Page 13 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

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CHAPTER TWELVE

D irk and I were up early and driving out to see the intriguing witch. I wasn’t going to say I was fully convinced the Tribunal was covering for her, but I must have given off a vibe that Dirk picked up on.

“You read the Kesslar file, didn’t you?” Dirk was driving this morning, having gotten a much better night’s sleep at the mansion than he had on my couch.

“I did. I tried to read them all before the weekend was over, but reading them the night before seems better for my memory. Makes it fresh.”

“Yeah. She’s one they looked at because of her training. Also isolated from the world the same way the others were…”

“Yeah, it’s suspicious,”

“Exactly. I’ve been waiting for this one since I read it on Saturday.” Dirk was speeding, but we all drove over the limit every time we got the chance. Only Carey was required to keep her speed within the legal limit, and Heath refused to get her car charmed to help her break the law. She wasn’t sturdy enough to survive the accidents.

We had to go nearly two hours out of the city, which wasn’t an unusual length of time since normally getting to the Dallas area was a two-hour drive, but we were heading in a new direction. While we saw nearly a dozen potentially connected witches the day before, today was getting the handful living out of the city on the way toward Austin.

The drive gave me time to think of the reality of my situation. There were hundreds of thousands of witches in the world, at the very least. Millions if you did a raw percentage of the human population. The idea that the coven outside of Dallas-Fort Worth was connected to just any witch was unlikely. The only thing working in favor of my searching was the fact the family had been so insular. They would have needed someone to help them connect with other witches in the world or show them how. They were smart, but their property hadn’t shown us how they developed anything they did, either. They had destroyed or hidden all of that, and it was never found. It was only reasonable to think someone in the state had helped them. Even their family member in the BSA had been stationed in the state. Hisao had found that last member dead, thanks to the werecat who tried to frame Arlo, one of Heath’s youngest werewolves, for murder.

It’s a needle in a haystack search, but at least it’s something. At least I’m doing something. Something is better than nothing. Doing this is going to show those witches we’ll stop at nothing to find them and stop what they’re doing to the moon cursed.

Dirk turned down a dirt road, and I was grateful we picked his truck for the trip, as the road wasn’t great.

“We’re nearly there…” Dirk rolled his window down since we were out in the country. He would pick up scents on the wind much easier. I followed suit because while my nose wasn’t as good as a werewolf’s, it was still pretty damn good.

It was a myriad of scents, growing thicker as we approached the main house on the property. Olivia Kesslar lived on nearly three hundred acres, an amazing bit of land. It would be a great farm, but much of it seemed left to nature. The main home was small, but the property was interesting because there were three other buildings and large sections of tall chain-link fences like you’d see in a zoo to keep the animals in.

“What have we found out here?” I asked softly.

“No idea, but it’s something.”

I couldn’t help but snort at the comment that mimicked my thoughts on the drive.

We pulled up to the front, and I went to the door with the specific report for Olivia Kesslar in one hand. Dirk kept watch down the stairs, the briefcase with all the reports inside so he could put it away when I handed it off. I knocked hard, which started a cacophony of sounds. Birds started squawking, dogs barked, and I was fairly certain I heard some coyotes begin to vocalize. The door didn’t open, though.

“Hello?” I called out.

“Oh, hold on! I’m sorry! I’ll be right there!” The feminine voice was frantic and surprised. It took another minute before I could hear someone walking to the front door, the soft steps barely audible under the music of the animals all around me. When the door swung open, a young woman with big doe eyes and long brown hair stared at me.

“I’m sorry! I was settling in some orphaned possum joeys that were found. I’m Olivia Kesslar of the Magical Animal Rescue,” she said, pushing her lengthy hair from her face, and I caught the scent of hand sanitizer. “Before you ask, the animals aren’t magical. I just find rescuing them to be a magical thing to do.”

“I see,” I said softly, nodding. “I’m Jacky Leon, member of the werecat ruling family.”

I watched her eyes go even wider.

“Hi…” she said, her energy changing into something more subdued. “Is there something I can do for the… werecat ruling family?”

“I’m following up on the Tribunal investigation. They spoke to you some time ago, and I’m just… going back around.” I held up the specific report with her name on it, only long enough for her to possibly see her name, then held it back for Dirk, who tucked it away quickly.

“I see,” she said, sighing heavily. “Still haven’t figured out how those witches did it, huh? I’m sorry to hear that you need to ask around again like this.”

“We had some developments recently. You seem well informed, even though you live way out here.”

“It was explained to me. I just figured if anyone could figure out what happened and how, it would be the Tribunal. That’s their job, isn’t it?” Olivia stepped back and held the door open. “Come in. Feel free to get comfortable. I won’t be foolish enough to offer a drink. You wouldn’t take it.”

“That’s very insightful.” I stepped in, and Dirk followed me, hovering closer to the door while I went toward the living room.

“Working with animals, I know wounded ones might not want to eat or drink if they don’t trust the person offering it,” she said, then sighed again. “Not that you are animals, obviously. This is what I get for not talking to people often enough. I don’t choose my words carefully. I grew up in a city with a werewolf pack, and I noticed when I was young that there’s something about the body language and…” She shook her head. “Neither here nor there.”

“Moon Cursed have some more instinctual or animalistic tendencies,” I said, shrugging. “You know how to read them.”

“Thank you for understanding.” She seemed immensely relieved that I got it.

“Do you know why you were on the Tribunal’s initial investigation target list?” I asked, looking around her living room for a moment, taking in the almost sterile way she kept it. Nothing that a puppy could eat and choke on; the vacuum was used regularly.

“Two reasons… my training and my land out here.” Olivia shrugged. “It’s what I get for not staying in touch with other witches. No one really knows what I’m doing until they get out here… and then, most witches think what I do is a complete waste of time.”

“What do you do?” I asked, looking back at her.

“I rescue animals. I rehab them and adopt them to good homes if they are a domestic variety, or I release them back to the wild if that’s where they were from.” Her smile was gentle and loving as she looked out the window. I walked closer, moving slowly to look out the same window and saw an enclosure where a bird of prey I couldn’t name was sitting on a tree that the enclosure must have been built around.

“That’s… that’s really lovely, actually,” I said softly, looking over my shoulder at Dirk. “I’ve rescued a few of my own wild animals if you ask anyone close to me. People think what I do can be a complete waste of time, too.”

Dirk started to shake as I looked over my shoulder at him.

“I think I heard about that,” Olivia said, her gentle smile becoming a grin. “A pack of wolves, right? You keep them in your territory and everything.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. I was glad to confirm a bit more of what she knew. “So, they were interested in the facilities and your education. Care to take us on a tour? We have to verify the initial investigation. Perhaps while you show us around, you can tell me about the education and training you got that made them look into you.”

“Oh, absolutely. Day-to-day stuff keeps me busy, but if you’re okay with watching me work while we talk, then let’s go.”

“Lead the way.” I looked at Dirk again, the poor young man shaking his head still at my inappropriate joke. “Dirk, you get to follow. Let’s go.”

“All right. Let me put this back in the truck.” Dirk left before us. I made no move, waiting for him to reappear, so Olivia was kept there as well. She didn’t seem bothered by the wait, though.

“Now we’re ready,” I said politely, now less intrigued thanks to the potential connection and more interested in just what she did.

“Great, we’ll start here, then!” With a smile, she waved for us to follow her into the kitchen. “This is where I prepare bottles for the babies. I use a few materials you would find interesting, curious, or suspicious, depending on what you’re looking for. Everything I feed the animals here, I also use my potion training and the correct herbs from my garden to enhance to help them gain weight or heal or grow, all depending on what they need. I don’t brew everything here in the kitchen since these sorts of potions can go wrong, but I keep portions of the ingredients here for an emergency supply.”

“Wait, so everything you do as a witch is for these animals?” I looked around, opening some cabinets she pointed to, seeing regular herbs I knew the names of and some things I had never thought of being used in potions. I wasn’t a witch, though. This was out of my knowledge base. Dirk came up behind me and took a couple of pictures.

“I’ll send them to Zuri later if we have to,” he explained to me over my shoulder.

“To answer you, Miss Leon, yes. I was born with a small skill for plant related magic, helping them grow and such. I was educated in healing magic. I combined those to start the herb garden I needed for potion training from my mother. She wanted me to be a doctor. I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

“How did that go?”

“I haven’t spoken to her since I was twenty and told her I was going to vet school.” Olivia shrugged. “She cut me off. I took out student loans instead and never looked back. Got my degree and went to work with animals.”

“And how did you end up out here?” Dirk asked, frowning.

I knew he couldn’t smell any lies because I couldn’t either. She was being completely truthful.

“I realized that it was hard getting away with doing magic to save people’s animals while other people were watching. When I rescued a fawn near its mother, who had been killed by a car, I took all of my savings, bought this place, and started the rescue. My old coworkers supported me and helped me bring in donations, and if I need more complicated surgeries, I reach out to them for that help.”

“I have to ask… how do you pay for it?” I knew businesses were expensive, and you had to rely on them to make a profit if you didn’t have wealth. This was a non-profit animal rescue. She was only spending money.

“Donations help. I have feeds of some enclosures that are live and allow people to watch and such; those bring in a constant small stream of money. I just make sure not to do anything in front of those enclosures. I’ll point them out when we go near them. Beyond that, my mother cut me off, not my father, and they divorced when I was young. He passed while I was in vet school and left an inheritance…” Olivia looked at a small cage where those opossum joeys were bundled up and sleeping. I could smell them. “He loves animals, too. I fell in love with them when I spent my summers with him. With the proper investments and everything from him, I really only collect donations so other people can feel good about themselves when they donate.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your father.” I swallowed. It was upsetting to hear how she could lose her supportive father so young, yet mine, sometimes a complete asshole, was still kicking. It also made me jealous. Not because I wanted Hasan dead but because everything was so complicated between us.

“It happened ten years ago,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t think too much about it.” She started moving toward the back door. “Let’s do the entire tour.”

Dirk and I did the tour, including spaces she didn’t let any inspectors into, protected so she could work on potions and spells to help the animals she took care of. While witches were out to humanity, they weren’t well regulated. Some were known and open about it, while many were reasonably cautious. Olivia, it seemed, only told a couple of coworkers at her old vet office, and they agreed with her choice to come out onto her own property to work.

We met everything—coyotes and foxes, hawks, owls and pigeons, badgers and groundhogs. Even exotic things people had tried to keep as pets, like one tiger prowling in its large enclosure, which had a pool built in for it.

“Shakir is a lovely male, but no, I don’t go in the enclosure with him the way I can with many of the other animals,” she said as the tiger prowled closer. “I’ve been asked if I can rescue more big cats and other large predators, but I only have a couple of enclosures right now for them, and once you get into a lot of big cat rescuing, you become a dedicated big cat rescue… That’s a lot of work I’m not ready for right now. I like saving the local animals, too, and I would lose that or need to hire more people to help.”

“I don’t need any rescuing,” I said lightly, smiling as the tiger bared its teeth at me and Dirk. “Promise.”

“Thank you.” Olivia chuckled. “As for my workers, if I haven’t explained… I have a couple of ranch hands who come out and tend the land and feed animals with me in the mornings. You missed them today. Fully human, no magic. They think I develop supplements to give the animals, like nutrition smoothies.” She reached forward, letting Shakir sniff her hand through the fence. He was pleased by this move, then walked away, leaving us alone. “This is also the end of the tour.”

“Thank you for showing all of this to us,” I said, meaning every word. I had expected a lot of things on this trip with Dirk, but what Olivia showed me was nothing like I had expected.

“Any time! I mean it. If the werewolves that you know want to visit, I’ll welcome them. I have no reason to buy into any of the nonsense other supernaturals get up to, always bickering with each other.” Olivia stared at Shakir as he went to soak in his pool. “We’re all on the same earth. We should be helping each other.”

I could only nod. Her sincerity was beautiful.

“I’ll let you two get back to the house on your own and give you some time to look around alone; just don’t go in the enclosures. Some of these animals are escape artists, and they are here to heal or to live out their lives.” Olivia gave a tiny bow, something she clearly didn’t do often enough, and walked away.

“Wow,” Dirk said. “I wasn’t expecting any of this.”

“Me neither…” I chuckled. “So, what happened between you and Landon?”

“Right now?” He was stunned by my audacity, but that only made it funnier to blindside him while in this beautiful piece of paradise on earth.

“Yeah, why not?” I smirked.

“He asked me to marry him when we get back. I said yes,” Dirk answered quickly. “We’re going to do it at the courthouse. He wants that piece of paper, and I want it, too. Something real and tangible. A real promise that we’ll do everything together from now on, and if we’re not together, then we’ll always think about each other. Wear the rings when we can and everything.”

When I was too stunned to reply, Dirk grinned.

“Was that a good enough explanation of how Landon and I are doing?” He started walking away, leaving me reeling from the sudden turnaround from the drama over the weekend.