Power of the Zodiac (Book 2)

POWERS OF THE ZODIAC is a hilarious and new midlife magical series from the authors of Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services!

I’m Helena and my high-powered lady-lawyer life has always been enough for me…until I found my one-night stand dead in my bed.

Now, I’m suspected of murder, and the horns that have sprouted from my head have marked me as a supe, even though I'm not one. My career is in shambles and my reputation ruined—all because of a billionaire tech genius who wants the magical artifact that's landed in my lap—even though I never wanted it in the first place.

The suppressants I've been taking have kept my horns hidden and my magical powers at bay, but the sexy time pills I took with my now deceased one-hit lover have messed with my system. And my abilities are surfacing.

Not only are my powers unpredictable, but they cause me extreme physical pain. So does my attraction to Ford, the hot incubus professor. I can banter with him all day, but I won't allow things to go any further than a battle of wits. I don’t need anyone else, and I’m not going to succumb to his charms. Except he smells like gingerbread and makes me think all kinds of sexy thoughts.

Then there's Crystal and Maddie, fellow wives of my ex-husband. I want to hate them, but they’re growing on me—practically insisting on a friendship. Now, I'm on a mission to prove myself a worthy protector of my artifact, hoping that the gods will bestow powers on me that I can use against the man who is determined to ruin my life, wreck Maddie's wedding, and make Crystal his next victim.

My blood is up, my horns are hard, and I'll head butt anyone who tries to stop me.

This is book 2 in the Powers of the Zodiac series. Join Maddie, Helena, and Crystal as they navigate their newly found magical midlife powers.

For fans of Victoria Danann, Robyn Peterman, K.F. Breene, Melinda Chase, Jen L. Grey, Elizabeth Briggs, Rosalie Hunter, McKenzie Hunter, Darynda Jones, Shannon Mayer, Brenda Trim, and Lia Davis.

Where to Buy:

Amazon • Google Play • Barnes & Noble • Apple Books • Kobo

Excerpt:

Nico answers on the first ring, and I’m a little surprised. The one-eyed werewolf private detective that I hired to track down my husband has a very attractive girlfriend who is clearly keenly interested in. It’s late, and I assumed the two of them would be participating in something more interesting than business calls.

“Eye Wide Open Investigations,” Nico says gruffly.

“Nico, it’s Helena. I was in earlier today and hired you to—”

“Yes, Helena,” he says, and I hear bed springs shift and a feminine murmur in the background. Part of me wants to apologize for interrupting—everyone needs their me time—but I’ve got a me problem that needs immediate attention.

“Are you calling to say you’re having second thoughts about having us investigate your husband?” Nico asks. “Because I can tell you that most of the time, a woman’s intuition is accurate.”

“No,” I say. “I’m calling to tell you that I don’t doubt for a second that my husband is a cheater—I’m currently standing on the Jersey shore with his two other wives.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nico says without a pause. He’s completely unflappable, but I guess he probably comes across all kinds of situations in his line of work.

“My real problem is that Robert is dead, and I’ve got a body on my hands.”

There’s a gasp in the background from his girlfriend, Paige, letting me know that Nico has me on speakerphone.

“I can’t help you cover up a murder,” Nico says. “It’s not really in the contract, even when I think it’s justified—”

“It wasn’t me. It was the talentum dei,” I say.

“Aw shit,” Nico instantly replies, clearly more rattled by this than by anything else I’ve said so far.

He knows all about the talentum, because as soon as I got Robert’s message asking me to bring my piece of it, I called Nico. No way was I going into a hostage situation without having all the possible information available. And Nico agreed that forewarned was forearmed. He even got me in touch with a magical objects expert at the local university.

Professor Ford turned out to be not very helpful. He was more interested in flirting with me than helping me find solutions. As for the talentum dei, his advice was to throw it into the ocean—he felt that having all the pieces brought together could bring about an armageddon level of destruction.

Clearly, he was wrong about that. The only world destroyed is mine. And I guess Crystal and Maddie’s too. It’s so obnoxious that even my grief isn’t my own.

“Was the talentum activated?” Nico asks, bringing me back to the present. “Is it—”

Paige interrupts.

“Is there unholy destruction? I don’t have any alerts on my phone…”

“No, nothing like that, Professor Ford obviously overstated the dangers. It killed Robert.” I say, choking up slightly. I clear my throat and continue. “Then Maddie, Crystal, and myself were all sort of lit up by this red light.”

“Who are Maddie and Crystal?” Paige interjects.

“The other wives?” Nico guesses.

“Right,” I say. “Anyway, we’re all fine. It was that one moment of oddness and then another a few seconds later where we were sort of lifted into the air. But then we held hands and it was over.”

“Aw,” Paige says, a tender note in her voice. “It wants you to be friends.”

“I don’t think so,” I say in a flat voice.

“Do you feel normal?” Nico asks, getting us back to business. “No ability to shoot lasers from your fingers or—”

“Tentacles,” Paige cuts in again. I’d think it would make Nico crazy, but maybe he’s used to it. “Remember that time Hepa got called to help that girl who took a potion that made her grow octopus legs?”

“I don’t have tentacles or laser fingers or anything else, except a dead husband and I really don’t feel like explaining to the police how he died. Not to mention, that even if the talentum dei didn’t lead to an armageddon, it’s still dangerous and probably not a great idea to allow the existence of said object to become known to the general populace.”

“Okay, those are legitimate concerns. But not my problem.”

“They are now,” I say quickly. “I want to make you my supernatural consultant. We can work out the financials when we’re both wide awake, but I guarantee you that I’ll be generous. In return, you help me when these types of problems come up.”

“You’re expecting more of these problems?” Nico asks.

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “But I like to be prepared.”

There’s a hushed conversation in the background. I hear Paige say something about paying the bills for her own business—Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services—and all it takes is the idea that he might be able to fill a need for the woman he loves for Nico to offer up his own services.

My throat closes up a little bit. Why couldn’t Robert be that guy?