“Yup, good to go.”
Luna flipped the sign to say ‘open,’ frowning again at the black cat that still sat on the curb, her gaze flicking up to a raven that had come to perch in the tree next to it.
“Alright. Let’s sell some people some good vibes.” She smiled at me, and I winked back.
“Fuck yeah, let’s do it.”
The shop had been busy that day. It was late summer, and the closer we got to fall, the busier Salem was. People from all over the world came to Salem for Halloween, and usually by October, the streets werepacked.
I was doing my best to enjoy these last few weeks of relative peace and quiet before all mayhem broke loose.
“That cat’s still out there,” Luna observed as I wrapped up an amethyst ring for a customer.
I shrugged. “Probably hoping someone will feed it.”
Luna’s brow creased. She didn’t look convinced, but I wasn’t too worried about it. Weird shit happened to me all the time. My grandmother said it was just part of being a Bishop. We were descendants of one of the oldest Western bloodlines. Of course weird shit was going to happen from time to time. The universe worked in mysterious ways. I’d learned to just trust it. If the cat was important, it would show me soon enough why it was here. I didn’t need to go poking into things that hadn’t yet made themselves partof my business.
The bell rang again, and I glanced up to find a man darkening the doorway. I wouldn’t have paid him much mind, but an ominous chill rolled through the shop, and my gut twisted with anxiety at his appearance.
The cat was still on the curb, watching, though his ears were now flattened against his head. I couldn’t hear it, but I saw him hiss at the man as he entered.
“Welcome to Luna and Luci’s Crystals,” Luna said lightly, though I could tell by the crease in her brow she was getting bad vibes from this guy, too.
He was handsome; I’d give him that. Tall, well over six feet with chestnut hair styled in a pretentious coiffe. We didn’t often get men that exuded this level of‘I’m a straight man’at the shop. Ninety percent of our clientele were girls, gays, and theys. This dude looked like a fish out of water.
He was wearing brown suede boots, blue jeans, and a brown leather bomber jacket that looked worn but was probably more expensive than anything I owned.
His dark eyes fell on me, and I resisted the urge to shiver. Instead of balking, I tucked a strand of my bone-white hair behind my ear and met his gaze head-on.
“Can we help you?” I repeated Luna’s previous question, and a slow, predatory smile curled across his lips.
“I hope so,” he rumbled, stepping further into the shop, bringing his shitty energy with him. “I’m looking for Harper Bishop.”
I frowned. “That’s me,” I said, glancing out the window again at the cat that now had its paws pressed against the window. Its ears were still flat against its head, and it looked pissed… If a cat could possibly look pissed.
“Axel, Axel Ward,” the man introduced himself, extending a hand. I eyed his hand skeptically but didn’t take it. I could feel myself bristling, and I knew better than to question my intuition.
Witches used touch in various ways to cast magic. I wasn’t voluntarily touching some guy that gave me the ick.
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I asked, not bothering to hide the hostility in my voice.
His practiced smile faltered slightly, and anger flashed in his dark eyes. It was gone just as quickly as it came, and he painted his mask on like a professional bullshitter.
“I’m working with an associate to facilitate a project that we’re hoping will bring Salem back to its roots. We’ve run into some opposition with the… Wiccancommunity, and it’s come to my attention that as a Bishop, you may be able to help us smooth things over if you give our humble church your blessing.”
My jaw dropped open, and Luna let out a shocked laugh, her eyes crinkling in the corners.
“Oh, this should be good.” She smirked, leaning back against one of the display cases to watch the drama unfold.
“Achurch?Like for Jesus and shit?” I barked, and Axel’s frown deepened.
Not that I had any problem with churches; we had a bunch in town and a relatively active Christian community. We were supportive of spirituality in general as long as people respected each other’s beliefs.
The issue was, if this man was trying to open a church here and had met any sort of backlash, I could already tell what kind ofchurchthis was going to be.
Considering Salem’s history, we were all a little hesitant to give too much power to any one form of doctrine. This guy’s overall vibe and the way he had said Wiccanwas setting off all kinds of alarm bells.
“It is our hope that we can bring back the traditional values that this town was built upon and foster a sense of community from like-minded folk. Your endorsement would go a long way in helping us generate buzz. We have a very revolutionary priest spearheading the project. I would love to have you over to meet him so you could make an informed decision for yourself.”
