Devious Magic (6 page)

On the other side, there were a lot of people who thought the Brotherhood were deranged. They also believed there was no such thing as magic and called the whole thing crazy. Like many things, both sides had a portion of the truth, but they were too diametrically opposed to even consider piecing together the jigsaw in unison.

The media was just as bad. Witches and serial killers made great stories and there was much speculation and comparison drawn from the witch-hunts of several hundred years ago. People had even written scholarly papers for science journals claiming or disproving evidence in support of their theories.

Today was mostly the same old, same old: ranting conspiracy theorists, badly spelled urgings from people hiding behind nicknames, and some sicker posts about what some would like to do to female witches. I grimaced and scrolled post those quickly before I lost my lunch.

I moved on to one of the more moderate websites that focused more on the discussion of whether magic existed or not. A lot of conspiracy theorists abounded here too, but at least, it was a lot tamer than the other websites.

I read for ten minutes before a comment, buried deep in a rant about Hollywood covens – dear Lord – caught my eye and I leaned in closer to read it again. It read:
I gotta ask, how are these people funded? It must take a lot of work to hunt down witches so it’s not like they have full time jobs or whatever. And if it is all true, it’s still murder, right? Why aren’t these people being prosecuted?

“Very good questions,” I said to the screen. I just wish I had the answers. For one thing, I wanted to know how they were funded. Did the Brotherhood have financiers or sponsors? If so, those people had to be sick individuals or more closely entwined with magic than any of us had even fathomed.

Secondly, the murders had garnered a lot of press coverage, mostly in Europe where they were more numerous. I could browse the newspapers online so, every once in a while, I searched through them, but the reports had become more infrequent during the past few months and dwindled to almost nothing, as no new murders arose.

Despite the extensive coverage throughout Europe, no arrests had ever been made, no suspects brought in for questioning. That led me to thinking other unpalatable thoughts. Did the police from every country where a murder had taken place really discover so little that they had no suspects? Or were they willing to turn a blind eye? If the latter were true, someone high up must hate witches so much they were prepared to allow people to hunt them. Perhaps I was just reading too many conspiracies. Despite that, when I closed the browser, I shivered.

For a moment, I had the mouse pointer hover over the “shut down” button; but then I pushed it up and opened my documents folder so I could bring up my latest notes. I’d been keeping track of questions that puzzled me, as well as notes, and any nuggets of information, which reminded me... the address on the Brotherhood’s summons had been Hawkscroft, Yorkshire. No street address. Only very large houses in England didn’t require a street address.

Calling up a fresh browser window, I tapped the house name into the search box and hit “enter.” A moment later, a Wikipedia entry popped up so I opened the page, scanning my eyes over it. There wasn’t much information, just some notes about the house’s architecture, when it was built and that it had always been owned by the same family but failed to give their names. The picture showed a large, imposing house set back behind sprawling lawns.

I added a few notes to my file, including the web address for the house’s entry, saved it and then started the power down process.

“Work all okay?” asked Kitty, putting down her magazine when I walked into the living room a few minutes later.

I struggled to keep my face even. “Yeah, no problems at all. Where’s Étoile?”

“Kitchen.” As I started walking away, I heard Kitty call, “If she has her fingers in the frosting, tell her she has to wait until everyone’s had a piece.”

Étoile was actually making tea in the teakettle she gave me for Christmas along with a tin full of tea bags. There was everything from black “builder’s” to herbal varieties. When I asked her again what she had been doing in New York, she muttered something about witchy business and clamped her mouth shut. I sighed inwardly.

“Just spit it out, Étoile.”

Étoile had made it obvious that she wanted to protect me, but I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted anymore. So far, protecting me seemed to put me in as much danger as keeping me out of it! Her lessons in magic taught me how to defend myself and my telekinesis was improving considerably, but I still didn’t know much of the goings on of the witch community and I had a feeling I really should.

“It’s complicated,” she said, after a long moment of staring at the countertops. “I really wish I could tell you, Stella, but you’ll find out soon enough.”

“It’s to do with the Council, isn’t it?” I pressed.

Politically, things were getting heated. They functioned as a quasi-Council for months until a new leader could be elected. Without a powerful director, the Council had little or no power. They were also swiftly losing respect, so calling the summit was probably a smart thing to do on their part.

So far, the biggest, scariest and only contender was Georgia Thomas. I knew she was still canvassing for support as the new head of the Council and few wanted to risk standing against her. That was an uncomfortable enough thought in itself. But throw in what would happen to the community if she got more power, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. Sure, there needed to be a regime change, but not one that had the potential for a dictatorship. What those ramifications meant for me, I didn’t know; but I couldn’t imagine it would be painless. I embarrassed and humiliated her and she wouldn’t forget that easily.

Whichever way I turned, danger loomed.

Four

At dusk, Gage, Annalise and Beau returned, the three of them looking grim.

“You’re not going to tell us anything good, are you?” I said, handing them each a plate with a thick slice of cake to make up for whatever they were about to disclose. Kitty was already munching her way through her second slice.

Slumping into the armchair that he favoured, Gage told us, “We followed them to the Blue Moon Motel, just off the interstate, a few miles north of Wilding.”

Annalise and Beau both nodded, with Beau saying, “There are only two of them so far as we could tell. We left a couple of the pack to watch over them tonight.”

“What were they doing?” I asked, sucking the last bit of cake off my fork. I couldn’t have been any less graceful if I tried.

Annalise shrugged out of her jacket and folded it across her lap, before taking a bite of cake, and savouring it for a moment. “Not much, as far as we could tell. Just ordinary stuff like making phone calls, watching cable, and eating take-out. No torturing or killing witches that I could see.”

“I suppose it would be kind of noisy to do that,” I mused. “Did they look like they were staying for a long time?” I tried to picture the motel. I’d passed it a couple of times and it was a neat box of a building that was always nicely painted and bedecked with colourful plants. I suspected if i got close, I’d probably find out they were plastic.

“We couldn’t get inside the room, but the man at the desk said they were paid up until after the weekend.”

“So they are waiting to see if I leave?”

“Guess so,” said Gage. Catching my eye, he slowly licked a dab of frosting from his top lip and winked at me. Suppressing a smile at his audacity, I looked over at Evan who sat very still. His hands were balling into fists, until he saw me watching and unclenched them. I swear, sometimes Gage deliberately tried to wind him up. “Jay and Kristen will watch over them tonight. Annalise and Michelle will take over in the morning. We’ll have eyes on them twenty-four hours a day,” Gage promised, looking from Kitty and me to Étoile. “I don’t mean to insult the witches here, but I think it’s best if you stayed away. They know Stella is here, but we don’t know what kind of intel they have on anyone else.”

“I guess our dinner plans are off,” I said to Evan with a sinking feeling. I’d been looking forward to our evening out for the past few days. Not that we didn’t go out, of course, but just the two of us would have been special.

When Evan smiled, it was just for me. “I can make us something here,” he suggested.

“Blecchh,” said Kitty. “I’m going to my room.”

“I’m coming with you,” Étoile added. I wondered if her lack of plans had something to do with Jay having scored the Brotherhood night shift. They’d been on a few dates, which surprised me because he didn’t look like her type. And that was without adding werewolf to the mix. He may have been rough and ready, but he was good looking with light brown hair and a quick smile as well as buckets of charm. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company and I got the impression Jay would be quite happy to see her on a more regular basis. Any attempts to draw Étoile out on that led to blank looks.

“I can take a hint.” Annalise nudged Beau. “Let’s go to my house. Gage, are you coming? Don’t you have a date to get ready for?” She winked at him.

“Uh, no, not tonight. I’ll be at the Loup. Thanks for the cake.” Gage put his plate on the table. Despite the cold, he was in short shirtsleeves and a khaki padded vest. Like Evan, Gage ran a little warmer than most people. While the cold got to my bones, it didn’t seem to bother them as much. “Before I go, we, Annalise and me, that is, got you a birthday present.”

“You did?” I lit up at that.

“Yeah, we thought it was perfect for you.” Annalise produced a small square red gift box from behind her back, leaning forward to pass it to me.

I unwound the glittery black ribbon and pulled the lid off the box. On the velvet cushion lay a necklace, a delicate strand of silver links with something long and thin hanging from it. I looked closer to see what it was.
Oh, very funny.
I held up the broomstick pendant and laughed. “I love it, thank you.”

“Gage designed it and a friend of ours made it. She exhibits at the same fairs I take my stuff to,” Annalise explained as Gage gave an off-hand sort of nod. She operated a one-woman craft shop from her home, making beautifully intricate blankets, and other small soft handiwork. I’d been helping her make a website, something that she’d finally caved and agreed to. “Here, let me help you put it on.”

My company ended up staying for another hour, the conversation moving quickly from the Brotherhood to the coming weekend. It seemed everyone had plans... and, maybe, just maybe, no one wanted to be alone. I had to admit, being in a group of supes made me feel a lot more relaxed than I would have been otherwise; especially knowing the Brotherhood were just a few miles away.

Kitty made her excuses first, claiming she needed an early night. For the past few months, she’d put in a bunch of hours at the local college and earned her qualifications. She’d been working so hard to get her fledgling beauty business up and running that she’d been enduring a lot of early mornings and late nights. She’d already explained her plans for the weekend, which involved hiring some local high school students to stand in as models and let her style their hair and makeup. She hired a local photographer to take some pictures so Kitty could set up a portfolio to jumpstart her beauty business.

Before she arrived at the same safe house where we originally met, she had plans to go to beauty school. Now she planned to run a mobile business, travelling around as she saw to brides, prom girls and anyone else who needed a new look. She’d practiced on me so often, I got used to having consistently perfect nails. Recently, Kitty confided her dream about styling in Hollywood, but, so far, it was baby steps.

Étoile remained tight-lipped about New York. Something seemed to be worrying her intensely. I wanted to ask her what weighed so heavily on her mind, but not in front of everyone else. After a while, she made her excuses and I heard her bedroom door shut softly.

Really, I think both of them just wanted to get out of the way. Originally, when Étoile then Kitty moved in, I enjoyed having a constant house full. The endless comings and goings, someone to talk to, friends visiting. Most of all, I liked the ambience. Sometimes, however, like now when I wanted to be with Evan, it seemed that the house was too full.

Gage, Annalise and Beau left together in a flurry of hugs with the door banging shut behind them. I cleared the plates quickly, Evan helping to carry them into the kitchen.

“So, we’re finally alone.” Evan wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on my shoulder as I soaked the plates.

“Guess so.” I hid a smile. Switching off the faucet, I shook my dripping hands over the sink. Evan slid his hands under mine, holding them up. Heat rose from him, instantly drying my hands. “Thanks for holding back on the flames,” I teased.

“Special daemon trick. You want your present now?”

“You got me one?”

“Close your eyes.” As I closed my eyes, he scooped me into his arms. Judging from the direction he was walking, we were headed for my bedroom.
Oh, hello
. Shutting the door behind us, he set me on my feet, warning me to keep my eyes closed.

“Seeing as our dinner was put off tonight, I thought I’d bring it to us.”

Opening my eyes, I saw a picnic rug laid across my bedroom floor. There were plates and little bowls of tasty looking things to eat. The rug was dotted with tea lights that lit one by one as I looked upon them.

“Look up.”

Above us, my ceiling appeared to have disappeared, replaced with a velvet canopy of midnight blue, punctuated by golden stars. I gasped as a shooting star sped across the scene. “How did you do that?”

“Magic.” Evan looked pleased with himself. “A picnic under the stars is nice, right? And seeing as it isn’t exactly warm enough to be outside...”

“It’s lovely,” I breathed, watching the stars twinkle. I didn’t care how he did it, it was beautiful. “Really lovely. Thank you so much.”

“I did get you a gift too. I was waiting until we were alone to give it to you.”