Tangled Up in Trouble: The Lynlee Lincoln Series, #2

By Olivia Hardin

Trying to manage a new relationship with a human is hard enough for a witch like me.  Toss in a dark magic stalker, and I might find myself in real trouble.

My job has always been a juggling act to keep Magical And Undead Creatures out of trouble, but getting back together with my old flame is like throwing one too many balls into the mix.  I'm quickly finding that romance with a guy who has two kids can get complicated.  When my old mentor asks me to investigate the goings-on of a dark witch, life goes from complicated to downright messy.

The witch is stalking supernatural creatures to collect ingredients for a kind of potion I can't seem to figure out.  And when work gets a little to close to home, I find myself coming face to face with my own demons.

Can I face down this threat before those closest to me become the next victims?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Hardin
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516384686

Olivia Hardin

When Olivia Hardin began having strange movie-like dreams in her teens, she had no choice but to begin putting them to paper. Before long the writing bug had her and she knew she wanted to be a published author. Several rejections plus a little bit of life later, and she was temporarily “cured” of the urge to write. That is until she met a group of talented and fabulous writers who gave her the direction and encouragement she needed to get lost in the words again. Olivia’s attended three different universities over the years and toyed with majors in Computer Technology, English, History and Geology. Then one day she heard the term road scholar and she knew that was what she wanted to be. Now she “studies” anything and everything just for the joy of learning.  She's also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and she’s sometimes accused of being artistic. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny and their puppy, Bonnie.

Book preview

Chapter 1

By the time I arrived at the scene, the red Pinto was dangling over the side of a bridge. Momentum tipped it forward then back a few times, but it wasn’t until someone moved inside that the vehicle pitched down to topple off the edge. My heart palpitated in my chest, but I had no time to think. I ran to the rail and dove off. As my body free-fell I shook my left hand to conjure my wand. I used it to inflate a bubble of air from the tip.

The freezing water felt like thousands of needles hitting my skin. I needed to suck in a breath but didn’t want to waste an ounce of the air within that bubble just in case I had to dive deep to rescue the car’s occupants. When my body surfaced I discovered I wouldn’t have need for the air bubble afterall because the poor car was taking its time sinking into the river.

The sun was setting behind me and I knew it would get dark soon, so I waved my wand to get rid of the bubble of air and instead magicked a flashlight. Pointing the yellow beam ahead of me, I swam hard and saw that Helene, my charge, was already making her way out of the sinking car.

Welcome to the life of a Neutralizer. It’s my job to get MAUCs (Magical And Undead Creatures) out of trouble. I’d orbed to Helene’s location lickety-split when I got her call. My clients hire me, Lynlee Lincoln, because they can bet on my quick response when they really get into a bind.

Are you okay? I called out, panting from the exertion.

She ignored me, instead sticking her head back through the window, tugging on something. Dog-paddling to the car, I looked closer and saw that it was a blond woman. She appeared to be unconscious, and Helene was having trouble getting her loose from her stubborn seatbelt. I pointed my wand at the strap, and as soon as it shredded apart, Helene pulled hard and the woman’s body slid through the open window.

She managed to get her companion to shore without any further help from me, even taking her friend up in her arms and carrying her to a dry spot under an oak tree. Helene’s kind were extraordinarily strong. The woman looked like she was beginning to stir and that was when I noticed Helene’s lower body. Her bottom half looked a lot like a goat’s.

I followed her onto shore and watched her pat the blonde affectionately on the face. Just about the time the woman opened her eyes, I managed to get a spell on Helene to hide her legs.

Helene? the poor girl murmured. What happened? I could have sworn you… She glanced down at Helene’s now perfectly normal legs. I think I feel woozy.

Yes, ma’am, I advised her, waving my wand above her head. You do feel woozy, don’t you? In fact, I think you feel like you want to sleep.

When she closed her eyes, I narrowed mine at Helene. Her lower lip trembled and she dropped her gaze, an expression of contrition.

C’mon, Helene... What gives? You haven’t been taking your potion, have you?

It was a silly question. There was only one reason her hooved legs would reappear. Another few hours and her horns would begin to show as well. It took a very strong potion to keep a satyress’ true identity hidden. I was more than a little annoyed that she would take this sort of chance.

Helene?

I hate keeping secrets from Letty. I mean, if they’re my friends, won’t they like me for who I am? Can’t anyone understand that?

Helene, seriously? You stopped taking your potion so your friends would learn to like the ‘real you’? Do you really think this little twit won’t mind that you have the ass of a goat and horns in your head?

When Helene covered her face and began to wail, I started to think my comments were a little uncalled for. Okay, so they were a lot uncalled for. I was being more catty than usual because she had interrupted my date with Beck. We’d been having trouble getting time to ourselves and I was almost desperate to have him alone for a little while. I loved the kids and all, but Justin and Jilly weren’t really conducive to reigniting a romance.

I rubbed my palm across my face and shook my head. This wasn’t working out like I’d hoped. I glanced at my watch and hissed a breath of air from between my lips.

Helene, don’t you see what happens when you try to invite humans into our world. Your poor friend Letty freaked out and nearly got both of you killed. Is that what you want?

Helene shook her head wildly, hiccupping with tears still streaming down her face.

Listen, I’ll tell you what. The EMS are coming down here now. Let’s get your girlfriend fixed up, give her a bit of time to recover from this accident, then you and I will tell her about you together. If she can’t accept it, I’ll wipe her memory and you can choose what you want to do about your friendship. Okay?

Helene sniffed, wiping her runny nose and brushing her brown hair out of her eyes. But what if she can accept it? Can I stay as my true self?

I bit my lip. That would be almost impossible. She couldn’t go on living as a satyress. She’d either get stoned to death by the neighborhood kids or someone would shoot her and mount her on their wall. I don’t know how we can work it, Helene. You know it isn’t possible. Perhaps we can design a potion that allows you to be yourself when you’re with her, but the rest of the world can’t know.

What about Hideaway Land?

Crap, I thought. How the heck did she know about Hideaway Land?

The paramedics arrived and began treating Helene’s unconscious friend so I didn’t have to worry about answering that question … yet.

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I had to orb back to my home before I could go from there to Beck’s place. My power didn’t allow me to just jump from one place to another—just from my home base to a designated location. It wasn’t very late, so if I was lucky, Beck and I could still spend some time together alone. I ran into my house and grabbed a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio.

I was out of breath by the time I returned to the stone grotto that was hidden inside my rickety old storage shed. With my free hand I used my wand to draw a glowing rectangle into the air.

Placing the wand between my teeth, I grabbed the amulet I kept around my neck and swung it in front of the glowing rectangle, concentrating on Beck as I did. Each of my charges had a stone cut from the same rock as my own amulet. Beck’s daughter Jilly was a nymph and in my care, so she had one too. When the little girl’s father and I started dating, I decided he should have one as well.

As the stone danced back and forth, a map appeared, showing his location with a star in the center. I grinned when I saw that he was home, all manner of wickedness playing in my mind as I imagined us sans children for a while. I touched the stone to the star before plugging it into a slot in the grotto. The blood in my veins cooled, leaving tingling trails of energy just under the surface of my skin, and within a few seconds I appeared in the yard beside Beck Hale’s little, rural family home.

I found Beck inside making a grilled cheese sandwich. I smiled and approached him, ready to slither behind and wrap an arm around his waist. I stopped short, my hand about midway to his hips when I noticed it. I almost groaned in frustration because there were three plates on the counter instead of just one.

Rolling my lower lip between my teeth a few times, I forced a smile and brought my hand down to grip the bottle of wine in front of me. Hey there.

Hey, darlin’, he grinned over his shoulder and turned back to the griddle. You’re just in time for dinner.

I sighed, struggling to suck up my utter disappointment. Sounds delish.

The deep rumble of his laughter did something to me. A warmth bubbled up in my stomach and I chuckled along with him as I plopped the Pinot on the counter with a thud.

He chuckled and tossed me a hot look as he flipped the finished sandwich on the third plate. Just because Jilly’s here doesn’t mean we can’t open that, you know?

Nodding, I took a seat at the bar and tapped my fingernails on the Formica. Just Jilly? Three plates there. Did you know I was gonna show up?

Jilly’s friend Celia’s here too.

Justin? I asked, watching him pop a chip into his mouth.

He winked as he chewed and leaned across the counter. After he’d swallowed, he puckered his lips out to me and I put mine up for him to offer a chaste kiss. Justin’s still over at a friend’s house.

His friend Bobby? I could have bitten my tongue when I said it. Beck didn’t notice my look of alarm as he went back to the stove and buttered two more slices of bread.

Yeah, how’d you know? He didn’t wait for me to answer, just continued on. I guess Justin probably mentioned him. I’m sorta surprised actually. I didn’t think they were friends anymore. I mean, before we left they were always together, but when we got back things were different.

Beck and the kids had lived on the road for a few years because little Jilly was having terrors here at their home. That was how Beck and I got back together. He came to me for help when he couldn’t figure out how to help his little girl.

I was pretty unhappy that Beck would come to me and unearth all of the old feelings I had for him. We’d been an item years before until Beck decided he didn’t want to be with a witch—but then that’s another story…

He motioned to the napkin holder beside me and I grabbed a handful and passed them to him. When he took them, his fingers brushed mine, the simple touch reaching me deep down inside.

So, it turned out Jilly was a nymph, just like her deceased mother. Wasn’t that the irony of life? Beck didn’t want to fall in love with a magical person, and unbeknownst to him he’d married a nymph. Go figure.

After I helped Jilly by banishing the troll invading her home territory, Beck asked for another chance at us. So I was back to dating my former sweetheart, and Beck and his kids were back living in their home again.

Well, sometimes it takes kids a bit of time to warm up again, I offered, referring to Justin’s friend Bobby.

I guess, Beck shrugged. "It was just surprising. The way Justin told it,