by Jane Hinchey
“So, he's not available to take us to the caves?” Damn. I'd been hoping to visit Mom and Dad’s worksite today.
“It's all a bit suss really.” Remy screwed up her nose. “Apparently Tamir and Omar booked him last night at the hotel.”
“But they've been to the caves before.” Jenna planted her hands on her hips, ready for an argument. “Why would they need a guide now? I bet it's because we're here. They think we're going to swoop in and steal any treasure out from under them.”
“Okay, okay.” Blake stepped in before Jenna could get any more wound up. “Let's not jump to conclusions. The upshot is, Nigel and the two treasure hunters left at dawn. There's nothing we can do about that now. The way I see it, we have two options.”
“Which are?” Jenna demanded, still seething they had stolen our guide out from under us at the last moment.
“We go by ourselves, with no guide. Or we wait until Nigel is available. Because they left early this morning, Andi thinks Nigel may be back around lunchtime or early afternoon. But to cover our bases, Andi has booked us with him again tomorrow.”
Andi, who'd stepped out to join us when she heard us return, had a baby sling tied around her waist and shoulders and her hands ran over the small bundle supported inside. “I'm so sorry this happened. I'd really prefer it if you didn't go to the caves on your own, not for the first time at least. They are a vast network of interlocking tunnels and caverns that go on for miles and it would be so easy to get lost. Nigel has maps and local knowledge that is invaluable.”
She was right. It was too dangerous to go alone, and I opened my mouth to agree with her when a baby kangaroo popped its head out from the sling and looked at us.
“Oh, my gosh!” Jenna squealed, rushing forward, then quickly dropping her voice to a whisper. “I’m sorry, little fella,” she breathed. “Did I startle you?”
“This is Joey.” Andi moved more of the fabric aside to reveal the small kangaroo. “A car hit his mother. The driver found Joey in her pouch and brought him to me to raise.”
“That is amazing.” I joined Jenna, holding out my hand for Joey to sniff and then giving his fur a stroke.
“Do you release him into the wild when he’s grown up?” Jenna asked.
Andi shook her head. “No, he’ll be too used to hanging out with us humans. But he will have free rein of this place and he’ll wander and explore, but he’ll keep coming back. He’ll know there is food here.”
“You’ve done this before?” Blake took a turn fussing over the tiny creature, its head looking impossibly tiny next to his large hand.
“Many times. You’ll see roos come through the caravan park from time to time. Most of them are one’s I hand reared.” Joey fussed, burying his face back into the sling and wriggling around. “He’s hungry. Time for another bottle.” She tucked the fabric over his head, concealing him. “Sorry again about the mix-up. I should have called Nigel on his mobile last night when you made the booking, but I assumed he would have checked in the office first this morning.”
“That’s okay,” Remy said. “Mix-ups happen. But yes, if we can absolutely make sure he’s available for us tomorrow that would be wonderful, thank you.”
Gran cut in, changing the subject entirely, “How did it go with the cops?”
“Nothing new,” I said, while Jenna quickly added, “You would have liked Senior Sergeant Mick Gould, Gran.”
Gran's face split into a huge smile. “Dishy was he?”
“Extremely.” Jenna nodded with an exaggerated wink. I couldn't contain my eye roll. I wasn't sure who was worse, Gran or Jenna! Then I noticed what Gran was wearing. A hot pink mesh tunic over a yellow bikini. And Ugg boots. Purple, but no bedazzling this time.
“Interesting outfit.”
“Thank you.” Gran curtsied. “I thought I'd take a dip in the swimming hole while you lot explore the caves, but since you're not going, maybe we could all take a dip.”
“Are there crocodiles? Or is it alligators?” Blake asked Andi.
“Neither. Not even eels,” Andi replied. “All you’ll find in there are yabbies. Great for cooling off in. You're welcome to take a dip anytime.”
“What's a yabby?” I asked, worried Gran was in danger of being bitten by something nasty.
“Crayfish,” Remy supplied, then held up her finger and thumb. “Small ones.”
“I might join you later, Gran. I need to put in a call to Drixworths. And we”—I indicated Jenna, Remy, and Blake—“need to decide what our next move will be.”
Gran flipped a striped towel over her shoulder and hurried off toward the swimming hole, calling “Toodles” and giving us a wave over her shoulder as she left. Archie and Bandit trotted after her.
“Traitors.” Remy chuckled, not in the least concerned that her dog had abandoned her to go swimming with Gran.
“Does Bandit like the water?” I asked, cocking my head and watching until they disappeared from view.
“Loves it. He'll be in before your Gran has even reached it. How about Archie? Is he a water cat?”
“Not that I know of.”
Andi bid us farewell, returning to the house to feed Joey. As soon as she was out of earshot I asked, “What did you find out? About the dead crow? Did you find where it was killed? And who killed it?”
“No. Just that it was tainted with dark magic. I'd say someone killed it for its blood.”
I sucked in a breath. “Blood magic then. That is dark.” A shiver wracked me despite the heat. “And you couldn't trace where it had come from?”
“We followed a blood trail of sorts, leading to a bin by the back of the house,” Remy said. “We think Archie may have found the bird there.”
“So, whoever is practicing magic—dark or otherwise—has to be staying here in the trailer park,” Jenna said, and Remy nodded.
“We should ward the trailer and your cabins,” I said.
Blake nodded. “Good idea. But let’s wait until nightfall. Don't want to tip our hand that we're onto them. We'll ward under the cover of darkness.”
“I'm going to do some more research on the copper pyramid,” Remy said. “See if I can find the thread your parents found and give it a tug, see what unravels.”
“Great idea.” Jenna piped up, “I'm going to write this up. There's a story here, I know it.”
Before Blake spoke, I grabbed his arm. “Actually, could you help me with something?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Yeah of course.”
Bidding farewell to Remy and Jenna, he followed me into the trailer where I busied myself putting a pot of coffee on.
“What's up?” he asked, making himself comfortable at the diner-style booth seating. I told him my theory about Mom and Dad being hidden by magic. He listened in silence, tapping a finger on the table as I spoke.
When I finished, he looked at me with his piercing dark eyes. “Sounds plausible,” he finally said, and I almost sagged with relief. “So, what do you need my help with?”
“Well, I thought we could combine our powers? That maybe that would give me enough of a boost to bust through whatever spell has them hidden.”
“Combining our powers could be risky. I'm fae, not a witch. Our powers might not mesh well.”
“We managed okay when that orb was attacking us back in Whitefall Cove,” I pointed out, but he was already shaking his head.
“That was different. I wasn't combining my magic with yours. I was using my magic alongside you. A double pronged attack.”
“Oh.” I turned my back and fiddled with the coffee cups, wishing the damn machine would hurry up.
“But I guess it can't hurt to try,” he added, and I spun to face him, hands clasped to my chest.
“Really?”
“Why not? This is our first strong lead; we should do everything it takes to find your parents and if that means experimenting with our own powers...” And that's when I hesitated.
The way he said it. Experimenting with our powers. Pretty sure
that was against my probation with Drixworths Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'd lost my witch's license last year for harming a human with magic—in my defense it hadn’t been intentional. When I'd caught my fiancé cheating on me with a student at the university where he worked, my magic had sort of exploded out of me and I'd changed him into a monkey. And then a rat. Then a snake. Of course, I'd changed him back to human, but the damage had been done and I'd lost my license. Then I'd lost my job. It was a given that I'd lost my fiancé. I'd packed up my car and moved back to Whitefall Cove that same day.
“Regrets already?” Blake asked, one dark brow arching.
I shrugged. “No.”
He laughed. “You're such a bad liar.”
I gave him a tight smile but said nothing, instead turned my attention back to the coffee, pouring us both a cup. As I slid Blake's across to the table he asked, “Was anything missing?”
“What?”
“When you tidied up the trailer, was anything missing?”
“Oh. Ummm. I didn't really check. I just kinda shoved everything back where it belonged.” And now I was kicking myself that I hadn't thought to see if whoever had searched the trailer had taken anything. I was saved from further beating myself up by my phone ringing.
“Jackson?” I hadn't expected to hear from Detective Jackson Ward. Not when I was all the way in Australia, and he was back home in Whitefall Cove. “Has something happened?”
“No, no, it's all good here,” he reassured me and I sagged with relief. For a minute I thought he was ringing with more bad news.
“So...what's up?” I asked. Blake watched me with those mesmerizing dark eyes of his and I almost felt guilty for talking with Jackson in his presence. I'd had a crush on Jackson ever since I'd returned to Whitefall Cove, only Jackson was dating fellow police officer Liliana Miles. Jackson was also a necromancer, and we'd discovered that whenever we were together in my bookstore, The Dusty Attic, the ghost of my high school nemesis Whitney Sims would appear for all to see—and hear. It made for interesting conversations, and since I didn't particularly like ghosts, Jackson thought it a hoot to drop into the shop unannounced purely to amuse himself at my reaction to Whitney.
“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to check in, see how you're doing?”
“Oh.” Blinking twice in surprise, I filled him in on what we'd discovered so far. Which wasn't a lot.
“Blake's with you now?” Jackson’s voice turned sharp, and I rolled my eyes. The two men had some alpha male rivalry going on and I didn't have time for their egos.
“Yes. Look I've got to go. Thanks for your call, Jackson. Say hi to Liliana for me.” I hung up and placed my phone down on the table a little too hard.
Blake grinned. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled. Blake had been teasing me for a while now that Jackson had the hots for me. I didn't see it. And I wondered how I'd gotten myself into this bizarre triangle of liking two men yet unsure of either of their feelings towards me. Or motives. Jackson was spoken for. And Blake was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and I feared that was partly why I found him so attractive. He was a puzzle I wanted to solve. But I also feared he would break my heart, and having it so thoroughly stomped on by Simon mere months ago, I wasn't sure I was ready to risk it again.
We sat in silence and drank our coffee, my mind a furious whirl of anxiety. Find my parents. Sort out my love life— or lack thereof. What happened to the quiet life I'd planned for myself in Whitefall Cove?
Chapter Six
“Are you sure you want to do this? Because you don't look sure,” Blake said, sitting across from me in the tiny kitchen of the trailer.
“I am absolutely, positively sure,” I replied with a firm nod of my head. I needed the reassurance of connecting with my mom, to know that she was alive—Dad too—once and for all. It was the not knowing that was eating away at me and despite the I'm doing fine face I was presenting to the world, the truth was I was scared to death I may not see my parents again.
Blake sighed like he wasn't convinced, but he went along with it, anyway.
“I've no idea how to do this,” he told me. “Any suggestions?”
“How about I try to astral-walk like I do normally but you...” I trailed off.
“I what?” he pressed.
“Touch me,” I blurted. “We'd need a physical connection for this to work. So, touch me. Hold my hand. Then focus on channeling your magic into me.”
“So, I'd be using you as a conduit?”
“More like I'd be using you. But it doesn't matter. We just need enough oomph to break through whatever spell is hiding them.”
“If it's a spell,” he pointed out.
“Can you at least pretend to be positive?” I grumbled, my stress levels rising.
“Sorry. You're right. Okay, let's do this.”
“Ummm.” I didn’t know how to word my next request without it coming out the wrong way.
“Just spit it out, Harper.” Blake sighed, knowing me all too well.
“Okay, I like to do this on the bed. Sitting up!” I quickly added, lest he think this was some nefarious plan to get him into bed. “Cross-legged. On the bed.”
He stood up and moved to the bed. “I can do that.” Toeing off his shoes, he climbed onto the bed and positioned himself cross-legged, leaving enough space for me to join him. I followed suit, flicking off my shoes and crawling into position. I sucked in a deep breath, rolled my shoulders and blew out the breath, closing my eyes and centering myself. Without opening my eyes, I held out my hands, jumped a little at the hot sizzle that shot up my arms when Blake clasped my hands in his.
Then I focused on finding my parents. Or more specifically my mom, since she was the one who was a witch. Dad was human. Which was strange then that I'd have such powerful magic, given my diluted bloodline, but nevertheless, Drixworths had assured me I was a powerful witch and they'd given me a familiar, Archie, to help me control and channel my magic. I wondered now if I should have Archie with us to help, but it was too late. I already felt like I was zooming down a superhighway, traveling beyond the speed of light through memory trails of my mom. Then, with an audible pop, there she was, right in front of me.
“Harper.” Her smile was everything I remembered, and I smiled back at her, so full of relief I couldn't speak. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight and I breathed in the scent that was purely Mom.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice wavering. “Is Dad with you?”
“We're both fine,” she reassured me, but then her image flickered, like an old movie on videotape.
“Mom?” She shimmered and crackled. She was speaking, but I couldn't make out the words. She clasped my hands in hers and I heard the word geospiral before—snap, she was gone.
My eyes popped open, and I stared into the dark pools of Blake's eyes. “Did you see that?” I whispered. He nodded, dazed.
“Did you hear what she said? All I really got was that they're being held somewhere. I couldn’t see where, but it was dark. And the word geospiral. You?”
He opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Same,” he croaked.
“Are you okay?”
“I think I need a cup of tea.” He let go of my hands to run his fingers through his hair and that was when I noted the pasty hue beneath his tan.
“Tea? Since when do you drink tea?” I asked, waiting for my own stomach to settle down.
“I'm fine.” Swinging his legs off the bed, he scooped his boots up and hurried to the door.
“Blake? You're acting a little weird,” I said, hopping off the bed and following him to the door. “Are you sure you're okay?”
He fled without looking back and I stood watching him, puzzled. Did he feel ill and didn't want me to see him hurl? But it was his words that had me frowning. Asking for a cup of tea. I'd never seen him drink tea. I was sure I'd heard him tell Gran that he only drank coffee. How bizarre.
Brushing aside the strange episode with Blake, I focused on what my mom had said— geospiral. Hadn’t Remy talked about geospirals on the way to Arrowstrand? Sitting on the front step of the trailer, I pulled my shoes back on and watched Blake as he made his way back to his cabin. I felt bad he felt unwell, but happy that I'd busted through whatever spell had been cast. Jumping up, I hurried over to Remy's cabin and knocked on the door. She opened it almost immediately.
“Hey, come on in.” She opened the door wide, and I stepped inside, surprised to see Jenna sitting at the kitchen table, laptop open in front of her, furiously typing.
“Hi, Harper. Come to join the fun?” Jenna glanced at me, but her fingers kept flying across the keyboard. Remy had her own industrial-looking laptop open on the table with a stack of books and paperwork piled next to it. She moved them aside. “Come sit.” She smiled.
“What do you know about geospirals?” I asked her, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs and taking a seat.
“Geospirals are basically a circular pattern etched or painted into rocks,” Remy said. “Why?”
“Because with Blake's help I managed to astral-walk and connect with my mom. We only had seconds together, but she and Dad are okay. Alive. Then we lost the connection and I could only make out one word. Geospirals.”
“Get outta town!” Jenna slapped her laptop shut and grabbed my hand across the tabletop. “That's wonderful news, Harper.”
My smile was wide. “Agreed.”
Remy was puzzling over what I'd told them. “Do you think I could look at your parents’ notes? That might help with context.”
“Absolutely. Mom always journaled about their adventures and there's a ton of maps and journals in Dad’s old chest in the trailer.”
“You don't mind?” Remy was already gathering up her laptop, shoving it into her satchel along with a notebook and pencil.
“Of course not. It would make more sense to you than it would to me.”
“Good thinking.” Jenna stood, tucking her laptop under her arm. “I'm coming too.”
