‘Oh my stars!’ I kicked the covers off in a panic. ‘Why didn’t my alarm go off?’
I wasn’t sure who I was asking, but it was Max who answered. There he was, standing in my open doorway with a tray in his hands, Wolfie by his side and Dizzy perched on his shoulder. ‘It didn’t go off because I turned it off,’ he said, approaching the bed. ‘And before you argue, I’ve already cleared it with Finn. He says you’re more than entitled to a day off.’
He approached the bed, pushing me back down and setting the tray on my lap. ‘Now eat,’ he said. ‘Every last morsel.’
I looked down at the food on the tray. There was a plate piled with tofu scramble, fried mushrooms, tomatoes and toast. Next to it there was a smaller plate with a jam doughnut. There was a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea as well. But best of all – or at least to Dizzy – there was a small bowl filled with fresh mango slices. ‘You made all of this?’
‘Well, I didn’t make the doughnut. Melissa left a big box of them downstairs this morning,’ he said. ‘She had to rush off, though. She’s got some big important meeting.’
‘Oh.’ I had no doubt that the important meeting was with Christy Dempsey, the woman who would be prosecuting Mack and Bryce if they ever went to trial. As much as that disturbed me, I decided that Max was right – I needed a day off to recharge. And how better to spend it than by eating all of this food as quickly as I could and then asking if there were seconds?
Max kicked off his shoes and sat down on the bed. ‘We haven’t made each other breakfast for a while. I figured it was about time.’
I put the mango on my bedside table and watched Dizzy tuck in, then I picked up my fork and dug into the tofu scramble. For those of you who think tofu scramble sounds like the worst thing in the world, just wait until you move in with a vegan weredog with awesome cooking skills. No one cooks tofu like a weredog. It was amazing. Everything on the plate was. I was halfway through it all when I asked (through a mouthful of food, naturally) ‘Where’s Emily?’
Max gave me a rueful smile. ‘Yeah, she’s em … she’s finally gone home.’
My eyes rounded. ‘You don’t mean …?’
‘No.’ He shook his head quickly. ‘No, we haven’t broken up. But Nan’s been onto her about the declining chocolate stocks at the shop, and she’s made Emily go in and work this morning.’
There was a grin threatening to spread all over my face, and I did my best to hold it back. Nan was Emily’s grandmother, but everyone called her Nan. I wasn’t even sure if she had another name. She was a lovely woman, and she made the second-best apple tart in Ireland (the first being my mother’s, obviously), but I would not have liked to get on the wrong side of her.
Max picked up my remote control and turned on some cartoons. ‘I’m kind of relieved, to be honest,’ he went on. ‘I mean don’t get me wrong, Emily’s great. Amazing. But … when you were with Gabriel you always made sure me and you spent plenty of time together. I haven’t been a good housemate, Wanda. Or a good friend.’
‘That’s okay,’ I assured him, starting on the mushrooms. Oh, dear goddess – they tasted almost as good as the tofu scramble. ‘I mean, it’s like you say – Emily’s amazing. Of course you’re going to want to spend all of your time with her.’
He propped one of my pillows up behind his back, and stroked Wolfie (who was lying across Max’s lap, looking at my food with far too much interest). ‘Yeah. She’s amazing. And that’s why I’ve been trying so hard to make it work. Even when she’s turned up on nights when she knows I wanted it to be just you and me, I’ve gone along with what she wants. But it’s full moon tomorrow night, meaning there’ll be another three days where you and me barely cross paths and … and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. So I’m glad Nan forced Emily to go into work today, Wanda. Because I miss you. A lot.’
I bit into my toast and grinned at him. ‘I miss you too,’ I admitted. ‘I wish … I don’t know what I wish.’
He shuffled closer, and kissed the top of my head. ‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘I don’t know much either, these days. But it’ll get better, Wanda.’
I glanced at him, noticing his eyes looked just as watery as mine felt. ‘That stupid love potion’s still in your system too?’ As soon as I said it, I wished I could take it back. But that was the thing with me and Max – whenever I was with him, I felt so comfortable that all I wanted to do was spill my guts.
Luckily, Max didn’t look at me like I was some desperate raving lunatic. Instead, he gave me a teary nod. ‘Just a little bit,’ he admitted. ‘But like I said – it’ll get better soon. So let’s just forget about all of that. How about we spend the whole day in here, eating, watching TV and basically doing a whole lot of nothing? We can order in for dinner, have some wine, watch some more TV … what do you think?’
I laid my head on his shoulder. ‘I think that sounds like the day of my dreams. Hey – those human cavemen are about to stumble into the dinosaurs’ war room. Turn it up.’
He increased the volume and we sat back, enjoying the show. Yeah, the cartoon was childish brain fudge, but sometimes that was exactly what you needed. I still wasn’t finished my breakfast, and already it was the best day I’d had in far too long. An evil part of me hoped that Nan would have a lot more work for Emily to do in the coming weeks.
‘Fancy another cup of tea?’ asked Max as the cartoon came to an end.
‘Definitely,’ I said, hopping out of bed and following him down the stairs. ‘And I’ve just thought of all the shows I want to binge watch today. Have you started on Witch Wars yet?’
‘As if,’ he said. ‘We said we were going to watch it together. That’s a precious vow, Wanda – do not secretly binge without your bingeing buddy.’
We’d made it to the bottom of the stairs, and I was feeling so perfect, so giddy, so happy … right up until Melissa appeared in the hallway.
‘That’s it!’ she exclaimed. ‘I officially hate Christy Dempsey.’
≈
I sat onto the bottom step and sighed. ‘What has she done?’
Melissa took a seat on the little chair next to the hall table. ‘I thought she called me in to discuss my becoming part of her team. Sure, as a lowly clerk, but still … I needed this, Wanda. I need a lawyer to give me the points so I can pass the LOL.’ She let out a little grunt. ‘But she didn’t really want me to clerk for her. She … she wanted me to do something heinous. And in return, she said she’d make sure I passed the LOL with the highest points ever scored.’
Max and I shared a look of confusion. ‘But … how could she do that if you weren’t clerking for her?’ Max questioned. ‘And what is it she wants you to do?’
Melissa threw off her shoes and pulled the bobbin from her hair, shaking it out before she replied. ‘She can promise that because, unlike the Wayfair coven, Christy Dempsey is actually friends with all of the other lawyers in the Wyrd Court. She says that if I do this horrendous thing, then she’ll make sure I can clerk under Fiachra O’Brien. Those two are thick as thieves. Literally. Fiachra will give me top points, and I’ll pass the LOL with flying colours. It’ll all work out wonderfully for Christy, for me … for everyone except Mack and Bryce.’
Oh dear. I was beginning to get an idea of what Christy might want Melissa to do. ‘She wants you to be a witness for the prosecution, doesn’t she? But … a trial date’s not even been set. They haven’t even pleaded yet.’
‘I should have known you’d guess before I got to make my big, dramatic announcement. Yeah, she wants me to be a witness against Mack. She heard some rumours that Red was written about me. She did some digging, found out that I know the band. But here’s the thing – she doesn’t just want me to say what I actually know about Mack. She’s got a whole script written out. She wants me to lie, Wanda. Big time lies. Lies that make Mack sound like a total creep. Lies that are sure to get him put away for good. And sure, he might be a creep. The evidence seems to say so. But if he is, then I want him to get convi
cted the right way.’ She let out a shaky sigh. ‘When I first went to work at the Wyrd Court, I thought Christy Dempsey was amazing. She wins so many cases. I thought it was because she was a real hotshot. But now I know the truth. She wins a lot – but only because she plays dirty every single time.’
Max set the tray on the hall table. I could see our day of binge watching slipping away. There probably wasn’t even going to be a second cup of tea. ‘You have to report her, Melissa,’ he said.
She gave him a tense smile. ‘Oh, I’m going to. I mean, I might as well add to my losing streak. But … I’m not sure I’ll report her just yet. I meant what I said before, Wanda – if Mack and Bryce have done this, then I want to see them pay. But not this way. So … if it does come to a trial, I’ll testify all right. But I won’t lie. I’ll make Christy Dempsey look like the cheating scum she is, and then I’ll report her. It’ll be the end of my career. I’ll probably fail the LOL – the clerking part counts for a lot of the final points. But none of that matters if I can’t live with myself.’
I stood up and hugged her. ‘It’ll be okay, Melissa. It really will. Trust me.’
Behind me, Max sighed. ‘You’re going into work again, aren’t you?’
I glanced back at him. ‘How could you tell?’
‘Because I know you as well as I know myself. But do me a favour – have that second cup of tea before you go. Me, you and Melissa. Tea, doughnuts, and one more cartoon.’
Melissa looked up at me, a teary grin on her face. ‘That sounds like an offer you can’t refuse.’
17. The Plain Old Cauldron
When I got into work it was just after twelve. Finn was the only other person there, and he looked like he was in a serious argument with his computer.
‘Just work, will you! What the heck is wrong with you?’
I wandered over to take a look. Coffee had spilled all over Finn’s desk at some point, and there were sparks coming out of his computer. ‘It might be something to do with that.’ I pointed to the overturned coffee cup.
He gave me a bleary-eyed double take. ‘What are you doing here? I thought you were finally taking a day off.’
‘Oh, like you are? What are you trying to get your poor, abused computer to do anyway?’
He groaned. ‘I don’t even know, Wanda. I’m just … I’m having no more luck than you did with tracking down Alpha. The band, their record company … we still have no way of contacting them. Murphy swears he has no info for them. Well, of course he does – I reckon that guy came out of the womb lying through his teeth. I’ve been onto the venue where they had their last gig. No one has details. I’ve checked with all of the Alpha Babes. Turns out there are only three, and they can barely remember their own names let alone how to find Alpha. And I really don’t want to call Paul in on his day off. This case is so weird.’
I pulled my chair over and sat next to him. ‘Y’know, if it turns out that Twinkles and Pebbles didn’t die of natural causes, then it’s even weirder. I can buy into Alpha wanting to murder some Call of the Wild fans so they can get rid of the competition. But how would they know to kill the victims’ familiars? I mean, we keep my gift on the down low as much as we can, but if the cats were murdered … then what?’
Finn let out an even longer, louder groan, and kicked his feet up onto his desk. ‘Then I really don’t know. But Wanda, it could have gotten out. Gabriel told his dad about it, didn’t he? He probably told more people, too. And there was that annoying bird a while back? Holly Golly’s familiar? Didn’t she fly all over the place squawking to Holly’s fans? Who are we kidding here, Wanda? Try as we might to keep your gift a secret, it was bound to come out eventually.’
He was right. It was always just a matter of time before this got out. But if news of my gift had gotten out, then I hoped we could stop it travelling any further. He picked up his knocked-over coffee and drained the dregs. He didn’t even take his feet down off the desk while he did it. He was oddly flexible. Maybe he took yoga classes, like Melissa. I shuddered. Finn was handsome, but to me he was like an irritating brother, and no one wants to think of their irritating brother in lycra.
‘Anyway, Shane is doing the autopsy today, so we’ll know soon enough,’ Finn said. ‘But on a lighter note … are you coming to Dennis’s retirement do tonight? Because I was just thinking … Dennis did say the more the merrier, so maybe you could take Max along? Maybe Lassie, too?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Why don’t you just ask her yourself, Finn? I thought you and she were getting somewhere.’
Oh, the poor diddums. He was just looking at me, his blue eyes helpless and hopeful, a hangdog expression on his face.
‘The only reason I’m getting anywhere with Lassie is because I’m not pushing things. Pretty please, Wanda. Ask her to come and make it seem like the invite is coming from you. I’d do it for you if there was someone you liked.’
‘Sure you would. Well, maybe I’ll ask her. On one condition. If I tell you something, will you promise on your coven’s grimoire not to tell anyone else? Unless we both agree that it’s dangerous and we should tell other people. Obviously.’
‘Seriously? You’re asking me to swear on the Plimpton grimoire? Wanda, most days I ask myself why I am still a Plimpton. What’s going on?’
I made my eyes as big as I possibly could. ‘Swear first. If not on your grimoire, then …’
He sighed. ‘I tell you what, if it means you’ll invite Lassie tonight, then I’ll give you my word, okay? I won’t tell anyone what you’re about to tell me unless we both decide that it’s dangerous. Okay? But I gotta tell you, if you don’t spit it out in the next three seconds then I’m going to have to bring out the big guns and force it out of you.’ He wiggled his fingers in the air. ‘And by force it out, I mean tickle you until you tell me.’
I rolled my chair back a few feet, just in case. ‘Okay, here it is. You might already know – and if you do, I’m going to tickle you to death for not telling me. But …Will Berry’s been doing protection spells around our work area. I found him in the new headquarters last night, but he told me he’s done it in here as well.’
Finn shook his head, a look of genuine surprise on his face. ‘I did not know that. But … I suppose we kind of need them. We’re not exactly here to make friends with criminals, are we? And I guess if anyone has to do protective wards, it might as well be Will. He’s a bit of a hotshot, from what I saw when we were at Everest.’
I picked up a pen and tapped it against my desk, thinking. Last night I’d been so flustered by just being close to Will that I hadn’t thought about the one thing that I should have – how in Hecate’s name was Will powerful enough to protect me? He’d received his power almost as late as I had, but he’d insisted that, when he finally did become empowered, he never really caught up. When he and I broke into Justine Plimpton’s secret lair, I was the one who had to do our invisibility and shrinking spells.
But then again … on that very same day, I’d seen him do some impressive defensive spells.
I sank my head into my hands, sighing in confusion. One of these days, Will would spit all of it out. I’d just have to remain very frustrated until then.
‘So … you don’t think this is something we should worry about?’ I asked. ‘You’ll keep this a secret?’
Finn frowned. ‘I mean, I gave you my word but … how about we test these protective wards first, and then make up our minds? We’ll send a slew of spells at our desks and see how they hold up?’
‘Yes please.’ I looked up at him with a grateful smile. ‘That sounds very wise. And also … maybe kind of fun?’ I stood up and pushed my chair back. ‘But if your desk happens to go up in flames don’t blame me.’
He snorted. ‘If my desk goes up in flames at least it’ll take my computer with it.’
≈
Half an hour later, we were getting tired. I’d sent every spell I could think of at our work area. I only narrowly avoided my lightning spell as it bounced back at me. And
sure, I almost set the photocopier on fire as yet another spell was deflected by Will’s protective wards. But despite the mess we were making of the office, I was having a lot of fun.
Although my desk clearly had the strongest protection around it, every other desk held up pretty well, too. The barrier around Finn’s did let a drop of water through when he attacked it with a monsoon spell, but even that much was impressive. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the outcome of our tests. The power of these wards proved that Finn was right – Will really was a hotshot.
But that was a worry to save for another day (more future stress to look forward to – yay). Right now we had a murder to solve. ‘What time do you reckon Shane’ll be done with the autopsy?’ I asked, glugging down a bottle of water.
Finns eyes widened. ‘Pixie piddle! I’m supposed to have lunch with him at the Plain Old Cauldron. Come on. Get your behind in gear. He’ll want to talk to you, too.’
≈
The Plain Old Cauldron was an establishment on Eile Street. Like the Water Bowl, it was primarily a bar, but they did meals too. And because it was on Eile Street, most of the patrons were supernaturals known as others.
Finn was wearing civilian clothes that day, but he was still recognisable as the ex-Peacemaker captain. A few people glared at him, with one dayturning vampire going so far as to stand up and point his teeth in Finn’s direction. Which was pretty weird, seeing as that same dayturner waved at me and said, ‘Hey Wanda,’ right before he glared at Finn.
But then, supernaturals known as others saw me as one of their own. I still saw myself that way, too, even though I’d been empowered for months.
‘Hey Diablo,’ I said to the vampire. ‘How’s Mary?’
‘Oh, she’s great,’ he replied. ‘Working in a butcher shop right now. She loves it.’ He turned to Finn and said, ‘Peacemaker – you’d better not put a foot wrong in here.’
Rocking Out Page 10
