middle of an investigation and I’ve got diddly-squat.”
Nina leaned back suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. “And you find that hilarious.”
I stopped laughing. “No.” I sniffed, scratched ChaCha behind the ears. “I think I just needed to let a little crazy out.”
“So what are you going to do about the whole Alex/Will thing?”
Vlad looked desperate enough to self-combust. “Are we on that again?”
I sat up straight on the couch and ChaCha whimpered, moved from her soft spot. “No, no. I’m fine. I’m dedicating my life to serving the people of this great city.”
“And your lady bits? Serving the people, too?” Nina asked smugly.
I rolled my eyes at Nina. “You’re gross.”
“You’re crazy.”
Vlad’s nostrils flared. “You’re both idiots.”
“And you’re being sued by a teen witch,” I said with a dagger glare.
As if on cue, there was a sharp knock on the door, then Lorraine’s voice wafting through. “Sophie? It’s Lorraine and Kale.”
Vlad’s eyes seemed to swallow his whole face. “Did you do that? Did you make her come here?” he hiss- whispered.
“Sorry, Vlad,” I said, crossing the living room. “I don’t have that kind of power. You’ve got three seconds to decide what to do with yourself before Kale decides it for you.”
His nostrils flared and I could see him press his jaws together, the tips of his razor-like fangs slicing in front of his lips. I had my hand on the doorknob and he whirled around, silently disappearing into Nina’s closet-slash- bedroom. She rolled her eyes.
“Teenagers.”
I snatched open the door just as Lorraine started to pound again. “Sorry. Thanks so much for coming, though.”
Lorraine placed a Tupperware sandwich keeper topped with a floppy red bow in my hands and wordlessly pushed through the door, Kale in tow. Both ladies were loaded down with carpetbag-style luggage and serious expressions.
“I hope you like that,” Lorraine said, edging her chin toward my new sandwich storage. “It’s from the spring line. Now let’s get busy.”
She set to work clearing everything off the dining room table while Kale stood back, her eyes searching the apartment, finding, landing—and staying—on Nina’s closed bedroom door. Nina popped directly into Kale’s line of sight.
“Can I get you ladies something? Water, tea, eye of newt?”
Lorraine shot her a slightly annoyed look. Kale pressed her satchel to her chest and took a step toward Nina. Nina held up a hand, stop-sign style.
“He’s not here.”
Kale blinked, her kohled-over eyes suddenly going doe-innocent. “Who?”
“Okay, okay,” I broke in, taking Kale’s carpetbag in one hand, her arm in the other. “We need to focus on this case. Or, this spell. It’s gotten worse since we last talked. The pentagrams and the spell books, Cathy last year and—” My stomach roiled, thinking of the disembodied hand hanging from my pant leg at the Battery. “And we’re pretty sure there are others.” I looked from Kale to Lorraine and lowered my voice. “And I think someone might be playing with my mind.” Lorraine and I exchanged a look. “Making me see and hear things.”
Lorraine nodded sympathetically and took my hand, giving it a tight little squeeze. “Like I said, we might be dealing with someone very powerful.”
Kale turned to face me, arms crossed in front of her chest. “But you’re immune to magic, right? I mean, aren’t you?”
I worried my bottom lip, looking to Lorraine but receiving no help. “Maybe we’re dealing with someone even more powerful.”
Lorraine seemed to avoid my questioning glance, and Kale joined her at the table. They began spreading out all manner of maps and curl-edged, ancient-looking scrolls. Kale took her bag from me and upturned it, unloading a series of benign-looking garden rocks, a cache of half-burned candles, and a matchbook from Big Al’s. She must have seen my eyebrows go up because she palmed the matchbook and blushed. “Someone left it at the office.”
Will chose that moment to stick his head through the front door. He looked from Nina, still soldiering in front of her bedroom door, to Kale and Lorraine, then finally, to me.
“No one invites me to the party?” He stepped into the apartment and shook an enormous bag of potato chips. “I brought crisps.”
“This isn’t a party, Will,” I said, pulling him into the apartment and throwing the lock behind him. “Lorraine and Kale are trying to help me—help us—find Alyssa.”
He cut his eyes to me, the displeasure evident. “Thanks for calling on me.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Sorry, it was sort of last minute. Lorraine?”
She turned to me. “Are you still wearing the talisman that I gave you?”
I felt the blush crash over my cheeks. “Yes. I mean, right now, no, because I just got out of the shower. But I was.”
“Put it on. And bring me the bag, too.”
I went to my room, Will following a half-step behind me. “What’s this all about?” he said, closing the bedroom door softly.
“I don’t follow. What’s what all about?”
“You call in the witch brigade on our assignment, but you don’t call me?”
I shoved aside the heap of laundry on my chair and dug around for the talisman. “It wasn’t like I was trying to cut you out of anything, Will. It just happened that way. I would have called you.”
I brushed past him and he reached out, his hand closing around my elbow. He pulled me to face him. His lips were pressed in a thin straight line. “When would you have called me? When you were in grave danger?”
I took a step back, trying to shake his grip, but he held on for a silent beat, then finally let go. “I know I’m not Alex, but I’m your partner, Sophie. I’m here to help you.”
There was something about the earnest look in his eyes that stung my heart. There was Alex, his eyes cold and hard, pushing me away, and here was Will, begging to be a part of my life. And there was me, straddling the chasm between them both.
“I really am sorry, Will.”
I walked out of my room leaving Will behind me, a lump growing in my throat. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was apologizing for, but I knew it had nothing to do with not calling him tonight.
I cleared my throat and approached Lorraine and Kale. “I really appreciate you giving me the bag and . . .” I reached into my shirt to show off the talisman, than was immediately sorry I did so. “This thing. Like I said, other than the shower, I haven’t taken it off.” I said the last part while holding my breath. “But I’m not really sure it’s exactly helping—”
Kale took the bag from me and upturned it on the dining table. Another series of rocks poured out, along with the rolled scrolls and herbs.
“I think what Sophie means to say is that we’ve got a girl missing, a hole full of bones, a hell of a lot of hoodoo voodoo going on in the schoolhouse, and no idea why you’ve given us a stinky bag full of rocks and wallpaper samples.”
I was startled that he was defending—or explaining—on my behalf as Lorraine and Kale paused and looked at him. He had his hands on hips, eyebrows raised, obviously expecting an answer.
I was expecting them to turn him into some kind of amphibian.
Lorraine ignored him. “Star maps and calendars, Soph. Remember when I taught you about those?” Lorraine was bent over the table while Kale was clearing it. She piled my stained place mats and the coupons I would get around to using someday on the floor while Lorraine threw out the star maps and secured them with a polished rock at each corner.
