No Rest for the Wicked, page 1
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
PEPPER MCGRAW
CONTENTS
Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Excerpt
Thank you for reading
Other Books by Pepper
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No Rest for the Wicked Copyright © 2021 Pepper McGraw
Digital Edition
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Cover Art:
Design by Definition
Edited by J.L. Troughton
PMG Publishing
DESCRIPTION
Twins.
One whose magic is rigid and constrained,
the other’s a hurricane of chaos.
Samantha Covington has always believed that order and restraint are the most important ingredients to a happy and safe existence. She prides herself on her absolute control and if that control somehow messes with her ability to cast the perfect spells, well, so be it. Better an organized life than one of utter chaos like her twin's.
Sadly, when her mother loses patience with the twins' inability to control their magics and casts a spell to infect Samantha with a bit of her sister's spontaneity, Samantha's life is suddenly a whole lot less controlled. Especially when she's around Jack Saunders, a man whose sheer masculinity has always tempted her to recklessness.
Now Samantha's in a battle, not just against the chaos her mother has cursed her with, but also against her own sexuality, which seems to have wakened with a ferocity she's never before experienced.
How in all the chaotic realms will her ordered life survive the likes of Jack Saunders?
1
“WHAT DO YOU think she wants?” Samantha muttered to her twin sister, Serena, as they waited for their mother, Elizabeth, to get off the phone with one of the department managers.
Serena sighed. “Probably wants to lecture us again.”
Samantha refrained from rolling her eyes, though she desperately wanted to. “It is that time of year, I suppose.”
“You’ll both be thirty soon,” Serena whispered, sounding remarkably like their mother.
“It’s past time for the two of you to gain control of your magic,” Samantha whispered back.
“Work together,” Serena said.
“Stop arguing,” Samantha said.
“Learn from each other,” the two of them chorused in soft tones.
“Right. That’s quite enough,” Elizabeth snapped.
“Oops,” Samantha muttered.
“Obviously the two of you know exactly why I’ve called you into my office, so I won’t bother with the lecture this time.”
That was unexpected. And purely wondrous.
Samantha envisioned giving Serena a high five and knew from the tingling in the palm of her hand that Serena had high-fived her back.
“So if you know what I’m going to say, why haven’t the two of you managed to figure things out yet?” Elizabeth demanded.
“There’s nothing to figure out,” Samantha said. “We’re just too different.”
“Exactly,” Serena said. “Samantha’s too serious and—well—”
“Serena’s too reckless,” Samantha said.
“I wouldn’t put it quite that way, but—” Serena paused a moment, then corrected herself. “Actually, yes, I would, but I like the chaos that comes from recklessness.”
“And I like being in control,” Samantha said. “Honestly, giving up my magic to achieve that control is a small price to pay. Much better not to use my magic at all than to be a victim of its chaos like Serena.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a victim.” Serena grinned. “More like a conspirator.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elizabeth said. “You two are twins, which means you have double the potential of any other witch. Triple it even.”
Serena groaned. “Mother, the twin amplification effect is just propaganda.”
“And even if it isn’t, it’s not worth the risk,” Samantha said. “You’ve seen some of Serena’s castings. Now imagine if we did achieve synchronicity and my powers actually amplified hers. I can’t even imagine the chaos that would result. Restraining my magic really is for the best.”
“I disagree entirely,” their mother said. “And not gaining control of your magic has real world consequences. Neither one of you will be earning a place on the Board of Directors at this rate.”
Serena made a scoffing sound. “As if I’d want to sit on a Board full of stodgy old witches.”
Samantha scowled. “I’ve already come to terms with losing that possibility, Mother. I really don’t need to be reminded over and over again.”
Serena whirled to stare at Samantha. “Are you saying you want to be on the Board?”
Samantha shrugged. “It’s not possible so I prefer not to think about it.”
Serena groaned. “Look, if I knew how to help you, I would. But your magic is too—” she made fists with her hands and shook them “—rigid and constrained. It allows for no flexibility at all. I have no idea how to work with it.”
“Yes, and your magic is like a hurricane that never stops. It causes chaos everywhere.”
Serena shrugged a shoulder. “I like chaos.”
“I know.” Samantha sighed. “But it doesn’t help when we’re casting from the same well.”
“Yes, and it’s time for both of you to gain control of that well,” Elizabeth said.
“My half is under perfect control,” Samantha said.
Elizabeth sighed. “Not accessing the well isn’t the same as controlling it, Samantha. In fact, you’re so locked down, I’m concerned your magic won’t respond in an emergency situation.”
Again, this was a risk Samantha was willing to take, especially considering how it had responded last time.
“And you, Serena, your magic is always on the verge of explosion. You could learn some restraint from your sister while Samantha could learn a bit of spontaneity from you.”
“I’m not really interested in learning spontaneity, Mother,” Samantha said.
“Nor am I interested in gaining any restraint,” Serena said. “That doesn’t sound fun at all.”
“Yes, well, I’m afraid you’re both out of luck.”
“What?” Samantha and Serena chorused.
“Here’s the deal. I considered the merits of the whole body switching thing, but that’s so cliche and overdone, so instead, a little bit of Serena’s recklessness to you—” She flicked her fingers at Samantha, who jolted as what felt like static electricity ran through her entire body. “—and a little bit of Samantha’s restraint to you.” She flicked the fingers of her other hand at Serena, who jumped in her chair and looked terribly spooked.
“Mother, what did you just do?” Samantha asked.
“I’ve shared a bit of your sister’s personality with each of you. The more restrained you try to become, Samantha, the more reckless you will act. I’d suggest you loosen up a bit before you destroy the world. And as for you, Serena, the more outrageous your behavior, the less fun you will actually have.”
“Hey.” Serena leapt to her feet. “You can’t do that. You can’t dictate the amount of fun I get to have.”
“Well, luckily for you both, the spell will only last for as long as necessary for you to learn control, Serena, and for you, Samantha, to learn to be spontaneous.”
“I can’t be spontaneous, Mother,” Samantha exclaimed. “It goes against everything I believe in. Order, restraint, control. These are the bedrocks of a happy and safe life.”
“Oh, Samantha.” Serena sighed. “You really do need to loosen up, have a bit of fun, live a little. Safety has no value if you don’t have a life to go with it.” She turned and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Samantha exclaimed. Didn’t she understand what their mother had done to them?
“I’m off to have some fun, of course. Good luck with those spells, Mother.” She paused at the door to glance back at them. “I highly doubt there’s a casting in existence that will accomplish your goals, but if it makes Samantha loosen up a bit and live a little, well, I guess I’m willing to restrain my fun, for a while at least.” And on that note, she abandoned Samantha, leaving her alone to tackle the task of convincing their mother to take it all back.
An hour later, Samantha stormed into her office, frustrated and annoyed.
No amount of begging had convinced Elizabeth to undo the casting, which meant Samantha was still cursed.
And utterly doomed.
She expected the humiliation to be endless, especially if she ended up acting as recklessly as Serena.
If that happened, she might just have to leave the state. Start over somewhere entirely new. She supposed she could move to Jamesville. Her cousins were quite happy there, though she had no idea how they could stand to live among so many non-witches, and Aunt Dory would undoubtedly welcome her with open arms.
But her cousins, ugh.
Those three had what she and Serena had never been able to find. Synchronicity.
They were close, as close as sisters could be, and their magic was quite powerful as a result, which gave Samantha a brilliant idea.
She picked up the phone and called her oldest cousin, Megan.
After a fifteen-minute, extremely frustrating conversation, Samantha wanted to cry.
According to Megan, the type of casting Samantha described wouldn’t be easily tampered with, and in fact, they could make things vastly worse by trying.
“So I’ll just avoid people,” Samantha said to herself while pacing around the room. “Yes. That sounds like a perfect plan. Avoid people and maybe everything will work out just fine.”
“You do know that you’re expected at the community center in an hour. And then there’s the speech this evening at the fundraiser.”
Samantha looked up at Meredith who stood in the door of her office. “What?”
“Community center. Fundraiser. Speech.”
“Oh, dear sweet goddess of change. Save me.”
“Huh?”
Samantha waved her arms in a flurry of movement. “Cancel it.”
“What?”
“Cancel everything. Every appointment, every meeting, all of it. Canceled.”
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Just cancel everything,” Samantha exclaimed.
“Okay.” Meredith looked a little stunned. “But what are we going to do about the community center, not to mention the fundraiser?”
“Give them to Jack. Make him go.”
“But Jack drives you crazy.”
“Exactly.”
“You really want Jack to get all the press from the event?”
Samantha blanched at the thought of the press being witness to whatever recklessness her mother had unleashed on her. “Yes, absolutely. Just do it.”
“All right. If you say so.”
As soon as Meredith left, Samantha rushed back to her desk and collapsed in the chair there. What was she going to do? Become a hermit? Avoid humanity for the rest of her life?
She didn’t want to learn how to be reckless. It would ruin everything. Her reputation. Her sense of self. The predictability of her days.
Chaos!
That’s what she had to look forward to and she blamed Serena.
With a scowl, Samantha grabbed her phone and texted her sister.
This is all your fault.
A kissing emoji appeared on her screen.
Unbelievable. Could Serena take nothing seriously? I’m hiding out in my office because of you. Missing the community center event because of you.
Her phone rang.
Samantha answered it with a growled, “What?”
“Are you seriously going to miss the community event you’ve spent months planning out of fear?”
“Of course I am. You heard Mother. Who knows what craziness might ensue if I go? What if I decide to go skinny dipping in a fountain or—or binge out on the taco bar?”
Serena burst into laughter. “First of all, is there even a fountain at the community center? I don’t think so. And one good taco bar binge isn’t going to ruin you. Besides, isn’t the taco bar for the kids?”
“That’s not the point,” Samantha exclaimed. “The press will be there, Serena. I can’t risk it.”
“That right there, Samantha, is why Mother cast that spell in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even I can see that you’re only going through the motions. You don’t have a life, Samantha. You’re just marking time.”
“I do so have a life. I’m very busy, I’ll have you know.”
“Of that, I have no doubt. But when was the last time you had fun, Serena?”
“Fun? I’m an adult. I do adult things. Fun is not a requirement.”
Serena laughed. “Of course it’s not a requirement, but it sure does make life interesting.”
2
“YOU’RE KIDDING ME.” Jack stared at Meredith incredulously.
“I”m serious. She told me to cancel everything and to send you to the event.”
“Is she sick?”
“I don’t know. She definitely seemed off.”
“All right. Thanks, Meredith.” Jack glanced at the clock. If he was going to make it to the community center in time, he would have to leave in fifteen minutes. Just enough time to confront Samantha.
He had no idea what was going on, but this was highly unusual.
She wasn’t exactly his favorite person on earth, mostly because she was all business and didn’t seem to even notice the boiling attraction between them. Which frankly, he couldn’t understand at all. How could she miss the sparks?
Still, annoying as he found her, he was a bit concerned at Meredith’s news.
The Samantha he knew would never miss an event like this. It was worth its weight in good advertising.
He’d just reached Samantha’s door when he heard her say, “Fun is not a requirement.”
Jack rolled his eyes. Now that was the Samantha he knew.
Though, perhaps, not her exactly, since at the moment she was pacing back and forth, waving an arm wildly in the air as she spoke into her cell phone.
“What are we going to do, Serena?”
She paused in her pacing to gasp, then exclaim, “Well, that’s easy for you to say. A little restraint can only improve your life. Recklessness, though, that’s a recipe for disaster.”
She listened some more, then said, “Well, thanks for nothing, Serena. I can tell the spell hasn’t kicked in for you yet.”
She let out an exasperated sound. “Fine.” She whirled in her pacing, caught sight of Jack in the doorway and froze. “I have to let you go now, Serena. Yes, work calls. Uh-huh. Okay. Good luck.” She ended the call and stared at Jack. “Why are you here?” She glanced down at the phone. “You need to get to the center.”
Jack Saunders was the last man on earth Samantha would ever choose to witness her epic meltdown, but just her luck, he’d arrived in time to do just that. She could only pray he’d overheard very little of her conversation with her sister.
She hoped by ending the call and shooing Jack on his way that he would leave her to wallow in her misery.
Instead, he pushed away from the doorframe he’d been leaning on and walked toward her.
It should have gotten easier over time for Samantha to ignore the zing she felt whenever she was in his presence. Instead, it had only gotten more difficult, and today, with her emotions all over the place, it was practically impossible.
His sheer masculinity made the breath catch in her throat as he prowled toward her.
She spun on her heels, intending to put her desk between the two of them.
Somehow, though, she stumbled over her own feet and for a split second thought she was going to fall, but then Jack caught her in his arms.
“Careful there.” He steadied her against him. “You okay?”
Samantha pressed her hands against his chest and pushed back. “Yes, thank you.”
She glanced up and saw that a lock of his gorgeous, black hair had fallen into his eyes.
She lifted a hand, intending to brush the hair away, when she realized what she was doing.
It was happening already!
She fisted her hand and dropped it to her side, but somehow her other hand was there in its place, brushing aside his hair before she could stop it.
Her eyes widened and she tried to step back, but his hands were on her hips, holding her steady.
“What’s going on, Samantha?” He stared down at her, one eyebrow lifted over gorgeous brown eyes.
She stared into them, half dazed at the close proximity to this man who had always made her feel a bit reckless.
Oh, no.
“Samantha?”
“Um. Nothing. Nothing. I just, I need to—um—I need to go. Yes. I—I have to go.”
