Chapter 23

Halloween.

Noanswer came.

“Ms. Bagley!” I exclaimed.

Nothing.

“You are the worst witch ever. Even worse than me.”

Nothingof nada.

“I give up, Ms. Bagley. I’ll do as you wish. I’ll help you gain corporeal form.”

Asilence fit for a crypt descended upon the shop, cut only by a faint horn coming from the street.

Deepunease unfurled in my belly, and I gave it one more try. “Ms. Bagley, I’m sorry I put you in timeout,” I pleaded, having to fake none of it. “Please answer? I need your help.”

Whennothing happened, the unease turned into pure dread.

Oh, GoodMotherEarth.

Irushed out of the room to grab the bag of cemetery dirt and some crystals and herbs. Hands shaking, I knelt on the floor of the shop and made a small circle with the dirt on the hardwood planks. After arranging the crystals to give me as much of a boost as possible, I tried to calm my erratic heartbeat and focus on my intention.

Deathis unavoidable.

Deathleaves an imprint.

Butlife is never truly lost.

Magictingled down my arms and through my fingertips into the dirt. Holding my focus, I waited for the spell to grasp onto any nearby spirit.

Instead, it dissipated, leaving nothing behind but a hole in my chest and a serious case of noodle legs.

Islumped against the counter. This couldn’t be happening.

But, oh, it made so much sense.

Bagleywould know what the Council did with keys. She would’ve seen where Dru and I stored ours while we were in the shop. She would’ve seen us use the alarm.

Shemight’ve told this to anyone who had entered the shop since I awoke her spirit two months ago.

Sonof a witch.

Iput on my sneakers, scrambled up, and chugged down one of Brimstone’s extra-strength energy drinks. OnceI was on steadier legs, I made my way out the back of the shop and pushed Bee-Bee into the street. Driving like the devil was on my heels, I made it to the cemetery in record time. It was still early morning, and I encountered little traffic. Not that it mattered. I had one goal in mind, and nothing, not even a truck filled with blocks of ham and cheese was going to stand in my way.

Bythe time I reached the cemetery gates, it occurred to me I should’ve called Ian first, but in my distress, I’d left my phone at the shop, so instead I pressed the call button by the smaller gate.

Severaltimes.

Thegate opened automatically, and I thanked Ian’s security-conscious mind for installing a camera somewhere. I pushed Bee-Bee in and left her to her own devices as I ran up the incline to his house.

Hemet me halfway, his black T-shirt untucked and his hair falling free around his face. Unhappy barks emanating from the house told me Rufus and Fluffy were sensing the mood.

“What is it, Hope?” Ian asked, holding onto my arms. “What happened?”

Igasped for air. “Bagley’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“I think… I think someone put her into Crane’s body.”

“Boss?” Shane called, trotting up from the house, Rufus by his side. Alex followed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. I must’ve interrupted their breakfast.

Fluffykept barking from inside.

“Fluffy,” Ian shouted. “Quiet.”

Fluffylet out a loud whine, then fell silent.

“I’m sorry, Fluffy,” I said, even if there was no way she could’ve heard me.

“What is it, boss?” Shane asked.

Ianrubbed my upper arms. “Go check where we buried Crane,” he told Shane.

“What?” Alex asked, alarmed.

“Where is it?” I asked, fortifying myself. “Take me there.”

Shaneand Alex exchanged a look.

“This way,” Shane said, starting toward the cemetery.

Wefollowed, Ian by my side and Rufus falling into step by my other. Being surrounded by their strength helped push back the panic.

“We put him there,” Shane said, pointing to a grassy clearing hidden behind a few trees. It was a short distance away from the graves proper, and the trees created somewhat of a wall against the fence and the street.

Iexamined the ground. You could tell where Shane and Alex had dug up the grass and tried to put it back to normal after.

“Did it look like this when you finished yesterday?” I asked.

Alexrubbed his chin. “Maybe?”

“I’m not sure,” Shane admitted. “We were in a bit of a hurry.”

Iscowled at the ground. “We need to see if he’s still there.”

Alexand Shane exchanged another look.

“You, uhm, think he’s a zombie now?” Alex asked cautiously.

“I need to make sure he’s still in there,” I answered, firm in my convictions.

Alexgroaned. “It’s going to take forever to dig him back up.”

“There is another way,” Ian said, giving me a meaningful look.

“Let’s call Key,” Shane said.

“Oh, yeah.” Alex brightened. “Key will be able to sense if he’s in there.”

Ibit my lip, considering my options. Having to dig up the hole was going to take a long time, and if I was right… Time might be of the essence.

“Okay,” I agreed. “CallKey.”

“You should call her,” Ian said.

“I left my phone in the shop.”

Helet out a huff of amusement. “I see it’s become a tradition.”

“HopeAvery and running out of her shop in a panic without her phone—name a more iconic duo?”

“Something like that.”

“I’ll call her,” Alex volunteered, his phone already out and his fingers flying over the screen. “Done.”

Shaneshoved him amicably. “Dude, that’s not calling.”

“Eh. Same thing.” He checked the screen. “She’s on her way.”

“Wonderful,” I said, trying to convince myself it really was. My shoulders slumped. Ian and the strays had been right—Ishould’ve involved her from the start. NowKey was going to be as disappointed in me as I was for not figuring out Bagley’s game earlier.

Shanewent to open the gate for Key while Ian, Alex, Rufus, and I cooled our heels. Alex kept looking at me with sad puppy eyes, but I refused to explain anything until everyone was together.

Abouttwenty-five minutes later, Shane returned with Key, who was out of breath as if she’d run the whole way over—which she probably had. She looked so eager to help, it hurt. I really should’ve included her yesterday.

“We ready?” Alex asked just as eagerly. “Let’s get digging.”

“Digging?” Key asked, sending me a questioning look.

Iancrossed his arms and waited.

Icleared my throat. “So, uhm, yesterday I found DesmondCrane dead in the shop.”

Key’smouth fell open. “Really? What did you do?”

“I called Ian, and we buried him here.”

Weall looked at the ground.

“Here?” Key repeated.

“Itis a cemetery,” I joked weakly.

Sheblinked a few times, then realized Alex and Shane weren’t surprised in the least. “You had Shane and Alex help you dig up a hole and you didn’t call me to help?”

Alexproduced an exaggerated grimace from behind Key and gave me two thumbs down. Shane stared at me stoically, his one eye way too judgmental for a twenty-year-old.

“I didn’t want to put people in danger,” I said, tugging at the collar of my blouse and trying to remind myself of all the reasons it had sounded like a good idea not to involve Key.

Acrease of discontent formed between her brows. “But you let Shane and Alex help?”

Itcrossed my mind to dump the responsibility for that on Ian—he had been the one to call Shane without my permission—but, as Grandma liked to say, taking responsibility makes for better pie dough. “Yes, I’m sorry, Key. Will you help now?”

“Of course,” she said, but I could tell from the sad arch of her mouth that I’d have to make it up to her with more than a simple apology. “What do you need me to do?”

Ianpointed at the patches of dislodged grass. Rufus went to sniff the ground, but Ian gently pushed him away. “Can you tell if the body is still there?”

Keynodded. “Body, right.”

Luckilyfor everyone involved, this wasn’t the first time Key had been asked to check if there were bodies buried around. Not wasting any time, she knelt on the ground and sank her hands into the soil.

Closingher eyes, she inhaled deeply. The crease of unhappiness between her brows became one of deep concentration. Outwardly, nothing changed for us—no magic tingled in the air or raised the hairs of our necks—but I knew she was using her power.

Aftera few moments, she blinked, as if to wake herself from a trance. “There’s nothing buried here.”

Ibarely restrained myself from stomping on the ground. I knew it!

“No body?” Shane asked sharply. “How can that be? Why isn’t the earth displaced?”

Keygot to her feet and dusted off her jeans. “There’s a pocket of air, but nothing inside.”

“So what, it just disappeared?” Alex asked, confused. “Or did he turn into a zombie and crawl out?”

“Someone dug him up, then went through great pains to make it look like they didn’t,” Ian answered.

“But why?” Shane asked.

Theyall turned to me.

Timeto explain my theory. As fast as possible, so we could move on to catching the evil old hag before she continued her reign of terror. “Ms. Bagley was an evil dark witch, and when she died, her spirit began haunting the shop. I think someone killed Crane in order to transfer her ghost into his body.”

Keylooked horrified. “You had an evil ghost haunting the shop?”

“The muffins were safe, I swear.” Unlike the cookies. “The drinks too. She only haunts things like mugs and books.”

“Mugs?” Alex asked. He made a face. “Ew.”

“Nothing anyone drank from,” I assured them. “I kept track of her.”

“What does that mean?” Shane asked, looking not entirely shocked by the whole thing. I had an inkling he’d figured something was off ever since we’d tested my blood. “You kept track of her?”

“IfI take the item she’s haunting out of the shop, she disappears for a while before her spirit snaps back to another item.”

“And you think someone transferred her to Crane?” Key asked.

Weall glanced down at the patch of uneven grass. “Yes.”

“Could she be silent to mess with you?” Ian asked.

“I did a spell to confirm before coming here. There is nothing haunting the shop itself, and Bagley should’ve snapped back by then.” I wriggled my hands. “It could be my spell wasn’t powerful enough, but it makes so much sense. She would’ve known what we do with the keys and watched us put in the alarm code every time.”

“Why leave Crane’s body behind in the shop if they wanted to transfer Bagley into it?” Shane asked.

“Maybe something went wrong?” Key suggested.

“Crane did weigh a ton,” Alex said, eyeing the ground. “If they meant for Crane to walk out but then he died, it would’ve been a pain to drag him out.”

“Would’ve been a pain to dig him out, but they did it,” Shane said.

“Two people.” Of course two people were involved.

“If it was two people, why leave the body in the shop?”

“Maybe it was one person then, but then they got someone to help with this grave?” I thought of all the effort it would take to dig someone out overnight with enough stealth so neither Ian nor the dogs realized something was wrong, and I couldn’t help but look at Key.

Everyoneelse must’ve come to the same conclusion because Key took a good look at us and stepped back. “What?”

“Earth mage,” Shane said.