by Kelly Ethan
Chief Braun, his mother, Aggie and deputy sister marched past Xandie with high-fives.
Braun spoke to her for a moment. “I know you have that receipt. It won’t take long to pry the information out of Lila or Holly. In the meantime, stay safe and avoid any more murders.” He quirked an eyebrow at Xandie and smirked, blue eyes twinkling.
She fought a corresponding quiver. No quiver. None for Zach ‘burr-in-the-butt-cheek-of-hell’ Braun. None. “I’ll try my best, Chief Braun.” Xandie swept into a tide of well-wishers.
It was over; she got to keep Theo and the library. She had a home and family. It was all done except for one fact.
There was still a killer out there hunting her…
Nine
Lila wrapped Xandie in a bear hug as she escaped into Lila’s bakery. “Wahoo. You get to stay unless a maniac kills you. But don’t worry, we’d get some witch to resurrect you as a flesh-eating zombie librarian if that happens. It’s a win-win situation.”
Xandie extricated herself from Lila’s freaky version of smothering. “Thanks, I think.”
Lila led Xandie to a vacant table and forced her down. “Sit. Hot chocolate and a feast of butter puffs coming your way.” She bustled off, a hive of frenetic energy.
“She means well, but sugared energy has to go somewhere else other than her hips.”
“Mom, I can feel you being mean,” Lila sang from the counter.
Amelia rolled her eyes and her sister, Winifred, snickered.
“Well, dear. It’s good to see you trouble-free for the moment.” Winifred smiled, but it soon faded. “I’m sorry about your father but he was always a poop head.”
Amelia agreed with her sister. “We never understood why your mother adored him. But I guess he canceled out the Harrow craziness, at least for a while.”
“I can’t believe he tried to pull this on me. But then again, it’s a classic Nicholas Meyers’ move. Same move he pulls in the library when he wants something.” Xandie slumped in the chair, exhausted.
Lila dumped a huge pile of butter puffs in front of Xandie, along with a large cup of steaming hot chocolate. “Never mind. You have the library and us now. And you have a sugar coma right in front of you.”
Xandie chuckled. “You’re right.” She grabbed a puff and chomped down, moaning as the sugar hit her system. She mumbled around a mouthful, “Where’s Holly?”
Winifred wrinkled her nose. “That strange Harrow aberration of mine is haunting the morgue to get a feel for dead people’s auras.”
Xandie spat a trail of crumbs out on the table as she dislodged a lump of food out of her windpipe. “I can’t imagine her in the morgue.”
“Part of her father’s training. Makes her more open to interpreting the signs in the visions she’s given in relation to death. She hasn’t found a family to bind to yet, so she gets general warnings for those around her.” Winifred amended her words. “Some people around her. She’s coming into her powers later than normal. She’s unpredictable right now.”
“It would’ve been much easier if she’d inherited the Harrow earth magic, but at least she isn’t boring.” Amelia poked Winifred in the side. “Come on, old girl, I need your help with a constipated tabby.”
Winifred shuddered. “Can’t wait.” She buzzed a kiss on Xandie’s forehead. “Be careful and don’t guzzle too much sugar or you’ll have nightmares.”
Waving goodbye to aunts, Xandie closed her eyes and sipped her rich hot chocolate.
“I was just trying to help. This place is toxic. I was protecting you. You don’t understand.”
Xandie cracked her eyes open and squinted. Her father stood next to the table, his tie askew. The uptight, fastidious Nicholas Meyers. This meant he was in full meltdown mode. “This place isn’t toxic for me. I’m meant to be here and I’m not you. I like Point Muse. I have friends and cousins here.”
Her father grabbed his tie and twisted it back into place. “I don’t understand your misplaced emotional attachment, but I will be there for you when you need a place to run to.” Her father spun and stalked to the door without a backward glance.
“Thank God for the Harrows,” Xandie mumbled into her hot chocolate as she set about worshipping its sugary goodness uninterrupted. Her father couldn’t help the way he was; her mother’s disappearance had changed him for the worse. Mom always softened him. But Xandie was through obeying. Point Muse, the library, and her sarcastic feline were her future.
“Sorry for the kerfuffle today.” Nigel Cummings slid into the chair next to Xandie and smiled sheepishly.
Sighing, Xandie nodded, not willing to put her drink down on the off chance he might leave. “It’s fine, Mr. Mayor. It’s over now, both the murder charge and my father’s attempt at helping me.”
“Of course. I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings with me presiding over the decision et cetera.”
“Part of your job, I guess. I’m glad it ended well. Although there are a few people, including your sister, who weren’t too pleased.”
Cummings waved her words away. “Irene likes rules and abhors chaos. Everything must be straight and narrow, no deviations. Her temper sometimes gets the better of her. Just ignore her grumpiness.”
“Sounds like my father. Maybe we should set them up?” Xandie smothered her snort. That would be a scary combination.
“Irene’s all about the job. She’s my father’s son. More than I am. He always wanted her in the family business. But he died, and she moved in with me.”
Family job? “Administration or politics?”
“Bit of both. She has the spine for it, but no patience. So here I am, the mayor of Point Muse.” He stood and extended his hand for a shake.
Xandie tried to place her cup down but missed the table and the contents splashed all over his extended hand. “I’m so sorry. Please, let me...” She grabbed napkins and mopped the mass of hot chocolate from his hand. Thankfully, it had cooled enough to not burn.
“No, no. It’s an accident. No need to worry.”
“It is my fault. I’m a natural klutz.” Xandie grabbed the mayor’s hand and taking care, wiped his ring. It looked like an old antique with Latin engraved around the outside and symbols edged in red inside.
The mayor yanked his hand away, looking embarrassed at her attention.
“I hope I haven’t ruined your ring. It looks like an antique.”
He jerked before forcing a laugh. “This? It’s too solid to be ruined. My father gave it to me, it passes down from father to son.”
“Oh, okay. Still hope I didn’t ruin it.”
He kept his hand with the ring behind his back and out of Xandie’s view. “All good I promise. Now, I must get going. I need to calm... err, speak to my sister. I’ll see you later.” The mayor sidled out of the bakery, keeping his hand hidden.
“What’s up with that?” Xandie pondered on his weird behavior. He acted like he was hiding his hand from her. She clicked her fingers—or hiding his ring. “Lila,” Xandie called out and rushed to the bakery counter. She leaned over, looking for her cousin.
“Why are you hanging over my counter?” Lila popped up right behind Xandie and scared her enough she nearly toppled right over. Grabbing the back of Xandie’s shirt, Lila tugged her back.
Xandie spun and shook her cousin. “Quick, I need paper and a pencil.”
“Wow, pushy much?” Lila grabbed a notepad and pen from the counter and shoved them at Xandie. “Is this a normal freak-out for you?”
Drawing a symbol on the paper, she showed it to Lila. “This was on the mayor’s ring. I spilled a drink on him and got a look at it when I cleaned him up.”
“So, you’re clumsy and you like jewelry on men. Why so worked up?”
“It’s the symbol. I’ve seen it before. I think it’s in the library. I need to get back and check it out. But it feels important.” Xandie knew she’d seen it before. She’d come across it in her shelving somewhere. “Does the family have any special supernatu
ral flavor?”
“As far as I know they’re both plain old humans, but I think I heard a rumor or two they might have a warrior as a descendant. But I’m not sure. Ask Theo or the library. They’re the experts.”
Nodding her thanks, Xandie waved goodbye to Lila and left. “I need to get back to the library pronto and give Theo the good news.”
Was talking to herself insanity? At least no one was around to report her to the council. Otherwise she’d be back in court in a flash.
“Good thing I’m here to oblige,” stated a voice behind her. “At the same time, we can discuss where the receipt is from Aaron’s garage. The one for a broken taillight for a green SUV?”
Almost no one. Zach Braun, bear shifter extraordinaire, closes in for the kill.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine walking back, Chief Braun. My stalker won’t want to pay to get the car fixed again so soon after their last tangle with me.”
“Nope, I insist.” Zach opened the car door and waved her in.
With no way to get out gracefully, Xandie gave in and slouched into the seat. Braun was about to grill her; she felt the flames already.
Starting the car, Braun navigated out of Point Muse, heading toward Xandie’s house. “Give me the receipt now and I don’t send you back to jail for impeding an investigation?”
“Fine,” Xandie huffed. “No point hiding it.” She grabbed the receipt out of her bra and laid it on the seat next to Braun. “There you go. I must have accidentally picked this up at the garage this morning.
Braun snorted. “When Holly had her traumatic tomato ketchup injury?”
Xandie winced. Put like that the whole incident looked a tad stupid and dangerous. “Holly caved, didn’t she?” The morgue was in the building next door to the police station and council chambers. Braun knew exactly what weak link to hit to get the information.
“Melted like a marshmallow. She could never keep a secret from me. I used to babysit her and my sister. I’ve known her for a long time. So, give me the details of the receipt.”
Rolling her eyes, Xandie grabbed the receipt and read it out. “One taillight cracked in a green SUV. Car leased to the Council. Paid by cash, council employee.”
“Who does the car belong to? Who paid for it?”
“Paid in cash, no name council employee. Could have been anyone taking it in for repairs. There’s a note the SUV is for council use only. That’s it.” The mayor looked better and better for the killer. Especially if she found information in the library about the ring. Might make his reasons for murder clear.
“Plenty of people who work the council.”
Xandie curled her lip. And he called himself an investigator. “Pretty sure a certain level of employee would only use this vehicle. I’m betting the number of people who drove it would be small.”
“And also, none of your business since you aren’t law enforcement. Stay out of this mess and away from Aaron and his garage too.” Braun pulled up in Xandie’s driveway and sat in the car with the engine running. “I’ll wait here until you give me the all clear.”
“You know it’s safe here, the library protects its own.”
“Didn’t protect your lawyer.”
“He wasn’t the library’s. But I get your point.” Xandie exited the car, unlocked her front door and peered around. Theo snoozed on the couch and she doubted he’d be calm if they had an intruder. She gave the thumbs up to Braun and he flashed his lights in response before heading off down the driveway.
Xandie leaned against the door and breathed in and out. Peace, at least for the moment. Or until she tracked down the killer. Speaking of the killer, she had a symbol to track down, but first a good strong cup of tea to balance her sugary overdose from earlier. She brewed a pot of Earl Gray and entered the library, ornate teacup in hand. She ducked just in time as a heavy scroll flew toward her. Another four scrolls fenced each other in the corner of the room and a pile of heavy tomes had arranged themselves like dominoes about to fall.
“What’s going on here?” Xandie swerved, as the dueling scrolls zoomed too close to her head for comfort. Tea sloshed in her teacup and Xandie placed the cup on her desk for safety. A loud bang above her head had her eyeing the ceiling worriedly. Instead of a hole and plaster falling on her, hundreds of little gold fairy lights twinkled on the ceiling like stars. “What’s up, library? This is manic even for you.”
“It’s trying to celebrate your win at the Council meeting and the fact you’re no longer a murder suspect.” Theo slunk past, swerving at the last minute before collapsing on Xandie’s feet.
The lights on the ceiling now took on a frenetic disco pace of twinkling.
Weird, but thoughtful. “Thanks, library. I’m happy to be here too.” She snatched the drawing she’d made at Lila’s bakery from her purse and held it up in the air. “Library, have you seen the symbol before?”
The twinkling lights froze and then winked out of existence one by one. The dueling scrolls dropped to the floor and the domino books fell backward onto the floor.
“Buzz kill.” Theo rolled off Xandie’s feet and vomited a fur ball, just missing her boots.
“Why? What’s wrong with the symbol?”
A scroll flew from a shelf to fall into Xandie’s hand. She unrolled it and right in the middle of the document was the same symbol as the mayor’s ring. She read the Latin from the outside of a seal. “Equis. Pura. Sanguis.” Xandie shuddered when she realized human skulls were engraved on the seal. In the center of the symbol was a bleeding red Templar cross. Superimposed over it was an upside-down triangle with lines and dots through the middle.
“Knights of the Pure Blood. Sanguis knights. The skulls represent humanity, the cross represents their beginnings with the Templars and the upside-down triangle is the alchemical symbol for blood. Why did you draw this?” Theo backed away from the drawing.
“In Lila’s bakery. I spilled drink over the mayor’s hand and when I mopped it up, I spotted the ring. Struck me as important so I copied the symbol down.”
“The ring passes from father to son as does the training. If the mayor of Point Muse has that ring, then he’s a knight of Sanguis…and your killer. He must have targeted Sera for the library and the other victims because they’re descended from supernaturals.” Theo arched his back and fluffed his fur until he resembled a giant black yarn ball with eyes.
Xandie slapped the drawing on the desk. Her tea surged over the top of the cup and pooled on the timber. “I knew it. I knew our killer was the mayor. He wanted the library and had access to Sera at the council meeting. Cummings owns the building where the police found the agent and he was at my house when the lawyer died. He’s the Knight. What do I do now?”
“You tell Braun and let him deal with it. It’s his job.”
Xandie shook her head. “He’ll never believe it’s the mayor. A pillar of the community? No, I need to speak to the girls and work out how to track and expose him.”
Theo blinked his cat eyes in disgust. “Xandie, that’s a horrible idea. Stay away from him. Go hide and let Braun take him down.”
Nibbling her lip, she paced the library. “Sera, Louise Maker and Mr. Essam were all killed, not me. I think he’s removing all barriers to his access of the land and the library. It would be too obvious to take me out now. I’ll be the last to go. That poor banker, Mr. Mitas might be next.”
“Mitas. What a hack,” Theo snorted.
“What’s wrong with Mitas?
“Once upon a time, his descendants were filthy rich, all wanted by the world for their gifts. Now all George has is a lust for gold and no gift to make it.”
“He has a supernatural need to collect gold?”
“He’s descended from King Midas. So that’s pretty much it.”
“Another supernatural. Exactly the mayor’s modus operandi. The banker’s next, we have to warn him.” Xandie grabbed her phone and googled the banker’s phone number. Thankfully, both the Internet and phone reception were working.
“That would be you, not we. Remember?” Theo pointed a paw to his mouth.
“Fine,” she mouthed as she tapped the number in and waited for someone to speak “Mr. Mitas, I know it sounds weird, but I have to warn you.”
“Who is this?”
“Xandie Meyers. I think someone will kill you. You need to get somewhere safe.”
“Librarian, leave me alone. In fact, I’m calling the Chief right now to tell him you threatened me.”
“No, please. This is important,” Xandie pleaded with the man, but he ignored her and hung up. “No gratitude there. I tried to save his life, now he’s reporting me to Braun. I can’t win.” Frustrated, Xandie picked her teacup up and sipped. “Blech.” She spat the bitter-tasting liquid out. The tea annihilated her taste buds. She dumped the cup onto the table. “Did you cough a fur ball into my tea?”
“Do I look like someone who vomits on command? What’s wrong with it?” Theo jumped up on the desk and sniffed. He drew back with a revolted expression. “It’s curdled. Gone off.”
“But that’s fresh milk. It can’t be curdled.”
“Hang on.” Theo took a running leap and flew, landing close to a shelf in a perfect ten-point jump. He shot his paw out and grabbed something that let out a high-pitched shriek, which threatened to burst her eardrums. Theo batted the figure around, only to let it escape toward Xandie.
Thinking it a mouse she leaped onto the chair, squealing.
Theo pounced again and bit the creature in half, spitting the head out like unwanted prey. “Imps. Hate those dirty hell-spawn.” The gray headless body wiggled for a moment before dissolving into ash.
“What in all hells is that?” Xandie pointed trembling finger at the pile of gray ash on the library floor.
“Exactly. Hell.” Theo pushed the pile around and sneezed a cloud of ash into the air.
She waved her hands around her head to neutralize the dead imp particles around her.