by Willow Mason
“Black magic is evil. It’s not something to trifle with. There can be catastrophic consequences both for the witch using the powers and for the community it's being used upon.”
I flicked a glance at Trevor but if he was upset at the way his form of magic had just been called out, he didn’t look it.
Remember, it’s a scolding for young children. She doesn’t mean you!
“This community will also support and help witches if they’re honestly trying to be good. If you’re a bad witch, you’re on your own, no matter how young you are.” Glynda levelled a finger at the class, picking out the known troublemakers as she aimed her overlong fingernail around the room. “The magic summoned up from this book has already hurt many members of our community. How does it make you feel, to upset your parents?”
There were mumbled answers ranging from bad to terrible and a host of unfathomable mutterings in between. I was pleased to see Bailey hanging her head. Annie and Tom seemed on the verge of a breakdown.
Glynda raised her voice. “If I ever hear of another young witch from this class using voodoo, I’ll personally come back here to ensure you’re expelled, from this class and from your home!”
A collective gasp greeted her statement and a small girl near me turned pale and gripped the sides of her desk.
“No parent wants a bad witch living in their household. Their love and affection is for good witches only. Does everyone understand?”
Two children were openly crying now, others visibly distressed. Glynda swept out of the room, clicking her fingers for us to follow. Outside, Trevor folded his arms and glared. “You went a bit hard there, didn’t you? I know the finer points of magic might be beyond the scope of a child, but calling what I do evil?” He shook his head in disgust.
“Fine. Next time you can deliver the lecture.” Glynda’s mouth twisted, and she handed the book of voodoo back to me. “Make sure this gets back to the library, where it belongs. And tell Harriet to keep a closer watch on things.”
Miss Armitage walked out of the room, giving a nod of thanks to the coven leader. “Wouldn’t you prefer I make the children responsible walk that back? It’ll help cement the lesson.”
“Or they’ll be sidetracked and end up causing mayhem on the way. Just because they appear repentant now doesn’t mean they won’t be led astray again.” She rubbed at the side of her nose, sighing. “You really must keep a better eye on them. If this is what they’re into now, imagine what they’ll be capable of as teens.”
“Then I should take it back to the library, as a reminder.”
Glynda waved her hand at the woman, annoyed. “Just get back to class. I don’t want to be called out here again for any reason.”
But the older woman hesitated. “You’re sure? It’s on my way home and I—”
“Yes, I’m sure.” When Miss Armitage stood there a moment longer, Glynda yelled, “Go!” and pointed back at the class.
“I see your social skills haven’t improved any since the last time we met,” Trevor said with an eye roll. “Come on,” he turned to me. “Now that lovely interlude is over, it’s time we got back to our lessons.”
“After the library.”
I nodded at Glynda. “After the library.”
“Those kids were covering for someone,” Trevor said as soon as we were out of earshot. “There’s no way they’d start practising new incantations without a bit of prodding. Did you see how scared they were?”
I thought of Bailey’s face, peering out from the back seat of the car while her mother was yelled at. The image morphed into Annie and Tom’s eager expressions as they urged their non-swimming mother into the ocean, over her head.
“Perhaps.” It never hurt to hedge a bet. “But who? An older kid?”
“Where did the hunky guy come from?”
“Marcus?” I turned back to the school, as though the PE teacher wasn’t long gone, holed up in the gym to prepare his next lesson. It was ridiculous to think someone so well put together could be capable of something bad. Except…
“Miss Armitage said he’d just arrived a few months ago.” I chewed on my bottom lip, then added, “Around the time the children started acting up.”
Although the dog driving and granddad raising had just occurred, judging from the dentist’s outburst in the supermarket, Bailey had been coercing her mother into buying junk food for a lot longer.
“Do you have access to school records?”
I frowned at Trevor, shaking my head. “No. Why would I?”
“I thought you were an investigator. Glynda said she’d hired you.”
“Yeah, but…” I trailed off into a shrug. “It’s more for people investigations, you know. We have access to police records but not anything more.”
“Teachers have to pass security checks, don’t they?”
“Oh!” I nodded so enthusiastically I must have looked like a bobblehead. “Yeah, that’ll turn up on the system. Good thinking.” I punched him in the upper arm and thought for a moment I’d overestimated our bond, then he smiled.
“I’m not just a pretty face.”
“No,” I agreed. “You’re the complete package.”
He glanced at me sideways and I blushed. “So,” he drawled, “does that mean I’m allowed to come and see your secret files. It’d be nice to know we’ve got this squared away before I start teaching you all my mad skills again.”
“Sure.” I frowned out the car window, wondering how Beezley would take an unexpected guest. But it was my house too. “My partner should be able to search for the info we need.”
Trevor’s right eyebrow hooked into the air at that, and he turned his attention back to the road. With a few instructions, he pulled up outside the door.
“Hey, boy,” he said as Beezley jumped into the window to check out the noise. “Who’s a cute little doggy.”
“Uh, that’s my partner, actually,” I said, pushing the door open. To Beezley, I added, “We just need to use the computer to check someone out.”
“I have news on our case.”
Trevor did a double-take as Beezley spoke. “What on earth happened to you, buddy?”
“A bad warlock turned him into a dog,” I explained as I signed into the computer software. “And now he’s dead so we can’t turn him back.”
“You need an Animus Wizard. They’ll be able to sort you out.”
Beezley and I froze, staring at Trevor in wonder. “And where can we find one of those,” I said when the silence dragged on too long. “Are they in the yellow pages?”
“Nah. You’ll need a formal introduction and they’re big on swapping favour for favour.” Trevor narrowed his eyes at me, appearing confused. “Didn’t Glynda go through all of this with you, or doesn’t she know about—?” He jerked his head at Beezley.
“Oh, she knows.” I glowered at the screen, thinking of all the horrible things I’d never have the courage to say to our coven leader’s face. “It must’ve slipped her mind.”
“She sure takes a narrow view on our black magic peeps. I’m surprised she called me in to help you out, given her prejudice.”
“She’s scared my magic will get out of hand and draw unwanted attention.” I turned back to the computer, typing in a few search terms until the record for Marcus Hayman, physical education teacher, popped up. “Here you go. Nothing of note on here.”
“Can I take over? Since the coven school board hired him, there won’t be anything obvious in the records, but I know how to search for hidden red flags.”
“No, you can’t,” Beezley snapped. “This account is my only link to my old job, and I don’t want it endangered. Tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll search for it.”
And by ‘I’ he meant me.
“Can you arrange an introduction?” Beezley asked while I trawled through online files. “For the Animus?”
“I don’t know any personally, but I can put out a few feelers. Somebody back at my home coven’s sure to have a contact
. It’s one of our specialties.”
“Along with training witches in black magic?” I snuck a quick sideways glance. “What kind of coven is this, anyway?”
“A pile of rejects and dropouts from the mainstream.” Trevor laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “We’re the odds and sods nobody wants joining their club.”
“And the Supernatural Council is happy with you forming your own group?”
Trevor gave a harsh laugh. “The Supernatural Council is never fine with anything. The trick is not to care.”
“Hm.” I pursed my lips. “Does not caring stop them from applying sanctions?”
“Nope. But we rally around our members.”
An ache grew in my chest. I hadn’t got as far as drawing attention from the council, but my coven had been happy to kick me out and apply their own punishments. It sounded nice to have a group who supported rather than judged each other.
“There’s nothing here,” I said, finishing up with the searches. “Marcus Hayman is squeaky clean according to the records.”
“Yeah. Perhaps I’ll still make time to chat with him, one on one.” Trevor backed away from the screen. “The timing makes me edgy.”
“Would the book know?” I picked the volume up from the couch where I’d dropped it and turned it over in my hands. “Abracadabra, tell us if Marcus has been reading you out to the children.”
I was joking, but the book jumped open, the pages turning rapidly. A crimson glow erupted from the page.
“How’re you doing that?” Trevor stood, staring in amazement.
“I’m not.” I shoved the turning book towards him, but he backed up a step, holding his hands up to ward it off. “How do I get it to stop?”
Before he could answer, the book landed on a page. I stared at the entry. “How to draw power from other people’s magic.”
Trevor leaned over to take a peek, but the book snapped shut. When I tried to open it to the page again, I couldn’t get it to budge.
“I guess it doesn’t like you,” Beezley said, sounding absurdly pleased. “Shouldn’t you be heading home, anyway?”
“We’re meant to have another lesson,” I said, but Trevor spoke over me to say, “Fine. I’m going.”
“What’d you say that for?” I demanded once the door closed. “He’s the only contact we have to get you turned back to human.”
“I don’t trust him,” the dog said, laying his head down on his paws. “Something about him doesn’t smell right.”
“Great. So, you’re an expert on smells now, are you? How’s that going to get me trained?”
“Turns out I am.”
While I stared at him, puzzled, Beezley leapt back onto the computer stool and painstakingly moved the mouse until a map came up on the monitor. “Look here.”
“What?” I shrugged. “It’s a house.”
“It’s where Kevin Hollard is staying. Since you were concentrating on other matters, I went back to the lodge and followed the trail of his scent until I arrived at this house.”
“And what does he have to say for himself?”
“He’s a human so I can’t question him. But you can.”
I shook my head in annoyance. “So you drove away my magic teacher in order to question a suspect who’s probably not going to admit anything to me?”
“Better than spending all morning talking to children about voodoo,” Beezley said with a bark of disgust. “This is the job that’s paying us, remember?”
“And this”—I shook the book on voodoo—“is how I’m going to learn how not to blow up hotels.”
“He’ll be back.” Beezley trotted over and rubbed his head against my calf. “Didn’t Glynda hire him to teach you? Have you ever met anyone who’d go against her commands?”
“Hardly the point.” I tried to fold my arms, but the book stopped me. “And I need to get this back to the library.”
“That’s fine,” Beezley said with the cutest doggie grin he’d pulled on me so far. “You can drop it into Harriet’s on the way.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Shh,” I hissed as Beezley opened his mouth to bark an order. “We’re trying to stay undetected, remember?”
“I’m no louder than you,” he complained, being instantly contradicted as a voice inside called to his mate, “What was that?”
“Why don’t you come with a soft bark setting?” I grumbled, giving Beezley a quick pat as his face collapsed in disappointment. “Can you use your new superpower to sniff out our target?”
We were crouched down at the back of the house, making plans on the fly. Although we now had an address, a reason to burst into the house to ask questions hadn’t presented itself.
Beezley sniffed along the baseboard of the back wall, avoiding the drains as they were so fulsome with scent, they distracted him. Although I thought his new doggie power was astonishing and helpful, he appeared embarrassed by the newfound skill.
The front door to the flat banged open and slammed shut. Footsteps danced down the path before a car engine sprang into life.
“He doesn’t have a car,” I whispered as Beezley looked frantic. “And if that’s his housemate leaving, Kevin might be on his own.”
“No, there’s somebody else still in there. Another male.”
I ruffled the fur on the back of Beezley’s neck. “Good dog!”
“I think Kevin’s in this room,” he said, standing on his back feet and nosing at the window.
With soft steps, I drew close, then stood up to peer inside. A man lay on his stomach on the bed, earphones on, nodding his head in time to the music. From the awkward angle and with little familiarity, I couldn’t tell for sure if it was him.
“Should we try—”
“Can someone shut up that stupid dog?” a man yelled from inside the house. “I swear, this neighbourhood goes downhill every day. Next thing you know, there’ll be children screaming at the top of their lungs.”
“Are you sure there’s only the two of them in there?” I asked, confused by who the man was talking to.
“I’m sure.”
“Shut up!” the voice shouted. “Some of us work nights, you know. Have a little respect!”
The window above us jerked up, and I pressed myself flat against the wall, barely breathing.
“It’s just a little Frenchie,” Kevin shouted, identifying himself by his voice. “Don’t you want a nice pet?”
“I want a decent sleep, is what I want. Get him out of here.”
Kevin leaned out of the window, stretching his arms towards Beezley who skipped out of reach. “Come here, puppy. Who’s a good dog?”
With an acting skill I hadn’t known he possessed, Beezley walked a few tentative steps closer to the window, sniffing the ground and staying just beyond the waggling fingertips.
“Come on. Don’t make me come outside and get you. No one’s meant to know I’m living here.”
The dog moved one step closer, letting Kevin’s fingers lightly brush against his fur, then took another step and licked his face. While the man giggled and wiped at the spot, I jumped out and grabbed hold of his shoulders, pulling him outside and dumping him on the grass.
Before he could yell to his companion, I rolled Kevin onto his front and dropped my full weight onto his back. While he coughed out a breath, I pulled his arm up, stretching it until the muscles in his shoulder creaked.
“Yell for help and I’ll dislocate it,” I whispered in a venomous tone. “We just want to ask you a few questions.”
His chest heaved in a breath and I let go of the arm to slap a hand across Kevin’s mouth. “I’m serious. Don’t make me sic my dog on you.”
Beezley growled low in his throat, baring his teeth in a menacing smile.
Considering how cute his breed was, he did a good job of appearing threatening. Good enough for Kevin to swallow and go limp rather than struggle against my hand.
“I’m going to get up now, and I want you to walk ahead of me to the car. It�
�s a red Honda, parked three houses down.”
I got to my feet, getting a firm grip on Kevin’s arm again as I did so. When I jerked him upright, he obeyed me, shoulders slumped in defeat.
While we walked, I pulled a face at Beezley. The young man would be more than an equal match to the two of us yet obeyed my instructions without hesitation. As I double beeped the car locks, he got into the back seat without me asking. I almost felt sorry for him.
“Right,” I said once I was in the front seat, holding my hand just out of sight to pretend it clutched a weapon. “Now tell us all about your little plan to blackmail a distraught widow.”
Kevin gulped. “You’re the one who called me a flasher. Are you with the police?”
“We’re private investigators but everything we’ve gathered will land straight on the DI’s desk if you don’t cooperate. Your only chance to get out of this without a prison sentence is if you confess now.”
Beezley shot me a pained look but I couldn’t let the truth get in the way of a good ploy. Besides, it might turn out to be the case.
“I-I’m not a threat to a-anyone.”
“Seems you’re a threat to Desmond Templeton’s good memory.”
At the mention of the name, Kevin’s face clouded over and his lips curled. “That man doesn’t deserve anything. I’m sure he was behind Jacki’s murder.”
“Jacki Sosa?” When he nodded, I continued, “According to the cops, she died of a drug overdose. Did he sell her the pills?”
“She didn’t take drugs. I don’t know what the police are thinking but she didn’t do that to herself. If there were pills in her system, Desmond must’ve shoved them down her throat!”
I sat back, relaxing a little. “What evidence do you have he was involved in Jacki’s death?”
“He was all over her at the party. It was meant to be a fundraiser for a charitable cause and instead, he used it to get close to her.” Kevin swallowed with an audible click in his throat. “Given he was old enough to be her father, it was disgusting.”