by Evie Hart
I got in and tore a bite out of the muffin as I turned the key. “You’re only coming because you know Mary-Jane loves cats.”
“You need to mind your manners.”
“You lick your butt in the middle of the park. Shut up.”
Snow didn’t say another word as I drove through town. She curled into a ball and watched out of the window as we passed by Main Street, the Council building, the library, and her favorite place—the park.
It was full of birds. Why wouldn’t she love it?
Eventually, on the other side of the lake, I reached the edge of the woods. Mary-Jane lived deep enough that it was a small hike to reach her cabin, but she said she liked it like that. It wasn’t a creepy requirement of being the Keeper or anything.
She just didn’t like people and, to be honest, I could relate to that.
I locked the car behind me, glancing over my shoulder to make sure nobody saw me going in. I didn’t know why I did it—I just didn’t like the idea that I’d be alone in the dark woods and anyone could be behind me without me knowing it.
Not that it was likely. I didn’t have shifter senses, but they were still a little better than the average human. It was about the only thing I’d ever had to mask in the human world.
“I hate this place,” Snow grumbled. “It’s dirty. I’m too white for this mud.”
I looked at the floor. There wasn’t a bit of mud there. Dirt and dust and other forest-type things, sure. But no mud.
“Stop being dramatic. Don’t you want to know who killed Amelie?”
“Not particularly.”
“Do you want me to make it in and out of these woods without being killed?”
She paused a little too long.
“Snow!”
She sighed. “I would prefer an easier witch, but you buy the good cheese. I’ll keep you for now.”
Delightful. It was nice to know my familiar worked for cheese.
No wonder she hated mice—they liked cheese, too. She was probably afraid they’d steal it.
We kept walking. Mary-Jane’s house was hidden from other magical creatures by wards—again, she didn’t like people—so it could be found in random places, and no one place was the same. It was a little extreme, but she was old, so she could get away with extreme.
At least that had been Grandma’s motto when she’d been alive.
Warmth washed over me, like stepping into a waterfall of magic, and I knew I’d entered the wards.
The fact I hadn’t bounced off them bode well for me.
After a couple of minutes, the trees broke, allowing sunlight to filter in, and I knew we were close. Sure enough, another ten steps and Mary-Jane’s cabin complete with smoke filtering out of the chimney came into view.
The front yard was a lush garden, filled with every color of flower and then some. She was a green witch by nature, and her garden reflected that. Roses grew up trellises on either side of the front door, and the cobbled path that led to the front door was free of any kind of weed.
There was a spell our farm could make good use of.
“Behave in here,” I muttered to Snow. “I need her help right now.”
She had the gall to look affronted. “When don’t I behave?”
“All the time.” I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open before I could make a connection with my fist.
Mary-Jane was on the other side of the door. Her silver hair was tied up into a bun with a pencil stuck through it, and the powder on her round, homely face had collected in her many wrinkles. Her long, gypsy-style skirt was black and swirled around her ankles, and her mustard-colored cardigan was buttoned up to the neck, showing only the large sapphire pendant that hung over it.
The Keeper’s pendant.
“So, as you can see, Detective, I’m real sorry, but I have an appointment, and she’s here now, so you’re gonna hafta scoot.” She smiled sweetly, looking years younger than her age.
Which was impressive, given that she was over one-hundred.
“And by scoot, I mean geddoutta my house.” Her smile dropped.
There was the real Mary-Jane.
She stepped to the side, and who should appear but my favorite new detective in town?
Detective Sanders looked down at me. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you’re the kind of person who always knows about your secret birthday parties?” I offered up with way too much sweetness in my voice.
He grunted and turned back to Mary-Jane. “Thank you for your time.”
“Which you took too much of. Get out.” She all but shoved him out of the door.
I swear, I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t quite help the smile. I had to dip my head to hide it, but neither of them missed it.
“You. Girl. Come in. Now.”
That was the warmest welcome anyone other than Betty Lou would ever get.
I did as I was told, shutting the door behind Snow.
The cabin was larger than it looked from the outside, but I didn’t get a chance to look at it as I was ushered into a large living room. The couches were covered with colorful blankets, and the throw cushions that were scattered over them were just as bright and multicolored as the blankets themselves.
The fire burned fiercely, bright orange flames licking at the edges of it, but no heat came from it. It was oddly comfortable in the same way that the bookshelves on either side of it held books I’d seen in our library a thousand times before.
A large rug covered the wooden floor, providing a place for the wooden coffee table that housed fresh cups of chamomile tea and cookies.
And, in the corner, a large cast-iron cauldron that swirled with iridescent magic.
The Wards.
“Sit,” Mary-Jane barked, pointing to the couch opposite the armchair she’d taken a seat in.
I sat. Snow took a seat on the floor next to my feet with her tail curling around my left ankle.
“Avery Thorn,” she said, her voice softening the tiniest of amounts. “I knew you’d come.”
That wasn’t ominous at all.
“Have you spoken with Betty Lou?”
She nodded sharply. “Not long after you visited with her, I believe. She made me aware of the situation via our familiars. How is she?”
“She was looking well when I saw her. Tired, but she’ll be fine with a few days’ rest.”
“Good. We need her healthy.” She adjusted herself in the chair, tugging at her skirt. “Help yourself to tea.”
I took the offered teacup when it floated toward me and sipped even though I wasn’t thirsty. I knew my manners, after all, and when your elder offered you tea, you took it. Even if you had a bladder fit to burst, you drank the dang tea.
“It’s lovely,” I said politely. “Did you grow it yourself?”
Another nod. “Thank you. Now, you’re not here for a social visit. You know better than that. What do you need?”
Cutting right to the chase. I liked that. She made me feel slightly uncomfortable—like the awkward aunt at a wedding who was invited just to be polite.
“I was wondering if anyone entered or left town in the days surrounding Amelie’s murder.” I chose my words carefully. “She was an outsider, so I wondered if trouble followed her here.”
Mary-Jane shook her head. “Nobody except yourself crossed the town wards. In fact, you were the last person to do so since Amelie.”
Huh.
“Well, that kills that theory.” I sighed and tried not to slump back in dejection the way I wanted to. That had been the only one that had made sense to me, and now it was gone…
I didn’t know where to turn next. Nothing made sense.
“Can your cousin not help you?” Mary-Jane asked. “Dorothy?”
“Dotty,” I replied. “She tried. We went to the Council building, but she collapsed in the spot I found Amelie’s body. The vision was too strong and took her. I was able to pull her back out, but she’s still unconscious. We don’t know wh
at she saw.”
Mary-Jane narrowed her eyes. She raised one gnarly finger to her lips and tapped them, looking past me and out of the window. “I might be able to help you with that.”
I blinked at her as she waved a finger. A small white tub came flying through the door and hovered in front of me.
“Take it,” Mary-Jane said.
I plucked it out of the air.
“Put a pea-sized amount of this on each of her temples at sunrise and sunset. It will likely take a few days to work, but it will slowly bring her back to the present and ground her here.” She met my eyes, her expression like stone. “No more, no less. It’s vital you do not use too much.”
I looked at the tub that fit perfectly in the center of my palm. “What happens if we use too much?”
“She’ll pass the present and go to the future, and you know what happens if she gets anchored there.”
I did know. I nodded. “She’ll be stuck there forever.”
Mary-Jane slowly bobbed her head, agreeing with me. “Nobody has ever come back from the future, Avery. See to it that she never makes it there.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AFTER LEAVING THE cream in the capable hands of Aunt Rose with Mary-Jane’s words ringing in my head, I headed back out, leaving Snow at the farm.
I didn’t know what to do next.
If nobody had entered the town except me, then it meant that one of our own was responsible for killing Amelie and poisoning Betty Lou.
And that didn’t narrow it down at all.
When I agreed to help find who did this, I didn’t think I’d have a town full of suspects.
The worst part was that I had no idea where to begin. I knew nothing about Amelie, and I couldn’t think of anyone who wanted Betty Lou dead. I was at a complete impasse in my pathetic excuse for an investigation.
Not to mention my ancestor’s Book of Shadows was burning a hole in my nightstand.
I was going to read it. I had to. It was the only written knowledge of my little well of untouched power, but I was scared.
I took a left turn toward the lake, stepping between the large fern trees that surrounded it until I reached a small clearing where I could sit down. The grass tickled my hands as I lowered myself onto it, and I cast a small spell to lessen the glare of the sun off the lake.
I’d never known about Grandma’s power. She’d never shared it with me. And that—that made me angry.
I’d been compared to her my entire life. How could nobody ever draw that comparison? Did anyone even know about the extra power? Had she told anyone other than my aunts? Or was it yet another secret in the Thorn family closet?
Any ideas of leaving Haven Lake had died the second my new powers had come to life. I hoped like hell I’d never be in a situation where I’d need to use them again—at least until I had them under control—but even I knew that wasn’t likely.
I was beginning to regret agreeing to Betty Lou’s demands. Not only had I almost killed myself, but my cousin was lying in a bed, and nobody had any idea when she’d wake up.
If she did.
No. I couldn’t think like that. Dotty had to wake up. I couldn’t live in a world where my cousins didn’t exist. And the human world didn’t count, because they were still right there. Alive. Conscious.
How was I supposed to fix this? Dotty had said we needed her. Her magic had told her as much, but unless she woke up tomorrow and had seen exactly what happened to Betty Lou and Amelie, we were screwed.
We didn’t have her seer magic, which was probably the most useful out of all of us.
Goddess only knew that mine was more of a hindrance than a help.
I was lost. I had no leads in this case except attempting to find Amelie’s ex-boyfriend, and the only way to find out who he was was to speak to my arch-nemesis who, thankfully, I hadn’t crossed paths with yet.
I wasn’t exactly endeared to the idea, but I’d put it off as long as I could.
“Hey.”
I turned and looked over my shoulder at the sound of Detective Dax Sanders’ voice.
“Hey.”
“Want some company?” He motioned to the ground next to me.
“No, but I sense you’re going to sit anyway.” I turned around and looked back out at the lake.
I was right. He did, but he was smart enough to not sit too close to me.
“How are you feeling?” Detective Sanders asked.
“That’s a complicated question,” I replied, watching as three birds dipped down to the lake, skimming the surface of the water to drink before they flew back up into the air. “Narrow it down.”
His chuckle was quiet. “After the other night. Physically. I wanted to ask you earlier, but Mary-Jane terrifies me.”
I laughed. “Mary-Jane terrifies everybody. And I’m fine, actually. Surprisingly.” I glanced at him. “Better than Dotty.”
He nodded solemnly. “I tried to stop by to see you both, but your aunts are quite fierce. They refused to let me in and shouted something about not letting witches into crime scenes.”
“Did you tell them you were required to?”
“Yes. But they didn’t listen.”
Of course they didn’t. “Dotty’s unconscious. We don’t know where she is or when she’ll wake up.”
“Ah. Okay.” He leaned back on his hands and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. “That explains the complicated answer.”
Yup. Physically, I was fine. Mentally, I was a hot mess of guilt, confusion, and anger.
“What happened that night?” His eyes bore into the side of my head.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I told your familiar I wouldn’t punish her for her use of my backseat as a toilet if she told me where you were.”
I snorted. “She’s a pain in the backside.”
“Look, Avery, you don’t have to talk about what happened. I’ve just…never seen anything like it.”
I let go of a heavy sigh. What would telling him hurt? It wasn’t like I actually had anyone to confide this in. My personal relationships were limited to my family and the gossip queen, Ana-May, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her anything about it.
“I don’t know, Detective.”
“Dax.”
“What?” I jerked my head to the side and met his blue eyes.
His lips quirked to the side. “Dax. That’s my name. Use it. It won’t kill you.”
“Okay, fine. I don’t know, Dax.” It felt weird to call him that. Mostly because I called him an awful lot of things inside my head that weren’t even close to his name.
Things I couldn’t repeat, well, anywhere.
He frowned, his dark brows pulling together. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“It’s hard to explain. It might surprise you, but I’m weird amongst witches.”
“Really?”
“You could at least pretend.”
He grinned, and it did stupid things to my stomach. “All right, I’ll be surprised. Can you elaborate on weird?”
“I don’t have a specialty,” I said. “When I was tested in school, it came up blank.”
His eyebrows shot up, and surprise flashed in his eyes. “You don’t?”
“Nope. Never have. There’s only one other witch recorded to have had the same result, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you who that was.”
“Your grandmother.”
“Yup.” I popped the ‘p’ and looked at the lake again. “But, as it turns out, we do have one, but nobody ever bothered to tell me.”
“I’m guessing that whatever you did the other night is it.”
“Yep. Apparently, I have this…backup…magic, or something. It’s exclusive to the Thorn family and doesn’t happen in every generation. It’s like an unlimited source of magic.”
“Sounds like that’s a recipe for disaster.” He paused. “But does explain what happened that night.”
“What happened?” My gaze fo
und his again.
“Nobody told you?”
“Nobody told me I have a deadly source of magic inside my body. You think they told me everything that happened that night?”
“I thought your cousin might have.”
I shook my head. “I think Nicole is trying to avoid it, and from Snow’s admonishments, she showed up at the last minute.”
Dax blew out a breath and rubbed the side of his stubbled jaw. “After I shut the circle, you started speaking in what sounded an awful lot like Latin.”
Latin? What the hell?
“Nicole stepped out of the circle, and something happened. You pulled a wisp of…something…out of the air and physically touched it to Dotty’s chest. It disappeared into her body.”
“I don’t understand,” I whispered quietly, glancing down. “What was it?”
“I don’t know.” He gave me an apologetic smile. “It was immediately after that that your familiar made herself known and you collapsed on top of Dotty. Whatever it was, it was an old magic like I’ve never seen before.”
I frowned and looked at my hands. What magic had I done? Why didn’t I remember? And when the hell did I learn how to speak Latin?
“Look, I just wanted to know you were okay.” He touched my shoulder softly. “And that I think you really need to consider speaking to Betty Lou and getting out of this.”
“I can’t,” I whispered. “I didn’t just agree. I promised.”
“You—damn it, Avery.”
“Well, I didn’t know it’d be this dangerous, did I?” Anger spurted through me. “I never would have agreed if I’d known this would happen, but now I have, I can’t get out of it until whoever tried to poison Betty Lou is discovered.”
He rubbed his hand down his face. “I should have known you were trouble the moment I met you.”
I bristled, sitting up straight. “I’m not trouble!”
“Since you returned home, you’ve found a dead body, given me an unfortunate curse, and almost killed yourself. It’s been a week.”
Okay, so maybe he had a point, but I wasn’t going to concede that to him. “I found a dead body because I was controlling my grandmother, the curse was all on you, and I was trying to save my cousin in the last one. All justifiable instances for me to be in trouble.”
