Book of Dark Magic Read online

  “It’s okay,” Amelia said. “Thorn, I wish I would have come and talked with you sooner, but I just barely made it into town in time for the services. I should have called.”

  “It’s fine, Amelia,” Thorn said.

  “So, yeah. Richard is our half brother. I guess Mom had him while she was living with… You know what, I don’t even know who she was living with at the time, but I don’t think that guy is Richard’s father either. He was raised by a cousin or an aunt. I’m not entirely sure who Mom left him with, but she didn’t want him, so she dropped him off with some relative on his father’s side and never looked back. Pretty sure he lived in an orphanage for a while too.”

  “How did you find out?” Thorn asked. “I mean… all these years… I’d heard some rumors, but I never knew for sure. It’s not like Richard ever wanted anything to do with us either, but I should have talked to him.”

  “Our uncle called me. He was nearly gleeful to break the news.”

  “Oh,” Thorn said. “Well, that figures then.”

  I had to wonder if that was the uncle who was most likely Thorn’s real father. His dad’s brother. The psychopath.

  “Do you want to have lunch with us?” I asked Amelia. “I have to go to the shop later, but we could all eat first. Thorn, do you have time?”

  “I do,” Thorn said. “Have lunch with us, Amelia. My treat.”

  “I have to get back home when Lucy gets out of school, but I’ve got a little while. Sure.”

  Chapter Five

  On our way to the cars, Lincoln jogged over and cut Thorn and me off. Amelia looked over at us, but Thorn waved her on to her car.

  As soon as she shut her car door, Lincoln laid into Thorn. “I overheard your conversation, Wilson. Do you really think it’s appropriate for you to have anything to do with the case when the victim is your brother?”

  Thorn pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “We already had this conversation. I thought we agreed…”

  Lincoln cut him off. “That was before you were related to the victim. You’re really going to make me threaten you with the state police again? Really, Wilson?”

  “How about you just don’t threaten me, Lincoln, and I won’t have to fire you. This is getting out of hand. I promoted you because I thought you could handle the job. I had no idea you were going to start acting like you were the sheriff of this town.”

  “I’m doing my job,” Lincoln protested. “You aren’t acting professional, and somebody needs to say something.”

  “You needed to say it here? You needed to cause a scene at a funeral? Man, your head isn’t on straight. Go home for the day. We’ll talk about this tomorrow when you’ve had some time to think and calm down,” Thorn said.

  “You can’t do that,” Lincoln hissed.

  “I can, and I am. Take a day off, Lincoln. Take one day, or you can take them all.”

  Lincoln stalked off with his head bowed, and you could see the tension in his shoulders. Thorn had ticked him off royally, but I understood where he was coming from, and hopefully, after a day to cool off, Lincoln would too.

  Amelia followed us in her car down to the square. We’d decided to have lunch at the Brew Station instead of the diner.

  Usually, the place was busy around lunchtime, but I noticed right away that there weren’t very many people. When I looked around at the people seated at the tables, I started to understand why.

  “It’s been like this all day. People come in and see them, and then they leave,” Viv said.

  The them Viv was referring to were what looked to be a bunch of goths on steroids. Satanists. They looked like Satanists.

  It was more of the guys that had come into my shop and who had harassed us at the diner. Those guys were there too, though.

  Thorn looked around the room at them all. “Any of them bother you?” he asked quietly.

  “No, not really. They stare at other customers funny, but that’s not against the law.”

  “I don’t mind if we go to the diner,” Amelia said. “It’s okay.”

  Viv looked stricken by that. It was apparent she’d been relieved when we came into the coffee house. She was not looking forward to being left without backup again.

  “No, it’s okay,” I said. “We’ll stay. Viv’s lunch specials are way better than the diner food. Not that the diner food is bad.”

  “Great,” Viv said. “Three of today’s specials?”

  “Yes, please,” Thorn answered. “I’ll wait here for the food. You ladies can go find a table.”

  “I’m going to go to the restroom,” Amelia said.

  “Okay, I’ll grab a table,” I replied.

  A table near the window seemed like the best choice. There were two tables of probably Satanists flanking it on either side. Still, because it was by the window, it wasn’t completely surrounded. That was something I noticed as I sat down.

  They all looked like they would have been together, but they had spaced themselves out so that they were surrounding any tables they hadn’t taken. It seemed they were intentionally trying to ruin it for any other customers and for Viv.

  When I looked around at all of them, most sneered at me or tried to appear intimidating. They didn’t like it when I just rolled my eyes and chuckled. You could tell each and every one of them was unaccustomed to someone not caring about their appearance.

  Whatever. I thought. While I didn’t exactly like people who worshiped evil, they didn’t scare me. Lilith was scarier than those clowns. Heck, if they knew me they’d know I was more terrifying. Just because I wasn’t wearing thick black eyeliner and covered in Satanic tattoos didn’t mean I couldn’t do some damage. Not that I would.

  For whatever reason, I reached into my bag and took the book out. I set it on the table with the spine facing out. It wasn’t intentional, but I was glad I did it.

  One of the guys, a small dude with stringy blond hair and gray eyes, looked shocked. I guess I was hoping subconsciously that they would reveal something about the book or why I had it, but most of them just looked taken aback or confused.

  “What’s that?” Thorn asked as he slid our tray onto the table.

  “Nothing,” I said and quickly put the book away. “Just an odd old spell book.”

  “Cool,” he said and started taking our plates off the tray. “I hope Amelia’s okay. I figured she’d be back by now. Maybe I should go check on her.”

  “I’ll go,” I said. “Don’t need you busting into the lady’s room.”

  “I would have knocked,” Thorn said. “But, thanks. I’ll take Viv’s tray back to her.”

  I walked back toward the bathrooms, and like something out of a horror movie all the weirdos’ heads turned in unison to watch me. It was definitely unnerving, and I had to wonder if they’d practiced it, or had they all actually tapped into something evil? It wasn’t lost on me that they could all be possessed by demons. I wished Meri was there. He probably would have cleared the place out.

  My steps got quicker, and I pushed through the door to the women’s restroom without looking back. It was just a small bathroom with two stalls and a single sink. Amelia was in one of the stalls, and she was on the phone.

  It became apparent that she hadn’t heard me come in. “I’m going to get out of here as soon as I can,” she said into the phone. “Thorn and that weird chick he’s dating wanted me to go to lunch. I couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough, so I’m stuck here eating in this crappy little coffee shop.” She paused for a moment. “Oh yeah. Yeah. So get this, not only is this coffee shop full of bizarre witch stuff, but all of the customers are like grown-up goth kids. This town is just the worst. I’m going to choke down whatever sandwich they give me and get the heck out of here ASAP.” Amelia paused again. “Yeah, would you? Yes, thank you. Call me in like ten minutes and I’ll pretend it’s an emergency at Lucy’s school. I didn’t even want to come here today, but it would have looked really suspicious if I didn’t.”

  I heard som
ething I shouldn’t have, so I cleared my throat. “Hey, Amelia, Thorn wanted me to come to check on you,” I said.

  “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute. I just needed to call my kid’s school,” she lied. Clearly, she didn’t know I’d heard her.

  “Okay, then. I’ll tell him you’ll be out in a few.”

  “Thanks, Kinsley.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said and pulled the bathroom door open.

  As I walked back to the table, I debated if I should tell Thorn what I’d just heard.

  Ultimately, I decided that we could talk about it later. He rarely saw his sister, and I didn’t want to start a fight between them there at the restaurant. Especially not with all of those strangers sitting around staring at us.

  Thorn and I started eating. He ate quickly, probably because he was in a hurry to get back to work, and I ate fast because I was starving.

  Amelia eventually joined us, and she began eating as soon as she sat down. I watched as she stuffed her sandwich into her mouth and took one bite after another. It was apparent she was avoiding conversation, but then again, that might have just been because of what I’d overheard in the bathroom.

  Right on cue, ten minutes after she sat down, her phone rang. She answered it. “Oh no. Okay. I’ll be right there.”

  “What is it?” Thorn asked when Amelia hung up.

  “Lucy’s school. I have to go right away. Sorry to eat and run.”

  “Is Lucy okay?” Thorn asked as Amelia picked up her purse.

  “I’m sure she’s fine, but I have to go now. Sorry.”

  Amelia sprinted out of the Brew Station like the devil himself was on her tail. Thorn looked concerned, and I kept eating my sandwich.

  “I hope Lucy’s okay.” Thorn looked distressed.

  “Her daughter is fine,” I said between bites. I couldn’t stand seeing him looking so worried. “I overheard her in the bathroom on the phone, Thorn. She didn’t want to come to lunch with us, so she had a friend call and pretend it was an emergency.”

  Thorn just sat there quietly for a moment. When he finally did speak, he sounded resigned. “We’re not that close.”

  “I know,” I said. “I’m sorry she just bailed on you like that.”

  “I wonder why she even came to the funeral,” Thorn said.

  “I was going to talk to you about this later, but I’ll just tell you now. Whoever she was on the phone with, she told them it would look suspicious if she didn’t go to the funeral,” I said. “I don’t know what that means, though.”

  “Did she say anything else?”

  “Nothing other than to trash Coventry and the coffee shop.”

  Thorn let out a deep sigh. “I mean, it’s not like she killed Richard, so I have no idea. It’s probably best if I stay out of it.”

  “I should get back to work so Reggie can take a break,” I said. “I’m just going to grab a special to go for her and head over to the shop.”

  “I’ll see you after work, then?” Thorn asked.

  “Yeah, come on over,” I said.

  He cleaned up the table while I got Reggie some lunch. We kissed goodbye outside of the Brew Station, and I headed across the square to my shop.

  When I walked in, Reggie looked like she was completely frazzled. The store was a mess too. She was picking up stuff off the floor, and the shelves were in complete disarray.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “A group came in here. They all looked like those guys the other day. They were buying stuff, but they also trashed the place. I think they stole a ton of stuff too. I called the sheriff’s office, and they said they’d send someone but no one has come yet. I’m just trying to clean up so that maybe we can figure out how much was stolen.”

  “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come to help you.”

  “You were at a funeral. I didn’t want to bother you,” she said.

  “It’s not like I was at a funeral for someone I loved. I was just… involved in a murder case I should have stayed out of. I’m so sorry, Reggie.”

  “You’re sorry? Why are you sorry? I said I could handle the store and look at what happened.”

  “This isn’t your fault. There are some very shady characters hanging about in Coventry right now. I might have to call my family in to take care of this.”

  “But what if they killed Richard? If you drive them out, they might never catch his killer. Maybe that’s what they want. They want to cause so much chaos that they can’t get caught.”

  I thought about what she said for a moment and then sighed. “You’re right. Well, let me help you clean up and take inventory. If a deputy doesn’t get here soon, I’m calling Thorn.”

  About an hour later, Lincoln rolled up in his personal vehicle. He was dressed in jeans and a brown t-shirt that had a Sheriff’s Department logo on it. He was supposed to be taking the rest of the day off, so I thought surely they hadn’t sent him to deal with the possible shoplifting.

  “I thought this place was supposed to be trashed,” Lincoln snarked as he strolled through the door. “They called me in on my day off, and this place looks fine. Do I need to charge you all with filing a false police report?”

  “We haven’t filed a police report yet,” I said back. “We’ve had plenty of time to clean since it took so long for someone to get here.”

  “Yeah, we make a good team.” Reggie bristled.

  “Uh-huh,” Lincoln said and stroked his emerging five o’clock shadow. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  “We can talk out here,” I said indignantly. “Reggie was here to witness the thefts, so she’ll help give our statement.”

  “I need to talk to you about more than that. Please, can we step into your office?”

  “Fine,” I said. “Reggie, please come get me if you need me.” She shot me a look, but all I could do was shrug and say, “There are no customers now, so why don’t you go ahead and eat the food I brought.”

  “Alright,” Reggie said. “Thanks again for the food.”

  “We won’t be long.”

  As we walked through the storeroom and into my office, a box of candles fell off one of the shelves. “What was that?” Lincoln jumped a little from what I presumed was being startled.

  “You knocked a box off the shelf,” I said, knowing full well it was the ghost that did it.

  “I didn’t even touch that shelf,” he protested. “I’d heard this place was haunted.”

  He really looked like he had the willies. With all his bluster, Lincoln Raines was not someone I would have suspected believed in, and was afraid of, ghosts.

  “I think it was just on the edge of the shelf, and the vibrations of us walking across the floor knocked it down. Reggie and I were in a hurry when we cleaned up. She probably just didn’t put it away properly, but if you’re rethinking this private talk, we can go back out front. Same difference to me,” I said.

  “No, it’s fine,” he said and shrugged it off.

  I closed my office door behind us as the sink turned on in the bathroom by itself and the tapping against the door started. If he’d heard that part, Lincoln didn’t let on.

  “Sit down,” I said and motioned toward the chair I’d put across from my desk. Well, across was a bit of a misnomer. It was up against the wall, and there was barely enough room for legs between it and the desk. My office was kind of small. It was also rectangular, and the desk ran the long way.

  “I’m fine,” he said, but then thought about it and sat down. “Thank you. I do want this to be a friendly conversation.”

  “Alright,” I said. I could tell he wanted me to be conciliatory, but I wasn’t giving him an inch. Something about Lincoln Raines struck me the wrong way, and I knew better than to give someone like that an inch. He’d take a mile if given half a chance, and frankly, being in a closed office with him felt like being stuck in a cage with a hungry predator. Lincoln was power-hungry, and he was looking for an angle to take Thorn’s job. What he didn’t know
was that it would never happen. My Coven would never let someone like him run law enforcement in Coventry.

  “I’m more coming to you as a friend right now, Kinsley. If you’re not honest with me, then I’ll be coming back as a deputy.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said flatly. “Could you get to the point? I need to get back to work.”

  “People have seen you out roaming the streets at night,” he said, and it took the wind right out of me.

  “I…” I wasn’t sure what to say because I didn’t think anyone had seen me.

  “Do you deny it?” he demanded.

  “Am I being interrogated?” I asked because that was how it felt.

  “Should you be? Do we need to take this down to the station?”

  “That’s unfair,” I said. “And frankly, it’s ridiculous. You’ve gone from veiled accusations against Thorn to now doing the same to me.”

  “You were seen acting suspiciously on the night of Richard’s murder,” Lincoln said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Can you explain that?”

  “By out acting suspicious, do you mean walking? I was out walking around at night? Is that what you’re saying implicates me in his murder? Because this whole town has people who are out walking around at night,” I retorted.

  “What I don’t understand, Kinsley, is if you’re just out walking around, why are you getting so defensive about it?”

  I was caught in a stupid trap. I’d let the likes of Lincoln Raines snare me in a double bind. I looked guilty when I defended myself, and I would have looked evasive if I hadn’t. I felt foolish for even letting him put me on the defensive.

  There was no way I’d killed Richard while I was sleepwalking. Why had I even participated in the conversation at all? Why had I let Lincoln bully me into talking to him alone in my office?

  Thoughts flittered through my mind like butterflies in a field of thorny roses. What if it was me? What if I had killed him? How could I really know?

  “No,” I said out loud. More to the thought than to Lincoln.

  “Excuse me?” Lincoln huffed and uncrossed his arms so he could puff out his chest.