by Lauren Quick
“But what about my father? What’s his involvement? And why would he tell someone like you and not his daughters?” Jealousy flared in her.
“I suspect he wanted to keep you safe. Your father is a high member of the order and he is always moving. His life has been in the shadows. I assume he wanted better for you three, but you’ll have to ask him.”
A lump formed in her throat. “So he abandoned us for our own good. And he’s been after the coin? Are you saying he stole it for the order? Doesn’t sound very upstanding. Why should I trust this order? Maybe they want the coin for themselves.”
“The order has been watching the coin ever since it was invented. Our first instinct was to destroy it, but since it contains rare and powerful magic, cooler heads prevailed, deciding to let it exist, and for years it was closely monitored. The council put it under lock and key, but word leaked that someone in the council was a dark witch, part of a dark coven with designs to take over the council and rule Everland. And so your father took drastic measures to protect our world.”
Clover was getting a headache. She blamed the poison, antidote, and wine concoction, but was also overwhelmed with the information the Darklander was feeding her. “Are we really in danger?”
“We are always in danger. Currently, Kat Keene is the order’s biggest concern.”
“Are you going to take the coin from me?” she asked.
“Absolutely not. I want nothing to do with that thing. Living on the fringe of society has served me well and that coin will bring nothing but unwanted attention. You’re being hunted as we speak. But to your credit you were smart to come here. No one would ever suspect it.” He smiled, kindly this time.
“What are we to do about Kat Keene? How do we stop her?” Clover asked.
“Now that you possess the coin, I fear you’re going to have to fight her head-on.”
“But you said she’s part of a dark coven. She’s more powerful than us.” And then it hit her. “You’re suggesting we band together.”
“You’ll figure this out and you’ll do what you have to do for the sake of Everland. That’s really why I asked for Vivi’s help. Not for her alone. But because I knew she had sisters, loyal sisters who would help her. The Mayhem coven is powerful and you’re going to need all of you.” He rose to his feet and left the room, stopping in the doorway. “Goodbye, Clover. It was a pleasure.”
Clover stood, getting what she’d come for, and now it was time to head home and put the information to good use. She slipped her hand from her pocket and pulled out the portal coin. The Darklander watched her intently. Clover stared down at the coin and infused the artifact with her intention. She envisioned the kitchen in her house, pictured it clear as day and suddenly a portal opened up in an eruption of energy and Clover stepped through into the warmth of her own home, leaving the cold eeriness of the Darklander’s library far behind her.
20
Honora adjusted her flying goggles and lifted into the air, leaving Clover’s house to shrink beneath her feet as she flew back to Stargazer City. There was little else she could do after law enforcement cleared out and the party guests followed. The aunties set about cleaning the house, and she and Vivi reassured Derek that Clover would be fine and not to worry, but really they were going on faith. They had no idea what would happen to Clover, but they had to let their sister’s decision play out.
Hex had given them no choice.
Of course, Honora’s first instinct had been to go after Clover in her witch-gone-mad visit to the Darklander’s mansion, but then she and Vivi quickly discovered they were being watched by Hex Division agents. It made sense. Hex was after the portal coin and Clover had it. They’d be forced to arrest her for taking the coin, so Honora and Vivi had to let events play out. Hex would keep a close eye on Clover’s two sisters, hoping they would lead them to her, which meant Clover was on her own. Honora would just have to trust that her sister knew what she was doing.
Once Honora had peppered the aunties with questions, it became painfully clear they knew nothing about where Charles Atticus had been for the past twenty-five years, but they were convinced he was an honorable wizard, refusing to believe he was a criminal. Honora thought they were being hopeless romantics with some far-flung notion their happy family would be reunited. She couldn’t blame them. She hoped so too. Elspeth had sent word from the sheriff’s station in Willow Realm, briefly stating they were well and that Charles was locked safely in his cell.
Stargazer City was where Honora could think, where she could be the most helpful to Clover and their cause. And that meant heading home, getting some rest, and starting fresh the next day. The following morning, Honora headed into work after stopping for a double espresso. Within an hour, the office was buzzing with activity. She’d called in Sawyer and Jenny and gotten to work on the latest surveillance spells. If Honora was going to be followed by Hex, then she was going to give them a show. She needed to prove Kat Keene was dirty—using black magic and stealing council artifacts. And if there was one thing Honora was good at, it was getting dirty.
Sawyer waved his wand and a golden bug flew through the air, circling and diving in quick changing maneuvers.
“Now that little guy is pretty,” Honora said. “How’d you create it?”
He leaned back in his chair, looking cool and casual in a black T-shirt and cargo pants. “Would you believe it if I told you it was a piece of jewelry I had retrofitted with a magical listening device? It amplifies sound and sends the signal here.” He pointed to a matching bug on his desk.
“You used earrings and enchanted them.” Honora smiled. “Clever. And besides the gold, they look like real insects. A perfect disguise.”
He returned her smile. “It’s as close as I could get to the real thing. I’m hoping the little guy stays out of sight, disappearing into the background, and if it is found, it will look like someone lost an earring, and hopefully the target won’t realize they’ve been bugged.”
“Where’d you get them?” Jenny asked, sauntering in from the hall.
“My girlfriend bought them at a flea market. She never wore them, so I borrowed them for our purposes.” He flicked his wand and the bug soared in for a landing. “What can I say? With a little magical know-how, they work like a charm, literally.”
“Pretty ingenious,” Honora said, patting him on the back. “And perfect for our little project we have going on today.”
Jenny cocked her hip. “Yeah, but getting them to fly is really the ingenious part,” she said. “What’s our strategy today?”
Honora stood and grabbed her purse, ready to roll. “Pack up and get in the van. We’re heading to Kat’s office to do a little snooping on the councilwoman.”
“Tell me we’re bugging her office.” Jenny beamed. “Ha! You’ve got guts, Honora. But good luck getting a piece of Sawyer’s magic through the Witch Council security.”
“Technically, we’re not bugging her office. That would be illegal even if she weren’t a black magic witch stealing from the council. No. We’re going to use Sawyer’s crafty little bug to get really, really close.”
After talking to Rye Finn at the party, Honora realized that the only legal action they could take was to present a case of no confidence against Kat Keene at the next council meeting scheduled for that afternoon. That left precious little time to find some evidence on Kat. Basically, Honora was desperate. Being squeezed into the back of the surveillance van with Sawyer and Jenny was testament to that.
The council building was buzzing with activity. Witches and wizards working for Witch World Daily milled around the council steps and council members hurried through the throng of reporters, dodging questions about the capture of a fugitive wizard and a dangerous artifact. “I can’t believe news has already leaked,” Honora said.
“I’m not surprised. You said it happened d
uring a tea party. Your guests were probably yapping the whole way home. News travels at the speed of a witch’s lips.” Jenny shifted, trying to get a glimpse out the window.
“And that’s fast,” Sawyer said with a goofy grin. After a nod from Honora, he cleared his throat and whispered a spell into his cupped hands. A buzzing sound filled the van and dissipated once the bug flew out of the crack in the window.
The golden bug took flight and traveled higher and higher, out of sight, and was hopefully stationed on the window outside of Kat’s office. They waited for confirmation.
“The beetle has landed.” Sawyer stared into a sleek framed mirror he was using to scry with and see the location of the device. “It’s on the ledge outside of her window and the window is open.”
“Lucky us,” Jenny said. “Good thing it’s not winter.”
“Can we hear anything?” Honora asked, growing impatient.
“Nothing yet,” Sawyer said. “I have a feeling we’re in for the long haul.”
Kat Keene was silent, only a few faint sighs told them she was still in the room. An assistant brought her coffee and a bagel, but that was it. Surprisingly, she’d taken no meetings all morning. Her office was a dead zone of silence. Honora’s back stiffened from leaning against the stiff seat.
“Do you think Kat knows she’s being watched?” Jenny asked. “There were a lot of reporters outside. The council building is practically crawling with them.”
Honora circled her ankle to loosen the pins and needles stinging her foot. “It would explain her bland workday routine after such a major event. I think she’s laying low like nothing’s happened, biding her time.”
“What should we do? Keep listening?” Sawyer asked through an orb of golden light that encased him, the magic glowing around him.
Honora nodded at him. “What choice do we have?”
“We could check out her apartment,” Jenny said. “I could be into her place in minutes, just say the word.”
“I’ve been warned by Rye to stay away. Hex already swept her apartment and found nothing on her. Plus, he warned me her place was under surveillance and anyone sneaking in would be prosecuted. Hex frowns upon private investigators breaking into other witches’ houses, even if they aren’t good witches.” As investigators, Honora and Rye Finn sometimes shared mutually beneficial information.
Honora groaned and stretched out in the front seat of the van. The back was starting to smell a little like a hamster’s nest and she couldn’t take it anymore. Glancing out the window, she stared at the council building and watched the witches and wizards gliding by like it were just another beautiful day, and to them it was. Then she noticed a familiar witch—a trim brunette wearing a red skirt and suit jacket and high heels—hurrying out of the building and clipping down the stone steps like a deer on ice. It was the witch she and Harper had a run-in with the other day at the Sky Garden, the one working for Kat Keene.
Honora jerked up. She opened the door to the van and a wash of fresh air rolled in. “I’m on a tail. Just saw Kat’s assistant walk by. Kat might not be up to something, but it doesn’t mean her assistant isn’t doing a little running around on her behalf.”
“I’m coming with,” Jenny said and slipped out the back of the van before Honora could protest. “There’s no way I’m sitting in there all day.” Jenny said, rounding the van and coming up beside Honora. “Keene’s gone quiet.”
Honora slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and the two fell into a quick stride. “Okay, but don’t slow me down. I’ve got to get something, anything, to take to the meeting today. Rye said his case is thin as glass.”
Honora and Jenny tailed the assistant to a magical cat café called Purrfectly Delicious where cats wandered around the café, cozying up to cat-loving patrons while they sipped lattes and nibbled on dessert offerings. The place was packed with witches and wizards needing nuzzling, sitting at café tables. Waitresses wove in between the tables, giant cat displays, and a few well-placed wooden beams for the felines to roam around on.
Honora entered the café and ducked behind a huge cat tree that took up the entire center of the room. She rubbed her itching nose, her eyes beginning to water. “I can’t believe people pay to hang out with cats.”
Two glass cases were filled with chocolate confections, and a waitress walked by carrying a tray with a large chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. “Well, now I get it, but still the cat hair is everywhere.” She dusted off her pants that had rubbed against the tree like a lint brush.
Jenny tickled the chin of a fluffy white cat that strolled up to her. “I heard about this place. A witch who has a feline persuasion runs it. She takes care of animals that would normally be in shelters and helps get them adopted. Plus, witches and wizards like cats.”
There were also numerous oversized chairs and a sofa spread around the room where witches and cats lounged comfortably. Honora focused on the target.
“Can you see what she’s doing?” Honora asked, not daring to step out from behind the tree and get recognized. She was glad Jenny came along.
“She’s meeting with a group of witches. There are three of them.” Jenny shifted and a black kitten leaped down from the tree onto her shoulder. Startled, she jerked and peeled the clawing kitten off of her silk blouse. “What do I do with this little monster?” Jenny asked, her maternal instincts waning.
“It’s a kitten. You cuddle it,” Honora said.
Getting a glare from one of the waitresses, Honora found an empty table and checked out a menu. Jenny and her new kitten friend joined her.
“Can I get you two anything?” a waitress asked.
“I’ll have a double espresso and a chocolate frosted brownie for here and three chocolate chip cookies to go,” Honora said.
“I’ll have the same, minus the cookies to go.” Jenny plopped the kitten down. “He’ll have a saucer of milk.”
The waitress scooped up the kitten and headed off.
“Sawyer will be mad if he finds out we were in a café and didn’t bring him anything. You know how he craves chocolate,” Honora said.
A huge tabby cat sauntered over to Honora and jumped up in her lap, nosing her to sit back so he could sit down and have his head scratched.
“This place is infested,” Jenny said as another kitten made its way down the tree and jumped onto the table.
“You mean infested with cuteness.” Honora sneezed, and then petted the cat on her lap, realizing that her surveillance skills were totally slacking. Her cat magically turned from a tabby to a tortoiseshell. “What just happened to this cat?”
Honora glanced up and noticed that the cat Jenny was holding went from a fluffy white fur ball to a sleek black kitten.
“What’d you expect? It’s a magical cat café,” the waitress said, placing their drinks and food down, including a bag of cookies.
“Thanks,” Honora said to the waitress who muttered a spell and snapped her fingers and the cat on Honora’s lap disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.
Honora attention turned back to Kat’s assistant. “Are you getting anything?”
Jenny mouthed a spell and craned her neck. “I can’t hear much. Something about planning an event or a party or some witchy get-together. Wait. Wow. This just got interesting.” Jenny cut her eyes toward one of the witches and narrowed her gaze. She shifted the kitten in her lap. “You aren’t going to believe what I just saw.”
Honora set her drink down. “What?”
“A sigil.”
“Are you sure?” Honora asked, leaning back to get a better view around the cat tree that literally took up half the room. She could see two of the witches from where she was sitting.
“Of course I’m sure,” Jenny said.
“Where?”
“Neck.” Jenny shoved half her
brownie into her mouth.
“Ouch. That’s serious.” A sigil was a sign used by witches in a particular coven to bond them together. It was a symbol of their unity and dedication to the coven. Tattoos or brands were often used to cement the bond. Honora’s eyes widened. “It’s a metal choker,” she said. “I think it’s embedded in the skin.”
Jenny sipped her drink. “These witches are hardcore. Do you think Kat’s in the coven?”
“I don’t know, maybe. I’ve not seen her wear a choker, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t hiding it with a glamor. Kat probably wants to keep her appearance professional and hide any extra-coven activities.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll have Sawyer run a magical detection spell on her office while she’s still there to see if he can detect a glamor.” Jenny glanced over her shoulder at the witches.
“Did they say where this meeting is taking place?” Honora asked.
“One of the witch’s houses. They didn’t mention an address, of course, because they probably already know the address and, no, it isn’t at the assistant’s house.”
“Well, under normal circumstances I’d be thrilled with this news. It’s a lead, but it’s not something that could get Kat in trouble unless they happened to be practicing black magic and it will be too late to find out before the meeting today.”
“It’s something at least.” Jenny shifted in her seat, readying to leave. “Time to go. I swear one of those cats smiled at me.”
The council meeting attended by Rye Finn was a bust. Honora slipped into a bench but the Hexer wasn’t too pleased. “We’ve got nothing on Kat or any of her associates. We’re not even going to bring it up at the meeting,” he scowled, brow furrowed.
“What about covens?” Honora asked. “I think she might be in a hardcore one. Have you heard of her being in one?” She couldn’t see the choker, but knew it was there. Sawyer had sent a glamor detection spell through his bug and it came up positive. Honora stroked her neck when Kat looked over at her and she nodded, seeing if she could get a rise out of the witch, but Kat broke their gaze.