The Witch City Detective Agency: The Demon of Essex County

By Allison Whenman

"The Mage and Creature Ordinances of 2010 state, in layman's terms, that any non-human entity that is found will be removed from human civilization until they have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they will not harm any of the human species nor will they procreate without first registering the intent to have an offspring." Kaityln Valinski is missing. Kaitlyn Valinski is also fae and the police are only putting in the bare minimum to find her. Bleeding heart private detective Ben Cole takes on her case when her older sister begs for help despite the stigma. But between suspicious memory gaps, uncooperative witnesses, the reappearance of Ben's first love, and Kaitlyn's ghost haunting his office it seems as though something much worse than her running away is going on and Ben's going to need everything he has in him to solve the mystery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781678135713

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The Witch City Detective Agency: The Demon of Essex County

Copyright © 2018 Allison Whenman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-0-359-28684-3 (paperback edition), 978-1-67813-571-3 (ebook edition)

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

Front cover image by germancreative.

Printed by Lulu.com

First printing edition December 2018.

First e-book edition February 2020.

The Witch City Detective Agency:

The Demon of Essex County

To Raven and Melissa, who helped me dream up Benjamin Cole a long time ago.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. - Roald Dahl

Chapter One

Ben hadn’t seen Danny Anderson since his eighteenth birthday when they kissed under the string lights his sister had set up on their patio. All the other kids were inside causing general mayhem drinking their youth away in red solo cups and Danny had come over with a prestinely wrapped present cradled between his hands, his black curly hair falling over his beautiful green eyes and…. Ben didn’t know how it had happened, but it happened.

Danny wasn’t even supposed to be over, he had declined the invite saying that he had to babysit his eight year old brother. He had been staying the weekend with his dad and it was because of that that Ben had even invited him over in the first place. Parties aren’t really my thing, Danny had said with that perfectly straight smile of his, his back leaning against the row of lockers between them, a sketchbook hugged tightly to his chest. Ben still remembered the blue paint stains on his fingertips and the purple on the heel of his hand. And I gotta watch Ryan this weekend.

Regret had painted his voice and Ben had known it was a longshot. He knew he shouldn’t have even asked and, instantly, his face colored. No, no, no. Danny rushed to reassure. I really wish I could I just….

It was awkward and fumbling and adorable and Ben rubbed at the back of his neck. Bring Ryan?

Startled, by the invitation, Danny had laughed. "He’s eight. He wouldn’t exactly be any fun."

So Ben hadn’t expected him that night but Danny had shown up, trepidation is each step and gorgeous with his perfect smile and windswept hair and Ben had felt his stomach clench he was so happy.

Ben dragged him outside, away from the noise and all the people he thought, stupidly, back then were his friends. Where’s Ryan? Ben had half expected him, a short little guy, curls standing up on top of his head, brown eyes full of stars at the prospect of being at a high school party. Ben used to babysit him, way back when Danny wasn’t in the picture of his father’s life. Ryan was a good kid, energetic, a little stuck in his own head half the time. But generally a good kid.

Mary came home early. Mary was sweet too, liked to treat Ben like her own son half the time, had welcomed Danny with open arms when he was dropped off on his dad’s doorstep the year before.

They were quiet for a moment, the silence like a shark infused ocean between them, and Ben hadn’t felt this nervous since his first baseball tryout when he was five. His hands were pushed deep into his pockets so Danny couldn’t see how much they were shaking, how sweaty they were.

Danny cleared his throat. This… this is for you. He nearly dropped the present in his haste to hand it over, the wrapping paper finally catching Ben’s eye.

Is that Harry Potter wrapping paper?

Danny ducked his head. God, yeah. Ryan… Ry’s obsessed with it. On the third book and insisted you’d like the paper and made me let him help pick out the present and…. Ben couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Danny look so embarrassed. His face was as red as the sauce Ben put on pizzas at the restaurant he worked at.

"I love Harry Potter. Ben felt something prickling at the tip of his tongue. Something he should say to keep Danny talking. I used to read it to him before bed when I babysat him."

Cool. Too late, though, they fell into silence again.

Ben picked at the edges of the paper, slowly opening it and peeling it away as slow as he could to keep Danny there. Keep him with him for just a little bit longer. Ben was feeling a little buzzed, if he were to be honest, from the cup Jo had shoved into his hands and topped with a disgusting amount of whipped cream and sprinkles. She had screamed a bastardized version of happy birthday to him at the top of her admittedly talented lungs but Ben couldn’t help thinking about that one time he had heard Danny singing with piano keys under his fingertips, Ryan’s tear streaked cheeks finally with a smile on them for the first time all day.

It’s not a bomb. Danny smirked sideways, the freckles on his nose wrinkled up in the middle.

Ben laughed too, it was ridiculous, but he knew, somehow, that if Danny left he would never get a chance like this ever again. He slipped his finger under the paper, tore it with burning cheeks, and pulled out a box with a clear front, no longer than his pointer finger. Inside was a tiny stone, a greater than symbol carved into the green surface and outlined in golden paint. It was strung on a simple black leather chord.

It’s Kano, Danny explained, the thumb on his right hand picking at the skin on his left.

Kano? Ben took off the cover, tracing the indent with his finger. The stone was smooth and cold to the touch, but it felt, for some reason, like a gentle breeze had just settled into his stomach, reminiscent of a hot summer day.

A rune.

A rune. Ben had never even seen a rune before. Like the, uh… the Vikings?

And others, yeah.

What’s… whats it mean? He couldn’t stop touching the stone, afraid that if he did he would stop feeling that warm breeze that settled itself into his bones and seeped into organs.

A lot. Danny laughed and brushed a hand through his hair, a faint pink tinge to his freckled cheeks. Clarity, uhm, like pushing out the darkness of your life to let in light and… like protection during new adventures and… shit like that. He puttered out, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and gnawing softly at it with even pressure. It’s… stupid.

No, Ben rushed to reassure, his eyes wide and begging. It’s perfect. He swallowed and pulled it out of the box, slipping it over his head easily and tucking it under his shirt so it could touch the skin there. The breeze spread through his body, flowing to his fingertips and toes and pressing into the ground. He felt steady in a way he hadn’t before. Sure of himself. Your… your family believes in this stuff right?

It was something Ben had found out a while ago. Over the summer when Ben still wasn’t used to not going over to the Anderson’s house every Friday and Saturday. He had walked into what he remembered used to be a guest room that he could crash in when Ryan had gone to take a nap. Only it wasn’t a guest room anymore, and sitting on the dresser was a moon chart, a book with three intercrossed crescent moons in the middle of the cover, and some dried flowers. He hadn’t ever really asked Danny about it, but he had gone home to look up what exactly the symbol had meant.

Yeah. My mom does. Not Mary.

Ben had never met Danny’s mom and Danny almost never talked about her. Something had happened to make Danny spend weekends with his father, that much Ben knew.

Cool. Ben could feel the stone on his chest, warming to his body temperature and light enough that he almost forgot he had even put it on. It’s perfect. Thank you.

You’re welcome. Danny had mumbled and Ben, too bold thanks to the alcohol spread in his belly and the newfound present had leaned forward before his brain could stop him. His lips, dry and chapped had meant to press into Danny’s cheek but, maybe, his aim had been off or maybe Danny had turned his head because they, instead, pressed to Danny’s lips. Soft, startled, perfect.

He hadn’t meant for it to happen and that much was clear but Danny didn’t pull away. In fact, he kissed him back, harder than Ben had kissed him.

It wasn’t a long kiss, was the most inexperienced kiss Ben had ever had, the worst stumble his way through moment of his life up to that point