by Lily Webb
“Are you still game to hang out after I get done with work?” I asked.
“Yeah, what did you have in mind?”
“Have you ever heard of a place called The Magic Touch?” I asked. The line went silent, save for the crackle of static until I heard a door open and slam closed. “Hello?”
“Yeah, sorry, I was walking out of the library,” Mallory said. “That’s the pub over on Midnight Avenue where all the warlocks hang out, right? Don’t tell me you want to go there.”
“What if I did?”
“I’d tell you you're crazy — and I’d be right there with you,” Mallory said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve always wondered what goes on inside that place. It’s so weird looking from the outside, but they never allow witches unless a warlock vouches for them,” Mallory said.
That certainly was a wrinkle in my robes, but there had to be some way we could get inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t know any warlocks well enough to ask them.
“Well, let’s see what we can do,” I said and held my phone away from my ear to check the time. It was 4:30, almost time for me to call it a day at work. “I get off in about half an hour. Want to meet me at the pub around five?”
“See you then,” Mallory said and clicked off the line just as I reached the front doors of the Messenger. At my desk, I signed off and shut down my computer, thankful to get out of there. It’d been one heck of a day.
“Calling it quits early, huh?” Mitch called. I hadn’t heard him approaching.
“Yeah, but it’s for a good reason. I tracked down Aurelia, and she told me she thinks Seth’s going to be hanging out at The Magic Touch tonight,” I said. Mitch’s eyebrows crept up his forehead.
“Well done,” he said. “But how are you gonna get in there? It’s warlocks only, as far as I know.”
“Good question. I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” I said. Mitch chuckled.
“Even when you’re off the clock, you never stop. I love that about you,” he said. “Did you get anything else out of Aurelia?”
“Turns out she and Seth used to date each other,” I said.
“Okay, and…?” Mitch asked.
“It sounded more scandalous to my ears, but I guess it doesn’t matter. They’re both kids of prestigious families, maybe it isn’t a surprise they dated,” I said.
“Anything else?”
“She mentioned Seth’s been spending a lot of time outside of school with Professor Grimm as part of some warlocks’ club,” I said.
“Now that’s juicy,” Mitch said.
“Right? I don’t know if it means anything, but I’m gonna try to find out,” I said.
“Good luck,” Mitch said.
“Thanks. We’ll catch up tomorrow.”
“Can’t wait to hear what you find,” Mitch said. “Just don’t do anything reckless.”
“When have I ever done something like that?” I asked.
“Chasing down a murderous vampire on your own doesn’t ring any bells?”
“A girl tries to do the right thing one time, and she can never live it down,” I said. Mitch laughed and shook his head.
“Goodnight, Zoe,” he said.
“See ya,” I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder and heading for the door. The sun set below the horizon as I walked the ten or so minutes it took to get to Midnight Avenue, which forked off Crescent Street just before Veilside and ran west.
I’d never been down that way in the short time I’d been living in Moon Grove, so I had no idea what I’d find, but it was mostly covered by what looked like residential buildings — small one and two-bedroom brick houses. But as I approached the end of Midnight, a sign in the shape of a wand hanging from a post appeared.
Neon sparks shot from the wand in the sign to spell out “The Magic Touch,” and I knew I was in the right place. Mallory wasn’t kidding — the pub was weird looking. Had it not been for the sign, I would’ve guessed it was just another house on the block and a neglected one at that.
The dingy brick exterior, grown furry with moss, looked almost as old as Moon Grove itself, and the ground floor of the building sagged to the left like it was sinking into the ground. The upper level was just as uneven but seemed to wrinkle in the center.
“Zoe!”
Mallory waved from the pub’s entrance, her wild hair bouncing from the motion. A bald warlock in a black leather cloak and reflective sunglasses stood behind her, looking like he belonged more in The Matrix than in Moon Grove. He scowled at both of us as I approached.
“Any luck?” I asked as I caught up with Mallory.
“Nada. Morpheus here will barely talk to me, much less let me inside,” she said. I had to bite back my laughter — the more time I spent with Mallory, the more I liked her.
“Let me try,” I said and turned to the warlock. “Hey, good evening. We’re here to see a friend, Seth Highmore. Maybe you know him?”
“No witches allowed without a warlock’s word,” the bouncer snapped.
“You know, it’d be a real shame if the Messenger caught wind this place had refused two respectable young women based on their gender alone,” I said. The warlock scowled at me.
“Establishment rules, Miss. No exceptions,” he said.
“Not even for a local hero?” I asked.
“As happy as I am you put a vampire behind silver bars, no, not even for you,” he said. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that comment, but it was at least a piece of potential leverage.
“Zoe Clarke, is that you?” a voice called from behind the bouncer, and seconds later Seth Highmore himself appeared in the entrance to the pub, his greasy black hair gleaming in the fluorescent light. His eyes were bloodshot, their lids heavy like he’d been awake all night — maybe he had been.
“Sure is,” I said.
“What are you doing here? And why is she with you?” Seth asked. He slicked a strand of oily black hair behind one ear, revealing even more tattoos on his forearm. Ugh, what did Aurelia ever see in him?
“Funny enough, we were hoping to talk to you,” I said. Seth’s brows furrowed.
“Why?”
“Oh, I think you know why,” I said. Seth swallowed hard.
“Let them in,” Seth told the bouncer, who looked at Seth like he was crazy.
“What? You know who she is, don’t you?” the bouncer asked.
“I told you to let them in, Lazar,” Seth snapped.
“Okay, but whatever happens is on you. I’m not losing my job over this,” Lazar said.
“Whatever, fine. Now let them in,” Seth said. Lazar shook his head but stepped aside to allow us to enter.
“Come on,” Seth said, waving us further inside. We followed him into a dark room with hardwood floors that thrummed with bass-heavy music. Thick masses of smoke hung in the air like clouds, burning my lungs and eyes. The space was littered with what looked like pool tables, but the warlocks standing around them used their wands to play instead of a pool stick — and the balls moved without being touched.
Seth took us to the back of the room where Aidan and Callum were rooted in a game, Callum with his back to us. Aidan sliced his wand through the air and the balls on the table in front of him scattered, but none fell into the pockets. Cursing, Aidan glanced up and looked like he might wet himself when he realized who I was.
“Seth, dude, what the heck are you doing with those two?” Aidan mumbled. Callum whirled and turned whiter than I thought possible.
“Relax, boys, you’re not in any trouble. Well, not yet anyway,” I said.
“Not until I school you both in Pilliards,” Mallory said, smirking.
“Are you sure?” I whispered to her.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. I can’t count the number of Full Moons I’ve scarfed from trumped-up warlocks who think a girl couldn’t possibly beat them at their favorite game,” Mallory whispered back, winking at me. “I’m sure you and Seth have a lot to talk about anyway. I’ll keep
these two broom draggers busy.”
“Okay. Don’t go too hard on them,” I said.
“No promises,” Mallory said. “Come on, boys, we’ve got a game to play.”
“Bring it on,” Aidan said as he waved his wand to reset the balls on the table.
“Can we talk somewhere private?” I whispered to Seth. He nodded and led me to the far corner of the room, past the bar; the gnarled warlock with stringy silver hair who tended it watched my every move as we passed.
“What do you want?” Seth asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I want to know where you’ve been since Delia kicked you out of class last night,” I said.
“Right here,” he said, avoiding my eyes. Did he know about my mind reading abilities, or was he just nervous?
“Why?”
“Are you kidding? This is the only place I can fade away, where no one cares who my relatives are,” Seth said.
“And what reason do you have to fade away?”
“I’m just trying to lay low. I’ve got enough people breathing down my neck because of my name, I don’t need to draw any more attention to myself,” Seth said.
“Sorry, but going M.I.A. after a murder you’re implicated in isn’t helping you,” I said. Seth sighed and traced the outline of one of the tattoos on the underside of his left wrist with his thumb, three teardrops in a triangular formation. He noticed me looking and pulled his robes down to cover it.
“I know, but I don’t know what else to do. I didn’t kill Delia. I wasn’t even there when it happened! I mean, it’s no secret I wasn’t fond of her, but I wouldn’t dare hurt anyone in this town. My grandpa’s the Head Warlock, and he’d have my head on a wand if I tried. Besides, I’m already in enough trouble with him thanks to my grades,” Seth said.
“Well, after what you said to Delia in class last night, I’m sure you understand why I wondered about you,” I said.
“I know. I shouldn’t have done that, but if there’s anything that gets on my nerves, it’s being made to look stupid by a witch. Witches love to degrade warlocks, but I didn’t need Delia’s help for that,” Seth said. “I dunno, I just snapped.”
“Did you meet with her last night?”
“No,” Seth said. “She warped me to her office, but I wasn’t going to stand there and wait for her to scold me.”
“Then where did you go?”
“I told you, I came here to blow off steam. You can ask Frewin if you don’t believe me,” Seth said, nodding at the bartender. “He’s the owner, he’s always here. How did you know where to find me anyway?”
“Aurelia told me you’d be here,” I admitted. No sense in lying about it.
“Figures,” Seth said, rolling his eyes.
“I take it you two didn’t end on good terms?” I asked.
“How could we? She dropped me like a broken broomstick,” Seth said.
Oh, really? That wasn’t what Aurelia told me.
“She did?”
“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t good enough for her anymore,” Seth said. “Though honestly, I think she only ever dated me to boost her profile. You know, to make us a power couple or whatever.”
“That’s funny because she told me the opposite,” I said, watching Seth’s face.
“What? Why would I want to break up with her?” Seth asked. I’d wondered the same thing, but I wasn’t about to say that to Seth.
“She said you had better things to do,” I said. Seth shook his head and laughed under his breath.
“I knew she was jealous,” he said.
“Of who?”
“My warlock friends generally, but Professor Grimm in particular,” Seth said.
Good, we were finally getting somewhere.
“Why?”
“Because I was spending time with them instead of wasting every moment of my life fawning over Aurelia and telling her how amazing she already knows she is,” Seth said, his tone acidic. It wasn’t hard to believe.
“She mentioned you’d joined a warlocks’ group headed by Professor Grimm,” I said. “She made it sound like it wasn’t just a group for warlocks to make friends.”
“Aurelia doesn’t have any idea what she’s talking about, she never did. I tried to tell her that I don’t know how many times, but she didn’t want to hear it,” Seth said.
“Why not?”
“Aurelia hates Professor Grimm. Most students at Veilside do, but that’s just because they don’t understand him. Sure, he’s a little strange, but he’s a good guy, and more than anyone else at the Academy he understands how difficult it is to be a warlock there,” Seth said.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve seen what it’s like. The student body is overwhelmingly made up of witches, and warlocks aren’t particularly welcome,” Seth said. “Professor Grimm knew that, so he started a group to help bring us together and make us feel like we weren’t totally alone.”
There wasn’t anything wrong with that — at least not on the surface.
“Then why not make it a school-sponsored thing?” I asked.
“He tried. The Headmistress wouldn’t approve it,” Seth said. “Honestly, I think that’s why Professor Grimm resigned. He was definitely sick, no doubt about that, but after Delia took my book last week, it gave away our group and Delia threatened to turn Professor Grimm in for starting it outside of school.”
What did the book have to do with their group?
“Does everyone in the group have one of those books?” I asked.
“No. Professor Grimm only gave them to the students he thought were most deserving,” Seth said. “I don’t know why, though. They aren’t anything special. It’s probably just his way of picking favorites.”
“Why would Delia want to get Professor Grimm fired?”
“She wanted his job, and she’d been waving her wand about it for months,” Seth said. “It wasn’t exactly a secret, everyone knew.” Everyone but me, evidently.
“I didn’t do it, Zoe,” Seth said.
“I believe you,” I said, and I didn’t need to read his thoughts to get there.
Being blackmailed by Delia would’ve given Professor Grimm a motive to take Delia down, but if he was really so sick he had to resign, it wasn’t likely he’d have the energy to attack Delia in her own office.
But then again, if Delia was dead, why would Nolan bother going through with his resignation? With Delia gone, no one would’ve held any incriminating evidence over him — assuming Delia hadn’t passed on the information to anyone else before she was killed.
Regardless, wherever he was, I needed to find Professor Grimm and talk to him.
“Do you have any idea what Professor Grimm’s going to do now that he’s not teaching anymore?” I asked.
“No idea. He’s not super sociable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he just keeps to himself,” Seth said.
“Where does he live?”
“In a tiny little house not far from here over on Tower Street, but honestly, I doubt he’ll want to see you or anyone else right now,” Seth said.
That wasn’t surprising — few people were happy when I showed up on their doorsteps, and from what I’d heard from Mallory, Nolan didn’t sound like the cheeriest warlock. As long as he didn’t try to curse me, though, I’d be okay.
“We’ll see,” I said. “Thanks for the info.”
“Sure,” Seth said.
Back at the Pilliards table, I had to bite back a laugh. Based on the crushed looks on Aidan and Callum’s faces, Mallory had won big time. She beamed at me, pocketed her wand, and held out her palm to the warlocks.
“All right, boys. Looks like you owe me quite a bit of coin,” Mallory said. “Time to pay up.”
“Maybe we’ll let them off easy this time,” I said. “Since Seth was nice enough to get us in here.”
“Spoilsport,” Mallory said, though she winked at me.
“See you around, guys. Stay out of trouble,” I said and led Mallory out of the
pub.
“So, what did you learn?” Mallory asked when we were alone.
“It’s true that Professor Grimm led a group of warlocks and gave his favorite students some kind of book,” I said. “But it doesn’t look like the books meant much, at least according to Seth.”
“Weird,” Mallory said. “Do you think he’s telling the truth about that?”
“Hard to say,” I said. “But I bet we can find out. I have Seth’s book.”
“What?!” Mallory hissed. “Why did you wait until now to tell me that?”
“I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to know,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because I stole it from the scene,” I said. Mallory’s eyes popped.
“Do you have it with you now?”
“Are you kidding? I carry it everywhere. I’m terrified to leave it behind,” I said.
“Let me see it,” Mallory said, one hand out.
I hesitated, unsure if I could trust her with it, but the wand was already out of the robes, so to speak, so I didn’t have anything to lose. I glanced over both shoulders to make sure no one was around before pulling the book out of my bag. I handed it to Mallory, and she leafed through its pages before she turned it over, examining every inch.
“Look at this,” she said, pointing at the center of the back cover.
“I don’t see anything,” I said. Mallory tilted the book against the light, and something glinted to catch my eye. I squinted, and a triangle formed by three droplets of water appeared, etched into the leather cover — the same shape Seth had tattooed on his wrist.
“What is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before,” Mallory said.
“Weird,” I said.
“Super weird,” Mallory agreed. “Can I hang on to this? I’d love to research it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. Mallory handed the book back to me, though she didn’t seem happy about it.
“I understand,” she said. “Can’t be too careful with stolen evidence.”
“I feel like you’re judging me,” I said, and Mallory chuckled.
“Not at all. I would’ve done the same thing,” she said.
“I knew we became friends for a reason,” I said, and Mallory laughed. “Do you think that symbol means anything?”