Page 16 of Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #7)

Mark held his cup with both hands and stared down into the dark coffee. “I feel the same way. Now that Sarah told me about our heritage after Elisa Marie was born, I question everything. Even the people I work with.”

“I guess you knowing about Magic Spring’s secret made it easier for the coven to put a hold on the investigation around Alfred Howard’s death.” Mia decided to get right to the point. “That’s why you’re here, right? To find out if this new status of mine has given me insight into the man’s death?”

In Mark’s defense, he blushed before nodding. “Sorry, I don’t know how these things work. Do you have any more information?”

Mia shook her head. “I found out about my test results less than ten hours ago. They haven’t handed me the keys to the vault where they hide all the top-secret information. But maybe soon. Or maybe they just download everything into my brain.”

“You’re pulling my leg.” Mark leaned back and set his coffee on the desk. “Mind if I have a muffin while you make fun of my ignorance?”

“I’m not making fun of you. I’m telling you the cold, hard facts. I’m as ignorant on this subject as you are. I don’t know anything about Howard’s death, except that Trent and Cerby didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“What, you think I actually thought a five-pound Maltese killed a guy?” Mark laughed as he broke the carrot cake muffin in two.

“Besides, Trent doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

His brother Steve? Now that’s another story.

He was a senior when I entered high school.

He was dangerous on and off the football field.

You didn’t mess with him. If he was in the weight room when I went to work out, I ran cardio instead. ”

“So you aren’t looking at Trent as a suspect?”

Mark ate half the muffin in two bites, then went back for the second half.

He paused and looked at Mia. “Just because the body was found on Trent’s property doesn’t mean he killed him.

Why would he call the police when he could have buried the body somewhere in those woods and no one would have known the difference?

Hikers get lost in the mountains all the time, but somehow Magic Mountain is notorious for attracting wandering hikers.

You should see the reports I get for missing kids.

It’s like they’re drawn here by some ancient calling signal. ”

Mia wondered if Mark hadn’t hit closer to home than he realized.

Mark left her office soon after asking one more time for her to call as soon as she knew anything.

As she moved the coffee service over to the table in her office, she thought about Mark’s words.

Christina had been drawn to Magic Springs.

Mia had assumed it was because she had moved here, but what if there was something that called to a certain type of person?

Now Finn was here. Mia grabbed her phone and called her grandmother.

When she got Grans’s voice mail, she quickly broke down her theory.

What if Magic Springs did have some sort of homing beacon for people with special powers?

Even if they didn’t know they had any. And if that was true, did both Christina and Finn come from families with magic in their veins?

She opened her computer and scanned her emails. One was from Blake. She opened it and read the subject line: Call me when Mark Baldwin leaves.

Nothing else was in the email.

She glanced at the message from Brandon. She’d get this over with first. She dialed the number and was surprised when he picked up on the first ring. “Hi, Brandon. This is Mia Malone. We met at the Harvest Queen Pageant?”

“Mia, I called you.” He chuckled. “I definitely know who you are. Congratulations, young lady. Your test scores are amazing. The society is expecting big things from you. Now, I know that your power acceptance ceremony is being held at the school on Thursday, and naturally, it’s only open for friends and family, but I wanted to follow up and make sure you knew that you are welcome to participate in a coven initiation during the Halloween party on Friday.

It would be precisely at midnight, and we’ll be out of your hair no later than two that morning.

No one likes a party guest who won’t go home, right? ”

Mia took a breath. “I’m sorry, Brandon. I haven’t decided about the coven membership yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I do. Sabrina told me I could tell her on Friday at the party.”

“Well, of course, you can wait, but if you accept our invitation, I’m sure a lot of members will make sure to be at the ceremony to welcome you.

Most of our older members don’t attend the Halloween party unless they have family being initiated.

You’d meet all the board and the founding members of our coven.

” He paused, then kept going. “But I hear the hesitation. Sabrina will be in contact before Friday. I hope you take our invitation seriously. We need you in the coven. Especially now that things are changing.”

Mia thanked him again for the opportunity, but it wasn’t until she hung up that his words hit her. What was changing in the coven world? She didn’t have time to think about what Brandon said before Blake burst into her office.

“Seriously, don’t you read your emails?” Blake put her hands on her hips, staring at Mia. “I know Mark Baldwin left over twenty minutes ago. I thought you would have called me by now.”

“Sorry, I was taking care of a phone call.” Mia crumpled the pink slip and threw it away.

Blake was already paranoid about the local coven, and there wasn’t any reason to let her know that she’d just talked to Brandon Marshall.

“What can I help you with? I’m almost finished with the report on Friday night’s event. ”

It wasn’t true. She’d filled in as much as she could before the event, but she needed to review the kitchen report to finish it off.

Blake rolled her eyes. “You think I’m worried about a report? I saw the coven announcement. What are you going to do? You know if you join, they’re going to force you into a leadership role. Then you’ll have to tell them about me.”

“I don’t know anything about you except you were in a coven back East.” Mia paused, looking at her boss. “Wait, if you’re not part of the Magic Springs coven, how did you find out about my test results?”

“I keep an active email address with my original coven. I hate to tell you this, Mia Malone, but every coven-attached witch in the world knows about your test results. You’re the first in several generations to even come close to testing out to Level Three during the first examination.

” She narrowed her eyes. “This was your first examination, right?”

Mia nodded and leaned back in her chair. The pressure from this was going to be extreme. The good news was, if the coven offered her a position, she probably would be making enough to quit the Lodge and just run Mia’s Morsels.

The bad news was, she probably wouldn’t have the time to run her own business.

Every gift also came with a problem. She knew the story of Helen and the Trojan horse. She didn’t know if this gift was going to be worth the problem it caused.

She heard Gloria giggling from her perch on the kitchen baker’s rack.