“No, and neither do you. Let me take care of lunch.” Sandy pulled out her phone. “Alex, can you run over to the Clam Shack for me? We want two large orders of fish and chips. Bring them over to the Bewitching Bedlam—yes, Maddy’s place. Also, two side salads and two cups of clam chowder.” She paused. “Why not? Rolls sound good too. And love, if you could make that order stat, there’s a twenty-dollar tip in it for you.”
Alex was Sandy’s personal assistant. Sandy was independently wealthy. Her ex owned a four-star hotel and restaurant, and together, they had parlayed that into a chain of upscale eateries before Bart came out and found his soul mate in a twenty-two-year-old waiter.
After they divorced, the pair remained friends. Sandy was the CEO and on the board of directors of the corporation, and the divorce settlement was more than fair. She spent most of her time in private study and volunteering for several local charities. She also volunteered for the local literary foundation and ran book drives to buy new books for low-income children.
She tucked her phone back in her pocket. “Lunch is on the way. Now, why don’t you go wash your face and I’ll make us a couple of hot rum toddies.”
“Not all problems can be solved with a drink,” I said, but grinned. We had been party-hearty buddies for a long time and I didn’t foresee that stopping any time soon. “Make mine spiced, okay?”
As I retreated to the powder room, I thought about Ralph. Could he actually be behind Rose’s murder? Was he so mad at me that he would kill in order to save the Heart’s Desire Inn? But that didn’t make sense. Even if I cut into his business, he and his brothers offered plenty of services that I didn’t—and I never planned to. There were other hotels and motels on the island. It wasn’t like I was the only upstart. Ralph hadn’t gone off at them.
But—they weren’t just a hop and a skip from his inn. And what if his business was already on the decline? The economy didn’t offer as much incentive for travel lately. And suppose some of the Pretcom visitors were here on official business? It would look better to their superiors to stay at a respectable bed and breakfast than at what amounted to an orgiastic brothel. Really, when you got down to the core of matters, the Heart’s Desire was one giant lovely brothel for both men and women.
Shaking my head, I tried to clear my thoughts. There were too many variables. I needed to let it go until I knew more. And knowing more included finding out all I could about Rachel. A flash of jealousy raced through me. She was a gorgeous drop-dead blond bombshell. Somehow, I hadn’t thought of Aegis as preferring that type, but really, what did I know about his past?
Trying to wash away my worries, I splashed water on my face, taking care not to smear my eyeliner. As I headed back in to the kitchen, it struck me that the afternoon was going to feel like it lasted forever, with sunset a world away.
ALEX BROUGHT OUR lunch and Sandy made me sit down to eat. I wanted to gobble down the food and then head over to the sheriff’s office to find out what was going on with Ralph, but Sandy sternly shook her finger at me and backed me into a chair.
Capitulating, I tried to relax and enjoy the food.
“I wonder if Delia took care of notifying Rose’s family yet.” Sandy poked at her fish with her fork.
“I hadn’t even thought about her family. That makes me feel horrible. I’m a selfish person, Sandy.” I felt like a heel. Here I was, concerned about how all this affected me when I should be thinking about Rose’s family. They had to be going through hell right now. “Should we call them?”
“I’d ask Delia first. We don’t want to spring it on them before they’ve been notified. We can go visit them afterward.” Sandy frowned as I pulled out my phone. “Put that away. We can ask her after lunch. Right now you just sit and eat and try to keep yourself from obsessing.”
“Easier said than done.” I glanced at the clock. It was almost one o’clock. “This sucks. The only thing I had to worry about the other day was what style sofa I should buy. Grand opening’s coming up in less than ten days and I still have to furnish half the house. Then one of our coven-mates is found murdered on my lawn, my boyfriend suddenly has an ex-girlfriend who might—or might not—be back in town and out to steal him back. And a bunch of horny satyrs are trying to shut down my business by badmouthing me all over the internet.”
“We could try to do a Divining spell on Miss Rachel. If you like.” Sandy cocked an eyebrow at me. I knew that look. She was egging me on.
“I like how you think.” I grinned at her. “We do have several hours before sunset, so we can’t very well ask Aegis for help right now. And Delia told us not to call her until she has something for us.” I popped a French fry in my mouth, contemplating the idea. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. “Why not? What have we got to lose?”
Bubba leaped up on my lap. “Mrowf.”
I looked down at him, ruffling the fur on his head. “No, you cannot help.”
“M’rrow…m’rrow.” He was being awfully insistent, but the last thing we needed was a cjinn messing around with our magic. Our spells were volatile enough without his help.
“No, you are not allowed in Circle. Sorry, Bub, I love you but no matter how much you play the sympathy card, you’re not invited.”
“Mmmf.” He twitched his tail, flicking it hard against the table. Then, with a deliberately snide look at me, he stretched up so his front paws were by my plate, grabbed a piece of fish, and darted off my lap, racing around the corner into the living room.
“Hey—” I stopped. It wasn’t worth the chase. He’d have scarfed down the food before I could catch him, and it seemed a fair consolation prize.
“You spoil him.”
“If he was just a cat, yes, I’d say he’s spoiled. But remember, beneath that fuzzy smirk lies a very twisted sense of humor. Bubba likes getting his own way and when he doesn’t, he tries to find a way to repay you. A piece of stolen fish is a small price for refusing to let him in on our Circle. Now, if you’re serious about this, let’s finish lunch and get busy. It’s a whole lot better than just sitting around waiting.”
Casting a Divining spell didn’t offer too many chances for backfiring. Besides, I rather liked taking things into my own hands and the idea of being proactive was always high on my list.
We cleared away the dishes and headed into the parlor, where I shut the door to keep Bubba out. Sandy cleared off the coffee table while I gathered a white candle, a bowl of water that had been charged under the new moon, a crystal ball, and some sea salt. After we arranged everything, Sandy tossed a handful of the salt into the water while I touched the wick of the candle with my finger and whispered, “Light,” igniting a steady flame. Sandy cast a quick Circle to keep any astral eavesdroppers from peeking in, as I leaned over the bowl and blew across it.
Breath to water, water to mirror,
Bring that we seek to see so clear.
Sandy sat beside me, leaning in to watch. As the water began to churn into miniature waves throughout the crystal bowl, I brought the image of Rachel’s face to my mind and narrowed my attention, focusing only on her.
I seek to know all that I can,
About a specific woman.
Mirror, mirror, water-born,
Hear me and inform.
Then, letting out a long breath, I held my palm over the bowl. The water calmed into a smooth, glassy surface, reflective like any mirror. I pulled my hand back and we waited, watching for any sign of a message.
A moment passed, then another, before finally things began to shift. Rachel’s face formed in the water, and then vanished, followed by the image of an old gothic house on the other side of town. Both Sandy and I immediately recognized it.
I groaned. “I do not want to go there.”
“I don’t either.” Sandy frowned. “Ask the mirror if that’s the only chance we have to find out what we need.”
I frowned, trying to fit the question to a rhyme. The Divining spell worked in
rhymes and only rhymes. You could make a near rhyme and get away with it, but if it wasn’t a poem, the mirror wouldn’t cough up any info.
Mirror, mirror, you show a house,
Is this the only route we can,
Find out about this louse,
Who once dated my man?
Sandy snorted. “Wow. Such eloquence.”
“I never claimed to be a poet. You make up something, if you don’t like it. Anyway, it’s not like we’re doing a formal incantation. Spells on the fly always come out wonk—” I stopped, motioning for her to be quiet. The mirror was stirring again, revealing yet another image. This time it was of a woman that both of us recognized and neither of us really wanted to see.
“Crap,” Sandy said. “Looks like you have a visit to make.”
“I’m debating whether it’s worth it, especially since Franny said Rachel didn’t like Essie very much.” Paying a visit on Essie Vanderbilt, the vampire queen of the Pacific Northwest, was the last thing I wanted to do.
Essie lived in a mansion that was reminiscent of the Addams Family house and basically held court from there. Her court was subject to the laws of Bedlam, however, and unlike a number of vampire courts around the nation, Linda, the High Priestess of our coven, kept a strict eye on Essie and her vamps. As vampires went, Essie didn’t seem a bad sort, but she liked to play up the ghoulish aspects of her people and always seemed to be skirting just to the right side of the law. There were occasional skirmishes, but Essie always made sure they never quite broke the treaties they had with Bedlam.
“Aegis isn’t going to like it if I go visit her. For one thing, he doesn’t like her. He told me he thinks she’s a pretentious ass. For another, he said that—as far as he knows—while they tend to keep up appearances, Essie isn’t as upstanding as the cops want to believe.”
Sandy gave me a keen look. “If the vamps aren’t keeping to their treaties, they really shouldn’t be allowed to live here. Did you ask Aegis if he talked to Linda about this?”
I gave her a long look. “What do you think? I’m pretty sure if he did, Essie would find some way to take revenge on him for selling her out. I don’t blame him in the least for wanting to keep his mouth shut.” But even as I said it, I realized I was crossing a line. If Essie was involved in shady dealings, Linda needed to know, and so did Delia.
“You really don’t mean that, do you?” Sandy paused, then, worrying her lip, continued. “I’m going to say something and you aren’t going to like it. You let Craig beat you down and change you. You were with him less than ten years and you ended up knuckling under to a blowhard human. And I do mean blowhard. You just rediscovered your core, Maddy. You can’t let this happen again. Even though Aegis is a vampire and not a human, you have to stick up for yourself and your beliefs this time. Don’t let him push you into anything that isn’t comfortable.”
She was right—I didn’t want to hear it. But she was also right in that I needed to avoid falling into the same trap. I had been at a real low point when I met Craig and he took advantage of me. And I had let it happen.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It really stings to hear you say that. But you’re also right about the fact that I have to watch myself. I will say this, though. Aegis has never asked me to cover up anything. He implied that Essie isn’t quite as aboveboard as she seems but he’s never said anything outright. I’m the one who didn’t pursue it. I guess it’s easier not to know something and therefore not be responsible for that knowledge. I’ll talk to him later tonight. We have to get all this out in the open. But I think I should pay a visit to Essie first. The mirror’s pointing us in that direction and it seldom gives wrong advice.”
Sandy took my hands. “Maddy, you once were the terror of both villages and the vampires that preyed on them. You were a force that nobody wanted to cross. I’m not asking you to become Mad Maudlin again. But you can’t swing to the opposite side of the pendulum. You can’t let yourself avoid conflict because you’re afraid of who you once were. You can be strong, you can rule your life the way you want to without losing control.”
As I gazed into her eyes, I said, “This is why you’re my best friend. You’ve always been there for me, Cassandra. And you were by my side when we went hunting.”
Sandy had been Cassandra during those dark days. She was as wild and rough as I was, and together with Fata Morgana, we hunted down the fiends that were threatening to take over the country, even as we played at crossroads with the witch hunters. We partied harder than all the gods combined. Finally, we decided to come to America. Sandy came west first, and she was the reason I followed. While she settled in Bedlam, I had chosen Seattle.
“Okay. I know you’re right. I’ll let Mad Maudlin off her leash. Just a little bit.” I grinned at her. “Maybe a touch of her craziness is just what the modern world needs. Is just what I need.”
“Good.” Her eyes sparkled. “And don’t worry. If I see you swinging too far, I’ll let you know. Now, let’s get over to Essie’s before Aegis wakes up and tries to argue you out of the idea. I need to stop at the post office first, anyway.”
As I shrugged into my coat, I wondered about the wisdom of approaching Essie before I talked to Aegis, but impatiently brushed it away. Either way, I needed to know what I was up against. And if he was angry at me for checking up on his ex-girlfriend, then he’d better have a good explanation for why she was in town. As we headed out the door, I tossed one of Bubba’s toys into the living room for him.
“Bub, I’m headed out. Keep an eye on the place for me.”
“Mrowf” was all Bubba had to say in return.
Chapter 6
THE POST OFFICE was slammed. By the time we got through the line, Sandy thought of a couple of other errands she needed to run. When we finally pulled into Essie’s driveway, it was already four-thirty. The sun had set and the winter dusk gave the estate a desolate air. It wasn’t the same sense of abandonment that my own home had given off when I first set eyes on it. No, Essie’s house was deliberately set to look foreboding. If I didn’t know that a vampire lived inside, along with her other nest-mates, I would have pegged the place as the haven of an emo-goth family, overdone and melodramatic. But given that the occupants had the bite—literally—to back up the bark, I decided to keep my opinion to myself.
“So, Essie’s lair.” Sandy stared at the house as I cut the motor and leaned back in my seat.
“Yeah. You ever been here?” I felt like a kid in a movie who was about to be dared into throwing stones at the creepy old lady’s house.
“Do you think I’d keep it from you if I had?” She eyed the place, sounding nervous now that we were here. “They say Essie’s freakshow scary.”
“That’s what they used to say about me, doll.” I stared at the house. Making up my mind, I opened my door and stepped out into the drifting snowbanks. Apparently, Essie didn’t believe in shoveling her walkway. Of course, given how many visitors voluntarily showed up here, I doubt if she had to worry about lawsuits.
Sandy reluctantly joined me. The yard was fenced, and a gate opened onto the sidewalk leading up to the house. The whole place had an air of desolation, but I had a suspicion it was contrived and not out of neglect. The trees loomed over the mansion—they needed a good trimming and I suppressed a snort. Essie wouldn’t appreciate the shadows they provided if one of them came down on her roof. By the looks of the branches, none of them had been trimmed in a long time, and it was doubtful she had hired an arborist to check the stability of their roots.
Sandy pushed close to me. “You think she likes being a vampire?”
“I think we can make bank on that.” Skirting the worst of the snow piles on the pathway, we finally reached the porch. The steps were icy and I began to wonder just how much of a test this was. A You really want to visit me? Prove it sort of thing.
When we were finally standing in front of the door of the plantation-style house, I glanced at Sandy. Sh
e looked even less thrilled than I was to be here. It wasn’t like Essie could hurt us. She knew that her vampire nest was on watch. But she could make life uncomfortable.
“All right, let’s do this.” I looked for a doorbell, but there was only a gargoyle knocker. Shaking my head—the woman was a walking stereotype—I lifted it and knocked. The concussion echoed from within, a thudding noise that reverberated through the heavy door, making it sound like I was using a battering ram. I waited for a moment, then knocked again.
“Nobody’s home, let’s go,” Sandy said, sounding gleeful.
But at that moment, the great door swung open. A butler, of all people, studied us gravely, then gave a little bow, just enough to show respect. “May I help you?”
“My name is Maudlin Gallowglass and this is Cassandra Clauson. We’re from the Moonrise Coven and we need to speak with Essie.” I decided it was a good time to stand on formality here. Sandy flashed me a quick grin, then cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders.
“Certainly. I’ll tell the mistress you’re here. Please follow me.” He stepped back, ushering us into a gloom-ridden parlor replete with heavy velvet drapes and dark, boxy furniture. I had the feeling I’d stepped back two hundred years in time, given the mood of the room. “Please wait here and do not venture into the rest of the house. We have a few younger members who aren’t fully trained in their manners yet.” And with that dire warning, the butler vanished, shutting the door behind him. I heard the faint click of a lock.
“Think he’s locking us in for our own safety?” I asked.
“I don’t really want to find out,” Sandy said. She shook her head, turning slowly. “I feel like we’ve landed in the worst B-movie ever. I mean, really, this might have been the fashion in eighteenth-century Scotland out on the windswept moors, but give me a break. Unless Essie’s a closet goth girl.”
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