Unfortunate Decrees and Iced Coffees, page 1
Unfortunate Decrees and Iced Coffees
A Cauldron Coffee Shop Story
Laura Greenwood
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Author Note
Also by Laura Greenwood
About the Author
© 2021 Laura Greenwood
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All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.
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Cover by Vampari Designs
Unfortunate Decrees and Iced Coffees is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Blurb
When necromancer archaeologist, Sabine, is asked to supervise an excavation of the mysterious Humber Stone, she can't resist the challenge.
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But when she arrives and discovers her warlock ex is intent on stopping the dig, she realises it may be a harder task than she first thought.
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The excavation may be plagued by the bad luck brought about by the stone, but at least things aren't quite so bad for Sabine's love life...
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Unfortunate Decrees and Iced Coffees is a companion story to the Cauldron Coffee Shop modern fantasy series, and features an m/f romance.
1
The excitement of a new dig is almost too much for me to deal with. It always is. There's something about the feel of unstruck ground beneath my boots and the possibility of what's to come. It's one of the reasons I went into this line of work. The rest of it was for the adventure. There aren't many films about accountants, but there are about archaeologists.
I park my car in the designated spot and pull the door open to hop out. The team has already set up several tents, which is going to be more necessary here than in a lot of my other digs. I have the great British weather to thank for that. Even this early in the day, the wind rattles the canvas, giving the whole place a storm-tossed feel. It's oddly beautiful.
But the weather isn't why I'm here.
The Humber Stone and its mysteries beckon me, even from this distance. It might not be as visually impressive as some of the other digs I've run, but it's almost more of an enigma. No one knows what it is, or what secrets it's keeping. That's why they've called me in. They want to know, and I'm good at this kind of thing.
If I'm honest about it, there's a good chance I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it either. If people haven't managed for centuries, then how am I going to manage in a few weeks of digging?
I push the thought to the side. It doesn't matter if I can do it. The challenge is the same.
"Hi Sabine," Angelica says, greeting me with her trademark clipboard and a wide smile on her face. "Everything's set up the way you like it. The team is doing tests on the soil and the structure so we know what we're up against."
I nod. "Great. Anything in particular I need to be aware of before we get going?"
Her smile falters. That's not good. It normally means someone is trying to make our lives difficult. I hate it when they do that.
"There's someone waiting for you in the main tent. He says his name is Sawyer..."
I groan.
"Do you know him?"
"We've crossed paths."
Angelica raises an eyebrow. "That bad?"
"You don't know the half of it."
A part of me wishes I'd stayed in Egypt rather than coming back to my home country, especially if I have to deal with Sawyer Tarly. His reputation is well known throughout the archaeology world. And that's without adding my personal experiences of him into the mix.
And how much he hates me.
"I'll deal with him, just make sure everyone is ready for when the testing teams have finished. Do they have an estimate for when that'll be?"
"They're hoping tomorrow, but it might be the day after."
"Okay. Great. If that's the case, I'll deal with Mr Tarly and do a tour of the area, and then I'll be going on a personal errand."
Angelica's eyebrows shoot up.
"I live not far from here," I say by way of an explanation. Though I suppose technically, that's not really true. My official and legal accommodation is about an hour away, but I spend most of my life jumping between dig sites and living in tents. I wouldn't want it any other way, but I'm looking forward to seeing my best friend again, it's been too long since I spent an evening hanging out with Willow.
"Will you still be reachable?" Angelica asks.
"Of course." I may want to spend some time doing personal stuff, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten I'm in charge of this dig. I refuse to leave my team in the lurch. Most of them will already know that. Even if we're halfway around the world from normal, most of them agreed to come with me.
"Excellent. Where am I to tell people you are if they ask?" Angelica asks.
"Just off-site will do." Anything more than that and people might start talking about where they think I am. The last thing I want is for them to turn up at my best friend's coffee shop and overwhelm her right around the time I want to spend time with her. After I've gone is fine, that'll be good for her business and she makes the best coffee.
Angelica nods and makes a note on her clipboard. "I'll send you the end of the day summary as normal."
"Thanks. I'll go deal with Mr Tarly now. Hopefully, he won't be much of a problem going forward that way." Knowing Sawyer, that might not be an option.
"Got it." She waves and heads over to one of the supervisors running the tests.
I sigh. I wish we could get some of it done quicker, but there are only so many tests we can do on-site, most have to be sent off to a proper lab before we can do anything else.
But that's okay. I'm used to this part. It's often weeks until we can get a dig started, but this one is relatively small so it shouldn't take as long.
Depending on what Sawyer wants.
I take the long route to the main tent, trying to formulate some kind of plan about what to say to him. I never expected to see him again after we broke up, despite working in similar fields. But he's always focused on the British history side of things, while I've spent most of my career in Africa and the Middle East.
Putting thousands of miles between the two of us meant I never really had to deal with the fallout of our relationship. He wasn't wrong when he accused me of running away from what was between us. I've never truly gotten over him, which is making me even less confident about going in to see him.
But there's only so long I can put it off without raising suspicions, and I need to clear the way for my team to do their jobs.
This is not how I wanted to start my dig.
2
The moment I enter the main tent, I know I'm in trouble.
Sawyer's back is turned to me, but I don't need to see his front to know he's been working out a lot since I last saw him. The muscles on his back ripple as he moves, even under his shirt.
My mouth runs dry.
This does not bode well for me, and I don't even know what he wants yet.
I clear my throat. "Mr Tarly, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
He spins around, his eyes widening in surprise as he takes me in.
"Sabine? What are you doing here?" He drags his gaze up and down me.
Suddenly I'm regretting the practical clothing and lack of makeup I picked this morning, even though I know it's best for the environment I'm in.
"You asked to see the person in charge of the dig," I say, my voice not even wavering slightly. That's a relief, I thought I was going to be a complete and utter mess.
"You're in charge?"
"You don't need to sound so surprised." I cross my arms across my chest and try to look unimpressed.
"I didn't think you did digs around here."
"I don't normally, but I was asked to supervise this one personally."
"Ah."
"That doesn't explain why you're here," I point out. "I pick each and every member of my team myself, unless you've lied on an application form, your name isn't on that list."
"It isn't," he agrees.
"So, what are you doing here?" I'm not sure whether to be saddened or relieved that it isn't to do with me, but he didn't seem like he was expecting me to enter the tent, which I suspect rules out some scenarios.
"I'm from the Department of M
I raise an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you didn't see eye to eye with them."
"They funded my Master’s Degree after you left," he responds stiffly.
I try to ignore the slight heat which rises to my cheeks. I didn't leave to get away from him, I was offered an apprenticeship that I couldn't turn down. And I'm grateful for it every day considering that's how I got to where I am now.
"What does the DMH want with our little dig?"
"They want you to put a stop to it."
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "They've already approved the dig. I wouldn't be here if they hadn't." I saw nothing in the permit paperwork that even suggested there was any controversy over this.
"There's been some miscommunication between the departments," Sawyer says.
"Right. So what you're saying is that the excavation has been approved, is still approved, but someone who didn't check all the details before the paperwork was completed and sent back to me, doesn't want this to happen for one reason or another?"
He purses his lips, clearly unhappy with my statement but unable to refute it.
"Am I wrong?" I prompt once it's clear he isn't going to say anything.
"No, you're not."
"Then I fail to see why this warrants a personal visit."
"I'm here to urge you to stop the dig and consider the dangers."
"It's a stone, Sawyer. It's less dangerous than most of what I deal with."
"That's what you think," he mutters darkly.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "I'm guessing you have inconclusive research for me to read so I can make up my own mind?"
He glares at me, clearly unimpressed by my accurate observation. While I haven't had to deal with him in this context before, I have had to deal with plenty of other condescending warlocks who assume I don't understand that investigating ancient sites can come with dangers.
It's like they don't think there's a reason for the curse breakers who are part of our dig teams when it comes to magical sites. Though admittedly, the curse breaker I want is too busy with her final exams at Grimalkin Academy to be onsite right now. She's promised that if I need her, then I can call her and she'll come. I hope that won't be necessary. While she's well aware that she has a job offer when she leaves regardless of what her marks are like, I know she'll want the security of decent grades.
"It's not inconclusive," Sawyer says with the hint of a huff. "It's said that the Humber Stone is the gateway to hell..."
"It's also said that it's just a stone," I point out. "I can't make my decisions based on what it might be when that's precisely what I'm being paid to find out."
"Sabine, please." There's almost a begging note in his voice. "At least look at the information before doing this."
I sigh. He has a point. If I don't look at what he's brought and then one of my team member's gets hurt, I'm never going to forgive myself.
"Fine. Let me see."
He gestures to the low table in front of him which is covered in various pieces of paper. I'd thought they were related to the general organisation of the dig, but it turns out I'm wrong.
"I see you made yourself at home."
"If you said no, I was going to clear it up really slowly and hope you got frustrated enough that you came to help and then saw something that interested you," he admits.
"Ah, that trick." He'd used it on me a few times while we'd still been at the academy together.
It had worked every time. I'm sure it would have done this one too. A lot had changed in the time we'd spent apart, but not that much.
I step up to the table and start scanning the pages he's laid out.
"This one is of particular interest," he says, pointing to a photocopy of an old scroll.
I lean over and peer at it, trying not to let myself get distracted by his familiar scent.
Bits and pieces of the research catch my attention, but none of the sources he's brought seem to agree on one very important thing.
What the Humber Stone is.
"This is only supporting the need for this excavation," I point out. "If no one has any idea what the stone is, then we need to find out."
"Or we could just leave it alone and not invoke something ancient and vengeful."
I raise an eyebrow. "Do you really think that's going to happen?"
"Maybe I've seen one too many horror films, but I don't want to tempt fate. Do you?"
I groan. Is he seriously still obsessed with those things? "Why do you still watch them if they make you paranoid?"
"Because I enjoy them and they teach me the proper amount of caution. Maybe they should have made you watch more while you were doing your apprenticeship."
"I had lots of other things to focus on."
"Like dead bodies?"
"Don't talk about that here," I mutter.
"You haven't told anyone that you're a necromancer, have you?"
I sigh. "It's not an easy thing to bring up. Most people get so squeamish about it as if they think I'm going to kill them in their sleep. You know it doesn't work like that."
"Maybe if you trusted them with the information, they'd surprise you. And you could help remove some of the stigma."
"Perhaps. But I don't trust people. Though I suspect most of them know anyway."
"How?"
"There's a lot of smart people on this team. I'm sure more than one of them has figured out I'm stronger magically when we find a large cache of well-preserved bodies, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out."
No matter how hard I try to hide it, some things are just unavoidable. That's one of them. I can't control when my magic recharges, nor would I want to. Getting a magic boost from the ancient dead is something most necromancers can only dream of. Most of my kind spend their lives living next to graveyards and pretending to be witches. Funnily enough, that was how I'd ended up at Grimalkin Academy and meeting Sawyer in the first place.
"Then you should tell them. You could end up losing some of their loyalty if they work it out and you haven't been honest with them."
I purse my lips, not wanting to admit that it's something I've been worrying about since the beginning.
"I think you should stop sticking your nose in where it shouldn't be," I snap.
Surprise flits through his eyes. I don't think he expected me to be so sharp with him. And he has a point. No matter what my personal feelings are, Sawyer is here in a professional capacity and as am I. That means I need to act like it. Especially as the DMH not only controls many of the places of interest in this country, but have far-reaching connections in other countries around the world too. The last thing I need is for him to make a report that harms my reputation and then I end up banned from making any kind of contributions in my own field.
"How long are you planning on observing the dig for?" I ask instead.
"Until you stop it."
"Right. So you should plan for at least three weeks."
"If that's how long it's going to be, then I am."
I scowl. Somehow, I thought he'd be easier to put off than this.
"Well, if that's everything, I'm afraid I need to get going. I have an appointment to keep..."
"You mean you're going to see Willow."
"It's none of your business where I go," I counter. "If you need anything, Angelica is around." Though I'll be telling her to keep a close eye on him, the last thing I want is to leave him running around my dig site and doing untold damage.
I don't wait for him to respond and walk out of the tent, my whole body on edge from the encounter.
Going to see Willow is just what I need right now. Time away from the intensity of the dig.
And from Sawyer. I may not have been around him for long, but it's enough to have put me on edge. And to remind me of everything I lost when we broke up. Having him around is going to be dangerous for me, I can tell.
3
