Deadly Spells

by Jaye Wells

  The scent of old sweat and ozone filled the air. The sweat was a relic from the old days, but the ozone was a sign that someone was cooking potions.

  “We’re back,” I called. “And we brought dinner.”

  “In here,” a muffled voice responded.

  Morales walked toward his desk, which butted up against the boxing ring. I set down the food and detoured toward the lab. But before I reached it, a loud popping noise exploded from the area. A plume of purple smoke curled toward the ceiling and was accompanied by the sound of coughing.

  I ran the rest of the way. Behind me, the sound of Morales’s boots striking the wooden floor planks echoed as he followed.

  I skidded into the doorway in time to see my little brother, Danny, turn. Large goggles covered the top half of his face, but the bottom half was all smiles. “Hey, Kate!”

  “What happened?” I demanded.

  Kichiri Ren, our team wizard, turned to look at me. The members of the team called him Mez, which was short for Mesmer. He wore a white lab coat over his vintage vest and slacks. He pushed a pair of goggles up off his face and onto his dreadlocks, which were studded with various charms and amulets. He was the only Asian man I’d ever seen with dreads, but somehow he pulled them off. He coughed and waved his hands to dissipate the purple smoke. “Everything’s under control.”

  I shot him a skeptical look. “That’s the second explosion today.”

  “Third,” Danny corrected.

  I raised a brow at Mez, who cringed. “There was a slight mishap while you guys were gone.”

  “Cool, right?” Danny grinned. He pushed his own goggles back. Sweat and potion residue formed an outline where the protective eyewear had been. The effect made him look younger than his sixteen years, especially when paired with the excitement making his eyes shine like a little kid’s on Christmas morning.

  “Everyone okay?” Morales said at my shoulder.

  Mez shrugged. “I’m teaching him how to actively charge a Spagyric tincture. He just charged it a little too much.” He clasped Danny on the shoulder as if he was proud of him. “I’m telling you, Kate, the kid’s got some mojo.”

  Danny’s smile was so proud, I felt the corner of my own mouth turn up in response. “ ’Course he does,” I said. “He’s a Prospero.”

  For the last five months, Mez had been teaching my little brother the ins and outs of cooking clean magic. After months of Danny needling me about wanting to learn magic, I’d only relented when Mez agreed to be the one to teach him. Even though I was also an Adept, my specialty was dirty magic, but I didn’t want Danny anywhere near that kind of knowledge. I was hoping that learning the clean side of the Arcane arts would distract the kid from wanting to learn the old family business.

  “Just be sure not to blow up the building, okay, Danny?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

  “How’d it go with Duffy?” Mez busied himself putting on thick rubber gloves and cleaning up the mess while we spoke.

  I leaned against the doorway and looked at Morales. He blew out a breath and answered. “The good news is someone killed a major player in the Votary Coven.”

  Mez paused from cleaning to look up. “How is that the good news?”

  “Because the bad news is Duffy is fighting to keep the case all to himself,” I said.

  “Why’d he ask you to come, then?” Danny demanded.

  I shot my little brother a warning look. He’d been hanging around enough that he clearly considered himself a member of the team, which he absolutely was not. I pulled a dollar out of my pocket. “Why don’t you go buy a soda in the locker room?”

  A flare of rebellion flashed on his face, but I hardened my look enough to let him know any arguments would have consequences he wouldn’t like. “Fine,” he muttered. As he passed, he snatched the bill from my hand but refused to look at me.

  I glanced back at Mez, who deadpanned, “Why’d he ask you to come, then?”

  “I heard that!” a pouty voice called from the other side of the gym.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Some days I wondered which one of us was more likely to survive Danny’s teenage years. Every day it looked more and more like I’d be the big loser, which was curious seeing how I was the one legally permitted to carry weaponry. “He said it was professional courtesy,” I said, ignoring the moody teen, “but really he needed me to identify his vic for him.”

  Mez made a disgusted sound. “I’ll never understand why Eldritch made Duffy head of the Cauldron murder squad. The guy doesn’t know dick about coven politics.”

  “Exactly,” Morales said. “Which is also why he refused to listen when we warned him that the covens might use Charm’s death as an excuse to start a war.”

  “Who’s Charm?”

  I crossed my arms in an effort to corral the emotions swirling in my chest. “He’s been running what’s left of the Votary Coven since Abe went to Crowley.”

  Mez tilted his head. “You knew him?” I nodded, trying to appear dismissive, but Mez saw through it. “I’m sorry, Prospero.”

  I shrugged. “It was a shock but not exactly a surprise. Dirty living usually leads to a dirty death, you know?” Even though I believed the words I’d spoken, it didn’t lessen the emotions I was struggling with. The truth was, Charm’s death had brought up a lot of memories I usually kept under lock and key. Seeing him dead had taken me right back to the night I’d found out my mom had died. Grief was like that sometimes, snagging individual strands of your life and tangling them until you can’t remember what’s immediate and what’s past.

  Luckily, both men seemed to accept my comment about Charm’s death being inevitable and moved on.

  “You call Gardner?” Mez asked.

  “She’s on her way in now,” Morales said. “She sounded relieved to have an excuse to leave the ball.”

  “You mind keeping the kid busy for a little longer?” I asked Mez. “I need to call Baba to see if she can come get him.” Baba was an elderly witch who used to be our neighbor. But about a month ago, she’d moved in with us after she’d missed a couple of rent payments and almost been evicted. It had taken some convincing, but I’d eventually talked her into living with us rent-free in exchange for all the help she gave me with Danny.

  “I don’t mind dropping him off once we’re done cleaning up,” Mez said.

  I checked my watch. It was already close to nine, which meant Baba was already in bed reading one of her romance novels. “If you don’t mind, that would be a huge help.”

  “It’s no problem,” he said. “It’s on my way anyway.”

  Right then Danny returned with his soda. “What’d I miss?”

  Morales ruffled his hair. “Boring cop stuff.”

  Danny looked up at my partner and grinned. “Please, nothing you guys do is boring.”

  I snorted to cover my brief spurt of jealousy. If I’d tried that buddy-buddy stuff with Danny, he would have yelled at me for embarrassing him and then refused to speak to me for days. But Morales and Mez could do no wrong in the kid’s eyes because, unlike me, they were cool. Asses.

  “We brought burgers if you’re hungry,” I said.

  “Where from?” Danny asked, his tone suspicious.

  “Burger Shack.”

  The kid’s eyes rolled so hard he probably saw the back of his brain. “Mickey’s is better.”

  Morales shot me a smirk. “Told you.”

  “It’s also on the other side of town,” I said pointedly. “No one’s gonna force you to eat it.” I turned on my heel and left all three males staring after me. I could practically hear the three of them share silent looks that said “Chicks, man,” as I walked away.

  I grabbed a burger from the bag and took it back to my desk. A stack of file folders sat next to the typewriter I’d abandoned when Duffy’s call had come in a few hours earlier. At the time, I’d been eager to leave the reports behind in favor of actual police work.

  When I’d joined the Mag
ic Enforcement Agency, I thought life would be a nonstop ass-kicking party. While our most recent bust of a cosmetics ring that sold illegal vanity potions to rich ladies had been successful, it hadn’t exactly gotten my heart racing. The last time we’d really gotten our hands dirty had been last October’s Babylon Bomber case. The perp then had been a real nut job who thought he was the god Dionysus. He’d tried to kill Morales and me before blowing up a dirty magic bomb over the city. I didn’t exactly enjoy people trying to kill me, but I did savor the adrenaline rush of the grittier cases. That’s why I’d been excited when Duffy called. That feeling had only intensified once I’d found out it was Charm who had been killed and realized what was at stake.

  Morales strolled up to my desk. He shoved a few of my fries into his mouth. “You okay?”

  I looked up at him. “Yeah.”

  But even as I spoke the words, my mother’s face appeared in my mind. She was smiling and pulling on her coat. Telling me she had to run an errand, but she’d be back before Danny woke up from his nap. Before she walked out the door, her eyes had been bright. “Thing’s are looking up for us, Katie. I just know it.”

  If Morales saw the lie in my eyes, he decided not to comment. That’s one of the things I liked about Morales. He’d let me talk when I was ready, and if I was never ready he’d accept that, too. He grabbed a handful of fries. “How you wanna play this with Gardner?”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but the sound of a door opening interrupted, followed by the click-clack of shoes on the steps. A cold breeze whooshed through the gym a moment before Special Agent Miranda Gardner appeared at the top of the steps.

  Instead of rising to greet her, I froze in my chair with my mouth hanging open. Gardner was usually one for sensible business suits and low-heeled shoes, but that night she wore a long gown in a modest navy hue, which was jazzed up by a sheer overlay dotted with beads and crystals. I wasn’t sure if it was the formfitting silhouette of the dress or the fact she was wearing makeup that surprised me more.

  A low whistle carried over from the direction of the lab. “Lookin’ good, sir!”

  Gardner’s smoky eyes narrowed as she turned an ice-queen look at Mez. The wizard put his hands up and backed away. Without a word, she kicked off her ridiculously high heels and padded angrily across the worn wooden floors toward Morales and me.

  As she approached, her glare dared us to comment on her appearance. My partner cleared his throat and stood straighter. “Evening, sir,” he muttered.

  She tipped her chin quickly. “My office.”

  I rose from my seat and exchanged a wide-eyed look with my partner. He shook his head. “Here we go,” he said under his breath.

  I walked into the office first. Gardner was standing in profile behind her desk. As I watched, she spread open the high slit on her skirt and unbuckled her thigh holster. “Thank Christ. That thing’s been chafing me all night.” She looked up and saw me in the doorway with Morales looming at my back. “Well, come in.”

  We spilled through the door and took the two chairs facing the metal desk. A sign on the desk reminded us that our boss would tolerate no bullshit before five p.m. It was well after five, but I was pretty sure she didn’t want any bullshit right then, either.

  She finally dropped into her seat. “All right, so,” she said, looking back and forth between us, “after you filled me in on the phone, I’ve been thinking about how to approach this.” She pulled her sparkly earrings from her ears and tossed them on the desk next to her Glock. “Duffy didn’t report what was happening to Eldritch, so we have some time.”

  “How do you know Duffy didn’t call him?” I asked.

  “I was at his table,” she said with all the joy of a woman who’d spent her night with people she couldn’t stand. “He didn’t get any calls.”

  “That’s good,” Morales said. “We have some time, then.”

  Gardner pressed her lips together. “I’m not sure this is a hill we want to die on, guys.”

  I frowned. “How do you figure?”

  “When I left the party, Eldritch was smoking a cigar and drinking Scotch with the mayor. It’s looking more and more like Chief Adams will be promoted to commissioner, which means Eldritch is campaigning hard-core for the position.”

  I sighed. “Never mind that Duffy is the last person who should be leading a case involving the covens.”

  Gardner nodded. “Agreed.”

  “So what are we going to do?” I asked.

  She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “The mayor wouldn’t be too happy for his first week in office to be remembered as the start of a coven war. I could play that angle with Eldritch.” She tapped her fingers on her desktop as she thought it over. “Didn’t Duffy say he has a witness?”

  Morales nodded. “He was sent to Babylon General.”

  Gardner sucked on her teeth. “Well, start there. If we can gather enough evidence pointing to a coven hit, Eldritch will have to give us the case.”

  I went still. “Sir, you want us to interview Duffy’s witness?”

  She raised a brow. “Is that a problem?”

  “It’s not exactly kosher to horn in on Duffy’s witness before he’s had a chance to talk to him.”

  “I thought you wanted this case?” she demanded.

  “I do—it’s just, if Eldritch finds out, any chance of cooperation will go down the drain.”

  She leaned forward. “Do you think Eldritch would hesitate to interview one of our witnesses if he thought it would benefit him? I know this is tricky for you since you technically still report to Eldritch, but if we delay we’ll risk any chance of gaining traction on stopping the coven war.”

  I sighed. “Easy for you to say. If he finds out I went behind Duffy’s back, he’ll fire me.”

  “I’ll handle Eldritch.” She laughed bitterly. “You just get me some evidence to strengthen our case when I talk to the captain tomorrow.”

  “She’s right,” Morales said to me. “If we want in on this, we’re going to have to fight for it.”

  Gardner tipped her chin to acknowledge his support. “Just be sure you keep the MEA out of it at the hospital. Since Prospero is technically still a BPD detective, use her badge to show credentials. I don’t want someone calling Duffy and him tattling to Eldritch.”

  I clenched my teeth. Since I shared a last name with one of the most famous coven leaders in Babylon, I wasn’t exactly incognito in the Cauldron. Once I flashed my badge, someone would notice the name and remember it if Duffy came sniffing around for answers. “I just want to go on record that I still think this is a bad idea.”

  “Noted,” Gardner said. “Now, get out of here and find me something I can use against Eldritch.”

  Chapter Three

  At the hospital we went straight to the information desk on the main floor. We had next to no information about the witness, so we decided Morales would work his charm on the nurse to get a room number.

  The woman behind the desk was in her late forties with graying hair, wrinkles around her mouth that hinted at a lifelong love affair with nicotine, and a voice like steel wool. “Help you?”

  Morales leaned an elbow on the counter. “Hi there, Donna,” he said, reading her name tag. “One of our witnesses was brought in a little bit ago, but we don’t have his room number.”

  “Need to see a badge.”

  Morales shot me an expectant look. I pulled back the edge of my leather jacket to flash the badge clipped to my waistband. Donna held out her hand. With a sigh, I removed it and handed it over.

  “Where’s yours?” she said to Morales.

  “Forgot it in the car,” he said with a rueful grin. “I could go get it, but it’ll take a few minutes since we had to park in the remote lot.”

  Donna pressed her lips together. “What’s the patient’s name?”

  My partner flashed some teeth. “Our buddy asked us to come talk to the witness but he didn’t give us a name.”

  She crossed her arms and
gave him a schoolmarm don’t-bullshit-me frown. “Why don’t you call your buddy and find out the name?”

  “It’s a sensitive case, Donna.” Morales leaned farther over the counter to whisper. “Murder. Our detective friend is busy informing the deceased’s family, and we’re on somewhat of a time crunch. You understand.”

  Donna’s right eyebrow arched up like a pissed-off cat. “Oh, I understand.”

  Realizing that Morales’s plan to charm the woman was crashing and burning, I pushed in next to him. “Detective Prospero.”

  Her expression changed. “Kate Prospero?”

  “Yeah,” I said slowly.

  “I saw you on the news a few months back. You’re a real hero.”

  Beside me, Morales grumbled, “I was on the news, too.”

  I nudged him with my elbow. “I was just doing my job, ma’am. Which is what we’re trying to do right now, too. It would be a huge help if you could see if there was a homeless man brought in about two hours ago. He would have arrived by ambulance.”

  “Oh!” Her eyes widened. “You mean Hot Pocket.”

  I shot Morales a look, but he shrugged, as if he couldn’t make sense of it, either. “Hot Pocket?” I asked.

  “His real name’s Dale Schmidt, but ’round here we call him Hot Pocket.”

  “Why is that?”

  “You don’t want to know.” She smiled like the Mona Lisa. “Anyways, he was brought in about the time you said. According to my friend in the ER, he was mumbling something about a dead body.”

  “That’s probably him, then,” Morales said. “Do you have a room number?”

  She typed something into her computer for a moment. While she looked it up, I turned to Morales. “Hopefully he’s had enough time to sober up so he can shed some light on what happened.”

  Donna snorted. I shot her a questioning glance, but she kept her eyes on the screen. “What?” I asked.

  She looked up then. “Oh, sorry. It’s just Hot Pocket’s a professional potion freak. He’s never totally sober. But I’m sure he’ll be as helpful as he’s able.” She looked back down at the screen, but an amused smirk hovered on her crepe-paper lips.