by Erin Johnson
I sighed as I marched back downhill through the lush landscaping, Heidi’s heels clicking along behind me as she and Will bickered. If I hadn’t gone back to being poor and desperate, I’d never have let myself get sucked into this “business opportunity.”
“Why not?” Heidi whined.
“Uh…” Will let out a humorless laugh. “Because I was mostly tagging along for something to do. But no thanks! Don’t feel like getting sucked into a pyramid scheme tonight.”
I stopped and spun around to wait for them to catch up.
Heidi tipped her head to the side and raised a finger. “Actually, that’s a common misconception. We’re not a pyramid scheme, we’re—”
Will and Heidi rejoined me. “Oh, it’s we now.” He thumbed at her. “Caught and cleaned.”
I nodded my agreement, and we turned to go, but Heidi stomped her foot. “Guys, wait!”
Will huffed, and I crossed my arms, but we both slowly half turned to face her.
She splayed her palms. “Look, you already came all the way up here, there’s tons of food inside….” She flashed a grin at me.
Snakes. The girl knew her audience. I was always hungry… especially now that I was broke once again. My shoulders slumped.
“Just come in and support me. You don’t have to buy anything.”
Will and I exchanged looks. He leaned into one hip. “Open bar?”
Heidi’s smile broadened and she nodded.
I looked up at Will again and shrugged. “We did hike all the way up here. I probably need some sustenance to make it back down.”
He arched a brow. “And I need a stiff drink.” He looked Heidi up and down. “Fine.”
“Yay!” She clapped and bounced on her heels. “Okay, we have to hurry for real though.” She slid between us and once more dragged us back up the path, past the fountain and up the stone steps to the hotel.
She glanced right and left at each of us as we climbed, my thighs burning. The island of Bijou Mer was a mountain, and getting up to the top tier was a workout. Also, I really needed to get in better shape.
Heidi clicked her tongue. “You didn’t wear white though. They told everyone to wear white.”
Will huffed. “Right… and this isn’t a cult pyramid scheme.”
I smirked.
“And besides—I wore white.”
Heidi shot him a look. “Your lab coat? Really?”
I grinned wider until she whipped her head my way and leveled that disappointed look on me.
I recoiled. “What? I didn’t have any clean whites. It’s such a pain to have to pay for separate loads.” And again—I didn’t have the money to do laundry at the moment.
She tipped her head to the side. “Okay, but did you have to wear all black?”
“I’m just expressing the mood of my soul.”
Will snickered.
“Whatever you guys think, this is a big deal to me, okay? These tickets are going for nine hundred merkles apiece.”
Will choked.
We reached the top of the stairs and stepped out onto the level ground in front of the hotel. The chanting of the protestors grew louder. Women, faces red, shouted at us and jabbed their signs in the air. “Potent Potions poison people! Potent Potions poison people!”
I lifted my brows at my friends. “Try saying that three times fast.”
A few security officers in black uniforms rushed out of the hotel entrance just as we reached it. I glanced back as they stretched their arms wide and ushered the women back.
What was I getting myself into?
3
The Harder They Fall
Heidi, Will, and I jostled into the crowded lobby, nearly shoulder to shoulder with the huge crowd gathered for the Potent Potions summit. I curled my lip at the prominent Potent Potions logos on everything.
The gold double P’s surrounded by a silver heart glowed on the walls, was stamped on the black tablecloths, and was worn on necklaces, rings, and bracelets by many of the women. I’d bet they’d even paid to put their brand on the toilet paper.
A woman brushed by me, looking me up and down before continuing on through one of several sets of double doors to the dark auditorium beyond. I crossed my arms and huffed. So what if I was the only one wearing black in a vast sea of ladies decked out all in white?
Will, a good head taller than anyone else here, gazed across the crowd. “How many people are here? There have to be thousands.”
Heidi looked smug and shouted to be heard above the murmur of voices. “I told you it was a big deal.”
A magically amplified voice rang out over the general din. “Please take your seats in the auditorium—welcoming night speeches will commence shortly. Please take your seats in the—”
“Ee!” Heidi gripped my arm. “It’s starting—come on, let’s try to get good seats.”
Will sniffed. “I think that ship’s sailed.”
“Not before I get some food.” I rose on my toes, spotted a waiter moving by with a magically hovering tray, and pounced. Once I had a little handful of crab puffs and bruschetta and Will was double fisting champagne flutes, we were ready. Or as ready as we could be for the sales pitch Heidi had paid for us to attend.
We edged in at the back of the mass of perfumed bodies that jostled and shoved their way into the auditorium and ended up taking spots way in the back. We slid down a row of black auditorium chairs, tripping over feet and bumping into knees, until we found three seats together. I dropped into mine and sighed, grateful to get off my feet.
The whole place buzzed with people and conversation and energy. I raised my brows as I chewed a huge mouthful of crab. People were really into this—who knew?
Will squirmed in the too-small seat, while I slumped down in mine. Heidi wiggled between us, perched on the edge of her seat, eyes fixed on the stage far ahead of us. The house lights faded, and everyone took their seats as the murmur of voices quieted.
Heidi’s hands shot out and gripped our wrists. “It’s starting!”
“Oh goodie,” I deadpanned around a mouthful of cheese and prosciutto. The middle-aged woman to my left shot me a look, and I raised a brow at her. What? She jerked her gaze back to the stage, and I continued to chew. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
A deep, magically amplified voice cut across the vast, dark auditorium. “Welcome, consultants, to the third annual Potent Potions summit. Please give a warm hello to your founders, Pearl and Ralph Litt!”
Deafening applause hit the auditorium like a thunderclap. Women all around me leapt to their feet and screamed and whooped. Ow! I glanced over. Heid’s grip on my wrist had tightened to the point I thought I might lose blood circulation.
Her glossy eyes reflected the purple and blue magical lights that swept across the stage and the crowd. “It’s them.”
I curled my lip. Snakes—the girl looked starstruck. I turned back to the stage and leaned to the side to see past the standing women in front of me. I squinted to make out the figures better. Heidi was impressed by these two?
She released my wrist from her death grip and jumped to her feet with the rest of them. I leaned back to flash my eyes at the equally shell-shocked Will, then turned back to the stage.
A pudgy blond woman who, even from this distance, I could tell had caked on the makeup, teetered across the stage in stilettos. She walked hand-in-hand with a big-bellied man who sported a white beard that stood out against his tanned-to-the-point-of-being-orange skin. I frowned and leaned forward. And was the man leading a pig by a leash? A glittering crystal leash?
As they reached center stage, the woman drew her blinged-out wand from her jean jacket and held the tip to her lips. “Oh, y’all are too much.” Her magically amplified voice bounced off the walls of the auditorium.
The cheering grew louder, and she appeared bashful, waving it off and clapping her hands to her rouged cheeks. She shook her head at her husband, who raised their clasped hands in the air, then planted an exaggerated kiss on his wife
’s cheek. Wow. These two liked attention. I glanced around. It was like being at a Banshees concert—I half wondered if a mosh pit was about to break out.
Eventually the fanfare died down and the thousands of women who’d lost their minds over these two sank back into their seats. The woman brought the tip of her wand back to her bright pink lips.
“Why, what a warm welcome y’all gave me.” She scrunched up her face into mock disapproval. “But I do have one complaint.”
Her orange husband, wand raised to his own mouth, cocked his head. “Now what’s that, dear?”
She planted a fist on her hip. “Well… we were introduced and welcomed, but what about the most important person on this stage—our sweet little pet, Buttercup?” She gestured a hand decked out in rings at the pink pig who happened to be sniffing her husband’s blinged-out jeans.
The woman to my left burst into hysterics. Clapping and laughter rang out all around the auditorium. Snakes. What were these people on? And where could I get some?
I leaned over to speak around Heidi to Will. “How are people into this?”
Without taking her eyes off the stage, Heidi shushed me.
“Well, let me just start by saying, y’all know you should call me Mama Pearl and—” She gestured to her husband. “Papa Ralph.”
I snorted. “Not creepy at all.”
Will snickered, but the woman beside me shot me a look.
“Because we’re all a big family. That’s what I love most about this company that we’ve built—not the money or the fanfare or the fame.” Mama Pearl strutted about stage, fingers, dress, and jacket all glittering with crystals and gems. “No, it’s the community, that’s the backbone of our network of connectedness.”
I frowned. Did that even make sense?
Didn’t matter to the crowd though—they erupted in cheers. I rolled my eyes. I’d bet this woman could be waxing poetic about plungers and this group would lose their minds over it.
“Family—family is the reason I started this company. I wanted to provide for our family and wanted to empower women, just like you, to provide for theirs. Because women—” She paused for dramatic effect and gazed out over the crowd. “Women are the future, and the future is power, and power—power—” She shook her head, eyes glittering with tears. “Power is women.”
The crowd cheered as I sank lower in my seat. I crossed my arms and legs. What did that even mean?
“I started my company when I saw my sister struggling to make it as a boutique potions brewer. At the time, I realized that the healing power of potion masters was just plain out of reach to most of us. Their know-how has been handed down for generations—but it’s so expensive, and the masters so few and far between.” She shook her head, shoulders slumped as if defeated. The crowd watched, rapt.
Mama Pearl lifted a palm. “I thought—how could I help everyday women like you and me get access to that healing power? To help our kids and husbands stay healthy and”—she held a hand to the side of her mouth as if sharing a secret—“frankly, to keep us looking young and attractive to keep the attention of those husbands.” She winked.
The crowd tittered, and I made a gagging motion at Will. Heidi swatted my finger away from my mouth.
“And that’s when it came to me! Like a divination, I got the idea—aha!—for Potent Potions. Affordable vials of powerful potions, from women, for women! And think about our motto and what that really means—Potent Potions: Healthy living for a life of health. I mean— who doesn’t want that?”
I frowned. She probably didn’t want us to think about that too hard, since it was absolute nonsense. Applause rang out again until Mama Pearl held up her glittering hands and gestured for silence.
“Y’all. I am so proud of what we have built together. I started this company with potions parties out of my living room in a little shack of a home just over four years ago. And now look at where we are. I could not have done this without you.” She teetered across the stage in her high heels. “Now, you may have heard some terrible rumors about us being out of money, or our products doing more harm than good.”
The crowd grew still. Her husband shifted on his feet, eyes wide as the pig continued to snuffle around on stage.
Mama Pearl waved it off. “But those are just rumors spread by haters! They’re just jealous of your success.” She gave an emphatic thumbs-down, and the crowd clapped and booed the haters.
“Look at us! At me and Papa Ralph.” She spread her arms wide. “We buy whatever we want, vacation more than we work, we’re living a lavish lifestyle—”
Will snorted and tried to disguise it as a cough. I smirked, but Heidi elbowed him.
Ralph cut in. “Now, dear—don’t, uh, don’t forget all the hard work and long hours we put in.”
But his wife ignored him. “Do we look worried about those rumors to you? No! And you shouldn’t be either. You’ve just got to get out there and work harder—our potions sell themselves! Who doesn’t want to look and feel their best, right?”
The crowd applauded.
“Get more recruits under you—show them all what they’re missing out on. Don’t you want your friends and family to share in your success?”
The crowd cheered again, louder.
Mama Pearl beamed. “This is going to be a wonderful weekend! And to kick it off, I’d like to lift a vial and toast to the vitality of you and the entire Potent Potions family!”
She teetered over to her husband and the pig. Papa Ralph drew a glowing red vial from inside his blazer and handed it to his wife. Amidst all the applause, she uncorked it, raised it to the crowd, then brought it to her lips and tipped her head back.
The clapping and whooping of the crowd grew deafening again. Women all around me stood, so I had to lean to the side to see the stage.
Mama Pearl frowned and blinked rapidly. She stood very still, then suddenly clutched at her throat. Beside her, her husband jumped, then grabbed her shoulders, but the blond woman continued to claw at her throat, eyes bulging. I frowned—was this part of their theatrics?
The applause died down, and shouts of alarm rang out. I jumped to my feet with everyone else and rose on my toes to get a better look. Mama Pearl collapsed, guided to the floor by her husband, who looked out over the crowd and cried, “Help!”
A woman in a white lab coat scrambled onto the stage and held Mama Pearl’s hand, her other hand pressed to her throat. The woman looked up, pale and glasses slightly askew.
Her voice rang out over the now hushed auditorium. “Call the police! She’s dead!”
4
Familiar Face
I leaned my head against Will’s arm. “When do we get to go home?”
He rolled his eyes. “Girl, like I know.” He stiffened, and I lifted my head and glanced up at him.
“What?”
He raised his chin and gazed out over the sea of murmuring women. We’d all smushed into the lobby after a small team of police had shown up and cordoned off the auditorium… and the dead body.
“Lover boy’s here.”
I froze. “What?” I rose on my toes and followed Will’s gaze toward the main entrance. Inspector Bon strutted forward, chest puffed out and a scowl on his face, per the usual. My stomach twisted as I spotted Peter behind him, followed by the new chief, Kit McCray. I knew Peter’s lie-sniffing canine partner had to be somewhere right beside him, even if I couldn’t see her through the thick crowd.
I sank back down on my heels. “Snakes.”
Heidi put a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
I hadn’t seen Peter in a month, and I certainly hadn’t expected to casually run into him at a crime scene.
I nodded. “Mm-hmm.” I glanced around, my heart pounding in my chest. “I’ve just got to get the shell out of here.”
“Jolene, this is a crime scene and we are murder witnesses.” Will raised his bushy brows at me. “Don’t think we’re going anywhere.”
I nodded. “Duly noted. I’m still gonna
book it.” I couldn’t handle the embarrassment of running into Peter at a summit for a pyramid scheme. Plus, I had no idea if he’d spread the word around the station that I was a shifter.
Growing up in the Darkmoon District as an orphaned shifter, I’d learned early on to keep my distance from the police—they singled our kind out. And Peter’s boss, Bon, already had some kind of beef with me. He’d probably relish the chance to throw me in jail for any kind of trumped-up charge if he now knew I was a shifter… or used to be before the curse stole my abilities.
I clapped Heidi and Will on the backs. “See you guys back at the clinic.”
I started forward, but Will tugged on my long ponytail. “Ow!” I spun around and flashed my eyes at him. “What was that for?”
“How are you planning to flee an active crime scene, hm?” He widened his eyes. “And take me with you.”
I shook my head. “Nah, fam. I doubt I’ll be able to get out unnoticed, but with you….” I looked my enormous, lab-coat-wearing friend up and down. “You’re not exactly inconspicuous.”
“Ha!” Will barked out a laugh that drew some stares from the women around us.
I shot him a flat look. “See?”
He leaned forward and glared at me. “Says the woman in head-to-toe black at a white out.”
I sighed through my nose. He had a point.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try to get us all out.”
I skirted the edge of the lobby, dodging tall cocktail tables and tightly clustered groups of whispering women. Heidi and Will followed close behind as I made my way toward the exit and the two officers posted on each side of it.
As we neared, I recognized them as cops I’d seen on previous cases but didn’t know well. Hopefully, they’d recognize me too. I planned to make something up about being there working the case, and Peter asking me to escort Will and Heidi up to the station.