by Kali Harper
“No more reading your book today.”
“You mean the one with the blank pages in it?” I asked, glancing back at him.
“You’ll get there, you just need time.”
Time wasn’t really something we had if he expected me to find Maggie’s killer. “How do you investigate a supernatural murder anyway?”
“Carefully. All magic has its limitations. Before you can do anything else, you’ll need a basic lesson on each specialty along with their limits. For example, the charms Maggie placed on the items she sold had a timer on them. They aren’t exactly the same as expiration dates, but you get the idea. It was a way to keep her charms from getting into the wrong hands.”
“So everyone wasn’t starving when they came into the bakery?” I rarely saw anyone leave before eating their breakfast. The only person who took hers to go was Kat, and she was right down the street.
“The charms were the final ingredient,” he went on, getting on the dresser as I pulled my hair back in a ponytail. “Maggie could cast them as the item went from her hands to theirs.”
“Then why have their names on the trays inside the display counter?” It was something Maggie had done ever since I started working with her. Every muffin, tart, cookie, and scone had a name tag under it and they were always in the same place. I’d always wondered what would happen if someone changed their usual to something else, but it never happened. At the time, I decided it was a part of everyone’s routine, but knowing what I knew now, her charms probably had something to do with it.
“There were two charms,” Sammy said. “The first charm happened before baking. The second was a refresher once the item was sold.”
“So what happens now that her charms are gone?” There was no way I could take over. Even if the book had been legible, there was no way I could pick up where she’d left off.
“We adjust. Humans are wonderful at it. You may not like change, but you adapt quickly. The charms were more to keep the town in order until your awakening anyway. Very few individuals in town need the charms on a daily basis.”
“Maggie kept me around for business.” It wasn’t a question.
“Possibly, but those in town without spell books of their own still need a way to control their magic. That’s where the charms come in.”
“So whoever killed her must’ve wanted wild magic?” That made even less sense than before.
“Perhaps they were tired of the restrictions. It’s also possible her charms had nothing to do with it at all.”
“So how do we find out?” Being so new to magic, I had no idea where to start, but I had a feeling Sammy did.
“At Mr. Clark’s fruit stand.” He got off the dresser and headed down the hall, stopping at the top of the steps.
“He’d never hurt Maggie. He adores her.”
“Possibly, but that fruit stand sits outside all day. If you ask me, those strawberries were terribly bitter. He never should’ve tried growing something out of season. It isn’t right.”
“Don’t let Maggie hear you say that, and what would you know? You eat kibble and catnip.”
“Not by choice, I assure you. In fact, if a familiar could change his spots, I’d rather be a bird.”
I grinned and followed after him. “How come?”
“Because they can fly.” He had a wistful look about him, his eyes half closed.
“I bet you’re only saying that because you can’t reach the cookie jar.” Not to mention half the catnip toys Maggie hid above the cabinets. “You’d seriously prefer bird seed over kibble? They can be pretty hard to break into.”
“Rosie’s a bird.”
“Who’s Rosie?” It wasn’t a name I recognized.
“Harris’ Cockatiel.”
“His familiar’s a bird?”
Sammy nodded. “All witches, warlocks, and wizards have one. Felix has a gecko.”
“The one he has in a tank behind the register? I always thought it was his pet.”
“Most of the animals in town are far more complicated.”
Shaking my head, I had to wonder if I’d ever get the hang of all of this. “So you really think there was something wrong with the strawberries?”
“I think they might’ve been enchanted.” When I met his gaze, he continued. “A familiar has two responsibilities—supply magic to his witch and protect her at all costs. The wards I’ve used around Maggie are the same I’ll use for you. You might not have grown into your magic yet, but you will. It’s my duty to keep your power where it belongs.”
“Then what happened with Maggie?” I wasn’t blaming him, and I could see her passing hurt him as much as the rest of us.
Sammy shook his head. “I wish I knew. The only way magic could reach Maggie was if my wards failed—and they never fail.”
“You think you were cursed.” The way he spoke about Mr. Clark’s strawberries was proof of it. “Problem is, you’ve eaten his produce before without any issues.”
Sammy took a deep breath and closed his eyes, silently kneading the carpet. “Which is why it troubles me. The fruit on his stand is out in the open for anyone to charm.”
“But he hand delivered the ones you and Maggie ate,” I reminded him, unable to ignore the knot in my stomach.
“He might not have enchanted it, but someone did. There’s no other way they could’ve hurt her with my wards in place.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, continuing down the steps beside him. “Somehow.”
After considering what Sammy said, I headed for Kat’s shop, surprised to find her outside talking with Joe from The Laughing Bean.
“Astrid, there you are,” she said, immediately handing me a cup of coffee from inside her shop instead of the beanery down the street. “I was thanking Joe for finding my sign.”
When she gestured to the missing board out front, I said, “How’d it get all the way down there?” Even if I’d managed to get some rest last night, there was no way I would’ve been able to sleep through a wind storm like that. Her sign was practically bolted to the front of her shop.
“Thomas is sleepshifting again,” Joe cut in. “Such a terrible condition.”
“Sleepshifting?” Was that the same thing as sleepwalking? I’d seen Thomas sleepwalk once, but it was a very long time ago during one of the few nights he’d stayed at Maggie’s because his place was being used by his family from out of town.
“Oh yes. In fact, it’s the only time you’ll ever see his other form.”
“Which is?” I looked from him to Kat who was too busy grinning behind her own coffee to explain.
“A dragon. Great big red one.”
“A condition he had under control,” Kat finally said, narrowing her gaze at Joe. “He’s a good guy, but when his dragon-self takes over, it tends to steal whatever it can find. Sometimes he steals things from town and returns them to the wrong yard.”
“Like your sign,” I said with a nod.
“Exactly. Thing is, they always show up somewhere. My sign just happened to get dropped off behind Joe’s. Oh, and those antiques he sells? They’re from everywhere imaginable.”
“He doesn’t return them?”
“He tries, but there are times he can’t remember where it came from, especially if he’s never seen it himself.”
“Are all shifters kleptos?” Kat had a past littered with citations and thievery, and as it turned out, Thomas did as well.
“Just the two of us, and it isn’t like we want to steal these things. It’s our other half.”
“In any case, I’ll see if I can’t borrow Felix’s pickup truck to get your sign back into place,” Joe said, turning to leave.
“Thanks, Joe. I appreciate it.” Kat waited until he’d gone, then opened the door to the shop and ushered me inside before locking the door behind us and settling beside a stack of books on the floor. “Long morning, huh? I can see it in your eyes. Didn’t you get any sleep?”
“Not really, what with Maggie haunting me. She
has the worst timing, I swear.” Placing my mug on the floor as I sat across from her, I rummaged in my purse before pulling out the book Maggie so desperately wanted me to read.
“Are you insane?” she said in a voice so low I’d barely heard her, immediately placing the book back into my bag. “You shouldn’t have brought that here. It shouldn’t be out in public.”
I clutched my purse in my hands, shoving it in my lap as I met Kat’s worried gaze. “I didn’t think—”
“Is it bound to you?”
“Yes.”
She took a breath and closed her eyes a moment later. “Bringing that out here even if it’s yours is like painting a target on your back. You need to take it home.”
“I will. It’s just… I can’t actually read it.”
“But you could read the one I gave you yesterday,” she reminded me, her hands shaking the slightest bit as she drank her coffee. “It could be part of a set,” she offered after a moment’s hesitation.
“But Maggie only has one.”
“She only had one, but maybe you have two. The book changes based on its user. So, maybe you can’t read it yet because it’s missing its mate.”
“Could someone else in town have it?”
“It’s possible I suppose, though I’m not sure how you’d figure it out.”
“Not unless I want to leave mine out in the open somewhere.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that. You also might not need one.”
“A witch without her book of spells?” I looked at her with mock horror.
“Lots of folks don’t have one. In fact, it’d be easier for me to list those who do.”
“Like?” Touching my mug to my lips, I took a long sip of coffee, smiling as the flavors danced over my tongue.
“Let’s see, there’s Maggie, Harris Morganson, Felix at the hardware shop, Michelle who runs the farm on the outskirts of town, Chief Tundal, some of the folks at the station, and that’s about it.”
“What about you?” I’d seen her shift with my own eyes. Surely there was a magic book somewhere.
“Shifters have no use for them, only witches, wizards, and warlocks.”
“They’re rare then, witches.”
“I guess so. That doesn’t mean your magic is better than everyone else’s, but it works differently. Folks like Ida can see things one might not normally see. Connie Morganson is intuitive and can predict the weather.”
“Can she change it?” Knowing if it would be sunny or rainy a week from now didn’t sound very glamorous to me.
“No. Altercation spells are strictly forbidden. You can’t change time, reverse death, mess with the atmosphere, or the environment. She can tell you what it’ll be like a year from now though, and she’s always right. In fact, the Harvest Festival was originally planned for last week, but when she said it would rain, we had it changed to this weekend.”
“That was almost a year ago.”
“All because of her predictions, which are rarely wrong.”
“I guess if I ever get married, I should check with her before I set the date.”
“Only if you’re planning a year out. It’s about as far as her predictions go if you want them to be accurate. Oh, and Joe’s a blast with bar games. He can tell you when you were born down to the day of the week and what was happening in the world around you.”
“So pretty much useless information.”
“Not always. Connie predicted a terrible Static Storm a few years back. The entire town shut down for a week.”
“I don’t remember that.” There was the snowstorm, but the streets and shops were only closed for a day.
“The last one happened a few months before you arrived, which was rather fortunate as I don’t think Maggie’s charms would’ve lasted long. If you had been here, you wouldn’t have even noticed as the storms only affect magical beings. Static Storms are rare and extremely devastating. They block all magic, including things such as Sammy’s wards along with the protection spells around town, hence the name. It’s like the static you get on the radio. It interferes with every station, same with our classes of magic. It hits all of us.”
“Then how did the town remain hidden?”
“Because of Connie’s warnings, we were able to make the town as normal as possible. Maggie charmed a few items in advance in case we needed to make a traveler forget we ever existed.”
“Sammy said her charms had a time limit.”
Kat nodded. “They do. Maggie pushed herself to stack them on top of each other to hopefully make them last longer. Thomas had to close down for the week because he couldn’t control his shifts.”
“Harris didn’t help?” She hadn’t said as much, but seeing as Harris and Maggie were always arguing over stolen recipes, I had a feeling he worked with charms as well.
“He did, but there was only so much the two of them could do without stacking their spells, which is a big no-no. In fact, it’s one of the first things you learn about magic. Never put one spell on top of another unless you fully understand it. So, while Maggie could stack her own charms on top of each other and only get exhausted, Harris putting one charm on top of hers could’ve killed him. It’s one of the basics of magic.”
“Sounds brutal.”
“Magic’s wild unless you can control it. It’s why spell books exist for some and Maggie’s charms work for others.”
“Like you and Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“If Maggie’s charms could last an entire week, how come they’ve stopped?”
“The magic dies along with its user.” She took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “So you talked to Maggie? Like in a dream?”
“No. She possessed Sammy.”
For the next hour, I told her everything that had happened from the time Sammy walked back into the house to earlier this morning when he told me about Mr. Clark’s strawberries. She hung on every word, and when I finally finished, our coffee was cold.
“Keep talking,” she said, patting me on the arm before ducking behind the front counter to where she had her tiny coffeemaker.
“I told him Mr. Clark doesn’t sound like the right suspect.”
“Most won’t,” she told me, handing over a fresh cup of coffee before sitting on the floor in front of me.
“So if Maggie’s charms helped control your shifts, do I need to worry about your fox making a sudden appearance? Not that I’d mind. She did look very soft.”
“No. As long as I let her out every night, I’m fine. Usually she romps around the house and makes a mess of things.”
“Or she steals,” I reminded her. “Is it anything like what Maggie’s doing with Sammy? He said he doesn’t want to share his body with her for another second, so is there a fight over who does what and when with your fox?”
“Not for me, no. I have heard of some shifters who will refuse their animal half, so it comes out whenever it can.” Kat leaned back against one of the bookshelves, her coffee tucked in her lap. “I can’t imagine Sammy being possessed.”
“Oh, he was, and he was none too happy about it once Maggie released her hold on him, either.”
“Ever find out who tossed your room?”
“Maggie did it, actually.”
“In other words, we’ve got nothing.”
“We? We aren’t detectives, Kat.”
“Maybe not, but you gotta admit, it’s fun trying to piece things together.”
“Maybe for you. My head’s swimming.”
“Only because you’re new to all of this, but if you take magic away, what do you see? We’re pretty normal as humans go.”
“Only you can change shape.”
She shrugged. “Our personalities haven’t changed, Astrid. We aren’t strangers to you, at least not as you’ve come to expect. You know us, just not every part of us.”
“The magic helps.” Of that, I was sure.
“Have faith, Watson.”
I shot her a death glare which was soon lost un
der my wide grin. “Reading too many mystery novels lately?”
“Or not enough. Oh, and while we’re at it, we should be on the lookout for a thief.”
“Is it you?”
“I’d never steal a book.”
“One of yours?” I glanced around the room at the books piled on the floor. “How can you tell?”
“Trust me, I know.”
“Maybe it was misplaced,” I offered. “They did scatter all over the shop yesterday.”
“Yeah, but then they went right back to where they were. Besides, the book I’m missing was on the other side of the room and nowhere near where we’d gone, so it couldn’t have been one of the ones you saw flying around the shop.”
I offered her a partial shrug. “I’m sure it’ll turn up. Most things do once you stop looking for them.”
“Like my keys.”
“Or a pair of glasses that happen to be on top of your head.”
“Yeah, that one I don’t get. I mean, they’re right there. Are you blind?”
“Apparently, seeing as they need those glasses.” I smiled, then said, “Maybe one of the books got stuck somewhere yesterday.”
“Well, if you find a copy of Witching for a Spell, it’s mine. It’s actually volume four I need. The rest of the books seem so lonely without it.”
“Four?” How many books came to a set?
As if she could read my mind, Kat said, “It’s actually close to twenty, but I have yet to finish the collection. I’m missing books thirteen and nineteen as I haven’t been able to find them anywhere.”
“But you had book four.”
“Yes. It isn’t critical, but I hate seeing books three and five with a huge gap between them.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll turn up. In fact, maybe you should file a missing book report with Lance.”
Kat rolled her eyes at me. “Are you planning to do all the interviews?”
“Oh yeah, I can see it now. I’m sorry to bother you, Ida, but is there any chance you stole Witching for a Spell? No? How about casting a spell on Maggie?”
“She can’t cast spells.”
“But if she had the book…”
“Hmm, I see your point.”
