Relatively Familiar (Accidental Familiar Book 2) Page 2

  Of course, she had to have some reason for pointing that blasted wand at me, so maybe the chance was a bit slimmer than I’d originally thought.

  “Is it against the law now to stop alongside the road for a breather?” I was going to play it cool for just as long as I could. Maybe I could buy Arc enough time to get the bloody heck out of Dodge. Without him there, she really didn’t have a thing to pin on me. Right?

  She looked me up and down and then glanced in the car. Her eyes lit up when she saw the carrier in the back seat. “Where is your cat?”

  Dang. I should have stowed the stupid thing in the trunk. “He needed to go to the bathroom.”

  She gave me a smug smile. “And you trusted him enough to just let him go alone?”

  I met her eyes straight on and shrugged. “Would your familiar run away from you?”

  If I hadn’t been staring straight into her eyes, I would have missed it. But there for just a shadow of a second, an emotion had flickered across them. She recovered quickly; I’d give her that.

  “Can I ask why you seem to think I’m a danger? I’d really appreciate it if you could point that thing somewhere else.”

  All that got me was a sneer. “Yes, you would like that, wouldn’t you? And I think you know what I’m here for. Or should I say who I’m here for? Your magical signature just set off the road wards we have set up.”

  I was really hoping that Arc was getting some distance between himself and us. A second later, I knew that wasn’t the case. He came out of the trees and walked right up to us.

  Just how stupid was he?

  She glanced down at him and then back up at me. “You say this cat is your familiar?” The seed of doubt was there. “Prove it.”

  Arc had told me that he was very limited as to what he could do in cat form, but luckily, he had this covered. A thin blue line of magic formed between us.

  “Is this proof enough? Or did you want to ask my aunt about my new familiar? I think you might know her. Opal Ravenswind?”

  I hated bringing Opal into this, but I was desperate. And I was actually kind of confused as to why she hadn’t already just nabbed us both and arrested us in the council’s name. It was dangerous, but I was starting to have a glimmer of hope.

  The witch looked at me for a moment. “You’re Amethyst Ravenswind?”

  “I am.” I pointed down to Arc at my feet. “And that is my new familiar. Now would you kindly tell me why you say my magical signature set off your road wards? Am I wanted for some crime?”

  She was trying to hide it, but I could tell she was more than a little confused. “You did set off our wards, but it wasn’t a one hundred percent match for who we were looking for. It was close enough, though, that I had to check it out.” She paused as if she was considering how much to tell me. “I don’t suppose you are any kind of relation to Archimedes Mineheart?”

  “Isn't he one of the lawyers at Mineheart Law? If so, then I was actually going to see him tomorrow.”

  The smug look was back. “And what would a niece of Opal Ravenswind be doing going to see an Earth witch lawyer?”

  I tilted my head and looked at her. “Since when does the council have the right to ask anything about my personal business? If you have a subpoena, I’d love to see it right about now. Otherwise, I’m taking my cat and leaving. We’re done here.”

  It was a harrowing few minutes, but she didn’t try to stop me as I put Arc in the carrier and backed my car up. I kept expecting a magical bolt of lightning to come flying out of the end of her wand and flatten all my tires, but it didn’t happen.

  We got away clean but very confused. She had us and just let us go? If we set off those wards, and I was fairly certain we did, then it was Arc who had done that, not me. And why wouldn't his signature be a one hundred percent match?

  What the heck was going on here? Or was she only toying with us?

  AFTER A QUICK STOP off at the next gas station for a fill-up and an empty out, we raced to the hotel. I had left that decision up to Arc, as he knew the area and I didn’t. He had chosen a little rundown place just outside of town.

  His reasoning was that no self-respecting Mineheart would be caught dead there, so it wouldn’t be on the council’s radar. I wasn’t sure about that, but it met my simple requirements, so I was okay with it. The Oak Hill Lodge accepted pets, and it was dirt cheap. The money thing was important, as my last job had only paid me with this car, which quickly became an expense, what with insurance and gas and everything else.

  When I’d first gotten it, it had been covered in nasty and vulgar slogans and pictures from the previous owner’s construction business. Most of them were now covered by custom decals I’d ordered. Yet another drain on my meager finances, but so worth it. Now I didn’t have old ladies cursing at me if I parked the Challenger in their sight. That got old quick.

  The Lodge was everything I expected it to be. I drove into the small gravel parking lot and gazed upon our temporary new home—a long stretch of blue-painted wood that held six doors and precisely six windows. The paint was peeling, and a couple of the doors didn’t look like they would actually be successful in keeping anything out that wanted in. Like a mouse. No way were they putting me in one of those units. I upped my requirements for staying there by one: a sturdy door. Wards would only do so much.

  I went to the office and paid for a full week up front. It ticked me off when they charged me a pet deposit, but what could I do? I paid it, got the key, grabbed Arc’s carrier, and unlocked the door into our room.

  For a minute, I just stood there, kind of in shock. I took a step back and glanced down the row of wood, doors, and windows in disrepair and then back into the room. The difference was astounding. I could get used to this place. Obviously, the owner’s time and money went on the inside rather than the outside.

  It was clean and homey with two single beds, a loveseat with an ottoman, a larger flat-screen television, and an antique dresser that would have Aunt Opal salivating. For that matter, she’d be drooling over the nightstands by the beds too. Not to mention the old oaken table and chairs in the corner.

  The room was absolutely adorable. So much so that I took out my phone and snapped a quick picture. I’d get one of the outside, too, just for the heck of it. But I could do that later. Now we had to get down to business.

  After bringing in the bags from the car—it was tiring being the only human in the group allowed outside—and securely locking the door, I looked to Arc and gave him the nod. When the blue haze lifted, the gorgeous naked man was there again. It would be nice if he could figure out how to at least keep his shorts on when he was in cat mode, but according to him, it wouldn’t work. With the little, and disastrous, experience I’d personally had with working magic, I had to take his word for it.

  He turned his back to me and dressed quickly. Then he flopped onto one of the beds and covered his eyes with one of his hands.

  “This is so very bad.”

  “I take it you know that witch? Was she one of the trinity that showed up at your place that day?”

  Arc nodded. “Yes. And it’s even worse than that. Her name is Patricia Bluespring, and she happens to be my father’s first ex-wife. She has always had it out for my family. Nothing would make her happier than to put me in some magic-draining hole. Well, other than putting my father in there with me.”

  “Crapsnackles.” I was quiet for a minute as I thought about it. “If she hates your family that badly, it wouldn’t hurt to put her on our list of suspects.”

  He lifted his arm and opened one eye to look at me. “Why would she kill Sonya?” Then he bolted upright on the bed. “Dash it all, I think you might be right. Sonya told me she had dirt on someone in the council, but she wouldn’t tell me who. If it was Patricia and she got too close, then that could have gotten her killed.”

  “And who better to pin it all on than a Mineheart, right?”

  Arc’s eyes were flashing from side to side as if trying to keep up with hi
s racing thoughts. “Even if it wasn’t her, that’s the first motive I’ve come up with for anybody to hurt Sonya. She was free-living, but she never went out of her way to hurt anyone. Quite the opposite. I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a reason, and here you’ve given me one the first day into the case.”

  His eyes finally stopped on mine. He was giving me a fierce grin. “I think you’re going to make one heck of a detective.”

  “Yeah, well, I have to finish the schooling and other requirements before I can hang out my shingle.” I paused. I really hated to burst his bubble this soon. “And as much as I hate to say this, the killer is rarely the first one you think of. We need to start brainstorming.”

  He gave me a nod, but I could tell he’d just be going through the motions. In his mind, he already knew who the killer was. Patricia Bluespring.

  I still had my doubts. For a council witch, she didn’t strike me as all that powerful.

  And it would have taken a powerful witch indeed to make it through the Mineheart Fireworks Ward without all hell breaking loose.

  We had to keep looking. But the council membership might not be a bad place to start.

  Chapter 3

  I HAD TWO VISITS TO make the first full day in town. Because of the circumstances, they were both to be single goes, no Arc. Most places just weren’t all that friendly when you brought your cat along for the ride.

  My first choice of stops was Firestorm United. That was Sonya Ignacio's last place of employment. People who work together know things about each other. I was hoping I could make friends with one of them and get them talking. It was a plan, anyway.

  But the Minehearts deserved to be first on the list, so they got bumped up to the top. I’d told Patricia Bluespring that I was visiting Archimedes Mineheart Senior on a personal matter. That was more than true. We knew the council wasn’t exactly forthcoming in their techniques. I would think it safe to bet that they had the law office under some kind of magical surveillance. So we had devised a plan.

  I wasn’t going in as a friend of Arc’s. I was visiting as a client. I’d even scheduled an appointment. We really didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

  When I left the hotel, I was dressed in business casual clothing. No jeans, which was super out of the norm for me. In their place was a nice second-hand pair of dress pants topped with a dressy sweater. It was my standard interviewing outfit. And yes, it had gotten a lot of use in the last couple of years.

  Taking a deep breath, I parked the car in the lot behind the law office. I would have rather parked on the street, but the decals didn’t cover quite all the slogans, and I tried to hide it as much as possible. Parking in the farthest spot from the door would have to do.

  I could do this. I just had to keep telling myself that. I’d taken an acting class in high school. Come to find out, I wasn’t very good at it. This was different, though. I only had an audience of one. And however many council members happened to be watching at the time. That was the nerve-racking part. Almost like being on television.

  The receptionist greeted me and took me back to a very stylish corner office. As the senior partner, Archimedes Mineheart had the office’s prime real estate. There was even a small patio, with a fountain and everything, outside his window. Quite striking and classy. And no doubt very expensive. It was a good thing I wasn’t a client for real. These were lawyers I could never afford on my budget.

  An older Arc stood as I walked in behind the receptionist. For an older man, he was every bit as gorgeous as his son. If that was how Arc was going to age, Ruby should snatch him up quick.

  “Ms. Ravenswind?” He reached his hand over the desk, and we shook as the woman returned to her post as sentry guard. I noticed that she closed the door behind her. Good.

  “Please, call me Amie, Mr. Mineheart.” I gave him a smile and reached into my bag for the sheath of papers we had prepared. Most of them were printouts of random stuff we got off the internet to fill pages. The top sheet was all that mattered.

  “Amie . . . short for Amethyst, is it not?” His smile was quite breathtaking. No wonder his office was so popular. Women would divorce their husbands just to get to work with this man.

  “That’s right. You probably know my family is pretty well known for being witches. It’s a family tradition to name all the children after gemstones. Personally, I think I got lucky.”

  He laughed, and a shiver ran over my skin. A good shiver. A laugh like that could do things to a woman. “I think so too.” He started to say something, then hesitated. When he spoke again, I didn’t think it had anything to do with what he had been going to say. “So, Amie, what can our little firm help you with today?”

  I glanced down at my stack of papers and tried to remember my acting lessons. “Well, you see, my grandmother passed on a few years ago, and in her will, she left a very . . . powerful . . . heirloom to my cousin. Now she did that because at the time, it was thought I didn’t have any magic, but that has since been proven wrong. I want to know if there is any way I can contest the will.”

  Placing the papers on his desk, I pushed them toward him. He didn’t even look at them. Senior looked very disappointed. His eyes lowered, and he took a deep breath. “I see.” His fingers drummed on his desk for a minute before he looked back up at me. “I’m sorry, Ms. Ravenswind,”—no more Amie for me—“but I’m afraid I can’t help you. It would be next to impossible to contest a will that old.”

  Okay, there was a problem. Our plan wouldn’t work if he wouldn’t look at the dang papers.

  “Actually, I think I’ve found a pretty good loophole.” I tapped the first page. “If you’ll just take a look at this, I think you’ll see what I mean.”

  He sighed, but my words did the trick. His eyes traveled down to where my finger rested on the page. Right on Arc’s signature.

  I might not be any good at acting, and I’m not at all sure my performance was cutting any muster with the invisible council, but Mr. Archimedes Mineheart Sr. was a master. He could have been a star. His looks would have cinched it.

  Other than a flash of recognition when he saw his son’s name, there was nothing to show any kind of emotional involvement in the papers before him. He took a minute to read the short note, then even went so far as to flip through the pages behind it. Obviously, he knew as well as we did that his every move was being watched. Or at least suspected it was.

  Finally, he swallowed and looked up at me. His mask for the camera was still in place, but I could see just the smallest hint of relief in his eyes. “I see what you mean. Yes, this could indeed be a very interesting case. I truly appreciate you bringing it to us first.”

  “From what I’ve heard, you all are the best. This ring means a lot to me, and I think I deserve it every bit as much as Ruby does.”

  “Well, I’ll certainly see what I can do. In the meantime . . ..” He pulled a business card out of the holder on his desk and scrawled something on the back. “Here is the name and phone number of the man in our firm who I think would be perfect for this one. He’s out of the office today, but give him a call as soon as possible. I know he’ll have a lot of questions for you.”

  I tucked the card into my pocket and stood. “I’ll be sure to do that.” I didn’t want to risk reading it there. As I’ve said, my acting skills are nowhere near his level of excellence. I’d hate to blow it now.

  He reached across the desk, and this time his handshake felt a whole lot more personal. But when his eyes started getting moist, I knew I had to get out of there. Fast.

  All that emotion was going to have to be released soon. Hopefully, he’d make it until he was off the stage.

  If that was even possible for him.

  NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE hasty scrawling on the back of that business card wasn’t the name and phone number of another attorney. It was an address.

  Torn between going to the offices of Firestorm United Demolition and following through on this, I decided to do a quick drive-by
to check it out first. What I found kind of surprised me.

  The house the address led me to wasn’t in a ritzy, upscale, happening neighborhood. For the Minehearts, that was what I would have expected. Not to say that the house was rundown or in a bad neighborhood, because it wasn’t. In fact, if I had the money to purchase a home of my own, should that ever become a priority for me, this was the sort of home I’d want.

  The outside was a dusty red brick with stone surrounding the windows and door. The roof was topped with old-fashioned wooden shingles, and the front porch stretched from one corner of the house to the next. One end of the porch held a comfy porch swing, and the other end was home to an old metal glider. Plus, whoever owned this house was a definite lover of nature. Flower and herb beds abounded, and as I recognized a lot of the variety of plants, I knew the inhabitant had to be a witch.

  In short, it was the perfect home for a functioning, if somewhat reclusive, witch. I say reclusive because the house was sitting on a rather large lot and surrounded by towering pine trees. I was very curious as to what the backyard looked like. Maybe someday soon, I’d find out.

  While I was sitting outside the house, alternating my stares between the house and the card and trying to figure out what to do, an older woman stepped out onto the porch. My heart instantly went out to her. She reminded me so much of my grandmother. The woman was short, not an inch over five feet, if that, and was a bit on the heavy side. Believe me when I say she made it work. I think a part of me fell in love with her before we’d even spoken.

  Not that the words took all that long to come.

  “Are you coming in or what?”

  I swallowed and climbed out of the car. It made total sense that Mr. Mineheart would have warned her somehow that I might be coming. Might as well find out why while I was here.

  “I can’t stay long. I’m expected somewhere else soon.” A little white lie, but it set the groundwork to get out fast if I needed to use it.