The Burning Bush (36 page)

The district was themed after Yemaya, the goddess of water. All the wealthy Witches lived here. Fountains of sculpted crystal adorned every corner. Gleaming turquoise streams traveled through luxury condos. Although tinged with a smoky smell, the breeze still held the salty taste of the sea—like standing on the beach just inches from the ocean.

One would never find a homeless Vamp in this district. Yemaya residents had recently voted on an ordinance that banned all homeless Supes from loitering in the neighborhoods. How they would figure out the Supes had no homes, I didn’t know, but the ordinance was enough to scare away all the bums and shove them toward the other areas.

Sweepers crowded the blue-stoned streets, polishing the area with pale-green cleaning solution until the roads shined. I risked a quick look at Zulu’s condo and was shocked to see that the majority of debris had been cleared away.
Already?
Hundreds of construction workers concentrated on the task of reconstructing the condo building and Yemaya Shopping Center.

Posters about the Remembrance Day Masquerade Ball hung on every building. The Witches were hosting the event this year and had chosen a space in Yemaya.
I can’t believe these Purebloods are still going to throw that party after the city has been bombed twice.

The tram turned into Seventh Haven, an exclusive section of Yemaya. It was where Jacobi lived. Wallace had listed his address in the file. All I needed to do was find the altar where Jacobi did his magic, take the blood or items to Vee, and see if she could match the spell to the Burning Bush Murderer’s essence. At least if Jacobi didn’t match, I’d know for sure that he wasn’t the killer. Then I’d have to find the limo guy.
Whoever that is.

“So where do you get your inspiration for all the love songs you write?” a young, blue-haired Water Witch asked MeShack. Although she sat in the seat in front of us, she had turned around and lain her head on the seat, gazing into MeShack’s hazel eyes the whole ride. I doubted she noticed me sitting right next to him. Not that it mattered. I was used to his groupies and still pretty high. I’d been zoning in and out of their conversation the entire time.

Crap. I shouldn’t have smoked that second joint. MeShack’s such a bad influence
.

I rested back in my seat. MeShack rubbed my thigh, kneading the tender flesh toward the inside of my leg with his thumb. I should have stopped him when he started, but it felt good. I was so tired of having to be in control of the situation for the past twenty-four hours. For a few minutes, I just wanted to lay back and let someone take care of me.

“You’re so talented and gorgeous,” the Water Witch gushed.

MeShack smiled. “All of my romantic songs are about a special lady I’m in love with.”

Lazily blinking, I rested my head on the window, staring out at the children playing in the school yard. Unlike Shango District, Yemaya had no problem keeping the schools open for their kids. In Shango, the blood factory was still a massive mountain of blood and ash, and the kids remained out of school. Not much had been repaired or cleaned.

“She sure is a special lady. Is that the girl you talk about in the song ‘Heart of Fire’?” the Witch asked.

“That’s her.” MeShack combed through his freshly washed curls with the fingers on his free hand. He’d used my entire bottle of lilac shampoo today and now radiated with the lovely perfume.

“She was all mine, completely in love with me, and devoted to us,” MeShack said, rubbing my thigh some more. My insides stirred in pure pleasure. I was lucky we weren’t alone and that MeShack wasn’t really paying attention to my erect nipples as they perked up against my shirt.

The Witch sighed. It came out as a light, swoony noise. “What happened?”

“I fucked it all up by cheating on her,” he confessed. “I was in my Season when we started our relationship.”

“Oh, you poor baby.” The Witch twisted a few blue strands. “It was your Season. What could you do?”

I snorted. No matter how many times MeShack admitted to women that he cheated on me, they all consoled him.
A poor Shapeshifter in love during his Season. How sad!

“No worries. I’m going to get her back after my Season is finished.” He stopped his massaging. His fingers lingered close to the area between my thighs. I gently rearranged his hand’s position until it was back on his own leg.

The Witch slipped him a folded piece of paper that had materialized in front of her. “Well, before your Season is over, I’d love to soothe your broken heart. I just turned eighteen last week.”

“Happy birthday.” MeShack winked and put the paper in his pocket. I was glad he and I weren’t together. I would have hated to burn such a young Witch.

“Seventh Haven,” the tram driver announced.

I jumped up. “This is our stop.”

The Witch jerked back as if noticing me for the first time. Her cold blue eyes went to my X brand and then perused the rest of my body.

“I have to go.” MeShack seized my hand, squeezing it. “Don’t forget Mahogany Groove will be playing at Club Metamorphosis next week.”

We strolled by her and hopped off the tram. Outside, the whole block held the fragrance of wealth and privilege. A flower perfume immediately captured me. Bunches upon bunches of rose bushes lined all of the sidewalks. Shades of the ocean coated the street’s massive houses. Various types of seashells trimmed the houses’ windows. There was a limo parked in every driveway.

I pulled out my wrinkled sheet of paper with Jacobi’s address.
410 Stream Lane.
A two-story house numbered “410” stood right in front of us.

“So, you were joking about breaking into the house, right?” MeShack asked as I walked toward it.

“I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m kind of hoping an opportunity will come up.”

“So the usual reckless plan?”

“Yep.” I twisted my lips, considering our options. “This is a rich block. We could pretend like we’re walk-ins.”

When we were kids, MeShack and I made extra money by walking up to rich people’s houses on the weekends and performing any odd job they would pay us for. Usually, we were paid in food or clothes, which was fine by us, but every now and then, we made some extra cash.

“What if they don’t have any work for us?” He released my hand.

“Then we’ll think of something else.”

“I’m glad I brought my emergency joints.”

I spotted a Mixie washing a limo near the front lawn. “According to Jacobi’s teaching schedule, he should be gone all day.”

Maybe this is the limo guy? Nope. No way. Life is never that easy for me.

MeShack tapped my shoulder and pointed to a navy-blue sign on the porch that read, “The Home of Judge Brass.”

“So Jacobi lives with his daddy.” MeShack smirked. “No wonder he’s having sex in his class’s dressing room.”

“Good point.”

The Mixie who had been washing the limo paused for a few seconds, glanced at us, and headed our way. The wind blew through his hair. It was that same weird shade of dirty blond as Jacobi’s, kind of a peanut-butter color. The guy even resembled Jacobi a little, same light vanilla skin and ginger-colored eyes.

But no one would ever confuse the Mixie with Jacobi. The Mixie’s nose looked more like a button, whereas Jacobi’s nose held a defined point. And in class, Jacobi had sauntered with an air of importance, yet this Mixie had a quick stride that said he had a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it all. Still, I wondered if Jacobi and he were related, and if it even mattered to the case.

The Mixie approached us with an extended hand, aiming for me. “What can I do for you two?”

“We’re looking for work.” I shook his hand, a bit surprised that he’d speak to me first, before MeShack. It was kind of an unspoken custom in the habitat to acknowledge the Pureblood first.

“Do you have any odd jobs we can do?” MeShack asked, raising his eyebrows at the Mixie as he continued to grip my hand.

“Well, we always have something. The Brass family won’t let Mixies they don’t know in the main house, but you can help me with the things that need to be done out here.” He waved his free hand around to swat at a fly. “My name is Ely. This is Judge Brass’s house. He doesn’t pay money for walk-ins, but he’ll give you a meal for every four hours you’re here.”

Ely freed my hand.

“That’s fine.” I spotted an old man on the side of the house swinging a golf club back and forth. There wasn’t a golf ball on the ground, but he seemed content with performing the same motion over and over.
That has to be the Judge. Who else would worry about perfecting his golf swing as the habitat recovers from a major bombing?

“You’re a big guy.” The Mixie pointed to MeShack. “We need someone to move pieces of furniture to the attic. No one here can lift them, but I bet you could. The Brass family has no problem letting Purebloods into the main house.”

“I can take care of that,” MeShack said, probably cursing me in his head. “My name is MeShack by the way.”

What? I guess we’re using our real names.
I’d planned on saying a fake one.

“I’m Lanore.” I tapped my chest.

“Okay, Lanore. You can go ahead and finish washing the limo.” Ely swung his thumb to the house. “Next, the garden around back needs to be weeded.”

“Great.” I smiled, showing all my teeth and whistling as if it was the best day of my life.

Ely and MeShack disappeared into the house. Once they were gone, I ignored the limo and ambled toward the back, as if that was my designated duty. The old man probably continued to swing his golf club, oblivious to me strolling around the other side of the house.

I love rich people. They’re so unaware of their surroundings.

A magnificent garden greeted me. I would have known the Judge was an Earth Witch just by the garden alone. A tunnel stood before me formed by flowers with blue-green petals and woven together with azure lilies that had grown eight feet tall. I peered inside the tunnel’s opening and figured it must have been thirty feet long.

Traveling through the tunnel was even more enchanting than I’d thought it would be. Sunlight streamed through the ceiling’s tiny openings, so that golden rays twisted and spiraled within the passageway. With each step, the fragrance of spring danced around my skin even though it was actually the fall season. A few flowers hung low enough for me to raise my hands and stroke their silky textures. The delicate petals bounced against my fingertips.

At the tunnel’s exiting path, blood-red daisies opened and closed every few seconds. Pale yellow lilies rotated around violet marigolds as if they were attached to a machine. White roses the size of my head sat at the center of the swirling flowers. They swayed back and forth, listening to their own tune. The whole garden danced before me.

This is definitely the work of Earth magic
.

I explored the garden further, drinking in all its beauty. A plain green bush hung at the end of the garden. It was completely out of place among the moving flowers. I sped up to the bush. A cleaning-liquid scent caught me. I kneeled down and sniffed the green leaves, confirming that the weird scent was coming from them.

Maybe these are eucalyptus leaves.
Vee said the Burning Bush Murderer’s spell used those leaves. The only problem was I had no idea what eucalyptus leaves looked like
. I should have brought a picture of them with me.
I walked around the bush, noticed a large marijuana plant hiding in it, and then froze as I saw something else.

We’ve got a winner.
Next to the marijuana were several orange treranges. The same type of expensive, forget-everything flowers that had been on Onyx and Harriet’s living room table.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
I took a step closer and got on my knees. I had to get a better look.
Yep. Those are definitely treranges.
That same amber light floated from each triangle-shaped petal.
Is this where Onyx’s mother got the flowers?

I should have asked Harriet where she found them. At the time, I hadn’t thought the flowers were related to the Burning Bush Murders. But now I wasn’t so sure. It was too much of a coincidence. Treranges were rare, even for the wealthy. Plus, most people wanted to remember things, not forget them. Plants that were alleged to extend brain functions or help with recalling old memories were the most sought after plant items.

I crawled closer. Warm soil circled my hands and knees. There was a whole row of treranges in the garden. I considered how Onyx and her mother could’ve received these same flowers that were so plentiful in the Brass’s backyard.
There’s no way Harriet bought the treranges.
The seeds alone cost a thousand dollars. Harriet had been working the night shift at the blood factory and cleaning rich Witches’ houses during the day. A thousand dollars would’ve meant a lot to her. It would’ve symbolized food, rent, and supplies for her and Onyx.

What about Onyx?
I wished I’d asked Kilo how much money Onyx had made sleeping with men in her house, and if he knew what she’d been spending it on. I didn’t remember anything of any value in Harriet and Onyx’s apartment, aside from the orb and the treranges. Onyx’s first diary entry had said that Jacobi bought her the orb. She never said anything about his giving her treranges.