“Help!” Raya screeched.

  “Quiet!” Harry flung his arm in a downward motion, and Raya’s voice lowered to barely above a whisper. Harry slowly approached her. “I don’t want to fight you. I just wanted you to say you’ll stop. No more magic.”

  Tears trailed down her cheek. She spat at him. She looked like she’d sick up at the sight of him. “Monstru. I know what you are.” Her voice might’ve been screechy, but her words came out clear. Monstru. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it meant monster.

  He had been called a lot of things in life, but for some reason, being called a monster was a blow he wasn’t ready to take. The vampire who had cursed him was a monster. The spirit, Vlad, who had used his body to commit murder was a monster. But not him. That wasn’t who he was.

  “Say you’ll stop using magic.” He didn’t even realize his hand cupped her chin. He began squeezing the soft skin just beneath her jaw bone. She grimaced in response, saliva dripping from her mouth as she fought to steady her breathing.

  “Okay...okay! I’ll stop.”

  He inhaled the magical energy dancing in the room. It intoxicated him. Was it hers? His? This place’s?

  “Damn it...no!” He let go of her when her lips turned blue. Guilt rushed in and tore at him when she backed away crying and gasping for air. He felt even worse when he sensed her magic running through him.

  He uttered an apology and stumbled out of her room. He ran upstairs, banging his knee against one of the stone steps when he slipped. He sucked in air through his teeth and kept going, turning down the dark hallway and finally making it back outside to daylight. He got into his Maverick and started the car, eyeing the Ars Magicka exit, half-expecting some pissed off wizards to rush forward, asking for the man who had harmed Raya.

  I did it. It was me. And this time, he couldn’t blame Vlad. The ghost had been exorcised, but his dark power still remained, and it was up to Harry to find the remedy. His heart beat frantically in his chest as he pulled off and sped out of the parking lot and down the street.

  He wished he would’ve waited for Aria.

  3

  Jacob

  Someone aimed an arrow at the mayor’s heart, and he never saw it coming .

  The dark spell was sophisticated and well-constructed, so finely tuned and shrouded in occult magic that most of the wizards present apparently didn’t sense it. But Jacob felt it; he tasted its poison on his tongue, and it scared him. He wished it was a literal arrow aimed at Mayor Farley. At least then, he could deflect it, or God forbid, heroically jump into its path.

  That’s not my job…

  He was the mayor’s chief of staff, not his bodyguard. However, if the mayor died on his watch, it would ignite a war that would tear down everything he’d worked for in Miracle Falls. For a moment, his smile faltered, then he remembered to grin for the cameras. No need to see reporters whining and theorizing about why he wasn’t happy visiting the Albertus Magnus Academy. It was his alma mater, a place where cute kids with magical abilities studied freely. Why wouldn’t he be happy? Probably because someone in the vicinity had their finger on a magical trigger, ready to blow the mayor’s head off.

  “You okay, Jake?” Mayor Farley straightened his tie and adjusted the belt at his waistline.

  Jacob gritted his teeth while still maintaining his smile. He hated being called by that nickname. “I’m fine, sir.”

  The mayor patted Jacob on the back, flashing his teeth and posing in front of the throng of people and their cameras with ease. His voice rose as he addressed the crowd. “Keep your eyes on Jacob Wolfe...he’s going to have my job one day. He’s amazing!”

  Two years ago, Jacob would’ve beamed at the compliment. Now, he’d rather scramble out of the city and never look back. With the Watchers and their sapphire banded loonies running around, it was only a matter of time before everything went to hell in a hand basket. Non-wizards vs. wizards, and mobs ready to attack anyone they suspected of being a magic-user; a bomb threat had been called in last week against the school. Things were only getting worse. The only thing that kept him there was the fact that he still needed to lay Karina’s ghost to rest, and he needed to protect the sin eater, Aria. He didn’t want her caught up in the melee.

  All eyes turned toward the mayor as he began reciting his campaign platform and how he was better than the man aiming for his job. Jacob’s gaze, however, swept the area for any clues as to where the would-be assassin was perched. Unfortunately, they were out in the open, standing on a dais in the school’s soccer field, with the press just across from them and around a hundred students and their teachers a little farther behind.

  The two-story library stood to the left, just beyond the green field. When Jacob extended his magical senses, he stiffened and nearly recoiled when he grazed the concentrated magic aimed at Mayor Farley like a laser beam. Instinctively, he moved forward, turning slightly to shield the mayor.

  “Protego…” He uttered the command beneath his breath, and the familiar warmth of a magical ward covered him from head to toe.

  Dark magic suddenly crashed against him and his knees shook. He almost cursed, but bit his tongue when a little girl in pigtails ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. She presented him with a clip-on blue ribbon.

  “Go back to your seat,” he whispered in her ear, pretending to bend down to exchange the hug. He chanced a glance at the Mayor. He was still yapping about his promises to the crowd, using big words and extending his hands in flowery gestures.

  The girl whispered back to him. “Jacob, I know someone’s trying to hurt the mayor, and that you’re trying to help him.”

  He grunted when the dark spell slipped through his shield and hit the small of his back. It felt like a full-on punch and hurt like hell. The message Jacob got was “get out of the way.” Otherwise, the blow would’ve been a fatal one. He could appreciate the fact that the assassin didn’t want to kill a fellow wizard, but the guy could go to hell for thinking he was going to whack the mayor at this time and in this place.

  Jacob dropped to his knee, making sure that he remained in the line of fire so that the girl and the mayor were still protected. He began repairing his protective shield; it was like pulling out a thorn. A deep, fiery thorn. The girl attached the blue ribbon to his tie, playing her part well. A few photographers “awwed” and snapped pics before going back to covering the mayor. An older boy approached and presented Farley with a gold ribbon.

  Jacob spoke in a low voice, unsure of how much longer he could block her or the mayor from the magical attack. “Little girl...”

  “My name is Ellie Volgens.”

  “Ellie, run.”

  “I’m helping you.”

  “How?”

  “I can read your mind. And, I can read his.”

  A telepath. Maybe she could help him. “Get off the dais so that you don’t get hit. Tell me what to do.”

  She gave a quick nod and scurried toward the fifth grade chorus that had gathered on the platform. Mayor Farley took a seat near the podium and watched them as they began singing the school’s alma mater song. Ellie Volgens only lip synced, furtively glancing in Jacob’s direction as he used all his strength to stand up and straighten his tie. He ignored his assistant, Amanda Lewis, who waited near the throng of reporters, gesturing for him to get off stage.

  But he couldn’t.

  “Jacob!” He heard Ellie’s voice in his head as clearly as if she were standing right next to him.

  Where is he? What is he doing? he asked her in his mind.

  “Extend your shield, he’s going to try and curve the spell and make it go around you to hit the mayor.”

  Okay…

  The warmth of his power extended from his core and through his limbs. He fed his strength into it until it reached the mayor and encapsulated him. The chorus teacher, with her blue hair and thick glasses, immediately snapped her head in his direction. Damn, she sensed it. Jacob’s glance swept the area, and he noted five or six Albertus Magnus teachers giving him odd looks. However, they looked afraid to say or do anything. Would the assassin attack them all in frustration? What would happen if Jacob simply blurted out what was happening and rushed everyone out of the vicinity?

  Ellie, he said in his mind, Let my assistant Amanda know what’s happening. Have her get the mayor out of here. I think if he’s removed, this attack will stop.

  “Okay.”

  He bit his tongue when the dark spell, once again failing to reach the mayor, started jabbing at him like a knife. He saw Amanda rush up to the mayor and whisper in his ear. He wore an incredulous expression, but then she said something else to him, and he relented. Leave it to the police captain’s daughter to get Farley moving.

  Amanda approached the podium and spoke into the microphone. “Thank you all for coming, Mayor Farley is expected in an important meeting soon, so I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this visit short.”

  Some journalists still tried to ask a few questions, about the wizard registry the mayor was forcing onto the city, no less. The others started following Amanda and the mayor, while others in the crowd dispersed. The teachers lined up the students present and led them back toward their classrooms.

  Jacob turned around to face the library. As he suspected, the attack ceased. He doubted the assassin would stick around to be identified. Even if Jacob did run over to try and find him, there were too many wizards milling about inside, even a few teenaged students gazing through the windows, probably thinking they were too cool to sit in on a mayoral visit. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Amanda had already ushered the mayor away.

  “What the hell was that?” The chorus teacher who looked like the quintessential grandmother placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

  “Someone from this school is trying to kill the mayor.”

  The school headmaster, who had been sitting behind Mayor Farley, approached with a concerned expression. He adjusted his glasses and closed in on Jacob.

  “Mr. Wolfe, do you care to explain why you were slinging spells in my school? Near my students?”

  “Keep an eye on your staff, Dr. Connor. The one thing the wizarding community in this city has going for it is the fact that we haven’t lashed out and retaliated against non-wizards. Someone today decided to jeopardize that. Expect a visit from the police.”

  Dr. Connor crossed his arms. Though his hair had grayed considerably since Jacob last saw him, his bright eyes were just as sharp and piercing. Jacob had often been at the receiving end of Dr. Connor’s disapproving gazes when he was a student at the academy.

  “Are you certain it was one of my staff members?”

  Jacob nodded. “A strong, intricate spell that bypassed a lot of wizards out here on the field today.”

  “Great.” Dr. Connor sighed. “Parents are going to start pulling their kids from our school.”

  Yeah, and that part about someone here trying to kill the mayor gets no mention. Nice to know where your sympathies lie, Dr. Connor.

  “This is not what we need right now. What are we going to do about this?” The chorus teacher glanced around, as if expecting the assassin to return.

  “I know a good detective with MFPD,” Jacob said. “Maybe he can help, without it blowing up.”

  “But will the students be safe?” The chorus teacher still stared at Jacob as if she wanted to take a swipe at him.

  “I believe so. This wizard is targeting the mayor, probably in response to the wizard registry being instituted. I know a lot of us are unhappy about it, but it’s the first time I’ve seen someone in the wizarding community resort to violence over it.”

  “Keep me updated on this, Mr. Wolfe,” Dr. Connor said. “Agnes, please get your students back to class.”

  The chorus teacher mumbled something under her breath before instructing the kids to follow her, and she led them away. Dr. Connor frowned and headed toward the campus buildings, pulling out his cell phone and dialing someone. Ellie Volgens stayed behind and approached him.

  He smiled at her. “Thank you for helping me, but please, don’t do anything like that again.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t happen to get the attacker’s name, did you? Do you know his identity?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “It was hard to talk to you and do all that at the same time. Give me a break, I’m only ten.”

  “The world is going to be amazed by you in ten years. I promise.”

  Ellie glanced over her shoulder just as the school bell rang. “It’s Aria!”

  She ran toward the woman and jumped into her arms. He noted that Aria had straightened her long, curly hair. Her eyes exuded warmth as she walked toward him, hand-in-hand with Ellie. Her smile was flirtatious. At least, he thought it was. He grinned back at her.

  “I like your hair.” He gave her an awkward half-hug. She wasn’t his friend, but she had helped save his life when Cedric Astaroth nearly turned him into a vampire. Also, she had promised to help him tonight with finally sending his deceased wife’s ghost peacefully to the other side.

  “Thank you. So, how did the visit with the mayor go?”

  “It was...interesting. Expect to see a lot of cute pictures with Ellie and me.” His comment made the little girl giggle.

  “I’m sure taking nice pictures come naturally to you.” She looked him up and down.

  Ellie snickered. “Why don’t you two just tell each other—”

  Aria clamped her hand over Ellie’s mouth. “Go grab a snack with your brother, then we’ll head to the house for homework. You know your parents won’t like it if you’re not done by dinner time.”

  Ellie slipped away and ran toward the older boy who had given the mayor the gold ribbon. They walked together toward a vending machine just outside the library. Aria’s smile faded. She must’ve sensed something was off.

  “What’s wrong, Jacob? Are you worried about tonight? Karina’s ghost?”

  “A little, but, I wanted to ask a favor of you.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Which is…?”

  “Can I hire you and Harry as private investigators?” He explained about the magical battle with the would-be assassin, how Dr. Connor would accommodate her and Harry, as well as Detective Rosito who he planned to call as soon as possible.

  “Harry was going to help me track down my birth mother after tonight.”

  “Oh. Yes, of course. I’m sorry…”

  “But, you can start off with Detective Rosito, and we’ll jump right in when we return. I promise.”

  “Hopefully it’ll be resolved by then, but good luck with finding your mother.”

  “Thank you. I’ll see you tonight.” She turned and waved at Ellie and her brother as they returned from the vending machine. She walked over to meet them.

  He felt a tug of disappointment pull at him, but he couldn’t say it was because Aria and Harry weren’t immediately available, or because she walked away. At least he’d get to see her again tonight. And maybe Detective Rosito and the MFPD could help him take care of the threat to Mayor Farley. They had to. Otherwise, Jacob would be standing in the middle of a war zone.

  4

  Aria

  Aria couldn’t shake what Jacob Wolfe had told her about the attempt on the mayor. Dividing her attention between dinner and mentally preparing for the ritual to set Jacob’s wife’s ghost to rest was enough to risk burning herself. Though she couldn’t give up the chance to finally find her mother, she considered helping point Jacob and Detective Rosito in a clearer direction. That would at least set her mind at ease with declining to jump right onto the assassin case .

  “Zarek…” She looked over her shoulder from stirring the spaghetti noodles.

  “Hmm,” Zarek said, not pulling his eyes from the thick textbook sitting in front of him.

  That kid always had his nose in a book. She supposed many parents would be glad to have a son like him, not into trouble and loving to read. He wanted to be a Loremaster, which, to witching families was a source of pride. They were magical jacks of all trades, superb historians, and philosophers of arcane wizardry. Most of them could only cast spells if they had the right talisman or alchemical ingredients, as the majority of Loremasters were born empty-handed, so to speak, when it came to innate magical ability. While Zarek’s sister Ellie was a strong telepath, he didn’t appear to exhibit powers.

  “Do you know of anyone that was particularly angry about the mayor visiting your school today? Maybe a friend or teacher disgruntled over the registry?” Aria turned off the fire beneath the pot of pasta, and checked the simmering sauce.

  He lifted his gaze from his book and arched an eyebrow at her question. With a sigh, he marked his spot in the tome then gently closed it and set it on the table. He folded his hands, resting them in front of him. “Ah, yes, I heard that something had gone down.”

  He didn’t look particularly shocked at her question. And, she could tell he was holding something back. Aria gave him a stern gaze, but he rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.

  “I know!” Ellie blurted out, her pigtails swinging from side to side.

  Aria held up a hand. “Hold on a second, Ellie. You’ll get your chance once you finish your homework.”

  “Aw, man!” She played a pout then continued to split her attention between Aria and Zarek’s conversation and her homework. The girl knew good and well Aria’s rule about prying into their minds uninvited.

  Zarek shook his head and said, “I’ve heard of a group. They supposedly meet in secret. I don’t really know anything.”

  Her cell phone vibrated in her back pocket. “Hold on a second.”

  Zarek shrugged. “Okay…”

  She balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear as she grabbed clean plates from the cabinet. “Hello?”