A soft smile appeared on Gwen’s lips. She fiddled with a gold band around her finger. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that you two make a lovely couple. I’ve been married thirty-five years next October, and I can always spot the good ones.”
“Oh, we’re not—”
“Thirty-five years! That’s impressive. What’s your secret?” Caden’s hand slid up my shoulder. He found that blissful spot on the back of my neck and kneaded it with his thumb.
I snapped my mouth shut. We could stay in a fake relationship for as long as my neck massage lasted. I wasn’t that picky, and he had really good hands.
“Compromise and trust. Also, earplugs. My Freddy snores like a bear.” Gwen laughed and relaxed back against her chair.
“Oh man, I can relate.” Caden angled his head conspiratorially in my direction.
And we were broken up.
I shook his hand off the back of my neck and muttered under my breath, “I do not snore. Keep it up, and you can find somewhere else to sleep.”
Gwen stifled a grin and glanced down at her cup.
“So, you were describing the man who was here yesterday,” Caden prodded, smoothly changing the subject.
“Oh, yes. I don’t think he was from the university, but his name escapes me at the moment. I’m sure he gave it to me . . .” She drummed her fingers against the table in thought.
“What did he look like? Maybe I’d recognize him,” I said.
“He was a large man, maybe early thirties or younger. He had a craggy face and sort of sunken eyes. There was a prominent scar across his palm—I noticed it when he reached for his coffee. Does any of that ring a bell?”
Unease tightened my stomach. What if the same man she was describing was the person who’d followed me in the parking lot? I shook away the terrifying thought and forced a smile.
“Yeah, I think I know who you’re talking about. Don’t worry. It sounds like it was just a scheduling error after all.” I twisted my fingers around the cup, missing the earlier warmth from the hot coffee. “Hey, I don’t think you ever answered what happened to the artifacts. Can we see them?”
Gwen shook her head, the knot of worry returning to her forehead. “That’s the thing. It seems the artifacts have gone missing. Laura checked them out right before the accident, and we’ve been unable to locate them.”
Missing? Did the mysterious man come here looking for the items, or was it to find out what the historical society knew? Either answer wasn’t promising.
Gwen rose from her chair and collected our coffee mugs. “I’m afraid I don’t have more information regarding her latest project. Hopefully, we’ll be able to track down the items and find someone to continue her work. It would be a shame to lose such an interesting historical find. Laura was so invested in her projects. I know she’d want to see them completed. Before you leave, let me give you some past issues of our magazine that contain articles she wrote. Those might help you with your tribute piece.”
I nodded. “That would be great. Thank you.”
Gwen left to retrieve the magazines, and I glanced at Caden.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said.
“That I’m going to grab some of those coffee pods for back at the dorm?”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Okay, so I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
“No, you do. I think this project might be the reason she was killed. But now, we’re not just looking for her killer; we need to find those artifacts too.”
“And we’re not the only ones looking for them.”
“So, basically, we’re in a race.”
Caden grinned and clamped a hand on my shoulder. “First one to find the artifacts wins a prize. Tell her what she wins, Johnny.”
I rolled my eyes at the resurgence of my joke and tried to tamp down the dread rising inside my chest.
Win or lose, I just didn’t want to end up dead.
Chapter 12
That night, I dreamed of demons.
The game I’d played since I was a kid was suddenly real, and I was thrust into a barren cityscape, alone with only a demon blade at my side. Every door I tried was locked, and every alley threatened to swallow me in darkness.
My shoes echoed on the pavement, thumping like a beating heart. I was supposed to be the hunter, but as I wandered deeper and the shadows closed in I realized I was the prey. Running harder, I turned down a well-lit street. My body shook as I shifted in a slow circle.
Someone was watching.
Waiting.
Gravel crunched beneath the soles of my shoes, and a door creaked open. A cold sweat broke out on my neck. The presence behind me drew closer. Sounds I shouldn’t be able to hear reverberated in my ears. A shuffle of footsteps. The drip of blood hitting concrete. A heavy breath.
I spun and faced the monster. His craggy face loomed in front of me. Lifting a bloody hand, he reached out, clawing the air. A deep scar bisected his palm.
His gruesome lips moved. The words floated away on the breeze. I tried to catch them, leaning closer even though every bone in my body told me to run.
He spoke again, low and chilling.
“Morning, sunshine.”
My eyes sprang open. I sucked in a sharp breath, and instead of the stale taste of iron, I smelled cinnamon.
Caden sat on the edge of my bed, a paper bag clutched between his fingers. His hair was still damp from a shower. Beneath his brown leather jacket was a black T-shirt. Black pants and black boots continued the dark-colored look.
“Are you all right?” he asked, gaze narrowing in concern.
The lingering fear drained from my body as my mind took in my surroundings.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”
“What about?”
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and feigned ignorance. “Now that I’m awake, I can hardly remember. I was probably just running late for class and showed up in my underwear.”
He grinned. “Graves, you and I have very different definitions of a nightmare.”
My cheeks heated from his teasing look. I poked him in the arm. “Stop thinking about me in my underwear.”
“Too late. But I’ll try.” He laughed and shook the contents of the bag. “I picked up breakfast from the bakery on the corner. There’s coffee too, and I grabbed a biscuit for Loki.”
I glanced at the floor, and sure enough, Loki sat gnawing on a long biscuit. Somehow, Caden had cast a spell to make the object ghostlike, and Loki sank his teeth into the treat. I made a note to have him teach me how to do that.
Scooting my pillow back, I sat up and eyed the bag as if it might bite. “Who are you, and what did you do to my partner?”
His grin turned playful as he pulled a cinnamon bun from the bag and sank his teeth into the pastry. “What, you won’t take food from a pod person? That’s okay—I can eat yours too. I’m not touching the coffee though. I got you that pumpkin flavor you like. It’s disgusting.”
I reached for my nightstand, where two Styrofoam cups rested in a cardboard holder. Bringing the pumpkin goodness closer, I breathed in the fall flavor. The horrible dream was already fading from my mind.
Funny how the anticipation of warm cinnamon dough and caffeine could banish evil in a snap. Maybe we had the wrong idea with spells and blades. We should fight demons with sugar.
“Is this to pay me back for all the ramen you’ve eaten?” I accepted the warm bun, our fingers colliding in a sticky mess.
“Yes, and for allowing me to sleep on your floor. I’ll post my Yelp review later. Five stars, though the pillow situation could be improved. But the view . . .” He waggled his eyebrows at the witty one-liner on my T-shirt. “Top notch.”
I stifled a laugh. “You’re lucky I have my hands full, or you’d be a dead man.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be out of your hair starting today. The utilities are getting hooked up at the manor, and I’ll make it work until I can get the place fixed up.”
>
“Oh.” I took a deep sip from my coffee to hide my disappointment. The hot liquid burned the roof of my mouth. It had only been a week, but I’d gotten used to Caden sharing my room. We’d grown closer than I’d thought we would. Maybe Oscar’s theory on team building was accurate after all.
Caden climbed to his feet and collected his coffee. I noticed his duffel bag by the door, packed and ready to go.
“Do you have any classes today?” he asked.
“Just one, later this morning.”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair, and a beat of awkward silence passed. “Good . . . I was thinking you could swing by the manor when you’re done. We should fill Oscar in on what we’ve learned and figure out our next move. Not to mention he’s been going on about getting your training started.”
“My training?” I scrunched my nose in distaste.
“Yeah, Graves. Spells and combat. Remember I told you I plan to whip you into shape? Well, Oscar’s job is to help you expand your magical abilities. You’ll like that one. It involves books.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? Tell him I’ll be by around one. Assuming the lights will be turned on and the water running by then.”
“I wouldn’t drink the water, but it’ll be running. I’m meeting the crew in an hour.”
Caden grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Another awkward moment passed. His gaze roamed my room as if he were committing it to memory. Finally, he looked at me, and a little jolt of awareness spread through my body. The room warmed as our gazes held.
“Later, Graves,” he murmured before pulling open the door. When he closed it behind him, I stayed still as the room grew quiet. Even Loki paused from gnawing his chew toy. The warmth faded, and that slippery feeling of dread returned.
Memories of my dream came back with a vengeance, and I had to shake myself from their grip. I couldn’t hide in my dorm room. I had to keep going. One step at a time. Class, training, investigation. Easy peasy. That’s what Ivy would have done. She never showed fear. Or any emotion at all, really.
I needed to be more like her.
Finishing my breakfast, I rolled out of bed and got ready for class. For an hour or two, I’d pretend to be a normal student. Except normal students didn’t look for a man with a scar behind every corner.
Making my way across the quad, I couldn’t help but constantly glance over my shoulder. I tensed whenever someone got too close. My heart thundered when footsteps sounded behind me. Maybe I should have told Caden about my dream, but he’d finally started treating me like I could handle the extra weight on my shoulders. Letting him see the paranoia inside my head would only make him worry.
I was the leader of our team; the chosen one. It was up to me to lead the way. Prove to everyone I could fill Ivy’s shoes or die trying. With any luck, it wouldn’t come to that.
My class passed quickly, and then after stopping for lunch I returned to my dorm to collect Loki for our trip out to the manor. Gathering all our notes on the case, I tucked them into my backpack. I grabbed my energy crystals as well, and a small zippered bag I liked to call my witch’s starter kit. Who knew what Oscar would have me doing? Better to come prepared.
I waved to a few students in the hall and hurried down the stairs and out into the parking lot. Halfway to my car, the feeling of being watched rose the hairs on my neck.
“Hey, Elle!”
The sound of my name caused me to jump, but I relaxed when I saw Zoe jogging toward my car. She had on her catering uniform, and her hair was bound in a tight ponytail. A large red slushy in a plastic cup melted in her hand.
“You’re a tough girl to track down. I haven’t seen you in a couple of days.” She held out the slushy and offered me a sip. I shook my head, already shivering in the chilly air.
“Sorry, classes have been crazy. Are you on your way to the country club?”
Zoe took a deep pull on her slushy and nodded. “It’s my first day back. We’re doing an outdoor cocktail party under the tent. It’s just for an hour or two, so we’re going to make, like, no money. Angela says we’ll be back up and running again soon, but I’ll probably be in debt up to my eyeballs by then.” She took another drink from her cup. “It’s going to be weird without you there. Who am I going to complain to when the guests get on my nerves? Even that new guy, Caden, quit. Not that I blame him. A death on your shift definitely goes down in history as the worst first day ever.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to top that.” I fiddled with the strap of my backpack, gathering the courage to answer her question. “Maybe you could talk to Jake.”
She choked on her slushy and pounded on her chest. “Why should I? You saw how he ignores me. I think you’re right—he’s not worth the effort. Besides, he’s gone too. Got a new job over at Oaks Bar and Grille downtown.”
Zoe was still hiding her involvement with him. Maybe she’s embarrassed, or maybe it was a one-time thing and now he’s giving her the cold shoulder. But wouldn’t she be cursing his name out if that were the case? I couldn’t think of a good reason for her to lie about it. Then again, I hadn’t told her about Caden either. Though, what was I supposed to say? Unless I was ready to tell her the truth about my witchy heritage, anything I said about him would be a lie.
I hated lying to my best friend, and I needed to let her in on my secret. What had always stopped me in the past was that the truth came with a heavy burden. Pulling back that veil and revealing the dark side of our world wasn’t something that could be unseen. We could share our secret with those closest to us, but it never seemed like a fair trade.
Until I figured out how to tell her, I’d just have to keep pretending everything was normal between us. Although, there was one other thing that had been bugging me.
“Zoe, how come you never mentioned you had a class with Professor Roberts this year?”
Zoe’s fingers tightened around her plastic cup, making it crinkle. “What do you mean? I didn’t have a class with her. Why would you think I did?”
I should have come up with a suitable answer for that question before I brought up the topic, but I didn’t. She crossed her arms over her chest and backed up a step, waiting for me to answer.
“Oh, it’s nothing, but I was talking with some of the other students about what happened to Professor Roberts, and one of them mentioned seeing you the first two weeks.”
Her entire demeanor changed, and she smacked her forehead as if it were something she’d forgotten. “You know, now that you mention it, I’m pretty sure that was the class I dropped. It ended up conflicting with one of my nursing credits, and so I made other arrangements to finish that gen ed.”
Okay, that made sense, but I still couldn’t help but think she was being evasive about the whole thing. My suspicions grew when she flashed me a brittle smile and changed the subject.
“How’s the job hunt going?”
“It’s fine. No hits yet.”
A low growl sounded near my feet, and I looked down to find Loki staring up at Zoe. He must have sensed her caginess and wanted to bring it to my attention. I made a little motion with my hand to get him to settle down, but he trotted over to her and whined. He looked as if he was about to chew on her shoes.
“Did you hear that? It sounded like a dog whining.”
“Nope. I didn’t hear anything.” I bit the side of my cheek and cursed inwardly. The fact she could hear him wasn’t good. It meant Loki was trying to defend me by using his haunting abilities. The last thing I needed was for him to appear, seemingly out of thin air, and give her the scare of her life.
“Loki, no!” I hissed.
The dog let out a final growl then settled down. He floated back to my side and sat by my heel.
Zoe furrowed her brow. “What did you say?”
“Um . . .” I fumbled for an answer, feeling my neck warm. “I said low-key. As in, I’m trying to find a job that is low-key after what happened at the country club. I’d love to find something with no drama.”
Zoe gave me a stilted nod, looking unconvinced. Her gaze tracked the ground near her feet, and then she checked the time on her phone. “Sorry, Elle, I have to go.” She backed away with a little wave and sucked the last bit of slushy out of her cup.
I watched her go then climbed into my car and gave Loki a scolding stare. He had the nerve to peer up at me with a pair of soulful eyes.
“You can’t scare my friends like that.”
Loki whimpered and placed his chin on his paws.
I put the car into drive and pulled out of the lot. “Don’t act cute. It’s bad enough people catch me talking to my feet when we go on our walks. I mean, don’t get me wrong, scare the crap out of anyone trying to hurt me, but let’s save it for the demons, okay?”
Loki barked his answer, and I reached over and gave him a little floating pat on the head.
Returning my attention to the road, I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “Zoe was acting a little strange, wasn’t she? I guess I can’t blame her. Everything is so weird lately.”
I sighed. What we needed was a girls’ night. Margaritas and a movie marathon to get us back on track. I’d finally tell her the truth, and if it didn’t go over well, I’d blame it on the tequila.
Alcohol had been blamed for worse. Might as well add spells and demon-hunting to the list.
Chapter 13
“Take it from the top.” Oscar waved a translucent hand in the air as if he were a magical maestro and signaled for me to restart the spell.
“Really? Again?” I slumped into a chair, exhausted from performing the same spell over and over. We’d been at it for hours, and my first magical training session was veering into failure territory.
Can you get carpal tunnel from too much witchcraft? It certainly seemed like a valid medical question. I massaged my aching fingers and glared at the spell book taunting me from the tabletop.
To be fair, I hadn’t come close to mastering the Chaos Seal spell, or what I’d decided to call throwing spaghetti at the wall. The idea was simple: toss an object against a surface and get it to stick in place with the goal to keep control over the object. That was step one. Step two, applying the magic to a demon-hunting scenario, was a little trickier. It was one thing to fuse inanimate objects; another when you were dealing with a moving target.
A Grave Spell (The Spellwork Files Book 1) Page 10