10

I took Adela’s book straight into the back room of my shop.

Lila was on the phone with what sounded like a customer interested in some first edition Agatha Christie mysteries I’d recently gotten hold of. I had a mystery of my own to figure out, and I buzzed with a tickle of excitement that Adela’s spellbook might be the key I needed to help figure out what all these clues were supposed to look like when they were put together. Too bad I probably wouldn’t be good enough to pull it off.

I sat on the stool I used for the quiet little escapes into my own head, and also to reach stuff on the top shelf, and reread the Ostendo spell. Closing my eyes, I uttered the phrase from the book as quietly as I could.

“Show me the way of those who walk this path before me, of those who walk all paths, above and below and between.”

Simple.

The slightest stirrings of magic tickled at my mind. I opened my eyes.

Nothing. I wasn’t surprised.

Maybe I couldn’t perform it on myself. A lot of spells worked like that, or so I had decided to believe when so many incantations I had tried didn’t work.

I sighed, disappointed and annoyed. Witches were supposed to be trained as part of a coven. Quentin had always been quick to remind me that without that training, I was merely potential, and not even a lot of it.

How was I supposed to catch a killer when I was nothing?

I reached out to open the door, and there it was: a shimmering blue aura surrounding my fingers, stretching all the way up my arm and across my shoulders. When I looked down, my entire body was surrounded by a misty blue cloud. The spell had worked. This was my magical residue. I shook my hand as if I were shaking off drops of water and the cloud fell away. I was elated. Maybe I wasn’t so bad at this game after all.

The next step was deciding who to work this magic on first.

I stepped out of the backroom and slammed straight into my answer.

“Hi,” Conri said.

What was he doing here?

I looked him up and down, noting how he had to stoop not to hit his head on the exposed oak beams in the ceiling. His collar was buttoned up high and tight.

Hiding something? I thought.

“Something tells me you’re not here for Virginia Woolf,” I said. The vet smiled but still looked oddly nervous. It was the first time I had ever seen him smile properly, and it changed his face completely. For the second time, I was taken aback by how good looking he was.

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Virginia Woolf, the author. I was making a joke… sort of. Um… Can I help you with something?”

Conri cleared his throat. “Can you have coffee with me?” he said quietly. The words were clear enough, but I still didn’t understand what he was asking.

“Pardon?”

“Can you come? Coffee? With me? And you. Together,” he said, slightly louder.

“You want to have coffee with me?” I said.

He coughed and rubbed at his neck. “Look, I kind of suck at this sort of thing, so I’m just doing the best I can here. Would you like to have coffee with me? Now? Or whenever you’re free next? Or, you know, whenever is good. It doesn’t have to be coffee. You can have tea. Or soda. Wine, beer, water, whatever. I’m not trying to tell you what to drink. You don’t even have to have a drink. I’m going to stop talking now.”

Had the vet come over to ask me on a date? Why?

I hadn’t spoken in a long time, and he started to frown. I guessed cranky was his neutral state.

“Look, if you’re busy, then I can… just don’t worry about it,” he said, and he turned to leave.

“No, that’s fine. I can go with you. Er… now, if you want?”

I felt terrible for leaving Lila in the shop by herself again—that was all I seemed to be doing these days—but this was important detective business, I told myself. Besides, the girl had spent so long sitting behind the counter knitting, reading, and drinking tea that it was about time she was made to do some work for a change.

Conri held the door open, and I moved past him, suddenly aware of how good he smelled. It wasn’t a cologne type of smell; it was more subtle, like the clean scent of soap and something natural, earthy and deep. I was suddenly keenly aware of my tousled hair and dark lines around my eyes from how little sleep I’d had lately.

“Shall we go to the diner?” he said, pointing across the street to Jenkins’s place. I agreed with a nod and led the way, feeling like everyone in town was looking at us walking together.

Jenkins’s Diner was crowded even for lunchtime. It seemed everyone in town was coming into Tom’s now since Kenny’s wasn’t open. It was curious how no one had liked Kenny, and yet everyone had gone to his coffee shop. Maybe he really had bewitched the food. If Kenny was involved with the supernatural somehow, that might have given the killer some other layer of motive besides… well, besides the one I still had yet to figure out.

“I can only think Jenkins might be enjoying the extra business since Langdel’s gone,” Conri said.

“That’s a bit ghoulish, don’t you think?” I said. Though I secretly thought the same thing. He had won the maze catering gig in Kenny’s place, after all.

I steered us away from a seat near Abbi Flannagan and headed for the corner, the only patch of weak sunlight on the terrace. We sat opposite one another, and Conri buried his face in a menu. I looked around. Disaster. I had accidentally chosen a seat next to Camille Arden.

Camille looked right at me, then to Conri, and then back to her lunch. If Conri had seen her, he hadn’t shown any sign of it.

What had happened between them? I wondered. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t with Camille if he was asking me out on a date. Though I wasn’t there for a date, I kept telling myself. It was purely an opportunity to secretly interview a suspect.

Camille hurried away from her table, her lunch half-eaten. The seat was soon taken by a middle-aged man wearing dark shades, a black suit, and a long overcoat. He reminded me of the sleek SUV I’d seen earlier. Like the car, a man dressed like that stood out in Blackthorn Springs. Maybe he was a business developer or something, come up from the city. I looked up and down the street, seeing the black car parked not far away. He definitely wasn’t Rowan Jackfort or anyone I recognized from the coven. That was a relief, but not so much that I could completely relax.

“How’s your cat?” Conri asked suddenly.

“He’s a lot better,” I said. “He sleeps, mostly, but that’s not unusual for him. Actually, the truth is I’ve barely been in since I brought him home, so I can’t really say.”

“Running errands?” he said.

I nodded and sipped my glass of water. Errands, or investigating a murder in which you’re the prime suspect. Whatever you want to call it.

“Yes, errands,” I said.

We ordered from the menu. I chose a tuna on rye and a green tea since I had never been that much of a fan of Jenkins’s coffee unless I really needed the caffeine. Conri ordered a cola, a burger, fries, and onion rings, and pie and ice cream for dessert.

“I have a big appetite,” he explained.

“It doesn’t show. You’re in great shape,” I said. My face and neck flushed with brilliant heat. What a thing to say. Now he would think I was hot for him, or something equally ridiculous.

Conri smiled. “Look, I believe in being straight with people. So, I just have to be straight with you right now, okay?”

“I guess,” I said.

“I like you,” he said. “And I think—I mean, I would, I do want to get to know you, like in a way not about your cat.” His voice croaked at the end of the sentence, and he took a drink of water.

“You do?” I said. Was he serious?

He nodded, clearing his throat, not looking at me.

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” I said.

“I know, I’ve got…” He took another sip of water. “I could be better at talking to people.”

“Yeah, you could,” I said.

It was endearing to see him so nervous, and I silently admitted his discomfort did make me feel kind of dominant. But he couldn’t be interested in me like that. The idea was ridiculous.

He stared, waiting for me to speak.

“Um… okay,” I said. “I just didn’t expect it, is all. I mean, from you. From anyone, really. To be honest, up until now I thought you were kind of a jerk.”

“I get that a lot,” he said and smirked. I wasn’t sure if it was cute and charming or annoying and smug.

The first two face-to-face interactions I’d had with the man had been less than good, but this third was softening me too much, more than I expected or wanted. Third time’s the charm, I thought, then remembered the charm I was supposed to be casting on him.

The waiter brought over our food. This was my chance. I held my fingers in position, underneath the table so Conri wouldn’t see, and tried to mutter the magic words.

“What did you say?” he asked. “What are you doing?”

“Er, nothing. I’m fixing my belt,” I said, scrambling for an excuse. Damn.

So, if I couldn’t cast a spell on him now, I’d have to do this the old-fashioned way and talk an answer out of him.

“So, I saw you over at Kenny’s when… you know, it happened.”

“Yeah, grim stuff. You just don’t expect something like that to happen in a town like this.”

“Something like what?” I prodded.

“Something like finding a dead body in the street. A sad, unlucky thing to happen, I s’pose.”

“Did you know him?”

Conri shook his head. “Nah. Well, I ate there—damn fine food he had. But I didn’t ever talk to him. Most people weren’t fans, or so I hear. A total ass, apparently.”

“Yeah, you could’ve been good friends. You have that in common.”

Conri shoved the massive hamburger into his mouth, taking a huge, dripping bite. He licked sauce off his thumb, and I didn’t want to admit it, but watching his tongue move was kind of arousing.

“I’m sorry. I know I get angry, especially when animals are concerned,” he said, taking another bite and speaking with his mouth full. “I’m working on it.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” I said, thinking his table manners could also use some work.

“It’s going to sound dumb.”

“Try me.”

“I’m learning meditation, that kind of thing, to calm my mind and not fly off the handle like I do. I’ve actually just come back from a retreat thing up in Grey Mountain. It’s a bit silly—intense hiking and survival stuff, as well as drum circles, chanting and the rest of it, but you probably think I’m a nutcase now, so I should probably shut up.”

My mind latched onto his words like a dog with a bone. Grey Mountain was a peak about six hours’ drive from Blackthorn Springs, deep in the wilderness.

“That doesn’t sound silly at all,” I said. “When did you say you got back?”

“I had just gotten back into town and gone for a takeout breakfast when I saw the crowd around BrewHaHa.”

“And how long were you away for?”

“Four weeks,” he said. “That’s actually why I was so out of sorts when we first met. Again, I’m sorry I gave you a bad first impression. I was beat and maybe had post-vacation blues or something.”

It couldn’t have been him. He had been far away for a long time when the curse would have been set.

He still had something to do with magic, though. Drum circles in the woods might have been hokey, but they stemmed from ancient magical rituals. Did his so-called meditation retreat have something to do with the charm he was wearing? It was plausible, but why hide it? And why had he been so prickly when I’d commented on it, only to be so open about the retreat now? And why had he been looking up spells on the internet before he went away?

I was about to probe him more, searching for the right way to ask the dozens of questions I had without scaring him away, when Hattie Winthrop approached our table.

“Belinda. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Fancy,” I said. “In a town this small, funny you should see someone at the only place open for lunch, at lunchtime, up the street from where they live and work.”

The old woman seemed oblivious to my snark. “I meant, fancy seeing you here, together.” She wagged her finger between Conri and me.

I ignored it and gave her my best polite smile. “Is there something you need, Hattie?”

“Oh, I just spoke to Neville. He told me about the hedge. It’s poisonous? That couldn’t be right, is it?”

“Afraid so.”

“That’s not acceptable. Has anyone spoken to Edie about it? She needs to be held responsible. It’s an outrage.”

“I will have a chat with her about it.”

“Well, I think she deserves more than a chat. This has cost the town thousands, and it will cost us all far more if the maze doesn’t go ahead because of her negligence.”

“We’ll straighten it out, Hattie. Don’t worry.”

Hattie left in a huff, still wringing her hands and talking aloud to herself about Edie’s negligence.

“I guess we’ve been caught,” Conri said. “We’ll be all over the town paper tomorrow.”

“I think it means you graduate into a full-fledged local once Mrs. Winthrop starts gossiping about you,” I said.

Conri laughed, more relaxed now. He met my eyes and held my gaze. “I would like to really give them something to gossip about.”

I took a mouthful of tea. It was far too hot and I burnt my tongue, but I took another sip anyway. I didn’t know where to put my eyes, or my hands. I shuffled my feet under the table.

“Do you have any family?” he said. I was grateful for his change of subject. Had he noticed how embarrassed I was? That possibility made me all the more nervous. Any upper hand I’d had slipped away.

“I had a brother,” I said. “I mean, I have a brother. It’s complicated.” My brain and my mouth were operating on two different channels. Why was I telling him about Quentin? Why was I telling him anything personal at all and turning into marshmallows whenever he looked at me with those damned eyes?

“What about you? Do you have family?” I said.

“It’s complicated too,” he said.

“Okay, let’s try an easier question. Why did you become a vet?”

“Because I love animals,” he said. “Standing up for the ones who can’t stand up for themselves. We swear an oath when we graduate: do no harm and help as much as it takes. I’ve always been drawn to that ideal, but I guess I don’t like people enough to want to be a human doctor.”

“Do no harm” was also an oath of a lot of witch circles. Was Conri a witch?

Again, I met his eyes and we looked into one another.

He was a murder suspect five minutes ago, I chanted to myself. He’s into some kind of strange magic. Don’t be so foolish, Belinda. He’s an angry man with secrets!

“And why do you own a bookstore, then? Is that by chance?”

Our eye contact stayed strong.

“I love books,” I said. “Mysteries in particular.” I smiled, and Conri smiled back.