Page 16 of Bright Dark Curses

“Good point,” I said, rearranging Fluffy in my arms to add the name to the list. “Nothing says clickbait like bad things happening to people.”

A deafening silence fell over us, and I looked up from my phone to find them staring at me. “What?”

Dru gestured vaguely in my direction. “That sounds strangely cynical coming from you.”

“Research the perils of dangerous advertising so you know to stay clear,” I told them in my wisest tone.

They let out a collective sigh of relief, as if the world was right again. I almost laughed, but their concern had touched me deeply. Life couldn’t get better than being surrounded by friends like this.

Other than having my boyfriend come back from his seemingly never-ending trip into the land of the bounty hunter guild.

Seriously, what was taking Ian so long?

I swiped out of the to-do notes and sent Ian a short and to the point text: Free yet?

Not exactly the warmest text ever to have been sent to a boyfriend, but really, what was taking so long? We had kissings to resume and cuddlings to initiate.

“You okay there, boss?” Shane asked.

I snapped my attention back to them. “Yes, sorry. Okay, so we got Lydia Lee the actress, Nate Curtis the producer, Lisa Woodward the writer, Gary Sanders the cinematographer. Anyone else comes to mind?”

“What about that man they warned us about?” Key asked excitedly. “The one who’s been hanging around the set and they told us not to let in.”

“That’s right,” Brett said eagerly. “He’s supposedly been bugging the production. But how could he have gotten in? They put his photo on the board so we could all check.”

“There are always holes in security,” I said, thinking of how easy it’d been for me to sneak in. It was shocking this man hadn’t been in the actual trunk ready to scream boo! the moment Brett opened it.

Or was he?

I licked my lips nervously. “You, um, don’t think he might be in the trunk, right?”

The sound of silence part two rained on us as they all stared with various degrees of say what? expressions.

“I mean, you never know.” Trunks weren’t much different from bathtubs and shop floors, and it was spacious enough. “We cleaned the outside but we never actually opened it…”

Brett, Shane, and Key looked at each other.

“I… I’ll be right back,” Brett said, then shot off running back toward the set.

“Wonderful,” I said cheerfully. Fluffy added a small bark of excitement. “We have five suspects now.” Or four and a dead one. “What shall we do next?”

Shane nudged Key. “She’s asking you.”

Key was startled again by the reminder that she was in charge this time. “Oh, okay. Uh… Can you make a potion that can detect magic for us? That way, if we notice something suspicious, we can test it right away.”

I gaped. “That’s a genius idea. I’ll make it tonight.” Mentally, I ran through the items needed. It’d be tricky, as this kind of reactive spell would have to be similar to one I’d cast when making a ward rather than my usual potion-designed intentions, but I was sure I could manage.

“What about freezing potions for protection?” Shane asked.

“Those are beyond my reach.” Sadly. I wished I could do the highest tier of powerful potions, but some things were never meant to be—no shame in admitting as much. “You can carry some of my pepper spray if you want, though.” I had it on good authority it worked wonders on witches.

Shane made a face. “For Key, maybe.”

“Too much for your shifter nose, huh?”

“I don’t need pepper spray,” Key said confidently. “I’ve got dirt in my pocket.”

Being an earth mage, she meant it literally. “Good.”

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