Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

“Happy to help.” Harlow smiled tentatively, waving to the pentagram. “Though I don’t know if I’ll be of much use for whatever that is.”

Iris took out a fist-sized crystal and a town map from the credenza and set them on one corner of the table.

“Okay, I’m starting to pick up the witchy vibes a little more,” Harlow joked.

“Have a seat,” I offered, suddenly remembering my manners. “Can I take your coat?”

Iris stifled a snort at my awkwardness while Lou outright guffawed.

“Trying to get her to take her clothes off already, Jords?” Lou taunted from the corner.

“I’m not taking her clothes off.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I blanched.

Fuck. I’d just said that aloud.

“It was just a friendly, suggestive wink,” Iris said, attempting—and failing—to cover for me.

I was certain my face was beet red when I turned to Harlow. “It’s just a witch thing.”

Harlow squinted at me for a second but then passed me her coat without comment. She took a seat across the table from Iris.

I plated up the muffins and brought them over with the rest of the drinks. “There’s an extra coffee?” I asked as I set the baked goods on the table next to the knuckle bones.

“Oh yeah,” Harlow said as she sipped her double espresso. “One time you came into the café and ordered a soy flat white, another time a skim milk mocha, so I wasn’t sure what you wanted. So I made both.”

That little gesture made my stomach do somersaults, but I only had a split second to revel in the sweetness before Lou crooned, “I bet she’s a lavender oat milk latte kinda gal.”

“I’ll probably end up drinking them both,” I said with a feigned laugh and sat beside Harlow.

“Muffins and moon water.” Harlow shook her head. “Sounds like a cute and cozy rom-com.”

Iris chuckled. “Welcome to Maple Hollow.”

“Ready?” I asked Iris, and she nodded.

Iris closed her eyes and began the spell, her hand hovering over the surface of the water to set her intentions. The pentagram of candles flickered, and I noticed how Harlow scooted closer to me. I dropped my hand under the table and gave her knee a quick, reassuring squeeze before taking Iris’s hands across the table.

Carefully, so as not to set my sleeve alight, I gripped Iris’s hands tightly and repeated the Latin phrasing. Lou drifted over and sat in the empty fourth seat, her eyes warily holding mine for a second before I screwed them shut to focus. The short incantation filled my ears and sent warmth through my body before heating my fingertips in Iris’s palm. We asked the spirits to guide us on the path to truth. I pictured the question in my mind and prayed for an answer: was Lou murdered?

If the water remained clear and unmoving, then the answer was no and that would be the end of it. No more maps, no more spells, no more investigation. But if the water became clouded and started moving, then our suspicions were correct and Lou’s death was more nefarious than it had first seemed.

I wasn’t sure which answer would bring Lou or me peace.

Harlow shifted next to me. The room went silent, and we all stared into the bowl. Long moments passed, and I worried my eyes were playing tricks on me. A glimmer of light rippled across the surface, and the water became opaque. My stomach flipped, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight.

“Shit,” Iris hissed.

“Fuck,” Lou echoed with her own string of curses.

“What?” Harlow’s eyes flared as she looked between Iris and me. “What does it mean?”

I sighed, grabbing the crystal and map that Iris had brought out earlier. I spread the map in front of me. Then, placing the crystal at the center, right on top of the gazebo, I took a deep breath.

I glanced at Harlow. “It means Lou was murdered.”

Harlow gasped.

I couldn’t imagine how panicked she must feel. This had to be a lot for her, especially during her first few weeks in town. Iris and I did this kind of witchcraft all the time. We were constantly walking the line between life and death. Hell, we were well-acquainted friends of the afterlife and all things supernatural, but for Harlow, she probably thought she was smack-dab in the middle of a horror movie.