by K. M. Waller
He heard Samuel yell to his camera crew, “Start rolling!”
Lex reached for Amira’s arm. “Don’t go out there.”
Amira stopped and lifted her finger in the direction of Chase. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Yes. An opportunist with a spray tan and good hair.”
Amira’s eyes widened. “That’s Samuel Chase—the ghost guy from television.”
“Let’s go out the back. I’ll call Jordie and tell him to put a rush on controlling the narrative. If we shut down any mention of paranormal activity, Chase might leave before nightfall.”
“And what if he doesn’t?”
“He’s going to make our job ten times harder.” Lex released her arm and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go out the back.”
They stepped over a broken plate, and Amira tugged on his hand, slowing him down. “Who’s going to clean up this mess?”
Lex refused to be deterred from their escape. “I’ll hire a cleaning crew to come in tomorrow morning.”
Amira’s posture perked up. “I may dislike you a little less for making that promise.”
He pulled her into the back office and released her hand. “Do you see how quickly this situation has spiraled out of control? What if the person who did this decides they want a spot on national television and shows off in front of Chase?”
“I didn’t say that I didn’t understand why you’re doing your job, or that I want to stop you from doing your job.” Amira reached for her purse. She shook it and scrunched her nose. “My keys aren’t in my purse.”
“Are you sure you put them in there?”
“I know where I put my keys. The same place every single day.” She turned the purse over and emptied out the contents. A discolored piece of paper slipped out and fell to the floor.
Lex reached down and picked it up, plus a small plastic baggie beside it. He flipped over the piece of paper and read the title. “A spell of indifference.”
Amira gripped her now empty purse to her chest. “Okay. I can explain that.”
“You were going to spell me?” He held up the baggie which contained his dark eyelash. “I thought that was against your sister code.”
Her face reddened. “Only because I thought you’d been spelled by my great-aunts.”
Realization smacked him in the face. He grinned. “You thought I was under a love spell?”
“You have to admit, you’ve been unreasonably interested in me.”
“I wouldn’t say unreasonably.” He thought back to when he’d wanted to kiss her. That hadn’t been a part of his cover. In that moment, he’d wanted her. “Did you try it?”
“I hoped you’d leave before I had to.”
Lex handed the slip of paper back to her. He didn’t doubt her sincerity about the spell. “Did you find your keys?”
Amira shook her head.
Lex released a heavy sigh. “Did Ris steal your car?”
“Steal is a loaded and judge-y term. I’m sure she plans to return it after she’s done borrowing it.”
He gave her points for never-ending loyalty. “My car is parked out front. We’ll have to make a run for it.”
Amira raked her purse contents back in the bag. “Lead the way.”
Lex led Amira out the back door and they stayed close to the brick wall. If Chase had his usual team with him, there would be a few scouts with cameras getting the lay of the land. When they moved around the corner toward the front parking lot, Amira pulled on the back of Lex’s shirt.
“Do you hear that?”
Lex faced her and shrugged. “A woman laughing?”
“Not just any woman. That’s Ally’s laugh.” She wrinkled her nose. “Her flirty laugh.”
Lex inched forward to the edge of the building. He couldn’t tell if the laugh was flirty or not, but any interaction between a Walker sister and Chase wouldn’t end well. The man would use her for information. Lex recognized his hypocrisy—only he could use a Walker sister?—but he answered to a greater good. Chase answered to ratings and cheap gimmicks. He’d never met the reality “star” face-to-face, but rumors around the LSP breakroom said once he locked on to a possible supernatural sighting, he held on to it like a dog with a rawhide bone.
Amira leaned close to his back, the warmth of her breath on his arm. Now was not the time to be distracted by how his body reacted to her closeness. He would give her until sundown to clear her sister’s name, but he couldn’t delay his mission any longer than that. Anger at Gramps for putting him in this position sparked in the back of his mind.
Lex counted the steps to his car. Fifteen at the most—a three second dash.
He faced Amira again. “Is there a way you can get Ally’s attention… magically?”
Her eyebrows rose less than a quarter of an inch. “You mean by twitching my nose or crossing my arms and nodding? Are we the first group of witches you’ve ever met?”
“I’ve spent most of my life avoiding them.” He raised his eyebrows to mimic her expression.
“Goddesses alive.” A wash of uncertainty passed through Amira’s eyes, but Lex couldn’t back down. She had to understand that even though he allowed her to help, he was very much in charge of this investigation. It was bad enough babysitting an assistant; he didn’t have the patience for a partner who wouldn’t listen.
Ally’s laughter taunted them from around the corner.
Amira broke eye contact first. Then she pushed past him toward Ally and Chase. Over her shoulder, she said, “Wait for me in the car. I have an idea.”
Lex wanted to call out after her, but he didn’t want to draw any attention from the television show goons. His frustration mounted, and he dashed the fifteen steps to the car. So much for showing her who’s in charge.
∞∞∞
Amira tucked a few fly-away hairs behind her ear. Ally had the worst possible timing, but if her sister knew where to find Ris, it’d be worth the discomfort of coming face-to-face with Samuel Chase. She’d never admit it to Lex, but Amira never missed an episode of Ghost Getters. Neither did Ally. Many a Friday night both women had sat on the couch with popcorn and snarked their way through an episode of the scripted ghost hunting show.
Amira approached them just as Ally shoved a pen and piece of paper into Samuel’s hands.
“My students would love an autograph for the classroom, but you can make it out to me.” Ally ended “me” with a giggle that made it sound like “mehehehe.”
“Ahem.” Amira tugged on her sister’s sleeve. “I’ve been texting you.”
“Oh, hi, hon. Sorry about that. My cell died.” She leaned in close. “Give me yours so I can take a selfie.”
Amira bit her cheek, then released it. If she didn’t stop doing that, there’d be a hole. “We need to talk. Privately. Now.”
Samuel finished signing his name and winked at Ally as he handed the paper back to her. The man was ten times less gorgeous in person. He wore a pair of distressed jeans and a T-shirt that said Chicks Dig Ghost Hunters, and he had something stuck in his teeth.
Ally didn’t seem to mind.
“Hello, there. Who’s this?” He arched a professionally tweezed eyebrow in a move she’d seen at least a hundred times on his television show.
Ally fluttered her hands. “This is my sister, Amira. She owns the Tea Haven.”
Samuel pushed past Ally, nearly bumping her into a fire hydrant and snapped his fingers at the camera man. “Amira Walker? What can you tell me about the demonic possession that happened earlier today?”
Amira bristled and repeated the cover story. “A young lady had a seizure due to an unknown food allergy.”
He placed his hands on his hips in a Superman stance. “That’s the ‘official’ story?”
Backed into a corner, Amira did her own Supergirl stance and spoke to the camera. “That’s the only story. And how did you even know about the incident? It only happened about an hour ago.”
Samuel sliced his hand across his throat in a signa
l to the cameraman, who in return dropped the camera off his shoulder. The little red light at the top didn’t go off, and Amira’s intuition said Samuel would roll film until he got something useful.
Ally moved in beside them, the star-struck glitter in her eyes fading to confusion. She stuck a hand on her hip. “What’s going on?”
Samuel widened his already toothy grin. “We were in Charleston shooting for a new episode when a tip came in about a possession at a tea party. We dropped everything for an exclusive. We’re calling it the ‘Mad Hatter Possession.’”
Amira narrowed her eyes. Using words like exclusive did not make this man a journalist. It made him a glory hound. If she didn’t have to worry about the accusations regarding her little sister, she would consider playing along for the fun of it. But there was nothing fun about the Council wanting to remove her sister’s powers or worse. Whether the Walker girls practiced magic should be their choice. If Lex said that Samuel Chase needed to go in order to keep the Council at bay—then he needed to go.
She finally shrugged. “Sorry you came all this way for nothing. There’s no exclusive to be had unless your next reality show is for the Food Network exposing rare allergies.”
His grin dimmed and he lowered his perfect eyebrow. “We’ll see about that after we talk to the possession victim at the hospital.”
Amira pressed her lips together so tight she was sure they turned white. Samuel rounded up his crew and they climbed inside the RV with a picture of his face plastered on the side. How had she ever thought such an infuriating man could be cute?
Ally placed her hand on Amira’s shoulder. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
“Have you seen Ris?”
“Not since yesterday. That’s why I’m here. Why is Samuel Chase talking about a possession in the Tea Haven?”
“There’s a lot to explain, and I don’t have much time.” She pointed to the car where Lex waited. His white knuckles gripped the steering wheel. “I didn’t know it, but Lex is from one of those paranormal governing agencies the aunts always warned us about. Sort of. He thinks Ris did something bad to Dara. Dara’s the ‘possessed,’ but it was a botched spell. I think. And someone stole our spell books from the house. I need you to help find Ris.” She rushed through the last part in hopes of never having to confess she’d had the books out to spell Lex because she’d thought him magically in love with her.
Ally shook her head. “Ris would never spell anyone.”
“I know that and you know that, but Lex isn’t convinced. I wish I could explain better, but with the Ghost Getters crew here, we’re running out of time.”
“Okay. I’ll look for her at her place and a few of her hangouts.” She pulled Amira into a quick hug. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I trust you know what you’re doing.”
“I need one more thing.” Amira blew out breath. “We need to find the aunts.”
Ally glanced down at the sidewalk and pursed her lips. “I might already know how to contact them.”
“You’ve been in touch with the aunts?”
Ally still didn’t meet her gaze.
A ping of hurt zipped through Amira’s side. Both her sisters had been in contact with the three women they’d sworn to keep at arm’s length. What other secrets were they hiding?
A car horn blasted and Amira jumped into action. She reached in her purse. “Here’s my wireless charger. Charge your phone and text me when you find her. Contact the aunts and tell them they need to be on standby in case we need them.”
Ally connected the charger to her phone. “Don’t worry. We’ll find Ris and get this whole mess straightened out.”
“Be careful. It seems we have someone in town using spells that could hurt people.”
Ally nodded and headed to her car. The small group of people who’d formed around the Ghost Getters RV dispersed. Amira stopped and scratched the back of her neck. The uneasy feeling of being watched tickled the small hairs at her hairline. She glanced around and didn’t notice anyone nearby, but that didn’t mean that Samuel hadn’t left a part of his crew to watch them. They could be in one of the other stores or across the street or inside the library.
Amira calmly walked to Lex’s car and slumped into the passenger’s seat. “Ally is searching for Ris and she’s going to call our aunts. Samuel Chase is on his way to the hospital to interview Dara.”
Lex held up his phone and thumbed a text. “I’ll have the doctor on payroll limit her visitors. He won’t get into her room.”
Amira pinched the skin above her nose. “What do we do now, Mr. Investigator?”
“Tell me about your witch abilities. Maybe there’s something to connect you to the stolen books or how to find the person using the spells. Most vampires are connected telepathically to their sires. Many were-animals have a connection to their packs or dens. What do witches have that is similar?”
Amira pressed her head back against the headrest. Two days ago, she’d searched through the spell books, only interested in finding a way to get Lex to leave. What made the Walker witches special? “When we use candle magic, we can sense the cosmos for our aunts.”
“How does that work?”
“It’s like a buzzing in our heads. We ask the question to the cosmos and the buzzing or lack of tells us what we want to know.”
“That’s not very specific.”
“It’s all we’ve ever needed, and your group at the Lisp isn’t one to preach about specificity.”
“It’s L-S-P. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of. We have charmed necklaces somewhat like your amulet, but not with the same amount of power.”
Lex snapped his fingers. “That’s it. Take off your necklace.”
Amira hesitated but only for a moment. She removed her necklace and her mother’s sparrow and set them on the console.
Lex pulled the amulet over his head and leaned toward her. She sucked in a breath as he lifted it to the top of her head. He slid the amulet down around her neck. His knuckles grazed the sensitive skin above her collarbone, the zing between them now gone. So, the zing had been a product of them wearing magical necklaces as she’d suspected. Too bad the missing zing didn’t take away all the attraction she still felt for him. She locked gazes with him, and for a moment, wished they were just two ordinary people who’d met in her tea shop.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
She squeezed them shut and waited.
“Now, do the cosmos-feely-thing, only this time feel for the books. The amulet should enhance your searching powers even without the candle magic.”
Amira cleared her mind and searched the darkness. Distractions of worry poked at her, but she took steadying breaths to shut them out. Focus. Flashes of images sparked in the dark, slowly taking form. “Oh, wow.”
“Tell me what you see,” he said, his tone gentle and coaxing.
“I see the books. Lots of books. Young hands, no rings. The hands are shaking as they flip through the pages.” Hope enveloped her. If Ris had been involved, the hands would have had tattoos.
She concentrated harder as the power ebbed. “I see Dara laughing, and I feel anger.” The flashes stopped, then nothing but the darkness again. Amira opened her eyes. “That last part could be me. Dara’s laugh is pretty obnoxious. But the hands I saw didn’t have tattoos, Lex. It wasn’t Ris with the spell books.”
She wanted him to exonerate her sister, but he only nodded for her to go on.
“Other than that, those are the only images.”
“Unfortunately, that’s usually how it works. Just enough to give the wearer a direction.” Lex finished typing the notes on his phone. “At least we know this person is young and she’s angry with Dara.”
“Dara’s not the nicest woman I’ve ever met, but I’ve never seen her do anything that would instigate this type of revenge spelling.”
“We’re missing a huge connection.”
“What’s that?”
“Th
e connection to you and your sisters. Were your sisters friends with any of the guests? Would Ally or Ris have told anyone about your witch powers or the books? We need to find the overlap that connects to the missing books.”
This morning, Amira would’ve said she knew her sisters better than she knew herself. After seeing the pictures of Ris with the aunts and knowing Ally had been in contact with them too, she couldn’t be sure she knew the younger Walkers at all. They’d broken a long-standing sisterly pact, and for what reasons, she still didn’t know. She didn’t have an answer, so she didn’t give him one.
She slipped off the amulet and handed it back. “We should think like Samuel Chase. Let’s start with interviewing the victim.”
Chapter Nine
The elevator ride to the third floor of the county hospital was quiet. Amira pulled on her lip and simultaneously chewed the inside of her cheek, a habit Lex was sure she didn’t realize could be seen by those who watched her closely. She hadn’t said more than two words to him since they’d driven away from the tea shop.
The relationship between them had changed once he’d been honest about the mission. He felt more relaxed around her, no longer having to lie and also now believing in her innocence.
She turned to him and pointed toward his chest. “You should definitely question Dara. You have an effect on the women in this town.”
He leaned back against the elevator wall. “Such an effect that you were willing to spell me?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor. “After years of being on high alert every time a normal man walked through the door, I guess having Mr. Perfect walk in pushed me over the edge.”
“Hey, I’m a normal guy.” He puffed his chest and let his ego relish the idea of being perfect to her.
Her lips twitched into a smile. “You’re anything but normal, but by the end of the day, you’ll be some other witch’s problem.”
He dipped his head and stared at the floor, deflated. Soon they’d be out of each other’s lives—his commitment fulfilled. The way it should be.
She opened her mouth to say something more, but the mechanical voice announcing their arrival cut her off.
