by Paula Lester
Graham walked off into the night, and Cas stood there for another moment before heading into the house. She sighed and smiled in anticipation of the nice long, uninterrupted, peaceful sleep coming her way.
Chapter 9
Cas should have known strange dreams would interrupt her sleep. She had been back and forth to the High Court’s chamber so many times—of course it would bubble up from her subconscious.
Only the ceiling was visible at the moment, however. She was flat on her back for some reason. Cas’ body ached as if she’d run a long distance. Her mind felt sluggish, like she’d had too much wine. She decided the best way to get the dream over with was to get it started. Cas rolled over onto her knees and froze. The dousing amulet that should have been around her neck lay about a foot away from her fingertips. The chain was broken, and the orange stone was shattered into bits along the floor. Two tiny tendrils of smoke rose from the ruins of the amulet. A slight acrid scent filled her nostrils. Her eyes watered, and she brushed at them with a shaking hand.
The murkiness that had been occupying the edges of her mind cleared in an instant. Cas wasn’t asleep. This was real. Somehow, she had ended back up in the council chamber. She even still had on the oversized t-shirt and yoga shorts that doubled as her pajamas. But for some reason her old Nikes—the ones she kept in the hall closet—were on her feet. Her heart rate soared. Cas leaped up and spun around in a circle. The room was lit only by the morning light seeping through the chamber’s windows.
At first, Cas thought she was alone. But no. There was someone else in the room.
“Archsiren?” Cas took a tentative step forward. “Are you Ok?” About four feet away, in the opposite direction from the smoking husk of the amulet, the witch lay prone on the chamber’s floor.
“Archsiren?” Cas whispered but she knew it was useless. The other woman remained silent and staring at the ceiling.
Lavania was dead.
A thin, gray tendril of smoke rose from the body. Cas slapped a hand over her mouth. She hesitated a moment and moved forward, kneeling beside the fallen woman. Cas could see that the smoke rose from a gaping, cauterized hole in Lavania’s chest.
“What’s going on in here?” Cas snapped her head up. Denzel floated by the door to the hallway.
“I . . . I don’t know. I woke up in here and found her.” Cas stood up and took a step back from Lavania.
Denzel cried out, “Terrorem!” A piercing alarm exploded in the chamber.
Cas covered her ears. She and the ghost stared at each other for thirty seconds before the chamber door swung open, traveling right through Denzel. Valencia, Stu, and Shiloh stood motionless in the doorway for a moment and took in the scene.
Dustin arrived a moment later. Though he was dressed for the office in dress slacks and shirt, his hair was rumpled as if he’d been woken from sleep. He stared at Lavania, then Cas, and his shoulders drooped. “She killed the Archsiren,” he whispered.
That seemed to spur the sirens to action. Stu lifted a hand, spread his fingers wide, and jerked them into a fist.
Without warning, Cas couldn’t move. It was as if a great vise had gripped her entire body. Her arms and legs wouldn’t obey commands. Whatever it was squeezed tighter. It took all her energy to pull in one breath after the other.
She managed to wheeze out a brief defense. “I didn’t kill her.”
Albert limped past the others and into the room. He went straight to Lavania’s body. He used the end of his cane to poke at her before he turned cold eyes toward Cas. “Couldn’t help yourself, huh?”
Cas tried to shake her head, but she could only move her neck an inch in either direction. “No . . .”
“She needs killing. I told Lavania that, and she ignored me. Now she’s suffered for it. Go ahead, Stu. Just get it over with. I’m sorry, dear. It’s not your fault, but you’re too dangerous to live.” Albert’s brows knitted together, and he leaned on his cane.
Stu shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He licked his bottom lip and rubbed his left palm on his pants. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like the right thing to do, really.”
“It isn’t right. She’s innocent!”
The voice came from the back of the room. Heavy footsteps thudded as more people entered.
Graham Noble, followed closely by a man she didn’t know, edged in between Stu and Dustin and came to her side. “Are you okay?” Graham asked.
Cas closed her eyes, feeling a surge of gratefulness.
Graham growled in Stu’s face, “She can’t breathe. Loosen the binding spell.”
The siren’s nostrils flared. “You need to watch your tone.” He closed one fist and spread his fingers wide, a reverse of the gesture he’d performed before.
Air had never been so sweet. Cas pulled in huge lungfuls as almost everyone in the room watched her with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. She still couldn’t move but was happy to be able to breathe.
Graham touched her shoulder. “Better?”
Cas nodded and the words spilled out. “I didn’t kill anyone. I don’t know how I got here. I woke up, the amulet was destroyed, and Lavania . . .” Her voice cracked, and she stammered to a stop. She felt something on her foot and managed to direct her eyes downward enough to see Echo.
“Who found them here?” The man who had arrived with Graham and Echo was tall, dark, and decidedly not handsome. His face had four large scars, and one of them extended into his hairline, leaving a two-inch bald spot to the right of the part that went straight down the middle of his head. Before it arrived at his scalp, the scar traveled over his right orbit, and though the eye was still there, it was milky white and fixed, unseeing. He wore blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a beige shirt with a patch that read Crystal Springs Sheriff Department.
“I did, Sheriff Lloyd.” Denzel floated near the ceiling above the others in the doorway. “She was kneeling beside the Archsiren’s body. I was in the reception area filing some papers when I heard something from this direction. I first thought it was some of the other ghosts engaging in some early Founder’s Day revelry. I thought I’d chase them out and secure the chamber.”
Lloyd leaned over Lavania’s body and touched her wrist as if testing for a pulse. With the smoking hole in her chest, it was a useless gesture. He straightened and dusted off his hands. “Yep, she’s dead. Well, it seems like an open and shut case to me. Witch business, for one, and clear who the murderer is, for two.”
Lloyd turned toward Graham and growled at him, “I don’t have time for goose chases like this, Noble. Witches can handle their own business.”
He glanced at Stu, who still held his hand up to maintain the binding spell on Cas. “Seems like they’ve got it all figured out already.” He walked toward the door.
“I was with Ms. Lorne until just before dawn,” Graham pronounced, loud enough for everyone to hear.
That wasn’t true. Graham had left well before dawn. Cas flicked her eyes to him but said nothing. She felt a stab of guilt, even though she hadn’t told the lie. But Cas thought of Albert’s death decree and kept her mouth shut.
The sheriff paused more than half-way to the door. He tossed his head back and let out a few cuss words at the ceiling. Still mumbling under his breath, he took out a notepad and a pencil. “Go on.”
Graham volunteered more alibi. “She was having some trouble with gnomes in her backyard. Very destructive bunch. I was over there shooing them out for her.”
“And I arrived back at Ms. Lorne’s home just after dawn.” Echo ignored the sharp looks Denzel and Dustin gave him. The cat had defied orders and now they knew it. “I saw her, unconscious, being taken away in a courser. I didn’t see her abductor.”
Sheriff Lloyd raised his non-scarred eyebrow at Echo. Cas could feel a sudden pulse in her temple. She was surprised that the sheriff of Crystal Springs knew all about witches and cat familiars. He stared at Echo for another moment before his facial muscles relaxed—as much as they could around the sca
rs—and he shrugged. “Let’s see what we have.”
He knelt beside Lavania’s body and scrutinized every visible inch without moving her. He stood up and walked around in a widening circle, staring at the ground.
“Did this jewelry belong to the deceased?” Lloyd asked, standing by the ruined chain of the amulet.
“No,” Albert answered. “That belongs to that woman there. We put it on her to contain her power and look what happened.”
“I see a hunk of burned chain. You wanna fill in the facts for me?” The sheriff tilted his head to one side.
Albert huffed. “I wasn’t here, so—”
“All right then. Hush up and let me work.”
Lloyd knelt by the Archsiren again, touched her hand gently, and checked his wristwatch. The sheriff’s left eyebrow shot up again, and he followed it with the rest of his body, rising from the floor to look around at the others. “It’s just after 7. The sun came up ‘bout an hour ago. She’s too cold to have been killed after dawn. Rigor is starting to set.”
Shiloh, who had been quiet, gasped and turned away from the body.
Graham said, “It couldn’t have been Ms. Lorne, then. Echo and I can attest to the fact she was at home until after dawn.”
Dustin cleared his throat. “If I may interrupt. This really is witch business—”
“If it was open and shut, yeah, this here would be witch business. But this don’t smell too right to me. The coroner will confirm time of death, but would any of you know why the Archsiren would be here, let’s say, before dawn?”
“No, but Lavania did whatever she wanted,” Dustin said. “She could’ve come for any number of reasons or even to work on the Founder’s Night celebrations.”
Valencia peered down at the body but made an effort to steer clear as she inched toward her chair. “Just last night, Lavania mocked me for not finishing my duties for Founder’s Night. She, as usual, bragged about her superiority and how she’d completed all of her tasks. So that’s not it.”
Dustin’s face went still. Then he nodded. “Of course. Our Archsiren was ever vigilant.”
Albert cleared his throat. “Now, Sheriff, the problem is larger than you understand.”
“Larger than a dead body on the floor?”
The eldest siren’s face reddened. “You’re not privy to this information, but this woman,” he pointed his cane at Cas, “is a menace to our populace at large. She must be dealt with appropriately.”
The sheriff turned to square off toe to toe with the other man. “I’m declaring this an official investigation and this woman—what’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Cascade. Cascade Lorne.”
“Ms. Lorne is under the jurisdiction of the Crystal Springs Sheriff Department. I need her alive until I can button some things up regarding this death.”
Dustin shifted from one foot to the other. “Does this mean you’re officially opening an investigation, Sheriff? I really don’t think that’s necessary. See, Ms. Lorne is having a problem with the control of her magic, and unfortunately, Lavania likely got in the way.”
Shiloh stepped closer to the sheriff. “Dustin, you aren’t a siren. Remember your place. Sheriff, it’s true Ms. Lorne is new to our community. And it’s true we gave her that amulet as a way to minimize her power. This seems suspicious but after hearing Mr. Noble’s information, we’d be happy to cooperate with your department. After all, it would be best for the community, especially with the celebrations so close.”
Valencia added, “Though, of course, we’ll be looking into this as well.” Albert harrumphed. Valencia put a hand on his shoulder and shushed him.
“Why are all of you important types here so early, anyway? I thought witches liked to sleep in,” Lloyd said.
Cas noticed the sirens bristled as if the sheriff had insulted them. It was Shiloh who answered. “This is a busy time for us. We had a meeting planned for 7:30 and hoped to begin session at 8.”
The sheriff didn’t say anything. He folded his arms over his chest and held Cas’ eyes as if he read her mind. She could almost see the gears turning in his head.
“As much as I would like to pass this off to you witches, I’ll have to take her down and put her in a holding cell. At least until the coroner has a chance to examine the body. Even though you have an alibi for her, Noble, she was still found with the murder victim, and no one else was around.”
Her body sagged with the outflow of adrenaline, and if Stu’s spell hadn’t been holding her up, she would have sank to the floor. The gruff man believed Graham. She wasn’t going to be vaporized on the spot.
“I understand, but if the sirens agree, you don’t have to take her with you. Maybe you could do something else to keep her secure while you and the council both investigate what happened.”
The sheriff tipped his head to the side and waited.
“A leash,” Graham said.
A slow smile that looked more like a sneer crept onto Lloyd’s disfigured face. “I like that. I like that a lot.”
A thin sheen of sweat covered Stu’s face. “Pardon me, but there are other considerations that go beyond the help of a leash. Like Ms. Lorne’s unfettered magical strength.”
The sheriff rolled his eye in the siren’s direction. “Yep, that sounds like witch business. I’ll leave that to you all as long as she remains unhurt. A leash it is.”
“I’m happy about not dying and all, but somebody want to tell me what a leash is?” Cas knew when things were going her way and felt it wise not to interject when it wasn’t called for. The help from Graham and Echo was much appreciated. But a leash didn’t sound fun.
“It’s a magical device invented by witches to keep shifters contained once upon a time. Sort of like a tracker and shock collar rolled into one,” Graham explained.
“Yeah, but we’ve adapted it and now get to use it on non-shifters.” Lloyd chuckled. “Like right now.”
He pulled what looked like a black leather loop out of his pocket and moved to put it around Cas’ neck.
“Sheriff, I think her wrist will work just fine,” Graham said.
Lloyd chuckled again and shrugged. He held out his hand and paused. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot they got you all bound up.” The sheriff adjusted her arm like Cas was a mannequin. He placed the loop over her hand and the thing tightened of its own volition.
It didn’t hurt, but it made its presence on her wrist known. Lloyd asked some questions about where Cas lived and worked. After she replied, he used his forefinger’s nail to scratch symbols into the leather. Up close, Cas noticed the nail was long, sharp, and curved like a claw.
The symbols glowed glossy ebony and then darkened until they were invisible against the leather.
“There you go, Missy. You can go home and move around Crystal Springs, but if you try to go anywhere else this will alert us, and we’ll throw you in a cell. I don’t have time to put up with any shenanigans.”
Cas tried to nod but couldn’t. “Got it.”
“Thank Noble. He’s the only reason I’m allowing this. It’s a witch matter, but laws are laws, and I’m sworn to follow them. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to. The Founder’s Day parade will be bringing out the party animals, and I have to get my team ready. Deputy Tower here,” he waved toward a short man dressed in the sheriff’s department uniform, “will secure the scene until the rest of team arrives. Everybody out! Nobody touch nothing.”
Stu loosened the spell on Cas so she could walk without help. Dustin led the way to the sirens’ private chambers.
The room wasn’t as large as Cas expected. Cushioned, high-back office chairs sat around a round conference table.
“I guess we’re not killing her,” Albert quipped as he eased into a chair.
“No, we can’t,” Valencia confirmed. “At least right now. But we do have to figure out how to keep everyone around her safe until we can determine what happened here this morning. Obviously, a dousing amulet isn�
��t the answer. That reminds me. We can’t afford to let the community find out we resorted to the black market. Dustin, as soon as possible—”
“—I’ll take care of it. Discretely,” Dustin said. Then added after Graham shot him a look, “Of course, after the sheriff has released it back to the sirens.”
Dustin paused before he left the chamber. “Tempeste has arrived in town for the Founder’s Day celebrations,” he said. “As you know, she has exceptional power—more than any witch in Crystal Springs. Maybe it’s providence that she’s here. She could perform a more permanent binding spell on Ms. Lorne, strong enough to prevent her from using her powers, knowingly or unknowingly.”
The sirens looked back and forth between each other. “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Shiloh replied.
“I agree,” said Stu. “But someone should get her quickly because I don’t think I can hold this spell much longer. Ms. Lorne’s power is considerable, and I’m getting tired.”
“Very well. Fetch Tempeste for us, Dustin,” Albert instructed. “Oh, and don’t share what has happened. Let’s keep Lavania’s death quiet for now.”
“Of course,” Dustin replied, but Albert, the opportunity for killing having passed, snored in response.
Valencia said, “Stu you’re turning colors. You might as well release her. But if she makes a single false move, turn the woman into a frog,”
Stu complied and sighed with relief. He shook out his hands as if they’d cramped.
“Thank you both for helping me,” Cas whispered to Echo and Graham after she rubbed feeling back into her fingers. “I woke up here, and I have no memory of getting here or anything that happened. There’s no way I could have defended myself against those allegations—I am as clueless about what happened as anyone.”
“It’s no sweat. I know you didn’t kill anyone,” Graham said. “Echo came to my house and got me this morning when he saw you being taken away in a courser. We were able to call it back to your house, but it was already empty. Echo took a look at its magical signature and thought it had come here with you. So, we followed it.”