Velvet Voodoo: A Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction Novel: (Wanda's Witchery 7) (Haven Hollow Universe Book 29)

VELVET VOODOO Haven Hollow #29 (Wanda’s Witchery) by J.R. RAIN & H.P. MALLORY The Haven Hollow Series Gypsy Magic Cashmere Curses Faerie Enchantment Spandex Sorcery Love’s Goddess Demon in Denim Taffeta Trickery The Black Cat Cocktail Club French Country Frights All Hallow’s Eve Mystic Veil The Yule Log The Broken Mirror Art Deco Apparitions The Vampire's Grave Herringbone Hexes Raising Cain Druid’s Curse Colonial Corpses Angora Alchemy Day Dream Ritzy Business Pan’s Delight Armed & Charmed The Christmas Spirit Blood Rose Blood Bond Georgian Ghouls Velvet Voodoo Dead Ringer Summer Solstice Other Books by J.R. Rain VAMPIRE FOR HIRE Moon Dance Vampire Moon American Vampire Moon Child Christmas Moon (novella) Vampire Dawn Vampire Games Moon Island Moon River Vampire Sun Moon Dragon Moon Shadow Vampire Fire Midnight Moon Moon Angel Vampire Sire Moon Master Dead Moon Lost Moon Vampire Destiny Infinite Moon Vampire Empress Moon Elder Wicked Moon Winter Moon Sasquatch Moon Moon Blade Wild Moon Moon Magic Moon World Vampire Deep Moon Matador (coming soon) SAMANTHA MOON ADVENTURES Banshee Moon Moon Monster Moon Ripper Witch Moon Moon Goddess Moon Blaze Golem Moon Moon Maidens SAMANTHA MOON CASE FILES Moon Bayou Blood Moon Parallel Moon SAMANTHA MOON ORIGINS New Moon Rising Moon Mourning Haunted Moon Other Books by H.P. Mallory PARANORMAL WOMEN’S FICTION: Haven Hollow Midlife Spirits Misty Hollow Trailer Park Vampire Midlife Mermaid PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Witch & Warlock Vampire Esquire Ever Dark Academy FANTASY ROMANCE: Dark Destinies Gates of the Underworld Lily Harper Dulcie O’Neil PARANORMAL REVERSE HAREM: My Five Kings Happily Never After CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE: Age Gap Romance SCI-FI ROMANCE: The Alaskan Detective TRILOGIES: Crown Of Lies Dark Circus Chasing Demons Dungeon Raider Here to There Arctic Wolves Wolves of Valhalla Lucy Westenra Velvet Voodoo Published by Rain Press Copyright © 2023 by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory All rights reserved. Ebook Edition, License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Reading Sample: A Ghostly Guardian About J.R. Rain About H.P. Mallory Velvet Voodoo Chapter One The worst part of working with velvet was keeping track of the pile. All the luscious, plush weave needed to go in one direction, and not just because it would feel like petting a cat backwards if you ran your hand over it. Because velvet, especially the expensive type that shimmered in the light like really good silk, wasn’t forgivable. If you stitched it wrong, it would leave lines in the fabric and make it obvious to anyone who looked at it that the dress was put together by an idiot. And I certainly wasn’t an idiot. I wasn’t an idiot, but the decision to work with velvet might have been a touch idiotic. Honestly, I didn’t know what the spell I’d been thinking when I’d seen a short, swinging velvet and lace dress in the Yves Saint Laurant line and thought, ‘huh—I could do something like that’. My brain must have been on vacation. Because, yes, the dress was gorgeous, and yes, it was going to look absolutely amazing on the wearer, but it was a huge pain to put together, and trying to weave the enchantments through it as I wrestled with the fabric was turning out to be a real witch. And trust me, I’d know. Every time I’d tried to lay out the lace for the bodice and straps, the little ingrates moved, sliding around like toddlers unable to sit still. I’d been relegated to sitting in the back room of my shop, bent over the wretched dress to hand sew the pieces into place, and I was on the verge of developing a permanent hunch. If I didn’t know exactly how amazing it would turn out when it was done, I’d have hexed the whole thing back into a pile of thread and been done with it. It wasn’t like me to get so worked up over a single piece of clothing, unless it was mine and someone had spilled something on it. And no, I’m not exaggerating or being dramatic. Wine on mulberry silk? Start running. But this dress wasn’t even for me. Soft lavender wasn’t a shade I’d ever consider hanging in my wardrobe—it clashed too much with my resting witch face. No, this piece was a gift. A sort of ‘welcome to the coven’ present, and that was why it had to be absolutely perfect. Imani had been in Haven Hollow for a few months, still in the process of testing the waters to see if she wanted to stay. She said she liked the town, the coven, and she liked it that we didn’t adhere so stringently to the old ways like the more traditional covens did. The joining ritual was set to happen in a few days, and I was going to make sure everything went according to plan, if I had to hex the entire town to do it. But first, this damned dress. I had to put the thing on my lap and take a deep breath. The stress was going to give me gray hair if I wasn’t careful, and I was way too young for that. One-hundred-forty-two and gray like an old, grumpy goat? I’d never hear the end of it. Normally, I’d have been able to whip up a dress like this in my sleep. Sure, the material was difficult, and the enchantments I was weaving into each stitch were extensive, but this was what I did. It was my specialty, and no one was better at it than I was, no matter what my cousin, Maverick, said. Sure, he was good at embroidering spell work on the inside of clothes, but he didn’t have the design vision I did. Once Imani put the dress