What! I had trouble finding my voice for a moment. I was happy I could share the truth about myself with her, but what if she accidentally told someone? “But how? Why? Are you sure, Liv? That’s a big decision, and you’ve just had so much happen.” I took a seat opposite her, next to Agent Crankypants. Bad luck if he didn’t like it. A heady scent tickled my nose. Why did he have to smell so good? The bad luck was clearly on me.
She sighed. “I know. The last twenty-four hours have been… trying, but I’ve been thinking. After going through everything, I don’t want this to happen to other people. After chatting with Angelica, Millicent, and Beren,”—she spared a glance and smile for Beren. Interesting—“I’ve decided to undertake police training then become a liaison between the local police and the PIB, but I’d work for the PIB and undertake research mostly, which is what I'm good at, and I love. Millicent’s going to train me and be my boss.”
Millicent smiled, and she was definitely glowing. Even though the baby had given her morning sickness, her skin was clear and her eyes bright. “I sure am. I’m off dangerous fieldwork until after the baby comes, so my workload will practically halve. A witch’s magic is a lot weaker than normal when they’re pregnant. So it’s a win-win situation.”
Olivia gave her a small smile, then turned to me again. “Angelica’s even mentioned there’s a special project you and James are working on that I could help with, but she didn’t give me the details.”
Was the special project my parents’ disappearance? “I still think it’s a big decision to make so quickly. I just don’t want you to regret it later. It’s not always safe.” And didn’t I know that firsthand. If anything happened to her, I’d blame myself.
“I’m a big girl, Lily. If we decide it’s not working out, Angelica can wipe my mind, and that’s that.”
I sat up straight and grinned. It had taken me a while, but I had the perfect solution. “Actually, I know something that will help… with the agreement and not accidentally dying from telling someone about witches.”
“You do?” Angelica leaned forward.
“The other day, before we went to the castle, I didn’t want to accidentally say something about Frederick… Ernest, so I came up with a spell, and it actually worked. I tried to say something about Ernest lying to you, but my mouth wouldn’t say anything. The spell is: filter my thoughts, and only let words form for the ones that won’t cause remorse. I’m sure we can just change it to suit your circumstances, but I think it’s a spell that has to be renewed, like the thought-protection one.”
Angelica sat back. “And you impress us, yet again. Good work, dear. I’ll let you come up with something, and we can test it.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “Make a spell that encompasses all non-witches, and then we can test it on a non-witch who works here. If it works, I’ll have our people come up with something that lasts longer or can last until the spell is revoked by the caster. I’d hate for Olivia to get used to the fact that she doesn’t have to worry. Then, when it runs out, she’s not guarding against saying those things for herself. Until we can prolong it, I wouldn’t rely on it too much.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her praise—she didn’t dole it out often. I turned to Olivia. “So, does that mean you won’t be working at Costa anymore? And what are you going to tell your parents?”
“I’ll have to quit Costa, but that doesn’t mean we can’t grab coffee there, and, at Ma’am’s suggestion, I’m going to move in with you guys soon—less chance of my parents wondering what my job actually is. I’ll stay with my parents for a week or two, while I process what happened.” She paused and wiped a tear from her eye. I resisted the urge to jump across the table and give her a huge hug. Frederick was a total pig, but she loved him, and he’d been killed. The whole situation was almost unbelievable. “Then I’m going to tell them about the police training, and then when that’s done and I start working here, I’ll tell them I’m in research for a secret government department.”
“Oh my God! Are you kidding? You’re going to move in with us!” I squeed and happy danced in my chair, my feet bouncing up and down off the floor in joy.
William put his hands over his ears and gave me a “grow up” look. I grinned and poked my tongue out at him. He shook his head, but he wore the ghost of a smile, then looked away.
I was still grinning. “This is the best news ever!”
Angelica smiled. “I’m so glad you approve, dear. Now, we have a few things to discuss before we can close this part of the case and leave it to our legal department.”
We got down to boring stuff after that, and I had to ignore the musky, jasmine scent of the cranky yet warm man next to me. I really was a sucker for punishment.
After four hours of torture, I had one last question. “Ma’am, did you get any information on the man who tried to take me?” I swallowed the torrent of nerves making my mouth water.
“Yes and no. He had his wallet on him. His licence says his name is Vlad X, but that isn’t likely his real name. The license was issued in Romania five years ago. We dug deeper but couldn't find any other information on him. His magic signature was unreadable, since he was dead, and his name doesn’t come up on any databases. His fingertips melted at the time of the crash too, so there was no way to run his fingerprints through the system. The autopsy shows he was badly injured in the car crash, however, he most probably died from the brain-blast spell that activated after the crash.”
I blinked. “Melted fingertips? Brain-blast spell?” That sounded painful.
“The fingertips one is a spell we hadn’t seen before, but it was effective. The brain-blast spell is a small explosion that uses the brain’s own electricity to fry it. Whoever he was working for wanted no loose ends, obviously.”
“So we’re really no closer to finding out who he works for than before?”
Ma’am pursed her lips, then answered. “I'm afraid not, Lily, but we’ll keep working on it. I promise.” Her gaze softened with either apology or sympathy. Either one showed she cared but also confirmed how dangerous my family’s enemy was.
I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans. Would I always be a target?
Angelica stood. “Thanks for coming, everyone. Since there are no more questions, this meeting is over. Lily, would you please take Olivia home and show her around? I think the bedroom next to yours will be good. Then you can help her move her things in the next couple of weeks.”
I smiled and stood. At least there was some good news to come out of today. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Olivia came around to my side of the table, and I gave her a hug.
At least I had another friend that would make living this witch life a bit more fun, but that little voice in my gut warned it was just one more person to worry about. I had no doubt that whoever was after me wouldn’t hesitate to hurt or use my friends to get to me. I’d just have to plan for the worst. Boy, did I have a lot of work ahead.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“You bet.” Her smile was tentative, but I was just happy it was there. Her cheeks rosy, she held out her hand.
I took it, and we stepped through my doorway and went home.
Also by Dionne Lister
Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Witchnapped in Westerham #1
The Circle of Talia Epic Fantasy Series
Shadows of the Realm
A Time of Darkness
Realm of Blood and Fire
The Rose of Nerine Epic Fantasy Series
(Epic Fantasy)
Tempering the Rose
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author, Dionne Lister is a Sydneysider with a degree in creative writing, two Siamese cats, and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Daydreaming has always been her passion, so writing was a natural progression from staring out the window in primary school, and being an author was a dream she held since childhood.
* * *
Unfortunately,
writing was only a hobby while Dionne worked as a property valuer in Sydney, until her mid-thirties when she returned to study and completed her creative writing degree. Since then, she has indulged her passion for writing while raising two children with her husband. Her books have attracted praise from Apple iBooks and have reached #1 on Amazon and iBooks charts worldwide, frequently occupying top 100 lists in fantasy. She’s excited to add cozy mystery to the list of genres she writes. Magic and danger are always a heady combination.
Acknowledgements
To Becky at Hot Tree Editing—thanks again for your wonderful insight. To Ciara and MJ for helping me name my book baby. And to my hubby, who is patiently handling my long work hours and crazy mood swings—one minute there’s excitement for a new book release, then next stress from trying to meet deadlines. To Rob, my cover artist, you’ve made Lily come to life yet again, and I love her a little bit more every time I see her in a new piece of artwork.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my first-born, Evan. Love you lots.
Witch Swindled in Westerham Page 17
