With You In Spirit (The Bassinville Witches Series)

Prologue

A
s Declan felt the bolt of magick hit him, a searing pain ran through his chest, and he knew it w
as over. A salty tear rolled fro
m the corner of his eye, not for himself, but for two others, who were waiting at home for him.

As he felt his b
ody hit the floor, blood pooled
around him,
and his body ran cold with unnatural ice. To his horror, the orb rolled from his hand, and it bounced off into the shadows with a merry clanking, glass upon stone.

The last thought as he sank into darkness, was of his beautiful wife and daughter waiting for him to return…

Chapter 1

C
atherine
leaned forwards on the bar, squirming uncomfortably on the bar stool. It was far too hot, and sweat shone slickly from her forehead. She ran her finger along the cold drink in front of her, wiping off the droplets that had gathered on the outside of the glass.

It was a melting hot day in
the whole of Louisiana, and even more so in
Bassinville. Even after living here for five years; she still hadn’t got used to the outrageous heat that sometimes melted the tyres to the roads. She was dress
ed
in cut-off denim shorts, a long yellow t-shirt, and brown leat
her cowboy boots. Her friend
Shawna had laughed
at her for wearing them constantly, as it was such a cliché in this part of the world, but she simply shrugged it off. Catherine had never been one to follow fashion, or even anything else that people said.

Shawna was sat next to her, leaning back in her bar stool, fanning herself with a beer mat, her eyes closed against the heat. Catherine leaned across and prodded her friend sharply, making her jump and snap open her dark brown eyes.

“Shawna…we’ve got to do something. Otherwise my tombstone is going to read ‘No body was ever found-just a puddle’.”

“What? You
mean about the weather? Ain’t no
thin’ you can do about that,
girl.
” Shawna nodded vehemently, fanning herself faster. Catherine loved her Southern drawl. Catherine herself was from North East England; her mother had moved out here five years ago, bringing Catherine and their three cats with her.

Catherine’s mother was odd; even by her own standards, but the whole town loved her none the less. She had travelled around the world, many years ago, and eventually settled herself for a while in England. Apparently, she had met Catherine’s father while on a beach, as he was swimming. They had fallen in love at first sight, and married just a month later. Not long after that, Catherine had come along. Then one day, he just…disappeared. One morning he was hugging them and telling them how much he loved them, and then he was…gone. Her mother had stayed there for years, hoping he would come back, but then decided enough was
enough. She waited until Catherine had finished school, and then bundled them all back to Bassinville.

Turning slowly on her squeaky red leather seat, Catherine viewed the bar, trying to will the cool air from the overhead fans to blow her way.
The bar was pretty much like any other in Louisiana, wooden panelling
and wooden floor. The overhead fans spun lazily, making the edge of the posters stuck up by the door rustle slightly. There was a clack of resin balls as two men played in the corner at the long pool table. Henri, the owner, was behind the bar, stacking up glasses for the under-bar dishwasher, humming a tuneless melody to himself.

She crossed her legs, leaning her head back, letting her long brunette hair cascade down her back, curling rebelliously. Grabbing her glass, she took a long sip of the drink within, wrinkling her nose at the taste. Still pulling a face, she spun round, and placed it back on the bar with a shudder. “Ugh, Henri, what the hell is that?”

Henri looked up in surprise, his wrinkled face framing his sharp blue eyes. “Whad’ya mean? It’s my own creation, got plenty of good stuff in there.”

Shawna reached over for the tall glass, and took a long sip from the straw; before coughing, and slamming it back down with a horrified look.
“Aw, hell no, Henri!
That tastes like something you made in the bath!”

Sighing, Henri shook his head, and continued to stack glasses. “Ah, well…I guess
it’s
back to the drawing board then. I won’t be usin
g olives in a blended drink any
more.
” At the mention of olives in the drink, Catherine and Shawna both pulled faces at one another, mimicking being sick. They loved Henri, but he was always trying to make new mixed drinks for people to try. It was his dream to make the bar more ‘cosmopolitan’, but he remained adamant that he could make better cocktails than the usual ones.

There was a bang behind them as the door swung open and shut, reverberating on its frame. Several determined, strong footsteps made their way across the floor to the bar, the floorboards creaking under the person’s weight. Shawna’s eyes opened wide, and she excitedly tried to get Catherine’s attention, pinching her arm.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?
As if I’m not uncomfortable enough right now.”

Shawna pointed as confidentially as she could, pointing over towards the other end of the bar. “I wouldn’t mind a drink of him….mm-
hm
!” she whispered into Catherine’s ear.

Catherine turned her head, expecting to see a carbon copy of every other pretty boy that resided in this town. They were usually Shawna’s type. But as she turned to look at the stranger leaning against the bar, she could see that this guy was
everyone’s
type.

A tall, black haired man leaned against the bar, dressed in dark blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a black shirt, opened a little way down his chest. A tattoo ran along his right arm, the vast patterns hidden by the light trail of hair along his forearms.
Two stormy grey eyes peered out from a face that was chiselled and rugged all at once. He ran a hand over his already tousled hair, and turned slowly to meet her gaze. As she continued to gawp, he flashed
her a
heart-stopping grin, revealing even, straight white teeth.

Embarrassed by her obvious stare at him, Catherine quickly turned her face away, staring hard into the noxious drink Henri had made for her, blushing brightly. Shawna sniggered at her reaction, and moved her stool closer, so that she could whisper to her. “Ain’t he
stunning?
”

Catherine tried to bat her friend away, aware that the stranger was still watching them, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Shut up, Shawna!”

Luckily, Henri came to her rescue before she lit up the whole bar with her flushed cheeks, and walked over to the stranger, placing a glass in front of him.
“On the house, friend.
Sure is a hot one today!”

“Why, thank you,
that’s
very kind of you.” The stranger lifted the drink in a cheerful salute to Henri, and then towards the two girls, before knocking the cool water back in one go. Catherine shuddered as she heard his deep tones. His voice was rich and sensuous, a southern drawl like Shawna’s. She saw him raising the glass to her and Shawna, but pretended she didn’t see it. Shawna giggle
d
and nudged her hard with her elbow. Catherine scowled at her, concentrating harder than ever at her glass, as if she could make it shatter
if she stared at it long enough.

Henri spoke up again. “So are you just passing through?” The question was innocent enough, but Henri was just like the rest of the town; eternal gossips. Part of
being a small town meant that everyone knew everyone else, and strangers caused a great stir.
A new topic of conversation, as it were
.

The stranger nodded, and leaned his elbow on the bar, kicking his boot up onto the brass kick-rail that ran around the edge of the polished redwood. “No, I’m staying a few days. My family came from around these parts, and I’m doing a little family research, you might say.”

“Oh, sounds very interesting. Would I have known any of your family?”

There a chuckle from the man, and he shook his head. “No, I’m talking
way
back. My great-great grandfather came from here, but he moved away when he was still young.”

“Hey, if you’re looking for someone to help you with your research, my friend here could help you?”

Catherine looked up slowly, glaring at Shawna, who was grinning at her with a
what-did-I-say
face.
Shawna looked over at the man again,
and beckoned him across. Still smiling lazily, he pulled himself upright, and strode over.

“Howdy.
Nice to meet you both.”
Catherine slipped off her chair, and turned around, keeping her eyes lowered.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“English, huh?
Such a pretty accent.”
Shawna nudged her pointedly, and Catherine looked up sharply, smiling like a loon. She had never understood that phrase that some women used, when they said that the sight of a man had stolen their breath away, but she understood it now. His eyes captured hers, and she held her hand out for him to shake. Instead, to her surprise, he took it and kissed it, gently.

Keeping her smirk at Catherine’s astonished face in
check,
Shawna perked in, and said, “She can help you because she has a history degree. She did a lot of that family tree stuff. Although at the moment, she’s just the elementary school teacher.”

“Shawna! I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear about my life story, do you, Mr…?” Catherine felt herself becoming a little more in control as she let the question drift off, looking at him closely.

“Mr
Rouquette
. But you can call me Caden.” She felt sure if he had been wearing a hat, he probably would have tipped it at her.

“Charmed.
I’m Catherine, and my loud-mouth friend here is Shawna.”

Shawna flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder, the tiny plaits catching the light. She smiled, fawn-like, at Caden, practically batting her eyelashes. Caden smiled back at her, and nodded, but didn’t kiss her hand as he had with Catherine.
Yes, score one to me!
Catherine thought to herself. She wasn’t especially competitive about men with Shawna, but this time she was. With her perfect chocolaty skin, her deep brown eyes, and her generous curves, Shawna usually managed to pull any man before Catherine even got a look in.