Poppy cringed apologetically. “This is the best I can do, but I promise it will do the trick.”

  “And in the meantime, you need to hide away in your house and not leave,” Wanda added. “The thing with hexes is that they can grow stronger the longer they’re on you and if Steamboat,” she interrupted herself to giggle at the name. “If Steamboat put that curse on you a few days ago, it’s only a matter of time before you get hit by a car or a meteor does you in.”

  And that was the kicker, because there was no way I could just hide out at Cain’s house for the next seven days. And my face musta said as much because Poppy turned to face me and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be ungrateful. It’s just, I really need to talk to Taliyah. It literally could be a case of life and death.”

  “Can’t you just call her?” Poppy asked.

  Wanda straightened up with a weary huff, like she couldn’t believe she was saddled with this, or maybe she was still ticked off about the Oregon Trail joke she hadn’t gotten. “It’s not realistic to expect her to stay boxed up for seven days with no access to the outside world,” she said as she faced Poppy and then, on a sigh, looked at me again. “I suppose I could put a protection on you,” she offered, to which I immediately felt relieved. “It will only last about a day or two, though, and it won’t fully negate the hex, so you’ll have to still be careful. Then, when your little errands are run, you hole up in your house and you burn that candle and you don’t go anywhere or do anything… got it?”

  “Okay, that sounds like the goat’s whiskers,” I answered.

  She looked at me and that eyebrow snaked up again. “This is a one-time offer, understand?”

  It was only the fear of what might go wrong that kept me from bouncing on my heels. “Yes, thank you, Wanda and Poppy! I really do appreciate this.”

  For a split second, worry flickered across Wanda’s face. Then it was gone, and she tilted her chin up at a haughty angle. “You’d better.”

  Her fingers were warm where they pressed against my forehead. Wanda’s head tilted forward, the dark sweep of her hair hanging over part of her face as her eyes fluttered shut. She drew in a deep breath and said something that sounded a lot like, “Don’t touch my stuff, so mote it be,” but that couldn’t have been right.

  Tingling energy skittered over my skin, racing down my arms, tickling over my ribs. The power pulsed along with my heart, getting warmer with every second until it was the same temperature as blood.

  Wanda stepped back, shaking out her hands. “There. Anoint the candle, then burn it every night. Try not to get yourself killed and really try not to piss off any other magic users.” She pursed her kisser, head tilted to one side. “However hard that may be for you.”

  “Just… please be careful, Darla,” Poppy added.

  Poppy swaddled the potion in a truly ridiculous amount of tissue paper and placed it carefully into a bag with the black candle.

  “Thank you, thank you both so much.” I clutched the bag to my chest and cautiously picked my way back toward the door, staring at the ground to make sure I didn’t trip over anything on my way, but there was urgency in every pore of my skin.

  I needed to talk to a broad about a murder.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When I got to the Haven Hollow Police Station, Taliyah was standing outside in the parking lot, arguing with Special Agent Riggs.

  Or rather, she was having an intense, carefully enunciated conversation with a lot of small, sharp hand gestures, the kind you have when you’re trying to look like you’re being civil instead of fighting.

  I’d stopped briefly at Cain’s house before heading over to drop off my potion and candle for safe keeping, but mostly to pick up Cain’s class ring.

  He was in a grumpy mood, even for him, mainly because he didn’t appreciate being left behind.

  I can’t believe you were investigating without me, he growled in the back of my head.

  I wasn’t ‘investigating’. I went to talk to friends who are magical experts to find out if I was hexed or not, and that kinda snowballed into accidentally finding something out about the case, I argued back.

  Regardless, I don’t like being left alone.

  Jeez Louise, will you stop acting like such a baby?

  I scanned the area, making sure there were no visible potholes or tripping hazards or runaway horses. Having to be this careful for the next week was going to really cramp my style, but it was better than the alternative.

  The inside of my cheek still stung when I talked.

  Okay, fine. So, why won’t you tell me what you found out? He continued and if he’d been standing in front of me, he definitely woulda had his arms crossed against his chest.

  No, I answered.

  Need I remind you that this is my case?

  It’s actually Taliyah’s case. And you’re about to hear what I found out, which might still be nothing.

  So, why not—

  Because this way I don’t have to explain it all twice. So, keep your socks on, pal.

  I carefully power walked across the pavement toward the pair of gumshoes. I didn’t dare run. Even with Wanda’s protection going to war with Steamboat’s whammy, I didn’t wanna risk tripping in the parking lot of the police station, or worse. Riggs would never let me live it down.

  And as regarded Agent Riggs, I was so determined to get this information to Taliyah, that I didn’t even care if Agent Riggs overheard it. He could think what he wanted to about me—in fact, I was fairly sure he already did and, either way, I didn’t care.

  Instead of shouting across the distance, I waited until I was close enough for them to notice me and turned before blurting out, “I think I know who’s been helping Judas Irwin get outta jail so he can murder them skirts.”

  “Irwin?” Agent Riggs laughed, pushing his open suit jacket out of the way so he could rest his hands on his hips. “Nice to see you again, Miss Psychic. Did you fail to mention to your crystal ball that Judas Irwin is behind bars and has been so it’s impossible that he could have been responsible for these murders?”

  Cain muttered something, but I ignored him. I was too keyed up by what I’d found out to be bothered by anything Agent Riggs said to me.

  I took a deep breath and got a hold of my temper with both hands. I wasn’t gonna let him rile me up. What I’d learned was too important. “You’re gonna want to listen to this.”

  He smiled at me like he was indulging a kid. “Alright, hit me.”

  Boy, would I have liked to. But getting arrested wouldn’t help no one.

  Taliyah ignored Agent Riggs and focused on me. “What have you got, Darla?”

  I held out my hand to Agent Riggs. “I’m gonna make a bet with you first.”

  He looked curious, and gave me a weird, little smirk that was way too nice, coming from him. “What’s your bet?”

  “I’ll bet you the name: ‘Summer Solis’ is on the list of dames who like to visit killers in the pen. And furthermore, she especially likes to visit Judas Irwin.”

  “What does that,” Agent Riggs started and maybe I was possessed by Steamboat’s spirit because I interrupted him.

  “Now… if I’m right and I win the bet, you have to agree to listen to all my mumbo jumbo so we can solve this case and catch a killer.”

  Summer Solis? Cain probed, his voice sharp in my head. You mean that flakey fortune teller woman you work with? The one who won’t stop talking?

  Yeppers, that’d be her.

  I cleared my pipes, an unspoken signal for Cain to keep his kisser shut. I couldn’t afford to look like a nut in front of Agent Riggs, not any more than I already did and not if I was gonna have any hope of helping Taliyah solve her case.

  When Agent Riggs squinted at me, fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his peepers. He chuckled like he couldn’t believe he was going along with all this hullabaloo. “Why not?” he said after a beat, mostly to himself. “You’re on.”

  He took my paw in his mitt, strong, warm fingers closing over mine, and shook twice before letting go. I fought the urge to rub my right hand against the leg of my trousers to wipe off Cain’s class ring, and I had no idea if that was my own instinct or Cain’s.

  Taliyah’s eyes narrowed. All her features tightened, the Queen or the police chief peeking through, I couldn’t tell which.

  “Summer Solis?” she repeated. “I’ll pull her file, if she has one.” She turned to Agent Riggs. “Can you track down if Solis is on the list of visitors to have seen Judas Irwin?”

  Agent Riggs gave a lazy shrug, the lapels of his jacket rising and falling with the motion. “Sure, why not?”

  Taliyah nodded to me and stepped inside the police station, a tinkle of chimes from the door ringing in her wake. She was on the move, focused, like she was thrilled to have a direction to point herself in.

  Agent Riggs slid his mobile outta his suit coat, firing off a text message with practiced ease. I tried not to be jealous. I still couldn’t get used to the technology and typed awkwardly with one finger, much to everyone’s amusement. I got a lot of ‘you text like my grandmother’ comments, which, I admit, maybe hit a little closer to home than they shoulda.

  “So, what do I get if you’re wrong?”

  I blinked up at Agent Riggs, yanked outta my thoughts. “Sorry?”

  He smirked and put his phone away. “You said you wanted to place a bet, right?”

  “Right.”

  “And you already said what you get if you’re right and you win the bet, but what do I get if you’re wrong and I win the bet?”

  I shrugged. “I dunno. What-do-ya want?”

  Probably for me to get kicked off the case, I thought sourly and hoped Cain wouldn’t respond ‘cause the thought was just for me alone.

  I knew I wasn’t wrong about my suspicions regarding Steamboat, but I still didn’t wanna risk aiding Taliyah with such an important case or failing my first big job. Blaise Howard didn’t strike me as a man who gave a lot of second chances. I also didn’t wanna cause trouble for Taliyah with the FBI. Who knew what kinda problems Agent Riggs could make for her?

  Agent Riggs smiled, and all the harsh lines of his face softened. It was like getting a peek at what kinda person he mighta been if he wasn’t being a deliberate jerk all the time. “I’ll come up with something,” he said and the way he said it was kinda charmer like.

  My brain squawked and shuddered like a record that had skipped a track an’ I was fairly sure that was Cain.

  The bastard’s keen on you! he railed inside my head.

  What are you talking about? He’s ruder to me than a copper grillin’ a mobster.

  Exactly—because he’s got the hots for you.

  I wasn’t convinced and just gave Agent Riggs a quick smile. I didn’t know where Cain came up with this stuff sometimes—maybe he was just suspicious of everyone’s motives. But Agent Riggs had been nothing but rude and dismissive, and on top of that, he thought everything I did was phony baloney, so why would and how would he be sweet on me?

  But then I wondered—what if Cain was right and the agent did have a lil’ Darla on his mind?

  Don’t you dare even contemplate it, Cain snapped. I am not willing to be your chaperone on a date with Agent Boy Band.

  Not like you’d have much of a choice.

  I refuse.

  Well, don’t get all bristled like a Halloween cat ‘cause Agent Riggs didn’t name his price and we don’t know it’s my head he wants on his table. What’s more, chances are I’m right an’ I’ll win the bet anyway.

  The chimes over the door of the police station tinkled, and Taliyah rejoined us. Her mouth was pressed into a straight line and she carried a file folder so flat, it couldn’t have held more than a couple of sheets of paper.

  “Nothing much on Solis in Haven Hollow’s records, but she hasn’t been living here long. Portland PD is sending over whatever they have on her.” She paged through the two sheets again, as if shuffling them might make them give up some secret.

  Agent Riggs slipped on a pair of sunglasses, the dark lenses reflecting our faces back at us. “I’m going to head out. I need to make some calls, and I might have to take a trip to Portland if need be, to get my hands on Judas Irwin’s visitor log.”

  I started to wave, but turned the motion into an awkward move of pushing my hair back when Agent Riggs turned away, his phone already glued to his ear.

  Cain mumbled something like, “Good riddance,” but I couldn’t be sure.

  Once the detective was in his motorcar and out of earshot, Taliyah snapped the folder closed and locked her ice-blue eyes on mine. “So, who is Summer Solis, really?”

  “She’s a witch,” I explained on a shrug. “Or she was one but, apparently, she wasn’t a very good one because she renounced her witchiness to become a tarot-card-reader.”

  Taliyah smacked the file folder lightly against her hand. “And yet, there are already two bodies on the ground that you believe she at least had a hand in putting there. I think the strength of her magic is irrelevant to the amount of damage she’s capable of causing.”

  I winced. That was fair. It was so easy to fall into the mindset of the supernatural community, of discounting anyone who seemed weak compared to others of the magical persuasion. But compared to your average, everyday human, even the smallest bit of magic was a huge advantage.

  I was embarrassed I’d gotten so caught up in figuring out the mystery that I’d forgotten we were dealing with murderers. And on that subject, I had to admit, I was still pretty perplexed.

  It felt like absolute baloney that Steamboat Solis was a murderer. She seemed like nothing more than a person who talked only static, but was otherwise, a harmless flake. But then I remembered the day before, when she’d actually been bragging about the fact that she was the last person to see her clients alive. If I could remember correctly, ‘cause it ain’t like I was paying her any mind, she’d said her clients had died after her visit, hadn’t she?

  At that, my stomach twisted. Add to it the absolute rage that had come over her when she’d thought I was ignoring her and that left me with a well-pronounced ‘hmmm’.

  Essentially, I’d dismissed her… like all the covens had in the past. Was that fury how she’d managed to put that magical hex on me that she wouldn’t normally have been able to pull off? Was the constant dismissal from everyone else the exact reason why she was helping Irwin—maybe he made her feel real special? Where everyone else brushed her off, Irwin needed her, accepted her, probably flattered her until she felt like she really was someone.

  Taliyah’s face smoothed out into a chilly neutral mask, but there was a fire in her eyes that she couldn’t hide. “And you think Solis is working with Irwin?” She breathed in deeply. “Maybe this is the link Cain needs to prove Irwin is the same person who’s doing these murders?”

  “Ab-so-lute-ly. Summer Solis is using her power to help Irwin break outta the can, so he can attack them molls. That’s how he can still operate, even though he’s locked up.”

  “How is she doing it?”

  “Through mirrors.”

  “Through mirrors?”

  I nodded. “Steam, er, Summer is what’s called a mirror walker. And I guess she’s powerful enough that she can move other people through them too, not just herself.”

  We need to put this Solis woman behind bars—she can rot in jail with Irwin for the rest of her life, for all I care, Cain grumbled inside my head.

  If he were in control of my body, we woulda been pacing. I could feel the restless edge of his energy, the need to move, to act. It made the muscles in my legs jumpy.

  I stroked the sides of the ring with my thumb in a soothing gesture. Not that he could feel it, but it helped me to relax, so I kept doing it.

  Taliyah turned to watch Agent Riggs pull out of the copper station parking lot, frown lines creasing her forehead. “So, a witch is smuggling a serial killer out of jail using magic and a mirror.” She heaved a sigh, her brows puckering above her sniffer, and squinted like she had the beginnings of a headache. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to hide all this from Agent Riggs. And that will mean we’re going to have to let yet another person in on the supernatural side of things in Haven Hollow, aren’t we?”

  I thought about it for a couple seconds, but then saw Taliyah’s point. “Yeah. This case is too big to do anything else.” She looked real concerned at that. “I’m sorry, Taliyah, but hey, don’t worry your pretty head about it too much.” I bumped her lightly with my hip, and she turned to me, eyes wide with surprise, but not angry at the gesture.

  I didn’t think a lot of people touched Taliyah casually. Back in my day, I wouldn’t have thought twice about hugging a friend for no reason, or linking arms to walk together or holding hands. Times had changed, though. People were harder now.

  “Why shouldn’t I worry?” she asked.

  “See, my boss knows Jonathan Moses,” I told her in a conspiratorial tone, like I was sharing the juiciest gossip. “And he knows a certain someone who can wipe people’s memories.”

  “A certain someone?” she repeated, peepers narrowed. “Who?”

  Fox Aspen, as Poppy had explained to me, was a Faerie Prince. The Crown Prince of the Autumn Court, if you wanted to get fancy about it. He worked for Jonathon Moses, hunting down monsters and protecting people. Though from the stories I’d heard, I think he enjoyed the challenge more than the ‘serve and protect’ part. As a Faerie Prince, Fox had a lotta mojo, but not a lot of opportunities to test himself.

  He’d blown into town a few months back when a bunch of kids had gone missing. Two centaur girls, and a werewolf boy had vanished into the woods one day, and no one could find any trace of them.

  The search was hampered because no one wanted to tip off the mundanes, especially law enforcement. It woulda been pretty hard to explain the two girls had the lower bodies of horses, and to ‘keep your peepers open for hoof prints’.

  Cain hadn’t been pleased when he’d figured out there were a bunch of missing children in town and no one had bothered to tell him.