by Clara Cody
Something stirred in him. She worried about letting him down? “But you’re smart. Even if you didn’t have your powers, you would’ve been somebody. Anyone can see that. But me? Hell, even with my powers, I’m nobody. Like you said, just a low-level agent.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“You said it yourself!”
“And I was full of shit. You’re not just a low-level agent. You’re smart and charming. People like you, they trust you. That’s not something that you can learn from a book. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“You think I’m charming?” He raised an eyebrow. “Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a tight ass. You do have one, though.”
That got a smirk out of her, along with a shut-up and a playful smack on the arm.
“Be careful, I’m weak,” he said sticking out his bottom lip. “I bruise easier now.”
“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny.” She gently lifted up the corner of the steak, taking a peek underneath. She cringed, sucking in air through her teeth. “There isn’t much witch blood left in my family. I could barely make a decent potion when I first started learning. It took a lot of hard work to get where I am today. A lot of…sacrifices.”
He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of sacrifices she was talking about.
“But I’m lucky,” she said with a smile. “My sister doesn’t have enough power to light a match. Not that it stopped her from trying.” She laughed, the sound bringing a smile to Dane’s face. “She tried to levitate the cat once. Only worked on her tail, though.” She snorted. “So the cat walked around half the morning with its tail straight up in the air, and its back paws an inch off the ground. Pissed her off like nothing else. Bit the hell out of my sister’s ankles for years after.”
Dane snorted, shaking his head.
“Poor Boots. My sister didn’t try magic again after that.”
It was nice to hear her laughing. But it couldn’t distract from the hollowness he felt. He sat up, tossing the steak back on the plate she’d gotten from the hotel kitchen. In sitting back up, he felt something in his back pocket. Something hard. He reached in and pulled out a necklace. “What is this?”
“Oh…ugh…a ward.” She chewed her lip. “I made it last night. I mean, I was going to give it to you, I guess I just forgot.” She laughed, awkwardly. “Stupid me.”
“So, why is it in my pocket?”
“I…uh slipped in there before the fight. That’s when I—”
“When you kissed me?”
She nodded.
And here he’d been thinking that she actually just wanted to kiss him. Idiot. Of course not. Another ward. He was going to need all the wards he could get now that he was powerless. Fuck. “Thanks.”
“Look, I know this is a pretty shitty thing, but you can’t let it get you down.” She pulled him to his feet. “You just have to focus on other things. So, you can’t punch your way through your problems anymore? I say that’s a good thing! You just have to apply yourself.”
She was starting to sound like his high school football coach. She’d probably look better in those little red shorts he used to wear.
“You have to start using your brain instead of your fists. Your perseverance instead of brute strength. Your wit—”
“Okay, I get the point.”
“Good! Because I’ve been trying to get through all these books on shifters and witches and all that, but it’s too much for just me. I think if we split them up, you reading up on witches, and me reading up on shifters, we could find out something we didn’t know before.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want me to study?”
She scoffed. “I want to do some research.”
“Uh, that sounds lame.” He’d never been one to study, not even in the academy. Sitting down and reading just wasn’t his style. He tried a few times when he’d had big exams, but he’d always gotten distracted. And he wasn’t exactly in the mood for showing Sarah another one of his flaws. No, thanks. He needed something to do. Something proactive.
“Well, of course, it’s lame,” Sarah answered. “But it’s—wait, where are you going?”
He grabbed the car keys, stuffing them in his pocket. “I’m going to go talk to this warlock guy outside of town.”
She followed him, talking about how beneficial good, solid research was. Reading a moldy old book was the last thing he wanted to do.
The place was creepy. The warlock’s house was small and cramped, with small taxidermy animals all around them. There was something distinctly sickened about a stuffed fox staring at Dane from the corner with its glassy eyes. At the same time, there were ferns hanging from every corner of the room, and a potted plant on every surface. He didn’t know how so many plants could survive in such poor light. The house and Fredrick Easton himself smelled stuffy and a bit like stale smoke. Dane noticed Sarah’s body go rigid as soon as she laid eyes on Fredrick.
“Can I bring you folks something?” Fredrick asked.
“No,” Sarah answered almost too quickly. “We’re fine, thanks.”
“Okay, so what can I do for the Arcane Affairs Agency?” He had longish, brown hair that he tucked behind his ears. Small, round glasses sat low on his pointed nose.
“Are you aware of what’s been going on in Hill Haven the past few weeks? Shifters losing their powers.”
“Oh…uh, yeah, I think I heard something about that.”
Dane raised an eyebrow. “You think? Seems like big news to me. Stuff like that doesn’t exactly happen every day, does it? I’d think you’d remember.”
He shrugged, crossing his arms. “Can’t say that shifters are much of a concern to me, to be honest.”
Dane felt anger surge through him. Not much of a concern. “I wonder if it’ll be a concern if we take you in for questioning.”
The man blinked and sat straighter. “What? Am I under arrest?”
“No,” Sarah said, nudging Dane. “Of course not. We’re just here to ask a few questions. Don’t mind Dane, you know how passionate shifters can be. Not like us level-headed witches.” She winked at the man.
Thanks a lot, partner.
“We just need to know if anyone’s come in lately for spells or anything like that?”
“Lots. Lots of people come to me for spells.”
“What kind?”
He shrugged. “Love spells…wish, diet, illusion. All kinds.”
“Anyone from Hill Haven?”
“Not that I know of,” he said, shaking his head. “You want to see my receipts?”
There might be some credit card numbers they could run. “Yeah, hand them over,” Dane answered, roughly. Fredrick nodded and disappeared into the other room. “I don’t trust him.”
“Shh.”
“Why?”
She widened her eyes, giving him a shut up look.
Fredrick came back a few moments later with a stack of receipts. “Here you are. It’s the past couple of weeks. I think that’s all of them. I don’t know how much help they’ll be, but they’re all yours.” Fredrick made it sound like he was giving them a hand, doing them a favor. They could have a warrant here in twenty minutes, he had to know that. So why the act?
Sarah handed the light stack to Dane before laying into her questions again. “Do you know any of the victims? Melissa Burke? Andrew Turner? Do those names ring a bell?” She flashed him pictures.
“Uh, no. Can’t say that I do.” He shrugged. “Sorry.”
“That’s fine.” She took out her card and handed it to him. “In case you think of anything else, or you have any questions.” She smiled sweetly.
“Oh, well…” He chuckled. “That was fast.” He stood, looking clearly relieved.
“Hold on,” Dane said, cutting in. “I might have a few questions.”
She put a hand on his wrist, giving him another look. “No, I think we’re good here. Let’s go, Agent Landon.”
He scoffed. “Sure thing…Agent Hazelwood.”
Fredrick
showed them to the door. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help anymore. I do feel for those guys over there.”
“Oh, just one more thing,” Sarah said, turning just as she stepped out the door. She tapped herself on the forehead. “Silly me, I almost forgot.”
Fredrick leaned against the door frame. “Yeah?”
“What were you doing at the baseball game yesterday?”
He blinked and straightened, no longer looking as loose and relaxed as he had a minute ago. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
She smiled. “The baseball game in Hill Haven. What were you doing there?”
Dane hadn’t even realized that this guy had been there. And he’d scanned the crowd twenty times. How was it he didn’t recognize him?
“More importantly, what were you doing hiding in the woods?”
Dane suppressed a grin. Clearly, she’d been putting on a nice-guy act to get him to relax before laying this on him. Dane had to admit, he was impressed. He didn’t realize Sarah had it in her.
Fredrick swallowed, hard. “I—uh…”
Sarah just smiled, cocking her head to the side and waiting patiently.
Finally, he tossed his hands back in the air. “Fine. Maybe you should come back in a second.”
They followed him into a back room. There were shelves filled with small, glass vials and black stoppers, dried plants and bottles of glowing liquid. He plucked a vial off the shelf and tossed it to Dane.
“What the hell is this?”
“Truth potion,” Fredrick answered with a sigh. “Melissa Burke was here last week asking for that.”
“Did you sell it to her?”
“Of course. I had no reason not to. If she didn’t trust her boyfriend or best friend or whatever, it’s not my problem.”
“You didn’t mention this before.”
He sighed. “What does it matter? It’s just a truth potion…that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with it. I never fuck up a potion, trust me, and I have no reason to go after shifters. Hell, they’re half my business. Not that they’d ever admit it.”
Dane pulled out the small vial that they’d found in Melissa’s room. They matched perfectly. “All right, then,” he said, taking the top off. He held it towards Fredrick. “Prove it.”
He held his hands up. “Hey, man, I don’t—”
Dane insisted. “Here’s the problem, Freddy. You show up sneaking around a baseball game, and the next thing I know, I lose all my powers. So, now it's personal. Take it, or I’ll shove it down your throat.”
Fredrick looked at Sarah. “Are you just going—”
She crossed her arms. “You heard him.”
“Fuck.” He snatched the vial from his fingers, wiping his brow. “Okay, fine I’ll take it…but…I mean, just stay out of my private stuff, okay? I don’t want to go airing all my dirty laundry to a couple of strangers.” He blew out a puff of air and turned the vial over his mouth, letting the liquid dribble down onto his tongue.
Fredrick blinked once and then again, but more slowly.
Dane leaned towards Sarah. “How long does it take—”
“Not long,” Fredrick answered, looking a little woozy. He fell into a wooden chair, his arms limp.
“Holy shit, that’s some potent stuff.” Dane leaned over Fredrick, whose eyes were dilated. “What did you give Melissa?”
“I told you. Truth potion.”
“What were you really doing at the baseball game then?”
“I just heard the other day about Melissa…I didn’t know what happened. So, I wanted to talk to her friend. Find out what happened and…and protect myself. I didn’t want her bringing me into it. I don’t know if you noticed, but Hill Haven isn’t exactly the most magic-friendly of places.”
“Wait, a friend? Melissa came here with a friend?”
“She came in with some woman. Older, red hair.”
Sarah and Dane’s eyes connected. “Ollie,” he said. “What the hell would they be doing here together?”
“Did they mention what they wanted the potion for?”
Fredrick shook his head. “No. They just got it and got out. Fast. I think they needed it right away. Seemed like they were in a hurry.”
Sarah stood. “We need to talk to this Ollie friend of yours.”
“Yeah, but I just have one more question.”
Fredrick groaned. “What now?”
“What private stuff were you talking about that you didn’t want us to know about?”
“Oh, yeah…I’m into furries.”
“What? Like shifters?”
“No, not shifters. Like people dressing up in furry costumes. I don’t know why, but it really does something for me. I got boxes of stuff if you want to see.”
“Uh, no thanks,” Sarah answered. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
Chapter 12
Sarah’s heart pummeled the inside of her chest. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“Of course you can. It’s easy. Just give yourself free reign to be the biggest bitch you can be. Shouldn’t be that hard.”
“Hilarious. I’m serious, though, I’ve never been the bad cop. Or the good cop, for that matter.” Role playing was not her forte. But Dane was already on friendly terms with Ollie, so it made more sense for him to play the good cop. He made it sound so easy. Just be mean and jump on her for any reason, he’d said. Pretend she’s me. Ha, that wasn’t likely to help. Things like this were easy for Dane, though. Like with Fredrick before. She would never have imagined telling him to take the truth potion. It was totally against regulations. Sure, she’d backed him up, but she couldn’t have done it herself. She was going to fail miserably at this.
“You’ll be fine,” Dane said, putting a hand on her shoulder. It was as if he read her mind.
She felt herself soften at his touch. There was something comforting about him, she just wanted to melt right into him, press herself against his body.
He took her by the shoulders, his fingers kneading her tired muscles. “You can do it. Just be the bad bitch we both know you are.”
“Right. Bad bitch.”
“Yeah.” His hands moved down her arms. “You’re the toughest witch in the whole Agency. No one messes with you.”
“No one,” she repeated.
“And why’s that?”
“’Cause I’m a bad bitch.”
“Exactly!” He slapped her on the ass.
She blinked. Bad bitch! Before she knew it, her hand let loose, smacking him across the face. It was his turn to look stunned. Then, he smirked, his eyes raking her body.
“Come on, nice cop.” She turned on her heel, marching up the steps and pounded on the door. “Open up!” she shouted.
“Uh, okay,” Dane said, coming up behind her. “Let’s just try easing into it—”
The door opened up, a square-shouldered, red-haired woman stepping into the light. “Hello?”
“Hi,” Sarah practically shouted, hands on her hips.
The woman blinked, obviously not expecting Sarah’s bad bitchiness. “Dane? What’s going on?”
“Oh,” Sarah started, utilizing a serious neck-roll. “Wouldn’t you like to—”
Dane took her by the elbow and dragged her back. “Hi, Ollie, can we ask you a few questions quickly? Before my partner starts foaming at the mouth?”
“Uh, yeah, okay. Come in.”
“What?” Sarah asked under her breath.
“Take it down a notch. Jesus, you’re scaring me.”
“Right, sorry.”
They followed her to the kitchen where she sat at the round, wooden table. Dane sat down next to her while Sarah remained standing, her arms crossed.
“You want a drink or something?”
“We want answers!”
Dane took her by the wrist and pulled her into a chair. “No, thanks, we’re good.”
“Have I done something wrong, Dane? Your partner here looks like she’s about to curse me into oblivion.”
“No, n
o, don’t worry about her. You know how touchy and temperamental witches can be.” He gave her a cocky, take-that look. “Not like us level-headed shifters.”
Touche.
“Enough chit-chat,” Sarah said. “We talked to Fredrick Easton. He told us everything.”
Her face went pale. “Wh-what?”
Sarah leaped to her feet to tower over Ollie, placing her hands squaring on the table. “Oh, yeah,” she growled. “We know that you and Melissa went to see him right before she lost her ability. Odd you didn’t see fit to mention that earlier.”
“It’s not what you think—”
“Oh really? What am I thinking, then?”
Dane cut in. “Look, Sarah, I’m sure she didn’t keep it from us on purpose.”
“No,” she whimpered. “Of course not!”
“So, then just be straight with us. What were you doing there?”
“It was Melissa’s idea! She was going to get together with the mayor, have a meeting about this whole forest thing. We’ve been working together, you know? Planning protests and stuff like that. She had it in her head that he was up to something else. Like there was some back-alley deal going on or something. She thought if she could find out what it was, we might have a better chance of stopping it.”
“She was going to slip the mayor the truth potion?”
Ollie nodded. “I told her it wasn’t a good idea, but she was adamant about trying. Fredrick promised that the person would never know they were drugged, they would just feel a bit drunk, so I didn’t see any harm in trying.”
“Why didn’t you mention it to me before? We’ve wasted days here, Ollie. This would’ve helped.”
She nodded, tears springing to her eyes. “I know. I was just…scared, I guess. I thought maybe the mayor had found out and…and—”
“You think the mayor’s behind all this?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Please, you’re not going to arrest me, are you?”
Dane patted her on the shoulder. “No, Ollie, we aren’t.”
“Or are we?” Sarah said, slamming her hands on the table.
“Nope,” Dane said, taking her by the arm. “Thanks for your help. Better late than never.”