Karma's Shift (Magical Midlife in Mystic Hollow Book 2) - Lacey Andersen (black female authors .TXT) 📗

life around. Maybe this would have been the kick in the pants she needed to get on the right track. Now we’d never know though. She was a casualty of her own curse, but one I hadn’t wanted.

“Now what?” Beth whispered.

23

Emma

The police finished their questioning as we all sat together on the sidewalk of Roger’s building. A quiet ambulance took the dark witch away, although there were no sirens, and no lights. There was no reason to rush off when the person was already dead. We gathered as close to Beth as we could to offer her our silent support, but I could see it in her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t how she wanted things with her ex to end, but she was glad there was an ending, at last.

The sheriff closed the book he’d been taking notes in and looked away from his deputy toward us. Very slowly, he headed our way. When he reached us, to my surprise, he removed his hat and crouched down in front of Beth.

“Well, everything seems to be as you said it was,” he said, speaking gentler than he had when he was questioning us. He nodded toward the purse that held Cliff the rat. “You got a plan for him?”

“Yeah,” Deva told him firmly, “we have a plan.”

He nodded again and stared down at his hat. “Beth, you know everyone in town had your back with all that disgusting nonsense with your sister and your ex. I just wanted you to know that we’re still here for you. And us, in the force, are grateful for your business. You’ve helped a lot of people with all this supernatural crap. When we can’t help, it’s good to know that we have someone like you who can. Never underestimate yourself and how much we appreciate you.”

Beth drew herself up a little taller. “Thank you.”

The sheriff seemed like he wanted to say more. He looked at me a couple times, then eventually stood up to his full height with a slight groan. “You ladies need any of us to give you a ride home?”

Carol shook her head. “We’re okay. We’ve actually gotten pretty good at taking care of each other.”

“I’ve noticed that,” he said with a smile.

He turned back, and he and the deputy got back in their car. The sheriff gave a wave out his window before he took off, and then we were left together in the quiet parking lot.

“So, it’s really over?” Beth asked.

I took her hand and squeezed it. “I think it is.”

Carol grinned and leaped to her feet. “No more creepy stalkers! No more death threats! No more weird notes! And, finally, a good night’s rest. Absolutely do not call me before noon tomorrow, because I plan to sleep like the dead.”

“Don’t say that,” Deva said with a wince.

We all laughed.

Then, they looked back at me. “You should bring Daniel the rat.”

I’d been a little surprised no one had called him. I’d been tempted to, but it sort of felt like this case was open and shut. There was no real need to wake the bear shifter late at night, except that I wanted to see him.

“Okay.” I tried not to seem too pleased about having to see Daniel. “I’ll take care of it.”

“There’s one thing though…” Beth began, then stopped.

“What is it?” I coaxed.

“I know we’re still learning about Karma, but I’m not sure if your ex and his girlfriend will remain toads forever.”

My heart raced. “Why?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. That doesn’t seem to be how karma works. Right?”

I thought about it. No, karma only really punished people the way they needed to be punished.

“If they learn their lessons,” Carol began slowly, as if she was thinking, “could they possibly turn back into humans?”

I felt sick. “I think it’s possible.”

“We may want to plan a trip back there,” Deva told me gently. “This seems like the kind of situation we should take care of before it becomes something worse.”

As much as I didn’t want to think about all this right now, they had a point. Besides, my ex being a toad didn’t feel like the end of my story with him. I wanted to fully close the chapter like Beth had, even though I didn’t need Rick to die or anything.

“Let’s plan for it.” Then, I looked at Deva, suddenly remembering a conversation we’d had before. “And have you fully closed the door with Harry?”

She suddenly looked very serious. “This whole thing has made me realize that life is far too short. First thing tomorrow, I’m telling him there is no chance we’ll ever get back together. And then, I might go visit a certain handsome doctor and see if he’ll ask me out.”

“Or you could ask him out?” Carol said, eyes twinkling.

Deva grinned. “Yeah, I might just do that.”

We all stood and headed for the car. Deva carried the rat in her purse, and I knew they’d have to drop me off to get my car and then go to Daniel’s house. As tired as I was, just the thought of visiting him put a little spring in my step.

“So, all the people who stirred up this trouble are gone now,” Carol sounded amused. “Karma really does seem to know how to execute justice on the corrupt. Maybe you should tell karma to help out your friends too.”

I wiggled my fingers at her, not really planning to use magic, but I still felt a strange tingle move down my spine. “As you wish!”

She laughed and shook her head; I was only joking.

We were about to climb into the car when a dark car moved past. It got caught at the light, and I think we all turned to see who was still up in our sleepy town at this hour. The dark windows on the car were all rolled down, and a man turned to look at us. He had dark hair and a chiseled jaw, but when his gaze fell