ExSpelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 5): Witch Cozy Mystery series Read online

Everyone greeted us warmly, each hugging me in turn.

  “I’m so sorry!” Thyme squealed. “I can’t believe what happened on the island. I hope you’ll forgive us,” she pleaded. I noticed that Camino, Mint, and Ruprecht all bore similar expressions.

  “Oh, no, it’s fine,” I said earnestly. “I didn’t exactly have a good time, but it’s hardly the fault of anyone here. Besides, I’m not sure it was any worse than attending a cooking school that went as planned,” I admitted, hoping nobody would notice that I was only half joking.

  “Speaking of which, how did you go?” Mint asked. I considered that she was probably just trying to move the subject away from what had happened on the island, but I was all too happy to oblige.

  “Well, I only badly injured one person, exploded one utensil, and melted one pan, as well as a couple of smaller things. But no fires!” I announced happily, to which my friends cheered.

  “You’re improving.” Ruprecht beamed proudly as he patted me on the shoulder. I smiled, realizing that he was right. It surely wouldn’t be long before I could cook something edible. “Let’s sit,” he said as he motioned me to my chair at the table.

  I noticed that the air was thick with the scent of lavender incense, likely intended to help me relax. I appreciated the gesture and breathed it in heavily, enjoying the fragrance. I also noticed that something delicious was cooking, and found myself enjoying the atmosphere immensely. Between the warm room, the soft rain outside, and the smell of lavender and a delicious meal, there wasn’t anywhere I would rather have been.

  “Oh, Amelia,” Camino suddenly blurted out excitedly. “I got you a gift!”

  “Oh, no,” I said, horrified. I realized what I had said and quickly tried to correct it. “Uh, oh, no, you shouldn’t have.” I forced a smile.

  Camino waved my concerns away and pulled a gigantic piece of purple fabric from a bag before handing it over to me.

  “Um, thank you,” I said, still wearing the best smile I could manage. I really did appreciate the gesture, but Camino had a habit of getting the worst gifts imaginable. I looked down at what was in my hands and tried to figure out exactly what it was. It was lightly fluffy and had several long bits that I didn’t quite understand. It also seemed to have several differently sized holes.

  “Try it on!” Camino said excitedly. I felt my stomach sink. It was, of course, a onesie, one of her bizarre, horrible onesies, and she wanted me to try it on right in front of Alder. I briefly wondered if it was possible to get back to the island, but decided just to bite the bullet and get it over with.

  “Give me a minute,” I said, as I stood up and tried to resist the urge to run away. I walked into the bathroom and held the onesie aloft, finally realizing what it was. A gigantic, purple squid suit. It had several strange appendages, and what appeared to be a tiny beak. Did squids have beaks? I thought not. The head was enormous, and nearly as big as I was. I sighed deeply and tried to develop a plan to avoid wearing it without hurting Camino’s feelings, but came up blank. I decided I’d just have to try it on.

  After what felt like hours, but was probably just a handful of minutes, I managed to get into the onesie—or at least, what Camino described as a onesie, but was clearly some kind of bizarre Halloween costume.

  I walked, or rather waddled, back out into the dining room in my new squid suit. Part of me was hoping everybody would just laugh and forget about it, but it seemed as though they all wanted to spare Camino’s feelings as much as I did, as they simply stared for a moment, their mouths agape, before simultaneously complimenting me on how good it looked.

  I was mortified to be wearing it in front of Alder, though I knew he could appreciate my position and would know that I didn’t want to offend Camino. It was hard to admit, but the onesie was also incredibly comfortable, even if I didn’t quite understand why somebody would design a comfortable suit with several tentacles and a beak built into it.

  “It looks wonderful!” Camino announced happily before drawing me into a tight hug. “I might have to get myself one. I couldn’t decide between the squid and the platypus. The bill was so alluring,” she said, apparently lost in some bizarre train of thought.

  After several attempts, I managed to sit down next to Alder by holding all my tentacles in one of my squid-arms. At least, I think I managed to sit on the chair, but I might have been propped up on the floor. It was hard to tell through the enormous suit.

  Ruprecht and Alder were soon in deep discussion about matters philosophical. I heard mention of something called the inverted spectrum problem, and then Ruprecht spoke in an animated fashion about the concept of an entirely physicalist view of the universe. I was happy that Alder and Ruprecht were getting along so well, but it was the kind of conversation I would have loved to have been further away from. I yawned loudly and rubbed my eyes with a free tentacle.

  I snuggled into Alder in my surprisingly warm suit, enjoying the sound of the rain against the windows for the first time in days. The aromas of the house mixed together sweetly, the lavender incense mixed with whatever was cooking—some kind of roast, as far as I could tell—and Mint had just brought hot brewed tea for us all.

  It was good to be home.

  Connect with Morgana .

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  Next Book in this Series .

  The Halloween Spell (The Kitchen Witch Book SIX)

  An elderly woman arrives on Amelia’s doorstep claiming Amelia’s departed Aunt Angelica did a spell for her every Halloween. She insists Amelia do a love spell for her, and that’s when the trouble starts.

  Amelia cooks up a storm—literally—and the wind carries the love spell through Bayberry Creek. Is that why everyone is suddenly so nice? Is the spell responsible for the ensuing murder?

  And has Alder been affected?

  Other books by Morgana Best .

  A Ghost of a Chance (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 1)

  Nobody knows that Laurel Bay can see and talk to ghosts. When she inherits a funeral home, she is forced to return from the city to the small town of Witch Woods to breathe life into the business. It is a grave responsibility, but Laurel is determined that this will be no dead-end job.

  There she has to contend with her manipulative and overly religious mother, more than one ghost, and a secretive but handsome accountant.

  When the murder of a local woman in the funeral home strangles the finances, can Laurel solve the murder?

  Or will this be the death of her business?

  Note: This book is humorously irreverent in places, so please read only if you won’t be offended.

  Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisper Book 1)

  Prudence Wallflower tours the country, making live appearances. She connects people with loved ones who have passed on. However, her reputation as a psychic medium is failing, and even Prudence has begun to doubt herself. She has never seen a ghost, but receives impressions from the dead. This all changes when the ghost of a detective appears to her and demands her help to solve a murder. Prudence finds herself out of her depth, and to make matters worse, she is more attracted to this ghost than any man she has ever met.

  Series by Morgana Best.

  The Kitchen Witch

  1) Miss Spelled

  2) Dizzy Spells

  3) Sit for a Spell

  4) Spelling Mistake

  5) Ex-Spelled

  6) The Halloween Spell

  The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer

  1) Christmas Spirit

  2) Ghost Hunter

  Witch Woods Funeral Home

  1) A Ghost of a Chance

  2) Nothing to Ghost About

  3) Make the Ghost of It

  And Morgana’s non-Witch Cozy mysteries:

  C
ocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries

  1) Sweet Revenge

  2) The Sugar Hit

  The Australian Amateur Sleuth

  1) Live and Let Diet

  2) Natural-Born Grillers

  3) Dye Hard

  4) The Prawn Identity

  5) Any Given Sundae

  About Morgana Best .

  #1 Best-selling Cozy Mystery author, Morgana Best, lives in a sunny beachside town in Australia. She is owned by one highly demanding, rescued cat, and two less demanding dogs, a chocolate Labrador and a rescued Dingo, as well as two rescued Dorper sheep, the ram, Herbert, and his wether friend, Bertie.

  Morgana is a former college professor who now writes full time.

  In her spare time, Morgana loves to read cozy mysteries and walk her dogs along the beach.