The Cursed Crow and the Deadly Hex

by Kelly Ethan

  Xandie followed her cousin but stopped to ask one more question. “You said no one appreciated the coven’s efforts, especially Elspeth. Was there anyone inside the coven who particularly hated her?”

  Henry dropped his jovial smile and assessed Xandie. “Smart girl.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s right, you’re the Librarian, aren’t you?”

  Xandie nodded and waited for him to continue.

  “Elspeth has always been blunt and devious, and after the coven broke, some of its members were angry with her for a particularly long time. Especially Lucien and Hell. I don’t think they ever believed or forgave her betrayal. Although Lucien eventually made up with Elspeth. I think hating her betrayal became too much, and he extended a truce and is in contact with her still. Then again, I wondered if he’d always known what she and Lucas were doing and acted betrayed when the sordid business came to light. The vampire drama-queen was always good at acting. Minerva always sided with Elspeth and never held a grudge, but other members hated her. Once upon a time, we were all thick as thieves. I really have to check on the chuckers.” Henry shuffled them into a hallway filled with the discordant yells of warring teenagers.

  “Lucien and Hell who?” Xandie pressed the oversized gym teacher for details.

  “Lucien Benoit and Hellacious Whitburn. Oh, and Bridget hated Elspeth for a very long time too. They always clashed even before the coven break-up. If you’ll excuse me?” Henry gestured to a teenager stuck to a wall with green gooey material and then took off to help.

  Xandie avoided glowing concoctions held by bloodthirsty teenage hellions. “We have a few more names. I can hit the Library and see what it has on them.”

  Lila agreed. “You’ll probably get more from the Library than you will from Elspeth.”

  “What do you mean access restricted?” Xandie glowered at her Library. The supernatural contents of the Great Library of Alexandria had moved itself to Point Muse. Her family had been Librarians to the Great Library since the beginning. The font of all supernatural knowledge... Normally.

  “I’m the Librarian. I should be able to access all information.”

  “Unless the Library decides you shouldn’t have it.” Theo snickered and batted his pet imp, Horatio, like a bouncy ball.

  Growling at her feline guardian’s antics, Xandie prowled the room. Since moving here and solving her Great-Aunt Sera’s murder, the Library and Theo, her prickly snarky black cat, had quickly wound their way into her heart and life. Meeting the PIG agent, and realizing he’d made her forget her introduction to the supernatural world, explained why she’d accepted the weird of Point Muse so readily.

  Xandie trailed a hand over a shelf and touched the spine of a leather-bound book. The Library, filled to the brim with shelves, books, and scrolls, had a warm, welcoming feeling. Thick rugs covered polished wood floorboards. Heavy timber reading tables and large comfy chairs dotted the room. A small office and stationary room sat wedged in a quiet corner and the Library appointments book that held her denied written information request sat open on a scarred wooden antique desk.

  Every day, Xandie would collect requests for information or access and write them into the appointment book. The Library decided when or who would have access to its inner knowledge. Little notes from the Library would appear in the book for Xandie. Just like the one denying her access.

  “Why would the Library bar my access to coven records?” Xandie poked Theo in his rib cage and smiled as he yowled and leapt onto a chair.

  “Cut it out, human. I’m ticklish.”

  “Answer me, furball.”

  Theo arranged himself on the green velvet chair. “Fine. The Library, in conjunction with Paladin Inc., blocked all access to coven information. It has a rating of Armageddon eyes only.”

  Xandie threw herself into a chair opposite the big desk. “And...”

  “You can only open it if Armageddon is pending.”

  Foiled. But what if she researched the two coven names Henry had mentioned? “Library, do you have any knowledge of Benoit and Whitburn?”

  The crystal pendant lights above Xandie flickered wildly as two books flew into her lap. Xandie patted the arm of the chair. “Thanks, Library. I guess I just had to rethink the question.” Xandie picked the topmost book, which happened to be the largest, and opened it to the Contents page. “A ranking of vampire houses and clans.” Xandie frowned, obviously this meant at least one of the two names she’d mentioned was a vampire.

  She ran a finger down the chapter headings. The name Benoit or Whitburn failed to appear. Taking a punt, she held the book open in her hands. “Can you give me a helping hand, Library?” The pages fluttered and then flipped open near the back of the book. Xandie grinned her thanks. “Says here one of the few notable vampire houses that served with distinction during various armed conflicts is the Benoit clan.”

  Henry had mentioned that Morrigan was formed during World War Two. Xandie continued, “and it must be noted, House Benoit helped bring about the end of Hitler and his obsession with the supernatural. House Benoit was the only vampiric house that volunteered a high-ranking member to a secret project under the Paranormal Investigative Group. The project gathered a variety of supernatural entities to police and actively bar Hitler from access to the supernatural.” This has to be them. The Morrigan Coven Elspeth had been part of.

  “Lucien Benoit, of indeterminate age, but outstanding morals and bravery, fought honorably in service to the greater good. The subsequent investigation into ethical questions of their practices and the later death of Albert Proctor, head of the division, has tarnished his contribution. The disappearance of the Morpheus Amulet and the desertion of the coven head, Elspeth Harrow, ruined the coven and all members disbanded after she resigned.” She’d quit? What happened to her to leaving to settle and raise a family?

  “That old witch never mentioned the coven or why she left?” Theo stretched his paw out and let Horatio clamber onto his back.

  “Nope. Lips sealed tight. But something happened and I think it’s about that amulet.” Xandie scanned the passage, but it mentioned nothing else. She swapped to the other book.

  “Necromancers and other denizens of Dark Magic.” Upbeat title. Xandie snickered and randomly opened the page, hoping the Library’s goodwill would stretch to more information on the coven members. “Necromancers have long been drawn to the shadowed side of magic. They are partial to meddling in the human world and encouraging dark practices by mortals. This is most evident during contentious times of human history. Necromancers do not enjoy notoriety, though, and stay in the shadows and manipulate. Except for a few names like Hellacious Whitburn, they are largely anonymous.” So, necromancers were puppeteers, pulling strings and staying in the background, hidden. What made Whitburn so different?

  “Whitburn started in the employ of Adolf Hitler but grew concerned with Hitler’s obsession with the supernatural and particularly with a certain dark artifact. The coven leader approached him, and he became a double agent. Whitburn would contact the special projects group at PIG and telegraph Hitler’s movements and the artifacts he had stolen. He soon became a full-time member of the Morrigan Coven and reported directly to them. The coven foiled Hitler’s attempts to use an Armageddon level dark artifact, and soon after, Hitler fell. The artifact and Whitburn reportedly disappeared shortly after.”

  “All of your grandmother’s close friends are suspiciously dodgy.” Theo yawned and rolled, almost squishing a slumbering Horatio.

  “Are you surprised?” Xandie went back to reading out loud. “Whitburn then surfaced in the nineties in Silicon Valley, where he headed up a necromantic-based video game company. He cashed in on the humans’ lust for computer graphics and blood, and became the owner of a well-known gaming company, Necro Inc. He is currently the only documented billionaire necromancer.”

  “Like I said. Dodgy. Never trust anyone who plays with the deceased.”

  Xandie closed the books and piled them onto the table
. “What about Holly? She works with the dead daily.”

  “Like I said,” Theo sneered at Xandie before a loud sneeze erupted from him, followed by another. “Speaking of the dead... I smell embalming fluid.”

  Holly stood in the Library's doorway. “We have a problem.”

  It was never good when a prophesying Banshee and Harrow witch told you they had a problem.

  That was normally code for a body.

  Five

  It was a body. Just not a Harrow one. Xandie kneeled next to Holly in the same locker room she’d been in earlier. “Want to tell me how you got a look-in with the body? Chief Braun would have a conniption if he knew we were here.”

  Holly gestured to the bear shifter deputies behind her, Caleb and Melody Braun. Brother and sister to Chief Zach Braun. “He already knows but wants us to have a look before the PIGs get here.”

  “Which could be any minute.” Xandie peered at the gym teacher, Henry, friend to Elspeth and ex-Morrigan Coven member. “Poor guy. Lila and I only talked to him a few hours ago. Do we know what killed him yet?”

  Using a gloved hand, Holly lifted Henry’s arm and rotated it carefully before placing it down. “Elspeth would know better. But considering he was about thirty pounds heavier when I saw him at Lila’s bakery a few days ago, I’d say an energy transference or leaching hex.”

  Holly was right. The poor man looked like his skin was one size too large for him. “Awfully coincidental, don’t you think? A few hours after Lila and I spoke to him, he’s dead?”

  “Awfully. But then you might not have been the only Harrow visiting him.” Agent Ethan Jackson held up Elspeth’s bedazzled hipflask. “The police found this under his body.”

  Xandie straightened and glared at the agent. “You have no proof that’s my grandmother’s. It could belong to anyone.”

  Jackson turned the flask around and showed Xandie the pink rhinestone-embossed name of Elspeth.

  “Could be any Elspeth who likes to bedazzle her hipflask.” Holly stood in stubborn Harrow solidarity with Xandie.

  “It’s pretty damning. I need to question Elspeth Harrow again.” Two other black suited agents stepped up next to Agent Jackson.

  “This is none of your business.” Xandie scowled at the intrusive agent.

  “I’m sorry, but the Paranormal Investigative Group has jurisdiction here.”

  “Actually, sonny, Henry was in Paladin Inc. custody. So, it’s Paladin

  business now and we’re choosing to involve local law enforcement.” Buchanan, Paladin agent and Elspeth’s nemesis, stood in the hallway close to Henry’s office, a wide grin on his face.

  “Well, now. I’m thinking we need to send that flask out for prints. Don’t you, Zachy bear?” Agatha Braun stood in the doorway, her large bear arms crossed in front of her.

  Zach Braun, Point Muse Police Chief, stood next to her, scowling. “I think you’re all contaminating my crime scene and need to get out. Starting with the agents from PIG.”

  “If that’s the way you want to play it. But we could help each other.” Agent Jackson dropped the flask into Chief Braun’s gloved hand before stomping off with his agent back-up following.

  Chief Braun handed the evidence off to his mother, who bagged it, and then he nodded to his deputy siblings. “Next time, no PIGs unless we okay it.” Braun didn’t wait for an agreement before walking over to Holly. “What do you think?”

  “Autopsy might tell you more, but I’m sure the murder weapon was an energy leach hex. Sucks the energy out of him and siphons off to the hex user. Henry would have died of heart failure as his organs shut down.”

  Buchanan dropped the smile and walked over to Henry. “This is my fault. I was his handler. I should have paid more attention to his whining and complaints.”

  Henry hadn’t struck Xandie as a whiner. In fact, he seemed easygoing. Not the type to complain. “What do you mean?”

  “The last few days. He kept saying he felt like someone was watching him. He complained everything was out of place in his office. I just put it down to student pranks.” Buchanan opened his eyes wide as if something had only just occurred to him, then he bolted to Henry’s office.

  After Xandie exchanged a glance with Holly, she followed the Paladin. Buchanan headed straight for an old statue of Hercules that lay on its back on Henry’s desk.

  He grabbed the statue and turned it upside down. “Dammit. Whoever killed him knew Henry had a portion of the amulet.” He glared at the empty space inside the statue before slamming it back on the desk.

  “You’re talking about the Morpheus Amulet. The dark artifact that Hellacious Whitburn double-crossed Hitler for?”

  Buchanan shook his head. “Nope. At no stage do I confirm or deny that Henry had a portion of the amulet or that your grandmother does too. No confirmation here.” He scowled at the cousins. “Got it?”

  Holly nodded vigorously and elbowed Xandie until she joined suit.

  “I need to get hold of Paladin Inc. Tell that stubborn grandmother of yours I’ll be around later. Now get.” Buchanan pointed at the door.

  “We’re getting.” Xandie dragged Holly out into the hallway, shutting the late Henry’s office door behind her.

  Holly blinked owlishly at Xandie. “Why did we vacate so quickly? Buchanan obviously has more information that we could pry out of him.”

  “Pick your moments, cousin.” Xandie slapped Holly on the back. “Plus, he’ll have more information when he tangles with Elspeth. Then we can pry.”

  “No prying into Paladin Inc. They frown on that.” Aggie Braun stood at the top of the hallway. “Of course, wheedling, whining, and the fluttering of eyelashes is all aboveboard.”

  If only Zach Braun would be as easygoing as his mother. Xandie slipped up to Aggie and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for making Chief Cranky-Pants work with us.”

  “Oh, you.” Aggie laughed and gave Xandie a quick squeeze before letting go. “Zachy has a lot on his plate and Elspeth’s safety is the most important. You can work unofficial angles that he can’t. He saw the benefits of a Harrow witch meddling pretty quickly.” Aggie motioned for the girls to follow her as a swarm of leather-clad men filled the locker room.

  Holly channeled her cousin Lila’s confidence and drama queen behavior and pinched her cheeks before smiling widely at a leather-clad hottie. A blonde man nearest Holly shot her smirk and a wink, then continued his examination of Henry’s body.

  Aggie grabbed Holly and Xandie’s elbows and moved them away from the locker room. “Stay away from the leather brigade. Those are tier one Paladin field agents. They wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, then spread peace and love over your remains.”

  Xandie peeked back into the locker room. So that was the organization her grandfather had worked for?

  “Geez, no wonder Elspeth married one. They’re hotties.”

  Aggie tapped Holly’s nose. “Down, bloodhound. Paladins only concern themselves with apocalyptic events. Most of them are the love them and leave them type.”

  “And our grandfather?” Xandie pressed Aggie for information. Her grandfather was a shrouded mystery that Elspeth barely spoke of, except to rail at his goody-two-shoes genes her kids and grandkids had inherited from him.

  Students of all shapes and sizes and supernatural races stepped around the older bear shifter. “Lucas Munro was just like those men in there, at least until he met Elspeth. He had the classic Paladin do-no-wrong streak, but Elspeth’s wild, chaotic life centered him somehow. Same for her, but just the opposite, I suppose. Damn shame when he died. I think it broke something in your grandmother.”

  “How did she meet him?” Holly had forgotten the smorgasbord of unattainable hunks in the locker room in exchange for juicy Elspeth gossip.

  “Something to do with an issue in her old coven. Lucas had to work with her, and it snowballed from there. Eventually, they settled in Point Muse and had your mothers.”

  “What turned Elspeth into a cranky hexer?” Xandie co
uldn’t imagine the Elspeth she knew now settling down and having kids all those years ago. But evidence stated otherwise.

  “Paladin declared Lucas inactive. But something big was brewing, and they called in all the most powerful agents for a pow-wow.” Aggie paused and shook her head sadly. “Some kid related to Elspeth’s old boss snuck into Paladin Headquarters with an absorber hex. Once it sucked in enough electrical energy, he exploded himself. There were no survivors.”

  Holly gasped, hand to mouth. Tears pooled in her eyes. “That’s horrible. No wonder she’s such a witch.”

  “Your mothers were young when it happened, so Elspeth raised the kids by herself. But she was never the same. Neither was Paladin Inc. They spent years building up their numbers again.”

  “So, how did Buchanan miss the explosion at Headquarters?” Xandie wondered out loud.

  Buchanan stood in the locker doorway, glowering at Aggie and the girls. “Because I was in the hospital with bullet wounds from an attack the day before. Not that it’s any of your business. How about you focus on Elspeth’s safety instead?”

  Aggie straightened with a cough. “Head back to Harrow House. I’ll let you know if we find anything. Zachy’s sending Melody for protection.”

  “Braun doesn’t need to send a deputy out. I have agents on the way out there.”

  Aggie directed a glare at Buchanan. “Melody is a shifter, a deputy, and Zach’s sister. She can help. Call your leather lads off.” Aggie wiggled her fingers at Holly and Xandie to get them moving.

  Buchanan grunted and watched as Xandie dragged Holly away.

  Xandie rubbed the back of her neck. The last few weeks she’d had constant goosebumps and chills along her spine. The ominous foreboding that something or someone was just around the corner, waiting for her…or stalking her. Those horrid ASP agents hung around Point Muse like a nasty stench. They wanted to use her as bait for her errant run-away mother. For that matter, could the prickling of her neck mean her mother had regained some of her memories and was watching? Or was this all connected to Elspeth? Giving up on her theories of stalkers, Xandie turned to the issue in front of her.