Rewind: Doran Witches, #2

By MK Mancos

Careful what you wish for has never been quite so true...

When a series of devastating events prompts Maddie Sayer to ask the universe for a do-over, she comes under the notice of a supernatural being who may not have her best interests at heart. Slung through the multiverses and into alternate realities, Maddie must figure out how to tap into her magical talents in order to stop the dimensional merry-go-round and find her way home before she's trapped in a reality drift forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mystic Kat Press
• Release date: Mar 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386676294

Book preview

One

In the course of life, some days were better than others. It’s a fact. No matter how hard I tried, sometimes the universe got in a bad mood and decided to piss on my head. I could have been good, bad, or indifferent. Trust me. I’ve seen a whole lot of good things happen to horrible people. Conversely, I’ve known some very good people who can’t seem to catch a break.

Myself included.

Problem being, sometimes the universe was in a bad mood for a really long time, raining suffering and plagues down that would put the biblical ones to shame.

All right, slight exaggeration there. I mean, I haven’t seen locusts in my yard, or suffered from raging boils, but if pressed, the last six weeks have been pretty horrific.

It all started on my way to work when this dude in a Mustang decided he was going to blow through a stop sign and pull right into the road like he owned it. Normally I’d think he was a jerk, but due to the proximity of my front bumper to his taillights when he pulled this maneuver, I can honestly place him in the douche canoe category. Worse still, when I honked to let him know the error of his ways, he flipped me off.

Special snowflakes don’t usually bother me because I possess a healthy dose of the ignore gene, but this guy believed himself a whole blizzard’s worth. Unimpressed, but unharmed, I drove the rest of the way to work without incident.

Oh, but the fun didn’t stop there. As it turned out, it was only beginning.

Welcome to Shit Parade, phase two.

The mood at work was subdued—a one shoe had already fallen and the other dangled on a toe mood. And it was quiet. Too quiet. I checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a text telling me that one of the big wigs died. The screen was blank, so I continued on with my morning.

Word had come down a few weeks before that we were to get a new COO—chief operating officer— at this branch of what amounted to a clearing house of debt collectors. The fact everyone was in a tizzy hadn’t fazed me. We hadn’t seen the previous one except maybe a handful of times, and that was usually at the annual holiday party when he did a walk-through in order to say he attended.

However, at this point, I wasn’t thinking clearly due to my recent brush with the red Mustang of death and had forgotten about the change in administration.

Angela, my cubicle buddy. Yes, we were assigned buddies because the company was too cheap to spring for each employee to have their own or take them all away and make it an open space. God forbid we should make eye contact with another human being during business hours, save for our assigned partners. Sorry, I digressed. Anyways, Angela—who bears an uncanny resemblance to Garcia from Criminal Minds—leaned over and whispered to me.

I had no idea what she said. I mouthed, What?

She rose like a prairie dog scanning for a coyote to look over the cubicle wall, then returned to her seat. Have you seen the new boss?

Immediate panic lanced through me, so much so, I swore I was going to have an attack of IBS. I hated new bosses. They rated right up there with root canals and ingrown toenails. The fact I’d forgotten about this one speaks to my state of mind from the events of the drive in.

Oh, is that all? I played it cool so she wouldn’t notice my inner turmoil. I waved a hand to dismiss her fears. We’re unlikely to see much of him. We haven’t seen the last two.

I swear Roscom changed management like most companies changed lightbulbs.

Angela shook her head at my failure to get physically stirred at the changes. You need to get here earlier while all the gossips are coming in. You miss so much by being late. She leaned in and lowered her voice even more. Fran said he’s here to ‘shake things up.’

Shake things up. In the corporate world that was the death knell. Even Fugue in D had less of a reputation than those words. It usually meant heads were going to roll and no one was safe.

Angela leaned in closer still. So close in fact I knew what she’d ordered from Starbucks. Definitely the mocha latte. He’s bringing in independent auditors.

All right, that was a new move. None of the others had hired consultants outside our company, and it didn’t bode well.

But more importantly… How do you know this? Why haven’t I heard any of this?

Because you don’t subscribe to the office grapevine.

The office grapevine was a closed group on social media where my coworkers went to vent or tell the latest gossip, which was then spread around first thing in the morning apparently. None of the managers or above were allowed to join, so most of the information coming through that pipeline was rusty at best. I didn’t trust it, and I didn’t like venting my laundry in a public forum. Not when it was work related. I’ve seen way too many dust ups played out online to let myself become a statistic.

Things like that always had a way of backfiring. Chances were if this guy was going to go as far as to hire independent auditors to muck through the business, then they’d find the grapevine. It was only a matter of time.

I’m begging you, Ang, get off of there. Leave the group. I figured pleading with her might work where common sense had failed.

She waved a brightly polished hand at me. You’re so paranoid. It’s cool. I never comment on it, just observe.

I grabbed her hand. Promise me?

Yes.

I nodded and put on my headset and prepared to start my day.

---

By lunchtime, I wanted to leave and stop to get a bottle of wine on the way home, then put a huge nipple on the end of it and drink it like a baby with a Playtex nurser.

Then he walked in.

No. Not the new boss. At this point, I hadn’t seen him yet.

I’m talking about the man of my dreams. A guy so hot, so yummy, so delicious, they should have named a freaking pastry after him. Casey Ellis.

Words cannot describe the huge lust I had for him. He worked in HR and roamed the halls as if he invented sex. Not sure, but I think he might have, at least in my little edge of the world. He saw me sitting in the break room and came over and pulled out the chair next to me and stole a chip from my bag.

How you doing, Maddie May?

He always called me that, and I didn’t have the heart to inform him the song was Maggie May. I should know, my mother played Rod Stewart constantly as I was growing up. I probably knew his entire songbook by heart. Not that it’s a bad thing, but the skill really hadn’t impressed anyone.

It surely wouldn’t have impressed Casey. As a matter of fact, I had serious doubts he even knew the name Rod Stewart, let alone that he was a singer.

I looked over at his bright blue eyes with thick, dark lashes and chiseled jaw that appeared as if he’d had to shave before coming down to lunch. I could use a drink, if you want to know the truth.

His eyes fairly sparkled and he leaned over. Want to go out and grab one after work?

Blink. Blink. Blink.

My mind disengaged from my mouth. I may have started to drool a bit. Oh, the humanity!

I gave a good-natured shrug, but inside I died. Sure. I’m game.

Lame. I’m sure you meant lame.

I mean, really. Who says that when the guy they’ve been lusting after for months finally asks them out? I’m game. What the hell was that all about? Shit, strap a board on my ass and play me, big guy.

He smiled as his gaze dropped to my lips, which might have been considered sexy if I hadn’t felt the need to immediately wipe them to ensure he wasn’t concentrating on a stray bit of mustard from my sandwich.

He tugged on a piece of my hair. Twice. Then got up and left the lunchroom.

Angela, who had been standing at the microwave warming up her lunch, came over with her mouth agape. Did that just happen?

I believe it did. Please tell me I don’t have anything wedged in my teeth. I bared all my pearly whites for her.

She made a face. Well, you do have a bit of something there. She pointed apologetically to my incisor.

I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

---

I spent the rest of the afternoon taking calls and wondering if I had time to run home and freshen up before I met Casey at the bar. I wasn’t looking at all my best and hadn’t taken time that morning to do more than pull my blonde hair up into a clip and throw on a flowered dress that skimmed my figure and hid the flaws. At least what I saw as flaws. I tended to go with more natural make-up, rather than the smoky eye and false lashes most of my friends favored. Not that I found fault with that look, I hadn’t the power to pull it off. So, I stuck with my strengths.

Also, I dressed rather like a Bohemian, which really rankled my conservative parents. I mean, I knew they loved me, but in my heart, I was an artist, not a call center drone.

When the day ended, I ran into the ladies’ room and tried to spruce things up a bit. I took down my hair, which had dried rather curly from being twisted up as it was and reapplied my lipstick. I made kissy lips in the mirror and decided that was about as good as I was going to get after working eight hours.

I kept reminding myself it was only drinks. However, drinks were important. They set the stage or tipped the scales from a relationship that stayed firmly in the friend zone or moved onto the next level.

I really wanted that next level with Casey.

We met at a place near the office called Kickback. The atmosphere was as it sounded. Very casual and comfortable. Low lighting made for a movie theater ambiance, while big screen televisions played Hollywood classics. Indy music played through hidden speakers at a level where it was just on the border of hearing but didn’t drown out conversations or force people to yell to be heard.

I scanned the bar for Casey, and finally found him in a back booth with a drink already in his hand. It occurred to me as I approached the table and noticed his eyes go all big and round that he’d never seen me with my hair down. I usually wore it up and out of my way. Why I hadn’t cut it off and solved that problem I really didn’t know.

He stood and waited until I was seated before taking his own again. You look. Wow.

I laughed, and my cheeks heated under the compliment. All I did was brush my hair.

Yeah, but it’s gorgeous. His smile could have lit the night.

I was on clouds nine, ten, and eleven. He ordered me a drink, and we decided to share some appetizers in lieu of dinner. Truth told, staring at him across the table, I didn’t have much of an appetite. Nerves fluttered in my belly like tiny phoenixes burning then resurrecting in my GI tract.

What can you tell me about the new boss? I figured the best way to make conversation was to go to a topic near and dear to both our hearts.

Casey made a face and shook his head. Not much. I understand he was locked in his office on a conference call most of the day.

Curious. I decided not to pry. If luck held, we’d not have much interaction with the new COO on any level.

He reached across the table and took my hand. I want to know about you. I see you in the office and speak to you, but I don’t really know you. What’s Maddie Sayer all about?

Now that was a loaded question if ever I heard one. What did I start with? That I was descended from a long line of witches? Some of them murdered for their talents, others fled persecution. That every female of our blood had powers we guarded with our lives—except me. I really didn’t have much of anything. Not even ambition. Hell, I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

What would you like to know? I figured I’d put the ball in his court and answer questions if he had them.

Boyfriends? He raised a brow, trying to draw me out by his expression.

I would not be sitting here with you on what feels like a date if I had a boyfriend. Let alone boyfriends. So, the answer to that is no. I smiled but the thought he’d ask grated on me.

It’s a pre-date. You’ll know when I take you on a real date. His dimples indented, and eyes sparkled, leading me to believe there would be a real one in my future.

I look forward to it.

He lifted my hand and kissed my fingers. College. Yes or no?

I figured if he worked in HR he probably already knew the answer to that question, but in the spirit of getting to know each other I answered, Some. I quit and wanted to take time off to decide what I want to do. I haven’t found any inspiration yet.

Maybe you will.

Now why did a shimmer of premonition shoot down my spine at that moment? I didn’t know and frankly forgot to care as we continued to talk.

We sat swapping stories and information for the better part of the evening. It was almost eleven when I finally looked at the time on my phone.

I really need to go. The alarm goes off way too early for me. I pulled myself away from the table and stood, stretching my back a bit as I did.

Casey swept his gaze up the length of my body, making me all warm and gooey inside. He set his hand to the small of my back and walked me out to my car.

As we stood under the golden glow of the parking lot light, he got an interested glint in his eyes, darkening the blue. You’re a unique individual, Maddie Sayer.

Oh, boy. If he only knew half of it.

Thank you. I like to think of myself as distinctive.

Yeah, well. It looks good on you. He slid his hands over my jaw and lowered his face to mine. The kiss was soft, slow, and just enough pressure to show intent without trying to overpower me.

On technical merit, it was everything it ought to be for a first kiss. However, it only generated maybe fifty percent on the zing-o-meter. Not that it left me cold or unfazed…or like I’d kissed my brother, Malachi, but as if something was slightly off and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Maybe I was just nervous because I finally got to kiss my dream man and had taken myself outside my body so I wouldn’t faint dead away. Then again, there are certain hallmarks of astral projection and out of body experiences that weren’t apparent during that kiss. Unfortunately, it left me with the feeling that something was missing.

Not that I wasn’t willing to give it a try and maybe feel more as we got closer. It did make me wonder if the problem was with me.

The kiss went on for some time as I tried to fit my mind around the growing disappointment in myself for expecting more and feeling less. What in the ever-loving hell was wrong with me?

On reflection, things went well on the pre-date—no matter my problem with the kiss. We agreed to see each other over the weekend. It being only Monday, I had a long wait ahead before I had a complete nervous breakdown over what to wear and how to fix my hair. I’d probably change my mind at least twenty times before Wednesday. A shopping trip was on the