Page 25 of Wicching Hour (The Sea Wicche Chronicles #3)

TWENTY-FIVE

Threats in Too Many Directions

“I ’ll force a meeting of the Council,” Mom said. “You send me that footage and I’ll play it at the meeting. They’ll be shunned by the wicche families.”

“Sure. That’s good, but why aren’t I pressing charges? I have video evidence and we have the poisoned food.” I turned to Bracken. “Declan has it, doesn’t he?”

He nodded. “Yes. It’s in one of his truck boxes. Given how crafty your raccoon friends are, he worried his dumpster wouldn’t be secure enough.”

“Perfect.” I tapped the screen and called my boyfriend. I got a little charge just thinking of him in those terms. Look at me, with a father and a boyfriend. Who would have ever believed it? Not me, that’s for sure.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Do you still have the poisoned food in your truck box?”

“Thanks for the reminder,” he said. “I completely forgot to get rid of it.”

“No,” I said, “that’s good. I have Milo on video poisoning my food and tea. I’ll call Osso, give him the evidence, but also let him know I want to press charges.”

Declan was quiet a moment. “Yes. Do that. How long have there been cameras inside the gallery?”

I felt my cheeks redden, remembering times things may have gotten out of hand while he was helping me set up the gallery. “It was sometime in the last week, when Mary Beth was here, getting everything whipped into shape.”

He considered. “Okay. We should be fine then. Back to the original question: I have the poisoned pastries and tea tied up in a locked truck box. When you talk with Osso, tell him I can deliver them to him tomorrow, that I’ll be up in the mountains tonight. Unfortunately, he’s not going to be able to get a hold of me, as I’ll be running in my other skin.”

“He’ll understand, and I doubt it’s a big deal as to whether they get the evidence tonight or tomorrow. Okay, drive safely and have a good dinner.”

He chuckled. “It’s probably for the best that I’ll be eating alone. I’ll be protein loading and it won’t be pretty to watch.”

I laughed with him. The man ate a ton, but he was so polite with it, it was easy not to notice that an entire lasagna was gone or that he’d eaten three stacked burgers to my one.

“Okay, love, have a good evening,” he said easily, as though my heart hadn’t just seized.

“Bye,” I choked out and then sat, stunned. He’d called me love . I didn’t—how was I supposed to react to that?

“Well?” Mom asked, interrupting my internal meltdown. “Does he still have the evidence?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to say words yet.

“I don’t know,” Gran said. “I’m not comfortable getting human authorities involved.”

“I agree with Arwyn,” Bracken said, and my confused heart warmed. I wasn’t used to having someone jump in on my side. “Detective Osso is a black bear shifter, so he understands secrecy. Also, the most the Council can do is censure them, perhaps shun them, neither of which is commensurate with what they planned and what would have happened had Arwyn not thwarted them.”

I got up and walked to the window, my emotions still all over the place. He’d said love . “It’s not just that they need to be punished for trying to kill people to make me look bad. It’s also that if we don’t do something, they’ll continue to help Calliope destroy this family.” I pulled out my phone again. “I need to make sure Melissa and her crew don’t do or say anything to tip off Milo that we know.”

When I walked back into the living room from the kitchen, Melissa assuring me that nothing would be done until I gave her the go ahead — though she sorely wanted to tear him apart — I found Mom standing and Bracken gone.

At my confused look, Mom said, “Bracken will meet you at home. I told him I wanted to drive you back.”

“Oh. Okay.” Not gonna lie, I was disappointed. I wanted to ride in Bracken’s Bronco, but clearly Mom needed to talk to me. “Gran, let me know if you sense that entity back again.”

She nodded but seemed tired as she sipped her tea.

If I’d thought Mom wanted to talk with me, I was wrong. We sat in silence on the drive. “Mom, why did you want to drive me? What’s up?”

She was quiet a moment longer and then said, “Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” There was another long pause and then she said, “It must have been strange, your father just showing up like that.”

Ah, now we were getting down to it. “Thank goodness he did. I didn’t know what to do.”

She gave a vague “Hmm” and settled back into silence. It wasn’t long before she pulled up in front of the gallery. She put her car into park but still didn’t say anything.

“Just say what you want to say, Mom.”

She gave her head a quick shake. “Don’t be silly, darling. I’m glad it all worked out.” She paused. “It’s nice that you’re beginning to have a relationship with him.”

“I had to talk him into helping me protect Gran. He was all for letting the demon have her.”

She turned sharply at that. “He said that?”

“Yep. Called her an old barracuda. He complained that if he’d been allowed to see me as I was growing up, I’d have a much better understanding of my fae side and be better able to use my magic.” I watched the play of emotions across her face.

“I see. Did he say something similar about me? I mean, I’m sure he did. He was so angry with me.”

“Nope.” I picked up my backpack from between my feet. “He didn’t mention you.” I watched her face fall as she nodded her acceptance. “Of course, I did notice that he had a hard time keeping his eyes off you during opening night.”

Her eyes widened and then she quickly shook her head. “No. I did what I did, and I knew the consequences.” She gestured to the gallery’s door. “Go ahead. I’ll watch until you’re in.” She glanced up and down the road, so I did too. We were both looking for the stalker.

“I don’t see his car,” I told her.

“Good. You’re looking a little tired, darling. See if you can get to bed early tonight.”

Mom knew I rarely got more than a couple of hours of sleep a night, but this was our routine. She’d tell me to get more sleep, and I’d agree to try. We both knew it was useless, but we pretended.

I got out. “Thanks for the ride, Mom. Let me know what happens with the Council. After I talk with Osso, though.”

“I remember.” She waved and I closed her door. I flicked my fingers at the gallery door, went in, and locked it behind me.

The gallery was dim, the overhead lights off. A soft, pearly glow of early evening lit the way to the studio door. When I passed the café, my stomach twisted. That poor child would have writhed and died right here and for what? Money? A demon’s favor?

When I opened the studio door, my stomach twisted again. Oh no. I ran to the bathroom and was sick. I couldn’t get the image of that dying child and his wailing mother out of my head. After I cleaned myself up, I brewed some tea and took it to my chair to drink, hoping it would settle my stomach.

As the light bled from the sky, I shook off my stupor and called Detective Osso.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Always the charmer.” I put him on speakerphone, so I could continue to hold my teacup in both hands. I needed the warmth. “I have to talk with you about a poisoning. Are you available tonight?”

“Someone poisoned you?” he growled.

I flicked my fingers and the exterior shutters came down. A shiver went through me. I didn’t know why I was feeling so vulnerable, but I was locking everything up tight tonight.

“Not me, no. Someone poisoned the food in my café case so that a human would be killed. I know who did it. I have camera footage and Declan has the poisoned food in a bag in his truck lockbox.”

I heard young voices in the background. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think. You’re home. We can do this tomorrow.”

“Are you in danger tonight?” he asked.

I thought about it, wishing I had a blanket. Oh, shit . The cold. I still needed to do the fae ward. What was the matter with my head tonight? “I think I’m okay. Or, at least, I will be once I make another ward.”

He grumbled, “Where’s Declan?”

“With the pack in Big Sur. My cousin and her friend are causing problems with the pack. He’s going to be meeting with them in the mornings and evenings until we deal with our problem.”

There was a woman’s voice and then he said, “Fine, but call me if you need me. I can be there in ten minutes.”

“Thank you and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I pocketed my phone, went to the freezer for three muffins, and thawed them in my gloved hands as I walked to the back door. Hopefully, my raccoon friends would visit this evening. I could use some adorable mischief right about now.

The moon was bright overhead, so I didn’t bother with the outdoor lights. I put the three muffins in a semicircle in front of the bench closest to my back door and then sat. It was night and the wind was coming in strong off the ocean, but it was still warmer out here than in my studio.

I breathed in the sea spray and tried to center myself so I could create this ward on my own. Instead, I felt a prickling between my shoulder blades. Someone was watching me. I let down my mental blocks, listening. Nothing. I lowered them more and felt Bracken sleeping in his RV.

Was I wrong? Maybe Cal was scrying tonight, keeping tabs on me. I almost rationalized it away, but I felt something to my right, something in the tall grass near the rocks at the water’s edge. It was my property, but an area I let grow wild.

Closing my eyes, I did my best to project relaxation and calm while I sought out what was niggling in my brain. The image of a small camera popped up behind my eyelids. Damn it .

I stood and walked to the edge of the deck. I needed a tall door here, one that locked. Declan had promised to make doors for each end of the deck, but he’d been so damned busy, he hadn’t had a chance to yet.

Movement on the rocks drew my attention. Wilbur’s head bobbed in the water but on the rocks, Cecil climbed toward the tall grass. What was happening? Cecil was running a special op for me. His tentacle rose up in the air, wrapped around a narrow pole, and snapped it, dragging the top half of the pole and the small camera attached to it back into the ocean with him.

Once it was gone, the tension in my shoulders eased. I waved at Wilbur and the water where Cecil had disappeared. “Thank you!” Feeling more settled, I went back to the bench, sat to the side, took off a glove, and then remembered the octopus bottle in my backpack. I ran in, retrieved it, and sat back down. Gloves off, I poured the special ocean water into the palm of one hand, rubbed them together, and placed my hands on my face, fingertips on my forehead, covering my eyes.

Deep-sea leviathans swam through my mind again. Breathing deeply, I held that picture in my head and moved my hands to the side of the gallery. I imagined a massive whale breaching and throwing himself onto his side, creating a tidal wave that swamped the gallery and Bracken’s RV—and new car because why not?

As I pictured the ocean covering every inch of the gallery and washing out to the property line, I felt water run over the backs of my hands. Imposing my will, I added stingrays and lionfish to swim through the watery ward. I thought of Declan and Bracken, Mom and Gran, Detectives Osso and Hernández, Carter, Hester, Frank, Faith, Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Robert. I didn’t want any of them accidentally hurt.

I’d have to adjust the ward before I opened again next weekend. Until then, I wanted to hold everyone at bay while we tried to find Calliope.