Jinx & Tonic (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 3) Read online

  JINX & TONIC

  Jinx & Tonic

  Copyright: Gina LaManna

  ISBN: XXXX

  Published: November 11nd, 2016

  Kindle Edition

  The right of Gina LaManna to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book is for the you, Islanders.

  ** ** ** **

  Special Thanks:

  To Connie Leap: Thank you for inspiring this book with your beautiful work. Without you, Jinx would not exist!

  To Mom & Dad—For letting me stay in bed all day to read Harry Potter on its release.

  To Alex—For making the simplest moments a little bit magical. я тебя люблю!

  To Meg & Kristi—Jinx. You all owe me cokes.

  To Stacia: For making sure the heads in this book are tilted all of the right ways.

  To Kim: For your magical new hair, and your friendship.

  To my Oceans Apart ladies: Joy, Asheley, and Monique—for bringing me into the magic of the book world!

  To Miss Emma Hart—for having the most magical pink hair on this planet. X adores it. And you too, Olivia.

  To Katie Hamachek: For being my only “real” friend to visit The Isle.

  To Sprinkles On Top Studios, my awesome cover designer. Photo Courtesy of Deposit Photos

  And last but not least, to all my family and friends, thanks for making me laugh.

  For updates on new releases, please sign up for my newsletter at www.ginalamanna.com.

  Feel free to get in touch anytime via email at [email protected]!

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  JINX & TONIC

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  SYNOPSIS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  EPILOGUE

  THE END

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  SYNOPSIS

  The time has finally arrived! The Trials are in full swing and celebratory parties fill The Isle as Candidates go head-to-head to prove themselves worthy of the coveted Ranger title. Drinks, dances, and masquerade balls set the stage for a glamorous series of events until suddenly, it all changes.

  The most dangerous criminal on the island escapes from prison. Tragedy strikes. The Isle is thrown into chaos due to old, forbidden black magic, and only one person can help.

  As the island’s Mixologist, Lily is expected to step in and save the day. When she’s forced to keep secrets from X while deciphering decades old clues, however, she’s pushed to the edges of her sanity.

  With the help of her family, The Core, and her new boyfriend, X, Lily must stop The Puppeteer from taking over the island before it’s too late.

  Because if she doesn’t succeed, nobody will.

  ** **

  CHAPTER 1

  “What do you think?” Ranger X stared at himself in the mirror, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Be honest.”

  “I love it!” I said, clapping my hands. “Definitely the winner. Can we pretty please agree that this suit is perfect?”

  “No!” Ranger X roared. He tugged on his shirt sleeves. “It doesn’t fit right.”

  “Spin around.” I made a twirling motion with my finger. “Let me see the back.”

  X shot me a skeptical glance. Then he did as he was told, rotating in a slow circle and gracing me with a 360-degree view of his body. It didn’t disappoint.

  “If I could whistle, I would,” I said. “Unfortunately, that’s not one of my skills. But you look great! What’s wrong with this one?”

  “It’s something about this.” He wrestled with the bowtie strapped across his neck. Light blue with polka dots. “It’s not very… intimidating.”

  “You’re going for a welcoming look!” I paced around the room, trying to keep my patience. If there had been any space left on my bed whatsoever, I would’ve plopped down and relaxed hours ago. As it was, there were enough suits on my comforter to outfit a bridal party. “It’s the first public trial. You’re allowed to look likeable instead of scary for once.”

  “My normal look is scary?” He raised his eyebrow at me in the mirror. “I like scary. Let’s stick with scary.”

  I tried not to laugh and failed miserably. “Fine, you’re right. Lose the bowtie.”

  Ranger X ripped off the bow tie, threw it out the window, and let out an incredible sigh of relief. “This is ridiculous.”

  “Take a break.” I stopped my pacing, moving a few steps closer to him. I let my hands rest on his shoulders, frowning at the tension in his muscles. “You look good in everything. Just pick something.”

  “I’m sorry.” The annoyance in Ranger X’s face slipped away as his eyes fell on me. “I appreciate your patience. I don’t know what’s come over me.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Believe me, watching you change clothes has not been a hardship. But next time you put on a fashion show, let’s stick to three costumes instead of nine million and eight.”

  “It’s not a fashion show.”

  “It’s sort of a fashion show.”

  “It’s not—” He broke off, winced at the bed laden with suits, and frowned. “I’m putting on a fashion show. What’s wrong with me?”

  “You’re tense.” I let my hands skim over his chest, pretending to smooth down his clothes. “You’re cute when you’re tense, you know that?”

  The rest of his discomfort vanished, replaced by a gleam dancing in his eyes. “You don’t say?”

  I stood on my tiptoes, leaned in close, and allowed my body to do the talking. Pressing a light kiss to his lips, I let it linger until the frustration left his shoulders, his arms sliding around my waist a
s he kissed me back.

  My hands slipped into his hair, massively disheveled after all the discarded outfits. He sighed at my touch, deepening the kiss until eventually, we were forced to step apart, breathless.

  X’s fingers skimmed down my arms until he reached my wrists. He hooked his hands in mine. Then in a single motion, he swiped all the clothes from the bed, sending them tumbling to the floor.

  “We don’t have time—” I started.

  “I need to rest,” he said with a passive expression. “That’s all. We have time for a rest.”

  I doubted his intentions, but I went along with them anyway. As I curled against his warmth on the comforter, he stretched his arm over my shoulder and we lay together in silence.

  “You’ve already been running the Trials for weeks. There’s nothing different about today than any other day, except a few extra people will be watching.”

  “Months.”

  “What?”

  “We’ve been watching, analyzing, testing the Candidates for months. A Uniqueness can take years to surface.”

  “Exactly. This public Trial hardly matters at all.” I gave him my biggest smile. “And neither does the suit you wear to it. Just pretend you’re getting dressed for a party.”

  “I don’t like parties,” Ranger X growled before he caught himself and fought back the annoyed expression for a more patient one. “And it’s still a Trial, even if it’s mostly for show. How the Candidates handle themselves in front of a large audience is part of their overall rating.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Then there’s only one solution.”

  Ranger X’s expression reminded me of a lion that hadn’t been fed in weeks. “Is that right?”

  “Go naked.”

  It took a moment for the joke to sink in, and when it did, he raised eyebrow. “That’s your solution?”

  “If nothing fits properly, then I see no other choice.” I shook my head in mock severity. “In fact, I insist you remove your suit this very instant.”

  He leaned toward me, his large form an intimidating wall of muscle. He raised a gentle finger to my chin and tipped my mouth upward until his lips were an inch from mine. “You always know what to say. What would I do without you?”

  I had a sarcastic response all lined up and ready to go, but the way his black eyes glimmered as they looked into mine wiped all of my breath away. He leaned in, pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “I know you’re stressed about this whole thing. The Trials are intense, the rules are changing, The Faction… well, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just so long as you’re sure about me and I’m sure about you. Everything else will work out.”

  He moved his kiss from my forehead to my lips, lingering there. “Some days,” he whispered, “you’re the only thing in this world of which I’m sure.”

  CHAPTER 2

  An hour later, we’d procrastinated until we couldn’t procrastinate any longer. Unfortunately, we were no closer to deciding on a suit for X, even though he had needed to be out the door five minutes ago. I fiddled with the heart locket around my neck, a gift from my mother. While I’d had half of it my entire life, the second piece had been passed down to me from my aunts on the day I’d found out that I was a witch.

  “I feel like a professor,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m a Ranger. I’m not an idiot with a bowtie. Rangers are tough and—”

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re all burly and manly and all of that jazz.” I pursed my lips. “But you still need clothes over your body.”

  “Then you pick. What about this one?”

  Pasting a smile on my face as he turned around, I gave him the hugest thumbs up I could muster. “It’s perfect.”

  Then again, he’d looked perfect in everything, and this suit was no exception. In fact, it was the very first one he’d tried on three hours ago. If he’d selected it then, we would’ve been spared a lot of time and energy, but no, he’d thrown it on the floor because it looked too stuffy.

  It was probably all my fault. I’d let X borrow my self-populating closet—a spell that, when performed correctly, provided a girl with enough options to dress in a different outfit every day of her life. Unfortunately, it had the unforeseen side effect of freezing Ranger X with indecision

  While X had been busy preparing for the Trials, I’d been busy studying. I had taken full advantage of his extended absences to put my head down, study with Gus, and earn the Mixology title bestowed upon me.

  The closet was just one example of how far I’d come—a Styling Spell wasn’t the hardest tool to master, but to make it function properly for a third party was tricky. I’d tried it on Poppy, my bright, bubbly cousin, and she’d strutted out dressed like a peacock and clucking like a chicken.

  I’d run a few more tests before offering to try the spell out for X. I didn’t think he’d be amused if it malfunctioned on the morning of his big day. However, when I’d managed to make it work successfully last week, even Gus had been pleased.

  “How is Zin feeling?” Ranger X had refrained from asking about her since the public Trials had begun. To be fair, he had limited his interactions with all Candidates to avoid any illusion of bias.

  “She’s. . . ” I trailed off as a noise filtering through the open window drew my attention away from the conversation. I looked outside, sighing as I caught sight of my cousin. “I suppose you can see for yourself how she’s feeling.”

  “Oh, no.” Ranger X joined me at the window. He pulled me into a hug and rested his hands over my stomach, his chin on my shoulder. “That’s not good.”

  Zin paced outside the bungalow. Her angular features were even sharper than normal—gaunt, as if she’d lost weight from the stress. Though she was completely human at the moment, the grumbles coming from her throat sounded distinctly animal.

  I wondered if her Uniqueness—the very thing that would make her stand out from the other Candidates—had been unearthed yet. Was it her ability to shift into a jaguar? Or something else entirely?

  Her short bob cut against her chin, her dark eyes flashing with a glimmer of gold. From head to toe, she’d dressed in poisonous black clothing. Everything about her was dark except for her mumbled words, which sounded like a very colorful array of expletives.

  I raised my window and stuck my head out. “Zin, are you okay?” I called. “You’re growling.”

  She looked up, her eyes clouding into a storm of nerves, worry, stress. Instead of answering, she frowned, glared at the two of us, and stomped away.

  I turned to Ranger X and shrugged. “She’s been on edge lately.”

  “I can see that.”

  “It’s just a lot, you know? She’s been training for this all of her life. She might be the first female Ranger. That’s a huge opportunity, but also a huge burden. All eyes will be on her.”

  “I know. She can handle it, Lily. Trust your cousin.”

  I sighed. It was a day full of hope, and a day full of terror. Change was hard, and the Trials were no exception.

  “Good luck today,” I said, resting my head against his chest. “You’ll do great. I’ll walk over with you if you’d like.”

  He stroked a hand through my hair, and I felt him nod. Before he could respond, the Comm device around his wrist vibrated, signaling a private message.

  “I’m sorry.” He pulled his hand out of my hair, brushed a kiss against my neck, and stepped back from our embrace. “I have to take this.”

  “Of course. You stay here; I’m going to check on Gus. Come down when you’re ready.”

  Ranger X dove into his conversation before I left, his voice rumbling through the room as I closed the door. I hurried downstairs as fast as my heels would carry me.

  As this was a highly anticipated event, there was more hoopla scheduled than ever: ceremonies, fancy clothes and dinners, awards and celebrations. Even the spectators dressed up. My cousins had kindly informed me that flip-flops were a no-go, so I’d dressed in formalwear for the occasion.

  To
top it off, the Trials would culminate in a grand ball, a masquerade-type event with gowns and tiaras and gloves. Very fancy, very exciting, very dramatic. The Isle had positively lit up with gossip and festivities the last few weeks, spreading enthusiasm from shore to shore.

  For now, I kept things simple with a spaghetti-strap black dress that landed just above my knees, and a pastel pink shawl draped across my shoulders for a pop of color. I topped off the outfit with a set of new booties borrowed from Poppy.

  “Gus,” I said, reaching the ground level of the bungalow. “You look nice.”

  He glowered at me, looking up from his seat at the table in the middle of the storeroom. “No, I don’t.”

  He turned his attention back to the knife in his hand. The tip was jagged as broken glass, and looked just as sharp—even from a distance. His fingers moved in quick, dangerous motions as he sliced through an exotic fruit on the table. I had no clue what he was making, and he didn’t offer any explanation.

  Though Gus could never, would never, be the Mixologist, he was the most knowledgeable person on The Isle when it came to ingredients and potions. I’d been learning just as fast as I could, but it was hard to keep up. A few months on The Isle didn’t compare to a lifetime of Gus’s experience.

  He lived in this storeroom, adored it. Every row, every shelf, every column. Jars and vials filled to bursting with bright liquids and shimmering gasses adorned the walls. Flower petals and herbs stuffed into glass canisters had been slotted carefully into every available nook and cranny. The room felt alive, filled with the ghosts of hundreds and thousands of formerly growing, breathing plants.

  “What are you making?” I sat down next to him, the small patterns of cut vines and leaves a good distraction from Ranger X’s murmurings upstairs. “I’d love to help.”

  “None of your business.”

  “It is my business. I’m the Mixologist. I should be learning from you.”