Curse of the Witch

by K E O'Connor

  “He offered you a job?”

  “Not yet. He doesn’t think I can handle anything serious, but he has plans for me. I’m his only son.”

  “What about your half-sisters? They don’t want in on the family business?” Axel had three half-sisters whom he rarely saw.

  “Most likely. Desdemona is already involved. Foxglove and Persephone won’t be far behind once they’ve stopped partying.” He swirled his drink and downed it.

  Axel had matured over the last few months. He’d only been with his dad for a couple of days while he’d recovered from the curse, but there was a more serious air about him. I couldn’t decide if I liked this new version of Axel.

  “Would you like another drink?” Merrie smiled at Axel.

  “Always. And get one for yourself.” Axel grinned at Merrie as she blushed and turned away.

  I glanced from one to the other carefully. I might be wrong, but it looked like they were flirting, and Merrie was enjoying it. Merrie and Axel? I’d no idea she was interested in him.

  “Am I included in that generous offer? Or are you only offering to buy Merrie a drink?” I tilted my head and grinned.

  “Erm, well, no. I mean, of course, you’re included.” Axel scratched his chin. “I figured you’d be too busy to hang out and chat.”

  “Tempest’s helping to solve a murder.” Merrie looked at me, and her gaze shifted to the door.

  “I am? I thought that was the angels’ job?” My grin widened as Merrie’s cheeks colored again.

  “Oh, sure. I heard about the murder at the hotel.” Axel nodded.

  My grin faded. “I do need to get back to it. If I leave the angels to figure this out, they’ll be arresting you next.”

  Axel’s brows shot up. “I’m innocent. Whatever happened, it wasn’t me.”

  “Sure it wasn’t. Not this time. I’ll leave you to it,” I said to Merrie. “Be good.”

  Merrie turned, her gaze not meeting mine as she placed a drink in front of Axel. “I always am.”

  “You too, Axel. I’m watching you,” I said.

  He accepted the drink from Merrie. “When am I ever bad?”

  I shook my head and decided not to answer that question as I left the bar with Wiggles in tow. The late shift would be about to start at Angel Force. This could be a good time to see if I could sneak in and see Caprice.

  We walked through the door and over to the reception desk. Cassiel was pinning the latest Angel Force motivational posters to the walls.

  I looked at the first one: A gathering of angels can enlighten the world.

  “And leave behind a heap of feathers,” I whispered to Wiggles.

  Cassiel looked over at me. “Everything okay, Tempest?”

  “I’m here to speak to Caprice,” I said. “Has Dazielle finished with her?”

  Cassiel turned. “You’re too late.”

  My gut clenched. “Have you already charged her?”

  “No, Dazielle decided we didn’t have enough to charge her. She was released half an hour ago.”

  I let out a relieved sigh. That was a good sign. It showed the angels had been fishing for information and had nothing solid to pin on Caprice. With her free, it also meant I’d get a chance to talk to her without the angels interfering.

  “Dazielle was looking for you,” Cassiel said. “There’s a new demon case we need your assistance with.”

  I turned back to the door. “She can leave the details at Cloven Hoof.” The demon would have to wait. I needed to see Caprice.

  I hurried to the hotel, Wiggles bounding along beside me.

  Tabitha walked in from the garden as we arrived, carrying a bucket and sponge. “Tempest, back so soon. I’ll have to get you your own room.”

  “I heard Caprice has been released. I hoped I’d find her here,” I said.

  “Oh, of course. Yes, she came back not long ago. The poor thing looked tired. She said she was going to lie down and then head out to get some dinner. I asked if she needed anything, but she said she was fine. It looks like she’s innocent though since the angels let her go.”

  “Quite possibly,” I said.

  Tabitha’s expression grew cautious. “She is innocent, isn’t she? I’m not having a killer in my hotel. I’ve just been scrubbing the burn marks off the paving slabs out back.”

  “I’m sure she’s safe. I’ve known Caprice for years. And the angels have let her go, so they can’t be too concerned. Is it okay if I go up?”

  “Yes. She’ll appreciate a friendly face.” Tabitha peered into her bucket. “I need to find something stronger to get rid of the burn marks. Or I could move a pot plant over the place, hide any signs of, well, you know, what happened.”

  I nodded as I headed to Caprice’s room and knocked on the door. There was no reply. I knocked several more times.

  “Maybe she’s asleep,” Wiggles said, “or in the shower washing off the angel stink.”

  I tried the handle of the door, and it opened. I glanced down at Wiggles. “What do you think? If she’s asleep, we can sneak out and come back later.”

  “Fine by me. I can be stealthy when I’m searching for panties to chew on.”

  I glared at him.

  “Fine, no panties.”

  I eased open the door, crept inside, and pushed it shut behind me. There was a small private bathroom to the left and, in front of me, a short corridor with a fitted wardrobe. The bedroom was in the main room.

  I tiptoed toward the bed. It was empty. There was no sign of Caprice.

  The room was also a mess. A chair had been knocked over and the bedding tossed around.

  “Where’s she hiding?” Wiggles trotted to the bed and peered underneath. “She’s not under there.”

  A quick check of the bathroom showed it was just as empty.

  I opened the closet. “Her case has gone.”

  “Caprice is making a run for it,” Wiggles said. “She’s guilty and sees this as her only chance to escape.”

  I looked around the room, disappointment flickering through me. I didn’t want to believe she was the killer. “She’s left a lot of things behind.” There was a makeup bag in the bathroom, a pair of what looked like designer boots by the door, and several cosmetic items dotted around.

  “She had little time,” Wiggles said. “Caprice grabbed what she could and made a run for it.”

  “We should let the angels know. If she’s escaping, she won’t have gotten far.” I hurried back to the reception and told Tabitha what I’d discovered.

  Her eyes were wide as she scratched her head. “How strange. I didn’t see her leave.”

  “You were in the garden when we arrived. She must have left then.”

  “Caprice must have been waiting for me to turn my back so she could escape. I’m glad I did. If she’s desperate for a way out, she could be dangerous. She could have hurt me.”

  “You need to send a message on the snow globe and let the angels know what’s going on.”

  “Of course. I’ll do it right away.” Tabitha bustled away and returned a moment later. “They’re on their way. They said for you to wait here.”

  It only took five minutes before Dazielle arrived. She fluttered her wings into place as she strode through the door. “Tempest, what a surprise. You’re snooping.”

  “There’s no time to nag me. Something’s going on with Caprice. Things are missing, and her room’s a mess.”

  “Let’s take a look before you go leaping to conclusions.” Dazielle led the way back up the stairs and into Caprice’s room. She stood for a moment looking around. “My team is on the lookout for Caprice. We’ll search the village and spread out wider if there’s no sign of her. I didn’t think she’d flee. She seemed reasonable and promised she was staying put.”

  Worry churned in my gut. There was something about the mess in the room, and the way things had been thrown about that unsettled me. “Caprice is always immaculate.”

  “Tempest, she’s a fugitive. When you’re under st
ress, you act out of character. Did you expect her to make the bed and fold the towels before going on the run?”

  “No, but look at the bedding. It’s shoved on the floor. The bed would have been made since this morning.” I looked around some more. “And Caprice left behind designer boots that cost a lot of money.”

  Dazielle stared at the boots and shrugged. “She can do without her designer clothes. They’ll be no use to her when she’s behind bars for murder.”

  I walked around the other side of the bed. On the floor was a broken lamp. This room wasn’t the scene of someone fleeing in a hurry. This was the scene of someone who’d been fighting.

  Tabitha knocked on the door and opened it. “I don’t like to disturb you, but there’s a message for Tempest from Suki.”

  I walked to the door. “Did she say what’s wrong? Is it a problem at Cloven Hoof?”

  “No, but she sounded upset. She said something’s been found in the forest.”

  “Did she say what it was?”

  “She’s coming here to tell you herself.” Tabitha glanced at Dazielle. “It sounded important.”

  “You go,” Dazielle said. “I can handle things here.”

  I looked at the mess in the room. “Caprice was taken. She’s not running. I think she’s in trouble.”

  Dazielle pursed her lips. “And you know that how?”

  “This is the scene of a fight. Messy bedding, a broken lamp, things missed when hurriedly packing a case to make it look like Caprice is on the run.”

  Dazielle studied the room again. “I’ll get my team to do a sweep and see if they find anything unusual.”

  There was nothing more I could do to convince Dazielle there was something odd going on. I hurried down the stairs and out the front door of the hotel with Wiggles.

  Suki was racing toward me from the direction of Cloven Hoof, waving her hand as she spotted me.

  She stopped as she reached me and gasped in air. “I have terrible news.”

  “What’s wrong?” I’d never seen Suki look so pale. “Is there a problem with magic in the forest?”

  “Fallon found something,” she gasped.

  “What did she find?”

  “A body,” Suki said. “She found a body hanging from a tree.”

  I took a step back, my heart racing. “Does she know who it is?”

  “No, she didn’t recognize them. She said it’s an older woman, well put together. Fancy clothes.”

  My heart skipped a beat. That sounded like Caprice. “Wait right here.” A raced back into the hotel and up the stairs. “Dazielle! I think Caprice is in the forest.”

  She appeared from out of the bedroom. “Let’s get after her.”

  “Wait!” I grabbed her arm as she hurried past me. “There’s a problem. She might be dead.”

  Dazielle blinked rapidly. “Dead? Are you sure?”

  “No! Come with me.” I led her outside to speak to Suki.

  Suki confirmed what Fallon had found and where the body was, her worried gaze returning to me as she spoke with Dazielle.

  Dazielle let out a sigh. “Very well. Let’s go take a look.” She took flight and headed toward the forest.

  I raced after her with Suki and Wiggles. My stomach was churning with worry and my nerves jangling. Would Caprice do something as drastic as this? She would if she was guilty and it had gotten too much for her to bear.

  We hadn’t gone far before Fallon popped out from behind a tree, her dark eyes bright with excitement. “Greetings, forest visitors.”

  “Fallon, where is she?” I asked.

  “Right this way.” Fallon gestured us to follow her along a narrow path.

  We rounded a tree, and I gasped. It was Caprice. And she was very dead.

  Dazielle alighted on the ground and came to stand next to us. She stared up at Caprice before shaking her head. “Suicide.”

  It looked like it. “She must have been guilt-ridden over what she did to Bastille.”

  “Has anyone checked for a pulse?” Dazielle asked.

  “I have,” Fallon said as she pushed past me. “Forest Guardian at your service. I shimmied up the tree and checked. She’s gone, but she’s not been here long. She’s still warm.”

  I looked away and swallowed. I didn’t like encountering dead bodies, especially not ones swinging from a tree, and especially not when they were people I knew and cared about.

  “She must have been desperate to do this,” Suki said quietly. “She must have felt she had nowhere else to turn. I’m so sorry, Tempest.” She placed a large hand on my arm.

  I blinked away tears. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll bring in reinforcements,” Dazielle said. “We’ll get Caprice down.”

  It only took a few minutes before two more angels descended from the sky. They got to work and carefully removed the rope from around the tree branch and placed Caprice on the ground.

  As much as I didn’t want to, I inched over to take a look.

  “She must have broken her neck when she jumped off the branch,” Dazielle said. “It would have been quick. It doesn’t look like she suffered.”

  I leaned closer, focusing on the rope around Caprice’s neck. “Does rope make burn marks like that?”

  “Stay out of the way, Tempest,” Dazielle said sharply. “I appreciate the information about Caprice’s location, but there’s nothing you can do.”

  “But look at her throat,” I said, my pulse hammering, making my head hurt. “Under the red marks, it looks like her skin’s been burned.”

  Dazielle’s head jerked back before she drew closer. “It’s hard to tell. Maybe it’s bad friction burns from the rope.”

  I didn’t believe that. The marks were subtle, but they were there. “Wiggles, get over here.”

  Wiggles bounded over. “What do you need?”

  “You saw Bastille’s neck. Do the marks on Caprice look similar?”

  “Your hellhound isn’t an expert in identifying the cause of death,” Dazielle said.

  “But he saw both bodies.” I nodded at Wiggles. “What do you think?”

  He sniffed the body. “It’s the same smell. Chargrilled chicken. Caprice was burned before she died.”

  I nodded. “Someone choked her with flaming hands and hid the evidence by staging her death as a suicide.”

  “Caprice was murdered too?” Suki clutched my shoulder.

  “Yes. Whoever did it must have hoped the rope marks would conceal the real cause of her death.”

  “There’s a vague possibility that happened.” Dazielle stared at the body for several seconds. “We’ll get her back and do a more thorough investigation, without your input.”

  “This wasn’t suicide,” I said. “Caprice was murdered.”

  Chapter 16

  I’d spent the last few hours in a daze. I’d gone through the motions of eating dinner and staring blankly at paperwork in the back office of Cloven Hoof, but I was in shock. Caprice was dead. She’d not committed suicide. Someone had wanted her out of the way.

  After Dazielle and her team had poked around for a while, even they agreed her death was suspicious.

  I was certain that Bastille and Caprice had been killed by the same person. That person had tried to frame Caprice for Bastille’s murder and make it look like she’d ended her life because she was so torn up about murdering her friend.

  I shoved the paperwork to one side and rested my head in my hands.

  Wiggles’ head appeared on my knee. “How’s it going?”

  I stroked his ears. “Not great. Who’s doing this?”

  He nuzzled my hand with his muzzle. “A mean person whom we’re going to catch. I’m going to bite them so hard when we do. I love these witches. No one gets to bump them off.”

  “Me too. We have to figure this out.” The problem was, I had no idea where to look next.

  “I need some air.” I left the office, and after a quick check-in with the bar staff, I headed out of Cloven Hoof. I couldn’t process ever
ything I’d witnessed, so maybe a change of scene would help.

  It had gone eleven at night, but there was no way I could think about settling down for the night.

  I wandered the streets with Wiggles by my side, not going in any particular direction. There had to be something bigger behind this, something I’d missed. The only connection between Caprice and Bastille was their old biker gang affiliation. Was that it? Was that why they’d been killed? Someone had an old grudge that they’d finally decided to act on?

  I stopped when I saw a warm, welcoming amber light on in Tilly’s restaurant. She was closing Bite Me for the night, and the place was empty.

  I walked over and knocked gently on the glass door. A moment later, Tilly appeared, still in her apron. She waved at me and hurried to open the door.

  “Hey! I meant to catch up with you. I heard about what’s going on with Queenie’s friends. How horrible.” She ushered me inside and locked the door behind me and Wiggles.

  “Have you heard the latest?” I asked.

  “All I know is that Bastille was killed at the hotel, and the angels have Caprice in for questioning.” She rested her hands on her hips. “What have I missed?”

  I slumped into a seat and dropped my head into my hands. “There’s more. None of it good.”

  “Hold those thoughts.” Tilly patted my shoulder. “This needs pie and strong coffee.”

  “For me too,” Wiggles said. “Although I’ll take a bowl of milk with my pie.”

  Tilly narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn’t even be here, but I sense this is a crisis situation. You can stay, so long as you behave yourself.”

  Wiggles raised a paw and cocked his head. “I’ll be a good boy.”

  “Thanks, Tilly, you’re a lifesaver,” I said.

  Tilly returned a moment later with a tray. There were three pieces of pumpkin pie with ice cream, a bowl of milk, and a pot of coffee with a plunger. She placed a plate down for Wiggles before setting the rest out for us. She poured the coffee and settled in her seat.

  I took a few sips of coffee. “Caprice didn’t kill Bastille. I’m certain of it.”

  “What makes you say that?” Tilly cut a piece of her pie, swirled it in some melting ice cream, and took a bite.