It wasn't long before the door clicked open, and we stepped inside. “It does,” I told Gianna. Instead of tossing the bobby pin aside, I tucked it in my pocket.
“Can I have it?” Gianna asked reverently.
I hesitated at the implications of an 11-year-old having a lock pick. I wasn't sure that I would win worst parent of the year, but I didn't know that it was entirely the smart thing to do. Still, I would rather be safe than sorry, and if giving her a way to get out of a potentially dangerous situation helped at all, I would do it. I carefully placed it in her hand. “Don't use it for anything that you don't have to,” I said strictly.
She looked down at it, closed her fingers around it and nodded. “Thanks,” she said.
I nodded back, and then urged her inside and closed the front door behind us. The Mansion was darker than I had expected, and it took my eyes a few moments to adjust. There were some internal lights that were left on, probably for cleaning staff, but they threw dim yellow light across the interior.
“The Council Room is this way,” I murmured to Gianna. That was going to be my first stop. They probably had offices nearby, some place that they stored information they needed to access. I borrowed the bobby pin from Gianna, and used it to break into the Council room. It was even simpler than the original lock.
I thought of the wards on the dark magic books in the library. It was quite possible they would know that I had been there anyways. Especially since I didn't have one of Avery's fancy bangles. But, there had been no shouting alarms, no strange movements in the corners, so I shoved the thought aside.
Probably my favorite invention of hers so far had been those little circuit board bracelets that let me escape magic undetected for at least 10 minutes. It came really handy breaking into houses.
Not that I did it that often. Really. I only broke a few laws.
I led the way into the Council Room, stopping just inside the door to let our eyes adjust. It wasn't really a council room, more a series of tables and chairs with some benches for observers to sit on. If I had to guess, magical trials were held here too. How much had to be hidden from the human world? No wonder Riley was exhausted.
We headed up towards the table, the one where the council members sat. Gianna took one side and I took the other. It looked for all intents and purposes to be like a normal table, made of a nice cherry wood, solid and sturdy. I leaned against it, looking at the back of the courtroom. There were two doors on the right, and one on the left.
“What’s behind door number one?” I muttered to myself. I definitely wasn't going to separate us for this. It was too dangerous, given that we didn't know who was here. I put a hand on my hip, trying to see if I could sense anything in the rooms. But because of the way the doors were set up, I couldn't send wind into any of them.
Still, I had a feeling that we could find something useful in Clara's office. If we could figure out where it was.
Gianna leaned against the table, her shoulders slumping.
I looked at her, caught off guard. “You okay?”
“Sort of,” she said. She looked down at the ground and scuffed her feet against the shiny wood. “I miss Emmaline.”
Guilt tugged at my heart. I should've thought more about that before I had invited her to the Council room. The last time Gianna had been here was when they had decided to give me guardianship after her grandmother had died. Gianna didn't have anybody else in the world to look after her. At least not that was living.
I took a deep breath, torn between leaving to give her a break and staying there. Would it be better if we could get her away from the memories? For all I had guardianship of her, Gianna had autonomy of herself, too.
I heard the creaking of the door and froze, putting my arm out in front of Gianna to shield her. Then I heard footsteps. “Should we hide?” Gianna asked, her voice a hushed whisper.
“Under the table.” It really wasn’t original, but I couldn’t think of anything else. Gianna dropped and crawled underneath it first, then me. There was just enough room for both of us.
Chapter Ten
One of the doors of the Council Room opened, the one we’d been about to go through, and a light flickered on. “I know you're there,” the woman said, her voice amused.
I recognized the voice. It was Diane, the nicest of the council members.
Maybe she was bluffing. Gianna looked at me and shook her head. Somewhat bemused, I stayed quiet. Then her footsteps came closer, and she crouched down so she could see under the table. “Found you.”
I jumped so hard that I almost hit my head on the top of the table. At least she hadn’t said surprise.
I let Gianna out first, and she settled a few feet away, leaning against one of the other tables with her arms crossed and her face stony.
“Hi Gianna,” Diane said, extending a hand to Gianna.
Gianna stared at the ground. I could see the tip of the bobby pin clutched in her hand.
I came out from underneath the table and stood, dusted myself off. “Sorry.” I wasn’t sure which of the many offenses I should apologize for first.
Diane waved a hand. “It's not a problem.”
I frowned. “It isn't?”
Diane looked amused. “You say that as if you're the first person to break in here.”
I looked at her, confused.
“It used to be kind of a default senior prank,” she explained. “Night before your apprentice exam, break into the Council room, leave a funny message.” She rolled her eyes, but there was a fondness there. “Trust me, you're not the first people I’ve chased out of here.” She studied us, her gaze almost creepily intent. “Although, you are the first people here I've seen without a reason to be here. I know for a fact that you're not near your apprenticeship exams.”
Yeah, that was a good point. I had no idea when my apprenticeship exam would be. From what Diane had said, from what Sam had said, it was something you did around your 18th or 21st birthday. I’d passed both those milestones.
“We’re looking into Clara's murder,” Gianna said before I could stop her.
To be fair, it was telling the truth. And telling the truth was always safer to do, at least at first. Once you figured out what they knew, you figured out what you could lie about. That was my philosophy, anyway.
Diane looked at me, surprised, and then her face turned sad. “Such a horrible thing.”
“I can only imagine.” I didn’t shift my weight from one foot to the other, but it was a close thing. It felt awkward almost. Diane had obviously been close to Clara, and she had been there when she died. “Are you okay?”
Diane nodded. “She was my mentor.” There was something distant in her eyes. “She was a nice person.”
I did have a bad poker face, but surprise was pretty much universal. I hoped it came across as surprised to learn that, instead of surprise that Diane liked her. It contradicted pretty much everything I’d heard about Clara so far. Then again, it was possible my family could have been biased. Especially since Marguerite was the head.
“What do you want to know?” Diane asked, sitting on the table. “I'll help you in any way I can.”
Gianna moved closer to me, and I saw her peeking looks at Diane. “Are you sure?” I asked warily.
Diane nodded. “I want to find whoever killed her.” Her voice burned. “They took her life, and they shouldn't have.”
I hummed thoughtfully, not sure what to say to that. I would be curious to learn more about Clara through Diane’s eyes, to see if she was really as stubborn or overbearing as everyone else had said.
“What was she like?” I asked.
Diane's eyes twinkled. “You've heard stories, I take it?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, not sure if I should confirm or deny.
“She was a handful,” Diane admitted. “If she didn't like you, she made it clear.”
That would explain why she and Marguerite didn't get along. “But you guys got along?”
She nodded. “I'm the youngest of the councilmembers,” she said. “I'm only forty two, and the youngest to ascend to Master in town. I was twenty three.”
I blinked. Charlotte was a master, yes, but she was, like, 30. And she hadn’t been one for long. The average was thirty or thirty five, so twenty three seemed insane.
“Wow,” I said out of a lack of anything else to say. She looked older than she was. Maybe it was stress? I definitely wasn’t going to say that out loud.
“I was appointed to the Council when I was thirty one,” she said. “Clara became my mentor. She took me under her wing, helped me learn everything needed to be a good council member.” She looked down on the ground and let out a sigh. “She was the parent I never had.”
I looked at Gianna out of the corner of my eyes and winced. Diane must've caught on, because horror flashed across her face.
“I'm so sorry.” The words spilled out of Diane’s mouth in a rush.
Gianna shrugged, but I could see her sinking into herself. Was it worth ending the conversation now?
“Could you think of anybody who wanted to kill Clara?” I asked, keeping an eye on Gianna out of the corner of my eye. She didn’t seem unduly distressed, but at the first sign of agitation or high emotion, I was out of there.
Diane looked thoughtful and appeared to seriously ponder the question. “I'm sure there's someone,” she admitted. “Clara wasn't well-liked.”
That did match with what I'd heard. “But she was different with you??
She nodded.
“Did she have any family?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started jotting down notes. It was more convenient than a notepad, at least at the moment.
Diane shook her head. “A lot of the council members are only children,” she said. “About ten years ago they added the requirement that you couldn’t marry or have children.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it, Marguerite popping into my mind.
Diane smiled, as if she could predict exactly what I was thinking.
“Marguerite was grandfathered in, before the no children rule was created.”
I frowned slightly. “Why is that a thing?” It sounded a lot like the priesthood. Did priests believe in witches? Were there Christian witches? It made my head hurt.
“Clara was the one who implemented it,” Diane admitted. “Her stance was that it made it more difficult for the council to be unbiased if they had children that were affected by the policies.”
I opened my mouth to say something, and then closed it, because I had a feeling she wouldn't really appreciate my rant on the subject. There were places and times, and this was not one of them. It was a strange parallel to my work as a social worker, the times I had been asked ‘How can you give advice on parenting when you don’t have kids?’
Joke was on them, now. I had a kid.
There was a slight downturn to Diane's lips, as if she could imagine what I was thinking.
“Would we be able to get into Clara's office?” I asked hopefully, even though I was fairly certain I knew the answer.
Diane was already shaking her head by the time I finished talking. “I'm afraid not,” she said. “Confidentiality and all that.” Her eyes looked sad. “I don't know when I'm going to be able to clean it out.”
I glanced at Gianna, because we still had to do the same thing to her mother's house. It still sat untouched, undone except for moving what Gianna had picked up or asked me to bring since Emmaline had died.
“Well, can you tell us what she was working on?” I asked, looking imploringly at her.
Diane grinned and rolled her eyes. “I suppose,” she said. “She was working with a committee to relegate interactions between Magical and non-Magical workers,” she said. “Oscar was very against it. They had a huge argument.”
I raised my eyebrows. Oscar had always seemed so levelheaded, at least the few times I’d met him. “When?”
“A couple days before the Summit.” Diane frowned. “He couldn’t do anything like that.”
I nodded in agreement but made a mental note to look into Oscar. “What about the new council member?”
Diane looked at me, her eyebrows raised. “Are you investigating this, or the police?”
I grinned sheepishly, trying not to give away how invested I was. “I'm nosy. So sue me.”
Diane let out a surprised laugh. She was quiet for a few moments, her eyes on Gianna. Then her attention turned back to me. “His name is Zane, and he was appointed about a week ago.”
“So a few weeks after Sage's arrest.” I had a lot of feelings about that but tried not to let them show up on my face.
Diane nodded. “We eliminated the secretary position and brought another full-time council member on.” There was a twist to her lips as if she didn't quite agree with that decision.
“Who's taking over as head with Clara gone?”
Diane’s face looked deceptively bland. “I'm not sure,” she said. “It's been a while since we needed a new head of the Council. I’m not entirely familiar with the procedures.”
That brought up a new interesting angle, a new potential reason for Clara to be murdered. Could somebody have been vying for her job?
I considered Riley's focus on Marguerite, and everything she often got up to. For all that the others had said Marguerite didn’t want it, maybe that had changed. I had a lesson with her soon, so I added it to my list of things to stick my nose into.
“Is there anything else you need?” Diane hid a yawn behind her hand.
I felt I’d pushed my luck enough, so I shook my head. “Thanks for answering the questions.” I offered her my hand and she shook it, looking somewhat bemused.
“I hope you find out who did it,” Diane said, tilting her head slightly to the side. Her brown eyes were a bit sad. “I’ll lock up after you leave, so don’t worry.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at her, and it was even mostly genuine. I turned to look at Gianna. “Ready to go?”
She uncrossed her arms and tucked her hands in her pockets, then nodded.
“Night, Diane.” I waved once more at her, then led Gianna out of the courtroom.
We walked out of the Council room, and out of the mansion proper. I heard the snick of the doors locking behind us. Metal witches. Diane probably hadn’t even left the courtroom to lock up after us.
Gianna opened her mouth to speak, and I held a finger up. I shook my head.
Instead I nodded my head in the direction of the police station, then stuck my hands back in my pockets. Understanding seemed to dawn on Gianna’s face, and she followed me towards the station without another word.
Once we were a few blocks away, I stopped and turned towards her. “I don't know if listening spells are a thing, but if they are, there would probably be some near the Council.”
She looked at me, fairly amused. “Well, not listening spells proper,” she said. “But they could've created magical devices to listen.”
“And how is that any different?” It was a genuine question.
She winked. “It's not,” she said with a grin, seeming to shake off the tension that had plagued her inside. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but I also didn’t want to probe. I would ask her later, I told myself.
“Last one to the station is a rotten egg!” Gianna took off towards the station at a flat-out run.
Rolling my eyes in fond exasperation, I started after her. Kids these days.
Chapter Eleven
I stood in the meadow, a little bit further away from the main house than normal. I kind of missed the patch of grass I’d flattened so many times, since it no longer sat up straight. Instead, Marguerite had dragged me to a woodier part, where trees stood next to us, ranging from thin and whippy to the type of evergreen you would see in non-desert places.
“We’re going to do wind manipulation today,” Marguerite said shortly.
I nodded. I hadn’t seen her since I had taken her home from the police station a couple days ag
o, and she had been silent the entire car ride. It wasn’t the most awkward drive I had ever done, but it ranked up there. “No meditation?” I was cautious.
Marguerite stopped and turned to look at me. “Do you think I would skip it?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it. I looked sheepish.
“I thought so.”
Marguerite sank to the ground with so much more grace than I thought was possible in a 70-something-year-old.
Not that I would say that to her face. I did like my head attached my neck.
“Ask what you want to know.”
“And you’ll answer?” I sank to the ground across from her, wincing a bit when my butt hit the ground. I lacked dignity in spades.
She shrugged. “If I want to.”
Yeah that was what I had expected. I frowned, thinking. “What was the summit like?”
Marguerite fixed me with a beady eye. “That's a very general question.”
“You didn’t give me any guidelines,” I pointed out.
Her eyebrows raised a millimeter higher. I could feel the winds starting to get brisk around us, not threatening, but chiding. Hurry up, they urged.
“Ask,” she said.
“Did you want to be head of the Council?” I asked.
Marguerite looked at me like I’d grown three heads. “No,” she said. “Anybody who told you otherwise is selling you something.”
“Why not?” It was redundant, but maybe she would humor me.
Marguerite didn’t look impressed. “Have you seen how much paperwork is associated with that?” She rolled her eyes. “I have enough to do as it is.”
I could definitely give her that. That was one of the things I hated most about my job as a social worker, because I spent more time filling out paperwork than I did helping the families in my care.
Charms & Clouds Page 9