I studied the document. It looked as legitimate as some of the paperwork I’d become accustomed to reviewing since I started my new job—signatures, seals, all the proper eerie magical verification marks glowing faintly in the margins.
I raised an eyebrow. “Okaaaay?”
“The signatures are genuine. The transfer was legal. Everything checks out.” Didi’s jaw tightened. “But here’s the weird thing. Their clinic licenses are still active but aren’t showing any activity.”
I stared. “Isn’t that normal? They’re on vacation.”
A forlorn squeak issued from beneath my desk.
The look Didi gave me and my dog could have stripped paint. Bo silently released his toy.
“Clinic licenses for practicing witches are tied to their magical signatures,” the witch said. “Every time a registered healer performs a spell, the signature updates automatically. It’s how we track licensing compliance and ensure no one’s practicing without proper credentials.”
I wish I didn’t, but I was beginning to get an inkling where this was going. “And the Lincoln sisters’ signatures?—?”
“Haven’t updated in three weeks.” Didi pulled out another document, this one covered in charts and magical notation. “Look at this. Regular activity, regular activity, regular activity, and then—” She grabbed one of my highlighters and drew a line viciously across the page. “Nothing! All three of them. Same day.”
A chill danced down my spine.
Bo peeked his head out from under my desk. “That’s creepy.”
“Maybe they’re just not practicing while they’re on vacation?” I hazarded lightly.
“The Lincoln sisters are some of the most powerful witches in New England.” Didi’s voice was flat. “They use magic like breathing. Even on vacation, a witch of their caliber would be performing minor spells constantly. Warming their tea. Freshening their clothes. Turning annoying people into frogs. Adjusting the weather because they don’t like the humidity and it makes their hair frizzy.” She shook her head. “For all three signatures to just stop? On the same day, at the exact same time?”
Last night’s building meeting and what Mrs. Chen had said at the end rose afresh in my mind.
“So, something’s wrong,” I said quietly.
“Thanks for stating the obvious but yeah, something’s very wrong.” Didi sighed andpinched the bridge of her nose, her expression troubled. “I’ve been doing compliance work for six years. I know what normal paperwork looks like and I know what it looks like when somebody’s trying to hide something.” She tapped the transfer documents. “This is too clean.Andtheir health centers have apparently stopped operating, which is not normal. They have plenty of staff who should have been managing their clinics.”
I frowned as I recalled Melody Flowers’s words at the first Alliance meeting I’d attended a few weeks ago. The way she’d smiled when she announced the sisters were taking a “well-deserved break,” like the witches were pushing up daisies in an unmarked grave, hadn’t exactly been reassuring. Daria had even suggested Melody herself might have been responsible for their departure.
“You think they didn’t leave voluntarily,” I said carefully.
“I think three powerful witches don’t just vanish and their magical signatures go dark. And I think someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure no one asked questions about it.” Didi frowned. “I mean, it’s bad enough that they’ve been gone this long, their clinics shut down, and no one seems to care. Daria Tilcott would have picked up on this had she been here, but she’s away on a West Coast inter-coven summit.” Her expression hardened. “Here’s my problem. Witch politics are delicate. The covens don’t appreciate outsiders poking around in their business and I’m bound by coven hierarchy whether I like it or not.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. “Meaning?”
“Meaning if I start investigating and I’m wrong, I’ll be lucky if they only turn me into a frog.” Her mouth flattened to a grim line. “If I’m right, it’ll probably be something much worse.”
I processed this for a moment. Yup, I hated everything the witch had just said.
“Why are you telling me and not Samuel?” I asked, already guessing the answer and fervently wishing I hadn’t.
Gavin’s horns popped out where he’d leaned over a little and was doing his best to pretend he wasn’t eavesdropping.
“Because you’re not bound by coven hierarchy.” Didi’s eyes met mine squarely. “You’re the Hawthorne luna. You have influence that has nothing to do with witch politics and your position means the covens can’t just make you disappear without consequences.” She scratched her cheek. “Especially after your latest powers manifested. As for Samuel, his hands are tied. He has to look after the firm’s interests and his pack above all else.”
“So, basically, I’m a scary, loose cannon and no one wants to mess with me,” I said sullenly.
Bo had extracted himself fully from under the desk and was following the conversation with the kind of expression that indicated trouble was brewing and he liked it.
“Precisely,” Didi confirmed.
“That’s reassuring,” I muttered.
“It’s practical.” She gathered her foldersbriskly. “I need someone who can ask questions. Someone with enough pull that the witches can’t brush them off, but enough distance from coven politics that they won’t see them coming.” Didi fixed me with a stare that left no room for argument. “Basically, I need you, the Hawthorne luna. So, are you in?”
