Magic & Misfortune (Starry Hollow Witches Book 14) Read online

I requested a table and was seated in Wanda’s section. The redheaded fairy fluttered from table to table, carrying trays of food and drinks with remarkable speed and agility. She’d clearly been doing this a long time. She spotted me at the table and darted over.

  “Welcome to Basil. First time?”

  “I’ve been here once before.”

  “Well, I hope this is the beginning of a new era. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “First I’d like to ask you about a party you worked the other night. Ben and Lindsey Bridges.”

  “Right. The future bride and groom. They were quite the family.”

  “How so?”

  She popped a hand on her hip. “I’ve seen their type before. Lots of money means lots of problems. I’ve got no money and one kid is all the family I need.”

  I smiled. “You sound like me.” Or the human me, anyway. “How old is your child?”

  “He’s six. His name is Ollie. He’s a great kid.” Concerned lines creased her forehead. “That reminds me. I need to check on him. His dad picked him up from school early because he wasn’t feeling well and brought him to his place.”

  “Ugh. That’s the worst. At least his dad is in the picture. I used to have to rely on a neighbor in our apartment building.”

  A faint smile touched her lips. “Yeah, silver linings, right?” She nodded to the menu on the table. “What can I get you?”

  I didn’t need to look at the menu. I placed my order and let her take it to the kitchen before interviewing her. Right now I wanted the gnocchi and sprouts more than I wanted answers. Priorities. Across the room I spotted another server. Terrence. I caught his eye and waved him over.

  “What can I get you? Water?” Like Kevyn, Terrence was a wingless pixie. Interesting.

  “I was hoping to speak to you about an engagement party the other night.”

  His face rippled with understanding. “The ring, right?”

  “Yeah. I was hired to investigate.”

  “I didn’t see anything. I was on drinks duty, so I was too busy to notice any shenanigans unless they happened between the bar and the tables.”

  “And did you notice any…shenanigans?”

  Terrence smirked. “The usual. Paranormals who can’t hold their liquor. Feuding relatives. Couples who are only fake happy. The second they let their guard down, you see their bitterness and resentment rise to the surface.”

  “Any indication which feuding relative might steal a ring?”

  “If I knew, I would’ve told them. Sorry.”

  I slipped him a card. “If you think of anything, will you get in touch?”

  He smiled at the card. “Cute raccoon.”

  “He’s my business partner.”

  “Hey, I’m not judging. I get enough weird looks as a pixie without wings.”

  “Kevyn too.”

  He nodded. “It’s how I got this job. We met at a rehabilitation center. He lost his wings in an accident and I lost mine from a genetic disease.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “That’s life, right? You play the cards you’re dealt. I like my job and Kevyn’s a great boss, so I can’t complain.” He rested his hands on the edge of the table and leaned in. “Now I have a question for you. Why didn’t your client go to the police? Why hire a P.I.?”

  My mouth opened but no answer came out. It was a good question and one I hadn’t considered.

  “Maybe it’s because they stole it from someone else, so they can’t go to the police,” he continued.

  “It’s a family heirloom. The grandmother kept it locked in a vault for decades until she gave it to Ben.”

  “Why did she keep it locked in a vault for so long? Maybe it’s because she’s been waiting for the heat to die down on her stolen item, huh?”

  “I’m not sure it was worth stealing if she waited this long to pass it on.”

  He shrugged. “Food for thought.”

  “Speaking of food,” Wanda’s voice rang out. She set a plate in front of me.

  “I’ll let you dig in,” Terrence said and went back to work.

  Wanda lingered. “I guess you spoke to Terrence.”

  “Yeah. He didn’t notice anything.”

  “Me neither. Like I said, I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve seen their type before, but I didn’t see anything to suggest one of them would take off with the engagement ring. It’s pretty ballsy.”

  I agreed. So which relative was the ballsiest? I’d have to talk to Ben again.

  Just as soon as I finished my meal.

  When I called Ben, he asked me to meet him at the hospital where his grandmother was still recovering from her stroke. He thought it might be good for me to meet Nanny Berta and ask her any questions I had.

  “Ember, I’d like you to meet Lindsey.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I smiled at the petite werebadger. She had copper-colored hair and the kind of toned arms that made me want to rush home and do fifty tricep curls. Scratch that. It made me want to look like I’d done fifty tricep curls.

  “And this is Nanny Berta.” Ben patted his grandmother’s hand. “Sorry. She’s not exactly lucid at the moment. I was hoping she’d be in better shape, but she seems to have taken an unexpected turn today.”

  “Hi, I’m Ember,” I said to the older woman. Her eyes stared vacantly into the abyss. A shiver ran down the length of my spine.

  “This is the lady I hired to find the ring, Nanny,” Ben said in a loud voice.

  “Any updates?” Lindsey prompted.

  “The restroom attendant remembers a woman in the bathroom when Lindsey was washing her hands. She described her as tall like an Amazon and wearing a white dress, which she thought was inappropriate for someone else’s engagement party.”

  Ben and Lindsey exchanged knowing glances. “Lynda,” they said simultaneously.

  Ben pivoted to me. “Lynda is Nanny’s daughter from her first marriage. I put her on your pizza box.”

  Lindsey’s brow furrowed at the mention of the pizza box.

  “Yes,” I said quickly. “I remember her name from the list.” I looked at Lindsey. “Do you recall seeing Lynda in the restroom with you?”

  “Not really,” Lindsey said, “but I’d had a few glasses of champagne by then, so my powers of observation weren’t exactly their sharpest.”

  “Did either of you interact with Lynda during the party? Did she seem normal?”

  Ben grunted in amusement. “Depends on your definition of normal. Lynda is a bit of an oddball. She makes her own essential oils.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Need I remind you you’re talking to a witch?”

  Ben held up his hands. “Okay, but Lynda is a shifter. We don’t do essential oils.”

  “I have another question. Why not take this to the police and let them investigate? Why hire me?”

  Ben gestured to the woman in the hospital bed. “Nanny told me not to go to the police. Said they can’t be trusted to do the job right.”

  I felt insulted on the sheriff’s behalf. His reputation was pristine.

  At that moment, a druid healer entered the room. “Good afternoon. I see we’ve decided to ignore the two-visitor rule.”

  I held up a hand. “I’m the guilty party. Ben asked me to come and ask Nanny Berta questions about a missing ring.”

  The druid’s face softened as he gazed at the patient. “I’m not sure she’ll be able to answer questions.”

  “Because of the stroke?” I asked.

  “Well, that and the dementia. Even before the stroke, she wasn’t always answering the question you asked. When I asked if she wanted me to contact her next of kin, she asked me to contact Arthur.”

  Ben cut a glance at me. “Arthur was her first husband.”

  I frowned. “Nanny Berta has dementia? Did you know about that?”

  Ben paused. “Not exactly.”

  “Please don’t tell me you took advantage of your grandmother’s senility to get your paws on the family heirloom.”

  His cheeks grew flushed. “No, it isn’t like that. I knew she’d been acting…unlike herself, but I thought she was just getting soft in her old age. That she changed her mind about the ring because she realized she didn’t have much time left. I swear I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have taken advantage of her.” He looked past me at his grandmother, helpless in bed. “I wouldn’t have accepted if I’d realized, Nanny. I’m sorry. I know how special the ring is to you.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell you about her condition?” I asked.

  The druid cleared his throat. “I can answer that one. Her next of kin asked that we keep the information private. He didn’t want to upset the family unnecessarily.”

  Ben pressed his lips together. “That sounds about right. My dad thinks we’re delicate flowers incapable of handling tough news. When Grandpa Jack was sick—Nanny’s second husband—my dad didn’t tell me until he took a bad turn. By the time I got to the hospital, he was dead.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”

  “Dad thought he was protecting me.” Ben glanced over his shoulder at Lindsey who had retreated to the corner with a book. “Promise me we’ll never hide things from each other to spare the other’s feelings.”

  “Promise, babe.” She blew him a kiss.

  I inched closer to the bed and took another look at the older woman. Her skin sagged along the jawline and around the mouth. Her pale blue eyes stared back at me, still blank.

  The druid ticked a box on the patient’s chart. “I’ll leave you for now, but try not to let anyone see there’s three of you in here. I’m not big on breaking the rules. They exist for a reason.” He swept out of the room with his chart tucked under his arm.

  Lindsey looked up from her book and it w
as only then I realized it was a wedding planner. “I’ll stay here. No one can see me from the hallway.”

  Suddenly Nanny Berta seemed cognizant of her visitors. “Ben, what a wonderful surprise.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Good to see you, Nanny. How are you feeling?”

  She squinted. “Uneasy.”

  Interesting response.

  “Mrs. Bridges, my name is Ember. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the engagement ring, if you don’t mind.”

  She stared at me blankly. “Engagement ring? You mean my emerald?”

  “No, ma’am. The aquamarine ring you gave to Ben for Lindsey.”

  “Aquamarine?” Her eyes widened as the realization settled in. “No! How did it get out? That isn’t meant for him. It isn’t meant for anyone.”

  Ben edged closer. “Nanny, you told me I could have it. You got it out of the vault.”

  “I would never do that,” she insisted.

  He stroked her arm. “You did. I never would’ve taken it otherwise.”

  “I don’t remember.” Tears streamed down the old woman’s cheeks and the heart monitor began to bleep incessantly. “Why don’t I remember?”

  “You had a stroke, Nanny,” Ben told her.

  “Mrs. Bridges, what can you tell me about the ring’s history?” I asked. “Is there a reason another family member might’ve taken it?”

  Her fingers curled around my wrist and she yanked me forward. “The ring,” she said in a guttural voice that sounded more like it belonged to an angry troll under a bridge than a frail old woman. “Must. Get. The ring.”

  Her expression was so intense, it wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d ended the statement with a raspy ‘my precious.’

  She collapsed back on the pillow and closed her eyes. Suddenly the machines around us sprang to life and all started beeping at once.

  Ben moved closer to her. “Nanny?”

  I was swept aside as a team of healers rushed into the room. Helplessly I watched as they tried in vain to revive her.

  “Nanny, please don’t go,” Ben said, his voice cracking with emotion.

  Minutes ticked by, but Nanny Berta didn’t wake up.

  The druid healer turned to face him wearing a sorrowful expression. “I’m afraid she’s gone, Mr. Bridges. We did everything we could.”

  Ben swallowed hard. “This is all my fault,” he whispered. “I upset her too much. If I hadn’t lost the ring, she’d still be alive.”

  The druid clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. Her health was already failing. It was only matter of time.”

  Lindsey stood and looped an arm through Ben’s. “She lived a long life, sweetheart.”

  “We’re supposed to live long lives. She should’ve had years left.” Poor guy.

  Lindsey kissed his cheek. “I’m here for you. We all are.”

  Ben continued to observe his grandmother. “She’s going to miss the wedding.”

  “She’ll be there in spirit,” Lindsey said. “She was thrilled for us and we’ll have the ring to remember her by.” The color drained from her face as the words registered. “I mean…”

  Ben rounded on me. “Find the ring, Ember. Please.”

  “On it.” I couldn’t bear the pained look on his face. I would pry that ring off the finger of the Goddess of the Moon herself if that’s where I found it.

  Chapter Four

  Lynda Belgrave worked as an acupuncturist downtown. I’d never had acupuncture, but I decided to take one for the team and subject myself to the tiny needles in the hopes of gleaning information about the missing ring. I hadn’t expected to get an appointment so quickly given the death of Nanny Berta, but Lynda had an opening so I took it.

  “You must be Antonia Fluffernutter,” Lynda greeted me. I thought it was best to use a fake name because Rose was too recognizable.

  Shaking her hand, I had to crane my neck to look at her. The restroom attendant wasn’t kidding about her height. “And you must be Lynda.”

  The werecheetah gave my grip an appraising glance. “I sense a bit of weakness in the muscles there. Do you lift weights? It might help.”

  “If by weights, you mean full bottles of wine, then yes. Yes, I do.”

  She laughed. “Why don’t you strip down and position yourself face down on the table? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “I’m glad this isn’t a date.”

  “Are you funny when you’re uncomfortable?” She waved a hand. “Not to worry. I see it a lot.” She closed the door behind her.

  I undressed and tossed my clothes onto a nearby stool. I knew I should probably fold them neatly to give her the impression I was a neat and orderly paranormal, but ultimately I was too lazy to fake it. I was here to find out whether she was a thief, not whether she had standards.

  I climbed on top of the table and twisted and tugged the blanket up over my butt. They really needed to create a way to pull up blankets from a facedown position without straining a muscle.

  I heard a soft knock on the door. “Are you decent?”

  “That’s a loaded question,” I called back.

  The door cracked open and she slipped inside. “Why don’t you tell me about your problem areas?”

  “Family life. Romantic life.” I paused. “Life.”

  She laughed. “Oh, I know just how you feel. Sometimes it seems like my life is just a series of unfortunate events.” She eyed my shoulders. “I can see you’re slightly out of alignment. Let me see if I can reduce some of the knots for you.”

  I swallowed a gasp as she produced long, thin needles. Was she seriously going to stick those in my skin and expect me to feel better?

  “I’m not surprised by the tension,” I said, seizing an opening. “My family is the bane of my existence right now. All sorts of drama happening.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I feel that so hard.” She stuck a needle in my back. “What I hope you don’t feel is that.”

  “It’s fine.” It was. I expected it to pinch or pierce or something, but it was barely noticeable.

  “I’m the black weresheep of my family, so I know all about that kind of tension.”

  “Me too. My parents are dead and I was disowned by my aunt.”

  Another needle sank into my back. Pretty soon I’d resemble a porcupine.

  “My parents are dead too. My mother died yesterday, in fact.”

  I craned my neck to look at her. “I’m so sorry, Lynda. What are you doing at work?”

  She shrugged. “If I don’t work, I don’t pay my bills.”

  If she’d stolen the ring for money, she’d be singing a different tune—unless she was biding her time so as not to arouse suspicion.

  “My dad died years ago and my mom remarried and had more kids. You know how that story goes. I became an afterthought rather than a member of the family.”

  “My aunt tried to steal a family heirloom from us,” I said. “My daughter and I.” Aunt Hyacinth had used us to unlock our ancestor Ivy’s powerful magic and then wanted the possessions back so she could reap the benefits. Tough. The heirloom no longer belonged to her.

  Lynda strategically placed another needle along my shoulder blade. “That’s so crazy. We had a family heirloom go missing too, right in the middle of an engagement party.”

  “That’s terrible. Do you think someone in the family took it?”

  Her hesitation was noteworthy. “I suppose that makes the most sense.”

  If she’d taken it, it seemed unlikely she’d bother to mention it unless she was desperate to bond with me. Even so, I sensed she was withholding information.

  “I warded my property to keep my aunt from coming in and taking anything,” I volunteered.

  “One of the perks of having magic. I think that’s why the ring was stolen. It has magic.”

  I turned my head to the side and rested my cheek on the table. “That’s cool. What kind of magic?”

  She snorted. “Supposedly it grants the wearer eternal love.”

  Was that the reason Ben wanted it as an engagement ring? I didn’t recall him mentioning it.

  “You don’t believe it?” It seemed odd for an acupuncturist who made her own essential oils to scoff at the magical properties of a ring.

  “I’m willing to believe it’s magic, but I’m not convinced it’s eternal love.”

  “Why not?”

  “The ring belonged to my mother who was madly in love with my dad. After he died, she took off the ring, stashed it away, and never wore it again.”