Scenes From Witch Hunt

Happy Tuesday! Cate here, and I’m excited to say that Witch Hunt, the first book in my Full Moon Mystery Series, is out in exactly one week! Yay!

To celebrate, my protagonist Violet Mooney is taking over the blog today to share a couple of her favorite scenes from the book and give a little fun commentary. Hope you enjoy!

Hey! It’s Violet Mooney – and I wanted to share a few experiences from my upcoming book! Here’s where I become a murder suspect:

“So what, now she’s trying to blame me? That’s just like her. So what are you going to do? Let her file a complaint about me? Because I can file one too. And mine will have more merit.” I crossed my arms defensively over my chest. Whatever. Let her file a stupid complaint. She’d be the one who looked unstable. 
Haliburton and Denning exchanged a look.
“Did you see her again?” Denning asked. “After this altercation?”
I shook my head. 
“You’re positive?” Haliburton asked.
“I’m positive, seeing as I was here and she didn’t come over.”
They both looked like they didn’t believe me. But why wouldn’t they? What was Carla saying about me now? I felt a rush of anger at this woman. Why didn’t she leave me alone?
“And you said you were asleep?” Denning asked.
“Yes.”
“I see,” he said, although his tone suggested he didn’t. “Have you been down to the courtyard today behind the Steelworks building?” 
I was confused at the change of direction, but shook my head no. “I was at yoga down there this morning, but I didn’t go into the courtyard for anything,” I said. “Why?”
After a long moment of silence, Haliburton said, “Ms. Fernandez is dead.”

Yeah, that wasn’t one of my best days. And then this happened:

“Violet,” the other woman interrupted. “I know it’s been . . . a long time, but you have to know me. In fact, I know you do.” She stepped forward and grasped my arms with long fingers, also covered in rings. Her nails had glitter on the tips, and I could see it sparkling in her hair. When she touched me, I felt dizzy, like I’d come into contact with some illicit substance that affected my nervous system. “I’m Fiona. Your mother. I understand how you must feel—”  
But I cut her off.
“That’s kind of a ridiculous thing to say, considering you don’t know me at all,” I said. “So don’t even try to convince me you know how I feel. And even if you are . . . who you say you are, how did you even find me? And why now?”
I was acutely aware of the fact that the middle of the street was not the best place for this conversation. It was a double whammy of embarrassment—being released from police custody and having these two here arguing with me on the street.
How had my day gone so far down the toilet?
“We should get off this street corner,” Zoe said, as if reading my mind. “I mean, if you don’t want to draw attention to us,” she added dryly. 
But Fiona ignored her. “I haven’t been able to contact you before now,” she said. “I’ll explain the whole thing later. But it’s because of the necklace. The one you took off today.”

So really, at this point, I was wishing I’d just stayed in bed. But as I discovered pretty early on in this “becoming a witch” process, there were definitely some perks…

I turned and nearly jumped a foot when I saw Zoe sitting at my little table. She wore a long black sweatshirt dress with a tangle of scarves wound around her neck. Today, her Converse sneakers were green. She grinned and waved a piece of toast at me. 
“Morning,” she said, around a mouthful. “I thought you might be hungry. Took a guess at what you liked.” She shrugged. “Whaddaya think?”
“What do I think?” I sank into the other chair. “Where did you get all this? And how did you get it in here without my hearing you?” Unfortunately, I thought I already knew the answer.
“I just whipped it up,” she said with a wink. “Help yourself.”
It did smell good, I had to give her that. I rose to get a plate, but Zoe sighed and held up a hand. With a snap of her fingers, a full plate appeared in front of me. She observed her work and nodded approvingly. “Getting better,” she said, more to herself than me. “Coffee is tricky. I usually spill it. Want to try?”
“Uh—”
“Oh, just give it a go,” she said impatiently. “Stop treating these powers like they’re a burden. Trust me, it’s freakin’ fun.”
I knew she wouldn’t let up, so I closed my eyes and concentrated on envisioning a full mug of hot coffee in front of me.
I opened my eyes when I heard Zoe gasp. “Wow. First try? And you did that well? I’m impressed.” She nodded.
I gazed at the perfectly full mug of coffee and felt a stab of pride. I looked at her. “Want one?”She nodded. I did it again, delivering her a mug. She lifted it and touched it to mine. “Cheers, sis.”

There’s not much better than being able to conjure up a cup of coffee, in my mind! I hope you enjoyed the preview, and I can’t wait until this book is out in the world! Would love to hear any thoughts/comments below.