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“I LOVE IT!” MY SMILE was so wide it hurt as I admired my new tattoo. Actually, it was the temporary stencil that would be my tattoo.
“Hummingbirds are just so Penny,” Nell Morris, tattoo artist extraordinaire, beamed. “Once that boot comes off, we’ll make it permanent.” She pointed to the black recovery boot on my left foot.
“Two more weeks, and you’ll be a painted lady,” Jade, Nell’s sister, and my new bestie, said in her very awkward way. Nell sighed. There was no end to Jade’s random quips.
It had been almost two months since I’d seen my ankle. At last glance, it was purple and swelling, shattered by the villain of the latest Raven plot. Thankfully, the Raven, aka the omen of death, was content killing my foot and not my best friends. It wasn’t his M.O. to let a marked victim skate by unscathed. Usually, he’d mark them with his shadow, toss a few musical clues to give me hope, and then snatch the victim from this mortal coil. All this within twenty-four hours of the first Raven mark.
I wasn’t used to it, but it was my life. The evil bird followed me since childhood and set his crosshairs on anyone friendly to me. Fear of him kept me running from place to place. Until I parked in Riley’s Canyon, I lived as a loner in my tiny house on wheels.
Since meeting the Morris sisters, I’d defeated the Raven multiple times and reunited with the man who made my heart throb, Titus Church. (Sigh.) My worries hadn’t evaporated, but hope overrode what I used to consider common sense. I was growing closer to the paranormal podcaster. Plus, building solid friendships with the Morris girls. I wasn’t sure what the Raven would do, but I was positive he wouldn’t remain dormant for much longer. This Penny isn’t that lucky.
Sitting in Twisted Sisters, Nell’s tattoo shop, I felt like I’d arrived. I was finding a home. It felt good.
Nell set down the backing of the stencil and rose from her chair. She cracked and craned her back. “I’m heading to bed.”
“Night,” Jade told her sister. “We’ll lock up.”
Nell nodded. “You better. What will I do without you for the next four days?”
Jade waved away her sister’s concern. “The same thing you do every night. Rock the world.”
Nell snorted.
“Pax will be here,” I said. Pax Smith was Nell’s fiance and protector. Nell smiled before retreating to the stairwell.
Jade rushed to Nell’s shop chair and scooped me into hers. She flipped my wrist to face her. The watercolor stencil shimmered on my skin. Jade beamed.
“How’d my little sister know about your hummingbird omens?”
I shook my head. “I thought you told her.”
Jade dropped my hand and crossed her arms. “Jade Morris doesn’t spill other people’s secrets.” She laughed. “Of course, I didn’t tell her.”
“It must be a sign.” The smile spreading across my face must’ve had me looking like a goof. I couldn’t help it. It was a novel experience.
Jade frowned. “You know I don’t believe in signs. Not like that. I think it’s Providence.”
“Just like Titus.”
Titus stayed in Riley’s Canyon as my ankle healed. We took the lull in Raven omens to get to know one another better. His name on my lips didn’t hurt like it used to. It felt like I was dreaming.
During our time together, Titus explained his beliefs in an Almighty God. When I’d talked it over with Jade, girlfriend to girlfriend, I was shocked to see she sported a similar worldview. I was sure he’d call my hummingbird tattoo a nod from above.
The tattoo tickled my heart, no matter what inspired Nell to design it for me. Hummingbirds were the Raven’s opposition. They proved the threat was gone, and life continued. I couldn’t have selected a better image to be my first tattoo. Waiting for my ankle to heal would take all the longer, knowing what lay ahead.
Jade straightened up Nell’s station. “I see why you like the man,” she said. It was great having a gal pal to share this new experience. Titus and I weren’t exactly dating. Our friendship was changing. I needed an honest ear to tell my feelings.
No one was more honest than Jade. The truth was her gift, just like death omens were mine. She could smell a rat the instant she spotted a liar. That also meant lying went directly against her system. She nearly threw up if she let the teeniest fib slip from her lips.
“I can’t believe he’s coming with us to Musing Pines,” I said, referring to the town hosting the Harvest Moon Festival and Jade’s first spin-out of Riley’s Canyon. Her food truck, Delish Mode, was raring to go, and so were we.
Jade double-checked the shop's locks and the new alarm system. “Three nights in a tent with Scrubb doesn’t sound too bad to me,” Jade said. “As long as Scrubb doesn’t open his mouth.”
Titus’s assistant, and best friend, Scrubb, had a strange relationship with my new bestie. He and Jade bickered and bantered over every little detail. It was like watching a RomCom if they were awkward and off-putting.
“Be nice,” I said, joining Jade at the door.
“I’ll do my best,” Jade said. “You know my mouth.”
“It’s trouble with a tongue.”
Jade snickered. “Except it’s worse when I’m nervous.”
I stepped out the back door of Twisted Sisters and watched as Jade secured the family business. She took great pains to secure everything. A few weeks ago, she would’ve flipped the lock and gone to bed. But after her security guard tried to kill her, she protected the shop much more seriously.
“You aren’t nervous about the festival. Are you?”
She linked her arm with mine and began pulling me up the stairs, one clunky step at a time. “I’m freaked out of my mind. What if D.M. breaks down or my oven doesn’t work? What if I give a customer food poisoning?”
At the landing, I wrapped my friend in a hug. “That’s a lot of what ifs. Have some faith, and let’s get some rest.”
“Sounds like a brilliant plan.”
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SPOOKED- PARANORMAL Penny Mystery 7.5 is due to release September 2023
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