Chapter 2

“You need my help?”I asked, unable to contain the wonder in my voice.

Couldthis be my first official job as a pillar of Olmeda’s magical community beyond selling potions? My heartbeat sped up at the thought.

Sonianarrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Avery.”

“Yes, Sonia.” My lips twitched with the need to grin. Sonia’s glare intensified, so I cleared my throat and valiantly plowed on. “What can I help you with?”

“We have a situation with?—”

Thedoor chimes tinkled again as a couple entered the shop, oohing and aahing at the inside.

“Let’s go into the back,” I said, leading the way through the bead curtain.

Soniafollowed as Dru took the couple’s order. We usually didn’t have customers until later in the morning, but Halloween was bringing everyone out early.

Westepped inside the kitchen, which Sonia inspected with a sharp gaze. Can take the woman out of the PBOA meeting room, but can’t take the PBOA out of the woman.

Luckilyfor both of us, I took pride in keeping my potion-making area clean and free of junk.

Happygurgling reverberated through the pipes inside the wall, reminding me that I wasn’t the only one living here. The top of a tiny ink-black tentacle peeked out of the faucet, and I looked away before Sonia learned there was a tiny kraken living in my pipes.

Probablynot PBOA-approved.

Soniacaught me, but when she glanced at the sink, all traces of the tiny kraken had disappeared, thank the Mother. I wasn’t sure if having octopus ghosts living in your pipes constituted a potion-making violation.

“I see you keep the facilities in good order,” Sonia grumbled with reluctant approval.

Ibeamed. “Always. BeingOlmeda’s official witch is very important to me.” My and Grandma’s dreams come true, in a witch-shell. “I take my responsibilities seriously.”

“Good, because we have a situation that could use your expertise.”

“What kind of situation?” I could barely contain my excitement. Having dealt with murder, robbery, attempted kidnapping, and a number of other incidents, “situation” sounded wonderfully low-key while still packing a good dollop of interesting.

“Four pentagrams have appeared on walls across the city. Three on paranormal-owned buildings.”

Situation, indeed! AsOlmeda’s official witch, it was my duty to investigate occurrences like this to see if there was any magic behind them.

Ididn’t want to count my potions before my magic, though. The unfortunate downside of Halloween in Olmeda was that it made the city a perfect target for pranks.

“Maybe teens?” Wouldn’t surprise me if some of Hutton’s young shifters did dumbass stuff like that all the time.

“I hope not,” Sonia said dryly. “They were drawn in blood. Animal and human.”

Igasped, thoughts of dark witches choosing Halloween to create havoc like cartoon crones dancing around a bubbling cauldron immediately filling my mind. Not in my town!

“Are you sure?”

Soniagave me a mean look, and I lifted my hands in a peace gesture. “Just making sure.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll help, of course.”

Ifthese pentagrams had something to do with dark magic, it needed to be shot down immediately, the culprit or culprits apprehended, and whatever their plan put to a stop. But aside from that, a good word from Sonia would all but cement the shop as mine.

Asthe president of the local PBOA, the Council would take her recommendation very seriously. After all, you couldn’t have a witch be a pillar of the community if the head of the community didn’t want them there.

Excitementfilled me. CouldHalloween not only be the best holiday of the year, but the day my six-month probation got cut short because the Council realized I was perfect for Olmeda?

“Your perfect future is already in place,” I reminded myself, allowing my imagination to run wild with the idea of having no more probation hanging over my head like a cartoon anvil. “You’re just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.”

“Avery, concentrate.”

“Yes, Sonia.” I gave her my most businesslike smile. “Where are the pentagrams?”

Wefiled out of the back, and I was surprised to see Brimstone and Destruction still standing by the counter, impervious to Dru’s glaring. I hoped he had at least ordered a drink, but nope, his hands were empty of beverages.

Sonianodded a goodbye to Dru, and then to Brimstone, before stepping out of the shop. Hmm. Very interesting.

Igrabbed my jacket, told DruI had to help Sonia with some official business, and followed. Sonia walked around the CornerRose to a yellow MINICooper parked by the curb. Not at all what I’d expected her to drive, and the color made me smile. It reminded me of Bee-Bee, my Vespa.

Soon, we were speeding through the streets of Olmeda, already bustling even this early in the morning. Cars and delivery trucks honked at each other, and Sonia stared ahead with a slightly deranged upward curve of her mouth that made me reach for the grab handle.

Allaround us, the city was in full Halloween fervor. Windows showed all types of decorations, and banners claiming this would be the most haunted Halloween ever hung from building to building in the narrower streets. We passed some of the grand Victorians, their small front yards filled with tombstones, spiderwebs, and the occasional animatronic zombie or skeleton.

Sonia’sexpression became downright bloodthirsty as she eyed a delivery guy on a bike trying to sneak through the traffic, and forcing everyone to stomp on their brakes.

“Where are we going first?” I asked to distract Sonia. I sure hoped that guy wasn’t part of the PBOA or he was fried.

“Bosko’s.”

Ilet out a low whistle. Bosko had as much of a bite as he had bark. Not someone you wanted to mess with.

Bringingout my phone, I sent Key a fast text. This pentagram issue would be great for her training as a bounty hunter-to-be.

ThenI allowed my thumbs to move down to my texts with Ian. He had answered my daily good morning! text with a picture of Fluffy, Ian’s small dog, trying to eat the much bigger Rufus’s breakfast. Adorable. He’d also added a Hope you have a good day. Come visit later.

Noneed to ask me twice.

Hidingmy grin, I forced myself to refocus on the reason for Sonia’s visit.

“How did you learn about the pentagrams?” I asked.

“People affected called OfficerBrooks. She called me.”

Itensed at the mention of OfficerBrooks. She was one of our—the paranormals’—contacts in the Olmeda police force. I had met her on my second week of opening the shop, and we hadn’t exactly gotten off to a great start thanks to the then-disappearing ghost in my bathtub.

“OfficerBrooks is at Bosko’s?” I ventured, wishing very hard she wouldn’t be.

“She has better things to do than investigate paintings on the wall. That’s your job.”

Lookat that—manifesting worked.

“If it turns out to be serious, we’ll involve her,” Sonia continued as another biker zoomed right in front of us. Her gaze followed them, and she licked her lips. NeitherDru nor I knew what kind of paranormal Sonia was, but I really hoped she wasn’t a witch because if she were, half the bike owners in Olmeda were in for a rough time. “Until then, it’s up to you.”

Normally, if a paranormal was up to no good, it would be a case for the bounty hunters and their jails, but sometimes the human police got involved if the crime had nothing to do with magic. If the case was serious enough, the paranormal police contact got involved along with the bounty hunters to smooth things over with the human side of justice.

Inmost cases, though, the paranormal community took care of their criminals.

Soniaparked a few blocks away from Bosko’s garish souvenir apparel shop, and we made our way through the heart of OldOlmeda. A few people were already out in spooky costumes, and we exchanged winks of understanding as we passed each other. A couple of kids pointed at my hat and talked to the adults next to them, and I was tempted to tell them about Sonia’s shop to earn myself extra brownie points. Ultimately, I erred on the side of caution. This was an official trip, after all. Sonia would probably disapprove of mixing business and witch-hunting.

Insteadof going to the front of Bosko’s shop, Sonia took me to a narrow alley running down the back of the block of buildings. Bosko’s daughter, Lydia, was waiting for us there, a ferocious scowl scrunching her forehead. Her gaze fell on my hat and my glittering green cheeks, and her scowl deepened.

“You have to be kidding me,” she said.

“Not in the least,” I said cheerfully. “HopeAvery, at your service.” I would’ve extended my hand, but paranormals weren’t into shaking hands. “Where’s the pentagram?”

Shepointed to the side. A large, rust-red pentagram had been painted on the brick wall by the back door of the shop. The brush strokes were straight with slight dripping at the beginnings and the ends, as if someone had used a can of paint and an old-fashioned brush rather than a spray can.

Inaddition to the paint, a series of rune-like markings had been written along some of the lines and in the middle of the pentagram. Some of the symbols were familiar, although they weren’t anything that you’d draw on a pentagram for the sake of enhancing a spell, and the rest made no sense. They looked like gibberish to me, but witches sometimes used obscure or family-created symbols as a sort of shorthand. Just because I didn’t recognize these, it didn’t mean they weren’t real.

Takingout my phone, I began taking photos.

“When did you notice the pentagram?” I asked.

“About an hour and a half ago when I came to open the shop.”

“You reported it to OfficerBrooks right away?”

Lydiahuffed. “We have a few incidents like this every year. We usually clean it up, but this seemed more real than usual.”

Icouldn’t help but agree. The symmetry and confidence in the strokes spoke of someone who knew what they were doing, not a random teen up to no good.

“Are the others this well made too?” I asked Sonia, glancing over my shoulder.

“I haven’t seen them yet.”

Butthey must be, otherwise nobody would have bothered to call it in. Stepping closer, I examined the brush strokes, but nothing jumped out at me except for a faint coppery smell.

“This is really blood?” Any detective worth their salt would probably lick the wall to make sure, but I was more modern police procedural than Sherlockian.

“Mostly animal blood,” Sonia said, “but there’s human too.” She stepped up and pointed at the five points of the pentagram in succession. “Here, here, here, here, and here.”

“How do you know it’s human?” I asked.

“I tested it.”

Iglanced at her in surprise. “You carry around a test to determine if blood is animal or human?”

Was… WasSonia a vampire? Rumors about their existence had always circulated inside the community, but with no real, confirmed sightings they were like the Bigfoot of the paranormal world. MaybeI should bring garlic to the next PBOA meeting and check my theory.

Shesent me a bland look. “It’s pouring some liquid on a swab, Avery, not a major chemistry experiment. I keep a kit in my car in case.”

Incase her blood dealer tried to skim on the good A+ stuff?

Sonia’sbrows arched, as if she was fully aware of my train of thought. “This is not the first time we’ve found strange pools of blood in Olmeda.”

Creepy, but fair. Returning my focus to the pentagram, I murmured, “Human blood on the five points suggests someone might’ve conducted some kind of spell.” Although why they’d do it on the wall when the ground was right there and a lot more convenient was anyone’s guess.

“You don’t say,” Sonia retorted with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

Itugged at my neckline. It was getting awfully warm in here for a late October morning. “Just making sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Some of us might be way ahead in the book.”

Lydiacoughed a laugh.

Thisconversation was deteriorating fast. So fast, Sonia’s possible recommendation for the Council had already booked a first-class seat on a plane to hell.

Thankfully, a commotion at the end of the backstreet stole Sonia’s attention. A series of happy barks and one deep woof echoed from the end of the alleyway. Fluffy and Rufus came into view, followed by Key.

Theycame to a stop by us, Fluffy straining at her leash to get at me, while Rufus simply sniffed the air, probably sensing the blood from the pentagram. Key was sweating and out of breath but gave me a hopeful smile.

“AmI in time?”