Chapter 11

ELEVEN

“ A test?” I asked, a little too shrilly if Fluffy’s responding bark from above was anything to go by. “ A test?” I repeated in a lower voice. “ What do you mean?”

“ Oh , you know,” Bagley said, all evil grandmotherly smoothness. “ They like to test their witches from time to time. Got my share of them in my lifetime. They really should change up their act; it’s so transparent.”

The Council was testing me?

My palms grew sweaty, and my legs felt like jelly all over again. I sat heavily on the stool and stared at the locket.

“ What happens if you fail the test?” Before she could answer, I buried my face in my hands. “ No , never mind.” Of course I knew what would happen if I failed the test—it’d be a mark against me taking full ownership of the shop.

All the images I’d conjured over the last few months of how my life would be while living in the shop began to dissipate at an alarming speed. All the plans for different holiday specials, for gatherings with Ian and the strays, for having lunch with Dru every day once she opened her shop…gone in a few seconds as if someone had pulled the plug at the bottom of the sink of happy dreams.

Get a grip, Hope , I chastised myself. I closed my eyes and allowed reality to sink back in.

This was only a test. A test I would pass with flying colors. The Council witch hadn’t asked me for anything illegal—and if I couldn’t provide this potion, then maybe I deserved the black mark on my record. Wasn’t I here to help the community with my potions and spells as well as my wisdom?

Straightening abruptly, I nodded to myself. Yes . An immunity potion wasn’t an easy potion to make, but it was well within my reach. I would not fail this test.

“ Aww ,” Bagley said. “ I was hoping you’d stay depressed a little longer. So much more fun to watch.”

“ I’m sorry to disappoint you, Ms . Bagley , but you’ll have to get your kicks some other way.”

“ Are you making fun of the fact that I have no legs?” she demanded, suddenly offended.

“ What ? No ,” I exclaimed, mortified. “ I mean you need to?—”

Loud cackling filled the air. “ Oh , my. If you could see your face right now, child.”

I stared down my nose at the locket. “ You are the worst. And forget about listening to chapter two of the book tomorrow.”

“ Oh , c’mon,” she called out as I walked—in quite the dignified way, if you ask me—out of the kitchen. “ A small jest won’t kill your day!”

Ignoring her, I went upstairs to make sure the dogs were okay, then returned to the shop.

Two and half days to make the potion and pass this test. No problem. I’d have it done by midnight tonight.

An incoming text ping from my phone reminded me I hadn’t finished sending that text to Dru . I asked her about Brimstone’s supposed boy band past, but she hadn’t known. I considered asking Key , but by now she was probably busy setting up for today’s filming, and I didn’t want to distract her.

I could’ve asked Brimstone himself, but he shot out of the shop as soon as his shift was over, leaving me with three thirsty customers and an empty muffin display.

Internet searches of boy bands and food video logs during the lulls got me nowhere, so I switched to digging into our suspects’ pasts. None of them had anything in their history that screamed paranormal saboteur in-the-making, which was very rude of them. I’m sure Key would’ve appreciated a clear suspect.

As I was finishing watching a trailer for Lydia Lee’s last movie—a low-budget thriller where she played a single mom on the run from a psychotic stalker…or was she?—my phone began ringing.

Seeing Key on the caller ID made my heart skip a beat. Had she found something interesting she needed me to check? “ Yes ?”

“ Hope ! Something happened.” She sounded slightly panicked, which had me automatically reach for my can of pepper spray.

“ What is it?”

“ Brett got sick and sent to the hospital.”

“ Oh , no. Is it bad?”

“ We don’t know.” Her voice lowered. “ We think it was magic.”

Nothing else needed to be said. “ I’ll be there in ten.”

She gave me the address for today’s filming spot, and I pinned it on my phone’s GPS . Luckily the shop was empty, so I didn’t have to kick anyone out as I locked up the door, armed the alarm, flipped the sign to closed, and drew down the blinds.

Had our UNSUB learned of Brett’s suspicions and decided to take him out?

After making sure the dogs had enough water, and apologizing for leaving them behind, I drove Bee - Bee to the new location, my blood boiling with righteous indignation.

Sabotaging the movie based on one of my favorite book series was one thing, but poisoning a shifter? That was crossing a huge line. Nobody messed with Olmeda’s paranormals on my probational watch!

I parked as close as possible and ran the rest of the way. Today they were shooting at the John B . Fieldman Park . I didn’t remember any scenes like that in the book, but I supposed they could’ve taken some artistic license with the plot.

Key was waiting for me by some parked SUVs . The sight of the big black vehicles produced a pang in my heart. What would Ian do in this situation if he were here?

Say it wasn’t his problem and go back to taking care of his own business.

The thought drew a reluctant smile out of me.

Maybe not the best example to draw from.

“ Hope , thank you for coming,” Key said.

“ Of course.” I studied her closely, but she didn’t look tearful or about to break down, which I took as a good sign of Brett’s health. I took out a vial from my jacket pocket and handed it over. “ This is the magic-detecting potion. Where’s Shane ?”

She pocketed the bottle and pointed toward the park, where the crew was still setting up equipment. “ Inside . He wanted to stay and see if anyone’s missing or acting suspicious.”

“ Good . Tell me what happened.”

“ Some of the crew were taking a small break and drinking coffee when Brett got really sick. The on-set paramedics took him to the hospital.”

“ How bad was he?”

Key worried her lip. “ Pretty bad. Awful stomach cramps.”

“ You suspect something in the coffee?”

“ Yes .” She lifted a freezer bag with a coffee cup inside. “ I kept the cup.”

“ Smart .”

I took the bag from her and opened it. Gingerly , I snuck a hand inside and touched the rim of the cup, calling on a sliver of my magic.

Detect .

Magic bounced back, a lot weaker than I’d have thought. Interesting . I closed the bag and shoved it in my jacket pocket. Later , I’d run the same tests I’d done on the napkin yesterday, but I’d probably get no closer to figuring out the kind of spell used than I had with the napkin. “ There are some traces of magic, but a lot weaker than on the trunk. I think whoever hurt Brett used mostly normal poison rather than magical. Was the coffee from Fairy Circle ?”

Key shook her head. “ Someone brought a bunch of coffee from a nearby shop.”

“ Who ?” I asked sharply.

“ Ashley and Rey . They’re production assistants.”

“ Not on our suspects list?”

“ Nope .”

“ Did the coffee sit unattended for any length of time?”

“ I don’t know. Shane and I were setting up the snack station when Brett came over already holding the cup.” Her mouth formed a firm line. “ Do you think someone targeted Brett specifically? Because he asked us to look into the sabotage?”

“ It’s the most obvious possibility, especially if they noticed us sniffing around yesterday.”

“ But how would they know he’d pick that cup? Nobody else had an issue.”

“ Maybe someone handed it over?”

“ Wouldn’t that be too obvious? They’d be the first suspect.”

I thought about it for a second. “ It could be the spell on the cup was meant to dissuade others from picking it up and lure him into getting that one specifically.”

Her eyes grew large. “ You can do that?”

“ It’s possible. Doing wards to keep humans away isn’t that difficult, and there are scents that can attract shifters without them realizing it. If our UNSUB got a hold of something like a hair from Brett , it would be easy to tune something up for him specifically. Especially if they use dark magic.”

“ But won’t the poison show up in human tests? Why risk it?”

“ If their end is to get the shooting in trouble, why not? Maybe they thought they were being too subtle with their magic, especially since Brett found the trunk before whatever spell was on it could be activated.”

“ Makes sense.”

“ Can I go inside? There might be more magic on the coffee trays.”

“ We thought you’d want to. Here .” She passed me a Fairy Circle jacket.

I slipped it over my own jacket and faced the park.

This saboteur was going down.