“Doesn’t mean we can’t be good allies and friends—if not more. Our dating pool isn’t as massive as humans have. You might like my brother better. I couldn’t let him marry a gypsy, anyway,” Bran said.
“Let him?” I asked.
“Strong magical families have to keep their powers strong. Bring in power, not eccentricity.”
“You’re already rich and powerful,” I shot back.
“Riches can be invested, built on, preserved and grown. Power, magical power, is individual. A weak wife would hurt him,” Bran replied casually.
“Then, you don’t know much about gypsies. Many of them have the sight. Visions of the future, and the curse of a gypsy witch is one of the hardest to break. Just because they don’t socialize with your kind doesn’t mean you should underestimate me or my gypsy cousins.”
“You said you weren’t a gypsy,” he said.
“I’m not. But my uncle is, and that means I have extended family that is. I’ve known many of them all my life. I might not be as strong as you, but I know gypsy magic that you’ve never even heard of.” I smiled and picked up a cup from the counter.
Brad handed Bran his coffee, as well.
“You’ve intrigued me. We’ll have plenty to talk about over dinner. I’ll pick you up Friday at seven. I wish I could help more with your human problem, but it’s not my area. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Thanks. See you then. And you don’t have to take me to a ball. I’m sure you have another woman you’d rather take to something that fancy.” I had to wiggle out of that.
He leaned in and smiled. “You take me to the gypsy wedding, and I’ll take you to the fancy magical ball. You’re fascinating, even if you want to get rid of me. You’ll see at the ball that quality dating material in the witching world is very hit or miss.”
“Rid of you? It depends how narrow-minded you really are. I like humans and gypsies. I just can’t believe Esme put you up to this. It’s not fair to ask you to give up your social life,” I explained.
“I see you as more of an expansion to my social life. Until Friday.” He took his coffee and left.
“Men,” I grumbled.
Chapter 19
The next morning, I came down to the coffee shop level to find Mr. O’Conner sitting at a table. It was barely six in the morning. He sipped a black cup of coffee. I gave Brad a look, and he just shrugged.
I walked up to our favorite protester. “Everything okay, Mr. O’Conner?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “The police called me last night. I’m sure they’ll call you, too, but I wanted to let you know I’m done. They confirmed that my wife died of natural causes. Her body just shut down. Looks like it started in her brain, but her heart gave out about the same time. They think it was a stroke. Either way, it was natural. I’m sorry I couldn’t face it.”
“It’s all right. I’ve been bugging everyone in your family and all her friends to see if there were any signs. If we missed something. We’d never do anything deliberately to hurt anyone here. Whether she liked witches and pagans or not, the first rule is do no harm to anyone. I hope you believe that, now.” A weight lifted off of me. The suspicion was gone. We were in the clear.
“I do. I think you need to see something, as well.” He picked up three shoeboxes from the floor.
“This was her insulin and testing stuff.” He opened one box.
“This was her other meds. Heart and blood pressure. She took them religiously.” He opened another full box.
“I believe you, Mr. O’Conner. I’m very sorry for all you’ve been through.”
He nodded. “She also took a bunch of vitamins and supplements. The doctor knew about it. So many pills. But she took them. She kept active. But there are no guarantees.”
“No, there aren’t. Someone mentioned she took a sleeping pill. And, sometimes, it made her do things that she didn’t remember later. Do you think maybe she could have forgotten she already took her meds and doubled up on something?” I asked.
“She never did that before. She’d eat or shop online. But maybe it could’ve happened. We’ll never know, but she was a woman who wanted to live. She liked your place here. True, she complained about the witch history and pagan symbols, but our grandson loved Harry Potter when he was little. She took him to all those movies. I reminded her of that. She insisted it was different, somehow.” He sat and closed the boxes.
“I think she just had to find flaws with things in her life. We couldn’t be perfect,” I said.
“That’s true. But she liked your place better than the chains. You cared, and you have good coffee. I’m sorry I made a fuss.” He sighed.
“I’m sorry if I gave you a hard time. I had to protect my reputation,” I said.
He nodded. “I’m just going to finish my coffee and go meet the funeral director to make arrangements.”
“If you need anything, just let Brad know,” I said.
I went into my office and called Detective Shelley.
“Ah, Ms. Crestwood, I was going to call you when I got to the station.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about the hour; it’s a hazard of my business to be up with the early commuters. Mr. O’Conner was here and said it was all natural causes. I just needed to hear it from you guys,” I said.
“It’s true. Nothing toxic found in her body. Her heart and brain showed signs of system failure. The case is closed,” she said with a tempered cheerfulness.
“Did they check her glucose level?” I asked.
“Why? That’s not standard,” she said.
I heard papers shuffling. “Well, she’s a diabetic. She was on a lot of meds. I just wondered if she accidentally took too much or doubled a dose. That might explain it. But with the results in, I guess it’s all done. Doesn’t matter, now.”
“Yep. You can move on. Any protesting issues? Mr. O’Conner seemed to take the information, and it calmed him down.”
“No, no problems. He got the answers he needed. I guess I just wanted to know more. So much trouble resolved with one exam.” I sighed.
“On behalf of the city, I apologize for the delay. I know it hurt your business, but we appreciate your patience. I advised Mr. O’Conner to mention in the obituary that she died of natural causes. It might help answer any customer questions, once and for all. Can I help you with anything else?” Shelley asked.
“No, thanks. That should help. Thank you,” I said.
The human world had made their decision. Now, if they were wrong, I had to figure it out. I had to think about it and talk it through with some people.
* * *
An hour later, I invited Esme for morning coffee in the second-floor area. We sipped coffee as I told her about Mr. O’Conner and Detective Shelley. She seemed very relieved.
“So, you think my spell was wrong? That it was natural causes?” I asked.
“Oh, no, but the humans are satisfied. That’s what matters first,” she said.
Her face froze.
“Did you have anything to do with the threats or Mrs. O’Conner’s death?” I asked.
“Certainly not.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
“I have a lot of secrets. Some I can’t tell you.” She sat back.
The truth potion worked but I had to ask specific questions to get answers.
“Who did you tell about the threats?” I asked.
“A lot of people. I was trying to find out who did it, which means you have to talk about it. But that was after.” She glared at me. “Truth potion won’t last forever.”
“I had to try. What secret do you know about me? What is no one telling me?” I asked.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She held her throat like it was a struggle.
“Okay. Who did you see the day Mrs. O’Conner was here after her incident? Who would you have told in time to make the threats or do something?” I asked.
She shook her head. “They wouldn’t.”
“I remixed the potion to confirm if it was a natural death or not.” I led her into the locked area on the second floor. She stared at the cauldron.
“Do it,” I said.
Esme said the spell this time. Red for unnatural and green for natural causes. The potion turned pink.
“Unclear,” she said.
“What do you know about me that you won’t tell me? Do you know what it is?” I asked.
“I know. I can’t. I swore. A bigger promise and stronger spell controls that more than your little truth potion. Move up to the big leagues.” She laughed.
“Who else knows this secret?” I asked.
“Your mother,” she said.
“She’s dead. My aunt?” I asked.
“Yes. And uncle. One of the twins. That’s all.” She held up her hand.
“Why are you pushing me to engage the magical worlds, now? Why not put me in those groups and activities when I was a kid?” I pushed.
“They might have discovered your secret before.”
“That would be bad?” I asked.
“It wouldn’t be good.” She glanced around.
The potion might be wearing off. She was powerful enough to try and counteract it.
“Why? What is it about? My father was a gypsy?” I asked.
“No,” she said flatly.
“Did I have a sibling who was killed?” I asked.
“No,” she said firmly.
I was running out of ideas.
“Why is it okay for me to socialize now when I don’t even know the truth? I might screw up and reveal something. Shouldn’t I know?” I demanded.
“You need allies and friends like yourself. Powerful and magical. Telling you the whole truth is not my decision to make,” she said.
“Which twin knows?” I asked, more as a test since I knew.
“Iris,” she said.
Esme rubbed her face and walked away from the potion mix.
“That was low,” she scolded.
“I needed to know if you were protecting someone. All these weird changes happening right after this death. Are you trying to distract me?” I asked.
“Please. You need a social life. You need a husband. Don’t you want a powerful family?” she shot back.
“But what secret could be so bad that you kept me from socializing all of my childhood? Why can’t you tell me?” I pushed.
“We had to protect you. You were gifted. I promised not to tell you.” She answered the questions in order.
“Promised who?” I demanded.
“Your aunt.” She rubbed her neck. “Enough. It’s wearing off. I’m going to brew an antidote, and you better watch out that I don’t mess with your memory,” she warned.
“You didn’t tell me enough to bother with that,” I said.
“Don’t go interrogating your aunt or cousins either. They won’t tell,” Esme said.
“What could be so bad?” I asked.
“Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s good. But it’s not time to tell you. It’s not for me to be the one to tell you either,” she replied.
“And I thought you were family. You were my mentor.” I put the potion away.
Esme left the locked room before I had to throw her out. I locked the door behind us and turned to face her. “I really thought I could trust you. I never doubted you before. Now, you’re keeping secrets and treating me like a child.”
“It’s your aunt’s place to tell you. Not mine,” she said.
“So, I’ll go push her.” I headed for the stairs.
“No, not now. Not here. That’s a private conversation.” She slid past me to go back to work.
* * *
The next day, I sat at my table in the café and made notes about summer promotions. Ryan’s ideas weren’t so terrible. I had a few for the spring. We needed to make up a bit for the dip Mr. O’Conner had caused in our winter sales. A young woman walked into the café, and I felt her power. She immediately went up to Violet and started chatting. The shop wasn’t busy. Maybe it was a friend from school?
I kept one eye on the chatting girls. Iris joined in.
“You should really join our coven,” Iris said.
“I don’t know about that,” the new girl said.
“You said you have powers. You should meet Claudia,” Violet said.
I lifted my head. The girls looked over at me. “Come on over.”
“This is a new girl at school, Serena Murray. She’s very into witches and pagan stuff. She’s majoring in women’s studies, and the witch trials are a huge part of that,” Iris said.
“How interesting. Nice to meet you, Serena.” I shook her hand. “You’ve got powers?”
She shrugged it off sheepishly. “Sort of.”
“Who are you related to? Which magical family?” I asked.
Serena went a bit pale. “Um. I’m staying with my cousins, right now. Killean.”
“I know Bran. He mentioned you but not your name, so I wasn’t sure. You’re welcome to join our coven, but I understand if you don’t want to.” I sipped my tea.
“Why?” Iris asked.
“Big magical families tend to sort of be their own coven—so to speak. They don’t join others where there are a lot of members without powers. The Killeans keep to themselves,” I replied.
“Yeah. I’m new to the area, so I’m trying to make friends. I think the twins are great. I love this place. Great feel.” Serena looked around.
“You’re welcome anytime. I have a fair set of powers myself. I’ve been busy with other things lately. Businesses are a lot of work,” I said.
“They told me. I can’t believe someone threatened this place. Rude and ignorant people really deserve to get a tough lesson,” she said.
“Thanks. It’s good to know there are some supporters. I’d love to hear more about your major. Maybe you could speak to our coven about the witch trials’ impact on women’s rights and history?” I suggested.
“Maybe, once I’ve had some actual classes. I took basics at a local college down in South Carolina. Then, my parents wanted to do this Euro tour thing. I wanted to keep studying. I traveled enough every summer of my childhood. I told them I’d meet up with them on summer break, but I want a degree. Bran is very supportive of that. He’s always after me to do my homework and giving me magical challenges.” She rolled her eyes.
“Sounds like a good atmosphere for your goals.”
“You should work here,” Violet said.
“Work?” Serena laughed.
“Vi, I don’t think Serena needs a job. The Killeans are quite well off.” I nodded.
“That’s downplaying it. But, yeah, let people who need jobs take them. I need a lot of study time and magical practice,” she admitted.
“Well, once you get the hang of it, you can always volunteer somewhere. If you want to give back a bit,” I suggested.
“Sure. Maybe a women’s shelter,” Serena said.
She had a theme, and I didn’t hate it. “An excellent idea.”
“Anyone else threatening witches?” Serena asked.
“No, that was just an annoyed customer. All cleared up,” Iris said.
I leaned in. “We try not to get confrontational with our customers. Even if they’re wrong. We try to educate and invite, not attack.”
“Of course, do no harm,” Violet said.
“Absolutely!” Serena sat. “I love the karmic balance in the world. I’d never attack anyone, but I would love to teach them about karma. We don’t go protesting their churches or beliefs.”
“True,” Iris agreed.
“What’s through that door?” Serena pointed to the basement door.
“Storerooms and basement. Nothing interesting.” I shrugged it off.
“Cool. I feel like this building is very old. Full of spirits and stories. Maybe I could research it. Maybe it was an old witch’s shop? Someone who was killed?” she asked.
“I doubt it. It was built in the 1800s, not the
1600s. It’s all brick, so it holds the history in the stone. You can research the land and what was here, certainly. It might be something, but the building isn’t quite old enough for the witch trials.” I liked the girl’s spunk, but she seemed scattered. Poor Esme, trying to get her to focus on her magical studies.
“Could I get the tour?” she asked.
“Not now. I’m afraid we’re doing inventory, and the basement area is a mess. You and the twins can hang out in the coven room or the reading nook on the second floor while it’s quiet,” I suggested.
Esme walked up from the basement, and I saw Serena freeze up. “Sorry, I have to go. More homework awaits.”
Ellen walked up as Serena bolted out the door.
“Who is that girl?” Ellen asked.
“A friend from college,” Violet answered.
“We’re back to work, now. Don’t worry,” Iris added.
“I’m not worried. That girl left us a fifty-dollar tip. She can come back whenever she likes.” Ellen grinned. The twins followed Ellen back to the counter.
“She knows how to make a good first impression,” I said to Esme.
Esme walked up. “She was here?”
“Why? Isn’t she allowed? The girl is what? Nineteen? She can come in for coffee,” I said.
“Of course. I just usually keep my private lesson students away from here. I don’t want them dropping in for help or bugging me while I’m working. Boundaries are good,” she said.
Esme still looked rattled. “You can be mad about the truth potion all you want. Until you tell me the truth about myself, the secret, I won’t even begin to apologize,” I replied.
She shot me a look of disapproval.
“If you were in my shoes, you’d do the exact same thing. You wouldn’t stop until you found the truth. Neither will I.” I shot her an icy stare.
“That doesn’t involve Serena or Bran. That family is powerful. You don’t want to cross them,” she said.
“You wanted me to get involved with one of them. Now, I need to be careful? What is the deal?” I asked.
“Just be careful. Grow your powers. Don’t spend so much time worrying about the past. Some secrets really don’t matter, anymore,” she said.
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