Page 77 of Perfectly Perplexing Zombie

Mattie walked toward the wall, getting closer to the bar proper.

“Can you read the lines from here?” Vander asked, following close behind.

Mattie’s eyes scrunched, and the skin between them deeply grooved. “Some. I can at least get a handle on the outer spells. I can start to weed through them to what’s below, but…” She sucked in her bottom lip and nervously chewed. “Something’s blocking the deeper ones. I can sort of track them down in Aurelia, but just like the other day when I met her, I can’t follow them to her object of attachment. I thought at the time it was just because of distance, but now…I think something is blocking me.” Mattie sounded confused.

“Blocking you?” Vander asked. “Let me see if I can ferret that out.” Closing his eyes, Vander deeply inhaled, holding his breath before releasing it in a long, controlled exhale. Parsnip stayed by his side but moved so he wasn’t touching him. A handful of seconds later, Vander’s eyes snapped open, and he cursed, “Son of a bitch.”

“You found it?” Mattie asked.

“That’s one clever bastard. He’s been a busy human. My bet is he’s got the amphora wrapped in a dampening cloth.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Parsnip nodded like he’d been about ready to ask the same thing.

“It’s a spelled fabric that hides what’s hidden below,” Vander answered with disgust.

“Even magic?” Parsnip asked.

“Especially magic,” Mattie answered.

“Well, shit.” Vander ran his black-tipped fingers through his hair, ruffling the gray tinting his temples. “That just made things a shit-ton more complicated.”

“We’ve got to get it out from under there.” Mattie’s fisted hands landed on her hips, and her skirts swayed with the movement. “I am not going to keep putting myself through this shit. This ends tonight.”

While I appreciated her determination, I wasn’t sure how we were going to act on it. We were trying to keep Mattie and Vander’s presence secret as long as possible. As a human, Professor Stover wouldn’t know they were here. He could wish for Aurelia to tell him, but so far, he had no reason to do that. We needed to keep it that way.

“Will Ray know that?” I asked no one in particular.

“Doubtful,” Vander answered. “Although, fairies are so secretive that it’s hard to say.”

“So, someone needs to make certain and try to… I honestly have no idea.” Parsnip’s wings fluttered before he snapped them closed. “The whole point is that no one can touch the damn thing because we all want to rip this Stover guy a new one.”

Vander’s grin was positively wicked.

Mattie’s matching one made my skin crawl.

“What?” I asked. They both looked far too pleased, given the circumstances.

“That’s not exactly true,” Vander answered Parsnip’s earlier comment.

“Vander’s right,” Mattie triumphantly agreed. “Stover is smart. I get why he covered the amphora, blocking out its magical signature. If you’re not looking for it, you wouldn’t even know it’s there. But we are looking, so Vander and I can pick it up. To me, it’s kind of like a black hole.”

“It’s similar for me,” Vander said. “But if I look hard enough, I can see it. It’s canceling magic, and that’s in a warlock’s wheelhouse, not a witch’s. Regardless, the point is that the canceling magic means anyone can touch the fabric. Once the fabric is removed, we still won’t be able to touch the amphora itself, but we can conceivably get it away from Stover.”

It opened up possibilities, but I still wasn’t sure if it helped more than hurt us. Either way, Ray needed to know. Grabbing an empty bin, I headed for the swinging door. Three pairs of eyes turned my way, each shimmering with questions.

With a shrug, I said, “Someone has to go out there, and I’m the logical choice.” With a little salute, I pushed through the swinging door, trading places with a couple of vampires. They were two of the youngest. I’d heard Leon say they were little more than fledglings. Mr. Moony was starting the extraction.

Johnny’s eyebrows rose when he saw me, but he just nodded and poured another glass of blood. Ray was in a corner opposite Hamish and Professor Stover. Muriel wasn’t here. She’d wanted to come, but no one could see a need, and given that Ray had planted the seeds that Muriel knew Professor Stover’s secret, everyone thought Muriel’s presence might make him more skittish and suspicious.

I picked up a couple of empty glasses and placed them in my bin, making my way around the tables. I risked a glance in Hamish’s direction. Professor Stover leaned heavily on the table. He looked eager and a hell of a lot more frazzled than the last time I’d seen him. In school, Professor Stover had always looked casually well put together. Some days, he was a bit rumpled, but he was always clean, his hair was neat, and his ties straight. Currently, Professor Stover seemed to be channeling Albert Einstein’s barber. His gesticulations were choppy and near frantic, and he kept licking his lips. His left hand frequently ventured into his jacket pocket. Most likely, that’s where he kept the amphora.

Aurelia was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s around,” Ray whispered into my ear. He’d snuck up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle.

I leaned back into his touch. Trinket twisted on my shoulder so I could get as much fairy contact as possible.

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