Chapter 18

Goingaround Olmeda on Bee-Bee made everything a hundred times better. I zoomed around the traffic, earning myself some very inventive curses, and arrived at my favorite grocery store.

Whichhad also run out of candy.

Tellingmyself this wasn’t a sign of bad luck, I moved on to my second-favorite supplies store.

Whichdidn’t sell candy to begin with.

Ittook me two more stores to find someone willing to part with some of their candy hoard, and I stuffed it all inside the Vespa’s seat compartment. Don’t worry, it was an insulated space, and the candy did not suffer for being sat upon by my lovely bottom.

“Cool costume,” someone shouted my way.

Iwaved at them and pondered my next move. April had given me two names: Bosko and Wyatt. Of the two, Wyatt was the most likely subject—he owned a shady bar that catered to illegal magic users.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of him telling me anything was close to zero, so I’d have to bring in the big guns, make Ian earn his nonexistent paycheck.

Gettingcomfortable on Bee-Bee, I dialed him.

“Hello, Hope,” he said in his silky, deep voice.

Ifought the urge to squirm, blush, and tell him to stop it. “Hello, Ian. Are you busy right now?”

“I can talk. I liked your zombie makeup.”

“Really? BecauseI made it even better.”

“Oh?”

Itook a selfie and sent it to him.

Hechuckled after a few moments. “Witch zombie mummy is definitely your brand.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said with a grin.

Twoyoung women stopped by my side. One carried a phone on a stick, clearly live-streaming, and had no issues pointing it in my direction.

“Say ‘hello’ to the chat,” she said. She was wearing a skimpy vampire maid uniform, complete with white makeup and blood dripping out of her mouth.

“Hello, chat.” I blew the camera a kiss.

Theylaughed and bumped fists with me before they moved on, chatting the whole time.

“What was that?” Ian asked.

“Someone live streaming. I’m internet-famous now! Oh, wait.”

Ihurried after the two women and handed them a TeaCauldron’s business card before returning to Bee-Bee.

“Sorry,” told Ian. “I forgot to promote the shop.”

“Very important for all those viewers not in Olmeda.”

“Hey, now. You never know who might drop by.”

Hechuckled again, the sound wrapping around my internal organs and reducing them to mush as it usually did. “True.”

“Have you found out anything about new witches in town?”

“Hope, we’ve talked about this before. It’s not an internet search; it takes time for people to get back to me.”

“I know.”

“Did you find anything on your end?”

Itold him about my conversation with April and my two current suspects.

“I can talk to Bosko,” I said, “but Wyatt won’t say a word to me. Can you go there tonight and see what he knows?”

“We have the tour rehearsal.”

Iwriggled my eyebrows even though he wasn’t here to appreciate it. “‘We,’ huh?”

Astony silence followed my remark.

“It’s okay to feel included in the lovely Halloween tours, Ian,” I told him smoothly. “The sky won’t fall and your house will still be standing the next day.”

Istretched an arm to tap on a nearby tree.

“If you say so.”

“Fine. You’ll just be there to check the strays don’t do anything horrid to the cemetery’s reputation.”

“Yes.”

“You could drop by the bar after the rehearsal,” I suggested. “It won’t take that long.”

“You realize if he’s guilty and gets a visit from the local bounty hunter, he’ll run for the hills, right?” Ian asked dryly.

“Technically speaking, you’re semi-retired.”

“I don’t think he’ll care about technicalities.”

Ibit my lip, pondering this problem. We could send Alex or Shane in, but I doubted they’d get anywhere, either—everyone knew they worked for Ian. Could we use Mark? But that would mean telling him about Crane’s death, and I didn’t trust him that much yet. Especially since he had been so eager to help at the shop.

“Do you trust Mark?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Why?”

“He’s been helping at the shop. It’s suspicious.”

“I think he likes Dru.”

Ithought that too, but still… “I don’t want to tell him about Crane yet.”

“Then don’t.”

“But if Wyatt won’t talk to me, and you won’t talk to him, how will we find out if he’s involved in Crane’s demise?”

“There’s still time to call OfficerBrooks.”

Andget everyone in trouble for getting rid of a corpse? I didn’t think so. “No.”

“All right. I’ll drop by, rattle Wyatt’s cage, and keep an eye out to see what he does.”

“You can do that?” I said in awe.

“Sure.”

“Because waiting for criminals outside motel rooms is your specialty?”

“Exactly.”

Itsounded like he had wanted to say something else, and I wondered what that could’ve been.

“Do you need Fluffy and Rufus?” he asked.

“No, not yet.” I lowered the phone to check the time. “I need to eat, check on Bosko, and then I have the seance later. I don’t have time to pick them up and sniff around.”

Helaughed again. That made three times so far in this conversation. I was aiming for a record.

“ThenI’ll see you later.”

“You sure will, handsome.”

Imade kissy noises, eliciting yet another chuckle, and ended the call.

Mate.The word didn’t sound as scary during moments like this. Was there any difference between a mate and a boyfriend if even the shifters dropped the term with so much ease?

I’dalways thought mate was something bigger than marriage, an unshakable bond that tied people together until the end of time. But wasn’t that simply the paranormal romance lover in me?

Amate was someone special, sure, but it didn’t have to go that deep.

Asfor why the notion of being called something that did go that deep made me break out in sweat and filled me with the urge to run away, I didn’t want to examine the answer too closely.

Afterstopping at a fast-food chain for a quick burger, I dropped by Bosko’s shop. It was already open, and he stood behind the counter.

“I’m not buying anything today,” I warned. “I’m here to talk.”

Boskoarched his brows.

Tenminutes later, I exited the shop with a keychain in the form of a ghost saying BOOlmeda and no answers to my questions other than, “I was at the shop, lady,” and, “Sure, I painted a pentagram on my own wall because I have nothing else to do, please arrest me, police witch woman.”

Judgingfrom his tone and the sarcastic way he had offered his wrists, I deduced he was laughing at me with that last one.

AsI walked back to Bee-Bee, one of the tour horse carriages pulled past me, the people inside looking at everything through their phones.

Vickyhadn’t liked that. She had told me it was annoying when people started looking up everything she said about the city on their phones while on the tour.

Isighed, a dull pang of hurt poking my chest. Halloween had probably been Vicky’s favorite holiday. Another thing we’d had in common.

Ifshe hadn’t turned out to be an evil, murdering dark witch, she would’ve been helping us with the tour right now, adding all kinds of creepy stories to the ones we already had.

Thethought gave me pause. Olmeda had a long and rich history with dark magic. According to Vicky, there had been a dark magic coven residing in Olmeda a while back, responsible for some of the most chilling stories.

Whatif a descendant had returned to mess with everyone?

Orworse, what if they’d come to continue their ancestors’ work?