by Rose Pressey
“You don’t think this is connected to him?” Nicolas motioned with a tilt of his head toward the staircase. “He was there when it happened.”
“I saw the woman who did this. She was right there and then I watched her walk out the café door. And besides, Arthur says he doesn’t do magic.”
“People can say anything. That doesn’t make it so,” Nicolas said.
He was right about that, but what could I do?
“All I know is I have to find out who did that,” I said.
Nicolas ran his hand through his hair. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.” He stepped closer and pulled me against his hard, muscular chest. I relished the warmth of his soft, full lips against mine.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, get a room. There are plenty of them in this big house, aren’t there?” The crackly voice echoed through the room.
Cora stood in the doorway. Nicolas hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Cora yet. She wore a pale pink pantsuit. Her bun was a bit more tousled than the last time I’d seen her.
“I’m terribly sorry, Cora. This is my boyfriend Nicolas.”
She eyed him up and down. “I thought the other one was your boyfriend.”
I chuckled nervously and Nicolas gave me a funny look. “Which guy?”
Nicolas frowned. “How many guys are here?”
She moved her arm through the air in a wide gesture. “He was in the kitchen when I first arrived,” she said.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Oh, him? No, he’s just a guest. I told you that.” I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever. Would it be possible for a dear old lady to get lunch?”
Maybe if I fixed another meal like breakfast that would keep her happy for a while. I really didn’t have time to stop and make food, but in this case, I would do it. “Sure, Cora. What would you like?”
Cora and Nicolas followed me into the kitchen.
“A fresh salad would be nice. Maybe a cucumber sandwich. Do you have tea?”
I nodded and got to work gathering the items. Nicolas watched Cora. She eyed him up and down, but surprisingly offered a hint of a smile.
“Cora, the dining room is beautiful. Maybe you’d like to have lunch there.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll eat in here again.”
I exchanged a look with Nicolas.
“It’s stuffy in here,” Cora said as she fanned herself.
“The dining room is a nice temperature,” Nicolas said.
She glared at him for a moment. “Well, I suppose I could have lunch in there, but I’m staying in here to watch you prepare the food.”
It seemed as if she was watching to see if I added a spell to her food. I wasn’t sure if she knew about the magic, but I wasn’t even going to pretend this time. She’d find out soon enough. As I waited for the water to boil, I prepared her sandwich. I didn’t use magic to do everything. I wouldn’t waste my energy on boiling water. I’d rather save my magic for the good stuff.
I’d almost finished preparing the lunch when I said, “Cora, Nicolas can show you back to the dining room.”
She pushed to her feet. “I’m not dumb. I can find the room on my own.”
Nicolas chuckled as Cora headed down the hallway.
When I finished the salad, I brought Cora her lunch. Nicolas carried the plates while I brought in the tea. Even though I’d convinced her to sit in the dining room this time, she’d insisted on watching me prepare the food first. She hadn’t been in the room the whole time for my magic. Maybe she hadn’t noticed the magic after all.
She peered down at the food with a scowl. “I guess this will have to do.”
“Let me know if you need anything else, Cora,” I said through gritted teeth.
Nicolas and I left Cora in the dining room and went back into the kitchen.
“She’s spunky,” Nicolas said, looking over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t behind him.
“That’s one word for it,” I said.
Nicolas asked, “What about the other guests? Who are they?”
“A single woman came, Jolene, and then another couple women, Beth Sallee and Williamina Hamilton. Plus another man, Ben, he’s probably in his forties. The two women are probably in their fifties and Jolene is probably thirty-five.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “That’s a lot of guests.”
“I know nothing else about them,” I said.
Nicolas folded his arms in front of his chest. “I just think it’s a little suspicious that all of these people showed up at once.”
“I agree with you, but I can’t accuse them of anything.” I blew the hair out of my eyes. “And I don’t have any way to prove that they’re up to something.”
“You could cast a spell to try to get info,” Nicolas said.
“Maybe that would be a good idea. As soon as Cora goes back upstairs, we’ll do something, okay?”
I’d barely finished the sentence when Cora walked past. She didn’t even acknowledge us.
“Maybe she didn’t like the food after all,” I said.
“She’s a bit testy. I’m not sure she would tell you if she liked it,” Nicolas said.
As soon as Cora was out of the room, Nicolas and I scooped up the stuff needed for the spell. We stood by the cauldron over by the large brick fireplace. I stirred in the ingredients for the spell and then we held hands. The water bubbled and lights floated from the top.
“Element of Earth, I call to you. Show me the wicked.” I stirred the cauldron. “Element of Air, I call to you to bring out the bad from this place.” Stirring more, I recited the words: “Element of Fire, I call to you for guidance. Help me have the knowledge.” To complete the spell, I stirred one more time. “Element of Water, I call to you to show me the wicked.”
“Is it working?” Nicolas asked.
I nodded. “Soon we’ll see. This spell will let me know if there’s anything bad in the house. The reflection on top of the water should show us the face of the person who’s here for bad reasons.”
The water bubbled no longer. It was still. I leaned over for a closer look. The spell was showing someone walking up the stairs, but it was blurry. The scene could be through my eyes or possibly the bad person’s eyes. Nicolas leaned over and stared at the water with me. I should’ve added to the spell to make this process go a little faster. I was a little impatient waiting for the results. The person made it up the first flight of stairs to the landing, and then on the second flight, toward the third floor. I supposed that ruled out a few people. Or did it?
Just as we were about to learn the person’s identity, a huge gust of wind ripped through the kitchen. Sparks like lightning flashed through the room. When I looked down at the water, the image had disappeared. The wind settled down and the light show stopped, as if it had never happened in the first place.
“What happened?” I yelled as the adrenaline still pumped through my body.
“I think one of your guests tried to get rid of your spell,” Nicolas said.
“Who would do that?” I asked.
“I’m guessing it was the person who doesn’t want you to know their identity.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I should have known I’d have a hard time with this.”
Movement caught my attention and I turned around to see Jolene standing in the kitchen doorway. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me. Had she caught us doing magic and now she was upset?
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
She looked frazzled as she blew the hair out of her eyes. “Oh, there’s something wrong all right.”
I exchanged a look with Nicolas. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.
Chapter 11
“Cora killed me and now I think she brought me back to life. I don’t know what happened.” Jolene had a stunned look on her face.
It felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
“What happened?” Nicolas asked
.
I finally managed to ask, “Where’s Cora?”
Jolene waved her hand. “She’s upstairs, I suppose.”
“Come on, we have to go find her,” I said as I headed out across the kitchen.
Nicolas and Jolene followed me through the house toward the stairs.
“Are you okay?” I asked Jolene as we marched up the stairs.
“Well, considering I was dead, no, I don’t think I’m okay,” she snapped.
Okay, she was a little upset now. Perhaps I would hold off on asking any more questions until she calmed down just a bit. Her reaction was understandable. This whole situation brought back bad memories for me. I’d been known to bring back the dead in the past. Of course that was when my magic was bad. I’d never, ever killed anyone in the process. I couldn’t believe I even had to say that.
We marched down the hallway in pursuit of Cora. When we reached her room, we found the door closed.
I pounded on the wood. “Cora, I need to speak with you right now.”
Movement came from the other side of the door. I knew Cora was in there. Finally, a shuffling sound was followed by her opening the door just an inch.
“Yes?” she said sweetly.
As if that act would cover up what she’d done.
“I need to speak with you, Cora.” I placed my hands on my hips. “What have you done?”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean? I’ve been sleeping.”
As blunt as she had been in the past, I didn’t believe her sweet act now.
“Cora, did you kill Jolene?” I gestured over my shoulder.
That might have been the strangest sentence I’d ever uttered. And I’d spoken a lot of crazy sentences in my life.
She pushed her shoulders back and stuck out her chest. “What do you mean asking me such a question?”
At least I knew now that they were practicing magic. Cora wasn’t surprised in the least that I had asked this crazy question.
“Jolene says that you killed her and brought her back to life with your magic.”
Cora waved her arm dismissively. “She’s lying.”
“Why would she lie?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t,” Jolene said from over my shoulder.
“It wasn’t my magic that killed her and it wasn’t my magic that brought her back. It was someone else, obviously.” Cora eyed me up and down.
“There was no one else in the house doing magic, right, Hallie?” Jolene asked.
I exchanged a glance with Nicolas. He knew what I was thinking. I’d been doing magic. Please tell me this isn’t happening again. I couldn’t believe it. My magic was too good now. It just wasn’t possible. Someone else had been doing magic because they’d gotten rid of my spell, but I couldn’t deny that I had been doing magic at the same time.
“Cora, can you come downstairs into the parlor with us? We really need to discuss what exactly happened.”
“Why should I do that?” she snapped.
“You’re admitting that you’re doing magic, so I have to be suspicious. You do know that I’m the leader of the Underworld, so I have a say in this situation.”
Cora glared at me for a moment and then reluctantly stepped out from her room. It looked as if I had my hands full this time. How would I ever sort through what had happened?
We went down the stairs to the parlor. I instructed Jolene and Cora to have a seat. It was as if they had been called to the principal’s office. I stood directly in front of them and Nicolas stood at my side. I was glad that he was here to offer me support.
“Now why don’t we start from the beginning? What happened when you say that Cora killed you, Jolene?” I looked at her, waiting for an answer.
Jolene looked over at Cora and then she sat up a little straighter. “Cora invited me to her room and that’s when she gave me the potion to drink.”
I made a time-out signal with my hand. “Wait. What potion?”
“It was supposed to be a love potion, not a death potion,” she yelled at Cora.
Cora studied her fingernails.
Jolene tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Cora was going to give me a potion so that I could find a boyfriend. Needless to say, it didn’t work out as I had planned.”
“Obviously,” Nicolas said.
“I’m not so sure she didn’t plan it that way all along.” Jolene glared at Cora.
“How do you know you were dead?” I asked.
Jolene blew the bangs out of her eyes. “I remember choking and coughing when I drank it and then I fell over onto the floor. It was an out-of-body experience.” She waved her hands. “I was up above looking down at myself and I knew that I was a goner.”
“That’s not good,” I said.
“She needs to be arrested.” Jolene pointed at Cora.
Cora leaned forward in the chair. “I did nothing wrong. You can’t prove it either.”
She was right… I couldn’t think of one way I’d be able to prove it. Though I needed to find the concoction that she had given Jolene. I might be able to get it tested and see what was in it. I had to admit though, I was worried that maybe I’d been responsible for what happened. After all, I’d been doing magic when it had taken place.
Cora could have given Jolene the potion to kill her and I’d brought her back to life with my spell. That would be a good thing, but it would also prove that my magic was nowhere near as good as I’d thought. I’d be back to the place I’d started. My skills had been so horrible in the past that when I cast spells other witches’ spells were messed up at the same time. I’d thought that was all behind me now, but maybe I’d grown too confident. I was worried that I had really messed up this time. Did anyone have to know if I was the one responsible? This could just be my little secret.
Cora watched me. It was almost as if she was reading my mind. I tried to avoid eye contact with her, but she didn’t stop her stare.
Finally, she said, “Maybe it was you. I sense your magic. I know what you’re doing.”
That was when Nicolas stepped forward. “But do you know who she is?”
She focused her attention on him. “I’m not too concerned with her status.”
If she could perform magic then she should know my position. Cora was just trying to act innocent. Whatever her reasons for being here, I would figure it out. And I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me either.
“Hallie LaVeau is the leader of the Underworld,” Nicolas said with such pride that my stomach did a little dance.
“I already knew that,” Cora said. “It means little to me.”
“Well, until further notice no one is doing magic,” I said. “Not until this is solved.”
“Do you have the authority to do that?” Cora asked.
“Yes, I do,” I said.
I was taking charge. I couldn’t let this get out of hand. There were too many people who thought I would fail and I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of being correct.
“I’m going to my room.” Cora got up from the sofa and marched over to the stairs without looking back.
Jolene jumped up too. “I don’t know what to do. Am I living or am I dead? I don’t know. I’m in the middle of worlds and possibly reality.”
“Jolene, I’ll help you any way I can,” I said.
She marched toward the foyer. “I’m going for a walk. I need fresh air.”
That was probably one of the best things for her to do. But what should I do? I didn’t know where to begin. I’d better think of something quick though.
Nicolas came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“What do you think I should do? Should I call the police? There’s really no proof that a crime has been committed,” I said.
“No, you’re right. There isn’t any evidence. Maybe we should wait and see what happens,” Nicolas said.
“I have to figure out what was in that potion.” I paced across the floor. “I should go upstairs and tell Cora I need whatever’
s left of it.”
Nicolas shook his head. “I doubt she’ll give it to you.”
“I don’t want anyone else to get her potion. I sure hope she doesn’t try magic again, even though I told her not to,” I said.
“One thing that wasn’t clear for me…” Nicolas said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Does Jolene cast spells too?”
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “She didn’t answer that question, did she?”
“Maybe she’s hiding something,” he said.
So many unanswered questions.
“Will you go with me to find the potion?” I asked.
That made it sound as if I was scared of Cora. Maybe I was a bit terrified of the little lady. The look in her eyes and the way she stared at me had been kind of scary.
Nicolas held me closer and softly placed his lips on mine. It was a kiss that made my toes curl. His lips lingered until I thought I might never catch my breath. Sometimes I forgot that he was a vampire too. A supernatural force radiated from him. I knew he felt the blood rushing through my veins.
A noise sounded from the front of the house and I whipped around quickly.
“It sounded like the front door,” I whispered.
“Maybe it’s Jolene coming back,” Nicolas said.
We stared toward the foyer. After a couple seconds, Arthur appeared. He looked at us a little strangely, but that was understandable considering we were staring at him.
“Good afternoon,” Arthur said.
Immediately Nicolas tensed up again.
“Good afternoon,” I said, trying to sound casual.
There was no way to hide it now. I probably had it written all over my face that something was wrong.
“Is Jolene okay?” He glanced toward the door.
I quirked an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”
“I saw her outside and she looked upset.” He gestured over his shoulder.
Honestly, I didn’t know if she would be okay, but I didn’t want him to think I didn’t have things under control again. It was bad enough that he’d seen the incident at the café.
