“No, that’s not what she—hang on, what?”
Jenna came in, closed the door, and sat in the chair across from his desk. “I just got off the phone with Pandora. Which reminds me, I never did ask her about the Lemmons.”
“What do you need lemons for?”
“Not the fruit. The people who own the house. Listen, Pandora said Alice is calling a special coven meeting to try to help us, which is great, but Pandora also said she heard it’s urgent because this spell becomes permanent when the full moon rises. That’s not what Alice told you?”
“No. She said she’d like samples of our blood and a few strands of our hair to help her diagnose a solution to the spell. She thinks if she can’t break it, she might be able to counterspell it. Enough to free us.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “The full-moon thing is not good.”
“No, it’s not,” Jenna said. “Maybe she didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to freak us out. That’s only a few days away, right?”
“Yes.” He rocked back in his chair. “Three days, actually.”
“And the race is two days after that.”
“It’s going to be hard to run that if we can’t be apart.” He sat forward. “We need to get Alice these blood and hair samples immediately.”
Jenna stood. “Let’s go.”
He got up. “Just need to grab my keys. We’ll deliver the stand to Agnes at Bell, Book & Candle after we leave the Ellingham estate. Meet you at the truck? It’s unlocked.”
She nodded and headed in that direction.
He went toward the kitchen to get his keys off the rack. His head was spinning. It was one thing to be temporarily under this love spell, but to have it be permanent? To spend the rest of his life never being able to be more than a hundred feet away from another person? Even if you loved that person, that would be an incredibly limiting way to live.
Especially when those two people were first responders, like he and Jenna were. How would Jenna ever chase down another suspect? Or hunt for a lost child? Or drive street patrols?
How would he run into a burning building to rescue those trapped inside? How could he do school visits to talk to kids about fire safety? Or teach CPR at the senior center?
Both of their lives would be severely impacted. They had to work this out. Alice had to work this out.
He snatched his keys off the rack and went straight to his truck. Jenna was already inside, staring through the windshield like she was having a lot of the same thoughts he’d just had. He climbed in and put his seat belt on. “I know. It’s not good.”
“It’s not good at all,” she muttered. She looked at him, the slightest bit of panic tightening the skin around her eyes. “This isn’t personal, but I do not want to be tethered to you the rest of my life. Not with only a hundred feet of line between us.”
“I agree.” He started the engine and threw the truck into reverse to back out. “For the next three days, our new job is the same one. Get free of this spell.”
He drove with a heavier foot than usual, but he figured he could get away with it with a cop in the truck.
They didn’t get pulled over, thankfully, and they made it to Elenora Ellingham’s estate in about three minutes less than it usually took.
They got out and headed up to the big front doors.
“Nice driving,” Jenna said.
He looked at her. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“No. That was genuinely nice driving.” She grinned. “It’s a good thing I was with you, though. Otherwise, I would have had to give you a ticket.”
“Yeah, well, I know people at the department, so…”
She snickered.
He laughed. This was nice. But not nice enough to give up a lifetime of freedom for. He rang the bell.
Alice answered so quickly he wondered if she’d been waiting on the other side. “Chief. Deputy. Please come in.”
They followed her through the house. She was a small, prim woman, at least compared with Jenna, who had the kind of athletic build and blazing good looks perfect for a woman with a magical sword tattooed on her back.
But there was no mistaking the power Alice wielded. He couldn’t point to one thing, but taken as a whole—the glint in her eyes, the straightness of her posture, the set of her jaw—everything about her pointed to a force to be reckoned with. And she was.
After all, she was the woman who’d created the magic that made Nocturne Falls a safe place for the supernaturals who lived here.
She led them to her quarters. As they went through the double doors, Titus realized her quarters were one whole wing of the estate. He’d always known Elenora treated Alice well. He just hadn’t known how well. The furnishings weren’t as grand or opulent, but Titus imagined Alice wouldn’t have wanted them that way.
Instead, her space was much simpler. It almost felt like they’d entered a different building. This was definitely Alice’s style.
Crisp lines, quiet fabrics, with a lot of walnut, cherry, and stone. There was a serenity to it that he liked very much. He looked around for photos or touches of memorabilia but found very little. That also seemed to match Alice’s style. She was a very private person.
No one knew much about her beyond her brush with death at the Salem witch trials, where Elenora saved her. Alice seemed intent on keeping it that way. The power she wielded had earned her great respect in town, but she was also feared because of it. Outside of Elenora, no one really knew Alice Bishop.
They went straight through and into a room that felt very private and very personal. He didn’t know what witches called the space they practiced their magic in, but to him this was Alice’s inner sanctum.
A thick woven rug covered most of the slate flooring, and Gothic arched windows
