Sticks & Stones Spell Werewolf Bones: A Why Choose Academy Romance

by Rae Stapleton

  “Oh, right. Let me see if anything showed up in the first group. Look, Eleutian, I have prints!” It was easy to get excited. This was my first application of what I’ve learned, but then I remembered again the application was to figure out who murdered my friend. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. Happy with my accomplishments one minute and sad the next because of my friend’s death. I had to get my head back in the game. I didn’t have long, so I pulled one page at a time out of the booth and photographed each print after I had captured the whole page front and back again. After I did this for the first group, I set them aside and hung the rest of the pages in the booth to start the process again, including the page with the possible bloodstain.

  “Evie, I’m going to check on Bodhi’s progress while that’s cookin’. Just give a holler after you’ve photographed that page.”

  “Will do. I’ll do that page first. I guess I’ll scan in the print photos next?”

  Eleutian nodded. “The other thing is look for anomalies. You know backlight them to see if there’s anything special about the paper or if someone wrote above it leaving an impression. Check the typeface to see if the printer had a quirky issue that could help identify it.”

  “Got it.” I walked back to the fuming booth. It was too soon, but I didn’t want to miss anything. I had time yet, so did as he suggested, trying to backlight the first group. I found nothing out of the ordinary. No impressions, no print issues, not even a watermark. In the meantime, the other set of pages had prints that popped, so I photographed all of them like the first group. I reviewed everything with this group before calling Eleutian back. Damn, I’d almost forgotten about the phone, using the white dusting powder I went over the black case. My initial dusting revealed nothing but then I realized I needed to pop the case off. A few swirls and two prints appeared as if by magic. One perfect and the other partial on the scanner window to unlock the phone. Probably the owner’s print, which could serve two purposes. One to identify and the other to get us inside the phone. I photographed both first, then selected dark transfer cards. Taking tape, I covered the easy one first, then the second. I carefully pulled them up, attached each piece of tape to the cards and scanned them in. I downloaded the prints from the camera into our computer system and started the comparison run against the Supernatural Society’s version of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

  “Eleutian! I’m done!”

  I was a little surprised when both Bodhi and Eleutian walked in. I watched Bodhi’s eyes while he strode over to the stainless-steel table. Uh oh.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “This case is what’s wrong. That poor girl. It was silver nitrate. The pain she must have endured.”

  Bodhi clenched his hands into fists and his skin startled to sparkle. It looked like he wanted to trash our lab. Pretty soon his eyes would turn red and the scales would appear. It was his fiery dragon temper coming out.

  “Bodhi, settle down. The best we can do for her now is find who did this,” I said. Captain Obvious much, but sometimes people needed to hear things like that when they were upset.

  He blew out a breath and returned to normal. “Whatcha got?”

  I sighed with relief. “This page with a possible blood stain is ready for testing.” I looked at Eleutian. “May I?”

  “Sure, darlin’,” Eleutian said.

  I started to follow the steps Eleutian had laid out, but after I added the drops of the phenolphthalein to a swab, Eleutian stopped me.

  “Evie, wait a minute. It’s necessary to wait a minute or two to make sure the swab doesn’t turn pink on its own which would indicate contamination.”

  I waited, realizing, not for the first time, that forensics was a painstakingly slow process. Understandable, but that didn’t make it any easier to take. I glanced at both men and when they nodded, I continued by swiping the swab on the stain. I rubbed until I could see a bit of transfer, then I took the dropper from the peroxide bottle. I squeezed a few drops and watched it bloom a pretty pink color that Maggie would have loved.

  “Could be blood. Have you finished evaluating this page? If so, then I’ll cut this stained section out for further testing,” Eleutian said.

  “I’ve completed everything you asked me to do on every page and I printed the phone,” I said.

  Eleutian and Bodhi looked at each other with raised brows. “You lookin’ to show us up, Evie?” Eleutian asked.

  “No, of course not!”

  Just then, the computer dinged.

  We had a match.

  15

  Professor Werewolf

  D emas dreaded this confrontation. Well, to him it seemed like one, but really, why? He looked at his watch and then scrubbed his hands up and down his face. It wasn’t even five-thirty, but it felt like a week had passed. His wolf was riding him, making him volatile. He didn’t need a psychologist to tell him the source: Razor Howl. There was just too much bad blood between them. Then again, he’d dealt with the unruly werewolf on an occasional basis for years. Howl being a council member made him impossible to avoid. So, why was he struggling now? He gritted his teeth in an effort to keep a tight rein on his wild self. He could go months without transformation; being part of the hellhound, he had learned to maintain his human form.

  A vacation!

  He snapped his fingers. That’s what he needed.

  “Are you going to stand in the doorway staring off into space all night?” Grimm asked. “I need to get through there.”

  “Huh? Oh, I uh.” Demas rubbed the back of his neck. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “By all means.”

  Demas crossed the threshold and sat in a chair covered in various articles of clothing. His big body crushing the clothes into a wrinkled mass.

  “Hey! Do you mind?”

  “Oh, sorry,” Demas said. He stood and started to pace.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Grimm asked.

  “I’m sorry!” Demas raised his eyes to Grimm.

  “You already said—” Grimm stared. “You’re not talking about the clothes.”

  “No. I’m apologizing to you. The fact is, we need you. You’re an important part of this team. When this mess started, the first thing I thought of was that I needed you to cover forensics and the autopsy because that is what you excel at. It helps that you can see or feel magic, but you also notice small details that make a difference. I value your help and I know we wouldn’t have made it through everything a few months back without you, so I’m sorry I never told you.”

  Grimm sat, stunned, on the bed, staring at Demas like he had more than five heads. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m fine, dammit. Can’t I pay you a compliment? Wait, do I see tears in your eyes? There’s no crying in the tracker team.”

  “I’m not crying, Tom Hanks.”

  Demas narrowed his eyes but didn’t see anything resembling tears now. It must have been a trick of the light.

  “I’m shocked by your apology, but I thank you for it. And I was serious when I asked if you’re okay.”

  “I think I need a vacation.”

  “You do realize why you’re so out of sorts, right?” Grimm asked.

  Demas took off his glasses and gave them a swipe on his shirt before putting them back on. “Yes, of course I do. It’s just dealing with Howl again. The man’s an animal—no offense.”

  “None taken. We all are.”

  Demas laughed. “Touché.” It was rare that he thought of himself as a wolf. He’d disconnected so far from that identity, which was why it bugged him so much to be ruled by it now.

  “No, Demas, it’s having to help Howl. You’ve had dealings with him over the years, but I’ve never seen you like this. You’ve always had control, so that leaves the fact that you feel responsible for Maggie as the director of the tracker team and a supernatural who cares about what happens to victims of crime. Only, in helping Maggie, you are helping the man that destroyed your l
ife.”

  “Well, fuck.”

  Grimm smiled. “I guess it rings true for you, then. My work here is done and, now, I must be off to New Orleans to fix everything there. At this rate, it won’t be you helping Howl, but the rest of us.”

  Demas watched as Grimm grabbed his suitcase, a rolling one of all things, as he headed in the direction of the portal. Grimm had hit the problem on the head with a sledgehammer. Who knew the demon could be so deep.

  Demas propped his glasses on his head and rubbed his tired eyes. He glanced around, realizing he was still standing in Grimm’s room, then headed to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. There was still the report he had to write on the day’s events and interviews. He would have to word the report on his interview with Remy and the other werewolves carefully, as he had gone a little crazy, pulling rank to get the answers he wanted. He really was surprised that had worked, even though he was an alpha’s son. Maybe his wolf viewed his directorship as a mantle of power to draw from; although it technically was, it shouldn’t have been from his wolf’s perspective. Part of him—the selfish part —wanted to run to the lab to let Evie know he’d apologized to Grimm, but that wasn’t the right thing to do. Grimm might tell and he might not. Regardless, she would see changes in his actions and attitude toward Grimm going forward. That would have to be enough.

  Whispers from the kitchen caught his attention.

  “Demas—blame.”

  What if they were worried about his leadership after the way he acted today.

  “Angry.”

  Damn, did he have a problem?

  “You get days, Z, and I’ll take nights. During the day, I’ll watch over her room. She’ll never know,” Colten whispered.

  “That’s how you’re going to handle it? She’s going to be pissed when she finds out,” Zephyr said.

  “What’s Evie going to be pissed about?” Demas asked.

  “Shit, boss, don’t sneak up on us like that,” Colton said.

  “Ryu thinks he can get away with staying in Evie’s room at night and he’s planning to hang out outside of her window during the day without telling her, as if she won’t notice anything,” Zephyr answered.

  Demas shrugged. “He’s a big boy and it’s his funeral.”

  Colten snorted his disdain.

  “Personally, I think it’s probably best if we’re all upfront with her about our pasts but to each their own.”

  Zephyr snickered. “Exactly what I just said. I’ll probably hear the fireworks over in the men’s dorm.”

  Ah, so they weren’t talking about him. He needed to get his head in the game. “Anyway, Zephyr, I need you to get registered for classes as soon as possible. Make sure you’re in some of Evie’s, so she can ‘help the new kid.’ And make sure you cross paths with some of our chief suspects, too, please—that mean girl clique.”

  “Already done, boss, I hacked the school computer system and put everything in. I even sent an email from the secretary to the headmistress saying she was so sorry, but she forgot to inform her of my arrival. I’ll get all school emails just like any student.”

  “Just student emails?”

  “You think I should get copies of the headmistress’ emails, too?”

  Demas chuckled as he poured himself coffee in a twenty-four-ounce insulated bottle, preparing for a late night.

  He grabbed the box with evidence off the kitchen floor. They must have missed it.

  “Hey, if you’re going to the lab, would you take this charger to Evie for that phone?” Zephyr asked, opening his satchel, which was hanging on a hook by the door.

  Demas nodded and snagged it out of Zephyr’s hand just before he walked out the kitchen door. He wanted to see how far they were with the evidence examination. They had all forgotten about the box buried underneath a couple of duffel bags. He tucked it under his arm as he stepped out on the deck that wrapped around two sides of the house.

  The rain had stopped, and the air smelled fresh and clean. Nothing like New Orleans. Demas stopped to watch a tanker silently glide by at a rapid clip. Peaceful. That was the word to describe the scene before him. His musings were interrupted first by water dripping on his head from the lush autumn-colored foliage and then by sounds—a whip-poor-will calling and a woodpecker was knocking around various trees as he continued down the path to the lab. Just as he entered the building, he heard Evie say they had a match.

  16

  Midnight Witch

  “A

  match on what?” Demas asked.

  “Oh! I processed the fingerprints on the note pages and the phone. It hasn’t been running long, but it just gave us a match. It says it’s a nineteen-point match.” I turned around as I felt my face drain of blood. “It’s the headmistress.”

  “Shit! I don’t believe it!” Demas cursed. “What was it on?”

  I looked at the computer screen and noted it was photo number seven. I picked up the camera to scroll through the shots as I didn’t want to interrupt the scan. “It’s off of the ‘Die Hairy Freak’ note and it was on the backside of the page.” I looked up.

  “I’ll have to question her about it,” Demas said, frowning.

  “Do you think she’s involved?” Bodhi asked.

  “She did receive a threat. In fact, I brought it with me to be processed along with this sweater,” Demas said as he opened the box he had set on the table.

  At Evie’s swift intake of breath, all three looked at her. “That was Maggie’s.”

  Demas went to the wall and pulled a large sheet of white craft paper from the roll. He laid the paper on the table, pulled the sweater out, shook it and checked the pockets. They were empty.

  “Okay, I’ll check for prints on this threat and the knife.”

  “Okay, sounds good. You’re doing alright with the fingerprinting process?” Demas asked.

  “I…” The computer dinged again. “I’m getting hits, aren’t I?” I asked. “Now, we have a seventeen-point match on Marigold Sprigg. Let me look, her print was on a different page, one of the nastier threats. Uh oh! Marigold’s been a naughty girl, it matched to a shoplifting charge last year.”

  Demas arched a brow. “Well, it looks like we’re going to be busy with questions tomorrow. Please don’t tell me she’s part of the Fate Clique.”

  I just smirked and laughed when he dropped his chin to his chest. “Hey, you’ve barely scratched the surface. I’ve been dealing with them for three months.” I turned to look at Demas as I heard a low-level growl while Bodhi kicked one of the chairs. Out of the corner of my eye, lightning arced between Eleutian’s hands. That was new. “Guys! Stop it right now! I can take care of myself.”

  “We just don’t like it when someone’s upsetting or hurting you, but it doesn’t mean we don’t think you capable. It’s more we’re pissed at ourselves for not preventing it.”

  “Moving on, Bodhi, are you going to do the fiber analysis on the sweater?” Demas watched as Bodhi rummaged in a drawer for a minute before saluting with a roll of clear tape. “Okay then, I’ll be in my office if anyone needs anything. Otherwise, try to get some sleep soon, this might be the only night you get any for a while.”

  I started the fuming process again. When the paper was loaded in the machine, I began with the powder on the knife and discovered it was clean. All I had left to do was wait for the last item to give me something and then the computer could keep running overnight. I started cleaning up my area of the table thinking about the audio recorder. Did Maggie put it there or did someone else?

  Glancing at the machine, I observed the page in the booth had a smudge, but no readable prints on it. At least the smudge let me know it had been long enough. Next, I refiled all the paper items in evidence bags and moved them to a file box that I’d labeled earlier, and I wondered, would we solve this case?

  “Darlin’, you’re thinking so hard I can hear you,” Eleutian said leaning back against the counter with his arms crossed.

  “Huh?”

 
; Bodhi snorted, “You’re not the only one. Evie, go ahead and go back to the house for some rest.”

  “Very funny! You’re both reading my mind now? Well, now what am I thinking about?”

  They both chorused, “Sex,” wide smiles on their faces.

  “I’m going to my room. Alone!” They snickered as I walked out, after I stepped outside, I heard raucous laughter. Bastards. We would see who would be laughing when I enjoyed myself with Zephyr and Colten.

  I went straight to my bedroom and took a shower. Feeling refreshed, I curled up in bed, thinking about all the evidence we collected and wondering if it was enough. Did we have the key to my friend’s death, but my mind started drifting so, instead, I pulled out a collection of letters from the inside pocket of my bag. They were from the private investigator I’d hired. With all of the technological advances, I’d decided pen and paper was the stealthiest way to keep my privacy. Although I wasn’t sure who I was hiding my secret from, the boys or Mama.

  Tears stung my eyes as I unfolded and reread the letter’s: I’m sorry, Miss Midnight, but we have found no sign of Mrs. Delphine. This line pained me, each and every time I read it. I wanted to hate the Delphines and blame Grand-mère as I was supposed to, but my heart twisted at the thought. Grand-mère had helped to raise me and I missed her desperately. One fat tear plopped onto the letter. The ink of the words ‘no sign’ blurred.

  Okay, enough with the wallowing in self-pity, Midnight!

  A soft knock on my door brought me back to the present.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “Me.”

  “Me who?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face. I never could stay mad long.

  “Open the damn door, Evangeline.”

  I swung the door open to reveal the lead member of the tracker team with the hottest temper and maybe the hottest bod, too. It was a tough call. “Yes, Bodhi?”

  He leaned against the doorframe. “Get in your suit. You promised to meet at the hot tub for a sunset dip.”

  I glanced out the window. Not much time. I raised up on my toes to kiss his sexy scruff. “Five minutes.” I closed the door after his silent departure and stripped off my cozy robe as I walked to the chest of drawers. Luckily, I had left a few sexy items here on my previous visit. After donning my black silk robe, I took a quick look in the mirror and brushed my hair out before pulling it into a sleek high ponytail.