by Jaye Wells
I turned toward Shayla. “Where was the potion that was stolen?”
She pointed toward a large cabinet on the other side of the room. The bottom was a refrigerator unit—like a big horizontal freezer—and the top was row after row of shelving. Some shelves had vials and bottles of liquids and herbs. Others were marked with symbols or names identifying the premade potions.
Sex magic didn’t just encompass the ritualized harnessing of sexual energy through chakra work. It also involved using potions to help people access their kundalini energy—the coiled power stored in the pelvis root chakra. The O’s also made a pretty penny selling love potions. The kind that the lovesick paid through the nose for to help attract the affections of their crushes. But there were others. Potions to enhance sexual performance, ones for multiple orgasms, et cetera.
Sometimes the lines between sex magic and the other traditions got blurred, too. Like when someone wanted a vanity potion. Usually vanities fell under the heading of alchemy, but sometimes sex magic potions were employed to increase a user’s attractiveness. Same went with blood potions, since the energies that influenced both blood and sex came from the same kind of chthonic power sources. All of this was to say, of course, that sex magic was big business, which was why Aphrodite put so much money into the setup. Also why she’d be so determined to find the offender and make him pay for daring to violate the sanctity of her lab.
I approached the wall-to-wall lab setup with Morales, while Mez continued to take notes at the table.
About three feet back from the shelves, I threw out an arm to stop Morales. He looked up with a frown. Instead of answering, I pointed to the floor. Several small shards of glass glittered on the concrete floor. A dried, sticky patch lay under the glass. I looked back at Mez. “You see this?”
He frowned and came over. “I got images, but haven’t had a chance to test it yet.”
“You think our perp was in a hurry and accidentally dropped one?” Morales asked.
I nodded. “Lack of prints indicates he was wearing gloves, right? Probably grabbed this bottle off the shelf and it slipped from his hand.”
Morales knelt down and inspected the patch. “You got a black light in there?” he asked Mez.
The wizard nodded and removed a portable light wand. He glanced at Shayla. “Go close the blinds on all the windows.”
While she scurried off, I stepped around the area and approached the shelves where the guys were working. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking for a shoe print,” Morales said.
The room dimmed as Shayla finally closed all the window treatments. While Mez waved the wand over the floor, I used a flashlight tilted sideways to cast a glow on each shelf just in case there might be a print. “Hand me the camera, will ya?” Mez asked Morales.
My partner grabbed it for him and brought it over. Mez messed with the controls for a moment before clicking several shots in a row. As he worked, I squinted at the spot on the ground. Sure enough, there was a mark in the ethereal blue pool cast by the black light off the spilled potion.
“That doesn’t look like a shoe print,” I said.
Mez put down the camera and looked up. The black light made the charms in his dreads glow. “I’ll need to analyze the images under a magnifier back at the lab, but we definitely got a partial print of some sort.”
I nodded. “Good.” My phone buzzed on my hip. “One sec.” Pulling the phone out, I answered it without looking at the ID. “Prospero.”
“Hello. Katherine Prospero?”
I frowned, not recognizing the staticky female voice. “Yes, who is this please?”
“This is operator five-four-nine from the Crowley State Penitentiary. Prisoner six-six-six-four-two, Abraxas Prospero, would like to speak with you. May I patch him through?”
The blood in my arms and legs went frigid. “What?”
“Prisoner six-six-six-four-two, Abraxas Prospero, has requested to speak with you. Do you accept the call?”
“No,” I snapped. “Take me off his call list.” With a shaking finger, I punched the End button before the operator could say anything else.
I stood in shock for I don’t know how long with that phone clutched tight in my hand. The hard plastic dug into my palm, and I had to resist the urge to throw it at the brick wall.
“Kate?” Morales called from across the room.
I swallowed the panic and shock, pushing them deep down where they couldn’t interfere. Shoving the phone in my pocket, I turned. “Yeah?”
My partner was standing next to the graffiti penis. Mez was packing up all his supplies while talking to Shayla about getting the tape she’d promised us earlier. “Everything okay?”
“Fucking telemarketers.” I feigned an annoyed shrug. “We done here?”
He watched me for a couple of seconds longer before nodding. “For now. What say we go visit the Wonder Twins? See if maybe they’ve heard of anyone trying to fence some sex potions.”
The twins he mentioned were named Mary and Little Man. They were my best snitches, and the ones most likely to know if there was chatter on the streets about Aphrodite getting robbed.
Ignoring the nausea and the fist of worry in the base of my throat, I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Six
Fifteen minutes later we were at an intersection near the construction site for Volos’s pet project, the Cauldron Community Center. The groundbreaking had been six weeks earlier, and the crews already had the foundation poured and the framing up for the walls. We’d just passed the sign announcing that the center would open by Thanksgiving when Morales tapped the brakes. “Hey, Prospero?”
I pulled my gaze away from the side window I’d been glaring out of for the last five minutes. “Yeah?”
He was pointing out the windshield. “Isn’t that Mary?”
I squinted in that direction. Sure enough, a six-foot-tall lumbering hulk of a woman was crossing the street about a block up. As always, Little Man was strapped in a baby carrier on her chest. “They’re usually at the park this time of day.”
“Nice of them to save us some time by meeting us halfway.” Morales pulled the SUV to the corner closest to where Mary had just crossed.
I rolled down my window. “Yo, Mary.”
She glanced back over her hunched shoulder, and her eyes widened. Instead of stopping, she lumbered away faster, her lanky brown hair swaying like oily fringe at the back of her neck.
I frowned. “Mary?” I called. She shot a worried glance over her shoulder and picked up the pace even more. I threw open the door and hopped out to follow.
They were far enough away that I couldn’t hear, but I could see Little Man waving his arms and shouting instructions to her every time she turned to look back.
Mary and Little Man had been my snitches for going on five years. They’d also met Morales a couple of times, so she had to have recognized him, too. In other words, there was absolutely no reason for her to be afraid of us. My instincts forced my legs into a jog. “Mary, wait!”
Morales caught up with me and we fell into a run together as Mary turned the next corner. “What the hell?” he snapped.
I shook my head. A second later we both skidded around the corner in time to see Mary duck into a city bus. The large vehicle belched away from the curb. I kicked up my speed, pulling my badge from my pocket. “BPD, stop!” But the grinding of the bus’s gears drowned out my demand.
“We lost ’em,” Morales called.
I stopped running and bent over with my hands on my knee. “Damn it! What the hell was that about?”
Morales put his hands on his hips. “Guess they weren’t in the mood to talk.”
I rose and cast one last annoyed glance at the bus’s rear end as it grew smaller in the distance. “Something’s going on.”
He shot me an ironic look. “This is the Cauldron, Cupcake. Something’s always going on. C’mon, let’s grab some grub before we get an update from Mez on the evidence he ga
thered at the temple.”
I stood watching the space where the bus had been a few moments earlier. Even with the Blue Moon fast approaching, my day thus far had been… strange. Given I worked in a magical slum, that was saying a lot.
Chapter Seven
Several hours later I was dragging my tired ass toward the house and groaning with each step like an unoiled hinge. Despite my exhaustion, I hadn’t wanted to leave the office. But Gardner had all but kicked me out about half an hour earlier. “You’re not going to break this case tonight,” she said. “Go home.”
At the time, I’d considered arguing, but she’d been right. After our aborted attempt to talk to LM and Mary, Morales and I had headed back to the gym and hit one brick wall after another on the case. Mez had been called away to assist in a crime scene on the other side of town, which meant he didn’t have time to process the evidence from the temple. I’d made several fruitless calls to other snitches, but no one knew anything—or else they weren’t in a talking mood. I’d also called some old patrol colleagues to see if they’d heard of any crimes similar to the MO of Aphrodite’s robbery and got a whole lot of nothing. So I’d packed up and headed out, promising the team I’d see them early the next morning.
Halfway to the front door, a sense of foreboding scratched at the back of my scalp. Nothing concrete, really, just a tingle of awareness. Pausing at the base of the porch steps, I peered back down the street. The neighborhood was dark, and except for a couple of dogs barking a few streets over, there weren’t any discernible noises. No unusual vehicles were parked along the curb. I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to put my finger on what was different. I swiveled my head back toward the door. That’s when it hit me.
The house was dark.
It was almost seven, which meant Danny should have been up and watching TV with Baba in the den. But every light in the place was extinguished. It wasn’t just quiet and dark—it was ominously quiet and dark, as if the house were holding its breath.
My holster dangled from my hand. I removed the weapon and laid the leather rig on the porch. Crouching low, I tested the doorknob and found it unlocked. The door swung in quietly, and I stopped it before it could bump off the wall. With cautious steps I crept inside, careful to avoid the squeaky parts of the old linoleum. A quick scan of the kitchen revealed nothing but the usual shadows. I placed a hand on the oven and found it warm. Someone had been cooking. Baba often cooked dinner for Danny. But if she’d been cooking, where were they both now?
Behind me, the sound of a car door closing filtered in from the street.
I skirted the bistro table and headed toward the opening that led to the den off the kitchen. My left hand gripped the gun tighter with each step, but I tried to stay calm. Freaking out and imagining all sorts of horrible things wouldn’t help. Best to stay focused on one foot in front of the other and keeping my senses open for clues. Closer to the opening now, I heard a slight intake of breath. Not a gasp. Just a stifled breath.
I paused, gun at the ready, and opened my mouth to issue an order to stand down. But before the words could leave my mouth, light flared like a sun in the room. I squinted and fell back a step. Shapes moved in the light, and noise emerged from the forms. “Surprise!”
It all happened so fast it took my brain a couple of seconds to register what I was hearing and seeing.
At about the same moment I realized I’d walked in on a party, the couple of dozen people in my den realized I was holding them at gunpoint. I froze. They froze.
“Jeez, Kate.” Danny emerged from the crowd and frowned at me like I’d just embarrassed him. “Put the gun away.”
My cheeks heating, I lowered the weapon to my side. “What the hell’s going on?”
Pen came to join my little brother. She looked more amused than alarmed.
“Surprise!” Pen said. “We knew you’d never agree to an official group celebration so we brought one to you.”
“For what?” I frowned, praying it wasn’t for my Arcane Anonymous anniversary.
“Your ten-year anniversary of sobriety!” Danny announced. He thrust a can of soda in the hand that had held a gun.
The words entered my ears and promptly sank to the bottom of my gut where they corroded in my stomach acid. I bit my tongue to keep from uttering a curse that would make a hardened criminal blush.
Danny bounced on the balls of his feet like a little kid at a birthday party. The pride in his face at pulling off the surprise made me keep my expression neutral. But inside I was raging. Instead of taking that out on the kid, who didn’t know better than to ambush me with a party I didn’t want, I glared at my best friend.
She grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. “Smile,” she hissed into my ear, “they put a lot of work into this.”
Before I could tell her where to shove that suggestion, a warm hand landed on my shoulder. I pulled away from my best friend and rounded to find Morales standing behind me wearing a gotcha smile.
“You knew about this?” I snapped.
Shadi walked up behind him, with Mez and Gardner not far behind.
My partner shot me a guilty grin and nodded. “We were sworn to secrecy.”
Shadi laughed. “I really thought I screwed the pooch this morning when I mentioned tonight.”
My mouth fell open. “Wait, this is what you were talking about?”
She tipped her head. “Yeah, what’d you think I meant?”
Morales cleared his throat, a subtle reminder of the stupid question I’d asked about the nature of their relationship. Ignoring him, I said, “I wasn’t sure.”
She moved on to go say hi to Pen and Danny. Morales hung back. “So you really were surprised?”
I made an angry sound deep in my throat.
“Whoa. Not a fan of surprises, then?”
“Ambush, you mean.”
“Well,” he said, “you stopped using magic, but you obviously haven’t given up bitchcraft.”
I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and tried to get a harness on my anger. Morales didn’t know the reasons why I didn’t want this party. Actually, no one did. “Sorry. It’s just—touchy.”
He laughed and replaced the soda with a beer. “Drink up, Cupcake. Try to enjoy your own party.”
At that moment Baba shuffled forward with her cane. “Ha! We got ya!”
I forced a smile. “Sure did.”
“Hey there, hot stuff,” she said to Morales.
My seventysomething-year-old next-door neighbor had taken a shine to my partner the first time she’d met him. He endured her flirtations with humor, and never complained when she pinched his backside.
“Hey, good lookin’,” he flirted back. “Is that a new dress?”
“This old thing?” She pointed a black orthopedic shoe like a Rockette. “Why don’t you come put those muscles to use and pass around some drinks?”
He shot me a grin before offering her his arm like a real gallant. She giggled and grabbed his bicep, giving it a squeeze as one might a ripe melon. As the pair moved away, I saw the perfect opening to get the hell out of Dodge.
“Kate?” Rufus called, preventing my escape.
Rufus Xavier was the leader of the Arcane Anonymous group I’d belonged to for the last decade. I hadn’t talked to him in about a month, since I’d been skipping our weekly meetings. He’d been calling me at least once a week, though, and giving me shit for my lack of attendance. The man’s middle name was “Tough Love,” and he looked for any opportunity to call us on our bullshit.
I took a deep breath and forced some new life into my false smile. “Wow, this was unexpected.”
“Shouldn’t be. The way you been playing hooky?” He speared me with a knowing glare. “How long you think I was gonna let it go?”
My hands shoved into my pockets, I looked away from the man I considered both a mentor and a friend. “Wasn’t playing hooky,” I muttered. “We’ve been swamped with the double moons.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said. “T
ell that to some muh-fucker ain’t already heard every excuse in the damned book, girl.”
I looked down at my beer, willing it to turn into something stronger. Nearby, Danny turned on some music, which filled the room with a booming bass line.
“What’s going on with you, Kate?” Ru said, leaning in to be heard.
Ru was the kind of man you wanted to trust. Everything about him invited sharing secrets.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Gardner chatting with Mez, Danny, and Baba.
But my secrets weren’t going to be shared in that room with that crowd. Or ever, if I had my way.
“I’ve had some stuff on my mind I’m not ready to talk about.”
“Ah,” he said, nodding. “It’s no wonder after what happened to the boy.” He patted me on the arm. “Tonight’s for celebrating, but soon enough you’re going to have to purge those demons before they eat you alive.”
I swallowed and nodded. His words struck too close to the truth for comfort. “Maybe once things quiet down. After Halloween.”
His mouth tightened, a sure sign he was about to start one of his lectures. I held up a hand. “Listen, I need to go grab something. I’ll be right back.”
“But—”
I turned away before he could continue. I escaped through the kitchen and into my bedroom. The instant the door closed behind me, I slid down the plane until my butt hit the floor.
For weeks, I’d been waking up from dreams of cooking. Sometimes it was an orgasm that woke me, other times, bone-shaking sobs. I’d known my choice to use magic was wrong, but the surge of power that came with manipulating that kind of energy was seductive. Cooking was a lot like masturbation. Doing it had left me feeling dirty, but I couldn’t stop thinking about wanting to do it some more.
The worst part had been knowing it was only a matter of time until the choices I’d made that night in the factory with John Volos came back to bite me. Arriving to a house full of people I cared about who had no idea they were celebrating a lie was too much to bear.