CHAPTER EIGHT
The birds inside the car were flapping around and jockeying for position. Patagonia raced across the parking lot, her single-minded hatred of all feathered creatures spurring her on to speeds I previously hadn’t ever witnessed.
I followed as fast as I could.
“Don’t drop the wine!” Vanessa screamed behind me.
Patagonia reached the car first by a large margin and smoothly sailed through the open window into the interior of the car. I had thought the birds were acting wild already, but after Patagonia flew into the car, claws and fangs extended and howling a war cry, there was feathered pandemonium.
Squawks and tiny explosions of feathers flew out of the open windows. As much as I didn’t want crows in my car, I really didn’t want dead crows either. I threw open the door and was smacked in the face by an angry crow.
I screamed as one of the birds pecked at my face while beating me with its wings. I fell backward, landing hard. I cried out in pain as a flash shot through my body. A second hard fall in twenty-four hours was more than I could bear. I lay there on the asphalt as tears streamed down my face. Finally, everything was quiet.
Vanessa leaned over me. “Is the wine okay?”
I chuckled then groaned as another round of shooting pain bounced from one injury to another. After I caught my breath, I said, “Don’t worry. The wine is fine.”
She crouched down next to me, her eyebrows knitted together. “God! I mean—wait! Are you okay?”
I lifted the wine a little, and she took it from my hands to place it on the asphalt next to her two bottles. Then I flopped back down. “Did you forget about last night?”
She winced. “I did. No wonder you’re making those pathetic noises. Lay there for a bit ’cause I have some good news and some bad news.”
I grunted.
“The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the breakfast burrito in your car anymore. The birds took care of that.”
“How bad is the bad news?”
“Pretty bad. Crows sure know how to poop. It’s everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. You’re going to need windshield wipers on the inside in order to see.”
Patagonia crawled onto my chest with a satisfied grin. She gave a hacking cough, and a feather flew out of her mouth and danced down onto my face.
“Is it just the poop, or did Patagonia…? Is there a murder of murdered crows in my car?” I braced myself for the worst.
“Just poop and feathers. Good for you, finding the bright side. I’ll put these in the trunk.” She dug into my purse and spent some time placing the bottles in the trunk and wrapping them in a spare blanket I kept back there. I would have offered to help her, but I thought that lying flat on my back and not moving was a better use of my energy.
“Are you going to be okay, or are you just going to do a slug impression for the rest of the day?” Vanessa poked my calf with the toe of her shoe.
That didn’t sound like a half-bad idea. She could bring out the tenants, and I could interview them from the ground. With a groan, I pushed Patagonia off my chest and sat up. The world spun a little, and I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes until it stopped. I must have hit my head. “Just give me a second. I think I’m feeling better.”
“I didn’t want to do this until we had a chance to talk, but I guess I have no choice. Don’t move.”
“Don’t worry.” I could hear her rustling around in her purse, then she flopped down on the ground next to me.
“After your dramatic exit from the party last night, Granner talked to me. She’s been thinking about all our adventures and how accident prone you are.”
“You make it sound like I trip over my own feet. I usually get hurt fighting murderers.”
“Or getting attacked by a crow or having an ice sculpture fall on you randomly. Admit it, you have bad luck. That is why I was so tired this morning. We were up really late talking about it, and Granner taught me how to use it.”
Granner was Vanessa and Vin’s great-great-grandmother, who was somewhere in her hundred and eighties and looked every single day of it.
“Talking about and using what?” She wasn’t making a lot of sense, and I wondered if maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.
She showed me a flat stone with a silver shape carved into the surface. It was about palm sized and smooth like a river rock. It had the hum of magic around it. It reminded me of the moonstone egg I had wedged in my cleavage that I carried with me all the time.
“Is it a channeling stone?” I reached out to touch it but drew back before making contact. It was unwise to touch it until I knew more.
“Close. It’s a rune. Channeling stones are runes, but they serve different purposes. Have you read up on runes yet?” She handed me the stone.
“Not really. I know that it’s another way to store a spell. You said they are old fashioned. That’s about all I know.” It was smooth, and the silver design was perfectly incorporated, probably sterling silver poured into a groove in the stone then buffed flat. I delicately felt for the magic that was humming and dropped the stone in surprise. I recognized the cucumber and melon aura of my own magic set into the stone.
“Hey!” She picked it up and used the corner of her shirt to wipe it. “I don’t have time for a whole lesson, but they are a bit old fashioned but still really useful. They aren’t very flexible. They do one thing, often for one person. Like the necklace your dad gave you or your channeling stone. This has only one purpose and will only work between you and me.”
I figured the necklace I had received from my dad was magic. It had once saved my life in addition to being a wonderful memory of the time before he died. “And what does it do?”
“Heals. I’ve never wanted to be a doctor, but I do have a reasonably good knack for it. Granner knows that and made this rune specifically so healing spells between us would work better. Runes like this do best between people with a tight bond—like spouses, family, or best friends. The same bond that makes some spells not work as well will make this rune work even better.”
I smiled at her. We had our ups and downs but were definitely close friends. I knew I couldn’t read her emotions like I could a stranger’s because of that bond, but I’d never known that it could make some spells stronger. “That’s great. Why don’t we make more runes, then?”
She shook the stone at me for emphasis. “Granner has been working on this for a year, and it only does one thing: healing spells between you and me. She finally finished it this week. She was going to give it to us for Christmas but figured after the ice sculpture collapse last night that if she waited much longer, you might die on us.”
I rubbed my temple again. A killer headache was building. “If it’s for healing, why not give it a test drive?”
“If you insist. Close your eyes, and shut up. I need to concentrate.”
I did as I was told. Patagonia crawled into my lap and gently licked my neck once before settling in. She always knew when it was time to work.
I jumped a little when Vanessa grabbed my hands, and I could sense her magic working. Her aura was all cotton candy and sugary sweet. Maybe that was why she had such a sweet tooth. Then a warmth crept up my arms and spread across my body. It wasn’t just a feeling of high heat, but also the emotions around me were warm and cozy. Like a relaxing bath at the end of a long day or snuggling up in a fuzzy blanket and watching the rain through a window or maybe curling up in front of a fire after a day of playing in the snow. I was warm, but it was so much more as well.
My magic wrapped around me even though I wasn’t actively working magic. It wasn’t being stripped from me but felt like my own body recognized Vanessa’s magic and came out to say hi. It sent a little shiver down my spine, reminding me of the sensation I got when the hairdresser played with my hair.
Patagonia’s purring vibrated in my lap, and I let out a happy little noise as Vanessa released my hands. I opened my eyes and rolled my head on my neck one way t
hen the other then lifted and lowered my shoulders. I felt great. Nothing hurt as I stretched and twisted and bent.
“That was awesome. Are you totally wiped out?” A spell of that difficulty should have put her flat on her back exhausted.
She wiped her sleeve across her forehead, where a little bit of sweat had accumulated. “Not too bad. Granner wasn’t sure how effective it would be until I tried it. It depends on the strength of our bond, and there is really no way to measure that.”
“Why don’t we make a ton of these? Magic would be much easier.” I crawled to my feet and bounced on my toes. I hadn’t noticed how great it felt to be healthy, but the sudden removal of all my sore spots and achy muscles really made me notice the difference.
She slid the rock back into her purse. “Oh sure, a year per spell and it only works between the two people it’s made for and only helps with one type of spell. What a time-saver! And I’m still a bit weak. I think you need to buy me whatever I want from the bakery.”
The lights in the store were on and the sign was flipped to indicate it was open.
I looked at the interior of my car and gasped. There was no way I could drive it without ruining my clothing and appetite. I didn’t have any spell that I knew offhand that would clean the entire car to the level it needed. I bit back a little sob.
“Why don’t you call Badger? I bet he knows someone that can fix… that.” Vanessa scrunched up her nose.
I pulled out my phone. “If not, then maybe he can sell it for parts.”
CHAPTER NINE
We walked into the bakery, and the little ding of the bell announced our entrance.
A woman bustled out of the back and gasped when she caught sight of us. “Ella? Vanessa?” Ellen lifted the counter near the cash register and wrapped us both up in a huge hug. “What in the world are you doing here?”
She smelled of raspberries and lemon curd, and I was tempted to bury my nose in her neck, but that would have been rude. “Us? Why are you here? Your store on the Avenue didn’t close, did it? I was just there last week.”
Ellen and her cousin, Keri, had a bakery business. I had gotten to know them at the cheese festival last year. Keri and Vanessa didn’t get along—some combination of Keri’s abrasive personality and the fact that both of them had the hots for Raymond, one of Vin’s friends. Despite that, we still stopped by their place to pick up sweets every few weeks.
“Keri’s at the other store. This is our second location. We’re still working out the kinks in the system, but we’re going to have a huge official opening in a few weeks. Please say you will come.”
We agreed, but already we were drifting from the conversation toward the glass display cases filled with every kind of sugary confection that could be imagined and one I never could have dreamed up in a thousand years. It looked like a bird’s nest of amber strands, and inside were blue eggs. It looked so real that I expected a robin to swoop back into the nest.
“Is that edible?” I tapped the case.
Ellen hustled back behind the counter. “Of course. Do you want to try it? The nest is spun sugar, and the eggs are a molten chocolate center with a jelly burst and a thin candy shell. It’s a new design.”
Vanessa pulled out a chair at one of the small tables in the store. “Start a tab. We are going to get some stuff to go.”
Ellen carefully transferred it to a plate and grabbed some utensils then brought it to our table and joined us. “Make sure to get a bit of the nest. You are meant to have all the flavors at once.”
I pressed my fork into one of the eggs, which cracked open, the chocolate flowing out around the red jelly center. I scooped and poked until I managed to get each component onto my fork and put it in my mouth.
The flavors and textures were excellent, but I had expected that. The chocolate was smooth and warm, like silk. The little bit of candy shell gave a fun contrast in texture. But it was the jelly center that took it to the next level. It was hot, almost too hot to eat but not quite. On the edge without going over in both temperature and spiciness. The cayenne flavor was unusual mixed with the chocolate but was actually a great fit.
I gave Ellen a thumbs-up, and I worked the flavor in my mouth and finally swallowed. “You’ve really knocked that out of the park.”
“This new location meant a bunch of new imports because now I have all these cool new ingredients to try. I gave your familiar a new cat-friendly recipe that I developed. People love to spoil their pets. These are still in the testing phase. I won’t charge you if you give me your honest feedback.”
My ears perked up at the mention of new imports, but I kept my face smooth. “New imports? Fascinating. Like what? And how are they connected to the location?”
“The bird’s nest has a bit of dragon spit in it to keep the chocolate and jelly warm. But I think the name is unappetizing, so I’m going to market them as dragon-fire nests.”
I gave a little swallow and tried not to think too much about the dragon spit. It could be humanely harvested, but spit was spit. During the previous year’s cheese festival, I had learned that it was often used in food to keep it at just the right temperature. I leaned in and whispered, “Is it black market?”
“Nope. It’s all legit. All the ingredients are. I even have the paperwork in back. It’s amazing no one else around here can really push that marketing angle. My guy comes by every month or so.”
Another guy selling rare merchandise. “Is your guy Russian?”
“Uh, no. He’s like… Middle Eastern? I don’t know. He has, like, dark hair and a beard. He has an accent, but it’s definitely not Russian. Why?”
I skipped her question. “Was he pushy for you had to buy certain things?”
She bit her lip and thought. “I don’t think so. Keri dealt with him. She said he was a little rude, but then she told him to ditch the attitude or she was going to make his pants spontaneously explode when he least expected it. She said he was much more polite after that.”
Ellen grabbed another few desserts and slid the plate between Vanessa and me before she took a seat. I tried to see what they were, but Vanessa grabbed the plate and attacked it before I could even lift my fork.
Instead I checked my watch. Our quick stop was starting to drag on. We had to circle back to talk to Mary plus try to interview as many of the shopkeepers as possible, but already I had some ideas that I wanted to talk out with Bear or Vanessa. “Hey, Ellen, we should get going, but before we do, you were going to tell us about how you got this store.”
“Oh yeah. It was so weird. Ned stopped in one day at the Avenue location and offered it to us at this crazy low rate. We didn’t need another place, but he was really insistent and mentioned that he had suppliers who would help us out. Well, obviously I was really excited about new suppliers, but we had to take the location in order to get it. At three hundred bucks, it was worth it.”
“Three hundred bucks a month? That seems really low.”
“It’s crazy low, and the kitchen back here is amazing. Plus, they pay all the utilities as part of our rent. It’s cheaper to have this location and do all our cooking here and take it over to the Avenue than it is to not have this place at all. So we took it. I guess they just really think we’re going to bring in some serious traffic once we have our official opening.”
I had been sampling the desserts. The effects of eating so many different types, one after another, might have lessened the mind-blowing qualities, but I loved every bite. “If you serve these, then I think you are going to need to beat people away with sticks.”
Vanessa burped loudly. “Excuse me. I really want to get some to go.” She burped again and covered her mouth.
“I think that’s our cue to leave. It was great to see you, Ellen. You have my card, so if you have any concerns, give me a call.” I stood and pulled out my wallet.
Ellen waved a hand at me. “Put that away.”
I hesitated. “Only if next time you let me pay?”
She gathe
red up the plates. “I’ll charge you double if it makes you feel better.”
“Great. We’ll be back soon, but feel free to give me a call if you hear about anything weird going on around here.”
“Sure thing. You’ll be the first to hear.”
CHAPTER TEN
The morning was rapidly slipping away, and while I wanted to meet the other store owners, there was something I wanted to get to first. I went over to my car, where one of Badger’s employees was staring in horror.
As I got closer, he turned his eyes on me. They had a haunted look to them. “I just detailed your car a few days ago. What happened?”
“Crows. Do you think you can fix it?” I tossed him the keys.
With a hand over his nose, he started unpacking potions and brushes from the back of his van. “I can get this cleaned up, but it is going to be one heck of a bill. You okay with that?”
I sighed. “I don’t have much of a choice.”
We cut across the parking lot to the far right of the stores, where the office was nestled at the end. Something weird was going on, but maybe it wasn’t at all connected to Ned’s death. But if that was the case, then what did it all mean?
I noticed that Vanessa was trailing far behind me, and I paused to let her catch up.
She rubbed her lower back with one hand and caressed her stomach with the other. More than anything, she looked like a pregnant woman who had just barely started to show. “I think I ate too much.”
“They could have filmed that for shark week. I’m surprised you didn’t swallow the silverware.”
“I feel like I did.” She let out a burp.
I was barely listening, letting my mouth run on sarcastic autopilot because I was mostly focused on what I learned. “What do you think it means?” I unlocked the office with the keys Bear had given me and flipped on the light.
Vanessa waddled to a chair, slowly lowering herself and letting out a gigantic moan of relief. “What does what mean? Do you have an antacid? Or a potion? Last time I tried a degassing spell I—”
Casino Witch Mysteries Box Set 2 Page 24
