Page 14 of Dead Evil
Everly pointed to a Green Witches Oracle deck. The cards were painted with different types of crystals and plants. Ten had known early on that Everly would be a kitchen witch. Over the last few years, she’d been in charge of their backyard garden with Ronan happy to buy plants that interested his curious daughter. “They’re beautiful.” Ronan picked up the box and quickly read the description and the price which was forty dollars. “Do you want a pretty bag to keep them in?”
“You’re gonna buy the deck for me?” Everly’s eyes widened.
“I am,” Ronan agreed. The look on Everly’s face alone was worth the price of the cards.
She chose a green bag with belladonna flowers stitched on the front, which she handed to Ronan. “Thank you, Daddy! I can’t wait to start working with them.” Everly hurried over to twin sisters who looked very happy to meet her.
“Your daughter is an incredibly gifted witch,” the woman in charge of the booth said, as Ronan handed her Everly’s choices.
“Yes, she is,” Ronan agreed. “Her other father and I are trying to make sure she has whatever tools she’ll need to develop her gifts.”
“I would expect nothing less from Tennyson Grimm. He’s one of our best and brightest psychic mediums. I’m Raven Althea,owner of the Green Witch Apothecary over on Essex Street.” She pointed to the booth banner above her head. “This is just a sample of what we sell in the shop. Please feel free to visit anytime and bring your little miss along. There is much we can teach her.”
Ronan wasn’t surprised that Raven knew who Ten and Everly were. “We’d love that, thank you.”
“The Crystal Palace has a booth a few rows over. There are some things Everly will need there. She’ll know what to get.” Raven grinned at Ronan, who was watching Everly and the other girls who were laughing together. “Those are my daughters, Evangeline and Emmaline. They’re seven years old and will be going into the third grade at Salem Elementary this fall. We had a bit of trouble in Danvers last year with the girls’ growing skills, so my wife and I thought it would be better for them to attend classes here.”
“The principal, Max Preston, is a friend of ours. He used to be the be a principal in Salem, NH. After Everly was able to help solve a cold case murder involving poisoned kids at his school, Max decided to come here. He absolutely believes in all of Everly’s gifts. I imagine things will go much more smoothly for your girls with Max on their side.” Ronan pulled out his wallet and handed one of his business cards to Raven. “Let me know if the girls want to get together with Everly, but I’ll warn you, my daughter is a sleepover queen. I know Tennyson would like to meet you and your wife as well.”
“We’d like that too,” Raven took the card. She gave Ronan the total for her purchases and put them in a bag. “We’ll talk soon.”
After Ronan paid, he walked over to Everly who was still talking with Raven’s daughters.
“Daddy, this Eva and Emma! We all have ‘E’ names! Isn’t that cool?” Everly gushed. “We’re gonna be best friends forever!”
“Your names are very cool!” Ronan smiled at his daughter. He didn’t need her gifts to see that the girls were happy to know each other. “Raven mentioned a crystal shop a few rows over. Do you want to check it out?”
“Yes! Can Emma and Eva come with us?” Everly asked.
“Sure, but they’re gonna have to ask Raven’s permission too.”
“Everly!” Petunia called from the side of the stall. “Help me pick which deck I should get.”
Ronan followed along and noticed the cards Petunia liked were darker. He watched as Everly looked over the decks. She held her hand over all of them and shook her head. “Try that one.” She pointed to a deck patterned with crows.
Petunia’s eyes widened. She picked up the crow deck and her hands started shaking. “These are perfect! I have a crow friend named Barnabus that visits me every day and brings me presents.”
Everly’s eyes widened. “How cool is that?”
Ronan was about to tell Everly they’d look up how to attract crows to their yard, when a buzz started at the front of the convention floor. He saw three men dressed in dark robes were causing the stir and wondered who they were.
“Demon hunters,” Raven said from Ronan’s side. “Barrymore, Dwight, and Cantor.”
“From Dallas Demonologists?” Ronan remembered Jude mentioning they were the headliners for tomorrow night’s demonstration in the auditorium. “Are they the real deal?”
“Yes, they’re from Dallas, but I can’t tell if their powers are genuine or not. There’s a dark cloud surrounding them. I’m not sure if it’s their own auras or if someone is projecting the cloud to protect them.”
“Demons abound!” the tall blond man shouted, as he moved through the convention floor. He stopped in front of a booth selling altar candles. “In you, good sir. You are in danger. The demon is winning.” The buzz grew louder as people began gathering around him.
Ronan recognized him as Duke Barrymore. He’d done a little research on the group when Jude mentioned Wolf wanting to attend their demonstration. Jude also said Barrymore could sell out two shows a night in Vegas, and from what Ronan was seeing now, he had no doubt.
“I don’t like him, Daddy,” Everly said, taking Ronan’s hand.
“Why not?” Ronan asked.
“I don’t know.” Everly nibbled her bottom lip in a perfect imitation of Ronan. “He makes my head hurt.”
“Do you feel like he’s a bad man or is it something else?” Ronan bent down and scooped his daughter into his arms. He was ready to run if the situation got worse.
