by Nova Nelson
Gabby was the only angel in the realm, thankfully. Too many angels in a single world could get messy, so the stories went. Not too unlike having multiple reapers.
I waved to Jingo at the reception desk of the Sheriff’s Office, and the goblin hollered at me to halt and not interrupt the sheriff while she was working.
I ignored him, obviously. Bloom would want to hear what I had to say, I was sure.
“Come in,” she said when I knocked.
I peeked my head inside.
Without looking up from a thick stack of paper, she said, “Have a seat, Nora. Just one moment while I sign a few more things.”
I looked around, but, as usual, no surface had been spared the piles of paperwork.
“Oh right,” she said. She flicked her wrist like she was swatting at a fly and a stack flew off the chair in front of her desk, scattering across the polished wooden floors.
After a moment, she sat up straight and smiled. “What can I do for you?”
“There’s a slight problem in Eastwind.”
“Of course there is. What’s this particular one?”
“Someone’s cast a love spell over … well, as far as I can tell, it’s the entire town.”
She laced her fingers together, resting them on one of the smaller piles of paper. “And what does this love spell do?”
“It causes people to go back to past lovers.”
Her eyes shot open for only a split second before narrowing in concern. “You don’t say.” She pressed her lips together tightly.
“It started small, but I think it’s affecting more people now and possibly growing more powerful.”
She tapped a finger to her tense lips. “Yes, that makes sense …”
“Great. I could really use your help. I’ve spent the afternoon trying to nip extramarital affairs in the bud.”
“A spell like that requires someone of great power to cast it.”
“So I’ve heard. Any ideas?”
She rocked her head from side to side. “Oh, sure. There are a few people in Eastwind who could do it. Not sure who would, though.”
I sighed. “Me neither. The only person I can come up with is Mayor Esperia, but she’s under the spell, too.”
A sly grin crept across the avenging angel’s face. “Is she now?”
“Yep.”
“With Whirligig, I presume?”
I laughed. “Yep.”
She leaned over the desk. “You sure you want to find a solution to this? It could be quite entertaining.”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure the entertainment would wear off as soon as it went to blows.”
She nodded sadly and sat back again. “True, true. So, what would you like me to do about it?”
“Um, I guess help? Take over the investigation?”
She nodded. “Now that I have two deputies working under me, I could send Stu out with you in his off time to help.”
I cringed. “I don’t think he’s the man for the job.”
She arched a brow. “Is he being affected?”
“Big time.”
“Really? Who? Oh, don’t tell me it’s Jane Saxon!” She said the words like she very much wanted it to be Jane Saxon.
“Yep. Causing a little bit of a situation down at Medium Rare.”
She chuckled. “Okay, how about this: I’ll trust you to look into it further, because, quite frankly, I think the End of Days might roll around before the High Council grants the department the funds to hire a proper investigator. And if tempers bubble over and you need me, you can send me an emergency signal with your wand. Do you have it on you?”
“Yes,” I said slowly, “but I can’t really do spells.”
She waved for me to pull it out anyway. “Doesn’t matter. You’re a witch, you have one of Ezra’s custom wands. That’s all you need for this to work, because this won’t be your magic. This will be my magic that you can trigger.” She extended her hand and I gave her the wand.
Holding it up to the overhead light, she rotated it slowly, inspecting it. “Never seen one like this. I’m getting vibrations of a staurolite core. Is that right?”
I nodded. “Good guess.”
“Interesting. I didn’t know you could use that for a wand. Makes enough sense, though.” She closed her eyes and held the wand between two flat palms. A hint of red glowed between her hands before she opened her eyes and gave the wand back to me. “There you go. Should be good for a single spell’s worth. Now, if you need me, all you need to do is wave your wand and think something along the lines of ‘Gabby, the downy has hit the fan! Get over here!’ and I’ll show up.”
“Sort of like a prayer.”
She conceded with a gentle shrug. “Yes, but much more effective.”
“Good to know,” I mumbled, staring at my wand. Could she give me any other spells? Maybe one for refilling all the salt shakers at Medium Rare? “And just to cover my bases, you haven’t been affected by this spell at all?”
She laughed airily. “Oh, goddess, no. Not me. Who in this town, or even this entire realm, would be interested in having a sordid and clandestine love affair with an avenging angel? Only a fool would try.”
I disagreed with her on the last bit. She was beautiful, powerful, and unattainable. That sort of thing made all kinds of otherwise intelligent men drool. But I nodded and stood from my seat without disagreeing. “Great. I’ll let you know if I need you.” I waved my wand demonstratively.
Bloom flinched. “Careful with that.”
“Oh, sorry.” I tucked it away. “I’m not used to it doing anything.”
With one last smile, Bloom dove back into her stacks of paperwork from the High Council, and I showed myself out of her office. Before I left the station, though, I paused at the desk and grinned at Jingo. “Can you send an owl for me?”
“Do I look like the OMG to you?”
I paused. “The what?”
“The Owl Master General. Do I look like him?”
“Oh, I don’t know what he looks like. So, maybe?”
Jingo groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fine, but make it quick.” He slid a piece of owl parchment to me and I scribbled my note.
“And who’s it going to?” he asked.
“Liberty Freeman, please.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice,” I said, having to yell to be heard over the loud lute music blaring from invisible speakers.
Liberty nodded congenially. We occupied the giant, round corner booth at Lyre Lounge. Liberty sat across from me with Emagine close by his side. “Why are we here again?” He looked around at the gaudy decor—the ionic columns, the metallic gold floor, the painted ceiling.
“I wanted to meet somewhere no one else would be.”
“He’s here, though.” He nodded to our left, where Echo Chambers stood, staring at himself in a large mirror that ran nearly the length of the wall.
“Sure,” I said, “but he’s a little preoccupied, if you can’t tell.”
The satyr fluffed his dark hair and made a kissy face at his reflection.
And so the love spell claimed another victim. Or maybe not. It was hard to tell with him.
This bar remained open solely on bribe money. The same bribe money Seamus Shaw had paid Echo to allow him to be un-banned from Lyre Lounge when Sheehan’s Pub ran out of booze. For a while the idea that Echo got to keep a portion of the stolen leprechaun gold bugged me, but now I saw the advantage to Eastwind having a public meeting place where no one ever went. It was perfect neutral territory for conversations just like this.
Yes, it would have been ideal if Echo turned down the music just a bit, but I didn’t want to be too demanding and risk him banning me as well.
“I need to talk to you about a love spell,” I hollered.
Liberty squinted and leaned forward. “A what?”
“A love spell,” I said louder. “I—”
He held up a hand, stopping me mid-sentence before
snapping his fingers. The music stopped instantly. I looked over at Echo, sure he would be furious that we interfered when he was vibing so hard with himself, but to my bewilderment, the satyr was still swaying to the rhythm.
“It’s only us,” Liberty said. “He can still hear it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” I said. Ah, the benefits of being with a genie. So long as I didn’t get on his bad side, being friends with Liberty had massive perks.
Unfortunately, the conversation I was here to have with him could easily land me on his bad side if I wasn’t careful.
“Someone’s cast a love spell over Eastwind,” I said, “and I wanted to give you a heads up about it because some people are starting to suspect it might have been Emagine who did it.”
Liberty and Emagine shared a knowing glance. “Of course they think that,” she said. “Blame it on the genie.” She rolled her eyes. “I ask you, though, why would we go through all the trouble to become free—something that can take thousands of years to accomplish—just to impose our will over others?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Revenge?”
“Oh.” She paused. “Yes, I suppose so. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I certainly don’t mean to put ideas in your head,” I said quickly.
“Emagine would never do that,” Liberty said. “One of the reasons I’m crazy about her is her love for individual freedoms and the desire to seek empowerment, not power over others.”
“You’re so sweet,” she said, leaning in for the kiss.
I had to clear my throat to get their attention when what should have been a peck turned into something more. “From what I can tell, they might be coming after you,” I said to Emagine. “I could see the mayor rallying some of the less welcoming folks to her to gather up their pitchforks and make for Liberty’s house.”
She waved it off. “I’m not worried about that. Very sweet of you to show concern, though.”
“You’re not worried about it?”
“No. There’s very little an angry mob could do to me. Especially one made up of, no offense, witches.”
“No offense taken,” I said, trying to follow along.
Liberty must have read my expression, because he jumped in with, “We don’t like to flaunt it around town, but there’s very little anyone can do to hurt us. It would require a group effort that, frankly, most mobs aren’t able to pull off. That’s not to say we can’t be killed, just that the few creatures in Eastwind who could pull it off aren’t those who would. We’re … pretty powerful. It would be like an angry mob going after Sheriff Bloom.”
“It might hurt our feelings,” Emagine added. “It never feels great to be rejected.”
Liberty pointed at her. “True. Good point. We can have our feelings hurt.”
I needed to get us back on track … without hurting their feelings, apparently.
“Any idea who might’ve cast this spell, then?”
They looked at each other, shaking their heads vaguely.
“Nope,” said Emagine.
Liberty said, “I certainly didn’t. And I trust Circe when she says she didn’t do it.”
I paused, my eyes skipping to Emagine, who stared daggers at Liberty. He hadn’t even realized what he’d said.
“Who is Circe?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Emagine echoed, “who is she?”
Liberty’s eyes widened and he leaned back slightly from his girlfriend. “Oh, I don’t know why I said— I mean Morgan— Emagine! I meant Emagine!”
One of two things could be going on here, and I decided to give Liberty the benefit of the doubt. “It’s effecting you, isn’t it? The love spell. Did you used to date someone named Circe?”
His posture remained rigid as he looked back and forth between us. Then he heaved a sigh and his shoulders softened. “Yes. A long time ago.”
“And someone named Morgan?” Emagine prompted.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And you’re over them, right?” Emagine added.
“Oh yeah. Long over. Both were bad relationships in a string of similarly bad relationships.” He shrugged. “Let’s just say I had a type. I had to come all the way to Eastwind to break the pattern. But you’re not like any of those other women, and that’s why I like you so much.”
Finally, she smiled. “I’m not going to get onto you for past relationships. Goodness knows I’ve had my fair share. But does that mean you’ve been thinking about those other women lately?”
“I’ve only been thinking of you, Emagine.” He sidled up to her again. “I don’t know where those other names came from. You’re all I think about.”
He kissed her quickly, and I suspected it was to keep her from noticing the bald-faced lie. Liberty Freeman was just as affected as everyone by the love spell, but he didn’t want to admit it.
The thought was unsettling. Not the thought of him lying, because most people would do the same in his position, but the fact that whoever had cast this spell was powerful enough to affect a genie.
There was no obvious reason why Emagine would do something to make Liberty start thinking about exes. I had to conclude that she was innocent. The motive would have to be incredibly convoluted to work.
I thanked them for meeting me and indicated that they were free to carry on with their day. As I was scooting out of the booth, Liberty leaned forward and stopped me by placing a hand on my forearm. “Whatever you’re dealing with, Nora, it’s powerful. Very powerful.” He stared at me unblinkingly, and I nodded, trying to convey that I understood what he was hinting at and had no plans of spilling his secret to Emagine. “You be careful, and don’t go at it alone, okay?”
“Got it.”
“If you feel like you’re outmatched, you let me know, and I’m there. I’m good for it.”
I smiled at him. “I know you are. Thanks, Liberty.”
One last nod, then he followed Emagine out of the booth and the lute music crashed in around me again.
I’d take his advice and not go it alone. Believe it or not, I wasn’t in a hurry to get myself killed trying to stop something this powerful.
Who would I ask for help, though?
I was at a dead end without any possible suspects, and I was clearly way in over my head.
I knew just the man for the job.
While I hated to drag him into trouble again, I knew I could trust his mind on this.
As I passed through the Eastwind Emporium, empty at that evening hour, I glanced at the clock. It was early enough for him to still be awake, but just a little too late to be considered polite visiting hours for an unexpected guest.
He would understand, though.
It was time to drag Landon back into the fray.
Chapter Fifteen
With no clue how he would react to seeing me, I knocked on Landon Hawker’s front door. We hadn’t spoken at all since the confrontation with Grace’s circle in the Parchment Catacombs. He’d left the Sheriff’s Office that night, looking downtrodden about the loss of his friend, and a healthy dose of guilt for the part I played in his emotional rollercoaster ride had prevented me from seeking him out afterward. He probably didn’t want to talk to me. He probably wanted space. Sure, I’d helped him find a little bit of closure, but in doing so, I’d managed to put him through the wringer.
When he answered the door, he was grinning wide. Then his brain caught up to the present and the smile wilted, his expression deflated. “Nora? What are you doing here?” He slipped out of the house quickly, closing the door behind him.
“Hi, Landon. I, um …” I grimaced.
“You need my help,” he said flatly. “What is it now?”
“Is it a bad time?” I said.
“Yeah, sort of. But I know that if you’re here at nine o’clock, asking for my help, time probably isn’t a luxury we have. What’s up?”
I cut to the chase. “Someone’s cast a love spell over Eastwind. I don’t know who, but it’s getting stronger.”
He narrowed his eyes at me like I might be crazy. “A love spell? Over all of Eastwind? What or who is powerful enough to do that?”
“That’s why I’m here. I need your help to figure out what something or someone or, hey, maybe a whole clandestine secret society—you’d like that, right?—is in on it.”
For a moment, he looked like he was about to take the bait, then he pulled back again. “So, this love spell just makes random people fall in love?”
He was trying to act disinterested, but the fact that he was asking questions boded well. “No, not random people. Past loves. From what I can tell, it has to be a relationship that was mutual and got cut short. It starts slow, with each person thinking about the other one off and on. Then, from what I can tell, once they see the other person face-to-face, it’s like BLAM! And you need a crowbar to keep them off each other.”
He glanced back over his shoulder at the house and then stepped closer to me, speaking in a low tone. “This spell is making people return to old stomping grounds? Is that what you’re saying?”
He was in. I could feel it. I nodded eagerly. “Yes! It started with Bruce Saxon and Heather Lovelace returning from the afterlife to haunt Jane and Ansel. Then Ruby and Ezra Ares … well, they’re together in some capacity. And Jane and Stu … and the mayor and Whirligig … and Echo Chambers and, well, Echo Chambers.”
“I see you’re leaving yourself out of this.”
I blinked. How did he know about Roland? “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Donovan Stringfellow? Ever heard of him?”
“Oh. Him. Right. Okay, yes, maybe that’s been a little bit of an added annoyance the last couple days. But I’ve kept myself busy with other things, and it’s just as manageable as ever.”
“Have you seen him recently?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“You said it gets more intense when the two people see each other.”