Spellbound Murder Complete Trilogy (Spellbound Murder Box Set Book 1)

by Amanda Booloodian

  "Should I tell Della about Barney?" Mira asked the detectives.

  Gabriel and Ian glanced at each other before Ian spoke. "If supernaturals weren't involved, I'd say yes. But now?”

  "I think you're right," Gabriel said. "Not yet. We don't know who is involved."

  Are they stuck there? Della asked. I picked the worst day to be at the office.

  Mira smiled and texted back, lol I don’t know if they will leave or not.

  They can stay at the house if they need to. Just tell them my room is off limits. Who knows what I’ve left out in there ;) I need someone to check on it anyway. I think the heat is off and everything will freeze.

  I’ll let them know and text later, Mira replied.

  "What are we going to do with Barney?" Mira asked, slipping her cell phone back in her pocket. "I mean, he can't go home. He could hang out here, of course, but would John expect that?"

  "He definitely can't go home yet," Ian said. "I picked up a few changes of clothes for him and a few of his notebooks."

  "I don't think here is a good idea, either," Gabriel said. "He could come home with me, I guess."

  "Does he need to stay in one of the circle things that Mira makes?" Ian asked. "It doesn't exactly seem portable."

  "I think I can make him something," Mira said, "but it would only be temporary."

  "How long would it take?" Gabriel asked.

  "Maybe a few hours," Mira said. "Although, I haven't checked downstairs yet. It may take a while to find everything. It may not matter much. I'm not sure anyone is going far tonight."

  They looked at her quizzically.

  "Della's stuck in town," Mira said. "The roads are getting bad."

  Frowning, Gabriel got up and went to the window. "Christ, it's a blizzard."

  Mira grinned and noticed Ian do the same as he joined his partner.

  "I'll call in," Ian said.

  Mira joined Gabriel while Ian called. "Della said you all can stay at her house tonight." The cars were completely covered. "How much do you think is out there?"

  "Well over a foot already," Gabriel said.

  Mira became very conscious of how close she and Gabriel stood. His arm brushed against hers and her heart beat faster. More importantly, she found that she didn't want to move away.

  Chapter 17

  "The office said to stay put," Ian said. "They're going to call us if anything comes up in the neighborhood."

  Mira cleared her throat, but didn't move away. "You all are of course, welcome to stay here, but you'd probably be more comfortable at the house."

  Gabriel didn't move, either, which was promising. Then she realized, if he stayed, he'd be here when Emmit came over in the morning.

  How could she forget about Emmit?

  She stepped away, breaking contact. "I need to go over there anyway. The heat's off, and in a house like that, the pipes could freeze fast."

  Feeling more than a little confused about which direction her heart wanted to go, Mira woke Barney.

  Barney was a problem. He didn't want to step outside the circle, and it felt cruel to make him.

  "I promise I'll build a new one when we go to Della's," Mira said.

  "No," Barney said.

  "You can't sleep on the floor," Mira said. "Although, I guess I could pull the couch away from the wall."

  "I think he'll be safer at the house," Gabriel said.

  "I agree," Ian said. "Maybe Mira should stay over there as well."

  "Mira will be okay," Gabriel said.

  "I don't see how," Ian said. "She wasn't earlier."

  "Which won't happen again," Gabriel said, his jaw set in a hard line.

  "But—"

  "I'll explain later," Gabriel said, cutting Ian off.

  Ian changed tactics. "If we can't get Barney over there, we'll stay here."

  "What about your string?" Gabriel asked.

  Mira looked at him, puzzled. "What string?"

  "The one you used last week. I think you kept it around your waist during a spell or something."

  "Oh," Mira said, "I burned that." Along with everything else that touched the Ether. But she kept the latter part to herself.

  "Would something similar work?" Gabriel asked.

  Mira watched Barney and thought it over. "It might. It would be really temporary, but it might do the trick." She opened a cabinet and selected strands of pure, un-dyed, cotton, and considered the wool string as well. In the end, she decided both would work best.

  The two materials, one having once been part of a living animal that listened to the world around it, and one from a plant, which could remember a time when it felt the vibrations of the world, would work to protect against a psychic attack.

  If it were a circle, it could be made of almost anything. In this case, though, it would wind around Barney.

  When she had the strings twisted together, she created a new circle on the floor, and then powered it; doing everything she could to lock the spell in the string instead of the circle itself. With that managed, she picked up one end of the string, handed it to Barney, and had him turn in three circles, winding the protection around his chest.

  "Go ahead and test it," Mira said.

  Barney was more than hesitant. Holding the end of the string like a lifeline, he stepped out of the circle. It took a few moments for him to be convinced that it was actually working, but when it sank in, he smiled.

  "This will only work for a few hours at most," Mira said. "I'll set something up for you at the house."

  Once Barney was settled, she bundled up for the great outdoors.

  When she was ready, she saw that Gabriel and Ian were both weighed down with case files. She gave them bags so there was at least a chance the documents would stay dry.

  When Mira opened the door, snow swirled into the apartment. Seeing the wall of white waist high that had drifted along the side of her apartment, she closed the door again.

  "Let's go out through the garage," she suggested.

  Mira ushered them downstairs.

  "This room didn't take a lot of damage," Gabriel commented.

  Mira, last in line, felt relieved when she was able to get a closer look.

  Once in her workshop, she thought about what Ian had said—about her not being safe. It was relatively true. She had used two of her largest spells earlier in the day and hadn't had the time to replace them.

  "Wait a sec," Mira said. "I want to grab something." She crossed the room, walking around the spot her circle sat, and picked through a few partially prepared items. They still needed some work, but it wouldn't take her long to get them started.

  The hairs on the back of Mira's neck rose. She rubbed the spot and turned. Barney's eyes began to glaze over.

  "Mira, does that thing you wrapped around him stop the Ether?" Gabriel asked while edging toward her, keeping his eyes on Barney.

  Barney moved towards the center of the room. As he drew closer to Mira, she began to feel the Ether pressing into the room.

  "No," Mira said. "A spell like that takes a lot more work. That's why he has the tea."

  "I get the feeling that I'm missing something," Ian said.

  Barney stopped in the middle of Mira's invisible circle. His eyes rolled back in his head.

  Mira shivered at the sight of Barney and the feel of the room.

  Gabriel reached Mira and pulled her farther away from Barney. "We need to get out of here."

  "It shouldn't last long," Mira said, "it rarely does."

  "This is different," Gabriel said.

  Mira was more than happy to get away, so she didn't argue. She began to take a wide path around Barney, and the closer she got, the more powerful the pull of the Ether felt.

  Gabriel grabbed her around the waist and swung her back into the corner, causing Mira to squeak in surprise. She was getting ready to tell him off when the room seemed to dim.

  Shadows grew longer.

  "Ian, go upstairs," Gabriel snapped. When his partner didn't
move, Gabriel yelled, "Now! Go!"

  Ian backed away toward the stairs. "What should I do?"

  Static seemed to crackle in the air.

  "Call Emmit," Gabriel said. "Tell him the Ether is trying to break through."

  Ian pulled out his cell phone and moved into the stairwell, but didn't go upstairs.

  Barney turned toward Gabriel and cocked his head as though listening to something on the other side.

  The room grew bright, and then dimmed again.

  The feeling of being watched began to build.

  "Barney," Gabriel called, "whatever you're doing, you have to stop."

  The seer grinned, showing more teeth than any normal smile should.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Mira thought she saw something scuttle across the floor.

  Why? Why here? Mira could almost understand the thinness at Barney's house. The Ether often made itself known there, almost as much as the real world, but Barney had never been here before.

  What could cause...

  It was the circle.

  "Barney!" Gabriel yelled, trying to summon up as much command as he could. "Stop this now!"

  For just a moment, Mira thought she saw the faintest glimmer of wings on Gabriel's back. Her hands felt the softness of feathers.

  Then it was gone.

  When Mira looked out from behind Gabriel, Barney sneered.

  Would trapping Barney in the circle help? It had stopped Emmit from breaking through when she worked the Balance spell. She had been closing off the Ether. Something was here trying to open the path.

  It could only be the center of the circle that was thin enough to breach. That was where the spell had taken place. That was where she had reached into Emmit and pulled a large part of him away from the other side.

  She didn't have Push, Wind, or anything else that could help. There wasn't any time to cast even if she had had them.

  Mira ducked out from behind Gabriel, dodged when he tried to grab her, and ran straight into Barney, knocking him out of the circle.

  The world around her dimmed. She saw another figure in the room, one with patches of fur scattered over its form. When Gabriel grabbed her, though, it disappeared.

  She stared at where the figure had been, vaguely aware that Gabriel was telling her off. It had been there. The Ether had been so close. Close enough to reach out.

  To reach out and take them? To kill, maybe?

  "Calm down," Ian said to Gabriel. "You're going to rupture something."

  "How can I be calm?" Gabriel snapped.

  "Whatever happened, it's over, right?" Ian asked.

  "Maybe," Gabriel said. "For now, anyway. Until Barney decides to invite those monsters over for a chat again?"

  Mira had been so focused on the creature that she had forgotten about Barney. She knelt down next to him where he had fallen to the ground.

  "He was creating a monster?" Ian asked, sounding thoroughly confused.

  "No, just bringing one here," Gabriel said. "Or taking us to them."

  "If he did it once," Ian said, "can he do it again?"

  "I don't think so," Mira said, brushing the hair out of Barney's face. "He's unconscious."

  Gabriel crouched down and checked for a pulse.

  "I'm pretty sure he's breathing," Mira said.

  "I'm not certain that's a prerequisite for life anymore," Gabriel muttered.

  "Let's get him over to the house," Ian said. "This place is giving me the creeps."

  Sadly, Mira was thinking the same thing. She wasn't sure if she'd ever feel the same about her workshop again.

  "I'll carry him," Gabriel said. "Get the rest of the stuff."

  Mira grabbed everything Barney had dropped and led the way out of the workshop and into the garage. As soon as she stepped outside, she began to feel a little better. The atmosphere itself was stronger, not thinly stretched.

  The snow was an issue, though. The howling wind brought frigid air that worked the flakes into a frenzy.

  Being shorter than the others, Mira fell behind, letting Gabriel and Ian take the lead. She hadn't bargained for snow up to her knees and ice in her socks. She tried to catch up, since she was the one with the keys, but ended up face down in the snow for her trouble.

  Never in her life had Mira expected to take so long to walk a hundred feet. Shivering from head to toe, she thrust the key into the back door and pushed it open, waving Gabriel and Ian inside.

  "Crap," Ian said. "I didn't think about tracking all the snow into Della's house."

  "It's okay," Mira said, brushing the snow off her coat and pants. "That's essentially what this room is for. Well, it used to be, anyway, and we're not going to hurt the kitchen floors. Gabriel, in the kitchen there's a large bench. You can set Barney down there for a few minutes and kick off your shoes."

  Mira and Ian followed, and Mira went straight for the thermostat for that part of the house and boosted both zones. Then she kicked off her shoes. "I'll be right back." She dashed through the house, and with each turn of the dial, put a huge load into Della's heating bill.

  When Mira dashed back to the kitchen, the men were in their socks. "Come through here," Mira said. "We'll put Barney down in the den."

  "Does Della live in this house alone?" Ian asked as they wound through two rooms and into a third. He seemed afraid to raise his voice above a whisper.

  "Most of the time," Mira said.

  "Um... ah..." Ian stammered, looking around.

  "Weren't you here the other day?" Mira asked.

  "Not inside, no," Ian said.

  "It's a family house.”

  "What does she do with all the space?"

  Mira shrugged. "She entertains people several times a year for work, or charity, sometimes for the supernaturals as well."

  "And the rest of the time?" Ian asked.

  "Help me with this," Mira said.

  Ian set down his pile of papers and helped her scoot a couch away from the wall.

  "Most of the time, Della sticks to a few rooms and closes the others off," Mira said. "Let's put Barney here. I'll show you all where everything is and then I'll set up a circle."

  After checking on Barney one more time, Mira gave a truncated version of the grand tour, noting earthquake damage in nearly every room. Upstairs, she turned on the heat for that level.

  "There are a few bedrooms up here. These two are ready for guests," she said, opening two doors for them, one down the hall from the other. "Della's room is at the end of the hall. I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to go in there." She let her gaze flicker to Ian. "Remember, she's a sorceress, so you never know what you might set off."

  "Bathrooms?" Gabriel asked.

  "These rooms have a Jack-and-Jill. A shared bathroom," Mira added in case they were unfamiliar with the term, "but there's another across the hall, and I'll show you the one downstairs. Make yourselves at home. I'm going to create that circle for Barney."

  As the tour progressed, Mira had grown more and more anxious about Barney being left alone. Who knew what John could put into his head now that Barney wasn't conscious?

  Barney hadn't moved. Mira wasn't sure if that should be taken as good news or bad. She had to put it out of her mind. While she worked, she heard Ian and Gabriel's low voices as they talked on their way downstairs. They didn't say anything when they entered the room, but she could tell they were watching her.

  It took a while to set the circle. Mira wasn't able to block the Ether, but she took extra steps to stop anything else that may go in and out of the circle.

  "Barney is not going to be able to leave this one," Mira said when she was finished, still sitting on the floor. The long day and repeated magic use had left her feeling drained.

  "Is that going to stop him from doing... whatever it was he did at your place?" Ian asked while Mira walked her circle around the couch.

  "It should," Mira lied.

  Gabriel raised an eyebrow at her.

  Mira frowned and forced herself to her
feet, not happy having to admit the truth. "What I mean is that what he did was tied to that location. I don't think that could have happened just anywhere."

  "You mean it was tied to your apartment? Was it the magic?" Ian asked.

  "Not exactly," Mira said. "It had more to do with the circle. That specific one, I mean."

  "That happened because of him," Gabriel said.

  "I don't think Barney—"

  "Not Barney," Gabriel said, cutting her off, "Emmit. The spell you performed for him."

  The accusation was clear in his voice, and Mira felt her embarrassment rise with her blood pressure. "Which you should know nothing about."

  "When it nearly causes us to be dragged into another plane of existence, it damn well matters. I'm not going to turn a blind eye on it," Gabriel seethed.

  Mira gritted her teeth. "When it's something you forced me to tell you, something you said you didn't understand, then you should mind your own business."

  "He's tied to all of this!"

  "So are you. That doesn't mean anything."

  "Let's take a break," Ian said, keeping his voice smooth. "I'm still in the dark here, but something has obviously happened. We should step back and get a fresh perspective."

  "I don't trust Emmit," Gabriel said, leaving the bite out of his voice.

  "Maybe you should fill me in before he gets here," Ian said.

  Gabriel looked at him, blank faced.

  "You told me to call him," Ian said defensively. "He said he was on his way. To Mira’s, I mean."

  "Call him back," Gabriel said. "Tell him not to come."

  "No," Mira said, "I think we need him on this."

  Gabriel's eyes hardened. "Why am I not surprised?"

  Mira tried to let Gabriel's remark roll aside, but it stung.

  "It's not like he'll be able to make it through this snow," Gabriel said, shifting his tone.

  "I don't think he cared much about the weather," Ian said.

  “Yeah," Gabriel sighed, "he probably doesn't."

  "I'll go home and wait for him there," Mira said. She couldn't bring herself to look at Gabriel as she moved swiftly by him.

  She could hear the two talking in whispers as she yanked on her boots. She grabbed her coat and went to the back entrance, pulling the damp coat on as she went.

  Going straight outside wasn't an option or she would have been out the door in a shot. Getting out of the house quickly wasn't worth frostbite, so she made sure she was tightly bundled up, with as little skin as possible showing. It was dark out the back window, but what little she could see showed the fierce weather was still raging. She had no idea if there was fresh snow falling, or if it was all old snow blowing around. Either way, it looked like the blizzard was set firmly in place.