Chapter 13

Spellbound Pages Bookshop, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

Gen took off after Boon, running in the direction of the scream, toward the front of the shop. Her heart was racing suddenly and she had a sinking feeling that Emperor's prediction was about to come to fruition. He said that all things that were bad weren't really horrible or to be avoided, that whole everything happens for a reason thing. But death was bad, right?

When Gen spotted the collapsed body of Walter, the owner of Spellbound Pages Bookshop, she halted. Everyone stood frozen around the man sprawled out in front of the counter, on the carpet. Summer, however, was crouched down next to his fallen body, checking his pulse with two fingers. After a moment, she looked up at the others, a morose expression on her face and nodded, confirming the death with a single gesture.

I guess you called this,Gen said in her head to her dragon.

I didn't know it would be a death,Emperor said.

Mama Jamba sent me here,Gen said as everyone in the area remained hushed for a long moment.

That's not by accident,Emperor related.

So what am I supposed to do?

Pay attention,he answered. Help how you can. Oh, and pay for those books.

Gen glanced down at the volumes still clutched in her hands on moral philosophy. Right, she said as the hipster strode forward.

"He's really dead?" Boon asked, hunching down too, like he had to do his own checks to be sure.

"He's dead, alright," Bernard Black said, floating next to his cat, Fran, who was perched on the counter again. "I saw his ethereal form rise up and pass on. He didn't decide to hang around at all, wanting to join his wife in the afterlife."

"What?" JoAnne asked, standing now and gathered around the dead man's body like the others. "How could this have happened? Did he have a heart attack?"

Summer pointed to the fallen soup cup next to Walter's body, its contents spilled across the carpet. "The minestrone soup… He just ate some of it. Then he started choking, clutching his throat and fell to the floor."

"What?" JoAnne screamed, pressing her hands to the side of her curly hair. "It wasn't my soup that killed him. I only put love into my minestrone soup."

"And too many beans," Bernard muttered dryly, not at all affected by this death, like the others who looked pale and in shock.

"Someone call the police," Boon said, shaking slightly. "We need an ambulance."

"I think we need a coffin," Bernard muttered, his whitish figure swaying like in a breeze.

"Have some respect," Boon admonished, standing back up, having checked Walter's pulse too, not finding any signs of life.

"I'll call the police," Summer said, pulling a small mobile device from her pocket.

"I have to get back to school." JoAnne consulted her watch. "My lunch break is almost over and class starts soon."

"Oh, no, you're a suspect," Bernard said, pulling his face away from his cat's, like they'd been having a conversation. "Fran says there's something wrong with the soup. She smelled it."

"You can't talk to her," Summer criticized, pressing the phone to her ear and waiting.

"I didn't do anything to the soup!" JoAnne screamed, striding for the door.

One of them murdered Walter,Emperor said in Gen's head.

What? Who was it?

I don't know,he answered her. Just don't let any of them leave. All of them are suspects. You need to figure this out.

Gen rushed forward, darting around the woman making for the door. She threw herself in the way, narrowing her eyes with conviction. "No one is going anywhere. A man has died and I have reason to believe it was a murder."

"Who are you?" the postman asked, studying Gen.

She straightened, a fierce expression on her face. "I'm a Rogue Rider and my job is to protect the truth, which I'm going to find out."

Boon pointed at her. "You're a dragonrider?"

She nodded, making everyone's face transform into looks of shock. The orange cat jumped off the counter and trotted over to Gen, sniffing at her boots, wiggling her tail in the air.

"Well, then we have to listen to her," Summer said, looking around at the others. "She's a high-ranking law enforcement official. We're lucky she's here."

"She has no proof of her identity," the postman complained.

"She's a rider all right," Bernard said, looking intently at the cat who was staring straight at him now. "Fran says she reeks of dragons."

Boon snorted with a slight laugh. "Not to mention that she's dressed like a medieval warrior in armor."

"And why do you believe that Walter was murdered?" the ghost asked her, a curious look on his face.

"My dragon can pick up on such things and senses this," Gen answered. "He can see all that I can."

"This is ridiculous!" the postman boomed, throwing his hands into the air, his wrinkled face flushing red. "We aren't going to listen to a dragonrider. I need to finish my route and JoAnne has to get to school."

Gen shook her head, not budging, a wall that none of them dared to cross. "You're all staying and I'm going to find out which one of you murdered Walter."

"And she's probably all we've got," Summer said, switching off the phone. "The police aren't picking up. It just rings and rings."

"Then what are we going to do?" JoAnne asked, clasping her arms, as if she were cold.

"I'm going to figure out what happened," Gen said, pulling the mobile device from her pocket, trying to remember how Sophia said to make a call. "But to do that, first I'm recruiting the best detectives in the business."