Pepper gazed around the shop. “So do y’all catch ghosts?”
I nodded. “I do. I’m a clairvoyant. There’s no point lying about it. I can see spirits and talk to them. It makes for a real interesting time if I’m having lunch alone at a restaurant. Sometimes ghosts like to visit when I’m by myself, and then they chatter until finally I have to answer. So basically, people think I’m a crazy lady who talks to herself.”
Pepper shot Axel a look. “Somehow I think the two of us can relate.”
My gaze toggled from side to side, trying to figure out what she meant. “Are y’all clairvoyants, too?”
A slow smile curved Pepper’s lips. “Not exactly.”
Then it hit me. I hadn’t noticed it before she said something, but this Axel guy and Pepper were different. Like, they almost shimmered they were so different.
Energy coiled between them. When I stared at Pepper, it was almost as if I could see it breathing around her. A wall of power inhaled and exhaled as she moved, wrapping her in a protective layer.
Axel proved different. The cloud circling him seemed to be made more of testosterone than energy. A primal, instinctive sense of power blew off him like steam. Yet I sensed a similar tangle to Pepper’s, but I had to look harder to see it.
They were witches. Axel, not technically. Technically the title wizard fit him best. But you know? Magic was magic. Whether you used the masculine or feminine name, it meant the same thing—these two beings worked spells as easily as I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
My mind immediately flashed to Roan. They might be able to help him. I knew wizards and witches weren’t demonologists, but this Axel guy looked weathered and tested.
I opened my mouth to relay the developments from last night regarding Molly Menzel, but Axel beat me to it. “So they found the Menzel girl’s family. Have you spoken to the relative?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He thumbed the door. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go find some answers.”
THIRTEEN
Idrove Axel and Pepper through town. Pepper sat in back, commenting on how cute Haunted Hollow appeared to be.
“It’s Halloween here twenty-four-seven,” I murmured.
“Oh, I know about that.” She tapped the glass. “Had something like that happen in our town.”
I peeked in the rearview at her. “Oh? Where’s that?”
Before she could answer, Axel changed the subject. “So what else is happening besides a missing person’s case?”
My stomach knotted. I wasn’t sure how much to tell him, but I figured if my hunch was correct and he was a wizard, then there was no harm in explaining a few strange circumstances.
“There were three spirits haunting the house where we discovered Molly’s body. One of them is evil, determined to destroy whoever it can.” I turned left at a four-way stop and gunned the Cruiser down the tree-lined street. “This spirit is the sort of trouble that keeps on giving. None of the other ghosts can cross into the afterlife unless he allows it. I’m holding him, but his power is strong. To break him, I need his name.”
Axel rubbed his thumb over his lips. “And that’s what you want me to get?”
“Right. You were recommended. I usually work alone, but something about this case is bothering me. So I decided to reach out.”
My GPS bleated that we had arrived. I pulled up to the curb. A long line of television crew vans ate up the asphalt. The vehicles had parked nose to rump, leaving little space between. They reminded me of plates on a centipede.
Axel peered through the glass. “So this is it. Let’s see if we can get past these crews and get inside.”
I frowned. “How’re we going to do that? Magic?”
I clamped my teeth shut. How could I have said that?
Axel shifted in his seat until his body faced mine. “You know what we are.”
“It was a guess. I mean, look at the two of you.”
Pepper’s gaze washed down her shirt. “What? Did I put this on backward?”
