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

  "You didn't know what you were doing. Neither of us did." Mira dropped her pen and leaned onto her elbows, looking at him across the table. "Why are you against this?"

  Gabriel shifted in his seat. "It just doesn't feel right."

  Mira stared, waiting for more.

  "Give me a way to break it," Gabriel said.

  "What?"

  "I'll feel better if I have a way to break the spell."

  "I'm not your responsibility." It came out louder than she’d intended, so she tried again in a more normal voice. "You didn't know what you were doing when you made that promise."

  "Give me a way to break it," Gabriel repeated. "If I break it, then it's my choice."

  Mira wasn't sure what to say to that. It was true. If he broke it, he would know what it meant, but did she want him to have that type of control?

  And why would he want it?

  The thoughts rolled around in her mind, but they were cut short when someone knocked on the door.

  "Alright," she said, standing. "I'll give you a way to break it."

  He seemed to relax some, but she still wasn't sure what she thought about it.

  Ian waited on her doorstep, but he showed none of the tension that Gabriel had described, seeming energetic and ready to face the interviews.

  "I saw Gabriel's car here," he said softly as he came into her apartment. "Do you have good news for me?"

  Oh, Mira thought. That's why he looks excited.

  "Um," Mira said, glancing toward the kitchen. "Yes and no, I guess."

  He was crestfallen. "No spell, then."

  "Not exactly." Mira bit her lip.

  "This is never going to get easier, is it?" Ian tossed his jacket on a peg.

  Mira winced. She could feel Ian unconsciously pounding against her spell.

  "Hey," Gabriel said.

  Mira glanced up and saw him leaning against the wall by the kitchen.

  Ian nodded to his partner.

  "I think it will," Mira said. "Do you want me here?" she asked Gabriel.

  He shook his head.

  "I'll be in the kitchen, then. I've got some work to do."

  "Wait," Ian said, "we have some things to go over today."

  "We can shortly." Mira hurried into the kitchen before Ian could say anything else.

  There was silence in the other room for a short time. Ian broke the silence by asking 'what's up,' but she couldn't distinctly hear Gabriel's response.

  Once she knew they were talking, she tried to block them out. She had a spell to concentrate on, and Gabriel had given her an added element that she hadn't been expecting.

  Mira assumed that a spell for an angel needed to be stronger than for a human.

  Ian's voice sped up and sounded excited. Grabbing a book, Mira noisily flipped pages to block out as much a she could. Still, it was impossible not to sense Ian's agitation when Gabriel's words started to sink in.

  She reminded herself that it was none of her business, but felt guilty all the same.

  The spell, Mira thought fiercely. Gabriel was an angel, yes, but nothing of his true nature seemed to pass through into this world. In the Ether, he was a powerful winged fighter. Here, he was a detective. Still powerful, but not really on par with what you would expect from an angel.

  Except when Emmit riled him up. Mira stared into nothing and contemplated the few times Gabriel and Emmit had clashed. A cool power had poured out of him. It was undirected and unsophisticated in comparison to the focused heat that had emanated from Emmit, but their strength was on par with each other.

  Did that mean Emmit could be an angel?

  No, she scoffed at the thought. Emmit and Gabriel were nothing alike. She got the sense they were on different wavelengths.

  After casting the spell for Emmit, she had a good feel for him. Similar in power they might be, but they weren't the same race. Emmit was a Harker, anyway. If the secret the Harkers had been hiding was that they were angels, she was pretty sure that would have come out ages ago.

  An argument broke out in the other room. Mira sighed and rubbed her temples, wondering what, if anything, she should be doing.

  Tea. A nice calming pot of tea. Mira busied herself by filling the kettle and then going through her meager supplies of loose-leaf ingredients.

  Meager for her, anyway. Since her store had burned down, she didn't have a varied and readily available supply of tea or spell ingredients.

  She put together a calming mixture, momentarily considered a little spell work to go with it before dismissing the idea, and grabbed mugs.

  Mixing the tea and filling the tea balls was therapeutic in some odd way. Even when the kettle whistled, the shrill noise didn't bother her. She turned down the stove and reached for the kettle. Gabriel's arm grabbed hers and yanked it back.

  "What the—"

  She cut off when the gas flames under the kettle stuttered, then shot up.

  The flare had been momentary and probably would have done no more than scorch her hand, but fire was fire.

  "And what the hell is that about?" Ian snapped from the kitchen entryway.

  Gabriel seemed troubled and still had a grip on her arm.

  "Thank you," Mira said quietly.

  "I said—"

  "It's nothing." Gabriel dropped Mira’s arm and moved away.

  "That's a load of crap," Ian said. "I thought we were being honest here."

  Gabriel's jaws clinched. "You're right. It's just that I did something really stupid and don't want to admit it."

  Ian snorted out a hollow laugh.

  Mira turned away from them and shut off the stove. Gabriel's words, 'really stupid' stung more than she had expected they would.

  "But I'm fixing it," Mira said, trying not to sound stiff. She poured the hot water into mugs. "Have a seat. I made tea."

  "What's in it?" Ian asked.

  Even though she couldn't see him, she could hear the sneer in his voice.

  She set down both cups with more force than necessary. "It's herbal tea. There's herbs in it."

  Ian looked like he was going to say something, but stared her in the face and swallowed his words. He still made no move to drink the tea.

  Gabriel drank, but it seemed more out of the need to do something than anything else. Mira joined them at the table, feeling uneasy about being around either of them.

  Mira thought it better to steer things in a different direction.

  "Did you hear anything about the Hendersons last night?" Mira asked.

  "Who are they?" Gabriel asked. He also seemed ready to change the topic.

  "Supernatural family," Mira said. "Someone last night mentioned they were missing."

  Ian looked reluctantly from one to the other, and then sighed. "I only heard that someone's been trying to reach them and they haven't been around."

  "That doesn't sound too ominous," Mira said.

  "Agreed," Ian said, "but going to their house is on my list of things to do today."

  "That reminds me," Gabriel said. "Did you talk with Barney last night?"

  "He wasn't there," Mira said. "William said he didn't answer the door when he went to pick him up."

  "Why are you two looking for Barney?" Ian asked.

  Mira tried to word her answer in a way that wouldn't make Ian more upset. "Gabriel took me over there yesterday. With Tyler gone, I realized Barney didn't have anyone bringing him the seer's spell."

  "And he wasn't there?" Ian asked.

  "He was there, but when we talked, he mentioned he spoke with John the day before," Mira said. "I wanted to ask him more questions about it."

  Ian glared at his partner. "Why didn't you ask questions there? We need to find this guy."

  "I didn't go in with her," Gabriel said. "No one else knows about me. Only you, her, and—for some ungodly reason—Emmit."

  "So, I'm not the last to know?" Ian asked.

  "I'd rather not tell anyone," Gabriel said. "I'm certainly not going to parade around announcing it to st
rangers."

  Ian seemed slightly mollified since he found out before others, so he turned to Mira. "I'm surprised you didn't ask any more questions while you were there."

  "He also asked me if I was really there," Mira said. "You know Barney. Besides, it's not like John could have actually been there."

  "I didn't get to that part," Gabriel muttered.

  "Oh," Mira said, staring at Ian.

  "What am I missing?" Ian asked.

  "Actually," Mira said, slumping back in her chair, "you're both missing so much I don't know where to start."

  "Start with John," Gabriel said. "Chasing after him is wasting time."

  "You want me to tell him?" Mira squeaked. The two men watched her expectantly. "I'm going to need something stronger than tea."

  Chapter 8

  Discussing the real story about how John had attacked her was more unsettling than Mira had anticipated: remembering the shotgun blast, seeing Emmit on the floor, John pointing the gun at her, and Gabriel shooting him.

  Cross didn't even begin to describe Ian. Each time he tried to interrupt, however, Gabriel gave him a warning look and Ian would reluctantly listen.

  "So he's dead?" Ian asked at the end. "And there's no body because he's been sucked into another world?"

  "Yeah," Mira said.

  "I can't tell if you all are screwing with me or if all of this is real," Ian said. "I can't see how any of this is possible, but—"

  "It's the truth," Mira said.

  "I've relied on him for the truth for too long," Ian said, taking another jab at his partner. "I'm not sure I know what it looks like anymore."

  Gabriel pushed his chair away from the table, scraping it across the floor, and stood. "I should go."

  "No," Mira said. Then—looking from one man to the other—she became more forceful. "No! Gabriel, sit down. Neither of you are going anywhere."

  "Let him—" Ian started.

  "No!" Mira glared at them. "I get that you're angry, but you're both going to have to suck it up and get over it."

  They stared at her in surprise.

  "Look, I'm sorry I did this to you two," Mira said. "I really am, but the fact of the matter is, we—the supernatural community, that is—still needs help. Another family may be missing and we need to check on Barney."

  "I can—" Ian started again.

  "No!" Mira snapped. "It's we. All three of us. If it's not, then both of you can get out and I'll do this on my own until I find someone else."

  Mira took a moment to catch her breath. Realizing that she had essentially just yelled at both of them, she felt her face turn red, but she wasn't about to back down now.

  "Ian," she said when she had more control over herself. "I know you're upset that Gabriel didn't tell you right away. I get it. I'm sure we both do," Mira added, glancing at Gabriel. "But put yourself in his shoes. Gabriel is hard-pressed to believe this himself. Seven days ago, he found out that he's an angel. Think about that for a moment."

  Ian seemed bothered and looked his partner up and down. "You seriously didn't know?"

  "No," Gabriel said. "I seriously didn't know."

  "How can you tell?" Ian asked.

  Mira hesitated. She hadn't thought this part through yet.

  "I just can," Gabriel said. He seemed to be much more prepared to answer. "The fact I can tell when people are lying should have tipped me off that something was wrong with me."

  "Nothing is wrong with you," Mira said.

  Gabriel leaned on the back of the chair, gripping it.

  "She's right, you know," Ian said when his partner didn't agree. "I've been working with everyone for the past week and there's nothing wrong with any of the community. Okay, there's something wrong with John, obviously, but nothing more than what could be wrong with any other human."

  "It sure as hell feels like there's something wrong," Gabriel said.

  Mira slapped her hand over her mouth to hide her grin.

  "Oh, for christ's sake," Gabriel said, plopping back down in his chair again.

  Stifling the laugh was difficult, but she managed to cut it off.

  "What is it?" Ian asked, looking quizzically from one to another.

  "Apparently, I can't curse anymore." Despite his words, his demeanor lightened when he glanced at Mira trying to hide her laugh.

  "You can," Mira said, "it's just, I keep picturing you with wings, along with a sword and shield and stuff. You know, being all angelic. It just amuses me when I hear an angel saying hell."

  "Why the sword and shield?" Ian asked.

  Mira felt ready for this one. "The arch angel Gabriel was a warrior. It just seems to fit."

  "I see what you mean," Ian said, finally cracking a smile. "I just can't really imagine you with those weapons."

  "Good," Gabriel said. "Let's keep it that way."

  "Seems kind of cruel for your parents to name you Gabriel, though," Ian said. "Especially since they didn't tell you."

  "They still won't tell me anything," Gabriel said. "I'm on my own."

  Mira reached out and patted Gabriel's arm sympathetically. "You're not alone."

  He put his hand over hers for a moment before they both drew away.

  Ian cleared his throat again, this time with a small grin. "At least we'll be able to work together again. We know John is out of the picture, but he mentioned the fact that there were others."

  "And they were using Barney's blog to get messages," Mira added. "But I don't know how. I read the posts and I can't find anything that looks like it might be a message from evil creatures from the Ether."

  "I'm not sure what those messages would look like, but I'd have to agree," Ian said. "I read his notebooks and blog and I wouldn't say any of his visions are messages."

  "Maybe they aren't" Gabriel said. "Maybe John and his pals are just crazy—or brain washed or something."

  "You think they've deluded themselves into thinking there are coded messages in Barney's visions?" Mira asked.

  Gabriel shrugged. "I haven't read them, but I don't think we can rule anything out. You say you have his notebooks?"

  "I have copies of some of them," Ian said. "Anything that Barney might have seen around the time of the murders."

  "Good thinking," Gabriel said.

  "But I couldn't find anything," Ian said.

  "Mind if I take a look?" Gabriel asked.

  "Sure," Ian said. "I'll bring them tomorrow. Today, we need to check on Barney and the Hendersons. Are there going to be any issues with Gabriel joining us?"

  "Parts of the council were pressing me pretty hard last night to bring more detectives in on the case." Mira curled her nose up at the memory. "I should make a call or two, but I don't think anyone will mind."

  "Is that what the fight last night was about?" Ian asked.

  "What fight?" Mira asked.

  Ian shrugged. "Most people were gone by the time things got heated up, but there were still a lot of people upset."

  "What happened?" Mira asked.

  "I'm not altogether sure what went wrong, but a bunch of people were in a room arguing."

  "The elders?" Mira asked.

  "I don't know who they were. That woman helping out, Mrs. Vears, she was with them," Ian said.

  Mira nodded. "She's one of the elders. Go on."

  "The only thing I know for sure is that one of the werewolves shifted in the room," Ian said. "Someone said an elf goaded him on, and someone else said magic was used first. It was a mess. The werewolf attacked someone, and Lance had it out with the werewolf."

  Mira's mind filled with the horror of it. Imagining Noah attacking someone was bad enough, but Noah and Lance fighting? She covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes began to sting.

  "It sounded like Mr. Contrey would have been dog food if it wasn't for Mr. Singer in the room."

  "Emmit was there," Mira said quickly. It felt as though a draft of winter was winding its way around her. "Was he okay? I thought he'd stop by last night, but he didn't."


  Ian cast a quick glance at Gabriel before continuing. "I didn't see him. Someone ordered Della to get me out of there. I've seen a werewolf before, but he was in control when I saw him that first night. There was no restraint last night, so I wasn't about to stick around."

  "I can't believe this," Mira said.

  "Della was pretty upset by it. She said she was going to call you."

  "I don't have my cell phone," Mira said. "I need to call her, and I also need to check on Emmit."

  "She's in court today," Ian said, " but she said she'd be home tonight."

  "Do you have Emmit's number?" Mira asked, looking from one to the other.

  They shook their heads.

  Mira stood up and started to search for her car keys before remembering that they would do her no good. "I left my phone at the store. Can one of you take me there?"

  "I'm sure he's fine," Gabriel said.

  "You don't know that," Mira said.

  "Take a breath," he said. "Calm down. Do you have Reinfield's number?"

  "Yes! They can give me a ride," Mira rushed into the living room and grabbed her purse.

  Distantly, she heard Gabriel and Ian exchange a few words before Gabriel followed her.

  "I didn't mean you should get them to give you a ride," Gabriel said. "We can give you a ride. They probably know how to reach him, though."

  "You're right," Mira said.

  Gabriel passed her his phone. Mira snatched it and hurriedly dialed the number on the business card. The phone rang twice and then there was silence.

  "It's Mira, uh, Miranda Owens." She always felt put off by Reinfield Concierge Services. They would do almost anything for a client, including stage a fake crime scene.

  "Ms. Owens, how can we help you today?"

  "I'm looking for Emmit."

  "I'm afraid we cannot disclose his location."

  "I just need him to call me. Can you ask him to do that?"

  "Certainly. If this is an emergency, can you tell us the nature of the emergency?"

  "It's not really an emergency," Mira said. "I just... I haven't heard from him and I..." She looked around the room, suddenly embarrassed, but she saw that Gabriel had left her alone. Still, she lowered her voice. "I was just worried that something happened to him last night."