We continued talking for a little while, trying desperately to stay awake until Amy got back, but eventually my head lolled and I fell asleep, waking with a start to the sound of Amy’s voice in the middle of the living room.
“I’m back, and you’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”
As I woke up groggily, I looked around to see Sara and Ellie had both failed at staying awake just as much as I had. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and paid attention to Amy as the words she said started to sink in.
“What did you find out?”
“That the three of you are incapable of staying awake for just a few hours while you leave me out there to investigate all by myself,” she replied with a wry smile. “But seriously, I found out there’s another suspect in this murder that we didn’t know about.”
“Who?” Ellie asked, sitting up and stifling a yawn.
“Your friend, Barry,” Amy replied. Well, I was wide awake now. That definitely hadn’t been what I had expected.
“What? Barry? No way. I went out with him. I know him. There is absolutely no way he killed anybody.”
I had to admit, I was kind of on Ellie’s side on this. I didn’t know Barry like she did, but from what I had seen of the guy, he really didn’t scream killer to me. Of course, neither did a lot of the other people that ended up being killers that I now knew. So what did I know?
I turned and listened while Amy explained what had happened at the funeral. “I went in, and the funeral started shortly after. Then, the vampires all started chatting so I used a spell to make myself look like one of them, inspired by Kyran, and I hung around, eavesdropping on all the conversations I could hear.”
Amy stopped dramatically for a moment before continuing. “One vampire, who looked a lot like Florin, but older, was talking to another older vampire. I thought maybe it was his father, and it turned out I was right. He was complaining about Florin’s business interests, and how he was fairly certain his son was involved in something he shouldn’t have been.”
“Right,” I said, nodding. “The cousins said that Florin worked for his father. So do they.”
“Well, I wanted to know what this thing Florin was involved in was, but they moved on. Eventually, the father turned and looked at a witch who was grieving more than most. He said it was good riddance to that relationship. The witch was by herself and obviously miserable, so I went over to her and we started chatting. She told me she loved Florin, even though both families were strongly opposed to the match, and her brother said that he would kill the vampire if he ever touched her.”
“Let me guess, the witch’s last name was Thormund?” I asked, and Amy nodded.
“Barry’s sister, Anita.”
“I guess we know what we’re doing tomorrow morning,” Sara said with a huge yawn. “Thanks for the info, Amy.”
“No problem. I didn’t discover much more.”
“We overheard a conversation that backs yours up,” I said. “It sounds like Florin was definitely involved in something, and I suspect it’s Kyran’s human-killing ring.”
Amy nodded. “That makes sense. You’ll have to let Kyran know. I saw him there, tonight, but didn’t speak with him.”
I nodded. “Well, if we’re going to go back to chat with Barry tomorrow, I’m going to bed.”
The others followed after me, and I wondered if the nice wizard we had met roasting coffee who had directed us to the vampire’s bar was actually a killer.
Chapter 14
The next morning the lack of sleep over the last few days caught up to me, and I ended up staying in bed until almost eleven. Considering I was the kind of person whose body never allowed them to sleep in, that was fairly significant.
I made my way downstairs, yawning, to find Ellie in the kitchen, baking away.
“I figured we could all use something with a bit of an energy boost,” she said in way of greeting. “I only got up about twenty minutes ago, and Sara and Amy are still in bed.”
“Have I ever told you I love you?” I said, plopping myself down on the couch and closing my eyes. After this was over, I was going to sleep for a week.
Ellie laughed. “Hey, I was thinking, have you looked at the schedule for Sara’s race next week?”
“Sort of,” I admitted. “I know Sara’s racing, and so is Derek, but I don’t know who else is going to be there.”
“Karen Voda is going to race,” Ellie said, and my eyebrows rose while my throat went dry.
“Really?” I asked, and Ellie nodded.
“You should talk to her.”
I didn’t reply, just stared at the carpet. A couple of weeks earlier we had discovered that I was born into the coven of Titan, a secretive group that lived on an isolated island in Hawaii that didn’t allow visitors. We had snuck into the place to confirm that it was my coven, and to be completely honest, ever since we had found out about it I had sort of been doing my best to forget it.
Why? Honestly, I wasn’t completely sure of the answer myself. I think a part of me felt like I was betraying my parents – the people who had brought me into their home and raised me as their own, despite not knowing a thing about where I came from – by looking into my biological past. I knew it was silly. There had never been any way for them to track down who my biological family was, and I was sure that if there had been, they would have encouraged me to look into it if I wanted to. But I think another part of me was scared. Worried about what I’d find. What if my biological parents had a new family now? Why had they abandoned me? Would I just feel regret and shame, and wonder why I had been the one abandoned?
The thing was, I had trouble explaining this to the others. Ellie especially was so thrilled about me finding my coven that I just didn’t feel like I should bring the whole mood down by voicing my concerns. A part of me did know that was silly, and that my friends would support me no matter what, but it was my own silly problem to deal with.
“Yeah, maybe,” I eventually muttered noncommittally. Luckily for me, Ellie dropped the subject.
“I texted Barry earlier this morning, telling him we wanted to meet up again. It’s his day off, so he’s in town, and I figure we can go meet with him in a couple of hours.”
“Oh, nice,” I said. “Good to know. I don’t really think he could be a killer, but I mean, you never really know, do you?”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, shaking her head slowly. “I can’t see it either.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon,” I said. “But first, I need some of that cooking in my life.”
“Thanks,” Ellie said with a grin. “I’m going to go look at a little place that’s up for rent this afternoon after meeting Barry if you want to come with me.”
“Of course,” I said, nodding enthusiastically. “That sounds great.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Ellie warned. “I’m not entirely sure the interior is right for me. But the size, price and location are ok.”
“Well, we’ll see, anyway. I know you’ll find the perfect place for The Witching Flour to set up permanently. It might just not be right away.”
“I hope so,” Ellie said. “It’s funny, this is the first thing I’ve really, truly cared about, you know? Like, up until now I’ve mostly just worked at the bakery, and it’s been a fine job, and I really do care about making delicious baked goods, but it was just a job. This feels like more than that. I really, genuinely don’t want to make any mistakes.”
“I think you’re going to make mistakes, though,” I said thoughtfully. “I think not doing anything wrong when you’re setting out on a new journey is impossible. The important thing is, when you do make those mistakes, you have to learn from them. You can’t just move on and be like “oh, whatever”, because you’ll make them again. And it’s when you’re making the same mistakes over and over that things will start really going wrong.”
“You’re right,” Ellie said. “Still, I feel like choosing a spot is so insanely important that if I mess this up, I migh
t be messing up any chance I have for success.”
“True,” I conceded. “But still, don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough. If you find a space that fits most of the boxes, take it.”
“Right. I really do wish I had plans for a bigger spot so I could take over the old bakery’s shop. I ran the numbers again yesterday, but it’s just too big a space for me. I can’t justify the expense.”
“Fair enough,” I said, as Sara made her way, yawning and stretching, into the kitchen as well.
“Morning sleepyhead,” Ellie greeted her.
“I should have stayed in bed until those were cooked,” Sara said, glancing greedily at the dough Ellie was working on.
“I bet Amy’s already at the library,” I said half-jokingly.
“She’s at headquarters, working,” Ellie replied. “She left just after you and asked for you to save her a muffin. I made no promises.”
“I wish I had half of her ambition,” I said. “But also I really like sleeping.”
Ellie laughed, and my phone buzzed. I went over and grabbed it, and found that to my surprise that it was Lita, the head of our coven. She wanted to know if I could come by at some point that day. There were still a couple of hours before we were supposed to meet Barry, so I asked her if she was available now. When she answered in the affirmative, I made my excuses to Ellie and Sara, grabbed my jacket, and made my way toward coven headquarters.
It was raining out, and I muttered a curse word to myself as I found myself getting completely drenched as soon as I stepped outside. It could really rain like absolutely nowhere else in the Pacific Northwest.
As I pulled out my wand and cast a quick spell to protect myself from the rain, creating an invisible umbrella of sorts, I did smile to myself. Magic was really starting to come more naturally to me – even a month ago I would have automatically reached for an umbrella rather than casting a spell – and I was building up my repertoire of spells with Amy at a pretty quick pace.
Things were definitely going well.
However, as soon as I left the house, I got that strange feeling that I was being followed again. I kept going for about a block, but it never dissipated. Finally, I had enough. I stopped in my tracks.
“Who is it? Who’s there?” I called out, but I was met with nothing but silence. Whoever was on my tail, they weren’t going to show themselves.
What worried me the most about this was that this time, it was daylight. The last time I had gone out on my own it had been night, and I had assumed it was vampires following me. However, someone following me during the day made it far less likely to be vampires. It wasn’t impossible, sure. But it reduced the odds tremendously.
I didn’t feel good about this at all. Both times I’d been followed I had left the house alone; whoever was coming after me obviously wanted to make sure I was by myself. I was torn about what to do – should I immediately start sprinting as fast as I could to get to coven headquarters before being ambushed by whoever was following me? Or should I pretend I didn’t care they were there?
I had absolutely no idea what to do, and I kept swallowing hard, trying to figure out what the right move here was. I couldn’t help but feel like I was in danger – real danger, and that if I didn’t make a decision I was going to be in a lot of trouble very soon.
I compromised and picked up my pace as I headed into town, muttering the incantations to defense spells I’d learned, doing some last-minute practice in case I needed to defend myself against whoever – or whatever – was following me.
After ten minutes I had made it to coven headquarters. The feeling that I was being followed went away about two minutes earlier, once I’d gotten far enough into downtown Western Woods that I was completely surrounded by people.
I made my way into the building to find Amy watching the door.
“Tina, hey. Lita is waiting for you in her office… what’s wrong? You’re so pale.”
I looked around, as if whoever had been following me was watching. Even if they were, what difference did it make now?
“Listen, I need to talk to you first. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Sure,” Amy said, light confusion on her face. “Come on back here.”
She led me about twenty feet away to a small recess in the wall. It wasn’t perfectly private, but it was certainly acceptable for a simple conversation.
“I think someone is following me,” I said. “I know it sounds crazy, but the last two times I’ve gone out by myself, I haven’t been able to shed that feeling.”
“Ok,” Amy said. “Are you certain you’re actually being followed, or is it maybe your imagination?”
“I don’t think it is,” I replied. “I can’t guarantee it, though. But I’ve never been the sort to make things like that up, and I really, really feel it in my bones. It’s such a strong feeling.”
“Then we assume it’s real. Who do you think is following you?”
“I thought it might have been some of the vampires. After all, we’re looking into Florin’s death, maybe they don’t like that. The first time it happened it was night time. But it’s the middle of the day right now. The sun’s been up for hours. I can’t really imagine any vampires idly following me during the day, can you?”
Amy pursed her lips, and shook her head. “No, I think you’re right. I don’t think vampires would be out following you at this time of day. And if they were, I don’t think they would have simply followed. I think they would have tried to attack you. So it can’t be them.”
“But who else could it be?” I asked, the desperation evident in my voice. “Who on earth would want to follow me?”
“I don’t know,” Amy said carefully. “You haven’t annoyed anybody recently, have you?”
“Not that I know of,” I said. “No. I mean, you know me. I’m not Miss Popularity, but I’m also not exactly going around making enemies here and there.”
“No, although you have looked into a few murder cases now and are more or less responsible for a few people in this town being locked away.”
“I guess,” I admitted. “Anyway, do you know what spell I can use to try and force them to come out? Or do you have some other way to find them?”
“A spell to draw paranormals out is incredibly complex, and to be honest, I’m not sure you’d manage to cast it successfully,” Amy mused. “However, I think I might be able to manage it.”
“But I only seem to be followed when I’m by myself,” I said. “Whenever I go out with other people, I never notice it.”
“Ok, in that case, you’re going to have to head home by yourself, and I’m going to have to follow after you without being seen,” Amy said. “That’s not going to be a problem. Let me know when you’re finished with Lita. We’ll find out who’s doing this to you, and why.”
“Thanks, Amy,” I said, giving her a grateful smile. “I really appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Amy replied with a wave of her hand. “If someone is really following you, and there’s a chance you might be in danger, we need to find out who it is. Now, go in and see Lita, she’s waiting for you.”
Chapter 15
I made my way to the office where Lita, the head of the coven of Jupiter, a tiny witch who reminded me of an Italian mother, immediately ushered me into a plush leather chair in front of her desk.
“Tina, it’s so wonderful to see you again. How have you been? Are you settling in well? I hear from the others that you and your new roommates have really hit it off.”
“Yes, they’ve been wonderful to me,” I replied with a smile, my worries easing away. Lita had a way about her of making you feel perfectly comfortable in her presence, and I found myself immediately forgetting about the way I’d been followed. “They’re the best friends I could possibly ask for.”
“Well isn’t that just lovely? And Amy tells me you’ve been working hard at becoming proficient at spells.”
“Yes,” I nodded. “Amy’s been teaching me every spare
moment she has, and Ellie has been focusing on the potions side of things. And Sara has been helping me learn to ride the broom.”
“Oh yes, of course. It was truly wonderful to see her competing in broom riding. It suits her so well, and she’s doing an excellent job representing Western Woods on the paranormal world stage.”
“Agreed,” I said with an easy smile. “She was made for that sport.”
“And speaking of being made for things, you’ve been in the paranormal world for a while now, and Amy tells me that she thinks you’re ready to take the witch’s exam that would allow you to move forward academically.”
“Oh?” I asked, my eyebrows rising. “I have to admit, I don’t really know how any of this works. I’ve mostly just been learning what Amy’s teaching me and hoping to eventually become competent, I thought it would be years before I’d hit any kind of proficiency in spell casting.”
“Yes, Amy tells me that you’ve been learning exceptionally quickly, and that your spells seem very powerful for someone from a water coven. It’s too bad we don’t know yet which of the water covens you belong to.”
“Yeah,” I said, shifting slightly in my seat. So Amy hadn’t told Lita that we knew I was from the coven of Titan. I knew we had decided not to tell anyone, but I wouldn’t have been surprised – or angry – if Amy had told Lita all the same. After all, Lita was the head of this coven, the head of the coven that had taken me in. It would have made sense for Amy to tell her whatever we knew.
“Anyway, there are three major examinations a witch or wizard can take when they come of age. You, of course, are older, but seeing as you haven’t taken the examinations yet and there are obvious extenuating circumstances, you will be allowed to take the examinations whenever you feel ready to do so.”
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