Spellbound Murder Complete Trilogy (Spellbound Murder Box Set Book 1) Read online

  “I don’t think he’d have any reason to lie,” Mira said.

  “Well, if this information is good, I’ll owe him dinner.”

  Mira felt her nose curl up. “I should mention,” she said, lowering her voice despite the fact that they were on the phone, “that Lance is a vampire.”

  Ian chuckled. “Scratch dinner, then. Listen, I need to move on this.”

  “Move on what, exactly?”

  “This makes someone’s statement contradictory. I need to do some research. Thanks, Mira. Can I call you tomorrow?”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll be around.”

  Once Ian hung up, Mira took a long look outside. The world was covered in white. It looked like the wind had stopped blowing. The sun was also out, making it look almost inviting. A quick dash out into the snow?

  Checking the temperature, Mira chucked the idea. A shower and some time spent on Emmit’s spell was what she needed.

  She dressed carefully after her shower, making sure she looked nice, but trying not to look like she had gone to too much trouble.

  When she moved to the kitchen, notebook in hand to finalize the spell, she saw that Oracle was standing at the front door, watching it intently. Mira had just settled down at the kitchen table when there was a knock. She glanced at the time, pleasantly surprised that Emmit would show up so early.

  In the dead of winter, night came early. The sun was setting, turning the cold day even more frigid when she opened the door.

  It wasn’t Emmit.

  “Gabriel?” Mira’s confusion was written across her face. “Is something wrong?”

  “Good evening, Miss Owens.”

  Crap, they were back to Miss Owens.

  “Would you mind stepping outside for a few minutes?”

  “What? It’s freezing out there.” Movement behind the detective caught her eye. There was a police officer behind him, waiting on the stairs.

  “We have a warrant to search the premises,” Gabriel said.

  “Oh.” Mira’s mood dropped in record time.

  “Are you currently alone in your home?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Mira said. She felt completely dejected. It wasn’t even an hour ago that she had spoken to Ian. He had said nothing. She opened the door wider to let them in.

  “We need you to step outside,” Gabriel said.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Let me get my coat,” Mira mumbled.

  “One moment,” Gabriel said, stepping inside. “I need to see your coat.”

  Mira rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she still pointed to the coat rack. “The blue one.”

  He checked the pockets and handed over the coat.

  Mira bundled up with gloves and a hat, shot Gabriel a dirty look, and then stomped outside. She heard Gabriel give instructions to the officers.

  The last thing she wanted to do was watch from the door as they searched, so she started down the stairs. The thought of them pawing through her stuff infuriated her. How could Ian not tell her? And where was he?

  Hiding, no doubt.

  Fuming, she forgot the bad karma that had started swirling around her. Her feet flew out from under her, and she bounced down the last quarter of the stairs.

  Snatching at the rail only twisted her around. She landed on her back, sinking into the snow around her.

  “Jesus, Mira!” Gabriel swore and hurried down the stairs, taking much more care than Mira had.

  Once again, she found herself staring up at the sky. Shivering, she forced herself to sit up before he reached her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, offering her his hand.

  She held up her finger in the universal ‘give me a moment’ gesture, wishing she were brave enough to use a different finger to mean something altogether different.

  She leaned forward and gingerly touched the side of her head. Under her fingers pain radiated, which dampened her anger. Looking up caused outrage to brew again when she saw that the door was still open.

  “I have cats,” she snapped. “Go close the door.”

  When Gabriel left her alone, she took the moment to pull herself together. She shakily stood up and looked at the big house. There was a light on.

  The first thing she should have done was call Della. Gabriel deserved whatever the lawyer dished up.

  “They’re inside,” Gabriel said.

  “Which is where I’m going,” Mira said.

  “We need another minute before you can go back in.”

  “No, you don’t. I have no clue why you’re doing this, but I’m wet, my head is killing me, and I’m freezing to death.”

  He sighed. “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” Mira snapped.

  “Shit,” Gabriel said. “Is it bad?”

  Mira rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you know when I thaw out.” She had no idea what his lie detector abilities would do with that.

  “Fine,” he said, stepping away from the staircase and waving her up. “But you sit where I say until the place is cleared.”

  On the way up, she was much more careful where she put her feet. Inside, the temperature wasn’t too much better, since the door had been left open.

  “Wait here,” Gabriel said.

  “I need my cell phone,” she said.

  “You can call Ian after.”

  Mira felt the heat behind his words.

  “Actually, I’m calling my landlord,” Mira said.

  “Fine. Wait here.”

  Gabriel went to an officer that was searching Mira’s bookshelf and redirected the man’s attention. Once the officer had searched the couch, she was implanted there with her cell phone.

  “Della, you’ll never guess what’s happening over here,” Mira said moodily while watching an officer show a stack of books to Gabriel. “I’ve been served with a search warrant.”

  “What?” Della’s voice carried, causing the officer and Gabriel to look up. “Did you read it?”

  Mira felt like she had been called out by her teacher. “No.” She twisted in her seat.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Mira hung up her phone and grinned. “Detective, Della Yates is on her way over.”

  It looked like a number of angry responses went through Gabriel’s mind before he settled on something simple. “Why?”

  “Why not? It’s her place.”

  He rubbed his forehead as though pained more than Mira, and went back to work.

  Rubbing her hands vigorously over her arms wasn’t helping Mira get any warmer. The wet cold had seeped through to her bones.

  When Della banged on the door, Gabriel looked at Mira, who purposefully gave him the sweetest smile she could manage.

  When he answered the door, Della had her hand out.

  “Your warrant?” Her voice was sharp.

  Gabriel only shrugged and handed it over.

  Mira watched as she read over the document, taking note that her friend started smirking early on.

  “Detective Flint?” Della moved over to Mira and then handed the papers back to Gabriel. “I’d like to draw your attention to a section of this document. You have permission to search her property which, in this case, is her car.”

  Gabriel frowned. “Which I’m sure you know will also cover space in which she leases.”

  “Which adds the store,” Della looked at Mira, who nodded in confirmation. “She doesn’t have a lease here.”

  “You, of all people, didn’t make her sign a lease.” Gabriel looked like he was seriously losing his cool.

  “No.”

  “It won’t take long to get the warrant updated,” Gabriel said.

  Della shrugged before sitting next to Mira. “This is up to you, Mira. It won’t take long to update, like he said, but you could always make them wait.”

  Mira gently prodded the knot that was forming on her head. Mentally, she went over every item it was possible for them to find. Ian had taken the police files bac
k. The books that were blatantly spell books were coveted away. Her spell ingredients were also impossible to leave in the open. Many of the hidden items were poisonous, illegal, or just plain gross.

  “They may as well search the place, then.” It was said resentfully, but she just wanted this over with.

  Gabriel eyed her suspiciously. “I’ll need you to sign something for that.”

  “Sure,” she said.

  Della’s phone rang. “I need to take this, but I will be overseeing this farce.”

  Telling herself repeatedly that Ian hadn’t known about what Gabriel was doing, didn’t really convince her. He’d have to have been blind not to see what his partner was doing. There would have been paperwork, gossip, or something. Ian had to have known.

  Gabriel stayed where he was, watching Mira as though analyzing her.

  “What?” Mira glared at him.

  He said nothing, but didn’t look away.

  Mira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, rubbing them once again to get warm.

  “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled.

  When he went into her bedroom, she tried not to let her lip curl up. Thinking about him rummaging through her things made her want to kick them all out.

  Thankfully, Mira figured he wasn’t in there long enough to go through anything. Imagining what they might have found in her bedroom made her blush, and she had to bite back the urge to tell him off.

  He was chatting with one of the officers that came out with him. They went to the other officer in the room and put their heads together, talking too low for Mira to hear.

  The man who had been going through the living room pointed to a few things on her desk. Gabriel nodded, and before long, he was shaking their hands and ushering them out the door.

  “It’s over?” Mira asked, feeling confused.

  “No,” he said gruffly, “and I want to know what you’re playing at.”

  “Excuse me?” Mira couldn’t believe the man’s nerve. “I’m not playing at anything. This is on you. I don’t even know what the hell you’re doing here.”

  He ignored this statement and went back to her desk. “What are these books about?” he asked.

  Mira crossed her arms. “Need help with the big words?”

  “Just answer the question,” he said.

  Glancing in the kitchen, she saw Della watching. The lawyer’s eyes were narrowed at Gabriel, but she left them alone and stayed on the phone.

  “They’re exactly what they say they are,” Mira said. “They’re books on the occult throughout history.” He looked like he was going to ask another question, so she hurried on. “Which shouldn’t exactly surprise you. Did you think I was making up everything I told you?”

  His lips pursed, and he shuffled through some papers. “What about these?”

  She was prepared to be as obstinate as possible at this point. “I don’t know what you’re looking at. I’m guessing paper.”

  He snatched one of them up and brought it over.

  One of the notes that had been left for her. She gently rubbed her head again, wishing once again that the mess would be over.

  They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

  “Great,” Mira mumbled, “it’s a party.” Louder, she shouted. “Come in!”

  She almost groaned when Emmit opened the door. Having him see her like this was an embarrassment.

  “Good evening,” Emmit said after taking in the situation. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No—” Mira said.

  “Yes—” Gabriel said at the same time.

  They glared at each other.

  Emmit raised an eyebrow before taking off his coat and joining them. There was a curious look on Emmit’s face when he moved toward Gabriel.

  Although, moving seemed quite the wrong word. It was as though he were easing himself closer to Gabriel, so as not to startle.

  “I saw police officers leaving,” Emmit said, not taking his eyes off Gabriel. “I trust I am finding you both well?”

  The detective didn’t look like he knew what to do about Emmit, so he turned back to Mira. He looked at the paper in his hands, as though needing to be reminded about what he was doing.

  “The note, Miss Owens?”

  “What about it?” Mira asked.

  “We didn’t find any notes at the scene, but that doesn’t mean one wasn’t left. Did you write this?”

  “What?” Mira was shocked at the accusation. “What are you talking about?”

  “Did you write the letter?” Gabriel asked.

  Emmit strolled over and looked at what Gabriel held out.

  “No, they were left for me.”

  Gabriel eyed her critically. “Did you leave anything like this for any of the victims?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Mira looked at Gabriel as though he were an idiot.

  Emmit was reading the letter and Gabriel gave him a sideways glance, but didn’t stop him.

  “This isn’t a joke, Miss Owens,” Gabriel said. “Please answer the question.”

  She glowered at him. “No.”

  Mira could feel a stirring of the energy in the room and looked at Emmit. His face had gone blank, but his eyes looked pinched around the edges. He snatched the letter out of Gabriel’s hand and reread it before he settled his eyes back on Mira.

  They were both looking down at her, which she didn’t like.

  It was unfair, Mira thought, that her own anger wasn’t warming her up. “What is your problem? Both of you.” She wanted to make sure Emmit understood that he was included in her ire.

  “Are there more of these?” Emmit asked.

  “On the desk,” Gabriel answered for her.

  “What exactly are you accusing her of?” Emmit asked, going to the desk. “There is an accusation in there somewhere.”

  “I need to know if the letters are related to the case,” Gabriel said, trying to keep his voice even.

  “Then why don’t you ask the question you want the answer to,” Emmit said.

  Oracle padded into the room and jumped up onto Mira’s lap. He rubbed against her in an unaccustomed and reassuring kind of way. She gave the cat a pat before he settled down on the cushion beside her and watched the two men.

  “Do you know who wrote the letters?” Gabriel asked.

  “No,” Mira said, automatically.

  His eyes narrowed.

  Chapter 17

  Mira let out a disgusted huff of air. “I don’t know who sent them. I assume, however, that it is my landlord from the shop. He wants me out of the space.”

  Emmit came back over and sat down beside her, opposite the cat, with two letters in his hand. “Did you see him leave them?”

  “No.”

  “And you didn’t tell anyone about the letters?” Gabriel asked.

  “No. Why would I?” She rubbed the side of her head again and winced. “They’re just stupid letters.”

  Emmit sat the papers aside and turned toward her. He put his hand on her chin to move her head and examined what was surely becoming a bruise.

  The gesture felt very intimate to Mira and some of her agitation slipped away. She watched his eyes grow darker in color. He was eyeing the side of her head. Instead of his look turning softer with concern, as she had expected, the look hardened.

  He put a hand on her cheek and his brows furrowed, and then he took her hand and rubbed them briefly in his to warm them up.

  A high-pitched growl came from Oracle. The atmosphere in the room changed and Mira started to feel buffeted by manic energy.

  Emmit turned his attention to Gabriel. “What happened?” His voice was like molten lava, smooth, almost silky, but with enough power behind it to burn a person to ash.

  Without her pentagram pressed against her, Mira was certain that the energy could have broken her. To her surprise, however, Gabriel hardly seemed affected.

  She felt an answering call of energy ripple away from Gabriel, which no human she met could have managed. Mira’s
skin felt like it was being stung by fire and ice. Emmit’s energy merely built around them undirected and with no focus. Whatever was happening around Gabriel, it was in direct response to Emmit.

  Della walked out of the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

  Their concentration broke.

  It was over in the blink of an eye. The build-up of power evaporated, and both men looked as though nothing had happened.

  Oracle stopped growling and jumped off the couch. He wrapped himself around Gabriel’s legs, purring. The detective absentmindedly bent down and scratched Oracle behind the ears.

  Della looked at Mira with a raised eyebrow, but Mira shrugged and put her hand on her chest, pressing the pentagram reassuringly.

  “Since the warrant is invalid, we aren’t taking anything from the apartment.” He looked pointedly at Mira, and then nodded to the letters. “Unless you want to report anything.”

  “No,” Mira said.

  “This isn’t an end to anything,” Gabriel continued, but without any anger or malice behind the words. “Right now, you are still a suspect. You should stay away from Ian until this is over. I don’t want my partner dragged through the mud by gossip.”

  “That’s uncalled for,” Emmit said.

  “And maybe you should check up on your partner before you say that,” Della suggested with a smirk, sliding her phone away.

  “I’m just telling you what’s best for him,” Gabriel said.

  “Maybe you’d know what was best for him if you answered your phone,” Della said. “I’m guessing that you avoided Ian’s calls while you were here? Bad move.”

  In response, Gabriel whipped out his phone and stepped away, listening to his voice mail. Apparently, Ian had called a lot, so it took him a while. While Gabriel listened to Ian, Della filled Mira and Emmit in.

  “Ian brought in Martin. Turns out, he has a connection to Helen as well,” Della whispered as they both watched Gabriel’s face. “Ian’s interrogating him again now. Doesn’t look good for Gabriel, since he's here harassing his partner’s girlfriend, leaving Ian alone to deal with a possible killer.”

  “His girlfriend?” Mira choked out, trying to keep her voice low and avoid looking at Emmit.

  “Well,” Della said, “that’s the way it looks, doesn’t it? He’s spending a lot of time with you. You and I know what’s going on, but the guys at the station? Trust me; they’re thinking girlfriend and jealous partner.”