Which Mage Moved the Cheese?

by Nikki Haverstock

  Vanessa grabbed my arm. “We better go, Ella. Granner is waving for us.”

  “Go on. I’ll be right there.” I waited until Vanessa was out of earshot. Martha had seemed annoyed at Granner every time we had passed by, and it gave me an idea. “That Granner is a real nutter, isn’t she?”

  She blew out a breath. “Oh my gosh, yes. She’s been driving me crazy all day just talking and talking.”

  “I got roped into wearing this costume to pass out samples.”

  She snickered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one that killed Michael. I hear that he was blackmailing her, too.”

  “Who else?”

  “Who wasn’t he blackmailing? Granner, Matt over there, Beth Morris, those cousins Elle and Keri Morgan—”

  “Did you say Beth? Like the same Beth that works here in the casino?” The same Beth that had told us that she wasn’t being blackmailed?

  “Her. I heard she—Oh crap, here comes the marshal.” She stared over my shoulder down the aisle.

  “Thanks. I’ll, uh, catch you later.” I didn’t even turn around before darting from the booth, away from the marshal and toward where Granner, Auntie Ann, and Vanessa were chatting.

  “Let’s go. The marshal is coming.”

  We grabbed our things then swiftly moved toward the door.

  Auntie Ann came to my side. “Dear, did you bring your ball gown with you today?”

  “Uh, no. I didn’t know about the ball, and I don’t own a ball gown.”

  “You don’t? How bizarre. You can go borrow one of Vanessa’s. I’m sure she has a few in her room.”

  I followed them to the private elevator that went to the penthouse floors, where their family had residences.

  CHAPTER NINE

  I smoothed the silk bodice down over my ribs then traced my fingers out over the skirt where it flared away from my hips. The heavy tulle under the skirt tickled my legs. The dress hadn’t fit right, but Auntie Ann had a few spells already made that adjusted it perfectly. In fact, she had a spell to do my makeup and hair as well. She said we would spend the next month replenishing her stock. I might even make a few for myself. Perhaps I would have need in the future.

  I reached up to tuck a loose curl behind my ear but caught Vin watching me.

  He leaned down so only I would hear his voice. “Leave it. It looks pretty.”

  I turned slightly in the crowded elevator and slowly smiled up at him. This was our first event out in the mage community together, and from the moment we had left the suites upstairs, he had been right by my side. When I’d first met him, I had been drawn to him. But when the second sentence out of his mouth had been an accusation of lying, he had annoyed me. Over the past six months, the constant verbal sparring had become less biting and more playful nips.

  The elevator dinged open, and he offered me his elbow as I started to exit behind Granner, Auntie Ann, and Olivia. The heat from his arm radiated into my fingers. He moved next to me like a mountain come to life: solid, steady, and even a bit cold. His face was full of sharp angles and hard in appearance. I had seen men step away as he passed. He was tall and wide, seeming to dominate every room he was in. Even when I wasn’t looking at him, his presence was there with a steady sense of power and weight.

  The air was filled with excitement and nerves, especially for Olivia.

  She threw back her shoulders and gave a beaming smile. But I could hear her muttering to herself through clenched teeth, “Everything will be perfect. No need to be nervous.”

  This was a big event for the casino to host, and she had been fretting all evening about everything and everyone looking and going perfectly.

  She turned to face Vanessa and me. “Stay out of trouble tonight.”

  And she didn’t seem to believe that Vanessa and I had had nothing to do with the explosion in the parking garage. I could hardly blame her. She knew how her cousin could be, especially with magic. Our training room needed repairs at least weekly after some explosion or misfire. Sometimes even a literal fire.

  Vin patted my hand that was resting on his arm. “The girls will be fine. We’re just going to sit at our table and have a nice meal.”

  Nothing on earth sounded better than that.

  We walked through the crowd, Vin dipping his head in acknowledgement to people but never pausing to talk.

  Only once did he drop my arm, and it was to greet an elderly woman. He turned away from me to stoop over and allow her to press her thin lips to his cheek while she cooed over how grown up he looked. It gave me a chance to watch him freely. His wide shoulders fit perfectly in his tux, which must have been custom-made to match his impressive figure. He was built like an athlete or gladiator, all muscles.

  “He’ll never commit to you,” a voice behind me hissed.

  I turned to face Tiffany, Vin’s ex-girlfriend. She wore a sash across her chest, proclaiming that she was the cheese queen. Her dress was a pale yellow, tight through the bodice then flaring out dramatically into yellow taffeta. The corset top pushed her ample breasts up high enough that I wondered if she had problems swallowing and if a strong sneeze would cause them to tumble out. Considering that her job at the casino was a rather erotic topless burlesque show, it probably wasn’t much of a concern to her.

  The skirt was made of so many layers of the netting material that it was not see-through, and it belled out far enough to create a barrier around her, not allowing anyone too close. The metaphor was too perfect.

  I would have been totally intimidated by her except for one thing: the waves of jealousy wafting off her. She was jealous of me, and it gave me the incentive I needed to at least pretend I had myself pulled together.

  “My, you look lovely, Tiffany, but you need keep an eye out for mice with a dress like that.”

  A flicker of irritation was evident as the emotion wafted off her and her eyes tightened ever so slightly. Perhaps it was unkind of me, but I reveled in the fact that I had gotten under her skin, however briefly.

  “We are to be married. The seers said so.”

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to repeat a prophesy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You are so old-fashioned and simple.” She stepped in close, her skirt fluffing out around her. “I can see the bond between you, but it is only temporary. It’s only out of respect to Vin and his family that I don’t out you. I know you’re hiding something.”

  My heart beat in my chest. Hopefully it wasn’t visible as my blood rushed in my ears. “We can’t all be like you… letting it all show.”

  “When the bond between you two snaps, I hope it cuts you deep.” She spun on her heel and stomped away.

  Vin had missed the whole exchange, though the woman he was speaking to had not. She winked at me before bidding Vin goodbye with another kiss on the cheek. She looked like a frail doll next to him, but I knew looks could be deceiving. I could feel a rumble of immense magical power coming from her the way you could hear a waterfall before you could see it.

  Vin turned back and offered me his arm as people began filing into the dining room. I had borrowed Vanessa’s shoes, which were a bit too large. I stumbled a little in the kitten heels with delicate straps that wrapped around my ankles.

  “Hold on. I need to fix my shoe.” I bent over to do up the strap tighter while attempting to maintain a regal appearance.

  Vin offered me a hand to rise. We stood in the foyer to the dining room, which was now mostly empty. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  Of course, he would want to know about our progress on the investigation. It wasn’t exactly the conversation I wanted to have at the moment, but I was thrilled to have a private conversation with him, no matter the topic. And I was proud of our progress. “It looks like Michael was blackmailing tons of people, even Beth, who specifically said he wasn’t. I’m not sure how he found out all this stuff. Do you think someone was spying for him?”

  “I think I know how he did that. You said that the item he went to pick up before
the cheese fell on him was glowing green. I looked into it, and there is a spell that helps you find things, and the indicator is a green glow. It’s a difficult spell because the user doesn’t have to specify exactly what he is looking for, but if he had been practicing for years and had an affinity for that kind of work, then it would be doable.”

  “I’ve done finding spells that weren’t too hard.”

  “Mom’s Needle in a Haystack spell?”

  “At first we did that one, then we switched over to a far more useful find-the-car-keys-and-phone spell.”

  “You knew what you were looking for. His spell was for an unknown item. An ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ type of situation. He could set up the spell with a general idea like ‘banned substance’ and ‘something of value’ or whatever. It uses a whole heap of magic, and not everyone can do it, even if they are powerful enough. It’s much easier to use an exact spell for a specific object.”

  “And since he used that spell the night he was killed, he must not have known exactly what it was that lured him there. Otherwise he would have used a simpler spell.”

  Vin nodded. “If he had known what he was looking for, he possibly could have used a spell to call the item to him. Someone did this specifically so he had to come in person. It makes for a more effective murder if the victim actually shows up. But that’s not really what I wanted to talk about.”

  “The motive?”

  He took a breath and looked away briefly. “No more shop talk.” In anyone else, I would think this indicated that he was nervous, but it was hard to imagine Vin as anything other than collected.

  “You know that DJ Whiz is leaving Ravishing to headline at the new club downtown? I used to do security for him, and he gave me two VIP tickets.” He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my eyes, and his face and neck turned red. “I thought you might enjoy going with me.”

  I blinked at him twice. He was nervous, and now I was nervous. I had daydreamed about going on a date, but now that he had asked me, I was speechless. My stomach flipped over, and my cheeks heated up. His face was turning red, and he made a big show of covering up a fake cough.

  I was taking too long to reply. He was going to think I didn’t want to go unless I said something fast, but my mouth wasn’t cooperating. I finally got my lips to cooperate and eked out a feeble, “I’d love to.”

  He offered me his arm, and I gingerly slipped my hand onto it. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned us toward the ballroom. “Great. It’s a date.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  By the time dinner was served, I felt as if I could have floated off with happiness. Vin had pulled out my chair at the table and sat close to tell me what was happening during the cheese awards while adding his own humorous asides. More than once, my giggling had caused people to turn around and shush me, but I didn’t care. It was fun to snark with him and feel the warmth of his hand on my skin from where it rested across the back of my chair.

  When Tiffany had walked across the stage as cheese queen with her cheese court, I was surprised the entire front row hadn’t backed away from the anger radiating off her.

  Vanessa, sitting two seats over, raised an eyebrow, but we hadn’t had time to talk, especially with Granner between us. The first time Granner’s bony elbow dug into my side, I assumed she was going to chew me out for not paying attention, but instead she had wanted to chat. I learned who used low-quality hair restoring potions and which mages were fooling around on their spouses. I hadn’t felt this happy or had such a sense of fitting in since my father had been killed.

  Once the ceremony was finished, servers started to bring the food out to the tables. Granner dug around in her purse for a while before slamming it on the table.

  “My spell bag is missing. It was in here at lunch, but now it is gone.” She slipped on a pair of reading glasses and sorted through her tapestry bag with rabbits all over the sides. It was quite out of place in the lavish affair, but clearly it was a well-loved bag. I expected her to pull a rabbit from it any second.

  “Oh no. Do you think someone stole it?”

  “No, no dear. They weren’t valuable, just some little potions to add to my food to prevent acid reflux. And I made sure it had a little theft-prevention spell. If someone had taken it, it would have exploded. It must have tipped out of my bag in the booth. Vanessa, could you go get it for me?”

  She nodded. “Ella, why don’t you tag along?”

  “Of course.” Now would be our chance to talk. I bounced out of my chair, grinning, and put my napkin on the seat. I smiled at Vin before heading across the room and out the door with Vanessa.

  The second the door closed, Vanessa pounced on me. “What’s going on?”

  “Vin asked me on a date!” I squealed like a fourteen-year-old and frankly didn’t care. I hadn’t had a teenage crush or a first date or even a first kiss. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “When all the girls at boarding school talked about boys, I was always left out. But not anymore. It might be a decade late, but I finally get it. I was ready to join a nunnery.” I let out a long, happy sigh.

  I checked for Patagonia before remembering that she had fallen asleep on the bed next to Vanessa’s familiar in her hotel room. I had scratched behind her ears and kissed her on the nose when it was time to go, but for once, she hadn’t hopped up to follow us when we left.

  Vanessa threw her arms around me in a big hug, half lifting me off the ground, before we continued to walk close together down the empty hall.

  “Vin and I also talked a bit about the murder. I told you that they hadn’t found whatever Michael had come to get, but it turns out that even he didn’t really know what he was coming for. What in the world is so important that he would fly in overnight and break in to find it and yet not really know what it was?”

  “Weird.” Vanessa’s face scrunched up as we approached the guard standing in front of the convention hall door. “Do you think we can double date?”

  “If it comes up, I’ll suggest it.” Though in truth, I might conveniently forget to suggest it. I wanted to go with just Vin. I smiled at the guard. “We need to get in and get something from the booth.”

  “Is it your booth?”

  Vanessa smiled sweetly. “It’s my great-great-grandmother’s booth. She left something in there.”

  “Sorry, only booth holders.”

  Vanessa’s eyebrows knit together. “Granner is a sick old lady. She is frail! Should I ask my cousin Olivia Santini if—”

  “Okay. You guys can go in, but you have ten minutes, or I’m calling someone to come in and get you regardless of who your cousin is. Got it?”

  We nodded and scooted through the door. I turned to the right, the straightest path to Granner’s booth, but Vanessa swerved left to cut through the middle.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I was thinking that we could take a minute to look around. Peter and his creepy cat aren’t here, so I thought we could poke around at the scene of the crime. I have an idea.”

  “We only have ten minutes, and we need to get Granner’s bag.”

  Vanessa skipped away from me, calling over her shoulder, “We better hurry then.”

  I grabbed my skirt to pull it up off the floor and ran after her, flat-footed and flex toed so the borrowed shoes wouldn’t fly off. By the time I caught up with her, we were back at the spot where Granner’s booth had originally been.

  She looked around. “Tell me where the object was.”

  I closed my eyes and called up the vision I had seen. It was crystal clear. Auntie Ann had said that once I had seen it, it would forever be tucked away in my brain. I opened and closed my eyes a few times as I moved around the space until I was pretty sure I was oriented correctly. Granner’s booth was gone, but the walls and surrounding booths gave me enough references.

  “About here. It was glowing green and about this big.” I indicated an item slightly larger than my palm.

  “I’m going to look around and see if
I can find whatever Michael was looking for that night before he was mushed flat.” She crouched on the thin industrial carpeting, rubbing her hands over the spot then putting her head to the floor to look around.

  “You don’t even know what you are looking for.”

  “Hush. I’m thinking.”

  I had no desire to lie on the floor and wrinkle my dress, plus the whole place smelled like cheese. What if the smell got pressed into my hair?

  I could give Vanessa a minute or two to look if it made her happy. I hadn’t had a good look around last time I was here. A few booths over was something that looked like an above-ground pool. It had to be at least a dozen feet across and half as high, though I couldn’t see if there was a lid or roof, as the bottom was chest high. A spigot at the bottom stuck out with a sign that read, “Queso by the gallon. So hot you could bathe in it.” A stack of five-gallon buckets sat nearby, ready to be filled.

  Mages really needed to work on their marketing skills, as bathing in neither queso nor cheese by the gallon sounded appealing.

  Wandering across the aisle, I saw a slice of Swiss cheese the size of a king-size bed. I knew it was Swiss because of the enormous holes. “Take your picture in the cheese,” its sign proclaimed.

  With Granner’s huge wedge of cheese, this was obviously a themed section of the convention, but was it about giant food? Novelty cheeses? Things I would rather never eat in my life? The possibilities were endless.

  Vanessa was crawling around, lifting the cloth curtains that were used to separate the booths.

  “We really need to go before the security guard comes in and drags us out of here.” I headed toward Granner’s booth, hoping that Vanessa would just follow my lead.

  By the time I arrived, she had trotted and caught up, her shoes in her hand. “I think I have an idea. But we will need to sneak in later.”

  “No way. Where does Granner keep her purse? What does this thing look like?” Ranged around the booth were white cabinets on wheels. I threw open the doors and started rummaging through the bags used to pack up purchases.