Page 109 of Sigils & Spells

“So everyone thought it was weird when he showed up with Leesa, two e’s, four months ago and introduced her as his new assistant.”

Hope surged through me at the woman’s name.

The guard gave us a two-fingered salute as we rolled past.

“She’s not exactly his type. She’s a little too modern and if you saw where she lived—” Vixen shuddered. “Let’s just say her place doesn’t come anywhere near the standards of living Franz expects.”

I waited for an SUV to go by before pulling onto the street. “So this Leesa, with two e’s, is the platinum-haired witch?” I decided to confirm rather than assume anything. Vixen might be messing with me.

“Yeah. And we think it’s odd she doesn’t travel with him when he’s galivanting all over, hunting through dusty archives or whatever he does. I mean, shouldn’t an assistant go with her boss? It’s not like he has an office for her to work out of here.”

“Does Leesa have a last name?”

Ignoring my question, she prattled on, “At first Franz brought her to the house a lot. She didn’t hang out with him or Nolan or Rafi.”

I’d heard Priya mention Nolan. The vampire managed Rafi’s household.

“She usually found one of the donor crew and hung out with them. She thinks the guys are dumb, but they always reported their conversations with her back to Nolan. Leesa asks alotof questions about vampire politics and Rafi in particular. So Nolan asked me to buddy up with her.”

Traffic picked up considerably once we were out of the subdivision. Vixen launched into a monologue about the blood crew and her rise through the ranks since Nolan had taken over as House Manager. I flexed my fingers on the wheel. With each passing block, the need for more substantial information about Leesa, like a last name and where she lived, pounded through my veins with the intensity of a bass-heavy rap song. Vixen didn’t seem in any hurry to answer my question.

“I’ve learned quite a bit about our little witch,” she said, giving me hope she would finally get back to Leesa.

“She’s from Minneapolis originally. Not a fan of shifters. Would never come out and say it to your face, but it’s easy to figure out she believes witches are superior to naturals. She’s very tight-lipped about her magic. Went to college, and fell in love with a vampire, but things got complicated. Don’t they always.” Vixen sighed. “She claims vampire boy gave her that monster rock she wears. I did a little digging and found out she got kicked out of college. Couldn’t find out why and Nolan said it wasn’t all that important so I dropped it. Turn left at the next light.”

We weren’t anywhere near Burleigh yet. “Left? That takes us away from—”

“Turn left at the light.”

“Fine.” Since she didn’t seem inclined to tell me a last name, I threw out, “Do you know where Leesa lives?”

“I told you I’d tell you everything I know about our little witch. Chill.” She caressed aRejuvenatebottle.

Vixen remained quiet while I got into the center turn lane and waited for the signal to change. I made the turn. For the next mile, I endured listening to a recital of Leesa’s many faults.

“She doesn’t have a car.”

Apparently, neither do you, I mentally grumbled. My patience was wearing thin.

“She uses the bus or has one of the crew taxi her around. When Leesa gets lonely she calls the guys and asks them out for lunch or has them pick things up for her. She pays, of course. She’s fond of those ready-to-go spells you sell at your shop.”

I glanced sideways and found Vixen grinning at me like the Cheshire cat.

“Interesting, right? Then, probably two months ago, boom! Franz stopped bringing our little witch to the house. Oh, she still does things with the crew. And I still hang out with her from time to time. She keeps asking questions about our vampires and their activities, but she twists herself in knots trying to avoid even the briefest interaction with them. Around the time she stopped coming over, our vampires noticed a change in Franz. You may know this, and if you don’t I’m not giving away any secrets by telling you, vampires max out strength-wise in their second century. Franz is oooolllldddd but his strength—”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught her making a so-so gesture with her hand.

“Rafi asked him about his increased strength. Franz played it off, saying Rafi was imagining things.” She harumphed. “Like a Prime can’t sense shifts in power.”

Icy fingers slid down my spine. A normal witch’s blood gave vampires a power boost. How much more would an amplification witch’s blood give them?

“Shortly after that conversation, he quit staying at the house. Lately, Leesa won’t let anyone come into her apartment. Claims Franz doesn’t want anyone disturbing him because he’s at a critical stage in his research and writing some major paper. She’ll have us pick her up and drop her off, always on the street outside her place. Yesterday was no exception. Pull over and park.”

Startled, I asked, “What?”

“Park. There’s a spot up there, you can pull into easy.”

I slowed, signaling for a lane change, then eased in behind a city bus. Vixen huffed, apparently unhappy that I’d missed the spot she’d indicated. I found another opening and took it.

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