“What’s so funny?” Wesley asked.
“Nothing.” I drew my finger down the names on the list and began to pass judgment. “Not a threat, not a witch, not a threat, not…” I trailed off as my finger ran across Blackwood, Evan.
“I know you’re angry,” the sheriff said.
I quickly scanned through the list for other familiar names. “Name or no name, I doubt I could approach Jasmine Hewitt without her throwing a curse my way. My family might just be annoyed, but…” I paused and looked up at the sheriff. “Seriously? You put Christina, Adam, and Elena on the list? They’re kids. Christina is only just learning to talk so that people can actually understand what she’s saying.”
For some reason, the sheriff smiled. “Great, then it will take you that much longer to interview her. Just buy me time, Cassie. That’s all I ask.”
Heaving a sigh, I nodded. “All right.” Turning to Wesley I said, “Nine o’clock sound good?”
“I usually get to work at seven thirty,” Wesley said.
“Some of these people will be cranky if we try to track them down too early in the morning, and there are quite a few people on this list that you don’t want to see cranky.”
“Nine it is, then.” Wesley’s face gave nothing away, but I couldn’t help wondering what he had come to believe over the course of a single remarkable week. Maybe unsolved murders in St. Louis weren’t looking so bad after all.
13
THE TENSION OF THE DAY STAYED with me as I prepared for my date. Madison noticed, but she didn’t say anything about it as she took the curling iron out of my overeager hands and gently brushed my hair into a mass of soft waves that fell around my face. I wore a knee-length cascading chiffon dress with a halter top and beaded empire waist. The color was a sort of soft blue, almost lavender. There isn’t a little black dress in my wardrobe, however classic the style might be.
Matthew picked me up at seven, dressed in casual tailored slacks and a pale green polo top that brought out the green of his eyes. He handed me a bouquet of red roses. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I took the roses, well aware of the meaning and intention behind a sorcerer giving a woman such flowers, but I didn’t mind in the least. As I took the bouquet, my hand brushed against his and somehow, the tension of the day flooded away. “Mmmm.” Better than a massage. The worries remained, in the back of my mind, they just didn’t overwhelm me any longer.
“Feeling better?” Matthew asked.
“Don’t tell me that was just a matter of persuasion,” I said.
“I wouldn’t dream of telling you that.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
We exchanged mindless pleasantries on the way to Hodge Mill which, as usual, was packed on a Friday night. Matthew didn’t have to wait, though. As soon as he walked in the door, the maitre d’ showed us to an intimate table for two in the secondary dining room. This was a smaller dining room reserved for the restaurant’s more exclusive guests. I had rarely eaten back there, despite my family’s exclusive status, because the restaurant did not allow children in the intimate, dimly lit room.
“Your afternoon seemed to go well,” I said as soon as we were seated.
“It went all right. Things are still shaky, but we’ve put off any major conflicts. I just can’t help but feel like someone is fighting us on this.”
“The pastor?” I suggested.
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid.” I couldn’t discount his paranoia after what I had seen that afternoon, but I sensed he didn’t want to talk about it. I opened the menu and glanced at the choices, but I already knew what I wanted: the baked salmon with a creamy honey mustard sauce. “You’ll never guess what the sheriff’s going to have me do for the next few days.”
He smiled. “Interview everyone in town that the pastor thinks is into magic?”
Of course he could guess. He knew it as soon as I thought it.
“I knew it sooner than that. My father suggested it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Delaying tactic,” Matthew said. “Like I said, things went all right, but it’s not a permanent solution. Um, my name’s not on that list, is it?”
I shook my head. “As far as I know, most people think you’re clean.”
“Someone knows. We might not be on the list the sheriff gave you, but we’re on Alexander’s list.”
I winced. “Are you going?”
Before he had a chance to respond, the waiter came over to take our drink order.
“I won’t be going,” Matthew reassured me after he’d gone. “I’m not too happy about being on that list, but I’m definitely not going to put myself on display for…”
Matthew suddenly stopped. His gaze was fixed on a point over my shoulder, at the entrance to the dining room. I started to turn to look at what had captured his attention, but he put a hand on mine to still my movement. There might have been a jolt of command to go along with it, but I didn’t accuse him.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t have to answer. The maitre d’ showed three men to the table next to ours. Two were strangers: one middle-aged man with thick brown hair and one older gentleman with distinguished, graying hair.
I knew the third, younger man all too well. Evan Blackwood was only a day older than me, with dark, almost black hair that fell to his shoulders in waves and blue eyes that bore into mine with aching familiarity.
It seemed everyone in the small secondary dining room had turned to stare at the trio, but the dozen or so sets of eyes weren’t riveted on Evan. The distinguished gray-haired stranger, whoever he was, had a commanding presence and melting smile that made you want to do whatever he asked. A lot like an adorable six-year-old I knew. I could fight Adam’s charisma, but it made me feel awful, as if I’d just kicked a puppy. This man possessed the same strength and a lot more experience.
“Hello, Cassie,” Evan said, just as if he wasn’t at all surprised to see me. He probably wasn’t.
The distinguished man smiled at me, turning his charm to the max. “Evan, can you introduce me to your friends?”
“This is Cassie Scot and Matthew Blair. I think I’ve mentioned both to you before. Cassie and Matthew, this is Alexander DuPris, who is here to try to make some positive changes in our community. And this is his associate, Tyler Lake.”
Matthew gritted his teeth, showing an open hostility I had never seen in him before. “Everything’s working great for me, thanks.”
“I’m sure it is,” Evan said, looking meaningfully at me.
“Please, don’t hold back,” I said. “Not on my account. What, exactly, are you implying?”
Evan raised his hands in mock innocence. “Nothing at all.”
“Why don’t the two of you join us for dinner?” Alexander asked, gesturing at a nearby table for six that lay empty. “I just got into town this afternoon and I’ve been eager to talk to the locals about their hopes, dreams, and concerns.”
“My hopes were to have a pleasant dinner with a beautiful woman,” Matthew said. “But I think you’ve made that more difficult.” He stared directly at Alexander, challenging him. “Evan hurt her recently, you see, so I would be grateful if you would decide to have dinner someplace else.”
“This is a public establishment,” Alexander said. “And a small town. You must have expected this possibility.”
“I didn’t expect you to notice or care who I am. Who told you?” Matthew shot Evan a meaningful look.
“Evan seemed to think you would be particularly interested in what I’ve come here to say,” Alexander said, his tone still calm, a smile still fixed to his face. “He’s been quite helpful.”
After that, I began to lose track of the conversation. There was an undercurrent to it that went far beyond the words. In fact, I don’t think the words themselves mattered at all. At one point, I think they might have made meaningless observations about the weather, and at another point, I’m sure I heard Alexander say he
liked ice cream.
There wasn’t anything to see. The scene wouldn’t have worked in a movie at all and yet, as an observer in that room, I felt the warring power.
After a few minutes, the room began to empty. Customers left in the middle of their meals, many forgetting to pay in their hurry to leave. The wait staff hovered outside the door, but dared not enter.
“Shall we call it a draw?” Alexander asked after a while.
Matthew noticed the empty room then, and nodded. When he did, the palpable forces in the room went silent. “A draw it is, but I think we’re going to have to compensate the restaurant for the exclusive use of this dining room.”
Alexander nodded his agreement, and the five of us sat around the larger table. I chose the seat farthest from Evan, but that meant he sat directly across from me in my field of vision.
The waiter hurried forward to set drinks in front of Matthew and me, then took the newcomers’ drink orders before scurrying away.
Alexander turned his attention toward me. ”Scot, is it? I assume you’re one of the reportedly powerful Scots who seem to be trying to prevent me from speaking without even hearing what I have to say?”
I didn’t even bat an eye. “No.”
He frowned. “No?”
“No, Mr. DuPris. I’m just a humble deputy here in Eagle Rock.”
He clearly did not believe me. “Where is all this secrecy really getting us?”
“Are you calling me a liar?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I would like to know how a ‘humble deputy’ can afford that dress.”
I glanced down at the designer dress I wore, part of the wardrobe my family had purchased for me before I moved out on my own. I hadn’t bought any new clothes since moving out, not after I started taking a serious look at price tags. Sooner or later I would have to, though, and my standards would have to come way down.
“However much my dress might cost,” I said evenly, “I have not tried to prevent you from saying anything you like.”
“Touché,” Alexander said. “Your parents, then?”
“Maybe. Why don’t you try talking to them about their concerns? This really doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
Before he had a chance to respond, the waiter came back with their drinks. After we placed our orders, Matthew rushed to my defense. “I agreed to sit here with you to hear you out, not to have you harass my date.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t say I was harassing her.” Alexander offered me a wide smile, turning up the charm.
“I’m sure I’ve had plenty of experience fighting your particular gift.” Not as much experience with a full grown sorcerer, though, because even saying so had me out of breath. I took a sip of water in an attempt to cover the reaction, but when the sip turned into several large gulps, no one was fooled.
“Look, Alexander,” Matthew said, turning the conversation away from me. “Say what you have to say and be done with it, but I’d appreciate not having my name appear on any more lists. I like to keep a low profile around here.”
“I’m sure it helps you to prey on regular mortals if they don’t know about your power.” Evan was talking to Matthew, but his eyes were squarely fixed on me. “It’s harder to control people if they know what you’re doing, isn’t it?”
“Oh, it depends.” Matthew touched a finger to his lips in a mocking salute to Evan’s second gift. “Some powerful but temporary spells can be overwhelming regardless. Of course, even powerful men can get entangled. Or won’t your father admit to this day that he let Belinda Hewitt put a love spell on him?”
“I’m sure you know all about love spells,” Evan replied.
“Evan, stop.” I looked straight into his crystalline blue eyes, which was probably a mistake, but I didn’t look away. “No one is putting a love spell on me. I’m not even in love with Matthew. We only started dating last week, after all.”
Evan frowned. “You’re not in love with him?”
“I don’t think we need to press that point,” Matthew said.
Wincing, I turned to him to apologize. “No, of course not. I only meant – it’s too soon.”
He smiled, reassuringly. “Of course it is.”
“Oh please!” Evan cut in.
Alexander held up his hands. “Please, gentleman, I can see that there are some deep local hurts that need healing. But putting rules in place protects us all. Don’t you think, Ms. Scot?”
I started to say that I had all the protection I needed, but of course, the protection wouldn’t be for me. Others did need protection. Others, like my mother and her sisters. Like my cousin and her friend, kidnapped by slave traders back in July.
“Government doesn’t keep the strong from preying on the weak,” Matthew said. “Only individuals can do that.”
“I agree,” Alexander said quickly. “Good, strong people make up the core of any successful movement. It is the community as a whole that needs to protect one another, not to mention those who can’t protect themselves. Why, just last week Evan was telling me about how he saved two young girls from magical slave traders.”
As ways to change the subject went, I’d heard worse, but somehow it made me want to seek out approval from this stranger. “I helped. I took on one of the sorcerers when Evan was unconscious.”
“Did you?” Alexander turned his attention to me. “Just a humble deputy?”
My cheeks went a little pink. “We mere mortals aren’t as useless as you seem to think.”
Alexander frowned.
“Go on,” I urged him. “You were saying something about slave traders?”
After a moment’s hesitation, he plunged into what sounded a bit like a well-rehearsed speech. “Stopping the magical slave trade is one of the primary reasons that I want to unite, not just small local communities, but the entire country. People often turn a blind eye to things that aren’t happening locally, so all a practitioner has to do is go out into the countryside. And believe me, they do. This is more common than many people realize, despite the pain inflicted on both parties.”
I knew how painful it felt, though I tried not to think about it while Alexander continued his tirade.
“This is a painful topic for Cassie,” Evan said finally, interrupting Alexander.
“This has happened to someone you know?” Alexander asked.
“My mother.”
Alexander nodded, knowingly. “Then was she sold?”
Sold as breeding stock. My father may have rescued her, but in the end she had given birth to six powerful children. And me. “Didn’t work out for her anyway. I don’t have an ounce of talent.”
The look of surprise on Alexander’s face could not have been faked. “You’re not gifted in any way?”
“No.” I didn’t bother to hide the note of bitterness in my voice.
“Cassie,” Evan said. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, not wanting to answer and needing not to stay. Standing shakily to my feet, I planted a quick kiss on Matthew’s cheek, acutely aware of the look Evan seared into my back and oddly pleased about his reaction.
“I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have to go. Maybe tomorrow we can get together someplace more private?”
“I’ll drive you.” Matthew stood.
“No.” I shook my head. “I can walk.” I couldn’t explain why, but I needed to walk. I needed some fresh air and some time to think.
He glanced at my feet. “In heels?”
“They’re more comfortable than they look.” In fact, Juliana had been practicing infusing objects with magic the previous week and had hit upon the novel idea of making heels feel like tennis shoes. The spell was starting to wear off, but I figured I could make it twelve blocks.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Matthew. It was nice to meet you, Alexander, Tyler, and I wish you luck. You’re going to need it.” Finally, I turned to Evan, but nothing I could think to say to him came close to expressing my feelings, so I settled on, “Go
to hell.”
14
“JENNIFER ADAMS DOESN’T HAVE MUCH MAGICAL talent,” I told Wesley as we approached her apartment building, not two blocks from the one Kaitlin and I had occupied earlier in the summer. “She couldn’t have set that fire if she’d wanted to and with as little power as she has, she’d need twenty-one like-minded and focused people with similar abilities to start that blaze. It’s pretty hard to get that many people to focus on the same thing at the same time.” It would have to be exactly twenty-one people, since that multiplied the magic of seven and three. Twenty-seven, or three cubed, might be slightly better, but not by much.
“Doesn’t sound very likely, no,” Wesley said.
“She’s also only been in town for a couple of years. I think she was hoping someone would take her on as an apprentice, but she doesn’t have much to offer in either money or power and we tend to distrust strangers.”
“I’ve noticed,” Wesley said.
“Oh?” I gave him a sideways glance. “Have you had problems?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I did worry, but with so many other things on my plate, I didn’t have much anxiety to spare for this one.
Unsurprisingly, Jennifer had nothing of value to tell us, though she seemed almost a little too eager to find out what had led us to her doorstep. She’d been thrilled that her name had been on the list and proudly displayed her invitation to Alexander’s conclave. “Of course, I knew about Alexander because he was putting together a magical underground in Chicago when I was there, but Chicago’s not a very good place for magic. There’s no node close by and most of the witches who live up there are either not serious, a little weird, or pretty hopeless. We get a lot of New Age type stuff going on, but most of the people in the covens don’t have any magical ability. I joined one in college but I’m not even sure if they believed that I could read auras.”
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