“Okay, thank you, Sheriff.” I hung up the phone in my store.
“What did he say?” Lila said, literally sitting on the edge of her seat. Conri leaned against the wall, his arms folded grimly.
“He said the autopsy had already shown Kenny to have died of a stroke and they couldn’t reopen a closed case based on superstition and nonsense accusations of curses and witchcraft.”
“And that got your polite thank-you voice? This is outrageous,” Lila fumed.
It was outrageous. It was all kinds of unjust and unfair and unquestionably the most heinous thing anyone could have ever done. It was somehow even worse than if Tom Jenkins had intentionally murdered Kenny.
We walked up the street to the Bar Armadillo. Until BrewHaHa reopened, if it ever did open again, Blackthorn’s only bar was the only place we could buy lunch unless we wanted to support that loathsome killer’s business.
Henry and Adela were inside, finishing their meal at the table along the front window. Lila, Conri, and I took our seats with them.
We watched Tom Jenkins go about his business across the street, the oblivious customers filing in and out. Every cup of coffee he sold was like he was getting away with murder.
I noticed Henry and Adela exchange knowing looks.
“Something tells me you both know a lot more about Tom Jenkins and Kenny Langdel than you’re letting on,” I said.
Henry glanced at Adela, and she nodded, folding her hands on the table.
“Adela was able to divine a vision,” Henry said. “You in Tom Jenkins’s house earlier. We know what he did.”
“A vision?” I said. “Is that how you found me at the…” I stopped, remembering myself and not wanting to let the others in on what had gone down at the maze.
Henry shook his head. “Different.”
The two hundred other questions I wanted to ask fell immediately out of my mind as the front door swung open and Rowan Jackfort stepped into the bar.
My bowels clenched, and my heart did a triple backflip. I sank into my chair, hoping to be invisible. He strode over to the table, his face twisted in fury.
“You,” he hissed, pointing a long finger at me. If he had yelled, it would have been less threatening. “What have you done to me?”
His arms were obviously working again, and I couldn’t see anything wrong with him besides a cut on the top of his nose thanks to the lucky strike from my boot.
I sat up straight, reminding myself I didn’t need to be afraid. I never needed to be frightened of this man again. But my chest was still light and tight, my body ready to run; that affirmation of fearlessness might have needed some time to sink in.
He leaned over my chair, reeking of spirits. “You’ve stolen my magic,” he whispered in a viper’s voice.
It took a moment for what Jackfort had said to really make sense. In that time, my fear dissolved and a chuckle rose inside me.
“Pardon?” I said, trying to suppress the laugh. “Did you just say—”
“You heard me, bitch.”
Conri straightened his back in the chair beside me, swiveling to face Rowan. “You’d better back down there, pal,” he said.
Rowan sized up Conri. “Stay out of it, dog man. This isn’t your business.”
Dog man? That was the second reference Jackfort had made to Conri and dogs. At first, I’d thought it was just an insult. Had he known Conri’s secret before I had?
“Not another word, you hear me?” Conri said. “Get the hell out of here.”
“It’s okay, Conri,” I said, half-scared he was going to stand up and tear Jackfort in two, and half wanting to see exactly that happen. “Rowan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t done anything.”
“I can’t conjure a single spell. You did it, with that thing you did to me at the maze. You’ve stolen my magic.”
“I haven’t done—”
Rowan’s hand shot out and grabbed me by the neck. In the same second, Conri was up and twisting Jackfort into something resembling a paper clip. Lila, Henry and Adela were on their feet too. They all stood between Rowan and me, the look on each of their faces as if they were all about to rip him to shreds.
I rose and moved in front of my friends. I stood close to Jackfort, still held by Conri. I smiled warmly. Everyone else in the bar was watching the scene. Here’s a good show for town gossip.
“I really have no idea what could have happened to you, Rowan, but I hope, beyond all hope , that it really was me who did it to you. I guess now you really are the impotent cretin I’ve always known you to be.”
“I told you I was going to make you pay, Drake. You and your guard dog, and everyone else. You’re all dead.”
Conri twisted Jackfort’s arms harder. “Time to go, buddy,” he said. He hustled Jackfort to the door and pushed him out into the street. Through the window, I watched him crumple onto the sidewalk. I couldn’t help but laugh. Werewolf or not, Conri might be a handy guy to have around.
“Oh, Belinda,” Lila gushed. “What on earth was all that? Are you alright?”
Conri came to stand beside me, so close I could feel the warmth radiating off him like the comforting glow of a fire. I turned from the window where I’d watched Jackfort disappear from view, and I beheld each of my new friends—the fairy, the werewolf, the wizard, and the demon—and smiled. My new family.
“I’m fine,” I said, still grinning. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever been better.”
The black SUV with the mirrored windows double-parked outside the diner. The man in the black suit I had seen in the street got out of the driver’s seat, and another man in an identical outfit climbed out of the passenger side.
“Oh my goodness, it’s Samir!” Lila squealed. “He didn’t tell me he was coming to visit!” Lila ran across the street. We watched Lila and Samir hug. The way he was pointing at the diner suggested they were talking about Tom. Lila kept nodding, now hugging herself tightly. The two men moved into the diner and Lila stayed on the sidewalk. She waved frantically for us to join her.
“That’s your brother? I thought you said he was a lawyer,” I said.
“He is,” she said, sounding confused.
“So why is he here interested in Tom Jenkins?” I said.
“I don’t really understand it. He just told me he’s here on business involving the Jenkinses.”
“About the curse?” Conri asked.
Lila shrugged. “All I know is the vague stuff he just said. He seemed to be in a hurry. It’s a bit strange, though, that he would come up here without telling me first.”
Moments later, the two suited men came marching out of the cafe on either side of Tom. The way his head was held, low and guilty, he might as well have been marching out in handcuffs.
“Are they arresting him?” I said.
“Looks like it,” Lila said.
“Is this what you meant when you said the authorities were looking into it?” I asked Henry.
He nodded.
“And I’m guessing these guys have nothing to do with the sheriff’s department, or even the Loreton police?”
Henry shrugged.
“So, who are they? Some kind of supernatural cops?”
Henry shook his head. I knew I wasn’t getting anything out of the wizard then. There was a mystery in this, and I knew I would find out what was at the bottom of it eventually.
The first man ushered Tom into the back of the car and then got back behind the wheel. Samir came over to where the five of us stood, watching. It seemed we weren’t the only ones staring. The entire street had stopped for a look.
“Thanks for the tip-off, Lila,” Samir said. “I’ll let you know what happens with the tribunal.”
“Tip-off?” Lila said. “I didn’t…”
Samir winked at her.
“What’s the tribunal?” I said.
“Justice, ma’am. The use of the forbidden Mortis curse. Can’t go unpunished.”
“Punished how?” I asked. “By whom?”
Samir looked me up and down, and I didn’t imagine his gaze flicking back to my snake necklace. I also didn’t think I imagined the glint of suspicion in his eyes.
“I should introduce you all,” Lila said. “Samir, this is my boss, Belinda Drake, and her friend, Conri O’Farrell. This is Henry Walton and Adela Kristos.”
“Belinda Drake,” Samir said, ignoring the others. He moved my hand in a slow shake. My senses immediately tingled, and I pulled my hand away, shoving it deep into my pocket.
“How long are you staying for?” Lila asked her brother.
“Straight back to Loreton now. I’m working, Lila. I’ll call you later.” He got back into the car, and we watched the black shark of a vehicle cruise away down the street.
“So, what happens now?” Conri said.
“I guess we get back to work, and life returns to normal,” I said. “Or as normal as possible.”