Page 392 of Castings & Curses

I climbedout from under the blankets, grinning, and sank down on to the bed beside Melinda. She was beautiful, sexy, mischievous and she came so enthusiastically. I loved doing wicked things to her. That was why we'd been at it all night. I knew we had to get back to work on the investigation. Humanity would be waking up, and Misha's killer was still out there.

"That was so much fun," Melinda said as she stretched lazily, her expression calm and blissed. "Good thing I don't need much sleep."

"That's just what I was thinking," I replied. "I'm waiting for an analysis of the magic on your pin talisman. I'm hoping it might give us some insights."

"Wait a minute. I cast that magic myself," Melinda said. "I don't see how it could tell you anything of use."

"It's my belief that Misha's killer used it to pinpoint Raphael's location," I replied.

I didn't want to offend her, so I was careful with my words. "We believed they were tracking you. They found Raphael when they shouldn't have, especially as he was carrying the pin and it added an additional element of magical stealth. It's possible your pin was compromised."

Melinda looked confused. "I don't see how it could be, except… I'd cast a similar area-effect spell on my hotel room."

"The hotel that was later hit by a meteorite," I replied.

Just that realization made me feel sick. Melinda was my lover now and I had every urge to protect her. I knew my feelings for her went even deeper than that.

"I cast the protection spells myself using supplies I bought in Manhattan on my way to the hotel. Aside from the pin, that is. I found it in my hotel room, not long after I moved in."

"I doubt that would give anyone enough of a chance to tamper with it," I said. "Most likely, someone had a way of scrying or magically searching out people or places that were protected using that particular kind of spell."

"I don't know who would have the ability to do that," Melinda replied, "or how. Maybe we ought to have a talk with Riga about it. She knows more about magic than me. She's a witch, whereas at my core, I am magic."

"I suppose in the same way, I'm light now," I said.

"Like the stars," Melinda said, and smiled as she embraced me.

* * *

Riga openedthe door of her apartment before we could knock.

"How did you know it was us?" I asked as she welcomed us into the room.

"The energy is coming off you two in waves. I know what you've been up to, ladies. So does half the hotel, more than likely."

Melinda laughed, and I couldn't help it, I blushed.

"We have reason to believe someone might've been able to track my use of a stealth spell. You know the one I used to create the pin?"

Melinda didn't seem to need to spell it out — so to speak.

"I've seen enough of it to get the gist," Riga replied.

She sat down in her armchair and put up her feet. She looked tired but in good spirits.

"You can't track a stealth spell, but you can track everything else, and the areas that don't show up as they ought to can be a telltale sign that someone is using a stealth spell. If you can find what's missing, you find what's hidden."

"That makes sense," I said, glancing from Riga to Melinda.

"I don't know why I didn't think of that," Melinda replied. "I guess I never thought anyone would be paying that much attention in a large-scale area."

"You're dealing with someone powerful. That means they're capable of seeing more and doing more. A standard stealth spell apparently isn't going to disguise your presence, unless you can conceal a large area or avoid using your powers. A goddess of your strength is going to flare any time you do anything magical, and that includes flying. It also includes sex."

"Whoops," Melinda replied.

"It's lucky we didn't run into them the last time we were out then," I replied.

It brought to mind our quick visit to Melinda's home to collect some of her clothes and valuables. It was a journey Raphael would've called reckless, but we couldn't solve the case by hiding away all the time.

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