by K E O'Connor
Odessa’s eyes widened. “Oh! You’re staying with him? Are you two together? I wondered why you looked so startled when I said he had a thing for Indigo. Don’t worry, they haven’t done anything. At least, I don’t think they have.”
My cheeks flushed. “No! It’s not like that. He’s... he’s my boss.” And he was, kind of. And we definitely weren’t dating, though he had made me breakfast a few times before we started work.
I grimaced. This hiding and disguising business was already getting messy.
Odessa grinned at Storm, who simply shrugged and looked away. “I’ll send the hamper there. You and Olympus can enjoy it together.”
I continued to back away. “Thanks. That’s great. And good luck with finding your missing friend.” I turned and hurried away before I put my foot in my mouth anymore. That was way too close, but I was glad I’d been able to stop them getting in trouble. I shouldn’t be surprised that they were here hunting for me. They were awesome friends, and I was so glad to have them back in my life.
I dashed to the third floor and grabbed my new assignment. As amazing as Storm and Odessa were, I had to work alone for now, with the occasional help from a gorgeous warlock with an ego.
I shook my head. Olympus and I were complicated, but the mysteries I was struggling to unravel were even trickier. My focus had to be on them, not the tall, dark, and surly warlock who was my new ally.
Chapter 3
“So, where are all you creepy dead dudes hanging out?” I peered through the closed wooden gates of Witch Haven cemetery. It didn’t look spooky in the daylight, not with the afternoon sun shining down on the tidy plots and neatly mowed lawn.
I opened the gate and stepped through. As you would expect, it was quiet. And best of all, I didn’t spot a single corpse who might shamble over and cause trouble. I eased the gate shut and followed the path around the outside of the grave plots in a large loop.
There were still no corpses rearing up. Had Olympus gotten it wrong? Had the dead just popped out for a stretch and a stroll and were already tucked back in their coffins?
I flipped through the file I’d collected from the Magic Council. There was a short report from Silvaria Digby, stating she’d seen six dead bodies dig their way out of the ground and wander around. They didn’t cause any trouble, but they weren’t keen on going back in their coffins. A spell of calm had helped keep them in line, and they’d eventually gone back to their eternal rest.
I skimmed through the rest of the notes, but there was nothing useful. Silvaria hadn’t sensed any curses or hexes on the skeletons, and there’d been no recent trespassing or malingering energies that could tinker with the dead.
“Maybe you just wanted a fun night out,” I muttered as I closed the file and continued my circuit around the cemetery.
Nothing stirred. The dead were still very much... dead.
I looked around some more to see if I could find Silvaria and have a chat with her, but there were no signs of any office or room she might use when she wasn’t out tending her dead flock.
After an hour of wandering about, my stomach reminded me I’d forgotten to eat lunch. I left the dead to their slumbering and strolled into the village to see what I could find. It still felt strange to walk around without someone throwing something at my head or casting a spell on me. My ghost hunter disguise was holding, and other than a few curious glances, no one paid me any attention.
I walked into Fandango’s bakery, owned by Albert Black, Luna’s uncle.
He gave me a friendly nod as he walked over. “Good afternoon. Are you eating in or out?”
“I’ll take my order to go,” I said. “I’d like one of those spicy gravy vegetable pies and a white chocolate muffin.”
“Those are excellent choices, and all made fresh today.” Albert was a short, nervy man, who never seemed to stop moving. He bagged the goods and handed them to me. “I’ve not seen you in Witch Haven before. Are you just visiting?”
“I’m new to the area. I’ve been hired by the Magic Council as a ghost hunter. I hear the village has had a few problems in that area.”
His forehead wrinkled. “I can’t say I know much about that. This is a peaceful place. Nothing much happens in Witch Haven, and that’s how we like it.”
It seemed Albert was still being weird. He’d gone from being devastated when Luna vanished, to almost gleeful when her ghost had appeared and he thought she was dead. Now, he seemed to have forgotten all about that.
I handed over some money. “You’ve not seen anything weird going on around here?”
“Weird is our every day.” He handed me my change with a sunny smile on his face. “What kind of weird are you looking for?”
I leaned closer. “I heard the dead are rising.”
Albert roared out a laugh. “I should hope they aren’t. We like them safely tucked away in the cemetery. I thought you said you were a ghost hunter, not a zombie hunter?”
“Ghosts can reanimate corpses. I’m still figuring out why the dead are rising.”
Albert rubbed his chin. “I guess they can. Well, I’m glad you have a new job, but I have a feeling you’ll be bored. Like I said, this is a nice, friendly place. We go about our business and keep our heads down.” His smile faltered and his eyes narrowed. “And you’d be advised to do the same thing.”
I stepped back. There it was, the darkness that lingered inside Albert. He’d been tainted by whatever was messing with this entire village.
I gave him the warmest smile I could muster. “I’ll be sure to do that. And I won’t get in your way.”
His laugh was overly loud again. “You’d better not. Enjoy your food.” He turned to the next customer.
I hurried out of the bakery, clutching the bag. The last time I’d eaten anything from Albert’s bakery, I’d passed out and wound up on a witch pyre. Should I risk eating this food? I opened the bag and inhaled the rich gravy aroma and the sweet chocolatey muffin heaven. Albert had no clue who I was, and he wouldn’t drug strangers or he’d go out of business. The food also looked delicious. It was worth the risk.
I made a quick detour to grab magic supplies from my room in Olympus’ office and then headed back to the cemetery. I might as well do something useful while I was waiting for the dead to shuffle out of their coffins and tell me what they were playing at.
After eating my pie, and happily finding it not drugged, I set out the supplies I needed to cast a spell to see if Luna would appear.
I had a vial of prepared potion that should reveal a person’s whereabouts. I’d already tried it several times, with no luck, but it was a solid spell and I was determined to keep trying. One day, it would work and reveal where she was.
I unrolled a small map, cast a locator spell, and waited to see if the magic would find Luna.
It failed. I cast again and ate my muffin while I waited for it to work.
The spell had no effect. My magic just couldn’t find Luna.
I settled on the bench, rested my hands on my knees, and closed my eyes. Let’s see what summoning Luna would do. The last time I’d tried this, I’d had Storm and Odessa with me. We hadn’t meant to summon Luna’s spirit, but she’d appeared and shocked us all. At least something claiming to be Luna had appeared. I was far from convinced it was her. I’d know if my best friend was dead.
Luna was out there somewhere, and the magic messing with the village had its evil claws in her. And I had plans to rip out those claws and get her back.
I focused on Luna, capturing her image in my mind and picturing her dark, straight hair, wide mouth and intelligent eyes.
With all distractions shut out, I waited. Magic sometimes worked with a snap of the fingers, but the more complicated spells took time, especially when you were working on your own.
A slight shuffling filtered to my ears.
I tilted my head and opened one eye. A small racoon wandered past. “I don’t think I’ve summoned you with magic.”
He wandered off, happy
to keep snuffling and snorting as he searched for food.
I closed my eyes and continued to focus on Luna, willing her to reach out and give me some sign she was alive.
Nothing happened.
I let out a slow breath, trying not to feel defeated. Wherever Luna was, she wasn’t able to reach out to me.
I packed away my magic equipment and did another circuit of the cemetery. There were still no shuffling skeletons about, so I headed to my temporary accommodation in the back of Olympus’ office.
Once I was inside, I locked the door behind me. Olympus had only been gone a day, and I was annoyed with myself for missing him. We didn’t have that kind of friendship. I was only missing him because he’d forbidden me from seeing my friends and was keeping me away from my familiars.
I put away my magic equipment and wandered around the office. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t find Luna, and there were no corpses to chase. I turned to the pile of folders on Olympus’ desk. Maybe there was something interesting to read inside them.
My gaze shifted to the toy leopard on the edge of the desk. “You’re new.” I walked over and picked him up. He was plump and soft and had a goofy smile on his face. “I can’t imagine Olympus buying you. Were you a gift?”
Unsurprisingly, the toy leopard didn’t answer.
I set him back on the desk and gave him a quick pat on the head. “Olympus won’t mind if I take a look through these files. If he didn’t want me looking at them, he wouldn’t leave them out. Am I right?”
The leopard said nothing.
I perched on the edge of the desk and picked up the first file. I was flicking through the top pages, when there was a soft thump behind me.
I turned to see the leopard was gone.
“Sorry, buddy. I must have bumped you with my hip.” I hopped off the desk and went to retrieve him. There was no sign of the stuffed toy.
I got on my hands and knees and looked under the desk. He wasn’t there. When I stood, he was back on the desk.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think you’re an average toy, are you? Come on, reveal yourself. What exactly are you?”
It didn’t move.
“If you don’t show me what you are, you’ll get no more head pats.”
The air heated around me, and I took a step back, not taking my eyes off the toy. There was a blast of red light, and as I blinked the dazzle out of my eyes, an enormous, life-sized leopard stood in the office. It shook out its fur and did a long, all over body stretch.
I backed away to the door, magic primed on my fingers, just in case this leopard wasn’t friendly.
It yawned, exposing a magnificent set of sharp teeth, and huge amber eyes blinked at me.
“Um... hi. Do you talk? Or do you attack first and ask questions later?” I said.
The leopard wagged its tail. I thought only dogs did that.
It opened its mouth as if to roar, but instead, a squeak came out.
The leopard twitched its whiskers and tried again. This time, the roar was only slightly more impressive. It gave a hacking sound and shook out its fur again, then lay on the floor and rolled onto its back. I didn’t need to look hard to see this leopard was all male.
“Hey, buddy. Are you friendly?” I took a step closer.
The leopard looked at me and waved his legs in the air.
“You’re asking for a belly rub?”
The tail wagged wildly.
“If you bite off my arm, you’re in serious trouble.” I inched closer, knelt, and stretched out my hand, before giving his belly a quick scratch.
A deep, floor trembling purr rolled out of the leopard. His eyes rolled back in his head and his tongue fell out.
“I’ve found your weak spot.” I kept scratching, growing in confidence when the giant cat made no attempt to eat me.
A spark of magic shot out of my hand and hit him in the belly. I whipped my hand back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. My magic can be a bit off at times. These powers are new to me.”
The leopard blinked at me. “No apology needed. And that wasn’t you, that was me. I needed an energy boost so I could find my voice.”
My mouth opened, but nothing came out for a few seconds. This leopard had the most adorable high-pitched voice I’d ever heard. When you imagine a leopard talking, and I do that all the time, you’d expect him to be deep and growly. This gorgeous guy sounded like he’d sucked on a helium balloon.
“More belly rubs?” he asked.
“I, um, sure. I’m Indy. Who are you?”
“You’re not Indy. I know who you are. I’ve been in this office this whole time. I’ve heard everything.”
“You have? Where have you been hiding?”
“In that cupboard in the corner. Olympus put me in there after... well, I don’t like to talk about it. I’m Monty. I’m Olympus’ familiar.”
My eyebrows shot up. “He’s never mentioned you before.”
The goofy smile on Monty’s face vanished, and his big furry nose wrinkled. “We’ve had a few issues. Our relationship is complicated.”
I continued stroking my fingers through his thick belly fur. Power radiated out of this familiar like sunrays. I shouldn’t be surprised he was connected to Olympus, given how powerful he felt.
“So, you know everything about me?” I said.
His amber eyes gleamed. “I know all about you, Indigo Ash. And I’m excited to meet Nugget. I’m so jealous you let your cat familiar join you on your adventures. Olympus never takes me anywhere.”
“You must have done something really bad if he turned you into a toy and stuck you in a cupboard. I can feel your power. Olympus is at a disadvantage by not having you at his side.”
“As I always tell him. You give great belly rubs. More, please.”
I settled on the floor beside the cat and got down to some serious belly tickling.
He rumbled more floor shaking purrs as he waggled his feet in the air. Maybe Olympus was hiding Monty because he didn’t add to his alpha male reputation. Monty was just a big, lovable fluff ball.
“Monty, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re not how I imagined Olympus’ familiar. I mean, you look the part, but...” how could I say anything about his goofy personality without offending him?
Monty kicked his legs in the air. “I’m just what he needs. And I compliment him. Familiars take on some of their magic user’s characteristics. We blend with each other.”
A burst of laughter shot out of me. “You’re telling me Olympus wants his belly rubbed?”
Monty chuffed out a laugh. “Just like me, he wants to be loved. And you must have noticed your familiars have the same characteristics as you. Do you really have three?”
I nodded. If that was true, that made me snarky, greedy, and sometimes mean. But it also made me wise, brave, and inspiring. That was a lot to take on board.
“Do you know when Olympus is coming back?” I said.
“Not until tomorrow,” Monty said. “And you need to convince him I can stay in this form. I don’t like being transformed. And I’ll promise him I won’t embarrass him ever again.”
I couldn’t wait to hear the story behind this. “I’ll do my best. And while Olympus isn’t here, he can’t stop us working together. How would you like to go on an adventure?” Since I was lacking inspiration about how to find Luna, and getting nowhere with my corpses, I had another mystery that needed solving.
Monty jumped up and did zoomies around the room, almost knocking me over as he flew past. “An adventure! Where are we going? What are we doing? Do I have to eat anybody?” His fur bristled out all over his body.
“Calm down! This mission calls for discretion. And since you know everything that’s been going on, you know how important that is.”
Monty lowered to the floor. “I can do discreet. I do the best belly sneaking move you’ll ever see. Watch.” He scuffled around on the floor, his head darting from side to side as if he was looking for somethi
ng to catch.
“That’s impressive. But you need to be discreet and quiet. Are you up for the challenge?”
He stood and waggled his ears at me. “Always.”
I grinned at him. Hanging out with Monty could be fun. “Great. Let’s go break into a house.”
Chapter 4
“Are you sure you know what to do?” I said to Monty.
He stood beside me as we lurked by a large oak tree. “I’m the diversion. If we get spotted, I make a noise and then go on the attack.”
“No! No attacking. No one gets injured on this mission.” I’d waited until dark before leaving Olympus’ office with Monty and walking to my family home. This was where I’d grown up with my dad and my amazing stepmom, Magda. After they died, I inherited the house, but it came with a lot of strings, and I was still untangling them. The house was also where I’d find Magda’s journals, and I needed those. I’d already found one message in a journal that revealed Magda was blackmailed by a dark witch coven to do their bidding. I was hoping I’d find more information about this coven in the journals. But first, I needed to get my hands on them.
And since, technically, I was missing, I couldn’t stroll into the house and take what I wanted. That was why I was doing a little discreet break and enter with Monty as my backup.
“I’m guessing Nugget, Hilda, and Russell will be at home,” I said. “They’re protective of this house. They’ll defend it when they see you.”
“I understand. I’m also protective of wherever Olympus lives.”
I tilted my head. “Other than the office, where does he live?”
“He moves around a lot. He used to have a place here with Peony and Bloom, but you know what happened there. After Bloom went missing and Peony left, he became a bit of a drifter. I keep telling him to find a place with a huge yard for me, but he won’t listen.”
I nodded. Olympus had once been engaged to Peony Cashmere, but they’d separated after their daughter had vanished.