. “I moved back to town a couple months ago. I was born here.”
“Really?” She leaned against the counter. “I drove through a few years back and I couldn’t get the town out of my mind. Before I knew it, I sold my store in Port Angeles and had moved here. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make the business thrive here, but I was pleasantly surprised. Now, you’re looking for a size twelve?” she asked.
I nodded, handing her the dress. It was a size eight and no way in hell would I fit in it.
She sorted through the hangers and pulled out the same dress in a larger size. “I try to be size inclusive,” she said. “I used to weigh a lot more and I could never find clothes I liked. While I lost weight—medical reasons—I won’t ever forget how invisible I felt. I won’t do that to any woman.”
