A Murder Spells Trouble

by K. J. Emrick

  She threw her hands up between them, backs facing him, her fingers spread wide.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” he tried to say to her, “I didn’t mean—”

  Between the tips of her fingers, red sparks danced.

  Lucian’s eyes went wide. Slowly, he looked up from her hands, to stare into her eyes. “Did you see that?”

  Oh, yes. She saw it. There was no way she could let Lucian know it had been real, though. Her magic had slipped out. She was not supposed to let that happen. Ever.

  She couldn’t let him know.

  “Did I see what?” she asked, keeping her face neutral, fighting to control her emotions and her Essence. “We were talking about how you wanted to blame me for Esmerelda’s murder.”

  “Uh, sure, but did you see that light?”

  “Lucian, if you’re going to make up lame excuses to keep from answering me then I don’t think we have anything else to talk about. I want you to leave.”

  “Addie, please let me explain.”

  She held his gaze, not saying anything, letting the silence between them work its own sort of magic. Allowing her emotions get the better of her like that was a big mistake. She had let her Essence boil over until some of it had manifested in those red snaps of light. Lucian had just made her so angry. To even suggest that she might have hurt that poor woman, or had someone do it for her, or whatever he was hinting at… oh, she just wanted to scream at him!

  The magic rushed up inside of her again and she quickly hid her hands behind her back.

  She felt the bite of energy along her skin as her Essence crackled over her fingers. This man… Lucian… had her all turned around. Just when she thought they were starting to get along, he went and pulled something like this. She was lucky there were people around or she’d turn him into a newt right where he stood.

  Well. Not really, but she sure would have given him something to remember her by. Maybe a painful itch. In his toes. Or… somewhere else.

  He sighed, pressing his lips tightly together. Then in his next breath he thrust his hands into the pockets of his hoodie again. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Miss Kilorian. I didn’t mean to do that. I just wanted to… well. Thank you.”

  That was all, and then he got into his car, and drove away.

  She wasn’t sure how long she stood there watching him go but when the car was out of sight she told herself she needed to get back into the café. No matter how mad this police detective had made her she still had a job to do.

  Two jobs to do, actually. Managing the café, and protecting the town of Shadow Lake.

  A small, furry weight bumped into the back of her legs. “That was smooth,” Doyle muttered under his breath.

  “Shush, Doyle.” There was no one nearby, but there was no sense taking chances, either. She’d already come this close to exposing herself to the whole town by getting so angry with Lucian that her magic had created fireworks on her fingertips.

  She looked down at her hands now, wishing she could have that moment back. She usually had better control. The power within a witch of seven generations, like her and her sisters, was enormous. You had to keep it hidden, all of the time. She’d learned how at an early age. Puberty had been the last time in her life that she’d ever lost control.

  But today it had come bursting forth, and she couldn’t stop it. Just a little, maybe, but enough to let Lucian see what she was. If she exposed her sisters because of this man she would never forgive herself.

  There was just something about him…

  “You look,” Doyle said, sitting at her feet and blinking up at her, “like someone put your heart sideways in your chest.”

  “Shut up,” she told him again. “Let’s get back inside before someone sees me talking to a cat.”

  “What’s wrong with talking to a cat?” he asked, following along beside her. “People talk to dogs all the time. What’s so crazy about talking to cats, is what I’d like to know.”

  Right, Addie thought to herself. Essence sparking on her fingers. A talking cat at her heels. Maybe she should just jump on a broomstick and fly out a window. Then everyone would know what she was.

  At the door to the café she hesitated, looking back up the street in the direction that Lucian’s car had driven away. There was a murderer in town, she reminded herself. She had more important things to worry about than whether Mister Lucian Knight had acted like a complete jerk. She had to put him out of her mind entirely.

  If Lucian wasn’t going to take a hard look at the real suspects, then it was going to be up to Addie and her sisters.

  Chapter 11

  It had been a very long day. Addie felt tired by the time she and Darla were locking up the doors and saying goodnight. On Friday nights the Hot Cauldron closed at seven o’clock. There hadn’t been anyone in the café for the last hour, which gave them plenty of time to sweep and clean and put all the chairs up. Addie was glad for that because she really needed to get home.

  Willow had left as soon as they’d eaten breakfast. With Gary glued to her side, of course. Addie took her aside before she left and asked her to check in on Kiera. Her sister had rolled her eyes, but she promised to make a quick trip home before Gary took her out for a drive through the country and a picnic lunch. He was promising to show her this hidden waterfall where clothing would be optional when they went for a swim.

  “Swimming?” Addie had asked her. “Picnics? Willow can you hear yourself? You sound like… like a…”

  “Typic?” she’d said with an angry sneer. “You’re just jealous, because I’m leaving here with a man and you scared yours away.”

  Lucian, was who she meant. When she tossed her hair and walked away with Gary, Addie had swallowed back the scathing words that had leapt to her lips. Even now, as she and Darla were locking the back door, she was still trying to tell herself that Lucian’s deceit didn’t bother her. The truth of it was that it did. It had nothing to do with how cute and funny and smart she thought Lucian was, she was quick to add. It was just that, well, she hated being lied to. Right. That’s what it was.

  “Are you okay?” Darla asked her.

  She put the café’s keys away in her purse. She was aware that she’d made Darla angry at her earlier, too, but she had no time to explain herself. Not now. “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you, Darla. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Um. Sure, but you still haven’t told me what the police wanted. Are they finished with you? Should we expect them back?”

  “No,” Addie answered. “I don’t think we’ll see Detective Knight again. It’s fine, Darla. He just wanted to talk to me about finding the body yesterday. You know, like I told you about. That’s all. See you tomorrow.”

  Darla did not take that well. Her face screwed up on itself and she clutched her purse over her shoulder as she walked away. Addie understood why she was upset, even if she didn’t know how to fix it. It was the same reason she’d been upset at Lucian.

  Secrets.

  There was no help for it, though. Darla was just going to have to accept that every girl had something she needed to keep private.

  Could she give Lucian the same consideration? Let him keep his secrets, and let him just be who he was? After all, he was just doing his job.

  She snorted as she got up into her Cherokee. Maybe it was best if she just left Lucian Knight be himself somewhere far, far away from her.

  Doyle was already curled up in the passenger seat next to her. After attacking a few leftover pieces of hamburger as she and Darla had been cleaning up for the night, he’d given Addie a meaningful shake of his head and disappeared. Usually that meant he wanted to talk about something.

  Only now he was asleep.

  “Just like a cat,” she muttered.

  Starting the engine didn’t wake him. Pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street didn’t do it, either. He just kept snoring.

  “Doyle? Hey, Doyle, wake up.”

  Driving with her left hand on the wheel, she rea
ched over to tug on his tail.

  His paws flinched, and his tail swished.

  She pulled on it again.

  This time he jerked his head up, one eye open, one eye closed, the tip of his tongue sticking out between his teeth. He was awake now, if only just barely.

  “Aw,” she said to him, “you’re adorable when you first wake up.”

  He blinked, and yawned a wide yawn with his pink tongue curled up over his teeth. He levelled a stare at her as he got to his feet. “Did you just pull my tail?”

  “No, of course not. I would never do something like that to you.”

  “We’ve discussed this. My tail is off limits.”

  Addie nodded somberly. “Of course. Nobody likes their tail pulled on.”

  “You’re mocking me. I can tell.”

  “That’s because you’re a smart cat.”

  He grumbled to himself, not sure whether to take that as a compliment, or be insulted by it. “You were supposed to wake me up back at the café. I needed to tell you something.”

  “I tried to wake you up sooner. The problem is that if cats have a superpower, it’s sleeping.” She shrugged as she slowed for a red light. Doyle swayed in his seat as they stopped. “So, tell me now. Did you hear something in the café?”

  “With ears like these, I don’t miss much.” He mrowed. “I doubt you’re going to like it very much.”

  “If it’s about the murder, I need to hear it.” The light turned green for them as she added, “I can’t be sure that Lucian is going to find the bad guy. Not without a lot of help.”

  “From you?” Doyle asked.

  “If I have to.” She gripped the wheel a little tighter. “We’ll be back at Stonecrest in just a few minutes. Now, tell me what you heard in the café.”

  “I don’t like Gary.”

  “Willow’s boyfriend? Doyle, that’s hardly news. You’ve never liked any of Willow’s boyfriends.”

  “That is not true,” he protested. “I liked Mason.”

  “Mason? That guy turned out to be one of the lesser demons.”

  “Sure,” Doyle said, flicking his ear, “but that didn’t make him a bad guy.”

  Addie took a deep breath, and let it out again. She didn’t have time to debate the litany of boyfriends Willow had attracted over the past few years. “Doyle, I know you don’t like Gary. I thought you said you had information. Something you heard in the café.”

  “I do.” He took a moment to steady himself as the Cherokee hit a pothole. “It just so happens that it was something Gary said. I didn’t like the man before. Now I really don’t like him.”

  “Why? What did he say?”

  Doyle cleared his throat dramatically. When he spoke, it was in Gary’s voice.

  “I don’t care that she is dead. I just wish I hadn’t been wearing my boots that day. I guess they left quite the impression.”

  It was an odd thing, to hear Doyle change his voice into someone else’s. All cats had magic of their own, something Addie knew very well, and Doyle more than most. It was still eerie to hear him mimic someone so perfectly.

  Truthfully, she was a little jealous.

  “He said that?” she asked, as the full meaning of what Doyle had said—in Gary’s voice—sank in.

  Gary was worried about leaving boot tracks at the murder scene. He’d been there.

  He’d been in the woods along Luna Moth Trail.

  Addie slammed her hand against the steering wheel and let loose a string of very rough cuss words in Gaelic. Doyle laid his ears back against the side of his head until she was done. “Well. I see your knowledge of the ancient tongue is still as versatile as ever.”

  “Doyle!” she exclaimed, taking the last curve before Stonecrest way too fast in her frustration. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before? I mean, Gary and Willow left before lunchtime and you’re only just telling me this now?”

  He gave her a very cat-like stare. “I’m sorry, but it’s not exactly easy for a talking cat to just blurt out information in the middle of a café full of people. It tends to draw attention, and not the good kind.”

  “You could’ve given me a signal that you needed to talk to me. You could’ve done something in all that time to grab my attention and then tell me that Gary White had been at the scene with a very dead Esmerelda!”

  “I did try, thank you very much.” His fur ruffled indignantly. “I kept rubbing up against your legs and you kept ignoring me.”

  “That’s because I was taking orders and bringing out food for people. I thought you were trying to get me to give you some food scraps!”

  “Oh… that’s why you kept giving me pieces of the bacon Darla burned.”

  “Yes, of course that’s why I—!” Addie took a breath and brought the car to a halt right up by Stonecrest’s front door. “What about that last hour when we were dead quiet and nobody came in? Why didn’t you tell me then?”

  He looked away and sniffed, and then mumbled something she couldn’t hear.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said,” he repeated loudly, “that’s when I was out here taking a nap. A cat needs his naps, Addie. You know that.”

  “What I know is that now Gary really is a suspect. That makes four people who might have killed Esmerelda. This is getting out of control.”

  Now that the car had stopped Doyle was pawing at the door, careful to keep his claws retracted. “Let’s go find Kiera, then. Personally, I think we should just delve into their minds and pull out the information of who killed the girl.”

  Addie shook her head as she yanked the keys out of the ignition. Sometimes Doyle drove her insane. When she leaned across to open his door, she told him the obvious. “I can’t use that much Essence outside of Stonecrest without attracting some very nasty creatures to Shadow Lake. And if I could get all the suspects to come visit us for a tea party or whatever so that I could delve into their minds, inside our protective barrier where no one else could feel the power of my spell, I still wouldn’t do it.”

  “Awww,” he hissed, disappointed. He leapt out of the car and stood, fur bristling. “Why not?”

  “Because, as you already know, fishing in someone’s mind can leave them permanently disabled. I could lobotomize them if I have to go too deep for the information.”

  She slammed his door closed, opened her own, got out and slammed that one shut, too. She was hoping that a little childish display of frustration would make her feel better. It did not.

  Doyle was waiting for her as she came around the Cherokee. “Wouldn’t it be worth a couple of scrambled brains if it helped find a killer?”

  “No. No it is not worth it. Doing that to someone would scar my soul as well.” She shuddered just to think about it. “We’ll have to find out what we want the old fashioned way.”

  Stepping in across the threshold, she heard him muttering to himself. “Spoilsport.”

  She ignored him as he dashed away, probably in search of his food dish. Even though she had fed him quite a lot of scraps today he was always hungry. He burned off a lot of calories during his naps, apparently. Well, he could just fend for himself and find his own dinner. Right now, she needed to find her older sister.

  “Kiera?” she called out, walking down the entrance hall, looking in the rooms around them and listening to the silence. Where was she? “Kiera? I need to talk to you.”

  Stopping in the middle of the living room, leaning up against the back of the suede couch, she extended her senses outward, trying to find her sister’s presence in their huge home. It was tedious looking this way, going room by room in her mind’s eye, but it was a lot quicker than walking.

  With a rush, Addie came back into herself. She couldn’t feel Kiera anywhere. Maybe she was up in the tower, where the magical shielding of Stonecrest was strongest. Then again, Kiera really was stronger in that talent than she was, and it was possible she’d just missed her somewhere. She might be in the cellar, too, where the heavy stone blocks muddied all magic
al senses. Superman couldn’t see through lead. For Addie, it was limestone blocks that defeated her.

  The tower was three floors up and then some. The cellar was just a quick trip through the kitchen and then down one set of stairs. Which one to check first.

  She chose the cellar.

  The lights were already on, but she supposed they might have forgotten to turn them off this morning. She listened, and again heard nothing but her own breathing.

  “Kiera?”

  Now she remembered why it had been so much fun to play hide and seek down here as a child. Around one set of shelves, then another, she nearly lost her bearing and had to look back along her route to remember she should be going right, not left. There was dust on all of the metal shelving units, and the spiders had been busy building webs in the rafters high overhead, and she smiled to remember her and Willow running wild down here.

  Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes…

  “We all fall down,” she completed the nursery rhyme, picturing her and Willow holding hands and getting dizzy, right over there. Life had been so much simpler back then.

  Now it was all work, and very little play. She kept walking, running a finger along the shelves on either side, leaving a finger trail through the dust.

  Then she came to a shelf where an area had been nearly cleared of dust. She recognized it from this morning. It was the shelf with the box Kiera had been looking through.

  Addie put her hand along the edge of the cardboard, feeling along the top and the closed flaps.

  “Kiera?”

  Still, no answer. Her sister wasn’t here, and Addie wanted to know what was in there. This was probably the best chance she was going to get.

  Taking the box down, she set it on the concrete floor and folded herself into a sitting position with it. For a moment, she hesitated. She felt like she was violating her sister’s privacy. Maybe she should wait, and talk to Kiera first…