CHAPTER ONE
LYRA
Magick runs in my blood. So does bad luck.
One second, I was hurrying down Briarhaven’s main street, my head ducked against the light mist of rain that had shadowed the autumn days of late. My mind was fixed on Mystic Munchies and the nerve-wracking question I was about to ask when I slammed into something solid. Someone solid, that is.
I barely had time to gasp before I was knocked off my feet, landing hard in the mud.
“Bloody hell, Lyra.”
That voice.
I blinked up, my breath stolen as Rabbie Barclay loomed over me, offering a hand I wasn’t sure I wanted to take. My first love. My biggest regret.
And then, as if the universe wanted to drive the moment home, the skies opened.
Cold rain pelted my skin, soaking into my dress, and I squealed, furious with myself for not bringing my brolly with me. I’d lived in Scotland long enough to know that I should always have something with me to protect from the rain.
“Are ye hurt?” Rabbie’s voice, a soft rasp like he’d just woken, sent a shiver down my spine.
It had always been this way.
Well, maybe not for him.
Clearly not for him, I silently amended, as I dropped his hand and stepped back. But not before he’d started to brush me off. We both froze as his hands touched my back side, burning through the fabric of my dress, their heat seeping through the wet cloth to my skin.
His touch. Imprinted on my brain. Seared into my heart.
“Sorry, I just–”
“I’m fine, Rab. It was my mistake for not watching where I was going. Good day.” I nodded briskly to him, refusing to notice that even in the increasing darkness from the moody clouds and sleeting rain, I could see the tiny flecks of gold glimmering in his green eyes. Tearing my gaze away, I dashed down the block toward Mystic Munchies, determined to see my task through since it had taken me ages to work up the courage to come here today.
“Good day,” I muttered to myself, shaking my head. What was I–a prim Victorian schoolteacher? Would I ever cease to stop embarrassing myself where Rab was concerned?
Smiling brightly at a man on the sidewalk who rushed to cover my head with a brolly, I stopped at the door of Mystic Munchies, Briarhaven’s eclectic bakery.
“Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.” The man’s cheeks flushed bright pink, and he stuttered something unintelligible as I breezed up the walk to the bakery. At the last moment, I glanced down the sidewalk to see Rab standing under the awning to Pixie Dust Apothecary, glaring in our direction. Hoping it would annoy him, which was a side of myself that I didn’t normally indulge, I blew a kiss at the man I’d left on the sidewalk fumbling with his brolly and swept inside the bakery.
Immediately warm scents of vanilla and cinnamon swirled around me, and the tension that banded my shoulders eased as I stepped further inside. Mystic Munchies was an institution in Briarhaven, run by one very intimidating forest elf, Marcie.
Who, at the moment, was doing something I’d never seen her do before.
“Lyra!” Marcie crowed, a mile-wide smile on her face. With hot pink hair plaited down to her bum, muscular arms the size of tree trunks, and a fierce countenance–smiling was an unfamiliar concept to Marcie.
And yet.
There it was.
Huge, revealing two canine teeth a touch more pointed than was human, and showcasing crinkles at the corner of her eyes, a big, fat, smile sat on Marcie’s otherwise stoic face.
I was completely unsure what to do with this turn of events.
In fact, maybe today was not the day to ask my question of Marcie.
It might be best if I just eased out of the shop slowly, pretending like I hadn’t seen a thing, because one could never be certain if a smile contained joy or malice. Maybe today was the day that Marcie finally cracked, fed up with one too many tourists who didn’t understand the complexities of the baked goods she offered.
Briarhaven had officially undergone a makeover several years ago, transforming itself into “Scotland’s Most Magical Town.” In doing so, Knox Douglas, the forward-thinking provost and boyfriend of my older sister, Sloane, had done something most had previous thought impossible–he’d given magickals a safe space to live out in the open. Now tourists descended upon Briarhaven in droves, convinced they were simply at an amusement park, and magickals like Marcie didn’t have to hide the more fantastical sides of their lives.
“Come in, come in. Throw the lock for me, would ye, hen?” Marcie called, waving me forward, and I winced, knowing that I could not evade whatever was about to go down. Turning back to the glass door, I gingerly flipped the sign and cast a glance to the darkening sky. The streetlights, driven by solar power, winked on in the absence of daylight.
Odd.
I hoped it wasn’t a harbinger of whatever had Marcie smiling like she’d eaten too much fairy floss. I wanted the old Marcie back, the one who grunted out answers and only gave her clientele what she thought they needed, never what they ordered. I sidled closer to the counter, keeping one eye on my escape route, and took a deep breath.
“Marcie, I wanted to–”
“Lyra, you’ll never believe it. I’m not even believing it myself, and yet I just spoke to them myself. They picked me. Me! Can ye even believe it?” Marcie cut me off, untying her apron and coming around the counter to pace in front of the glass case that housed her magickal baked goods. Mystic Munchies lived up to its name with a wildly colorful mural of mushrooms, flowers, and rabid-looking forest animals peeking out from psychedelic trees and blooms splashed across the wall. The decor always made me think of someone who had dropped one too many hits of acid, but Marcie insisted it soothed her and made her think of home.
If home was full of neon flowers and forest creatures with far too many teeth, that is.
“Picked you for what?” I asked, distracted.
“Here.”
I jumped because Marcie, who had previously been on the other side of the room was now standing right in front of me, holding a towel.
“Um.”
“You’re wet. Dry off.” Her tone brooked no disagreement.
“Yes, ma’am.” I bent and wiped the rain and mud that dripped down my legs, still annoyed that I’d had to run into Rabbie of all people. My main goal since moving back to Briarhaven had been to avoid the man at all costs, and yet for some reason, the universe seemed determined to poke me every chance it got.
Once I was tidied up, I handed the towel back and then glanced back outside where it was as dark as night. Worry twisted.
“Marcie, do you see–”
“Bewitching.” Marcie said and I turned back to see her, hands clasped at her heart, eyes wide, that scary smile still on her face.
“What’s bewitching?”
“Bewitching Bake Off,” Marcie breathed, her tone reverent.
“The reality show?” I was a huge fan, so if she wanted to discuss the latest episode, I’d be more than happy to settle in for a wee chat. It had been a particularly dicey episode, with not one, not two, but three explosions. I was gasping with laughter by the end of the episode. The premise of the show was to pair one experienced baker with a novice, and they’d have to follow a magickal recipe for each challenge. As can be imagined, chaos often ensued. And the teams never knew who their partner would be until the day of the first show, so the drama of often mismatched personalities only added to the hilarity. It was bingeable reality TV at its finest, and I was addicted. “I love that show.”
“Me too,” Marcie breathed, her eyes now bordering on manic. “Lyra. I’m dying. Dying.”
“What? Oh my goddess! Have you been selected to be on it?” I finally clued in to what may be happening here.
“No. Even better. I can’t believe it. I can’t honestly believe it. Surely this will be the best thing to happen to Mystic Munchies. Or Briarhaven. This is a huge win for us.” Marcie whirled, her pink braid flying with her and she paced again.
“Tell me!” I was bouncing up and down now, equally as excited as Marcie.
“They’re coming to Briarhaven. They plan to film their Christmas special. Here. At Mystic Munchies.”
My mouth dropped open.
“No. Freaking. Way.” This had to be the coolest thing to happen to Briarhaven, and I’d seen a car turn into a dragon before. “How will they film it? Who will they pick? Is there even room in here?”
“They’ll shoot the judging in the main part of the shop and the baking in my test kitchen where I teach classes.”
“I didn’t know you taught classes.” I tried to imagine Marcie as a teacher. She’d either be terrifyingly effective or scare people into never baking again. It was a toss-up, really.
“When the mood strikes.” Marcie went to the counter and opened a huge leather-bound ledger and flipped through a few pages. “They want to start filming in two weeks.”
“What? That isn’t all that far away. Have they cast this season already?”
“Nope, and here’s the kicker–they want to pull contestants from Briarhaven. I’m supposed to make a list of people who might want to be on the show, as well as spread the word about the auditions. It will be a limited cast, since it is just their Christmas special and not a full season. Auditions will need to be sent in by the end of the week.”
“That’s…” I had a million thoughts. My heart pounded in my chest. I could do this. I’d come here to ask for work, to see if Marcie would take me on, as I was dying to learn some of her secrets of how she infused her baked goods with magick. But this? This could skyrocket my career. I’d been running a fairly successful YouTube cooking channel for a while now, but sometimes I wondered if people really came for my recipes, or just to see what cute outfit I was wearing that day. More often than not, the comments centered on my looks and not on what I was cooking.
Still. Bewitching Bake Off? This could be huge.
“Sign me up, Marcie. I’d love to audition.”
“Och, the camera would love you. I’ll get you all the information you need, hen.” Marcie glanced around the bakery. “I have so much work to do in here. I’ll need to clean this place top to bottom and make room for production crew.”
I saw my opening.
“Actually, that’s kind of why I stopped by today. I was hoping you’d be interested in taking an intern on.”
“An intern? Do you know someone looking for work?”
“Aye. Me.” I held my chin high as Marcie turned and glanced at my dress and heels. I knew what she was thinking. It was what everyone thought when they saw me. Beautiful girl with not a brain cell in her precious wee head.
“Why would a cookie be dry and crumbly?”
“Too much flour,” I said automatically.
“And burn too easily?”
“Not enough flour.” I grinned as she gave me a considering look. “I have a YouTube channel where I share my recipes. But I’m not a very proficient baker, yet. Though I really love it. I just know I have so much more to learn. And I think I can do that. Here. With you.”
“I don’t like too much chit-chat,” Marcie warned.
Hope bloomed. I bobbed my head.
“Understood.”
“And I won’t be able to train much until after this show is over.”
“Of course.”
“No perfumes in my kitchen.”
“Got it.”
“No boyfriends either.” Marcie glanced pointedly at the window, and I turned to see three different men, all strangers, who were lined up outside the glass door. “Men don’t line up here like that for me.”
“Oh.” I winced and turned back. “I can’t help–”
“It’s not your fault you’re beautiful, Lyra. We’ll figure out a way to keep any creeps at bay. Now, give me your email and I’ll send the audition information, as well as the employment forms over to you.”
“Wait, you’re going to hire me? I’m okay with just interning if you’re not certain.”
“Do I look like I don’t know my own mind?” Scary Marcie was back, muscular arms crossed over her formidable chest. I gulped.
“No, ma’am.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Five in the morning. Don’t be late.”
“Five–”
Marcie glared and I swallowed the rest of what I was going to say.
“Right, I’ll see you then. Thanks, Marcie. I won’t let you down.”
“I don’t expect that you will.”
Surprised, but cheered by her confidence in me, I flipped the lock and stepped outside, studiously ignoring the men who tried to speak to me and sailed down the sidewalk, a smile on my face.
A chance to be on my favorite reality show and a new job?
Despite the mud that stained my favorite dress, and the odd darkness that cloaked the mid-day sky, today was officially my new favorite day.
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