by Maher Tegan
“Nothing,” I replied to the driver. "I just mean how fast he ran out.”
Before I could say anything, two people in business suits, a platinum blonde man and woman who appeared to be twins, popped in beside me, and I jumped and scowled at them. “You scared the daylights out of me!”
Without so much as a glance or a token apology, they rushed toward the body and examined him. After a couple minutes and quite a bit of mumbling between themselves, they pushed to their feet and brushed off their hands.
“There's nothing we can do for him. Who saw what happened?” The woman asked, looking from one of us to the other. It felt like her ice-blue gaze was seeing everything, and I couldn’t hold back a shudder. It wasn’t overtly creepy, but I was considering hiding something and lying wasn’t one of my strengths even if it was only by omission.
“We did," I replied, stepping forward, “but we didn't see anything that led up to it. One minute he was on the sidewalk, the next he was dashing out into the street. And then …”
"And then he was under my wheels," the driver finished, his voice gruff. "I did everything I could to stop, but there was no way. He ran right in front of the horses."
“We’re gonna need written statements," the male healer said, his tone neutral.
I searched his crystal gaze for accusation, but there didn't seem to be any. As far as I could tell, they were just looking for details for their accident report. Of course, that didn't mean it wouldn't turn into an investigation later, but I didn't see where we had much choice. The question was, though, how much should I tell them? I wasn't sure mentioning the black smoke that had risen from him was the best idea. For one, I didn’t want to become the focus of an investigation. Also, I didn't know who was looped into Kira’s quest.
Aaron must've been thinking the same thing because he gave me another little squeeze. That seemed to be his go-to communication method, but at least we had something. I considered opening a mental link to see if I could reach him that way but decided against it.
"Our statements are pretty simple,” he said. “We saw him snuffing out the lamps, then when we said something to him for doing it, he darted into the street. End of story."
I nodded my head and shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, I wish we could help, but that really is all that happened. Maybe he was on some kinda drugs or was having a reaction to something or was trippin’. It doesn't make sense, but I don't know how else to explain it."
“Nor I,” Timothy added, stepping forward. “I didn’t even see him until Mila yelled at him.”
The man snapped his fingers, and a clipboard appeared with a pen stuck to the top of it. He thrust it at me. "Here, please fill this out and don't leave out any of your personal information. We might need to talk to you later."
I took it from him and filled out the form, pretty much just including what I'd told him, then handed the clipboard to Aaron. After he filled it out, he handed it to Timothy who passed it to the driver once you wished. The sun had set, and I could tell Timothy was getting nervous because he kept glancing at the unlit lamps. It made me sad, because there weren't very many people left in the world who cared about their job that much.
He stepped forward, hat in hand. “If there's nothing else, I'll need to be getting back to work. Them lamps ain't gonna like themselves."
The officials nodded, and I wondered if we'd messed up by not being completely honest with them. In my experience, when you dealt with the Council, that kind of thing tended to bite you in the butt later. Still, this wasn't a normal situation, and I'd rather share too little information than too much.
The woman reviewed the forms then gave a sharp nod, her bob swaying. "That's all for now, but we might be in touch."
The people in the buggy stuck their heads out and proceeded to complain that they were late to getting to the theater. I shook my head. It didn't matter that somebody died, only that their whims weren't being accommodated.
Aaron dropped his arm from my shoulder as we crossed the street, then gave me a sideways glance once we were safely out of earshot. “You saw the black smoke, right?”
I was glad he asked because I was starting to believe I’d been seeing things. “Yeah, though it seems like we were the only ones. Or at least the driver didn’t see it.”
“What you think, then?” He peeked over at me, his expression open and curious.
I sighed as I watched Timothy go about his job. "I think it's time to start investigating this thing on our own if we don't hear back from Michael or Kira by tomorrow morning. We can't let anybody else die."
5
My shop was closed the next day, too, so I tried to busy myself with brewing a few of the potions I needed. That only took a few hours, though, so by late morning, I was bored out of my mind. April’s bookstore was open, so I couldn’t kidnap her to get into trouble with me, and Aaron was working, too. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the day before, and I still hadn't heard back from Michael or Kira. I'd even texted Destiny to see if she’d heard from them.
Calamity sighed from her place on the couch beside me. "You've rewound that scene three times. If you haven't absorbed it yet, you're not going to. You're obviously perseverating. Why don't you go down and talk to Broch? If he's working, maybe you can fill him in. I'm sure he's already heard about it, though, but at least it'll make you feel like you're doing something."
That was a fabulous idea, and I was a little irritated with myself for not having thought of it already. "Maybe just a quick trip down," I said flipping the TV off. "It might not do any good, but it’s better than just sitting here.”
"Good.” She hopped off the couch and stretched. “Then maybe we can settle in and have a relaxing afternoon. It seems like we've been puttin’ in over time for the last month, and I could use a day of doing nothin’.”
I arched a brow at her. Considering doing nothing and being snarky were her to favorite pastimes, I couldn't help but see the irony in her statement. She, however, wouldn’t, so I just let it go. “Are you going with me? Or are you going to stay here?"
Her tail flicked as she ran ahead of me down the hall, skidding a little when she ran across the colorful orange rug I’d placed over the wood floor in front of my bedroom. “I’ll go with you. I like to see all the other familiars down there, and maybe if I get lucky, I’ll run into that handsome red fox that we met during the fair."
"Maybe so. Maybe you'll run into him and quit nagging me about my dating life." It seemed like every time we ran across the handsome guy, she was thrown out the hands. Or just flat out asking him if he was single for me. I know what her problem was with that, because we got along just fine with the two of us, but she seemed intent on hooking me up.
"And his partner isn’t bad to look at either,” she said waggling her furry little brows at me.
I rolled my eyes and huffed. "I thought you liked Aaron?"
She hopped up onto the bed while I dug for something besides pajamas in my closet. I needed to do laundry.
She turned in a circle and lay down, batting her big blue eyes at me. "I do, but it never hurts to hedge your bets. It's not exactly like you excel in the relationship department, so it's probably good to keep your line in the water until you got one firmly on the hook."
"I'm not sure why you think I'm even fishin’,” I replied pulling on a Rolling Stones tank top. "I don't think I've ever just looked at you and said, hey Calamity, you know what I really need? A man in my life. I simply can't exist anymore without one. I think we get along just fine by ourselves, don't you?"
She laid her chin on her black-toed paws. “We do, but I think you've gotten too comfortable being alone. You're not getting any younger. Tick-tock. I'm not a big fan of munchkins, but I think it would be good for you to consider having somebody else in your life that can go grocery shopping or clean the bathroom."
I raised a brow at her. "So, let me get this straight. You want me to find a man so I don't have to shop or do laundry?"
&n
bsp; She rolled her eyes. “Don't be silly. Nobody likes to do laundry, but I figured that would be a bigger motivation for you than if I said it would be nice for you to have somebody who bought you flowers and was willing to sneak me extra nibbles at dinner time."
I pressed my lips together and gave her a sarcastic smile. I’d been cutting back her treats because she was getting a little too chunky, so now I'd figured out her endgame. "You don't want me to find a man for me, you want me to find one for you."
She made a show of looking at her paws. "Tomato tomahto. We’re a package deal."
I laughed. “As long as we understand each other, then. How about this? I start letting you have an extra cookie at night, and you quit trying to hook me up with every semi appropriate guy we run across. Deal?"
"For now,” she said primly. “We'll see how well you hold up on your end of it. And don't think I won't notice if you start slackin’ after a couple months."
"Noted." I pulled on a pair of jeans shorts then ran a brush through my hair and gave it a quick fluff. For most of my life I'd had long hair, but I’d cut it off into a short shag a few months ago, and the only thing I regretted about it was that I hadn’t done it sooner.
I gathered my beaded bohemian purse and made sure I had my house keys. Pausing, I thought about the soul catcher Kira had given me and decided I’d rather have it than not need it than vice versa, so I pulled a picture of Destiny, Cori, and me from the wall and waved my hand over the blank space behind it. A small safe appeared, and I spoke the spell that would unlock the wards on it, then twirled the combination lock and pulled it open. It was mostly empty since I didn’t have much in the way of valuables, so the Rubik’s Cube-sized contraption was easy to find.
“Let's get this show on the road,” I said, dropping it into my bag. “The faster we get down there, the faster we can get back. Best case scenario is that they've already figured out what's going on and have the situation under control."
She hopped up on my shoulder as I opened the door that led down the back staircase. "And if it's the worst-case scenario? What then?"
I sighed as I pulled the door shut and locked behind me. "Worst case scenario is that they’re either clueless or out of their depth and we’ll have to go to the Council."
As far as I was concerned, that really was the worst-case scenario. I hated dealing with those people, but I couldn't let things keep going as they were, either.
I was tempted to stop in at April’s shop and tell her where I was going, but then I thought better of it. She worried enough about me as it was, and considering she knew exactly how dangerous things could get, I didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.
Ms. Beatrice was struggling to drag a bag of garbage to her dumpster.
“Here, let me get that for you,” I said, rushing over toward her.
“Thank you, dear. I just don’t have the muscles I used to,” she replied, shoving a wisp of gray hair back toward her bun. She must have been making arrangements because she was wearing a green-stained apron with an errant rose petal sticking out of the pocket.
I slung the bag into the dumpster, then brushed my hands off as I smiled at her. “There you go.”
“Where are you off to today?” she asked, plucking the petal from her pocket.
I debated telling her what had happened and decided to come clean. She knew pretty much everything that went on in town, so maybe she’d heard things.
She nodded, her faded blue gaze speculative. “There’s somethin’ not right, for sure. The girls didn’t have anything to say last night, so I have to assume it’s a recent development. It’s a shame that handsome cousin of yours isn’t around.”
I nodded, but her mention of her little gaggle of hens made me think of Timothy. “Ms. Beatrice, what’s going to happen to Timothy once we make the transition to electric lights. And by the way, I’m not thrilled with that idea, either. I love our gas lamps.”
She pressed her lips together. “Those old biddies have been tryin’ to do that for years, and I’ve shot them down. I didn’t realize they were organizing another push.”
I nodded and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Timothy told us last night that the town council has decided to upgrade to electric lights, which means Timothy won’t have a job anymore.”
She scoffed and pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll get to the bottom of this faster’n you can call shenanigans. That man’s a staple in this town, and we’re not gettin’ rid of our lights if I have anythin’ to say about it. They got sneaky this time and managed to keep it from me. I can’t promise anything if they’ve already taken it to the council, but I’ll do my best.”
I’d put my money on her any day. If anybody could turn things around, it was Ms. Beatrice. Happy that at least one thing had gone right, I said my goodbyes, then hurried down the shaded alley and out into the bright sunlight on Main Street.
Luck was with me, because Broch was working when we got there. To make my streak even better, the guy with the fox was nowhere in sight. I pecked on the corner of his desk, and he glanced up, smiling when he saw me.
"Mila! I didn't expect to see you. Is everything okay?"
I glanced around to see if anybody was listening. Even though everyone seemed to be going about their daily activities, there were plenty of people in earshot. I lowered my voice and tossed up a bubble to keep us from being overheard. "Does everybody here know about what's going on with Michael and Kira?"
He propped his elbows on the desk then, leaned forward and motioned toward the seat across from him. “Many do, at least in broad brush strokes. Why? Do you know something I don't?"
Calamity jumped up onto my lap. "Maybe. It depends on what you know. Did you hear about the ruckus at the movie theater last night? Or about the guy who died later on?"
He furrowed his brow. "I heard about the guy who was killed in the carriage accident, but I didn't hear about anything weird that happened in the movies. You’re going to have the fill me in."
I did, then waited for his response.
"That's … concerning." He shuffled some papers on his desk and moved them off to the side. "Even more so, because it's not the only weird thing that happened last night. I mean, the guy dying was tragic, but there was an incident at the apothecary and another at ChocoLatte. Charlie’s beside himself.” He lifted a shoulder. “We’ve either got one really active being or were dealing with more than one of them."
I shuddered. The one and only other time I’d helped Michael and Kira, there had been two souls working together. That had almost ended tragically, so I truly hope that wasn't the case this time around. Still, if there was two of them, it was better to figure it out now.
"Have you gone to the Council with it?"
He huffed out a frustrated breath. "When I went to my superiors to tell them about it, they just told me it had been taken care of. They haven’t said anything, but I kinda get the feeling we’ve gotten orders from up high to leave it alone. Not only that, but we’re overrun right now with issues they think are more imperative."
I fiddled with the strap of my purse while I thought. "Is that your usual protocol? I mean, I know this whole situation is relatively new, but surely it's not policy to just sit back and let it happen and trust the Council will deal with it. You and I both know how well that works out a lot of the time.”
He tapped his pen on his planner, his forehead creased. “Do I ever. The few times I've had to go to them for help, they’ve been absolutely maddening. They never want to fill us in on the details of a situation, yet they expect us to put ourselves at risk. Then they don't even give us so much as a thank you once it's over."
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” I ran my tongue over my teeth, frustrated with both his superiors and the Council. Michael and Kira had asked for my help the last time, and I felt like l had some level of responsibility. I debated telling him about the soul catcher but decided against it, at least for the time being. If nothing else, it gave him plausible
deniability in case I really stuck my foot in it.
He scratched his jaw, and his fingers scraped against his blond two-day stubble. “Honestly, though, if they say to let them handle it, I don’t have a choice. I have bills to pay and can’t afford to lose this job.”
"But you just said —"
He waved a hand. "I know what I just said." Compassion crossed his face. "Look, I really like you, Mila, so I’m telling you from a place of goodwill—let the Council deal with it. I know you feel some sort of responsibility because Michael's your cousin and Kira’s your friend, but it’s not your problem. Trust people who’ve been trained take care of it."
I started to reply, but Calamity laid her paw on my hand. "I'm sure you're right, Broch. We'll be on our way."
With that, she hopped off my lap and took a couple steps toward the door before looking back over her shoulder at me. "Are you coming? Our potions won’t make themselves.”
Since I knew for a fact making potions was one of her least favorite things to do on the planet, it wasn't brain surgery to figure out she was telling me that staying there was a lost cause. I agreed with her, so I pasted a smile on my face, thanked him for his time, and wished him luck.
6
The heat blasted us in the face as we stepped outside, and I took a deep breath. "What now? You think we should go to the Council?”
She hopped onto my shoulder and didn't say anything for a minute as I skipped down the steps and back onto the street. "I don't think we really have a choice. If Aurora Darkmore is in, then maybe shall be willing to listen. She's the most reasonable one of the bunch that we’ve dealt with."
I sighed. That wasn’t what I wanted to do at all, but I needed to make sure they were at least aware of what was going on.
Since the Witch's Council was all the way across town, I decided to teleport. It was hot is sin on Saturday night, and I was sick of sweating.
Getting into the Council was about like the human version of breaking into Fort Knox, except about ten times harder, and the punishments were much worse. I once heard that a guy who tried to break in through a window was turned into a bag of corn then eaten by pigeons. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but I could see where it would be a cautionary tale for that very reason.
