“I could make you tell me. Enforcer to citizen.”
Ava groaned. “Lawson.”
“You could,” Melanie had to agree. He wasn’t lying. He absolutely could stick her under investigation and ask her anything he wanted. “I still wouldn’t tell you. Then you’d lock me up. And have to get a magistrate to give you permission to force me magically to speak. You wouldn’t get that which would leave you with no choice but to illegally do so, which would mean you’d have to wipe my mind afterward.” She’d thought about this at length. “That’s such an imprecise thing to do. Most of the people who have that happen end up spending their lives in healing hospitals. And I think that would upset your wife.” She winked, hoping to lighten the mood. Maybe they could talk about the new Bomber play getting ready to start at the local theater.
Stefan threw his head back and laughed. “She’s got you there, boss.”
Lawson leaned forward. “I’m actually worried about you. Peter Evans is not to be trifled with. He’s scary and so far untouchable. We’ve had him on five different extortion and misuse of magic cases. He always gets away with it. As this woman is his fifth wife and every large firm in town refused to represent her and given that your name is now popping up on radars that he’s asking about you, I’m going to assume that you took her on.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Are we talking in circles? I think I answered this.”
“Just be careful. This is a man who destroys our most sacred traditions. He convinces women to marry him for reasons other than being soul mates and then divorces them. Can you imagine having your soul connected to a person and then having it ripped away? The fact that he has done this over four times…”
Melanie knew the circumstances of this better than Lawson did. She’d spent countless hours with his current wife-slash-victim-slash-she-kind-of-did-this-to-herself person. Yes, he somehow managed to do what few witches would ever consider: to soul bind himself to person after person—like it was a game and not an older than time binding ritual that so few people wanted to get out of that the law was fluid and difficult to manage on the subject.
Lawson shook his head. “You’re not listening to me.”
“No,” she sipped her drink. “But the good news is that I appreciate that you are doing this out of concern and not because you’re trying to be meddlesome.”
“Okay, enough.” Ava sighed loudly. “You made yourself understood, my love.” She kissed her husband’s cheek. “But Melanie is a big girl, and if she is somehow involved in this, I’m sure she’s being careful. Because she would never not be.” Ava glared at her as she spoke those last words.
Her husband was clearly not done. “I may have you followed.”
That was enough. She pointed at Lawson. “Where do you get off thinking that you can…”
He interrupted. “You’re family. That’s where I get off.”
Melanie sighed and made a split decision. Mitchell and Eleanor had done work for the Enforcers a lot lately. He was a historian who could track incredibly difficult historical information and Eleanor had developed quite the reputation for being great at figuring out curses. As far as she was concerned, they’d all count.
“I’m changing the subject.” A non-disclosure agreement appeared in front of all of them as she let her magic do the talking. “I do need help for another client. He’s one I imagine most of you know. And I have his permission to do this. If you sign those.”
Stefan and Kim both grabbed theirs and after reading it signed it. Mitchell laughed, but he and Eleanor did the same. Lawson opened and closed his mouth several times before Ava signed hers without looking toward him. It was a lot to ask for people who dealt in secrecy to be told their word wasn’t good enough. Melanie understood that. But she was doing it because she was skirting the line of what she was ethically comfortable with anyway.
Lawson finally affixed his signature with his magical wave. They’d all signed.
“I’m doing some work for Elliot Boothe. You’ve signed a NDA so you know that means you can’t tell anyone.”
“Wow.” Kim grinned at Melanie. “You are having a very exciting time right now.”
“Catch me up.” Eleanor looked between them. “Who is Elliot Boothe?”
Her husband took her hand and kissed it. “The Cursed Family.”
“Oh.” Her eyes lit up. “Sorry. I only knew that description. I feel terrible. I was the crazy girl for a while. I get how awful the names are.”
Melanie leaned forward. “I grew up on their estate. My parents worked for them as their house staff. I watched the curse take down Elliot’s father and now, a lot earlier than expected, it has gotten him. I have his permission to speak to whomever I like about trying to get him some help—if such a thing is possible—but the truth is he’s setting his affairs in order and doesn’t want the family’s holdings to plummet with this news. He’s basically in hiding.”
Kim winced. “I’ll go see him tomorrow. I never have. I’m not sure I can do what a million super strong curse removers haven’t been able to do, but I can try.”
“And I’ll make him something,” Ava offered. “A special drink concoction that might make him feel better. If you can get me something of his I can get working on it. I need something from the person.”
That was sweet of her. Mitchell sat forward. “I’d love to track the history of this. I never have. I…”
Eleanor put her hand on his arm. “I’m still not as fluent in this as the rest of you. Back up, please.”
He smiled at her. “We all went to the same school as Elliot Boothe. We have a little bit of a… fascination with him. Such a troubled, difficult family, and yet he was the golden boy. When we were young there was no one more popular or beloved.”
She couldn’t have put that better herself. Ava met her gaze. Yes, her best friend had known what no one else in here would. Melanie’d had it bad for him when she was young and it had never really let up. Ava might not know that last part, but her intuitive friend was catching on now. Maybe the Earth was even speaking to her, which was really weird to think about.
“His family is cursed?”
“Father to son,” Stefan answered for the group. “For generations now. Mostly curses, as you well know, Eleanor, having survived a heck of one yourself, are located on a person. But somehow the Booths have been cursed in such a way that when one dies, the next son in line gets the curse thrust onto him. I don’t remember all the details of what happens, but it’s nasty.”
In that Melanie, could help fill in what she needed to know. “Starts out feeling like a flu. They’re not sure if they’re sick or not. You can imagine how terrifying that would be. Then, it all goes downhill from there. Blindness but not just oh, can’t see. Their eyes become pure white, like spiderwebs of white cover them. They lose their magic bit by bit after that. Eventually, they lose their minds. And then they die in terrible pain with no idea who or what they are.”
She took a sip of her drink. The room had gone quiet. It was one thing to ooh and ahh over the Cursed Family story but the truth was it was a tragedy. “They are also incredibly rich. Generation after generation. They can turn one dollar into one hundred with no problem. They’re generous. Kind. They were good to my parents—and to me. I’m with all of you because Elliot’s father sent me to school and saw to it that I got in. He paid for it. His son seems to have taken the same path. The difference being that he’s deliberately fathered no children. It stops with him. I’m going to help him get his affairs in order. But maybe we can save him? Or you people can. Between the six of you, you’ve gotten a curse off Ava, rid the world of serial hexers, found and destroyed an ancient witch who had cursed Eleanor, and if I’m not mistaken, had something to do with that serial killer who turned the Addingtons into cats.” That had been a strange affair, the details of which were kept sketchy. “Maybe you can save him. I haven’t ever done anything like that, but I do have you all as my friends. Maybe I can help by just knowing you.�
�
Ava’s smile was gentle. “We’ll see what we can do. I promise.”
That was the most she could ask. Instead, she pointed at Lawson. “Don’t have me followed. That’s creepy and intrusive.”
“You just defined Enforcers.” Kim grinned. “Creepy and Intrusive. It’s pretty much what they do.”
Everyone laughed, including Melanie, although she wasn’t particularly jovial. “They? You’re officially not an Enforcer anymore?”
“Nope.” Kim touched her stomach. “Ava isn’t the only one with that announcement.”
Ava pointed at her. “You have no idea how hard it is has been to not say that to you. I knew I heard him or her in there last week.”
That was incredible. And it answered the “did they want babies” question. Melanie supposed that was the end of it. Kim couldn’t be an Enforcer, at least not when she was pregnant. She got to her feet and hugged the other woman. As she did, she lifted her eyes to Eleanor.
The dark haired beauty shook her head fast. “No, don’t look at me. Not until I’m done with school. And I want to get a PhD so a few more years at least.”
Mitchell tugged on the end of Eleanor’s hair and they shared a moment. Lawson had said earlier how strange, how awful it was, that Peter Evans kept sharing his soul and taking it back. How heart wrenching it must be to do so. Melanie would never know that herself, not unless things changed for her, and they certainly didn’t seem to be moving in that direction. Witches were careful, they chose wisely, they bound themselves for eternity, and when they did, it seemed like they needed the other’s presence more than they did food or water. The other half of their soul was as essential as breathing.
Ava and Mitchell had almost made a terrible mistake. It was obvious, and of course hindsight was twenty-twenty, but they were both so better off with who they ended up finding. The universe was careful in witch pairings. What did it mean that Peter kept doing this? And how awful was it that Elliot Boothe, with all that charisma and joy in his youth, had decided to never seek it, to never share his soul? To leave the world without any touch of him still here, not connected to anyone’s soul?
Melanie stepped away from the table. No wonder her first dates went so badly. She was nothing but sour and difficult, even in her own head.
Chapter 3
Melanie stared at the woman in front of her and tried not to hate her. It was a bad idea to hate clients. She couldn’t remember actually hating anyone she’d represented before. Elaine Evans was the first. Mel sipped her coffee and listened to Elaine talk. Part of the problem, and this really wasn’t Elaine’s fault, was that the sound of her voice was maybe the most annoying sound Melanie had ever heard. She really wished she could be the kind of person for whom those things didn’t matter, but she’d never tolerated other people’s small annoyances very well. Maybe it came from living on her own as long as she had.
She just did better by herself. But then again, she hated being alone, so it was a constant battle between her heart and her… problematic personality.
Melanie might have been overthinking this. Maybe Elaine was annoying, end of story. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Peter Evans had married and left wives before. She was his fifth, and every time this happened, it ended up being reported upon all over the witching world. Those wives all left the country and refused to be questioned. Elaine had to know what she was getting herself into. That didn’t mean that she didn’t deserve good legal representation just because she was some kind of idiot. The trouble was Melanie couldn’t get her to tell her why she’d done this, and it was the missing piece of this whole mess. Well, that and several bank accounts containing a lot of money that Elaine believed she was entitled to at least half.
Considering how she lifted the end of her sentences like she was asking a question even when she wasn’t, it was hard to know when she needed to answer and when she didn’t. Mel was about to ask the woman to talk more.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you.” The woman had been going on about something unfair that was happening to her in the separation. Melanie really didn’t care. “But we have to talk about the things we’re not talking about. I’ve had a searcher spell out for some time now for those missing accounts. As he’s done this before, your husband has hidden those accounts pretty securely. It’s my magic versus whomever he hired to do it. I’m good, but as I’ve told you before: I don’t have the resources to battle the hidden magic all the time.” Melanie drummed her fingers on the desk. “Having more information would be tremendously helpful to me. It’s like I’m battling your husband’s immense resources with one hand tied behind my back. Please let me help you. Elaine, you can trust me. I promise you can.”
The woman’s lip trembled. “Sometimes I can’t believe what an idiot I am.”
“We’re all idiots sometimes.” Melanie could come up with a dozen things she’d done in her life that had been utterly stupid. She’d made so many missteps she couldn’t even count them anymore. At no point did she ever imagine she’d be her age, alone, and still trying to make her business work.
Elaine rubbed her eyes. “I… I can’t talk to you about what you want.”
It was that word—can’t—that caught Melanie’s attention. Sometimes it was what people didn’t say that you had to pay attention to and sometimes it was about the details. She leaned forward. “Elaine, are you unable to tell me? Because you’ve been magically spelled not to?”
The other woman wept, not nodding, not indicating in any way that it was an affirmative answer to Mel’s question. That was response enough. To even have given that much of a yes had to have been painful as hell against a magical spell placed on her. That kind of magic was criminally illegal.
For the most part, witches used magic like humans used technology—to make their lives easier. Melanie didn’t know any witches who owned a ladder. Not since Ava finally came into her powers. Why bother ever having one? They could float up and around wherever they wanted. Humans invented things to make it possible for them to do with science and tech what witches did naturally.
But there were limits, and they were self-imposed most of the time. When they crossed a line of acceptability, laws were made. Curses, hexes, spells of ill-will, they were all banned and would place the practitioner in the arms of the Enforcers. A silencing spell fell into that category.
How long had this woman been suffering like this? Melanie chewed on her lip. In her job, she saw the worst of the world, never the best, and yet still the low depths that people would ascend to never ceased to surprise her.
“I’m going to get you some help.”
Elaine’s lip trembled. “Be careful. He’ll go after you.”
“I’m not worried.” She really wasn’t. Magical bullies didn’t scare her. Not anymore.
* * *
Somewhat more subdued than she’d been the day before thanks to her morning, she made her way to the Boothe estate. Edward opened the door for her, noticeably checking her out in a way that made a muscle in Melanie’s jaw tick. She didn’t think he meant any harm. He was just looking, but to do it so obviously just showed a lack of subtlety that bordered on pathetic. Internally, she sighed. “Hello, nice to see you again. Is Mr. Boothe here?”
He nodded. “Mr. Boothe is always here. Back to the study, that’s where you’ll find him. That’s where he spends all his days.” He cleared his throat, and Melanie knew what was about to come before he said it. “I was wondering if I could take you to dinner sometime.”
That was sweet. But boy, he did not want to date her. She’d been at this long enough now to tell the ones that were going to go badly and the ones that were going to be worse. Those men practically came with flashing lights that said: do not attempt an evening with this one. Dater beware. He was a man who couldn’t hide that he was looking at her ass. He was too unfiltered for Melanie. She lived in a world where women got cursed into not being able to speak their truths. Where it was possible for the Elaines of the world to physically
be unable to speak about what happened to them. What would she do with Edward and his earnest expression?
“You don’t want to date me. I’m a mess.” She smiled at him. “Trust me. I come with so much baggage you’d need to float ten of them in here just to bring all of my stuff. But I have a girlfriend, Jaiden, you would love her. She’s pretty much the complete package, and I think she would love you. The handsome, strong, caretaking type is just what she loves. What do you say? Six feet, blonde haired, blue eyed. Your type?” Melanie had always been good at this. If she got a feeling she should set people up, they inevitably ended up married. That might even have been a magical thing for Melanie. She’d never pursued it. “She just moved back from Hoangtown. Never had time to really date before.”
A million emotions crossed over Edward’s face before it ended in a bright smile. She ignored the pang that came from knowing she’d caused him momentary pain and embarrassment. It was hard to ask people out, tough to take that kind of risk, and miserable to be rejected. But she’d spared him the pain of dating her. That was what it would have been for him. She was sure of it.
“I’d really like that.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Can I get her contact information?”
“You sure can.” She waved her hand, and Jaiden’s information floated over to him. “She’s free tonight.”
“Ah…” He laughed. “Well, this went differently.”
Melanie couldn’t set up everyone who asked her out, but this one would work. She was sure about it.
She turned and quickly made her way to the study. Elliot leaned in the doorway and floated backward when she entered.
“Working on the floating. That was nice of you, what you just did.”
Melanie blinked. Even the sound of his voice could send her into butterfly flutters in her brain. “Ah… what?”
“Finding him a date. That was nice of you to do that. Do you set up everyone you reject?” He stopped floating when he hit the desk behind him. She winced. It was hard to fly blind but even walking would be a problem if he didn’t know the room completely.
Tragic Magic: Wards and Wands #3 Page 3
