I met Brandon’s eyes. “If you will excuse me, I believe it would be prudent for me to check on the rest of the collection.”
“Go.”
With a curt nod, I jogged back to the greenhouses. Walking into greenhouse one, I opened myself to the plants. It felt like everything was there, but I started a visual check to be sure.
While I was doing that, I addressed the occupants of all three greenhouses. “Have any plants been removed since yesterday?”
With greenhouses one and two denying having any plants removed, greenhouse three was a chorus of yes.
When I finished the check of the first greenhouse, I moved to greenhouse three and followed up their initial response.
“What plants were removed?”
The evil pine.
The one that made me hurt you.
The black pine.
The tree that tried to make me hurt you.
Plant after plant mentioned the black pine, which had left, but that was not the information I wanted. “Have any other plants been relocated?”
No. This time the entire greenhouse was in agreement.
“Thank you.” Even with the plants’ self-assessment, I reviewed every occupant of the remaining greenhouses. By the time I had finished, Brandon was waiting for me in my office.
I closed the door behind me, not wanting any students who came in to overhear our conversation. “All the plants, save the Japanese black pine, are accounted for.”
“Good.” He sighed. “Campus security sent me away. I was looming and distracting them. But I did get a look at the video of the hallway. It cut out just after midnight.”
My heart sank. “So they will not be able to identify the person who stole the plant.”
Brandon shrugged. “They might be able to find evidence on a camera from one of the exits or another building. In the past, security has done an excellent job when situations similar to this have developed.”
I had not been here long enough to determine the truth of that statement, but I had to admit he did not sound hopeful. “A skilled witch might be able to track the tree or see if any spells were used.”
“I don’t know if we can afford a witch.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you have a recommendation? Preferably one that doesn’t cost a fortune? ”
Pulling open my desk drawer, I retrieved one of Michelle’s business cards. “This is my fiancée. She is very good. I know she’s a consultant for Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Forsyth, and Union counties.”
“Really?”
I nodded.
He slid the business card in his pocket. “I’ll see if there’s money in the budget and whose approval I would need to hire her.”
We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.
Of all the plants to steal, taking the black pine made the least sense to me. While most of the school knew there had been trouble at the greenhouses yesterday, that was the extent of their knowledge. Not many people knew the plant was here in the isolation room, and the few who did had been made aware of its ability to cause trouble. I could not see one of those people choosing to steal a plant that could so easily turn on them.
Which brought me full circle. Who would know the plant was here and have a reason to steal it after it had demonstrated its abilities?
The person who donated it. A person who had to be the demon or affiliated with the demon. Demon or not, that individual would have every reason to want to plant back after it had demonstrated its abilities but before anyone had time to investigate.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. The Japanese black pine was gone, and unless I was very much mistaken, there would be no evidence for campus security or Michelle to follow. This demon was careful. This demon was even more dangerous than either of us had thought.
Chapter Nine
Michelle
Three hours later I was in my car and on my way home. Amber was waiting to hear from Tiffany’s family about funeral arrangements. She’d keep me informed and see if there was a problem with my attending the service. I wanted to be there, but considering some of the connections, neither of us were sure if it was a wise decision.
I’d worked through enough grief that I could focus on other things, and right now that was the sudden change in medical examiner. Now, I couldn’t prove anything, but the timing did seem awfully suspicious.
From the oncoming traffic, a big pickup truck swerved into my lane. I pulled my foot off the gas but before I could hit the brakes, the truck dived back into its own lane. Taking a steadying breath, I brushed off my unease as too much time spent thinking about conspiracy theories. Elron would be the first to tell me that not everything was connected.
The truck driver darted back into my lane. I went for the brakes, but there wasn’t going to be enough time for it to matter. The truck was too close and rumbling toward me with no sign of stopping. In fact, it seemed to be speeding up. I wrenched the steering wheel to the right. The truck shot by me with only inches to spare. Behind me, I heard the truck’s tires squeal as it raced away.
I had just enough time to let out a panicked shriek as my car flew off the edge of the embankment. I had to do something or I’d be in this car when it fell almost thirty feet to the ground.
“Nazid!” I screamed, frantically throwing every bit of power I could muster into the spell.
The car stopped falling and simply hung in the air. I leaned against the wheel, taking deep, calming breaths. I was alive. I hadn’t hit anything. I could figure this out. All I had to do now was get the car back on the ground. On the road would be ideal, but right now the ground would be a good start.
To get to the road, I needed to go to the left. I tried sending a small wave of energy at the rear passenger side of the car. The car rocked back and forth a little but didn’t actually move. I tried sending energy at the bumper, thinking any forward momentum would be good, but that didn’t work either.
Maybe it was my shaky nerves, but I couldn’t figure out how to direct the car. Usually when I moved levitated objects, I wasn’t inside them and used my wand to focus the power. It was time for plan B.
I rolled down the window and looked below me. I was hovering over a cow field, and lucky for me, all the cows I could see were at the other end of the pasture. I could set this thing down and, if I was really lucky, drive it right out of the field. And even if I couldn’t do that, a tow truck would be able to get me out. Since there wasn’t any reason to leave the car running, I put it in park and turned it off. It felt really strange to be parking the car in the air.
Closing my eyes, I felt for the spell. This was the tricky part. I needed to slowly reduce the levitation effect until I was very lightly drifting down. I pulled a tiny bit of energy from the spell. Nothing. I pulled a little more. Still nothing. Hoping I wasn’t making a mistake, I pulled even more energy out of the spell. The car lowered an inch.
Holding my breath, I waited to see if it would go down again. Seconds ticked by, and I wasn’t sure if I was moving. Finally I picked a mark, how much of a fence post I could see over the hood of my car. Then I looked away for a few seconds. When I looked back, I could see more fence post. This was working. All I had to do was sit there and wait to reach the ground.
The first thing I did was call Rodriguez, my contact on the police force here in Cherokee County. With a little luck he’d be free and could come run interference for me with the farmer.
“Rodriguez.”
“Hey, it’s Michelle. Um, I could really use your help. Are you free?”
“I could make some time. What do you need?”
“Well.” There was no good way to explain this. “You know the curve and drop-off about seven miles north of the lodge?”
“Sure, what about it?”
“Someone tried to run me off the road. I’m fine, but my car is about to land in that farmer’s field. I thought some help from a trusted authority figure would smooth things over.” Since I wasn’t hearing any laughter, I figured I
’d done well enough in explaining the situation.
Rodriguez cleared his throat. “Would you, ah, be in the car?”
“Yes.”
“I gotta see this,” he muttered.
“Get over here fast enough and you will.” I told myself the sharpness of my words was completely understandable.
“Be there in ten.” With that he hung up.
I poked my head out the window. I probably had closer to fifteen or twenty minutes before I was going to touch down, so he had lots of time. Closing my eyes, I leaned against the headrest. There was no doubt in my mind that the person in the truck had intended to kill me. At that part of the road, there was a thirty-foot drop-off. Usually there was a guardrail to keep cars on the road (and out of the cow field), but a few weeks back, a truck had hit it just right, peeling up a large portion.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed likely that the previous medical examiner’s car accident hadn’t been so accidental. Two suspicious accidents were the start of a pattern. I needed to get my hands on the medical examiner’s accident report. I found it all too easy to believe that this incident was connected to the other one. After all, I was on the road a lot for my job, and this felt different than any of the strange driving I’d seen before. It felt intentional and personal. It felt like someone had tried to kill me. Someone connected with the new demon in town.
I was still slowly drifting down when I saw Rodriguez drive up and park in front of the house. After knocking on the door, he vanished inside for a moment, only to return with a young woman in a plaid shirt, grass-smeared pants, and sturdy boots. She glanced up at my car before whistling. A dog shot out from under the porch. She whistled again, and it took off into the field. The dog vanished from my view for a moment, but the next time I saw it, the cows were huddled in one corner of the field, giving me plenty of room to land.
Reaching for the spell, I linked to it and started pulling more of the energy out. I started to drop more quickly. I kept an eye on the ground as I adjusted the amount of power available to the spell. When I was getting close to the ground, I started feeding energy back into the spell.
Rodriguez and the farmer had walked into the field and were close enough that it wasn’t a strain to talk to them. “How close am I to the ground?”
“About a foot,” Rodriguez answered.
Nodding, I pulled a little more energy out of the spell and resumed the slow descent. A moment later, I felt the tires gently touch the earth. I gave it a few more seconds, wanting the suspension to reload gradually rather than all at once. Then I released the spell, sending the energy I couldn’t absorb into the ground.
I got out of the car, knelt down, and reaffirmed my connection to the earth. If Elron saw, he’d tease me. Witches were usually closer to the moon and sun, but right now I was so happy to be back on the ground. Though, when I told him about it, he wouldn’t find anything about this particular situation funny.
Rodriguez cleared his throat.
Looking up, I saw him trying to suppress a smile. “Sorry.” I quickly dusted my hands off on my pants before offering one to the farmer. “Michelle Oaks, witch. Umm. I’m really sorry about this.”
She laughed and shook my hand firmly. “Becca O’Brian. You’ll have to forgive me. I’m so glad you didn’t crash. And now I have a good story. The witch who landed in my pasture.”
“I suspect I’ll find it funny in a few weeks.” If I made it that long. The last demon had done his best to kill me, and I was getting the feeling this one was headed down the same path.
“What exactly happened?” Rodriguez asked.
My remaining mirth drained away as I explained how I’d been run off the road. By the end of the story, neither Becca nor Rodriguez were smiling.
Rodriguez sighed. “I’ll make a formal report, but I don’t have high hopes. There are a lot of trucks in the area, and without more details… Plus I’ve worked other accidents along this stretch. There isn’t a camera for miles.”
Becca smiled apologetically. “I’m not even a good witness. Between the dishwasher and the radio, I couldn’t even hear anything. Sorry.”
“You didn’t have any reason to be looking for trouble.” I shrugged. “Everyone’s safe, and that’s the important part. Unless Rodriguez objects, I can get my car out of your field and you can go back to your day.”
“I’m just here for public relations,” he said cheekily.
I rolled my eyes as I got back in my car. For some reason I had the strangest feeling that the car wouldn’t start, but the engine caught as soon as I turned the key. I put the car in gear, took a deep breath, and slowly started forward. I could feel the tires slipping, but as long as I was moving forward, everything was fine.
A moment later, I felt a tire spin and the car stopped moving. I eased off the gas, put the car in reverse, and started the process of rocking it forward and back until I was clear. Every time I had to switch gears and try again, I winced at the damage I was doing to Becca’s field. This was her livelihood, and here I was, tearing it up.
After a tense couple of minutes, I was free. A few seconds later, I rolled through the gate and onto a gravel road. Parking the car, I stepped out.
“Becca, don’t close the gate yet. I’m going to try to fix the damage I did.”
She glanced over at the ruts and shrugged. “I’ve done worse in my own truck. Don’t worry about it.”
“Please let me try. I feel bad. I’ve inconvenienced you, torn up part of your field, and the least I can do is try to fix it.” And I really did mean try. This was a job much better suited to Elron. Witches weren’t known for their earth magic.
Becca shrugged. “All right.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. When I reached the ruts, I knelt down, laid a hand on the earth, and pulled my remaining magic into my palm, then whispered, “Please, return to how you where before I disrupted you.”
My palm warmed, and the ground rippled. High and low spots leveled out, grass returned to the surface, and it looked like nothing had ever happened.
“My thanks to you.”
A wave of calm flooded me. I felt my breathing even out and my pulse slow. Stiff muscles relaxed, and with that I felt better than I had since I’d heard about Tiffany’s murder.
Giving the earth a final pat, I stood up, brushed off my hands, and returned to Becca and Rodriguez. He was smiling, and Becca was standing there with her mouth agape. She snapped her jaw shut, whistled, and her dog came running through the gate just behind me. She quickly swung it shut and latched it.
“You were serious. I didn’t know witches could do that. I need someone like you around here all the time.” Her eyes glided over the farm, and as I looked, I could see countless things that needed work. Everything from fences that could use repairs to fields that needed seeding.
Rodriguez checked his watch. “Michelle, I need to get back. Do you need anything else?”
“Becca, could you give me a moment?”
“Umm, sure?” She looked puzzled.
I nodded and quickly joined Rodriguez at his car.
“What really happened, Michelle?” His eyes drilled into me.
“I don’t have any proof, but I think someone is after me. One of my good friends was murdered, and the new medical examiner up in Ellijay managed to convince some of the higher-ups that I could be involved. Like I said, no proof, but it feels wrong. Watch your back. What happened to Tiffany”—I closed my eyes, trying to push back the memories—“I never want to see another person suffer that much.”
He patted my shoulder. “I’m sorry. Really sorry.”
“Me too, but you need to be careful.” He needed to be careful because I was having a hard enough time living with the one set of memories. I didn’t need any more.
“Done. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded and got in his car.
I headed back to Becca, quickly reorganizing my thoughts. If s
ome of my guesses about her farm were correct, there could be an opportunity here to help two people.
Becca shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Look, you got your car out of my pasture and fixed the damage. As far as I’m concerned, we’re square.”
“I’m not here to cause you any trouble, but I’d like to get some information because I might have an idea that could help you.” I did my best to look friendly and harmless, though that second one was probably a loss after all the magic she’d seen me do.
She sighed and tucked a few loose hairs behind her ear. “I bought this place about two months ago. When I looked at it, it seemed just right for what I needed, but now everything is falling apart and I’m running out of money. I don’t know how I didn’t see all the work this place needed.”
I cast my power out, feeling around. There were traces of magic here and there, mostly on areas that had damage or had been recently repaired. It was far from definitive proof, but it made me think someone had hidden flaws in the property. I’d be willing to bet the barn hadn’t looked so rickety, the fence lines had looked solid, and the house hadn’t been in need of a new roof when she viewed the property. In the past I’d helped prove magical tampering, but I didn’t see that being possible here. The traces of magic were too old and undefined.
“What do you want to do with this place?”
She glanced around glumly. “I got a few beef cows with the place, and I moved my dairy cows here. I’d really like to go into the dairy business, and I was starting to make it work before this place started sucking up everything I have.”
“Would another set of hands help?” If so, she was in luck. I knew just the person she needed to meet.
“Sure, but how would I pay them?” She motioned around her.
I looked her over. “Do you have any problem working with humanoid species who don’t look human?”
A Witch’s Demons (Witch's Path Series: Book 6) Page 8