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

  "You have me now," Gabriel said, trying to lighten the mood. "You'll miss keeping it to yourself before long."

  "That'll never happen," Ian said, not pacified. "Where should we work?"

  "The kitchen or living room, wherever you all want. Um, I thought Della might be of some use," she added, not liking how the evening was getting started. "She's ordering dinner for us and will be over before long."

  That did the trick. Ian's frown disappeared on his way to the kitchen. Mira watched him go and sighed. When she glanced around, she noticed Gabriel watching her.

  Before he could say anything, she stepped in. "Do you all need anything?"

  "Coffee," Ian called from the kitchen.

  Gabriel frowned toward his partner, but Mira smiled.

  "Coming up," she said, gliding past Gabriel and not giving him a chance to talk. "I've got spell work to do, so I'll show you where everything is in case you want it again later."

  "Are you going to use the kitchen for that?" Gabriel asked at the kitchen entry.

  "No, I'm going to need the circles downstairs tonight, and some Awake added to my tea since it'll be a long night. If you all want any—"

  "No thanks," Ian said quickly.

  "Maybe later," Gabriel said. "I didn't know there was a downstairs to the apartment."

  "There's not, really," Mira said. "Della walled off part of the garage for me so I could keep more permanent magic circles and ones that were closer to the ground."

  "Is that important?" Gabriel asked.

  "Not for everything," Mira admitted, "but for the big stuff, it is. On the ground is even better, but hard to do anymore."

  "Can I see it?" Gabriel asked. Quickly, he added, "If it's private, of course, you don't have to. I was just..."

  Mira smiled, feeling somewhat relieved that he didn't want to treat her as a pariah. "Sure, I'll show you." Once the coffee was brewing, she led Gabriel downstairs and was pleasantly surprised to see Ian following behind.

  "This reminds me of your shop," Ian said.

  Both men wandered around the room, looking at the jars, tiny bottles, and various plants.

  "It has a lot of the same stuff," Mira admitted. "I've been sending some things to previous customers."

  "Mail-order spells?" Ian asked.

  "Something like that," Mira said. She found it interesting that Ian would walk through the magic circles on the ground, but Gabriel walked around them. Neither of the men could see the circles and they weren't active, so either could walk through without an issue. She wondered if Gabriel somehow sensed the repeated laying of the magic.

  "What are you working on tonight?" Ian asked.

  Gabriel gave her a tense glance that she barely caught—and Ian missed completely.

  "A few things, actually," Mira said.

  "For the case?" Ian asked.

  Mira wrung her hands, uncertain how Ian would take the idea of wearing a ward. He seemed to be of two minds when it came to magic, depending on how aggravated he was with the binding spell and how frustrated he was with the case.

  "I'm putting together something to keep you all safe," Mira said. "Wards, for now. It'll block magic, at least to some extent, along with some other things that might come up if supernaturals are involved."

  "That's really nice of you," Gabriel said quickly, before his partner could talk. "I’m sure they’ll be really useful."

  "Yeah," Ian said, not sounding as convinced, "thank you."

  The doorbell upstairs rang. "That'll be Della," Mira said.

  "Can I talk to you a minute first?" Gabriel asked. "Ian, do you mind helping Della?"

  "Sure thing," Ian said. He was out of the room and up the stairs before Mira could say anything.

  When he was gone, Gabriel continued looking over one of her workbenches. They could hear voices upstairs, and Mira couldn't help but smile at the thought of giving the pair time to talk alone.

  Looking back to Gabriel, she saw that while he was looking at the plants, he was also pushing on spots here and there on the sides of the workbench. Her smile widened and she giggled.

  "You better be careful," she said. "You might not like what you find if you open one of my many witch panels."

  His fingers froze for a moment, but then continued. "Am I going to get zapped by something?"

  "Doubtful at my house."

  "You didn't seem the type to set some sort of horrible trap."

  She felt her face go pink. "Nothing that would hurt someone, no, but you may not like what's inside."

  "Eyes of newt? Frog legs?"

  Mira laughed. "You can buy frog legs at one of the grocery stores in the city, and I don't think I've ever used eyes. Some of the ingredients can be pretty gross, though. You might feel the urge to arrest me for a few."

  Gabriel stopped and raised an eyebrow at her. "Illegal?"

  "You'd have to find them and tell me."

  He stopped searching and leaned his back against the workbench, crossing his arms. "I don't like the sound of that."

  There was something in the way he leaned so casually against the table that made her heart beat faster. Maybe it was the way he looked at her.

  Maybe it was the way his biceps tensed.

  Her face went redder and she tried to tear her mind away from that train of thought.

  "Let's just say that if anyone who didn't know I was a witch found some of the items I store here, they'd think I was a giant freak."

  He relaxed. "I know you're not that."

  Damn, Mira thought, why did he have to be so cute?

  "What are you really working on tonight?" Gabriel asked.

  Chapter 12

  "I told you," Mira said, "I'm working on wards for the two of you. Yours will just have a little something extra with it."

  "Something I'll be able to break, right?" Gabriel asked.

  Mira rolled her eyes. "The ward part, no. The rest? I'll attach my spell to the necklace. Once it's broken, the spell will be as well."

  "Could I just take the necklace off for it to stop working?"

  "That will stop the ward, not permanently, but it only works if the medallion is against your skin. It won't do anything for the other spell, because that one isn't on the necklace. It's on me."

  "So you're hiding yourself from me, not stopping me from seeing you?"

  "Something like that," Mira said. "I can adapt things a little easier if the spell is on me. I'm not sure what type of adjustments I'd need to make on you. Even on me, I might need your help. I've never done anything like this before."

  "I'm still not sure it's a good idea," Gabriel said.

  "This," Mira waved back and forth between the two of them, "isn't fair for either of us. It was an accident."

  He didn't say anything.

  Mira could think of nothing to convince him further. She felt if she told him that she would do the spell with him or without him, it would be seen as a challenge more than anything else.

  "Let's go get dinner," Mira said. She took a final look around the room before leading the way upstairs.

  "We were just about to call down for you," Della said when they came into the kitchen.

  Mira gave her friend a knowing glance, silently conveying, Sure you were.

  Della grinned. "Anyway, let’s eat— you all have a busy night."

  "It looks that way," Gabriel said.

  "Is there anything I can help you with?" Della asked.

  "It wouldn't hurt to have another set of eyes on the case," Ian said. "Maybe your legal expertise will come in handy. Not to mention the supernatural side of things."

  "I'd be happy to help," Della said. "Mira, I think this occasion calls for some Awake for everyone."

  "I'll get you some," Mira said.

  "You'll love this," Della said to the others. "It's better than coffee and Mira makes it better than anyone I know."

  Ian twisted uncomfortably in his seat.

  "I'm not sure the detectives want spells in their drinks," Mira said.


  "I'll give it a try," Gabriel said. "It will be a long night, after all. Ian?"

  Mira noticed the mischievous look Gabriel gave his partner.

  "Sure," Ian said, "anything to help, I guess."

  "Some Clarity wouldn't go amiss, either," Della said.

  Ian shifted in his chair.

  "Good idea," Mira said, "but maybe tomorrow. I don't have any made up."

  Della checked her phone. "There's probably time."

  "I'm making wards tonight," Mira said, "for Ian and Gabriel."

  Della gave her friend a softened smile. "All in one night?"

  Mira shrugged.

  "It sounds like you need more help than they do," Della said, "and something a lot stronger than Awake."

  "Is making them that hard?" Gabriel asked.

  Della raised an eyebrow at him. "Something that lasts virtually forever and is strong enough to repel magic? Very few witches anywhere could manage them in one night, but if anyone can do it, Mira can. I can still help things along."

  "You know," Mira said, catching her friend’s eye before glancing meaningfully at Ian. "I think helping with one of them would really help give it a boost."

  Wards were always best when they came from someone that really cared about the person receiving the ward. The higher the emotion and attachment, the more powerful the ward.

  Much to Mira's surprise, Della actually blushed.

  "I'll get things started and call you down when I need you," Mira said.

  "After dinner," Della said.

  The four chatted—mostly about the case—throughout dinner and Mira excused herself afterward.

  Because of the destruction of her store, she’d been getting stock delivered to her house. Witches wanting mail-ordered materials didn't stop when the store had burned down. This meant she had pendants on hand that could be used for wards.

  Mira left the necklaces in their herb and spring water bath, while she started to put together her other spell. The wards were all about power—raw strength channeled into the specific purpose of protection. There was a spell to trap the power, but that complexity was mild in comparison to the one she had planned for herself.

  The biggest problem in the spell she wanted to cast was that she had no idea what she was doing. Usually for something like this, she would have asked Tyler to go over everything with her. The more complex the spell grew, the more likely ingredients could clash or cancel each other out.

  Mira took out each ingredient and inspected it before she compared it to the other ingredients on her list. Even with extra measures, it was possible that the spell would fall flat. Better the spell fail than go in the opposite direction, though. If she ended up magnifying the bond between herself and Gabriel, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. He really would be running over here every time she stubbed her toe or brushed through a tangle in her hair.

  She cringed at the thought and was pleased that Gabriel came up with the idea of being able to break the spell. If she did screw it up, she could break the chain as easily as he could.

  When she had all her ingredients lined up, she went over the list again. Who knew what it would take to hide from an angel? Remembering the strength of Gabriel's voice in the Ether, she adjusted the amounts of a few items.

  A part of her said she should finish the wards first, but another small voice agonized over the new spell, prodding her to go over the ingredients again.

  The new spell was as good as she was going to get. Instead of checking everything another time, she took a deep breath and dove in. Once she started mixing, there was no going back.

  It all began with her anchor spell. That was her sure-fire shortcut to getting things started. Without it, any spell would take much longer than she wanted.

  In three separate cups, she mixed ingredients, a little anchor in each, and then she took out a silver chain and placed all four items in the center of her circle.

  It had been a while since she'd used her circles. They were so used to her, though, that it only took the smallest spark of power to energize the largest one. She shivered a little as the power, more strength than she had anticipated, jumped from her.

  She was out of practice. She had only performed one real spell since she’d come back from the Ether. After Mira had helped Emmit, mixing both her and Gabriel's blood to get the job done, she had been left with a hollow feeling and she had avoided magic for longer than necessary.

  Mira rolled her shoulders before sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of her materials. She closed her eyes, meditated for a few minutes to make sure her magic flowed freely, and then she got started.

  Using pure water, she wrote symbols onto the concrete while starting to speak the spell. She began blending the ingredients, pausing before each combination to add another layer to the spell and another row of symbols onto the floor. Water would normally have evaporated from the concrete, but with magic flowing through the letters, each drop stayed firmly where it was drawn.

  She closed her eyes, falling deep into the magic, swirls of energy drawing colored sparks across her mind. Power rose to fill her circle and her skin began to tingle.

  Mira allowed a moment of exploration before adding the final ingredient, three drops of her own blood. Her skin tingled often when doing magic, but it usually meant she was straining herself and she didn't feel like that was the case. Once she was secure in the knowledge that her magic was holding, she moved on.

  Without opening her eyes, she pulled out a pen and added three drops of blood.

  Mira heard Della's voice and figured her friend could sense the magic and knew it was time to help. Mira went through the last phases as quickly as she dared. She dropped the chain into her spell, said the final words, and drank her creation, making sure not to swallow the chain with it.

  Once she felt the spell settle into both herself and the jewelry, she pulled the silver from her mouth.

  The magic didn’t immediately cut off. Instead, Mira let it ebb away before opening her eyes.

  Della stood at the edge of her circle with arms crossed and foot tapping.

  Mira stared around, wondering what had gotten her friend so riled up, but they were alone.

  "What's wrong?" Mira asked, letting her circle fall.

  "What the hell was that?" Della asked.

  "A spell. What did you think it was?"

  "I know it was a spell, but I also know your power, and that wasn't it."

  The accusation brought Mira to her feet. "What are you talking about? Of course, it was mine. Whose else would it be?"

  "What are you using to amplify your magic? You know shit like that goes wrong fast."

  "I'm not doing anything." Mira felt a little lightheaded, but nothing had seemed out of the ordinary to her.

  "It's addictive, Mira. Power boosts may feel great in the short term, but it will leave you worse off than the Bliss."

  Mira glared at her friend and dropped her voice. "That's a low blow. The only spell I've used in over a week was the Awake we drank upstairs. And that was stale."

  Della's arms dropped, looking unsure of herself—which was a rare sight. "You didn't take anything?"

  "No," Mira said, adding some force to her voice, "and it's a shitty thing to suggest."

  "What spell were you doing?" Della asked.

  "None of your business," Mira snapped.

  "Listen, whatever you did, it was stronger than I've seen from you. From anyone," she stressed, "and that includes my father, which you know is saying something."

  Mira shrugged. "I used some strong ingredients."

  "And you haven't worked magic in a while," Della said, more to herself than Mira. "You haven't built some sort of magic battery, have you?"

  "That would be just as bad as something boosting my power."

  "No, that energy would be yours, only stored."

  "That—" Mira thought about it for a moment. "That's actually not a bad idea."

  They stood in awkward silence for
a while before Della spoke. "I'm sorry I accused you."

  "You should be," Mira said, not willing to let go of her frustration.

  "I was just worried about you," Della said. "I know you've been under a lot of stress. From the elders, the case, and Tyler going missing. It's enough for anyone to search for an edge."

  Knowing that Mira's own bad history with addiction fueled Della's concern didn't make Mira any happier with the situation.

  "I assure you," Mira said, trying to take the bite out of her voice, "I'm not doing anything to alter my magic."

  Della nodded and stared around the room, still looking uncomfortable.

  "Are you taking an inventory?" Della asked, motioning to her workbench lined with ingredients.

  "Something like that," Mira said, not admitting anything. "How's it going upstairs?"

  "They're reading Barney's blog. Need any help down here?"

  "The pendants should be ready soon."

  "What did you use?"

  "I didn't have much of a selection, but I found a very nice protection rune and a small fox spirit."

  "Fox spirit? I like that."

  "I thought it would be a good choice for Ian." Seeing Della's secretive grin at the mention of Ian and the fox made Mira finally let go of her frustrations. "I thought you'd like that."

  Della's confidence seemed to grow now that Mira wasn't upset. "Are you doing both pendants together?"

  "No, I think they'll work better if we focus on them one at a time. I could use your help with Ian's." Mira used a glass rod to stir the pendants, checking them. "In fact, why don't you pull out the fox—he's on the left—and keep hold of it."

  Della did so and automatically moved to the circle. "This isn't silver."

  Mira set the necklace she had just worked on carefully to the side before joining Della. "Platinum, actually."

  Della whistled. "You went all out."

  "They deserve something that will last," Mira said, trying not to blush, "and like I said, my stock is short and I wasn't about to use gold. Twenty-four carat gold wears down eventually."

  "This is really great of you," Della said, turning the fox over and over in her hand.

  "You know the drill," Mira said, forcing them back on task. "Just concentrate on keeping Ian safe and aim your energy. Once the fox is charged, I seal it in." Mira once again added a touch of power to activate her circle. "Ready?"