“You really are helpless without your powers, aren’t you?” Cris asked.
“I am not. I still managed to get on Beast and hold you while we left the parsonage.”
“But you couldn’t break my little paralysis spell?”
“I could have, but it’d taken more time than we had. There were police on the way and it wasn’t like Beast and Maia could fly us out of there.”
“Oh? Why not?” Cris asked.
“They can only change once during daylight,” Tess answered.
“Really? Who made that rule?”
“It’s a handicap of the familiar spell,” I said.
“Oh, so now what?” Cris asked.
“I guess we’ll wait here until the police leave and then we’ll make another attempt at seeing the Monsignor. Although, since you tried to spell his aide, she may just call the cops back if she sees us.”
“I can fix that. I’ve learned a good glamour spell. I can make us look like choir boys if I need to,” Cris said.
I chuckled. “All right. Now let’s just wait. The police shouldn’t be too long since there was no break-in, besides, I don’t think that woman is going to tell the police that a witch tried to spell her.”
Chapter 31
therese
A half hour later, the police had gone and Cris and I were back at the Monsignor’s door. Beast and Maia had stayed in the parking lot and Rafe was leaning against the stone side of the house next to the driveway, out of sight of the front door. With some reluctance on both my boss and my pet, Bruno had stayed with Rafe. This time we were behind Cris’s glamour and disguised as two little old ladies in sister’s habit. Rafe had thought he and Cris should come back as two cops, but Cris and I thought that would be too hard to pull off without knowing what conversation the other cops had had with the woman. He relented to our expert opinions, even though he was certain he could have pulled off being a cop.
I was to do the talking this time. Most glamours, including Cris’s didn’t affect sounds. I pulled on the bell rope and kept my senses tat active until I heard footsteps stop on the opposite side of the door. Then I killed my tat in case the spell was noticed.
The door opened slowly and the same woman stood in the doorway. She took a good look at us and then glanced obviously past us to see if we were alone.
“Yes, may I help you?” she asked.
I nodded and tried to make my voice sound frail. “Yes, I’m Sister Jacqueline and this is Sister Winifred. We were hoping to see Monsignor Padalecki. I’m afraid that we don’t have an appointment, but it is urgent that we see him today.”
The woman frowned. “May I ask what this is about Sisters?”
“I’m afraid it is personal and involves the confessional,” I said.
The woman pursed her lips, then nodded, and stepped back, opening the door wide. “Certainly Sisters, please come in.”
I had canceled my personal ward before we rang the bell, so I was able to cross the threshold without resistance. I did notice the ward flowing over me as we crossed, but since we’d been invited in, I’d still be able to use my own magic inside without a handicap. Not that I was planning on using any magic.
The glamour Cris was using had worried Rafe. As he explained it, some powerful wards will not allow an active spell across the threshold; others will allow benign spells through and not alert the home’s master. According to Rafe, our first indication would be the Monsignor kicking our butts back out the door. Hopefully, he’d give Cris a chance to explain before doing anything drastic.
The woman waited until we were over the threshold and then closed the door behind us.
“In here. Please take a seat,” she said and indicated a couple of chairs that faced a heavy weathered desk of dark wood.
This must be the Monsignor’s office. It sat to the left of the front entry and had floor to ceiling built-in bookcases on the far wall. There was an old fashion globe sitting to one side of the desk. There were worn leather clad books on the desk and one lay open.
Cris took the chair on the left and I took its mate while the woman, who still hadn’t introduced herself, walked around the desk and sat down in the large leather chair.
“Now, what is it that I can help you with?”
I looked at Cris, who met my gaze. I understood why Cris had tried to paralyze the woman; she was annoying.
“As I said before, this is personal and confidential and we can only relate it to the Monsignor.”
The woman frowned and glanced toward a small mirror on a side table. The mirror was angled so that I could see the desk and chair in it. What I couldn’t see was the woman’s image. In its place was the image of a white-haired old man with red, watery eyes.
The woman tiss-tissed and suddenly was gone. In her place was the old man in the mirror.
Frak! It’d been a glamour.
“Now then young ladies,” the Monsignor said. “Since I’ve shown you mine, I’d appreciate it if you’d drop yours and tell me why you’re so insistent to see me.”
Cris choked out a small sound and dropped her glamour. “Monsignor, excuse me for being so forward, but why didn’t you just see us when we first came to the door?”
“That was my fault,” another voice said.
I spun around in my chair to see the woman who’d first answered the door standing in the entryway. I glanced back at the Monsignor and he was studying Cris.
“Christine Ronue, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You were Abigail’s apprentice about a decade ago when I last
