The Strongman's Spell

by Amorette Anderson

  I pulled a small empty velvet sack off of a pile and opened it up. Then I tapped a sprinkling of the fine yellow powder into it. “Would you say you’d like your soak to be relaxing, or energizing?” I asked.

  She eyed the sack, and then the bottles on the shelf. “Relaxing,” she said definitely, confirming my intuition. “My nerves are frayed to the point of snapping, I’m afraid. This murder business has me all on edge.”

  “I know what you mean.” I reached for a bottle of coarse black powder.

  “And the recruiter...?” she said. “You never answered me. What are they recruiting for?”

  I sighed. “Some inn,” I said, “in the Spirit Realm. A woman named Sarin runs it.”

  I thought of Sarin, and her penetrating black eyes. I remembered exactly how it felt when she looked at me. She was desperate to have me join her in the Spirit Realm. I still didn’t understand it. Why me?

  “It’s called the Lazy S Inn,” I said. Then I reached for a large jar filled with icy blue rocks. I plucked one from the jar and placed it in the cloth sack I was filling. I added a few more powders and stones on top of it, and then eyed the sack’s contents. The mixture was almost complete, but I sensed it was missing something.

  As I pondered this, Beatrix began removing her jewelry. “That sounds familiar,” she said, as she pulled out one gold earring and then another, and placed them on a table next to the bubbling bath. “The Lazy S Inn... yes, it’s definitely ringing a bell.”

  “Maybe you’ve stayed there?” I suggested.

  “No... I don’t think so. I don’t like staying in the Spirit Realm. The atmosphere there makes my allergies act up.” She placed her chunky gold necklace down on the table next to her earrings. “Well, what’s the recruiter doing here, at your retreat center?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess trying to recruit me.”

  “You?” She eyed me skeptically. “I don’t mean to be rude, but darling, you’re not that special. Why would she want to recruit you?”

  I shrugged. Then I realized what was missing from the bath. Beatrix needed a good dose of lapis lazuli, a crystal that promoted compassion.

  I reached for the jar.

  As I added some of the crushed lapis to the sack, I realized that I was almost done with the custom mixture. Once I put it to the bath, I’d have to leave Beatrix alone for her soak. If I wanted to ask her questions, now was the time.

  “Beatrix,” I said slowly, “Alyssa mentioned to me that after you and she checked into your shared suite, you headed out to do some exploring. Can you tell me more about that?”

  She emitted a heavy sigh. “You want my alibi, hm?”

  “I’m just covering my bases,” I said.

  “Fine. I left our suite and went to the second floor. You mentioned the meditation rooms. I wanted to see what they were all about. I absolutely abhor meditating, but my aesthetician said that it’s the best thing to prevent wrinkles, so I’ve been giving it a shot lately.”

  She reached up and ran a finger across her forehead “I have noticed a difference, you know. I used to have a deep crease on my brow, but it’s been gone since I started meditating religiously.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “Did anyone happen to see you there?”

  “You really are being thorough, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Trying,” I said.

  “Let me try to think,” she said. “Ah yes... I did see someone there. It was a fairy. She wore a dress with a white collar. When I first entered the room, she was wiping down the mirrors. I thought she must be part of your cleaning staff.”

  “I don’t have cleaning staff,” I said.

  “No?” Beatrix looked horrified. “Then who does the cleaning?”

  “Um...haven’t quite figured that out yet,” I said. “This is our first weekend retreat. We’re working out the kinks. I guess I assumed my witch sisters and I would work some magic.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “If you have guests staying here, you have to have a cleaning staff. You can’t rely on magic for everything, you know. Magic can be unpredictable. A good staff gets the job right every time. Surely you learned that in business school.”

  “I didn't go to business school,” I said.

  “Then what makes you think you’re qualified to run a twenty-bed retreat center?” She asked.

  “I had a vision,” I said.

  “Millennials!” she rolled her eyes. “I will never understand you.”

  “We’re a unique generation,” I said. “So Margie saw you enter the meditation room, probably a little bit after three. Did anyone else see you?”

  “I really have no idea,” she said. “My eyes were closed. That’s what my aesthetician told me to do when I meditate. I’m serious about getting a more youthful complexion.”

  I sighed. “I see. How long did you meditate for? And what did you do next?”

  “I lost track of time,” she said. “But when I was done, I headed back to my suite. As I arrived, Alyssa was coming out. She said it was four, and there was a welcome party down in the lobby. I went down to the party with her. Shortly after, I saw you. You know the rest.”

  I walked the sack over to the bath and started to shake the contents into the chocolate-colored liquid. As I worked, I said, “Last night when we spoke, you said that Alyssa stood to benefit from Carlisle’s will. Who else is in the will?” I watched Beatrix from the corner of my eye, trying to judge her reaction. She was in the process of pulling off one of her heels, but as I spoke, she stilled as if my question had thrown off her rhythm.

  After a moment she started moving again, placing her heel on the floor. “Me, of course,” she said. She slipped off her other heel and set it down next to the first. “I’m his wife. Carlisle left half of his money to me, a quarter to Alyssa, and another quarter to—” she stopped abruptly.

  “Who did the last quarter go to?” I asked.

  She didn’t answer. Instead she said, “I’ve been through so much. Do you mind just giving me some peace and quiet?”

  “Not at all,” I said. I knelt down and ran my fingers through the bath to make sure the minerals had mixed in. I didn’t feel any grit or sediment. The mixture was silky soft, and I even felt the relaxing properties begin to infuse through me even though I just had one arm up to the elbow submerged.

  I pulled my arm out of the brew. “Your bath is all set,” I said.

  “Only about forty-five minutes late,” she grumbled.

  I blushed. “I’ll leave you to it,” I said. “I’m going to put a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign out on the door. Since we got started late, this room is all yours until noon,” I said. “Does that sound good to you?”

  “Divine,” she said. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” I headed for the door.

  “Oh!” she said, as I reached the door. “I just remembered—The Lazy S Inn—I know why it sounds familiar.”

  I turned to face her. “Why?” I asked.

  “Carlisle did a write-up about it,” she said. “A few months back. He stayed for a weekend, and then wrote an entry for the Record Keeper Reviews. If I recall, the elderly woman who runs the inn—”

  “Sarin,” I interjected.

  She nodded. “Yes, that’s right. It’s coming back to me now. Sarin. She wasn’t too happy with the record.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Carlisle didn’t enjoy his stay,” Beatrix said. She laid her blazer down next to her pile of jewelry. “And I’m sure he was very honest about why. He always was blunt with his opinions, you know. That’s all I know. I never really read the piece.”

  “How do you know that Sarin wasn’t happy?” I asked.

  “Carlisle told me,” she said. “He actually acted a bit nervous about it. He said she was very intense, and he indicated that he planned on staying out of her way for the foreseeable future. I think he was afraid about how things would go if they crossed paths.”

  “Hm...” I said.


  “Do you think that’s the reason the recruiter’s here?” Beatrix asked. “It would make sense for Sarin to send a recruiter to get revenge upon my husband. Certainly more sense than for Sarin to try to recruit you —no offense, Marley.”

  I pursed my lips together. What Beatrix was saying was logically sound, but I couldn’t help but take offense to her very low opinion of my value to Sarin. “I’ll look into it,” I promised. “Enjoy your soak.”

  With that, I left the room and closed the door behind me. I put up a “do not disturb” sign, and then hustled down the hallway. I had to find Skili and see if she’d had any luck spotting the recruiter. Not only was the caped figure unregistered and uninvited, but it also could possibly be dangerous.

  I wanted it out of the Earth Realm—the sooner the better.

  Chapter Eleven

  When I stepped out into the lobby, I saw that it was mostly empty. Penny, Cora, and Azure were helping to tidy up the buffet table, which was a mess. Well, Azure and Cora were tidying, anyway. Penny was mostly nibbling on leftovers at the buffet table and gulping down coffee, as usual. The girl has a serious caffeine addiction.

  I reached out to Skili with my mind, but she didn’t answer.

  “Hey guys,” I said wistfully as I walked up to my friends.

  Penny looped an arm over my shoulders. “You look tired,” she said. “Want me to fix you up a cup of coffee or tea? This magical buffet is so good! I think I’m going to eat here every time we host a retreat. Annie did a great job with the catering spell she crafted.”

  I shook my head. “Thanks, but no thanks. I have too much to do. I can’t just stand around and sip tea, though I’d love to... Did you see Skili outside when you came in?”

  “Hm, nope,” said Penny. She released me and went back to gulping coffee. “Why?”

  “I’m hoping she spotted an uninvited guest. It’s this recruiter being wearing a creepy gray cape. Have you seen anyone wearing a cape, by chance?”

  “I don’t think so—no gray capes that I can think of,” Azure said. “Though I have seen some interesting outfits this morning so far. The being-watching has been fab!”

  “It really has!” Cora said happily as she stacked up a few empty dishes. “Too bad they’re all in Neil’s lecture now. I love seeing the fashions from the different realms.”

  Azure rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what some of the Fire Realm dwellers are thinking. I saw one woman in a head-to-toe silver jumpsuit. She looked like a baked potato.”

  The ladies laughed.

  I didn’t.

  Penny frowned. “Mar, what’s up with you?”

  “I’m a little stressed,” I said. It was an understatement. I was a lot stressed. “You know how I told you that when I picked up Neil from the portal waiting room, his agent was with him?”

  “Sure,” Penny said.

  “Sarin,” chimed in Azure. “The owner of the Lazy S Inn.”

  “What about her?” asked Cora. She picked up a strawberry off of a tray of fruit and bit into it.

  “Sarin smuggled in another being, when she accepted payment for Neil’s services. She stepped out of the waiting room, and she was wearing this dress with a big skirt, and she must have had this other being hidden under there. Now the being is here in our realm. It’s a recruiter for Sarin’s inn. I just saw it, in the spa hallway.”

  “An unauthorized being, here at the center?” said Cora.

  “Not good,” said Azure.

  “What do you want us to do?” asked Penny. “We’re ready to help.” She set down her cup of coffee, which was a big deal. It takes a lot for Penny to stop drinking coffee mid-cup.

  “I think we should spread out and cover the grounds,” I said, “looking for this recruiter. Like I said, it’s wearing this long gray cape with a big hood. You can’t even see the figure’s face, because it’s hidden in shadow.”

  Cora reached for another strawberry. “Fun!” she said. “I’d better fuel up for the hunt. This is exciting. You guys, I really needed this. I love, love, love being a mama, but I really do miss normal adult conversation.”

  Penny laughed. “Ha! You think that searching for a mysterious recruiter from the Spirit Realm is normal! I love that,” she said.

  Cora grinned. “Well, maybe not normal normal. But normal for us. I’m happy for the break from changing diapers and listening to baby songs.”

  “I’m glad you think of this as a break, Cora,” I said. “But I’m kind of freaking out here. I mean, you guys, this recruiter could be our murderer.”

  Cora raised her brows. “Seriously?” she said. “How do you figure?”

  “Yeah, Detective Greene,” Penny joked. “Fill us in on the latest clues.”

  “Sounds like there have been some developments in the case,” Azure added.

  “Okay,” I said. I pulled at the ends of my braid again as I tried to think through the information I’d gathered. “I was just talking to Beatrix, and she said that Carlisle recently wrote up a really nasty record of the Lazy S Inn. What I’m thinking is that if these recruiters do Sarin’s bidding, isn’t it possible that she sent one of them here to kill Carlisle? Maybe Sarin heard that he’d be attending this weekend’s workshop. She realized it was a good opportunity to get revenge, so she instructed her recruiter to sneak around and murder Carlisle at the first chance it got.”

  Penny made a sour face. “I suppose it’s possible,” she said. “But it doesn’t sound likely. My money’s still on the wife.”

  Cora spoke up. “How would the hairdryer play into your theory, Mar?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Maybe the recruiter stole the hairdryer from Alyssa to frame her. It could have been in Sarin’s instructions to frame someone.”

  We all paused, thinking this through.

  Then Azure spoke. “I agree with Penny—this sounds a little bit too complex. If the recruiter was here in secret, why not just assassinate Carlisle and then sneak away? Kind of like a sneak attack. Why would it go to the trouble of stealing a hairdryer, and then sticking around? And why would it wander around out in the open after the deed was done? It doesn’t feel right.”

  Azure had a good point. We all nodded in agreement. She continued, “But either way, this recruiter shouldn’t be here. We’ve got to locate it and get it back to the portal gate.”

  “Right,” I said. “If one of us spots it, just text the rest of us. Does everyone have their phones?”

  We all did.

  Soon, we were splitting up. Cora agreed to search the first floor, Azure took the second, and I gave Penny a master key so that she could snoop around the guest rooms on the third floor. I decided to search the property outside.

  For the next few hours, I walked around the center, looking for the recruiter in every nook and cranny that I could think of. I searched behind the shelf of herbs in the green house, under tables out on the deck, and behind the tallest sage bushes in an open area just behind the building. I was hiking through the woods on an old mining road, looking behind every tree that I passed, when I heard Skili hoot. She then swooped down through an opening in the trees. I was happy to see her.

  “Any luck?” I asked her telepathically, as she landed on my shoulder.

  “No,” she said. “It must have exited the center before I got there after you reached out about it. I’ve covered the entire premise inside the barrier since then,” she said. “No sight of the recruiter.”

  I spotted a log nearby, and I sat down on it. “Okay,” I said. “You searched from the air and didn’t see it, and the ladies have been inside looking. I’ve conducted my search from the ground out here on the property, and I haven’t had any luck, either. What if it went into town? Maybe it left the magical barrier.”

  “Why?” Skili asked.

  “That’s a good question,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about the recruiter’s motive. Either it’s here to kill Carlisle, or recruit me.”

  “If it wants to recruit you, we don�
�t have to worry about seeking it out,” Skili said. “It will find you.”

  “Yeah,” I said. I was a bit worried about that possibility. Instead of dwelling on it, I said, “And if it was here to kill Carlisle, it wouldn’t really have a reason to go into town, either. In fact, if it was here to kill Carlisle, I don’t see a reason for it to stick around at all. Azure brought that up before we started searching, and I think it’s a good point.”

  Skili was quiet. I thought some more. Then I said, “I wonder if Carlisle’s review of the Lazy S Inn was really all that bad. Beatrix made it sound like it was awful, but is that accurate? Is the record that Carlisle wrote up really worth killing over?”

  I had an idea. “Skili, I’ve never even been to this Record Keeper Reviews site. I don’t even know how to get onto the InterRealm Net. Can you show me how?”

  She took off of my shoulder with a flap of her wings, and began flying through the woods, weaving around trees as she went. “Follow me!” she said.

  I stood and started running after her.

  It was hard to keep up. “Where are we going?” I asked telepathically as we ran. “Are you going to show me how to get on the net?”

  She didn’t answer me. I could barely see her—she was just flashes of white in the distance.

  I ran faster. I was breathless when she finally stopped. We’d arrived at the edge of a thin mountain stream. The rocks within the stream were covered in a layer of pale blue ice and dusted with snow. But in some spots, dark water was visible. Skili was perched on the branch of a nearby aspen. She pointed with her wing to one particularly still pool within the stream. “To access the InterRealm Net, you must learn the art of scrying.”

  “Scrying?” I repeated. The word felt foreign on my tongue. I’d heard of it before, but I’d never actually said it out loud. I didn’t really even know what it meant. “What’s that?” I asked.

  Skili didn’t answer my question directly. Instead, she said, “Step closer to the water.”

  I did.

  “Look down,” she said.

  Again, I did as I was told. I could see my reflection in the dark, still water that pooled between slippery, ice covered rocks of the mountain stream. “I see myself,” I said.