Shadow Magic, page 8
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes, actually there is. I’m trying to unravel the feeling I have about this case because something doesn’t track.” I paused, leaning on the broom. “I know this sounds crazy, but I honestly don’t think this was a vampire kill. I don’t think any of them were.”
“That’s quite a statement to make, considering there was no other sign that could have led to their deaths. What makes you think that there aren’t any vampires attached to this?”
“Rogue vampires, from my experience, are far more cunning than whoever is doing this. They never leave their kills around to be found, because they know that they’ll be tracked down and eventually staked. And they know that the members of the Northwest Vampire Collective—or whatever regional group if it’s elsewhere—will work with Otherkin and humans to track them down. In fact, the vampire community goes after its rogues more readily than humans do.”
“Why?”
“Because rogues give the vampires who play by the rules a really bad name. They’re dangerous on more levels than one. No, I don’t think this is some rogue vampire.”
“I take it you’ve interacted with several over your years with the Crown Magika?” Granny asked.
“Yes, I have. I’ve taken down several rogue vampires during the course of my career. Not one of them was easy to track down, and not one of them left any sign of their kills around.” I returned to the broom to the stockroom. While I was there, I popped a Happy Hippo pocket sandwich into the microwave, heating it for two minutes. Then, carrying it on a plate, I returned to the front of the store where Granny was chatting with a new customer.
I recognized her as Asia Jacobs, the mother of twin hellions. They lived two streets over. Her teen daughters were constantly getting in trouble, to the point where their neighbors had the police on speed dial. Donette and Ronette were budding earth witches who liked to use their powers in ways they weren’t supposed to.
Not only had they created a few speed bumps that weren’t supposed to be on the roads, but they had destroyed Irma Megara’s roses, they had set off a 4.4 earthquake on the south side of town, and they had almost managed to raise an earth elemental, but their tutor caught them minutes before a raging elemental swept through the neighborhood. That last infraction had earned them a trip before the local Court Magika, where they had been warned that one more strike would get them sent away to a magical boarding school where they would be supervised 24/7 until they graduated.
I plastered on a smile as best as I could and walked over to the counter, leaning on the glass next to her. Taking a bite of my sandwich, I wiped my chin and said, “Hey, Asia. How are you doing?”
Asia smiled back at me, her smile as plastic as mine. She had never forgiven Granny for banning the twins from coming into the shop. The thing was, Granny made the best charms around and had the best quality ingredients, so Asia had to shop with us if she wanted to cast any decent spells.
“Oh, fine. I’m purchasing some autumn wards for the house.” If her smile was any brighter, it would have blinded out the sun.
Granny chuckled. “Well, you know how well our goods work. How are those hell hounds of yours?” She could get away with barbs like that. Nobody ever contradicted her.
Asia was fuming, but she sucked it up and shrugged. “My girls are fine. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that their father and I have finally decided to enroll them in boarding school. They’ll be leaving for the fall semester starting next week. At least they’ll get to see something of Europe while they’re away.”
“You didn’t decide to put them in the Alpine School for Witches?”
“Is that the academy near Terameth Lake?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s the Terameth Lake academy. The one near Moonshadow Bay is called the Glacier Peak Academy for Witches.” Granny winked at me. “Both of them are equally dedicated to helping the youth of our kind.”
“If you must know, both academies refused to take my daughters, even though we offered to pay extra. I admit that my girls are high-spirited, but that’s not a bad thing—” Asia started to say, but Granny interrupted her.
“It’s not a bad thing unless they run around causing havoc and destruction,” she said. “Let’s face it, Asia. You never controlled those girls when they were young, and you never taught them any responsibility. I don’t know what you’re expecting now that they’re almost adults. What school finally accepted them?”
If looks could kill, Asia would have struck Granny down with a lightning bolt. Instead, she bit back her anger as she answered. “Black Forest Academy.”
Granny stared at her for a moment, then chuckled. “Well, I think you made the right decision. If anybody can straighten those girls out and turn them into productive members of society, the teachers at the Black Forest Academy can. They don’t mess around.” She bagged up Asia’s supplies. “I know you think I get on your case about the girls, but you have to admit they’ve jumped the shark. Their last little trick almost gave Jennifer Amos a heart attack, and if it had, I’d be on your case, lickety-split. You know that you should have taken care of this earlier.” She stared at Asia as she handed over the sack.
Asia let out a long sigh, looking both resigned and irritated at the same time. “Blame their father for that. I tried to teach them manners, but Josh encouraged them to rebel. Finally, I gave up because they obviously love him more than they love me. Try playing bad cop all the time and tell me how much you enjoy it.” She turned on her heel and marched out of the store.
“You sure gave her an earful,” I said after the door closed. “I’ll be surprised if she comes back.”
“Asia is a talented witch. I don’t think she ever meant for her girls to get so out of hand, and she’s probably right. It’s probably their father at fault here, but she could have stepped in and put a stop to it. She didn’t want to make waves. All it got her was a bad name.”
“I noticed.”
“The community cringes whenever she comes around because she can’t control her children. She was kicked off the PTA, she got drummed out of the Witches Guild. She’s isolated and alone without friends and why? Because everyone’s afraid that if they invite her over, she’ll bring her daughters and they’ll tear up the joint.”
“What was she like before she had them?” I asked. When I thought about it, the reason I ignored Asia was because I didn’t want to hear about or see her kids.
“She had so much potential. I ride her hard about it, and it looks like it’s finally worked. The Black Forest Academy will straighten out her girls and see that they learn to use their powers responsibly. They do not put up with bullshit there.”
“You do realize that if you weren’t so well-respected in this town, you’d never get away with talking to a customer like that,” I said.
“Which is exactly why I use my power,” Granny said with a laugh. “Now, you were going to tell me why you don’t believe that a vampire’s responsible for these deaths. Or rather, you did tell me. But couldn’t there be a rogue vampire out there who bucks the trend? Maybe he’s crazy? Psycho? It occurs to me that you can’t live for thousands of years like some of these vampires have without going a little bonkers. Although the word ‘live’ isn’t exactly what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” I said. “And yes, of course there could be a rogue vampire who breaks the stereotype. But he wouldn’t belong to the Blood Collective, and even the Blood Collective would chase him down and stake him. They have too much to lose, to allow an unstable vampire to put the authorities on alert. The moment you think ‘rogue vampire’ you automatically think ‘Blood Collective’…and they don’t want anyone out there crazy-dancing under the moon and putting the bite on random victims.”
I wanted to go home, curl up on the sofa, and start reading the files that Dagda had given to me, but a sudden rush of customers pushed all thoughts of the case out of my mind as I jumped in and helped Granny for the rest of the afternoon.
By the end of the day, we had doubled our sales from our usual take. As I restocked the shelves, Granny counted the money and tucked it into the safe in the back.
“What do you want to do for dinner?” she asked. “I can whip up some spaghetti or something at home.”
“Why don’t we do sloppy joes? I haven’t had those since I was a kid.” I suddenly found myself salivating for the thick, runny, tomatoey, sandwiches. “Do we have everything we need?”
Granny gathered her things. “There are some hamburger buns in the freezer, and we have ground beef and tomato paste and sauces. I also have some frozen French fries I can toss into the air fryer.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “I’m sure the kittens are ready to be out and about. Should we let them out tonight? And, before I forget, Jillian’s coming over for dinner this week,” I said, filling her in on our plans.
“No, let’s leave them in their nursery for a few days. We’ll go in and spend several hours with them, though. There’s a TV in there, so we can watch a movie and play with them while we’re hanging out. What do you intend to feed Jillian? And are you planning on cooking?” She grinned.
“Yeah, I thought I would buy ingredients for tuna casserole.” I couldn’t cook worth beans and we both knew it. Given my job had been so demanding, almost everything I ate had been takeout or microwaved. I was slowly learning how to cook from Granny, but I wasn’t a natural, and more often than not, she did the cooking for both of us. I chipped in by buying extra groceries and by cleaning up afterward. Cleanup, I could master.
“Well, I could make a tuna casserole, but would you like something else instead?” By the way she said it, I knew she wasn’t looking forward to eating anything that I came up with.
“What? You don’t think Jillian will like my tuna casserole?” I laughed as I locked the door behind us after setting the alarm. Even in a town as small as Terameth Lake, alarm systems were the name of the game when it came to retail businesses.
“Let’s say that your talents are located elsewhere than the kitchen. What do you think about mashed potatoes and meatloaf, and maybe some glazed carrots?”
I licked my lips. “That sounds good, actually. All right. Do we need anything? I can stop at the store on my way home tomorrow.” I was supposed to be working the afternoon shift at Shadow Magic. Granny would take the morning shift from nine until one.
“Why don’t you stay home tomorrow and look through those files Dagda gave you? I can run the shop myself. I’ve been doing it for almost forty years since I bought it from Erin. As far as the food goes, I’ll check when we get home and let you know if we need anything.” Since we had arrived in separate vehicles, we beelined toward our respective parking spots.
I jumped in my truck, slamming the door and starting the engine. As I waited for a chance to enter traffic, the Mountain peeked out from high above the mist from the valley. The clouds allowed a glimmer of sunlight to come through, but more clouds were incoming. As I stared up at Mount Rainier, all I could think about was when she would next erupt, and whether it would be in my lifetime.
I made it home before Granny, who had decided to stop off and get some ice cream for dessert. She had also bought a cherry pie that looked and smelled delicious. As she began fixing dinner, I headed toward the second floor, eager to greet the kittens.
They were sitting there, waiting for me, both looking up with wide eyes. Even though they were eight months old, they still looked kittenish, and they still had that frenetic new to the world energy.
I settled down on the floor away from the door, and they bounded over onto my lap. I gathered them up, holding them snugly as I buried my face in their fur. It suddenly hit me that I was already bonding with them.
“Wow, you guys have already wormed your way into my heart. How about that?” I whispered. “So, how are you? How was your day?” I lay back on the floor, letting them curl on my stomach. Neither one answered, but I caught a glimpse of a wrestling session that they had just finished, and they were both happy as punch to see me. I petted them, and talked to them for a good twenty minutes before Granny came up to join me.
It’s the Crone Mum! Midnight let out a purp that sounded suspiciously like a snigger.
“What she saying? I can tell she’s saying something,” Granny said.
I stared at her. “Can’t you hear them?”
Granny frowned, looking at me with a strange look. “What would make you think I can hear them?”
“Because I can. As clear as day.”
She straightened. “Can you usually hear animals?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never been able to hear any of them before I met these two—at least not in this way. But I can hear this pair clear as a bell. We have conversations, if you want to call them that. I have no clue how they can think in English.”
Even as I said it, I knew it sounded ridiculous.
“Cats don’t think in English,” Granny said. “You should go back to the Aseer. When were you first there? Actually, I suppose I should ask, when you were last there?”
I shrugged. “I went to the Aseer when I was sixteen. Is she even still around? She seemed old to me.”
“They’re all old as the earth, it seems. We’re lucky to have several in the same region. Most are scattered around the world and not easy to find.” Granny held out her hand for Sunshine to sniff. The kitten took a hesitant lick, then began to rub against her.
“Why do you think I should go back to her?” I asked as Midnight jumped in my lap.
“Because if you never were able to talk to animals before, then either these are extra-special, or something’s shifted in you. Most familiars can’t make themselves understood quite so readily. Usually, communication is limited to impressions.”
I stared at her. “You mean this isn’t normal for a familiar?” I was in the middle of petting Midnight, and she turned an irritated head to stare at me when I stopped stroking her for a second.
“I mean just that,” Granny said. “Now, let’s go eat dinner and then we’ll come back to watch a movie with the munchkins.”
As we headed downstairs, I wondered what the Aseer would have to say. It had been a long time since I’d first met her.
CHAPTER NINE
The evening went by quickly, with playing with the kittens and watching the movie. By the time we were ready for bed, both furbabies had crashed into a deep sleep. We tiptoed out of the room, quietly closing the door behind us. We had spent three hours with them, and by now it was ten p.m.
“I met an interesting woman this morning when I was out at the beach,” I said. “Have you ever met Verity? She works at the historical museum.”
Granny blinked. “Verity actually deigned to speak to you? I’m surprised. She keeps to herself most of the time. I’ve met her and, while she’s trustworthy, she’s extremely picky about who she interacts with. No shade on you, my dear. Verity isn’t one to engage others first.”
“That’s not actually a bad thing,” I said. “We hit it off, or it seems like we did. We had an interesting conversation, anyway. She’s supposed to call me about getting together for coffee.”
We headed downstairs for a quick snack. I hunted through the refrigerator until I came to a bowl of pudding. It was reminiscent of the lemon filling from a lemon meringue pie.
“Can we eat this?” I asked, holding it up.
“Of course. That’s the leftovers from a pie I made for Mrs. Bronhurst the other day.” Granny arched her eyebrows, and I knew that there was a story attached. I divided the pudding into two separate bowls and set them at the table as Granny handed me a spoon and we settled down to eat.
“Okay, what’s the story here? Mrs. Bronhurst, huh? I don’t think I’ve met her.” I scooped up a spoon of the pudding and slid it into my mouth, melting at the velvety sour-sweet tang of the lemon. This wasn’t from any mix. Granny was an excellent cook, and she loved making treats for people.
“If you don’t know Mrs. Bronhurst yet, you probably will. Well, unless she dies first. But even though she’s human and ninety-one, it’s hard to imagine her kicking the bucket. She’s a royal pain in the ass and they almost never die,” Granny said, winking at me.
“Man, if she’s what you consider a friend…”
“Oh, she’s all right. In fact, she’s got an amazing story behind her. Although she’s one of those people who consistently gives out compliments with one hand while slapping you in the face with the other. However, she played an integral part in the US effort during World War II when she was barely twelve.”
“That’s young.”
Granny nodded. “She was a child prodigy. Her father worked for the war office, and one night she was looking over his shoulder as he was attempting to decode something from the Germans. Some intercepted message. He couldn’t figure it out, but after five minutes, she had cracked the code and figured out the hidden message.”
“Smart kid,” I said.
“Oh, she was brilliant. I suppose she still is.”
“What was the message?”
“She cracked the code about an attack planned for one of our submarines. She ended up saving the sub and all the men aboard. If she hadn’t cracked it that night, the next day the submarine would have been ambushed and most likely, it would have sunk.”
My estimation for Mrs. Bronhurst shot up right there.
“Her father basically inducted her into the war office the next day and she became the youngest code breaker they had. She was homeschooled with a tutor while she worked at the Pentagon part time.”
“Did she go on to join the military after she graduated?”
“The tutor freed her up from the constrictions of school. She received her bachelor’s degree in science when she was eighteen, and her master’s degree when she was nineteen. A few years after the war ended, she started a business and her research figured heavily into the developing computer technology. A lot of the men in the high-tech world still don’t want to admit that a woman could do what they couldn’t, but the truth is that Mrs. Bronhurst was amazing.”
