“I see.” Astra’s features lit with intrigue. “When did this dome appear?”
“Recently.”
“I’m going to need more than that.”
“Within the last twenty-four hours.”
She pursed her lips, her mind clearly busy. “Could you see the magic? The color I mean.”
Hannah had no idea what that was supposed to mean. “I didn’t see any color.”
“All magic has color. You’re strong enough to see it. I need you to describe it.”
Hannah hesitated and then searched her memory. “Pink. It had a weird pink undertone.”
“Hmm.” Astra rolled her neck, her eyes darting to the left at the sound of footsteps. She didn’t look surprised when Stormy floated into view. “A pink dome has landed in Casper Creek. You don’t know anything about it, do you?”
“A pink dome?” Stormy let loose a hollow laugh. “That’s not really my style.”
“I wouldn’t think so either, but you’re wholly unpredictable these days.”
“I like to keep people on their toes,” Stormy explained for Hannah’s benefit. She was solely focused on the blond witch. Cooper was barely an afterthought. “It’s a game I take great joy in playing.”
“How great for you,” Cooper drawled, impatiently tapping his fingers on the table. “We really need to figure out what’s going on here, Astra. The missing girl is already suffering a trauma. We can’t just abandon the search for her.”
“And what sort of trauma is she facing?” Astra queried. “Did she break a nail? Did a boyfriend not ask her to a school dance? I know. Her cheerleading skirt didn’t fit properly. Am I right?”
Cooper shook his head. “Not even close. She was one of the victims in the multi-car accident last night. Her parents are still in the hospital. When they wake up, we have to be able to tell them their daughter is safe. That means we have to find her ... and soon.”
“She was in the accident?” Genuine bafflement took over Astra’s refined features. “That is ... weird.”
“How is that weird?” Stormy challenged. “People get in accidents all the time.”
“This accident was magical in origin,” Hannah volunteered. “We know because we were there. We saw the whole thing go down.”
“You were at the scene of the accident?” Astra went back to studying her crystals. “Did you cause the accident?”
“No.” Hannah was horrified at the question. “Why would I possibly cause an unnecessary accident that resulted in the deaths of innocent people?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
“And you have a certain quality,” Stormy volunteered. “It’s a selfish quality that people of entitlement can’t shake, no matter where they come from. You have that quality in spades.”
“Well, thanks for that ... I guess,” Hannah said dryly, rubbing her forehead. She could feel an incoming headache and it was the last thing she needed to further derail her day.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Astra volunteered. “I’ve never heard of a pink dome, and what’s the point of erecting one if you can’t trap someone beneath it?”
“I’ve never seen any dome so I can’t answer that.”
Astra snickered. “Yes, I forget you’re still a novice at this. Well, just for the record, the only reason to build a dome is for protection or prison. Neither scenario seems likely now. As for the accident, I can’t say what happened. I wasn’t there. All I heard were the news reports, and it sounded like a regular accident.”
“It was far from regular,” Cooper countered. “There was magic out there.” He explained the odd lightning, and the fact that Angel described seeing a shadow to Boone. They’d come this far. There was no reason to withhold information this late in the game.
When he was finished, Astra seemed even more confused than before. “That’s interesting, huh?”
“There’s more,” Hannah added, opting to go for it. “I had a dream last night about battling witches. One had a light aura, the other dark. One was willing to die to kill the other. I chalked it up to exhaustion, but the dream seems more important now that Angel has disappeared. It feels as if it plays into things ... although for the life of me I can’t figure out how.”
“A dream, huh?” Astra gripped a purple crystal in her hand and frowned. “I don’t think the dream was random either. Did it feel as if you were trapped in a real situation even though you inherently knew it was a dream?”
Hannah thought about the way she’d woken up screaming. “Yeah. How did you know that?”
“Because it sounds like a memory fragment.”
Hannah swallowed hard. “Does that mean it really happened at some point?”
“It means it likely happened,” Astra replied. “As for those witches, all I can tell you is to use Abigail’s books to research the origins of Casper Creek. You’ll find answers there.”
“Can’t you just tell us?” Cooper prodded. “We don’t really have time for a research expedition.”
“I haven’t read the books, only skimmed them. Abigail caught me looking at them and said I wasn’t ready.” Astra’s bitterness was palpable as she recounted the memory. “I never got a second chance to look at them. I know the information is there, though. I think you’ll find at least some of your answers there.”
It wasn’t the response Hannah was expecting. “In the past?”
“Time isn’t a straight line. What you think of the past is the present for others.”
That sounded complicated, but Hannah was grateful for a direction to look all the same. “Thank you.” She pushed herself to her feet, Cooper following suit. “If you hear anything about Angel, we would appreciate a phone call.”
Astra’s smile was benign. “I doubt I will be the one to find her, but in that unlikely case, I promise to return her to you. I have no interest in some random child.”
“Keep your ears to the
