Page 22 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
Abigail looked at Trent, who shrugged as he answered his mother’s unasked question. “I didn’t tell her. We had other things to talk about on the way home. Like why I was there in the first place.”
Abigail turned back to Mia. “These are for you. There are more downstairs. I’m surprised you didn’t see them coming in. And there’s a lot of food. I put everything in the main kitchen and did a decontamination spell on the batch. We don’t need any problems because we let some roses get the best of us.”
“People are sending flowers and food because of the test results? This is crazy town.” Mia reached out to touch a daisy in one of the arrangements. “They’re pretty, though. I suppose I’ll need to send thank-you notes?”
“Don’t you dare!” Abigail’s eyes widened. “Our tradition is to only thank the people you plan on letting into your new witch life. If you send notes to all of them, well, you’ll be bombarded with people in your circle. Remind Mary Alice that you need to finish your initial circle invites before the ceremony on Thursday. She’ll talk you through the process. I hope I’ll be one of your invitations.”
“Of course.” Mia felt confused. Now she understood why her grandmother insisted that she take this week off from the Lodge. Her phone rang. Glancing at the display, she answered, “Hi, Mark, what’s going on?”
“Why is he calling you?” Steve stood and reached for her phone. “Give me that.”
“Hold on a second.” Mia held out her hand, and Trent blocked his brother’s advance. She threw Steve aWhat do you think you’re doing?look as she stepped out of the apartment. She moved away from the door and stood between the apartment and the library. “Sorry about that. The house is filled with people and a little crazy right now.”
“Steve Majors doesn’t want you to talk to me. I get it.” Mark didn’t even beat around the bush. Somehow he knew what Mia was dealing with.
“Don’t tell me you planted a bug in a bouquet of flowers today so you could keep an eye on me.” Mia was half-joking.
“No, but from what Sarah told me when I took her to lunch, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few were sitting in your house. Beware of friendly gifts.” He sighed. “I can’t believe we’re even talking about these things. In small-town Idaho. I took this job because I didn’t want the peculiarities of a big city. Anyway, the dead guy found in Trent’s yard, according to your friends, had a heart attack. He was older than he looked, from the reports.”
“Probably older than what was on the report too.” Mia imagined a half leprechaun had a completely different life cycle.
“I was afraid you’d say that. I thought the same thing. But the question is, should I have Frank, the actual coroner, do an autopsy? Your group left it to my discretion.” Mark sighed. “I called to see what you think. Besides that, I don’t think your boyfriend killed the guy.”
Mia knew Mark was giving her a way out. She could tell him to accept the coven’s story about how Alfred Howard died and close the case. Heart attacks happened, especially with older, overweight men in the mountains. They always thought they could do more than they could. But she didn’t think Howard came all this way to die on Trent’s property. Besides, why was he even there?
Was he spying on Trent to see if his house held potions and spell work? Or maybe he’d been already told about Buddy. The training camp had an NDA, but who knew if they didn’t whisper, especially when a hellhound turned the camp pink with fairy lights and had a dragon friend. Then again, weres didn’t trust the witches.
That was probably something that didn’t happen every day.
“Mark, he was here to see if Trent still has powers. He’s not supposed to since he turned over his inheritance to Levi years ago. But when the Goddess gave him Cerby, well, the coven got curious.” Mia knew Steve and Thomas were going to hate her for sharing, but Mark needed to know what was going on. She’d never forgive herself if she found out Howard had been murdered but they’d helped to cover it up to keep Trent’s secret.
“That sounds like a big deal. Sarah told me she still has powers, and she wasn’t supposed to either. That’s why she was worried about the baby.” Mark was quiet for a long time. “Mia, I think this is a bigger problem than we know. I’m going to continue the investigation, but please tell Trent my investigation is not aimed at him. I’m wondering if the people whoaredirecting this want it to be aimed that way, though.”
“And if they think you are clueless about the magic world, the evidence points right at him.” Mia felt like she was in a spy movie. “Don’t get yourself in a bad situation.”
“I could say the same thing to you, missy.” He chuckled. “So I guess we’re covert partners in this investigation?”
“I won’t tell your secret, and you don’t tell mine. Or really, Trent’s. I kind of love the guy.”
“Family is important. Okay, so I’ll start the file. I’ll label it an unattended death case. Tell Trent I’ll call him for an interview tomorrow. I’m sure Steve is going to throw a fit. I’ll give the go-ahead on the autopsy. I’ll send you the report from the coven’s specialist via email. Let me know if something stands out.”
“Sounds horrific, but okay. I’ll be home until Monday. I took a few days off.” Mia said her goodbyes and tucked her phone into her jeans pocket. Then she went into the library.
A book slammed into her chest as soon as she entered. “Hey, stop that.”
Grans looked up from the table where the archives were open before her. “What did you say, dear?”
“Someone threw a book at me.” Mia held up the book. She set it on a table. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Is it that late already?” Grans closed the archive link and tucked her notebooks into her tote. “I’m starving.”
The book Mia had set down jiggled, then flew back into her chest.
“Okay, fine, I get it. You want me to read this.” Mia grabbed the book and glanced at the title. “The History of Magical Creatures.”
“I’m sure it has a chapter on leprechauns.” Grans took Mia’s arm. “And it’s not nice to yell at the ghosts. They’ll stop talking to you if you’re not polite.”
“I wasn’t yelling. I don’t like having things thrown at me,” Mia explained, but the look on Grans’s face told her she needed to do more. She looked up at the ceiling and called out, “Sorry, I was testy about the book delivery. Thank you for your guidance.”
