by C. C. Hunter
“Oh no,” she muttered.
Before she could fix it, a fog, thicker than smoke, rose from the ground. The heavy cloud painted everything a whitish gray and made it impossible to see a foot in front of her.
“Miranda?” Shawn’s voice rose in the mist, but it sounded distant.
“I’m here,” Miranda answered, and just like that, someone grabbed her. An image of the dirty vamp that had almost broken Tabitha’s neck filled her mind. Instinct had her raising her knee to hit the soft spot between his legs, while her mind raced for a curse.
“Damn.” She heard someone grunt the word. It took her about a second to recognize that moan as Shawn’s.
“Oops,” she muttered.
Then, like magic—of course magic—the fog evaporated. The thick cloud became only a pale veil of mist. She saw Shawn cupping his privates and embarrassment wiggled its way into her chest.
“Where the hell did they go?” Della snapped, looking first at Kylie and then turning to look at Miranda and Shawn.
It took a few moments for Miranda to realize who was gone. The vamps. Including the one she’d attacked with dog poop.
“Oh, lordy.” She really hated her dyslexic goofs sometimes. But on second thought … this might not be one of those times. The rogue vamp who would now go through his life being attacked by any nearby piles of poop deserved it. Didn’t he?
Then it hit that the fog had been a ploy for the vampires to escape. But vamps couldn’t make fog. Witches and warlocks, and perhaps a chameleon in witch mode, could create fog.
“I don’t know where they went,” Shawn growled. Miranda cut him a quick look. Pain still hardened his expression, and he had one fist pressed low on his waist.
His gaze shifted to Miranda and she mouthed the words, I’m sorry.
Only concern marred his expression as he nodded. Then, taking a step away, he pulled out his phone and she heard him say Burnett’s name.
Remembering the fireball, she realized someone else besides the vampires was gone. Breath held, she did a visual search around the park.
“Where’s Tabitha?” Miranda voiced her concern and did a full circle hoping to spot the red-haired witch.
“She was right there,” Kylie said.
Finally, Miranda spotted her about a hundred feet away. The girl sat on the ground, still clutching her middle, her head down.
Miranda started over.
A low sound reached Miranda’s ears as she got closer to Tabitha. The girl hummed. The tune hit a familiar melody in Miranda’s head. “Yankee Doodle.” The same tune she hummed to help deal with stress. An odd nervous habit she’d picked up from her dad.
Had Tabitha picked the habit up from Miranda when they were in preschool? Miranda wasn’t sure, but where else would Tabitha have gotten it?
“It’s okay,” Miranda said when she got closer.
With spittle on her chin, the redheaded witch glanced up. Fury filled her eyes. “You. I should have known you were behind this.”
“I wasn’t—”
“What happened?” A voice rang out to Miranda’s right. Sienna ran up and dropped to the ground and threw her arms around Tabitha for a quick hug.
“She happened,” Tabitha seethed, pushing out of the hug and looking up at Miranda.
“Bullshit!” Della appeared at her side with Kylie. “You might not have noticed, but Miranda shrank a fireball that was targeted at your ass.” Della looked at Miranda. “You should have let it take her out. The world would have been a better place.”
Tabitha started to raise her hand. Miranda jumped in front of Della. She’d just saved Tabitha’s life, but no way would she let the girl do any harm to one of her best friends.
Della pushed Miranda aside and let out a deep hiss. “You even think of twitching that pinky at me and I’ll break it off and feed it to some unlucky Parisian frog. I’m not nearly as good-natured as my friend here.”
Tabitha, not as dumb as she acted, dropped her hand, but she wasn’t completely backing down. “I’m reporting this to that FRU agent.”
“Who, me?” Shawn asked, appearing at Miranda’s side. “If you—”
“Or do you mean me?” Another deep voice sounded as a quick shadowy flash stopped right beside Shawn. Miranda didn’t have to see the owner of the voice to know it was Burnett.
“Or perhaps you could explain why you two went against my orders and left the hotel.” He directed his question to Sienna and Tabitha.
“We’re not prisoners,” Sienna snapped.
“No, you’re not. But someone wants you dead.” Burnett’s tone was deep and angry. “Would you rather be dead?”
When Sienna didn’t answer, Burnett added, “Does anyone want to tell me what happened here?”
“I think she’s trying to kill me,” Tabitha said, glaring at Miranda.
“Why would I want to kill you?” Miranda snapped back.
“Would you quit acting as if you don’t know?” Tabitha snapped and got to her feet.
“Know what?” Miranda blasted back and felt Kylie take her by the arm as if to calm her.
Tabitha didn’t answer, and started walking away.
“Stop her,” Burnett said to Shawn. “Everyone goes back to the apartment until I figure out what’s up.” He turned to another agent. “Start collecting cameras from the crowd. Take them to the office and start downloading them, tell everyone they can pick them up in a few hours.”
Would you quit acting as if you don’t know? Miranda kept hearing Tabitha’s parting comment. She started to walk with Shawn, wanting answers from Tabitha, but Burnett caught her by her arm. “No. Now’s not the time for female drama.”
Miranda stopped, but frowned in the redheaded witch’s direction. Why did she get the feeling that there was more to Tabitha’s little show than just female drama? What could have happened almost fourteen years ago between their moms that could still be worth fighting over?
* * *
Four hours later, on her first night in Paris, Miranda sat beside Kylie on the apartment’s sofa. Della had been released to go to DeVille with another agent. Before she left, Miranda had apologized for being a bitch. Della had half-smiled and said she’d already forgiven her. Miranda had insisted on a hug, and of course, Della relented, but made it a short one.
That was the thing about the vamp, she might get mad in a flicker of a second, but she was almost as quick to forgive. And Miranda knew that beneath her friend’s prickly attitude was a heart of gold.
Sienna and Tabitha sat on the love seat. Tabitha hadn’t stopped frowning at Miranda, and it took everything she had not to jump up and demand the girl explain her parting comment from earlier.
Burnett had confiscated all the cameras from the tourists and downloaded the images and video to a laptop. After interviewing, or rather interrogating everyone, he’d connected a projector and they were watching the attack via photos and video on the white wall.
Shawn narrated the images as they flashed. “Here, you can see the fireball. And here’s where Miranda shrunk it down to the size of a pea.” Shawn’s gaze shifted to Tabitha.
When surprise filled her eyes, Miranda knew that Tabitha really hadn’t known she’d saved her butt. And if the tightness in the redhead’s expression was any indication, she didn’t like knowing it.
Miranda looked at the clock on the wall, wishing this would end so she could find out exactly what Tabitha was so pissed about. What was it that Miranda was supposed to know and didn’t? The bad blood between them had gone on too long. It was time for answers.
“Okay,” Burnett said, pausing the projector. “It seems apparent that Tabitha was the intended victim.”
“What? Why do you think that?” Tabitha asked, fear sounding in her voice.
Kylie leaned forward. “The first vampire grabbed you and it appears you were the fireball’s target.”
“But … but…” Tabitha started sputtering. “I mean … I thought you believed it was someone trying to take out the compet
ition.”
“We do,” Burnett spoke up.
“Then why didn’t they go after Miranda or Sienna?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he said.
Burnett sat on a straight-backed chair and turned his gaze to Shawn. “Now, about the fireball stunt, would—?”
“Spell,” Sienna interrupted.
Burnett turned to look at the girl. His expression said he wasn’t all that fond of her. “Excuse me?”
“We don’t perform stunts. We do spells.”
He nodded, discontent flashing in his eyes. “Would someone have to be in the vicinity to perform this … spell?” He directed his question toward Shawn, but glanced around at Miranda and the other two witches as well.
“It’s not impossible to do it from a distance, but it is improbable,” Miranda answered.
Shawn nodded at Burnett as if agreeing with her. Sienna and Tabitha did the same.
“So, chances are, the person responsible for the fireball was caught on camera?” Burnett looked at the image on the wall and it was a picture of Sienna.
“I suppose,” Shawn said.
“Why are we just discussing the fireball? It was a vampire that almost broke Tabitha’s neck,” Sienna said as if offended he accused her kind.
“I’m not forgetting,” Burnett said. “But I’m pretty sure the vampires were hired help, the real villain is one of your own kind. Perhaps even someone in the competition.”
“Wait,” Sienna blurted out. “Are you saying we are suspects?”
Chapter Nine
Burnett looked at Sienna really hard, and the tilt to his head told Miranda he was about to question the girl and listen to her heartbeat for lies. Did Burnett suspect Sienna for being behind this? Miranda didn’t know the witch well enough to make that call.
“Does that disturb you?” Burnett asked.
“Yes, it disturbs me,” she said with sass. “Tabitha is my friend. I wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Were you two together today?”
“No,” Sienna said. “I was meeting my parents for dinner when I saw the commotion.”
“So, you didn’t cause the commotion?”
“Sienna wouldn’t do that,” Tabitha insisted.
Sienna frowned. “But he has to hear that from me, don’t you?”
Burnett didn’t pretend. “Yes.”
“No, I didn’t try to kill Tabitha. And I resent that you think I did.”
Miranda tried to read Burnett to see if he caught the girl lying, but Burnett’s expression didn’t give anything away. Then, remembering Kylie’s ability to turn vampire, she looked at her with the question in her eyes.
Kylie nodded, telling her that Sienna was telling the truth.
Sienna’s gaze shot to Miranda. “Why aren’t you asking her questions? Is it because she goes to your school, and you don’t want one of your precious students to be guilty?”
“I’m precious?” Miranda said, sending the girl a fake smile. “Thank you for that compliment.”
Burnett let out a low growl. “It’s true. My relationship with Miranda Kane prevents me from being suspicious of her. However, evidence guides me in the same direction.”
“What evidence?” Sienna asked.
Burnett didn’t appreciate being questioned, and his expression said so. “Why would she have saved Tabitha if she was the one attempting to kill her? Any more questions?” he asked in a clipped tone that demanded respect.
Sienna didn’t have a comeback.
Neither did Miranda. But probably for different reasons. It felt good—heart gooey, need-a-hug kind of good—knowing that Burnett believed in her. The temptation to jump up and embrace him hit hard. Embrace him like she would her dad. Her dad, whom she’d barely seen these last few months.
It hit her then. Hit her harder than it had earlier. She missed her dad. His work had always kept him on the road, but since she’d signed on full-time to Shadow Falls, it felt as if she barely saw him at all.
Kylie, with her chameleon shifting abilities, must have turned Fae, because she seemed to read Miranda’s mood and she leaned over and whispered, “It’s gonna be okay.” Her shoulder lightly pressed against Miranda’s and a sweet calm flowed from her touch. Yup, she was Fae, all right. Only a Fae’s touch could ease a heartache.
Burnett turned back to Shawn. “Play the last video.”
They all watched another video taken by a tourist who never knew his vacation images would be used in an investigation. This one, however, had a different angle, and showed something the others hadn’t.
The poop attack.
Miranda fell back into the leather cushions wishing she could disappear.
“What the hell was that?” Burnett said and replayed it again.
The camera caught the vamp being hit with four or five piles of excrement.
“I never saw that,” Shawn said. “I was too busy fighting.”
“Me neither,” Kylie added, and then she must have picked up on Miranda’s emotion because she looked at her.
Miranda nodded ever so slightly.
Burnett looked at Miranda. She wanted so badly to lie—admitting she goobered a spell in front of Shawn, not to mention Tabitha and Sienna, sucked—but her conscience wouldn’t let her.
“I saw Shawn had his hands full, and I wanted to help.”
“By slinging shit at the vampire?” Sienna asked.
“It worked,” Shawn added before Miranda started to explain her screwup. His blue eyes shifted from Sienna to Miranda, and he smiled. Tenderly. Sweetly. “Thank you.”
Oh, hell! As nuts as it sounded, it almost felt as if he knew she’d screwed up and was trying to save her from the embarrassment.
Burnett ran a hand through his hair as if worried. “Did you cancel the spell?”
“No, he was trying to kill us.”
Burnett chuckled. “Hell, I guess he deserves it.” He looked back down at the computer and projector. “Let’s go through all of this again and look for anything else unusual. Remember, chances are, the person who sent the fireball is somewhere on one of these cameras.”
Watching them all again brought on some flashes of memory for Miranda. When the show ended, she closed her eyes and let her own mental video play on the backs of her eyelids. And it brought on an insight. “You know who I saw there, and I haven’t seen in any of the video or photos?”
“Who?” Burnett and Shawn asked at the same time.
“The twins, Candy and Sandy. I saw them in the mix of the crowd.”
Burnett turned to Shawn. “I thought you said they were at the hotel?”
“I spoke with Candy when we got back and she said they hadn’t left.”
Burnett looked back at Miranda. “Are you sure?”
Miranda saw the images again in her mind then she refocused on Burnett. “Yeah. I’m positive.”
“You’re accusing Sandy and Candy of doing this?” Tabitha asked, her tone jam-packed with sarcasm.
“I didn’t accuse them of anything. I said I saw them there.”
“Well, I didn’t see them.” Sienna dropped back on the love seat and crossed her arms over her chest. A tiny smile appeared in her eyes as if she got pleasure from disagreeing with Miranda.
“Did you see them?” Sienna asked Tabitha.
“No,” Tabitha said, but with a lot less animosity. Who knew Sienna was a bigger bitch than Tabitha?
“You?” Sienna pointed the question to Kylie. “Did you see the twins?”
“No, but I wasn’t looking for them.” Anger flashed in Kylie’s eyes. “But if Miranda says she saw them, she did.” There was something deep and protective in her friend’s voice. Sienna ignored it.
Tabitha looked at Shawn. “I suppose you were too busy admiring Miranda to have seen them.”
Shawn’s frown came on fast. “I was sent to watch out for her.”
“Like you don’t have a thing for her,” Tabitha said. “I saw how you stared at her at the competition, and
how you fawned over her when she passed out. Even tonight, you’re looking at her like she’s a piece of candy and you’re a diabetic.”
“My feelings for Ms. Kane outside of this case are none of your business.” His tone demanded her respect.
“And I’m not candy,” Miranda spit out without thinking. Then she wanted to shrink into the sofa cushions. Were Shawn’s feelings for her that noticeable? As crazy as it sounded, it made her both uncomfortable and … happy. Then, in a twitch of a pinky, she realized she hadn’t thought about Perry in the last few hours. Did that mean anything? Had she come all the way to Paris to finally accept his decision—to give their relationship space? Oh, that sucked on so many levels.
And that insight brought on a couple of even more contradicting emotions: relief and guilt.
Relief that she was finally moving in the right direction—meaning emotionally moving away from Perry—and guilt because … because she was emotionally moving away from Perry. How could she shift away from him when she loved him? Was it because down deep she still held a thing for Shawn?
Burnett stood up and looked at Shawn and Kylie. “You two hold down the fort here. I think I’ll have a little chat with the twins.” He started out, but turned and looked back, his gaze shifting to Miranda and then to Sienna and Tabitha. “I hope I don’t have to remind you three that you can’t leave here. We escaped this incident without having to ship anyone’s body back to the U.S., let’s not give whoever is doing this another shot at it.”
“But you just said that Tabitha was the intended victim,” Sienna said.
“For that attempt,” Burnett said. “He’s already killed two of the girls who were high contenders to make this round of the contest. From where I stand, it appears you are all intended victims. And until I know differently, you will do as I say. Like it or not!”
He left in a flash, a cloud of anxiety lingering in his wake.
A cloud that brought on silence. A silence shattered by the ringing of Miranda’s phone. She reached for the cell, hoping it would be her dad, but nope.
She looked at Kylie and whispered, “Oh, crap. It’s my mom. If I tell her what happened, she’s gonna freak.”
* * *
Her mom hadn’t freaked, probably because Miranda hadn’t told her. Well, she’d told her a little, but downplayed the whole thing to make it sound like nothing more than a little inconvenience. And a little attempted murder.