by Lucy True
Sadly, Burgundy realized, she no longer mattered to Jenna. At least, not as a lover. But perhaps they really could remain friends. Maybe Jenna wasn’t here just to gain some notoriety for herself as a reporter, but because she cared about what became of her hometown.
The weird love epidemic could certainly change everything about Rock Grove if they didn’t put a stop to it. Even now, Burgundy questioned the long-term effects of a love potion. Although her stomach protested, she rose to her feet and crossed the house, into her aunt’s office. She selected a book on advanced potion making and returned to the table.
Flipping through to the table of contents, she found the chapter on love potions. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”
Jenna moved her chair so they sat side by side. Burgundy found the correct page and read through the explanation. She both felt and heard Jenna’s exhalation, and her own followed.
“Permanent unless you can counteract it with an anti-love potion,” Burgundy read out loud.
“You’ve got a recipe book here. Any chance you can make a potion like that?” Jenna asked.
“Uh-uh. It takes years of perfecting potion making. It was never my strong suit. I wouldn’t trust anything I brew not to do something worse, you know?” Frustration filled Burgundy and she pressed her fingers to her head as she flipped to the page with the anti-love potion. “Also, this recipe is way too complicated. I don’t know where my aunt would find half these things. Maybe there’s someone in her address book of suppliers.”
The firedrake joined them, perching on Burgundy’s shoulder to peer at the page. “Don’t waste your time,” he suggested. “Some of these items are strictly controlled by the Witches Council. You would need their permission to proceed.”
“I’ve never dealt with the Council. Are they difficult?” Burgundy asked.
Jenna let out a sound that was half cough, half laugh. “Difficult? Burg, don’t you read the news?”
As Burgundy glared at the blonde, Arthur interrupted. “What she means to say is they are selective about to whom they give appointments. They’re often dealing with matters of discipline and law, and unlikely to want to give an undeclared witch the time of day. The fact that they even make it into the news is a source of resentment for them.”
“Well, that’s encouraging.” Burgundy idly turned the pages back to the table of contents. She couldn’t even make a basic potion of clear-thinking. There was no way she could knock out an anti-love potion, let alone hundreds. “All of this comes back down to needing Aunt Iris home.”
“Or needing the Council’s intervention.” Jenna turned and looked at Arthur. “What if they were aware of a warlock wreaking havoc in Rock Grove? Wouldn't they intercede, then?”
“They might, but only with a damn good reason.” A small puff of smoke wafted up from Arthur’s mouth as he added, “And a tiny town in the boonies going haywire won’t be enough for them.”
Burgundy reached up to rub at her forehead, but Jenna captured her wrist and tugged it down. “But maybe a story in The Supernatural World Herald will get their attention. I could write an article linking it to the Pied Piper incident, somehow. Like... once again, the little town of Rock Grove falls victim to outside mind control. What do you think?”
“I... I don’t know about that.” The idea of having her entire town on the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper caused dread to settle deep inside her belly.
“What are you afraid of?” Jenna asked.
It was a valid question and Burgundy mulled it over, before rattling off a list. “First of all, it’ll exploit our vulnerability at this very moment. Second, it will draw scrutiny, not just from the Witches Council. Third, we might turn into some kind of tourist attraction. I don’t want it, any of it. There has to be a way to quietly figure out what’s going on, get the help we need, and stop this. I mean, before Aunt Iris gets home.”
“Or we might not be able to stop the warlock and your Aunt Iris will come home, get shot with an arrow too, and never fix anything,” Jenna pointed out. “Meanwhile, you’ll be in love with someone you would normally hate and that will be the end of Rock Grove.”
Burgundy’s gaze drifted from Jenna to Arthur, then to the mantle over the fireplace in the kitchen. She blinked at the array of photos on it, then rose to her feet.
“I think it’s a good idea,” she heard Arthur saying distantly. “Of course, I can reach out to a friend of mine as well, and see if we can get the Council’s attention in a less dramatic way first.”
“Yes, that sounds–”
“Guys,” Burgundy called, tilting her head and looking at the photos. “I think I found something.” She heard a chair slide away from the table and then felt Jenna standing behind her.
“What is it?”
Burgundy pointed at the photos above the mantle. In one of them were two people – a woman with long, dark red hair, and a man with black hair. They looked young, beautiful, and happy, surrounded by a fresh snowfall near a thicket of pine trees. “I always asked Aunt Iris who these people are and she said they’re cousins.”
“No one keeps photos of their cousins on the mantle,” Jenna said.
“I never dug deeper, because she always acted like the topic was a painful one, but I know who that man is.” Burgundy sucked in a breath. “That’s the warlock.”
Chapter Twenty
Even though the library was closed on Tuesdays, both Jenna and Burgundy visited it. As always, the stillness of the building, coupled with the gray autumn light filtering through the windows, gave it an eerie atmosphere. Once she locked the doors behind them, Burgundy flipped on the lights and set her belongings on the circulation desk.
“If you want to turn on the computers, I’ll check on our little Three’s Company situation,” Burgundy said as she took off her coat and draped it over her chair.
“That sounds good to me.” Jenna looked polished in her pea coat, jeans, and V-neck sweater with a white shirt underneath. It was an adorable combination and Burgundy couldn’t help but stare. They were so different, but she couldn’t deny Jenna had style. Annoyingly cute style.
After a moment’s hesitation, Burgundy tore her gaze from the woman and went downstairs. She didn’t bother trying to keep her footfalls quiet. It would be better if Lynn, Charlotte, and Mr. Knight had some warning that there were other people in the library. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she found a note taped to Mr. Knight’s office door.
Took them to my house. This was too cramped for three. Glen Gleason will handle the diner for Charlotte while she’s lovesick. Got everything covered on my end. YOU NEED TO FIX THIS.
Lynn
Burgundy sighed, tore down the note, and folded it so she could stuff it in her pocket. It looked like if she wanted to see Charlotte, she’d have to go to Lynn’s house, an idea she didn’t relish. At least they could rely on Glen. Even though he had a reputation for being quirky, he was a good guy. It was his innovation that kept their Saturday movie nights fun and interesting. As long as he didn’t try to shake things up at the diner, the town would survive. Maybe.
Burgundy went back upstairs and showed Jenna the note. The blonde shrugged and said, “At least you know they’re safe, but Lynn needs to chill the heck out. This is a pretty big deal and it’s a lot to ask just one person to fix things.”
Burgundy couldn’t help but give Jenna an appreciative smile. “I’m glad someone understands,” she said as she sat down at her computer. “I was beginning to feel like I should take some blame for it.”
“Not at all.” Jenna wasn’t looking at her, but her voice was full of warmth. It filled Burgundy with at least some sense that things were going in the right direction now, and she sat down at her computer to check her email.
She let out a sigh of relief. “The mayor finally answered. He’s planning a town meeting for tomorrow night.”
“That’s good news.”
It certainly was, but Burgundy still ha
d work to do. She sent the mayor a quick email acknowledging his response and then opened a fresh tab to start her research.
“So Arthur says he doesn’t know the people in that photograph,” Burgundy remarked while typing in her search terms. “Doesn’t that seem strange to you? He’s been my aunt’s familiar for a long time.”
“Very strange,” Jenna agreed. “Then again, nothing about you or the company you keep is normal. I mean that with love.”
Burgundy doubted Jenna meant it nicely, so she turned away and clicked to open another tab for the newspaper archives. “Listen, we’ve got this figured out, so let’s do it as planned. It might arm us with more knowledge for tomorrow night’s town meeting.”
“Right. Divide and conquer.” She could hear Jenna already clicking away at the other computer.
It shouldn’t be difficult to come by the information they sought. After all, information was the name of the game for both of them when it came to their jobs. The difference was how they used it. Burgundy gave it to patrons by request. Jenna used it to inform the public of what was happening in the world.
Together, they could do this.
“Okay, so here’s what I have on the Witches Council.” Burgundy turned the monitor toward Jenna. “There’s only a handful of articles, but they pretty much confirm everything Arthur said. They’re fairly closed off to the rest of the world. There isn’t anything about them available online, but these news articles show they’ve stepped in when either witches or warlocks have created a scandal of some sort.”
Jenna pursed her lips and Burgundy tore her eyes away, trying to forget what it was like to kiss that mouth. They were just friends, now. She reminded herself that romantic feelings were going to linger, since Jenna had only dumped her the week before. Feelings that would fade in time.
“Hm, yeah, I see. I don’t think this qualifies as a scandal and they won’t care about some warlock running amok in rural America, unless we can prove it impacts them directly.” As she considered the situation, a bitter laugh escaped Burgundy. “Some good this is doing. The guy can get in and out of places without being caught, make people fall in love, and get away with it. It’s so frustrating.”
“I know. I know.” Jenna’s fingers were typing away at her keyboard and then paused. “What I’ve found on warlocks isn’t promising, either. Like, there are several incidents blamed on them in supernatural and mundane communities around the world, but no actual proof.”
“How medieval.” All their research served to do was frustrate Burgundy further. She rested her head against her hands and closed her eyes. “Everything about this is bad, bad, bad, and we can’t fix it. Someone is going to die and we won’t be able to prevent it from happening.”
“But maybe...” Those cool fingers of Jenna’s curled around her wrist, drawing her closer. For someone who was broken up with her, Burgundy realized Jenna seemed to like touching her. A lot. “Look at this,” the succubus breathed.
Burgundy leaned in to look. “A break-in at the Witches Council twenty-three years ago? How is that related?”
“Arthur said they control certain substances, right? Well, that includes ancient and powerful artifacts.” Jenna gave her a more urgent tug. “Look at what they say was stolen.”
Eyes narrowed, Burgundy scanned the article. “Pipes?”
“Right, and not just any pipes. Musical ones.”
“No way.” Burgundy shook her head and straightened in her chair. Even as she denied it, though, a curl of fear filled her stomach. “It’s only a story. What happened to us was magick, pure and simple. No object can make an entire group of people change their behavior.”
Jenna’s hold on her wrist tightened. “But can you tell me of some kind of magick spell that can?”
“With a large group of people all at the same time? No.”
“So what if an artifact of some sort can?” Jenna whispered. “Think about it – the Witches Council is so secretive, I only found these few mentions of them in newspapers. Why the secrets? What do they know that we don’t know about magick and magickal objects?”
They were valid questions and Burgundy mulled them over, while Jenna scrolled through the hits she’d gotten. Even her own aunt didn’t say much about the Council, other than that they existed to regulate the use of witchcraft and ensure every witch stayed true to their path.
“I think the reason the pipes stolen from the Council were never connected to the Rock Grove incident is because they wanted it covered up,” Jenna continued. “They don’t want to look vulnerable or let people know what treasures they hold.”
“But only the supernatural community knows about the Witches Council and, besides, who would want those treasures?” Burgundy asked.
“The only people who can use them.” Jenna stared at her hard and Burgundy sucked in a breath.
“Warlocks.”
Jenna closed the browser and turned to Burgundy. “Think, Burg. Think about everything your aunt has taught you. You know more than me. What else do you know about warlocks that we haven’t discussed?”
Her training had gone on for as long as she could remember, so Burgundy tried to recall every mention of warlocks. “We didn’t talk about them much,” she said. “When I asked, Aunt Iris kind of shied away from the topic. But from what I’ve read, they’re good at casting spells on the fly.”
“On the fly.” Jenna lifted an eyebrow and scrutinized her. “Meaning...?”
“Well, witches like my Aunt Iris can do small spells, like make a broom sweep a floor or the dishes wash themselves, you know? You’ve seen me stir my coffee with just a thought. But for bigger, stronger spells with more far-reaching effects, they need things like rituals or potions, or a lot of preparation. I mean, days of work can go into one prosperity spell sometimes.” Burgundy paused as she thought about the times she’d participated in rituals with Iris. “We’re careful about things like lunar alignment and phase. We don’t need the perfect moon phase, per se, but it does make our magick more powerful. Warlocks can do major workings at any time. The magick is similar, but what we draw on to use it is different, I think.”
Jenna nodded, appearing to understand. “What would you consider a major working that’s kind of basic, but someone like Iris might need more prep to do?”
“Well, like a spell to detect magick. That normally takes time and concentration. I can do it pretty easily, almost naturally, but I think that’s because I’ve practiced that one spell so much through the years. Iris needs a place where she won’t be disturbed and it takes her at least five minutes to cast the spell.”
“That’s interesting.”
Shrugging, Burgundy said, “I guess. But the artifacts, well, those are definitely integral to what warlocks do. They look for powerful objects to work through or with – I’m not exactly sure which or what the difference is. I just know that’s part of how they cast spells and enchant others.”
“So, following that logic, what if this bow and arrow your warlock has aren’t something you can go buy at your local Wal-Mart, you know?” Jenna laced her fingers together and leaned forward, her eyes glittering with excitement. “What if he’s got some artifact, another one stolen from the Witches Council?”
“Or,” Burgundy said, catching on to her idea, “worse yet, something they didn’t know existed, that he somehow managed to discover on his own?”
It made the most sense and they both flushed with excitement at the conclusion. Burgundy almost wanted to lean forward and kiss Jenna, but she didn’t. Instead, she pulled back and turned to her computer. “So how do we find out if the Council had a break-in or something went missing recently?”
From the corner of her eye, Burgundy saw Jenna nibble at her lower lip. “Let me see if I can get in touch with some of my contacts this week and I’ll get back to you.”
“That sounds good.” Her heart skipped a beat and Burgundy tried to focus on the matter at hand, not on Jenna’s traitorous, but still-kissable lips. She reminded herself
Charlotte was afflicted with the lovesickness. Dear, loyal Charlotte, who had waited for her to come back around and get their friendship back to normal. “And that still leaves the question, why do this to Rock Grove? Is it just us or has this happened elsewhere?”
“I feel like I would have heard if this happened anywhere else, but let me check into that, too.” Jenna’s lips quirked to one side. “And you said this warlock of yours has talked to you, right?”
“Yeah, twice now.”
“Why?”
That was a question Burgundy hadn’t asked herself, let alone considered. “I don’t know if I’m the only person he talked to, although I haven’t heard anyone say they’ve talked to him. But remember there’s something like six thousand people in town. Maybe plenty of people have seen him, but didn’t think it was important enough to comment on it to someone else.”
“Yeah, but he specifically told you he’s a warlock. Why would he out himself to you like that?”
“Well, I’d probably be able to figure out he was a warlock on my own, because I can tell if someone is a witch. He might have said something to me, because he knows I’d know.” Burgundy put her hands to her head and scrunched her face in frustration. “This is getting convoluted.”
Jenna let out a thin laugh. “Even more so, now that you recognize him from the photo on your aunt’s mantle. He must have talked to you for a reason. Your aunt says he’s family, so he must also be related to you.”
Genealogy was not Burgundy’s strong suit and she tried to work out relationships in her mind. “Right. I mean, he could be. But he could also be her cousin, but not mine, I think. You remember what Arthur said – warlocks aren’t welcome in our house. I guess that attitude is contagious, because that one time I asked her about the photo, she answered in that ‘You do not talk about Fight Club’ way, you know?”
