All the Wicked Ways Read online

  All the Wicked Ways

  A Collection of Witchy Librarian Mysteries

  E M Moore

  Copyright © 2019 by E M Moore

  All rights reserved.

  No part of these books may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Also By E. M. Moore

  Ravana Clan Vampires Series

  Chosen By Darkness

  Into the Darkness

  Falling For Darkness

  Surrender To Darkness

  Ravana Clan Legacy Series

  A New Genesis

  Tracking Fate

  Cursed Gift

  Veiled History

  Fractured Vision

  Order of the Akasha Series

  Stripped (Prequel)

  Summoned By Magic

  Tempted By Magic

  Ravished By Magic

  Indulged By Magic

  Enraged By Magic

  Her Alien Scouts Series

  Kain Encounters

  Kain Seduction

  Rise of the Morphings Series

  Of Blood and Twisted Roots

  Safe Haven Academy Series

  A Sky So Dark

  Chronicles of Cas Series

  Reawakened

  Hidden

  Power

  Severed

  Rogue

  The Adams’ Witch Series

  Bound In Blood

  Cursed In Love

  Witchy Librarian Cozy Mystery Series

  Wicked Witchcraft

  One Wicked Sister

  Wicked Cool

  Wicked Wiccans

  Contents

  Wicked Witchcraft

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  One Wicked Sister

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Wicked Cool

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Also by E M Moore

  About the Author

  Wicked Witchcraft

  Chapter 1

  It was a dark and stormy night…

  Yes, really. Of course, it was. It was only my biggest night of the year as librarian of Salem Public. Why wouldn’t it be raining like the devil outside? And the lightning—don’t get me started on the lightning.

  Mrs. Ward looked at me and then looked out at our guests with a smile painted on her face. Without moving her lips, she said, “You’re frowning again. Please stop frowning.”

  An automatic smile returned to my face. It was like I was in show business and had to keep up the air of being perfect all the time. How could actors pretend for so long? Oh, wait. Okay, that made sense. It was kind of their job. But, I was not an actress, and faking it was taking its toll on me. “I’m fine,” I said, my lips also barely moving as I smiled at the mayor who’d just walked in. She’d must have had a gigantic umbrella because nothing about her said she’d just walked through a torrential downpour to attend this evening’s festivities.

  “Miss Styles,” she said, her dark eyes appraising me. “Congratulations on your big night. It’s a shame about the weather though. Nothing you could control, I suppose.”

  She gave me a curious look, but I ignored it. All my life, Salem residents had been giving me similar looks—inquisitive, questioning, sometimes even downright scornful. I wasn’t always good at pretending I didn’t see them, but over the years, I’d trained myself to appear unaffected.

  Instead of allowing her to bait me, I thanked Mayor Sumner for coming, my gaze never leaving the raindrop on the tip of her nose. Ha. So much for being perfect. Couldn’t she feel it just sitting there though? It made my nose itch. I so wanted to take my finger and wipe it off for her. Something about Mayor Sumner told me she wouldn’t approve of that though. Instead, after she moved away, I rubbed the tip of my own nose with the back of my hand.

  “You too, huh?” Mrs. Ward asked.

  I peeked over at my Librarian Assistant who moved her nose back and forth and up and down. “Careful,” I said. “You look like that actress from Bewitched.”

  “Maybe I’ll spell us a rich couple who would love nothing more than to donate their money to procuring a new elevator for the library. Nose twitch-nose twitch. Abracadabra.”

  Despite my resolution on staying firm against witch jokes, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think abracadabra is a magician thing, not a witch thing.”

  Mrs. Ward looked at me from the corner of her eye. She was too polite to ask me anything about my witchy ancestry and I liked her better for it. Frowning, she said, “Oh, I thought I read it in Harry Potter.”

  “Technically, abracadabra only sounds like Rowling’s death curse—Avada Kedavra—but I don’t think you mean to bring that to tonight’s festivities.”

  “Gosh no!” She shivered. Any talk of Harry Potter gave her nightmares starring Bellatrix Lestrange. We’d gone together to see the last movie and when Mrs. Weasley took her out, she stood up and whooped like we were at a high school football game. Funniest thing in the world to see. The other theater patrons applauded more for Mrs. Ward than they did about Bellatrix getting hers in the end—me included.

  “I haven’t seen Mr. Sanders yet, have you?” I asked.

  “No,” she said, scanning the crowd. “Not yet. He told you he would be here, so he will. Don’t worry so much.”

  If I had a nickel for every time someone told me not to worry too much, I wouldn’t need to raise funds for the new library elevator. My gaze moved around the room, trying to spot Mr. Sanders’ thinning hair amongst all the other patrons meandering around the first level.

  The Salem Public Library was housed in an old mansion built in the mid 1800’s. It had three and a half floors. Children’s in the basement, first floor held the popular titles and new releases, the second floor—which was only a half floor—was perfect for our YA material, and then the third was reference books, computers, and older fiction and non-fiction. Like other buildings in historic Salem, it was ornate and had a rather fascinating history. Tonight, all other levels except for the main floor were closed. Mrs. Ward and I had arranged the area near the front desk for refreshments and snacks as well as a place to gather and talk. Hopefully about donating money to the library for a new elevator.

  I’d placed poster boards of statistics all around the foyer proving to the community how much the library did for it. There were a few citizens, including Mr. Sanders, who’d pledged to donate a lot of money for the new elevator and the longer he went without showing, the more my stomach churned and knotted. If my first big fundraiser was a bust, the board would most likely let me go when my contract was up.

  Seeing as how I was the youngest Library Director in Salem Public history, it wouldn’t be that difficult of a task to do. Most of the board was unsure about me to begin with because I didn’t have a chain that held my glasses around my neck. In fact, I
didn’t even wear glasses at all. That discovery sent shock waves through the library community.

  It didn’t. Not really. Shock waves was an exaggeration, but they were truly worried that someone as young as I was couldn’t handle the position. I was bound and determined to show them differently, however.

  “He’ll be here,” Mrs. Ward reassured me. “Old George never wastes an opportunity to put himself in the public eye. How do you think he became so rich? He owns half the businesses in this town.”

  “Except for tourism. That’s Troy Levine’s market,” I reminded her.

  “Since the library doesn’t help tourism that much, I don’t think you’ll be seeing him here tonight. Let’s focus on who will write us the big checks. Why don’t you head out there and mingle so you can convince these people to open their wallets?”

  I took a deep breath and smoothed my dress down. I’d opted for fashionably chic tonight and less sweater and bun. It was a risk because I knew what all the stereotypes said about my profession, but there was no way I was wearing a simple pencil skirt to my first fundraiser.

  By all accounts, everything looked good on paper for this night being a complete success. I begged and pleaded and was able to get all the food donated. The library itself was a decoration so no need to waste precious budget money on that. Otherwise, it was just a bunch of elbow grease and hard work making the poster boards highlighting the library’s involvement in the community and setting up the refreshment area. Every single cent people donated tonight would go toward replacing the ancient elevator.

  I noticed Mr. Williams standing near the broken monstrosity where the most impressive poster boards were. I made my way over to him. He was Mr. Sanders business partner. I didn’t expect him to be quite so generous, but hey, you never knew. Besides, he may be able to give some insight as to where Sanders was.

  “Hello, Mr. Williams,” I said brightly. “So glad you could make it tonight.”

  He jumped, fists tightening into strong mallets at his side. Turning toward me, his face was pale and stretched thin. He put his hand over his chest after recognizing me. “My goodness, Miss Styles. You scared me.”

  Sweat dotted his upper lip as he looked around to see if anyone had noticed his minor freak out. “I’m sorry, Mr. Williams. I saw you over here taking an interest in our children’s statistics and thought I could answer some questions for you. Are you alright?”

  Mr. Williams wrung his hands together in front of him before looking back at me. “Of course. I’m fine. You just came up from behind me and I didn’t notice you there until you started talking. Just a blast to the ticker that’s all.” He tried to smile, but it didn’t look genuine. I must have really frightened the older man. He cleared his throat and looked back at the poster boards. “To answer your question, no, I don’t have any questions regarding the statistics. Very well done though. I’m not surprised that story times have bolstered our elementary school aged children’s reading scores.”

  “Good.” A large smile overtook my face. “I couldn’t be happier about the help the library provides the community.”

  Mr. Williams’s gaze strayed toward another board, but he looked completely out of it. He looked through it, not at it. His back collar was damp with sweat. I peeked around him toward the other gentlemen in the room wearing suits. None of the others seemed to be sweating. I could turn the air up, but that seemed like overkill for just Mr. Williams.

  Since he neither acknowledged me nor looked as if he were up to talking, I moved on. Mrs. Gray, owner of a local restaurant, stood near one of the fiction displays we pushed aside for that evening. Smiling, I made my way toward her. “I’m not surprised to find you over here, Mrs. Gray.”

  She looked up and smiled over the top of a paperback with a guy donning a cowboy hat on the front. Mrs. Gray was into Western Romances so I kept us stocked up in those. “I see you just got this in. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Barbara?”

  “Sorry,” I said, sheepishly, still not calling her by her first name even though I was much more in my element when I was talking books. “I emailed you as soon as I checked that in this morning.”

  Mrs. Gray’s shoulders deflated. “I haven’t had time to check my email all day. If I had, I would’ve run over earlier to grab it before anyone else did.”

  “No need to bother,” I said. “I believe Mrs. Ward put it on hold for you. Teddy wasn’t here today, so he hadn’t pulled it yet.”

  She moved a little closer. “Do you think I could, uh, get this checked out for me tonight?” she asked.

  Her eyebrows raised and I could see the gleam in her eyes at the promise of a good story she held in her hand. “I’m sure Mrs. Ward can arrange something. And that will give Teddy one less thing to do come tomorrow morning.”

  “He’s a good kid,” she said. “I’m glad his volunteering here is working out for you.”

  “Me too. It allows me to focus on other things, like this fundraiser. We really need that new elevator. Mrs. Clark hasn’t been able to go up to the reference area in three months. I’ve been bringing down what she needs, but it isn’t an ideal scenario at all.”

  “Well, you know I’ll be writing a check to the library tonight, Maddie. You can count on it. I don’t make the big bucks like others here do, but I can hold my own and certainly gift something to the library when you’re in need it. It’s done so much for me.”

  My heart warmed. At least I knew I was going to get one check this evening, and talking to her about the library’s needs was much easier than I thought. “That means a lot to me, Mrs. — Barbara. Thank you.”

  Barbara Gray was the ideal library patron. Pleasant, never so much as incurred a fine on her library card, and used it weekly and sometimes daily. If I had a hundred more patrons like her, I would be ecstatic. That was the goal. I needed to bring the library into the forethought of the public mind. Hard to do when tourism and witches were always on the minds of Salem’s residents.

  I had a couple ideas to fuse the two though. Just needed the chance to prove myself.

  “I’m sure if you head over to Mrs. Ward right now, she’ll take care of you. You look beautiful by the way. I love that color blue on you.”

  Mrs. Gray beamed. “This old thing?” she asked, winking. “I got it out of the back of the closet.”

  “Me too,” I said, following her lead and smoothing down the front of my skirt.

  “Exactly.”

  After a little more mingling, I was exhausted. That’s what happens when you’re an introvert masquerading as an extrovert. I’d have to hibernate for days to recover from this. Maxie would enjoy that.

  He was my cute mutt. A cross between a beagle and some sort of terrier. The look he gave me before I left the apartment this evening tore at my heart strings. He accompanied me to the library on occasion, but I didn’t think it was appropriate for the fundraiser, no matter how much Salem touted the city as dog-friendly.

  Mayor Sumner made her way through the crowd toward me. I met her halfway seeing as how she looked as if she were a woman on a mission. “Do you have the sound system in place?” she asked.

  “Yes, it’s right near the entrance to the broken elevator.”

  “Fantastic,” she said. “I thought I’d say a few things and then you could follow up.”

  I’d already resigned myself to public speaking tonight and if it meant we got a new elevator out of the deal, so be it. The thought of it terrified me though. “Of course.”

  The mayor turned and Mrs. Ward was at my side. “Is it time?” she asked.

  “It is.”

  “You’ll do great,” she said. “Just speak from your heart. I’ve never heard anyone more passionate about libraries than you. I wish Jackson were here. He must not have been able to get off work.”

  I ignored her Jackson comment. She’d been trying to fix me up with her son since… Well, since after college.

  I hurried toward the elevator and moved the small podium into place
along with the mic stand. After turning on the speakers, I tapped the mic. The sound reverberated around the room, effectively gathering everyone’s attention. “Thank you for coming,” I said. “Mayor Sumner will start by saying a few words.”

  I let her take center stage. She was far more comfortable there and I couldn’t help thinking again how political she was. The typical public representative, she had enough fake smiles for everyone there. She spoke far longer than I thought she would, but was pleased when she urged everyone to open their checkbooks and give whatever they felt comfortable with.

  During her round of applause, I took her place. After a quick look at Mrs. Ward, who gave me a thumbs up, I delved into my spiel about being better able to serve the community with a working elevator, explaining how not having it negatively affected the library’s patrons, using the elderly and handicapped as examples.

  It was all going well until Mayor Sumner, who was poking around the elevator, pushed the up button. The door creaked open, interrupting my train of thought. Everyone’s gazes shifted to the open doors and away from me. After that, there was no way to conceal what happened.