Small Town Charms 3: Snowbound

By Cora Cuba

When the small mountain town of Big Bear is cut off from the world below, a brutal killer emerges, leaving a trail of angels in the snow. Beautiful brunette women are being hunted Dark Witch Mandy is going to need all her magic to unmask the killer.

Torn apart by her frustrated longing for Brick, covered with a thousand ancient powerful spells she doesn’t know how to use, Mandy has never been more miserable: and then a storm and a Slasher emerge.

Mandy starts moonlighting as a waitress to investigate the colorful clique of young women bound by the murders and find the real Slasher. But when Brick is accused of the killings and her friends are hunted in her own home, Mandy is driven to cast the most powerful spell yet...a spell she herself may not survive...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cora Cuba
• Release date: Nov 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311847560

Cora Cuba

Cora Cuba spent an unforgettable winter living and working up on Big Bear Mountain. Inspired by the natural beauty and close community she found there, she put her professional background in writing and personal interest in witchcraft together to create Small Town Charms, a paranormal romance and mystery series set against the backdrop of one of the most unique places in the USA.

Book preview

SMALL TOWN CHARMS III

SNOWBOUND

© 2015 published by Cora Cuba, all rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please download an additional copy for each reader. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents:

Chapter One / Blinded By White

Chapter Two / Blood in the Snow

Chapter Three / Storm Advisory

Chapter Four / Fallen

Chapter Five / What Are You

Chapter Six / Slumber Party

Chapter Seven / Moment of Truth

Chapter Eight / Bound

"And she seems hushed to me

As hushed as though

Her heart were a hunter’s fire

Smothered in snow."

– Sara Teasdale, Snowfall

CHAPTER ONE

Blinded by White

Mandy Flores was on her hands and knees in the deep snow, trying not to breathe so hard. The harder she breathed, the more blood sputtered through the cruel slash across her throat. The shivering didn’t help either, her muscles seizing with cold from the snow she would have to carve her way into, pull her exhausted body through, so deep it came past her bare belly. She only had on her bra and panties as she moved, shaking, scrambling through the white and red that melted together before her, her head at a precise angle to keep the wound from ripping more as she dragged herself away from the fire behind her. The Slasher’s taunt still rung in her ears.

She had thought she was safe. That she was different from his other victims. She was the Dark Witch of the Mountain, damn it. She had thought she would bring down the Slasher with just a wave of her hand. She had not counted on the element of surprise, or the cunning mind that had orchestrated this moment. And now she was dying for it.

Mandy reached for her throat with one hand, barely able to hold up her own weight with the other, her ragged breath whistling in her ears and her eyes tearing up from the brightness of the blinding white horizon. There was no other way, she told herself. No other way out.

SIX WEEKS BEFORE / JANUARY 5th

Mandy Flores, the Dark Witch of Big Bear Mountain, looked proudly from behind the long oak bar of her pub, the Holler. Locals who’d weathered one of the hardest winters in memory were clinking beers and laughing joyfully in the dark wooden booths, telling stories and handing a guitar around the stone hearth by a roaring fire, and she liked to think it had something to do with her and Brick’s efforts.

Not just their efforts serving up drinks (though that didn’t hurt) but their teamwork as witches. As Big Bear’s new White Witch, Brick was working hard alongside Mandy to infuse the town of Big Bear with hope and healing and good luck. She would pull the extra magic he needed from the mountain, he would pull it from her, transform it, and shower it back down on the town.

The last White Witch, Jane, had downed the main ski lift up at Big Bear Lodge in one of the first winter snows, crippling the small town’s economy. Brick was committed to using all of his strength and magic to repair the damage heal his new neighbors, pushing himself to the edge of exhaustion every night with his white magic workings.

You wouldn’t think it to look at him, Mandy thought. Brick had never looked better. Magic took a physical toll on both of them, and Brick’s body, always athletic, had been chiseled to pure muscle, the high cheekbones of his puckish face more pronounced than ever, no matter how many layer cakes and McRibs Mandy left in the break room for him. Leaning over the bar, his tanned skin glowing against his button-down white thermal shirt, his bright blue eyes twinkling, he was teasing the 76-year-old Agnes about giving Holler’s home brewed ale a try instead of her usual Friday night Shirley Temple.

Bradley’s been working like a Spartan getting that still out back going. How about a sip on the house?

Well…I would hate to discourage Bradley… Agnes said, cheeks growing pink. Maybe I could buy Clyde here a pint and I could take the first sip?

Bradley, the Holler’s newest bar back, looked up from the glass he was wiping down and smiled proudly. His hair had grown out long and shaggy, obscuring the Scorpion tattoo that circled his scalp. He was no longer as terrifyingly muscular as he had been when Jane used him as a puppet soldier against Mandy, but he certainly pulled in his own clique of female admirers to the Holler– though no where near the number that came in to make eyes at Brick.

Clyde pulled out his wallet and slapped a twenty dollar bill on the bar.

Nice try Agnes. I’ll buy the pint and you take just as many sips as you like. Brick, you let Bradley keep the change. Clyde winked over at Mandy, who gave him a quick smile.

Even Clyde, one of the most successful men on the mountain, had felt the recession recently. Unsure what to do with himself between jobs, he’d spent the last few weeks growing out a stubby beard and inviting himself to over to Mandy’s cabin. He continually pleaded with her to move into his mansion across the lake, but considering the fact the last time she was there she’d killed Jane and absorbed a Grimmoire worth of ancient spells into her skin, she refused to cross the threshold.

Well, my lands, this is delicious! Agnes gasped after taking her first sip, her cheeks going pink. Clyde you better watch me or I’ll drink the whole thing.

Speaking of Shirley Temples, we’re about out of grenadine. I need to put it on the order list. Mandy said, setting down her tray and going to the back room. Sure enough, Brick followed her a few moments later.

We going out again tonight? he said restlessly, hovering behind her as she rifled through her order sheets at her small cluttered desk.

Of course! I got a couple pot pies for you in the fridge for after we close up, be sure and get them down before we go.

Can I give you a ride up the the trailhead, or should I wait for Clyde to go home?

Brick moved closer, and she could feel the heat radiate from his muscular body. We can ride up together, if you want. She answered primly. He’s not coming home with me.

He hasn’t been up at your place in a while. Brick said quietly. Trouble in paradise? Anything I can do?

Brick used his white magic, on occasion, to heal lover’s spats between her and Clyde. Like after that time Clyde had walked in on her and Brick tangled in each other’s arms.

Thanks, but it’s okay. It’s just… that I’m insanely attracted to you, Brick, and you damn well know it. But we are white and dark witches and every time we touch we risk each other’s lives. Just a rough patch.

He tucked his chin, hiding his face from view. Well, I better get back out there.

She nodded, and felt all her muscles unclench once he’d walked out the door. She wanted him so bad she had to hold herself back from brushing against him, from leaning in to his warmth when they were physically close. There had been a time, before she knew she was a witch, when she was still in high school, that she had been able to reach for him whenever she wanted. Kiss him, whenever she wanted. Press her body against his and arch against him again and again through the long, wild nights when they snuck out into the fields in his truck. The memories actually made her dizzy, intruding on her in vivid dreams or coming back in visceral flashes when Brick made the smallest gesture, a fingertip brushing the side of his mouth, the long-armed reach for a case of cider, anything could set off an onslaught of desire that made her weak in the knees. The cruelest part about Brick being off limits was that she knew exactly what she was missing.

DING DING DING! The last call bell was ringing, but it was nowhere near one AM. Mandy frowned and walked out to the bar, where Big Bear Lodge owner Owen Elliot was standing, the noisy boisterous crowd gone completely quiet. For a moment she didn’t recognize the small, gray-haired man with the baked-in tan of a lifetime skier, because she’d never seen him smile before. He hadn’t smiled since the ski lift went down. But now he was beaming.

Attention, everyone! he cried out, as Brick flashed her a quick wink, "The Mayor will be making an announcement tomorrow morning but I wanted to break the news here at the Holler tonight…the Lodge has just signed a contract with Alden Lyhart!!"

At the name a gasp went up from bar, and a rush of excited whispering tore through the room.

He’s officially contracted Big Bear Lodge to host a national snowboarding competition!

There was a moment of disbelieving silence and then the raucous cheers echoed through the bar. Brick and Mandy stared at each other, incredulous. Could this be their magic? Had they helped turn the town’s luck?

Drinks on me, for everyone! Owen bellowed, the noise drowned out by the clapping and excitement. Mandy appeared at his elbow. How do I do that? Buy everybody a round, I mean? Owen asked her.

You don’t. You let me do it. I’ll give everyone a bottle of Holler Ale on the house, with your compliments. How does that sound?

Owen reached over the bar and gave her a hug. Bless your heart, Mandy.

This is such wonderful news, Owen, for everybody. She beamed at him.

You don’t know how good it feels to send everyone back to work. Say, Clyde– he put a hand on Clyde’s broad shoulder, We’ll need a contractor to build the ramps and the obstacles for the boarders. How soon could you have some men on the job?

Tomorrow. Hell, I’ll get ‘em in tonight if you need them. Clyde laughed.

You tell your boys to pack their coats and come to my office first thing tomorrow morning so we can do the paper work. Owen beamed. "The