“Jack wants to know if we can meet for lunch,” Andy said, looking at his phone. “He has an update on the two brothers who were let out of Spellcatraz.”
“Tell him it’s fine, but that it’s a business lunch only,” I replied.
Fifteen minutes later we were sitting in a little café that did a mean chili and delicious sandwiches. Andy and I had ordered and sat down at a four-person table across from each other.
This felt surprisingly date-like, and I had to admit I was a little bit uncomfortable.
“So, how about this murder? Super gruesome,” I started, my mouth apparently deciding that the best way to deal with this was to make things even more awkward.
“Yes, it is,” Andy said slowly, as if he wasn’t sure where I was going with it. “I have to ask you something, though. How come you’ve started investigating crimes like this for people? Are you trying to make up for something? It’s not something ordinary witches choose as a career. Heck, I’m not sure there are a lot of paranormals out there doing this sort of thing at all.”
“I really like money,” I replied glibly. If there was one thing I was good at, it was putting up barriers. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to bare my soul to Andy. It was just that I didn’t want to bare my soul to anyone. It had gone badly the last time I had done it. Very, very badly. “As you know, I used to have a minimum-wage job, and I managed to lose that. This way, I don’t have a boss who can fire me – apart from my clients – and because I’m actually pretty good at this job, I don’t lose them often. This was… an exception.” I stared down at the tablecloth for a second. I still partially blamed myself for Rudoldir’s death. If only I hadn’t decided to wait, maybe he would still be alive.
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault, ok?” Andy said softly, obviously reading my thoughts. “You’re not responsible for what other people do. This is the killer’s fault and only the killer’s fault.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who had a conversation with Rudoldir in which he specifically told you he thought someone was going to kill him.”
“Well, Jack did,” Andy replied. “But we can’t do anything. We can’t save everyone. We can try, but we can’t. Every person in this life makes their own choices, and they have to live with those choices. They’re the only thing in the world we have that are truly ours, and we can’t blame other people for our choices, just like we can’t blame ourselves for other people’s choices.”
I looked up at Andy suddenly, my eyes boring into his. The passion with which he spoke told me there was an untold story from his past.
“I feel like there’s more to this story than just trying to make me feel better,” I said slowly. I thought about every word before I said it, because the fact was, I didn’t want to just blurt out the first stupid thing that came out of my mouth, for once.
Andy gave me a sad smile. “There might be. Sometimes you just have to come to grips with the fact that your choices are your choices, and other peoples’ choices are theirs, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
I was about to open my mouth to ask for more of an explanation when suddenly Jack slid into the booth next to Andy.
“Hey, how did your research go?” he asked. “You two look like you were on a date.”
Andy laughed casually as a blush crawled up my face. I hated admitting to the fact that if Andy asked me out, I’d probably say yes. As much as I hated the idea of dating, there was something about him that I liked.
“I had a boyfriend. Now you have my boyfriend,” I replied, glaring at Jack. He shrugged.
“Trust me, he’s better off with me.”
“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be super pissed at you,” I replied. “Anyway, what did you find out?”
“Well, Adolpho Lupo isn’t our guy. It turns out he overdosed on a bad batch of illegal potions a week ago and has been in the hospital ever since. Apparently the potion turned his entire skin to charcoal and he’s basically a giant barbecue briquette.”
I grinned at the mental image. “Here’s hoping he doesn’t go near any open flames anytime soon.”
“Exactly. The Healers are having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to reverse it.”
“What about his brother, Raoul?”
“Well, that’s a slightly more complicated story,” Jack said, frowning. “He left town the day after his brother overdosed, and no one has seen him since.”
“So he could very well be in Mt. Rheanier, having hunted down Rudoldir,” I said.
“Exactly,” Jack said. “I spoke to the shifter guarding the portal right now and asked him about any strange shifters that have come into town around then. He said there was one, a scruffy-looking wolf shifter. I showed him the picture, and he confirmed it.”
“Great, so it was probably Raoul,” I said.
“It might be Raoul,” Jack corrected. “We don’t know if he’s still in town. I think as of right now he should be at the top of our suspect list. What did you guys find out?”
“That Andrei the vampire is a dick and that Vernon Montgomery is attracted to Andy but probably not our killer,” I replied with a grin. “Though Vernon’s alibi will have to be confirmed.”
“We’ll have to go to the club in Desert Plains and see if they’ll confirm he was there,” Andy added. “After all, there is the unguarded portal; he could have come back that way and killed Rudoldir. He’s a wizard, so he could have left a broom there to get back quickly.”
“That’s true,” I said.
“So Vernon had an alibi?” Jack asked, and I nodded.
“Yes, but Andrei didn’t. Plus, I don’t like him,
