“Well, I’m still going to razz him.” He takes a picture with his phone and shrugs, unrepentant. “Find Orion.”
I ignore the request and move on. “Do you think the two mystery witches from Laurel’s meeting are in here?”
I meet the excitement in Asher’s gaze with my own. “If they're registered members of a coven, they're in here somewhere.”
Asher waggles his brows. “We just have to find them.”
My fingers hover over the keyboard. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is how I find out who took my sisters, what happened to Davina, and where all the missing witches have gone.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It’s nearly seven when I decide I either need to take a break and get some fresh air or risk the migraine that’s threatening to punish me for my hyper-focus on nailing Laurel.
I sit back from the screen and rub my hands over my face. “I need to take a break. Want to hit the town with me?”
Asher sets down the book he’s reading and grins. “Does Emberwood even offer a pub crawl scene?”
“Not really, no, but that’s not what I meant. Do you want to be my Brigade CEO sidekick for a spirit witch walkabout?”
He leans back. “Like a ghost tour?”
“Sort of. A quiet, very private one.”
“Sounds fun. We should ask Ro, too. There’s no telling what lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce. Having a lady of the dark and dangerous with us just makes sense.”
He’s not wrong. “Hopefully there will be nothing pouncing from the shadows, but yeah, we’ll ask her.”
“Cool, so what’s our mission?”
“Mom asked me to check in on the town’s permanent ghosts. She left me a list of names and where we should be able to find them. I’m missing her like crazy and thought it would be niceto do this for her. Who knows, maybe she’s watching over us somehow.”
He's already swinging his legs out from under the table to get up. “You had me at ‘hit the town’. We’re in.”
“We?”
He grins, bending to slap his thighs. “Puppers, guess what? It’s field trip time."
The chihuahuas perk up immediately, tails wagging as they jump on their back legs, standing against him.
Not exactly the quiet night walk I was planning, but okay.
Twenty minutes later, the three of us are in the not-so-rocking downtown of Emberwood with two chihuahuas scurrying excitedly in front of us.
“Look how happy they are to be part of the Brigade.”
I knew Asher would be a crazy fur daddy when I adopted the pups, but it never ceases to amaze me how much joy he gets from two little fur snausages. “This is their second ghost reconnaissance mission. They should be earning badges or something.”
Somebuddy yaps in agreement.
The moon is out, casting Emberwood’s brick storefronts in an eerie light. Locals meander past, clutching shopping bags from the mercantile and artisan shops. A couple stops to pet the dogs, cooing over how cute they are. If only they knew they were on a mission of ghostly importance.
"So, where to first?" Asher asks. "The soup kitchen that's no longer a soup kitchen, or the jazz bar?"
I check Mom's notes and read about the two first ghosts on her list. “Dana might be hard to find because she moves along a set route. But Mom said King Louie doesn’t always show up at the Velvet Groove until later."
“Five years ago, when your mom last checked on them,” Rowan clarifies.
I shrug. “Yeah, there’s no guarantee they’re even still around. They may have moved on.”
