Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta

by Dionne Lister

“Don’t be such a drama queen, Lily. You and Will could’ve gone and stayed somewhere else. But this was important, and I couldn’t think of another way for you to figure it out.”

  “Speaking of which,” Will chimed in. “What’s the verdict?”

  “I don’t think it’s her. Average power at best. Definitely not enough to cast a travel spell from afar. And whatever spell they knocked Angelica out with—assuming that’s how she didn’t manage to escape—there’s no way she could’ve managed that simultaneously from that distance.”

  Will rubbed the back of his neck. “She might just be an accomplice. At least that’s another piece of the puzzle. We’ll know more once we interview her.”

  Beren arrived at the table with drinks for Will, Mum, and himself. He sat and cast another bubble of silence. “So, spill.” I let Will fill him in as I finished my cocktail.

  Even though we’d just learned something, we weren’t figuring this out fast enough. Was Angelica okay? Was she even still alive? She had to be. At least a glass sculpture of her hadn’t turned up yet, and since the killer had done that to two people already, I assumed he or she would likely do that to Angelica too. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried her number. It went straight to voicemail. Damn. Frustration and fear built inside me. My leg bounced up and down. “We have to do something.”

  Will’s gaze jumped to me. “We are doing something.”

  “It’s not enough. We need to move faster.” How could I make them see?

  Imani rubbed my back. “We’re doing everything we can right now. We don’t have jurisdiction here, and we can’t contact Chad—that would be the last thing Angelica would want. Imagine how insufferable he’d be? He’ll either make it harder for us to find her, or he’ll lord it over her once she’s found.”

  “But what if she’s… dead?” It took all my effort to slow my breaths. Was I almost having a panic attack?

  Will looked at me, care and love shining from his eyes. His voice was softer than normal. “If she’s already dead, Lily, it will make no difference how long we take. But I don’t think she’s dead.”

  I couldn’t believe she was dead either… at least, I was trying to reserve judgement for my own sanity. “You don’t think? But you don’t know.” He wasn’t going to banish my worry that easily. Yes, worrying when you couldn’t do anything about it wasn’t productive, but it was human, and I was so very human.

  “No, I don’t know, but I can’t entertain anything else. Angelica’s resourceful. She always has a return to sender up. Whatever they’ve done couldn’t be too bad.”

  Liv frowned. “If she always has a return to sender up, how could they render her unconscious… assuming that’s what happened?”

  “A tranquilliser gun?” Beren suggested. “Maybe after they got her through the doorway? One of them could’ve made the portal, and if someone else was waiting on the other side….”

  I sucked in a breath. “Oh, well, that’s just such an improvement. Jeez Louise. Way to make me feel better.”

  Imani ignored my outburst. “You could be right, B. Maybe when she reached the destination, they hit her over the head? We could be looking at more than one suspect.”

  “Agreed,” said Beren. He looked at his phone. “Hopefully Agent Tondato is going to call soon.”

  I jumped up. “I can’t sit here and just wait. I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back in thirty. Text me if anything happens before then.”

  Imani and Will looked at each other. Imani stood. “I’m not needed right now either. I’ll join you.” She smiled and slid her arm around mine.

  I looked at our linked arms. “Afraid I’ll run away or do something crazy?”

  “Yes. More so the second option rather than the first. If Angelica’s been targeted because of this investigation, we’re all potential targets.”

  Will looked around at our group. “Imani’s right. None of us have found anything yet, but who knows what the killer’s thinking? From now on, none of us goes anywhere by ourselves if we can help it. Have someone else with you at all times.” His gaze pinged from my mother to Liv. “And you two, don’t be with just each other. I think it’s prudent for you to have a witch with you at all times.”

  My mother swallowed, her shoulders drooping. This must be so hard for her. She was once almost as powerful as me, or just as powerful. Now she had nothing but a useless trickle. At least she still had her fighting skills. She’d started weights as well. Even though she wasn’t back to 100 per cent healthy, she was looking way better than the day we rescued her. She’d been pale, skinny, haunted. Since then, she’d regained some colour and weight, and the light in her eyes, whilst not as vibrant as I’d like, was slowly brightening. “That’s a good plan, William.” She stood. “I’m going to accompany Lily and Imani.” She made her way to me and smiled. “I’m not cramping your style, am I?”

  I chuckled. “Never.” I linked my arm through hers.

  “I’ll stay with B for now, if that’s okay. If he needs to leave, I’ll give you a call, Lil. Is that okay?”

  I smiled at Liv. “Of course. We won’t go far. I want to be close in case anyone needs us after the interview. I feel like I haven’t explored this hotel enough. Can we go and feed the pigeons in the courtyard?”

  “Why would you want to do that?” Will asked, his tone of voice suggesting he thought my motive wasn’t feeding the pigeons. He’d be right.

  “Just because.” I gave him an innocent smile. “Toodle-pip.” Before he could ask any more questions, I turned and made my way to the door, dragging Mum and Imani with me since our arms were interlinked. Once we were striding down the hallway, we dropped arms, and Imani gave me a “what are you up to?” look. “You’ll see.”

  Once in the courtyard, I pulled out my phone and looked at Imani and Mum. “I’d love to take a photo of you both. We’ve hardly taken any of us since we got here. Can you stand in the corner over there, next to the olive tree?” There was a small tree in a terracotta pot, and if I stayed where I was, the spot where they found the statue the other night was in between me and them. I only needed my talent, so it was unlikely anyone would even know I was using my power. But I had to find more clues. Angelica’s life could depend on it. Don’t think about whether she’s still alive. I pushed my worrying thoughts away and held up my phone now that Imani and Mum were standing on either side of the tree. Being the smart ladies they were, they hadn’t asked any questions.

  I brought up the photo app and held up my phone. Show me the person casting the spell on Mr Dal Lago the other night. Day morphed to night, the courtyard faintly illuminated. But no one was here. Damn. I took the shot just because. He must’ve been magicked here after the deed was done. I cut off my magic. “Smile.” Mum and Imani smiled, and I took another pic. “I’m done. Thanks.”

  “Can I see?” Imani asked as she came over. I showed her both photos.

  Her face fell. “Oh. I see.”

  “At least we know something else now.”

  “Indeed, we do,” said my mother.

  “I don’t know why we didn’t do this before.” Imani feigned cluelessness.

  “Because someone asked me not to.” I glared at my mum, hoping she knew I meant Angelica and not her. It was hard having a secret conversation out in the open. We could’ve used a bubble of silence, but it would look too suss. It had been easier in the bar with background music and leaving a decent distance between us and the bartender. Out here, the noise bounced off the walls and paving. If we were trying to catch someone who worked here, the less suspicion we aroused, the better.

  “You know me, sweetie. I hate having my photo taken.” Phew, she got it. Of course she did. She was an agent and my mother. It was unlikely that anything would slip past her. “What do you want to do now?”

  We needed to have a chat somewhere we could make a BOS. I had a genius idea to run by them… okay, so I thought it was genius. General consensus had yet to be determined. “I could be talked into window shopping for
a while.”

  Mum smiled. “Great. Let’s go.”

  We crossed the square and slipped into an alleyway where we had plenty of shops to choose from. I picked the first shop that had glass figurines in the window and stopped, then made a BOS. “So, he was turned to glass somewhere else and moved. But it likely wouldn’t have been from that far away, considering how much power they would’ve used to put him into that state.”

  Imani looked in the window. “I agree. What’s your plan?”

  “Retrace his steps on the day he went missing. Well, as best I can. Obviously, if he made a doorway at some stage, I can’t follow that, but if he was turned to glass somewhere in the hotel….”

  My mum nodded. “Good idea, sweetie. Although, instead of following him around, maybe you could just go into each room and ask if he was turned to glass in there?”

  “That’s going to be almost impossible. What if I get caught? I’m likely to end up in jail for trespassing, or whatever. I can’t break into other guests’ rooms. If I can follow him from a public area, it’ll cut down the number of rooms I need to investigate.”

  Imani wrinkled her nose. “I doubt it was a guest… although we can’t know for sure. In any case, I think it’s best to start with rooms only staff are allowed in.”

  “I like that idea better. Less risks for me.”

  “We can keep a lookout too.” Mum’s suggestion had merit, although I didn’t want her getting in the middle of it. The last thing she needed was to get arrested for aiding and abetting and ending up locked up after spending ten years confined by RP.

  “I don’t know.” I blew out a breath. “The less you have to do with this, the better. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

  She stood taller, determination steeling her gaze. “I may have lost my magic, but I haven’t lost all my skills. I can look after myself. Don’t you worry about me.” She used her “I’m the boss because I’m your mother” voice, and I wasn’t going to argue with it. Old habits died hard… and so did cliches, apparently.

  Imani slid her phone from her pocket. “I’m going to call Will, make sure he lets us know as soon as they’re in the interview. At least Mrs Dal Lago won’t be at the hotel then. That leaves the young man who took our bags, the bartender, kitchen staff, and that old lady, Isabella.”

  Unease slinked across my belly. “That’s still a fair few witches. We’ll just have to be careful. Do we know if the hotel staff sleep on-site?”

  Imani shook her head. “No. Honestly, we know nothing at this point. Angelica was keeping us in the dark so she didn’t ruin our holiday, but who knows how much the Italian agents know since they didn’t want to blame the wife. It’s like they don’t want to do the work.”

  “They’re more conservative than us when it comes to investigation techniques. I’ve come across it before. Just prior to falling pregnant with James, I was here for a month investigating a drug and arms ring. The London agents had to push for every bit of information to be gathered. It was hard work. The Italians like to take their time to the point of ridiculousness. It’s just their way, I suppose. And you’ve been dealing with Agent Tondato, but I’ll bet my second chance at life that he’s got four or five levels of management above him that want to okay everything. Their bureaucracy is painful, but it is their way, and we’re in their country, so….”

  I sighed. “Well, I’m happy to risk being arrested if it means we can find Angelica. Worst comes to worst, I’ll run, then come back to search. I won’t give up till we find her.”

  Imani frowned. “Don’t be silly.”

  Mum’s brow wrinkled. “You were never patient, but don’t lose the plot now, Lily. Please.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll try not to.”

  Imani dialled Will and put the phone to her ear. “Hey, it’s me. Just wondering when you’re interviewing Mrs D.” She listened for a minute. “Okay, excellent. I’ll pass it on. Let me know when the interview is wrapping up. We’re going to see if Lily can find anything at the hotel…. Yeah… okay. Bye.”

  I stared at her. “So? What’s the latest?”

  She smiled. “The security footage from both places they got it from showed her disappearing into thin air. They’ve confiscated it, too, since those places are run by non-witches. Had that footage reached the internet, we might have had some damage control to oversee.”

  I gave her a “you’ve got to be kidding” look. “Meh. No one believes that stuff. It’s too easy to say it was doctored. I’m sure it would’ve been fine.”

  Imani raised a brow. “You’re joking, right? I give you two words: flat-earthers. People believe all sorts of things on the internet.”

  She’d pointed out something so obvious that now I was embarrassed at being so stupid. Maybe I was only a few brain cells away from becoming a flat-earther. I needed to protect the brain matter I had left. “Hmm, okay. Fair enough. Point taken.” Note to self: no more drinking, and buy a helmet. “So when is the interrogation taking place?”

  Imani put her phone in the back pocket of her white shorts. “In fifteen minutes at the PIB Trieste office. Let’s go back now, and we can start. You can take a photo of us in the hallway, get a pic of him last time he was there, see where he was headed. If we need to go into any restricted areas, we’ll wait till Mrs D is gone, and I’d be happy to distract the bartender while Katerina acts as a lookout for you.”

  I nodded. “That’s a great plan.”

  “Why, thank you, love.”

  “Mum?”

  “Yes, sweetie.”

  “I’m going to cast a return to sender on you, just in case.”

  Her eyes widened. “You can’t do that! It’ll take too much power, especially if someone attacks me.”

  I smiled. “You do know I can handle it, right?”

  Imani nodded slowly. “Some of the stuff your daughter’s done in the last few months is ridiculous. She can totally handle it.”

  Mum’s eyes shone with what might be pride, or maybe she had allergies and her eyes were watering? “I know. I’m sorry. I just…. I still see you as the innocent fourteen-year-old I waved goodbye to as the taxi drove your dad and me to the airport.” She cupped my cheek with her hand. “I’m so sorry, Lily. If I’d known we weren’t coming back and that we’d be leaving you and James as orphans….” She shook her head, and this time there were tears, one escaping to run down her cheek.

  I pulled her into my arms and gave her a massive hug. “It’s okay. You were fighting crime, trying to bring down the evilest witches on the planet. You couldn’t have known what was coming. And James stepped up. He was the best big brother I could’ve wished for.”

  “But I can… well I used to be able to… tell the future, but I never saw it. I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m just so sorry.” She shook as the tears well and truly took hold.

  I rubbed her back. “It’s okay, Mum. Why don’t we talk about this later? We’ve got a job to do right now, and I know your agent instincts are still strong.” I gave an extra squeeze. “I love you.”

  The crying stopped, and she sniffled. She stepped back and wiped her hand across her eyes and down her cheeks, then onto her knee-length green skirt. Lifting her head, she pinned me with a steadfast gaze. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  Church bells tolled, their melodic chimes falling around us and echoing throughout the laneway. If I closed my eyes, I could believe I was in the seventeenth century. The atmospheric ringing was something I’d miss when we left. Hopefully wherever Angelica was, she was alive and could hear those bells. A vibration of unease cascaded down my spine. I shuddered. Since I’d killed Dana and her dad, I’d managed to lead a peaceful few weeks. It was as if I wasn’t ready for more danger. Did I have PTSD? Could witches get it? We probably could because we were still human. Nah, I didn’t have it. Sure, I had nightmares sometimes and found it hard to fall asleep, but other than that, I’d been okay. I took a deep breath and shook it off. “Come on, then.”

  We began the short walk bac
k to the hotel. By the time we reached the front door, my hands were sweating, and I was breathing way faster than what I should’ve been for a leisurely walk.

  “Are you okay?” Imani gently held my chin and looked into my eyes.

  “I’m, um…. I think I’m okay. Maybe I’m stressing because I don’t want to put any of us in danger. I don’t know.” Or maybe I could tell that something bad was going to happen. Argh, stop thinking, Lily!

  She released my chin and put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Lily. We need to save Angelica, and I’m pretty sure that nothing is going to happen right now. Maybe you should look into some counselling when we get home?”

  “You’re right. I know you are. Everything will be fine, as long as we find Angelica alive and well. And maybe I will see someone when I get home, but in the meantime, what do I do?”

  “Adrenaline is part of the problem. You need to slow your breathing. Just take deep, slow breaths. Okay?” Her magic tickled my scalp, and comforting warmth settled around me. How was she doing that? I’d have to ask her later.

  She’d used her magic to help me feel better—the least I could do was do as she’d asked. “Okay.” A pleasant memory blossomed in my head—the squirrels on the day we left to come here. I envisaged all my furry friends sitting around their miniature table, nibbling away. They were so cute! My heart stopped pounding, and the feeling of impending doom faded. I wiped my hands dry on my olive-green shorts. I could do this. Angelica needed me to do this. I nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Mum opened the door and held it for Imani and me. Mrs D wasn’t at the front desk—the young man who’d taken our bags stood behind it, watching us come in. I gave him a wave. “Buongiorno.” One of the only Italian non-food words I knew.

  He gave a tentative smile. “Buongiorno.” His smile disappeared, and he stared at the desktop. Bit of a shy fellow, apparently.

  I stopped walking and addressed my companions. “We haven’t taken any photos in the hotel yet! I want to remember this holiday forever. Plus, James will want to see the place. He could bring Mill here one day.”