“I don’t know. I would trust her, but I’m not sure I want to risk your life on that assumption.”
He nodded. “I agree. And frankly, so did she. I was already concerned, looking at her sideways, when she came to me to suggest that she was ready for whatever testing I had planned. She knew it would be okay and everything would work out. Which is good, I’ve known two-hundred-year-old male mages that would flatly refuse the test, let alone a young woman.”
“And you assume a man would be more brave than a woman?”
“I must apologize. I grew up in a time and place where it wasn’t an assumption but rather an established fact that men were braver, stronger, and smarter than any woman. Obviously, I no longer believe that.” He squeezed my hand.
I smiled back and returned the squeeze, understanding that part of his statement was a compliment to me. “What test was it that Emily underwent?”
He avoided my eyes, picking at his food instead. “First, you have to know that I trusted this individual explicitly. I wouldn’t have asked another to do it. And secondly, it was the safest way for Emily. If she wasn’t hiding anything then a powerful spell could hurt her, but any gentler spells could have been ineffective because of countermeasures. Really it was the best way.”
“What was?”
The waitress bustled in, presenting a beef wellington. The waitress skillfully cut through the flakey pastry and presented a perfectly cooked beef inside before putting half on each plate. I made all the appropriate noises of appreciation though I really wanted her to hurry off so I could find out more about the test that Emily had endured.
A paw patted at my knee, soft as velvet, but I knew if I didn’t pass Patagonia some food quickly she would escalate to claws and teeth. I cut off a corner of the steak and passed it to her under the table. Whiskers brushed my fingers, and fangs grazed me as she took it. The waitress left the room, leaving us to continue our conversation.
“Your familiar eats before you?”
“I know what’s good for me, but don’t avoid the subject. Tell me about Emily.”
He blew out a sigh. “How much do you know about incubi and succubi?”
My eyes flew open a bit in surprise. “Assume I know nothing.”
“They are the same creature, but an incubus is male and succubus is female. Under their kiss, you cannot lie. While enthralled, there is no magic or spell that can counteract that, and once it is broken, there are no lasting effects. Other than a puppy crush, but who could blame them?” He chuckled.
I shifted in my seat, unwilling to laugh just yet. “How did you know it would be safe?”
It was his turn to look uncomfortable. We both were holding back secrets, and while I usually let him hold secrets, this time I pushed a little. I had arranged for Emily to work for him, and I felt responsible for her safety. Plus, she was a friend, and that alone would have been more than reason enough.
“The succubus was someone that I trust with my life, and she trusts me. I would not have even considered it otherwise. And remember that Emily already knew it would be okay.”
“But she probably wouldn’t have relented without her vision, so it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing, isn’t it? Everything I’ve heard is that succubi and incubi should not and cannot be trusted. And to fall in love with one would mean your death. What if something had gone wrong while Emily was enthralled?” I shuddered at the thought of my sexual desire not being in my control. To be forced to feel for someone against my will. I had enough dating troubles without adding that to the mix. I pulled back my hand. “It was too big a risk.”
He looked wounded. “Someone is trying to kill me and through extension Emily. She is safe. Do you think my life is worth so little that you will hold a grudge because I didn’t do things your way?”
It was the closest thing that we had had to an argument, and I found I didn’t want to make eye contact but forced myself to all the same. When we locked eyes, one hard stare to another, it was like a jolt of electricity through my blood. I didn’t jump, but my heart pounded. Patagonia let out a low growl from under the table.
I wanted to apologize and say that of course he should do whatever was necessary to protect himself, but I wouldn’t and couldn’t just ignore the danger that Emily had been in. Instead, I shifted directions in order to drop the topic all together.
“If it wasn’t Emily, then who?”
He accepted my offer of truce and looked away to focus on his meal. The tension dropped in the room, and the silence as he thought slipped back into comfortable.
“I don’t know. I’m hoping to find out more. Tonight, in fact.” He checked his watch, a thin classic men’s watch unlike the bulky watches most men wore. It was something from a different time, an older time. “I’m sorry, but I must leave soon to have a meeting. I’m hoping to figure out something while we are here and at the least set up some protections moving forward. We have a flight out Monday. Emily booked them the night before we found out that our contact had been killed.”
I was silent, unsure of what to say. I was still ticked at him, but even more so, I was sad that he was leaving already. But didn’t I want him to keep his distance? To say that I was confused was an understatement, and I left it at nodding along. “I hope you figure out who is trying to hurt you.” I wasn’t sure what we were to each other, but I certainly didn’t want to lose him that way.
“If I needed you, would you help?”
My eyebrows flew up. I didn’t think he knew about my investigations or my abilities. “How?”
“I don’t know yet, but would you?”
“Of course.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little charm and brought it to my bracelet, where it jumped and connected to a link. I pulled my wrist closer to inspect it. It was a crystal that sparkled enough like a diamond that I wondered how valuable it was. The gem was faceted into a heart, the flat surfaces catching the low light in the room. “It’s gorgeous.”
“It is one of a kind. It represents my heart that is all yours. I know you will take care of it. I know you are not ready to give me yours, but when you are, I will be here.”
It took everything in me not to leap across the table and throw myself at him. Instead, I smiled at him and lost myself in his eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Wednesday morning I padded quietly to the coffee maker, careful not to wake up Vanessa, who was snoring on my couch. We hadn’t returned from the bachelorette party until three a.m. I had been stone cold sober. After my dinner with Thomas, I had too much to think about to do any drinking, but Vanessa, as always, figured if one drink was good then half a dozen would be a better way to start the evening. If it wasn’t for her mage metabolism, she would definitely have ended up with alcohol poisoning. If nothing else, she had snored like a train all night and was going to have a rough morning.
I played with my charm bracelet while thick black coffee poured into the carafe. Maybe it was psychosomatic, but I felt more awake just smelling the rich dark brew. I poured myself a cup and poured quite a bit of sugar and cream into it. I wanted as decadent a drink as I could. I took a quick sip and shivered as the fat, sugar, and caffeine hit me.
Patagonia jumped onto the counter and meowed loudly for her share. I held out the mug to her, and she delicately lapped up some. I had no idea why she decided she needed some of my coffee, but who was I to argue with a cat? Once she was satisfied, she sauntered off, leaving me with my thoughts as I pulled food out of the refrigerator.
Bear and Colleen were coming over. I would give them an update on the investigation at the strip mall, and I could tell Bear all about the progress Dr. Trout was making with Legacy. While I had no hard answers, we had discovered a lot in twenty-four hours. Surely that would impress Colleen enough for her to shake her chilly persona and embrace me as the protégé of her dreams?
I chuckled to myself at the image and grabbed a doughnut from the top of the stack and microwaved it for just a few seconds.
The glaze was slick from the heat as I bit into it, moaning loud enough to disturb Vanessa on the couch.
She grunted and thrashed but didn’t seem to wake up, so I returned to my doughnut. Mages were suckers for sugar, and Rambler seemed to have almost as many bakeries as bars, which was impressive. I had never had so many tasty confections in my life as I did in an average week since I started working magic. The recovery from the paranormal burden of spell casting required sleep, protein, but more than anything, a mage needed sugar.
Despite all the confections I had eaten, sometimes I wanted a plain glazed doughnut. It was as soft and light as a cloud, and I licked my lips to get every last bit of glaze. The bracelet at my wrist jingled like little bells, and overall, I felt at peace for the moment. I didn’t want to think about my situation with Thomas too much. We had a truce, and I didn’t need to think about it more than that.
Though worry gnawed at me at the idea that someone might be trying to kill him. I wanted to dismiss it as nothing involving Thomas or Emily, just a weird coincidence, but it seemed unlikely.
I dashed off a text to Thomas, thanking him for the dinner and reminding him to be careful. Before I put down my phone, I checked my email, planning to delete the dozen advertisements that landed in my inbox every morning, but this time there was an email of interest.
I barely scanned it before I raced over to the couch to share it with Vanessa. She was sprawled out, sweat shining on her face. One leg and arm dangled off the couch, and her blankets were in a pile on the floor. Her pj’s were pulled up to expose her belly, and she thrashed her head back and forth with labored breaths, her skin red. She looked like she was about to die of a heat stroke, and the reason was apparent to me.
Patagonia was sprawled across Vanessa’s neck, like a personal scarf. The corners of her mouth pulled up in a smile when she caught sight of me, her purring so loud it sounded like a jackhammer. She jumped down before I could swat her off. Vanessa sat up with a gasp and ran a forearm across her red forehead.
“I was having the worst dream. I was being lowered into a volcano, and it was so hot. Do you have anything cold to drink?”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the countertop and tossed it to her, though I misjudged the distance, and it slammed into her chest when her hands closed too slowly.
“Sorry. I guess you are not your most athletic right when you wake up.”
She grunted and sucked down the bottle in one long gulp.
“Listen to this. I got an email from Sapphire.”
Sapphire was a singer I had met at the cauldron festival who claimed that she knew me and my mother when I was younger. She said we lived with her until one day we disappeared. This brought up many issues such as the fact that I had no memories from the time before my dad had picked me up after my mother disappeared. I didn’t even remember my mother. And I didn’t have any emotions about the missing memories, which was probably the most curious. Obviously something was wrong, but none of us had a clue how to identify it, let alone fix it.
I hadn’t told Sapphire any of this. Instead I had told her I was a Monza, and since they were known to cut their family ties, I had allowed Sapphire to assume that I was just choosing not to discuss my past. But we had exchanged contact information. If I could find out more about her and her early childhood, I would hopefully be able to use that information to investigate my own early life.
I followed her, reading as she got up to grab some food in the kitchen. “‘Hey, Vanessa! Sorry I didn’t write sooner, but I dropped my phone in the Czech and didn’t get a replacement for a while, then when I did, I had like ninety bajillion emails, and I had all this press to do, plus, we spent a wild month partying, but whatever. I swear I didn’t forget you.’” She certainly loved a run-on sentence.
Vanessa stuffed an entire doughnut in her mouth, smearing pink frosting all around her lips like she was an insane clown, then she poured herself a cup of coffee. “Did you put all this out for me?” She gestured to the plates of food on the counter with her cup, sloshing coffee onto the floor.
I grabbed a towel to mop it up. “Bear and Colleen are coming over any minute. You can go get ready, but let me finish reading you this. ‘But I didn’t forget you, and I’m so excited to catch up when I’m back in town. I talked to Mom and explained that you can’t talk about stuff because you’re a Monza and all, but don’t be surprised if she grills you anyway. I attached her contact info and her address. She’s still at the old house, but I wasn’t sure if you would remember the address or not. She’s out of the country until after the New Year, but you should talk to her when she gets back. Lots of love, Sapphire.’ Isn’t that great?”
Vanessa had finished her coffee, or rather her sugar-cream mixture with a hint of caffeine, and was pouring herself a second. “I don’t get it. Why are you so wound up?”
“’Cause now I have an address! With a place to narrow my search, I can do research and maybe come across some information about my childhood, about me, about my mom. It looks like I grew up in Arizona. Huh, that might be familiar. I just… don’t know.” Whenever I reached for a memory, there was nothing there, like trying to remember the ending to a movie when I fell asleep five minutes after it started.
The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it while Vanessa scampered off with a pile of clothing. By the time I had escorted Bear and Colleen into the kitchen, I heard the pipes rattle briefly, which meant that Vanessa was hopping into the shower.
I fretted and fidgeted as they picked out food and poured coffee. I wanted everything to be perfect, sure that this time I could impress Colleen. Every time she turned around, I was right there with a saucer or napkin or inane suggestion. I could tell that I was going overboard, but I couldn’t stop myself. It was like a compulsion, and I felt relieved when we finally sat on my couch and chairs and I could focus on eating and drinking. I bit into the éclair, and the custard squirted all over my lap. I really needed to stop buying éclairs.
Colleen bit into her doughnut and made a happy little noise. After chewing thoroughly and dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin, she commented, “A good old-fashioned doughnut sure hits the spot. Tell me about your investigation so far.”
I ran through each step we had taken so far, lots of little details but no big reveals. The injured seer at the martial arts studio, the various stores with their own unique items that only they sold, the fact that so far there didn’t seem to be any connections between the various suppliers or buyers other than each store had several months of back supplies when whatever market had existed dried up. I tried to hit every single point that could be relevant without babbling.
She was very focused on what I was saying, actively listening. Occasionally she asked for clarification, but mostly she listened while she drank her coffee and finished her doughnut.
I resisted the urge to preen from her attention. It was ridiculous how much I already looked up to her and wanted her approval. It felt just right, talking with her. It was almost like a schoolgirl crush mixed with idol worship. Probably not healthy for me to fall under her spell so easily, but it didn’t feel wrong. I had often trusted my gut even long before I discovered how magic made my gut far more effective than I had ever guessed.
Everything in me knew that I was supposed to train under Colleen, that I was meant to be a Monza. After almost a year of worry and wonder, I was shocked by the certainty of my feelings. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I stopped midsentence.
Colleen and Bear exchanged a look before Colleen delicately quirked one eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thought that had grabbed hold of me so suddenly and switch gears to something related to the investigation. “I just thought of something… though I don’t think it’s related.” I was winging it on the spot. “Patagonia ruined one of the rent checks for a tenant in the building behind the strip mall, so I got a new copy. The daughter said that Ned Carlson, the dead man, was a bad man. The mother tried
to dismiss it as a kid being a kid.”
Colleen nodded. “It’s good to pay attention to that kind of thing. It might mean something. Is that all you learned?”
My cheeks heated a little, and I became defensive. “We wanted to go back today, and we did as much as we could before Dr. Trout called—” I cut myself off when she lifted a hand.
“I just wanted to know if there were any additional facts before I asked a follow-up question.” She tipped her head to the side slightly as she picked her words carefully. “Do you think his death was accidental or a murder?”
I had really wanted it to be accidental. I had pushed the idea pretty hard to Bear. If it was accidental, then I could stop investigating and focus instead on Colleen and showing her that I was a worthy protégé, but more important than my Monza aspirations was justice. Was it a murder? I had to go with my gut, and without any doubt, I knew it was no accident. “I don’t want it to be a murder, but I think it is.”
“Why?” The question wasn’t accusing though the single word could be. She was encouraging me to talk it out, explain probably both parts of my statement.
“It’s a busy week. I would prefer to wrap things up and focus elsewhere. And the death vision I saw didn’t seem to show anything that would lead me to believe it was murder. Most times I can sense the building of magic or see a violent death but not this time. It was almost peaceful, like a heart attack, which could easily occur with the wrong mix of magic and a bad heart. He could have done it himself, depending on what off-market potions he was buying or mixing up.”
I sighed. “But my gut is saying there is more to it. All these weird items for sale. The seer saying weird stuff even if she didn’t give us details. The kid saying he was a bad man and the mom trying to hide it. It just feels like a murder, and until I can prove otherwise, I need to keep going.”
Vanessa slid back onto the couch with wet hair and a doughnut with nuts sprinkled across the top in her hand. She nodded with my last statement as she broke off a corner to feed to Patagonia.
Nice Day for a Mage Wedding: Casino Witch Mysteries 4 Page 11
