Page 48 of Fresh Old Bounties

Inside the kitchen, Ian was crouching by the man, studying him intently.

“Do you recognize him?” I asked.

“I can’t see through the glamour,” he said dryly. “It’s a potent spell.”

“Dark magic.”

“Yes.”

He patted the man’s pockets, and I scrunched my nose. On the other side of the man, Dru made a similar face of disappointment that we hadn’t thought of that earlier.

Ian found nothing in his pockets or shoes. No wallet, no hotel key, no potions, not even loose change.

“Always be prepared,” I said with approval. It was all good and well to be confident in the success of your plans, but that didn’t mean you shouldn’t do due diligence in case things went sideways.

“He must’ve stashed his things somewhere else before coming in,” Ian agreed.

“We could use Rufus to track where he’s been.”

Ian got to his feet. “A glamour potion this strong masks everything about you, not just your face. There won’t be a smell for Rufus to follow.”

Ian’s shifter nature enhanced his senses in human form, even olfactory ones, so I had no trouble believing him.

“No wonder we couldn’t get anything from the envelope,” I murmured unhappily.

“You think he sent the envelope?” Ian asked.

I blinked in surprise. “It has to be. There can’t be two different people looking for Grandma’s spellbook.”

“In my experience, people who send notes and make polite phone calls aren’t the same kind of people who do robberies in broad daylight.”

“You think it’s two people working together?”

Dru coughed a the bastard.

“I’d rather not assume,” he said. “Where’s the spellbook?”

I pointed at the counter. “Over there.”

Ian picked up the spellbook and examined the front and back covers, handling it with the utmost care. To anyone else, it was a book, not even that beautiful or old, but seeing him treat it like a museum antique made me choke up all over again.

He put it down and opened the cover to investigate the interior, then he tensed, his eyes widening for a nanosecond.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Your grandma was Hazel Oakes?”

“Yes. Why?”

He flipped the pages but said nothing, as if he was buying himself some time to organize his thoughts.

“What is it?” I pressed. “Why did you flinch?”

His features took on the stonelike quality I was so familiar with. “I need to show you something.”

The robbery had shocked me, the threats to Dru panicked me, but the mix of his expression and those words? That chilled me to the bone.

“What’s wrong? Tell me.”

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