“So you don’t think I’m weird or ghoulish for feeling better today?”
“No, of course not, Brody. I mean, unless you used magic to make yourself feel better?”
“I haven’t,” Brody said and set a plate of bacon down on the table. “I mean. I don’t even know how.”
“I suppose we can try and fix that today,” I said. “Maybe Meri can teach you some magic.”
“If it’s all right, I think I’d like to spend some time up in the library. I’d prefer to do the research before I begin the lab portion of the class,” Brody said with a chuckle. “But you did say there was a spell you could use so that I could read the witch language?”
“There is,” I said. “Lean over. It was whispered in my ear, and I believe that is the proper way to cast the spell.”
“And you don’t need to look it up or anything? You know the words?” Brody asked cautiously.
“I do,” I said. “Besides, it’s more of me channeling the knowledge of our ancestors than it is me memorizing the words.”
“Okay. If you’re sure,” Brody said and leaned over.
I leaned close to his ear and began to whisper the words that Remy had said into my ear so that I could read the witch language. The memory was burned into my mind, and there was no way that I could ever say the wrong chant.
Except that I did. It turned out that the spell wasn’t just me channeling my ancestor’s knowledge, and I did have to have the actual words memorized. Some magic was open, expansive, and forgiving while other magic was tricky, fickle, and require a preciseness I hadn’t yet mastered.
“There you go,” I said with a smile. “How does that feel? Why don’t you go up and try to read one of the books?”
I would never forget the look on Brody’s face. His eyes went wide and he shook his head no.
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head no again, but when he finally spoke, it was the witch language.
“Brody, you can speak it too? That’s so cool, but what’s wrong?”
Again, he shook his head no and began speaking the witch language. But that time it was faster and more frenzied. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on. I’d done the spell wrong. He’d learned the witch language all right, but I’d somehow taken away his ability to speak and understand English.
“Stay here. I’m going to call Annika,” I said.
He shook his head no again and started to get up. I had to get him to stay calm and understand that I would get help.
Personally, I couldn’t speak the witch language beyond the spell I’d used. I could only read it, but I thought that perhaps if I could read it, I could write it.
I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the kitchen counter and tried my best to write out that I was calling for help. I slid the paper in front of him, and Brody nodded his head yes. He wrote something down too.
Thank you. Also, you suck at this. – was written in the witch language in return.
At least he was calmed down and his sense of humor was intact. I grabbed my phone and called Annika.
“What did you do?” Annika asked instead of saying hello.
“How did you know something was wrong?” I asked. “Oh, gawd, do I only call you when I need help?”
“It’s not that. I just got a feeling as soon as the phone rang,” she said. “So spill it, witch.”
“I tried to do the spell to make it so that Brody could read the witch language in my family’s books and now he can only understand the witch language. I must have said part of the spell wrong,” I said.
“Ya think?” Annika said with a chuckle. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Everybody, just stay calm.”
“Thank you, Annika,” I said.
“Next time make sure you’ve got your familiar prepared to protect you,” Meri said as he sauntered into the kitchen. “That would save you a lot of hassle. I’m really quite useful that way, you know?”
“Well, can you fix it?” I asked. “Then Annika wouldn’t have to come bail me out.”
“Alas, Brighton, I cannot. I can protect you from making the mistake, but this one I cannot undo.”
I fed Meri, and Brody and I finished our bacon and coffee while we waited for Annika. There was no sense in wasting good bacon or coffee. Especially since I didn’t eat meat often anymore.
As I was washing the coffee mugs, Grey’s banging stopped long enough for me to hear a car pull up in the driveway. Two car doors shut, and I wondered who Annika had brought with her.
When I opened the front door, I found Annika and Remy standing on my porch. “Remy is the expert when it comes to this type of magic. So I brought him,” Annika said.
“Come in,” I said and stepped back so that they could.
I noticed right away that Remy’s hair was still very dark, but it was a deep, rich brown instead of the ebony black it had been the last time I’d seen him. His eyes weren’t obsidian anymore either. It was good to see that he was making progress back to being the Remy I’d cared so much about.
“Let’s get a look at the patient,” Annika said cheerfully. “By the way, that eye candy in your driveway is making me consider moving in here. You’ve got room for me, right?”
“Annika,” Remy warned.
“What? He looks like a movie star. I can’t be held responsible for the way I feel,” she said with a chuckle.
“He does have an effect,” I said without making eye contact with Remy.
I still felt bad that things hadn’t worked out between Remy and me, but I hoped that we’d eventually be able to move past it. I didn’t know how, but I felt it had to be possible.
At some point, I’d stopped paying attention to Annika walking toward the kitchen. When I turned back to her to follow, I found her standing frozen in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Oh,” she said softly.
“Annika, are you all right?” I asked and joined her quickly.
She was just standing there staring at Brody. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong. He was just sitting there at the table.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said and shook her head. “Nothing at all.”
“Annika?”
“Really. It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting…”
“Expecting?” I asked.
“I think she likes him,” Remy teased as he came up behind us.
“Shut up, Remy,” Annika sniped. “I just wasn’t expecting him to look so much like her.”
“Sure,” Meri added.
“You shut up too, cat.” Annika glared at Meri, but she had this weird smile on her face. Dreamy in a way, and I had a bad feeling.
Brody then said something in the witch language that I didn’t understand, but I noticed that his eyes were glued to Annika the way hers were to his.
“Remy, can you fix him so we can understand what he’s saying? It’s much easier than writing it all out.”
“Yes,” Remy responded confidently. “Annika and I will do the spell, you cast the circle, and if Meri doesn’t mind working with two Skeenbauers again, I’d like to have him do the protection invocation.”
“I get extra salmon,” Meri said.
“Sure. Yes, Meri, if you help Remy and Annika, I’ll give you a whole fillet.”
“In,” Meri said.
He walked around the edges of the room doing what I assumed was some sort of protection spell. I cast a circle of salt around Annika, Remy, and I but I left a gap in it so Meri could join us. It wasn’t dark outside, but I lit three white candles I had stashed in a kitchen drawer just in case. I wasn’t taking any more chances with my little brother.
“All right, let’s do this.” Remy said.
Meri joined us in the circle, and I closed it with the rest of the salt. We invoked the goddess and pleaded for her wisdom and protection. That portion took longer than the actual spell to restore Brody.
“Oh, that’s much better,” Brody said when they were done. “And I
got a first-hand lesson in casting a circle and calling the goddess. Neat. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Annika practically purred.
“I need to get Annika back home. She’s not technically on lockdown anymore, but the aunties are keeping a close eye on her. I’m trying to stay in their good graces as well,” Remy said.
“Oh, really?” Brody asked. “So soon?”
“I could stay for a bit,” Annika offered. “Perhaps for a cup of coffee.”
“No, you can’t,” Remy said. “We can set something up soon, but right now you and I need to toe the line.”
“Fine,” Annika huffed. “It was nice to meet you, Brody.”
“It was nice to meet you too. Thank you both so much, and we’ll do like Remy said. We’ll plan a get-together soon?”
“Yes.” Annika answered.
“Brody, could you sweep up the salt while I walk my friends to the door?”
“Sure.”
Remy gave me a knowing nod, and he hooked his arm with Annika’s. “Let’s go, dear cousin. We don’t want to make grandmother mad.”
I walked them both out to Remy’s car, and then turned to Annika. “Annika, I love you, but you need to understand that Brody’s fiancée just died. Like, days ago. I wish that you would…”
“I didn’t mean any harm,” Annika cut me off. “He’s just… Brody is so…”
“Let’s let it rest for now,” Remy interjected. “The goddess wants what she wants, and the heart wants what it wants, but let’s dial it down a notch for now? Okay, Nika?”
I hadn’t heard him call her that before. It was a heartfelt term of endearment between two cousins who were more like brother and sister. She nodded her head.
“Thank you,” I said to Remy after Annika had gotten into the passenger seat. “And thank you for coming here to help me. I haven’t been the best friend to you lately.”
“That’s not true, Brighton. You’ve gone above and beyond for me. I have done a few things that approach unforgivable if they didn’t already cross that line, but I am doing my best to redeem myself,” he said and cast his eyes to his shoes the shy way that old Remy used to.
“I can tell,” I said and tugged at a lock of his chocolate brown hair. “You don’t look like you belong in a goth band anymore.”
“Yeah, it’s coming along,” he said with a smile. “And hey, you’ll be happy to learn that I found a zoo over in Missouri to take those critters I rescued from Janet’s house. The zoo’s education department is going to give them a good home.”
“That’s great,” I said. “You aren’t sad about having to let them go, are you?”
“No. I believe all of nature’s creations deserve respect, but I prefer my pets a little cuddlier, all things being equal.”
“I can understand that,” I said. “When you talked about us all getting together soon, did you mean it? Because I was thinking we could do something tomorrow night. The weather’s nice. I could have people over for a barbeque? You think Amelda would let Annika off the leash long enough for that?”
“I’ll make it happen. Will you be inviting Thorn?” Remy asked, and again his eyes were cast down at his feet. I felt that familiar stab at my heart.
“I will, but please say you’ll still come, Remy.”
“We’ll find a way to make it all work out, Brighton. I won’t abandon you,” he said softly.
I pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twelve
When I went back into the house, Brody was still sitting in the kitchen. I figured he’d have already moved up to the library to begin his studies.
“I thought you’d be combing through all those books in the attic by now,” I said.
“I was going to, but I saw something.” He blanched a little.
“What did you see? Was it a ghost? Something creepy from the basement? I hate when that happens,” I lamented.
“What? Creepy stuff comes up from the basement? You never told me that.”
“I don’t like to talk about it. It doesn’t happen that often, and Meri is more than equipped to handle them.”
“Ooohhhkaaay,” Brody said and took a big swig from the glass of soda in his hand. Then he looked down at the drink as if it had bitten him and quickly set it down on the table.
“What is it?”
“It was a ghost or creature from the basement. I got a glass of Pepsi from the fridge…”
“We have Pepsi?” I interrupted.
“We do now, but focus, Brighton. Stay with me here.”
“Okay.”
“I saw something in the Pepsi. It was like a vision except it was in the Pepsi.”
“What was it? What did you see?”
“Agent Anna Pennhurst knocking on the door and then me being taken away in handcuffs,” he said and swallowed hard.
“He scried,” Meri said. “He saw the future in the Pepsi. You can do it in any dark liquid or water in a black bowl. Heck, you can do it in a dark mirror, but that I don’t recommend it unless you want a demon along with your glimpse at the future.”
“What do I do?” Brody whispered.
“We’re going to bust the real killer before you get arrested under false pretenses,” I said.
“But who is the killer?” Brody asked.
“Well, it’s not Bob and it’s not you. It’s not Cassidy. I have my doubts that it’s James even though he’s probably my number two suspect. My money is on Gregory Hargrave. I think he’s probably a psychopath or a malignant narcissist. I have this theory brewing in my head where he convinced Brittany to start the fight with Brody and then lured her back to Coventry. Maybe she said the breakup wasn’t going to stick and she was going to go back to Brody. When Brittany’s psycho controlling father realized she wasn’t going to do his bidding, he snapped and killed her.”
“Is that based on anything? Or did you pull that theory out of your butt?” Meri asked.
I glared at him for a moment. “It’s based on the evidence. Duh.”
“What about the serial killer thing?” Meri shot back.
“Obviously, if the FBI is coming for Brody, they don’t think it’s a serial killer. Brody isn’t a serial killer.”
“Then why wouldn’t they turn the case back over to Thorn?” Meri asked.
“Because when does the federal government ever admit failure and turn a case back over to local law enforcement? They’d never admit defeat like that.”
“Well, that would mean that they’ve either got evidence that Brody is a serial killer, or they’re going to make the evidence fit him,” Meri said gravely.
“Which is exactly why we have to act now,” I said.
“What do you have in mind?” Brody asked.
“We’re going to figure out where Gregory Hargrave’s condo in the city is, and we’re going to go in and find the evidence we need to prove it was him.”
“How are we going to find his apartment?” Brody asked. “I suppose we could ask Clarissa if she knows, but that would look really suspicious.”
“She never told you where her father’s condo is?” I asked Brody. “Rack your brain hard here.”
“Okay,” he said and pinched the bridge of his nose with his head bowed and his eyes closed. “Right. She said once that he lives in a condo in a building called Rainer Sands, but I don’t know the number.”
“He can figure it out,” Meri said.
“How?”
“Brody saw the future in a glass of Pepsi. Surely, he can use his scrying skills to get an apartment number. Especially if you know the name of the building.”
“It’s worth a shot,” I said.
“Do I use this same glass or what?” Brody held up his half-empty glass.
“I’d top it off,” I said. “Do exactly what you did before.”
“I saw it when I poured the soda into the cup on the counter,” he said.
“Okay, then do that again.”
“And make sure that you focus your attention
on seeing the number,” Meri said. “If you use your intention, you should be able to see things easier.”
“Here goes,” Brody said.
Meri and I watched as Brody got the bottle of soda from the fridge, carried it to the counter, and filled up his glass. He stared at it for a moment, and then put the cap back on the bottle before returning it to the refrigerator.
“Anything?” I asked.
“His apartment is number thirty-three,” Brody said.
“That’s impressive,” I responded.
“I mean, it’s pretty cool, but we probably could have Googled it too or looked him up on social media,” Brody said.
“Yeah, but that’s not nearly as cool,” I said.
“So are we going to go do some breaking and entering to make sure I don’t get arrested for murder?” Brody asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come too,” Meri said. “Someone’s got to keep you guys from turning each other into goats or blowing up the building.”
“Road trip!” I exclaimed.
“It’s a twenty-minute drive,” Meri snarked.
“Just get in the bag, cat,” I said.
“Whatever,” Meri countered.
“Whatever.”
Gregory Hargrave’s building required a key card to enter or you had to have a resident buzz you in, but a touch of magic was all it took to get us in.
I used the same magic to get us into the condo, but not before I knocked to make sure no one was home. I knocked on the door three times over five minutes, and when nobody came to the door, we slipped inside.
Meri shielded us with magic while we did a brief sweep of the rooms to ensure that Gregory wasn’t home but sleeping or in the bathroom. Once we’d confirmed that the condo was empty, I set to work looking for evidence that he had motive to kill his daughter.
One of the first things that stood out to me was that it seemed as if there was a woman living in the condo. “Brody, did Brittany’s mother live here too?”
“No,” he said. “She still has kids at home, and from what Brittany told me, her father didn’t allow any of them in the condo. Said it was his haven from the world.”
“More like his haven to hide his affair,” I said as I found a woman’s coat hanging in the front closet.
Wicked Witches of Coventry- The Collection Page 32
