Number 1 sat ominously still. Its maw clamped shut with four locks twisted securely into place along with seven protective wards. Such crude security measures but what made Acacia Mirabel feel safe was her own choice, even if that choice was wholly unsophisticated in comparison to her neighbors’.
She’d come here in search of answers, the window to her study forced to keep its eyes wide open into the late evening and early morning hours. She never left in the daylight. Never attended events under the moon.
Not since she’d finally discovered what darkness truly lay hidden within Celestial Haven.
How it’d gotten that way.
Acacia watched as Heather Irving waddled out onto number 2’s front porch, shutting the door quickly behind her as quietly as she could. A mug resting atop her belly, she sat on the loveseat, sipping from it for three to twenty minutes, however long it took for a child to spot her and start banging on the window or smudging images of funny animals onto the glass with their stubby fingers. Then she’d head back inside, getting her older children out and to the bus stop, the little ones toddling behind them.
But it was the coveness striding down the driveway of number 5 that really drew Acacia’s attention as she jotted notes.
“The caterers can’t be here a minute after seven, and please sendextralinen this time. Last time was disgraceful when a cauldron bubbled over and there were not enough napkins to pass out with the pumpkin crème brûlées,” she said in a tone wholly pleasant for the unpleasantry of her words.
She looked as if she were talking to herself, walking along Starry Night Lane and clutching a black thermos filled with her custom brew. When she passed Ivy Hendrix and Jade Fisher pushing their strollers down the sidewalk, she remained engrossed in her conversation as they waved eagerly in her direction before she was out of view of Acacia’s observation.
Standing up from her windowsill, Acacia grabbed the paper, spelling it into the orb she held in her hand. The words were sucked inside, curling around its edges until the paper had disappeared.
Another day, another orb.
And if tonight went as planned, Acacia would get another answer.
Chapter11
Oakley
Iwoke up the next morning, my chest aching. Staggering out of the room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I startled when I found not only Atlas—whom I’d forgotten had stayed the night—but also a man I’d never met before seated on the couch in the living room, the two chatting quietly. The man was tall with brown hair and a tailored black suit. When they looked up, the stranger flashed a pleasant smile.
Was this Atlas’s contact he’d been in touch with?
“Hey…” Atlas’s eyes zipped to me, gaze dropping to my shirt. I crossed my arms over my chest, knowing they hadn’t missed the darkened circles over my nipples from where I’d leaked.Just great.“We didn’t want to wake you. This is Fitzgerald Wells, Artemis’s District Attorney.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Oakley. I’m actually your neighbor, so please call me Fitz. Everyone around here does.”
“Nice to meet you, Fitz.”
“Have you met my wife, Aurora?” he asked. “If you haven’t, I’m sure you will soon. She makes a point to reach out to all the coven’s new additions as its coveness.”
“Are you here about Hazel?”
“No, I actually came to invite you to tonight’s moonluck at our house before I headed over to file some paperwork at the police station,” Fitz said.
“I’ve called the police station twice to get an update on her missing person report, but it just keeps going to voicemail.”
“I know you’re worried, but hopefully it’s nothing other than Hazel up to her usual wild antics.”
“Oh, do you know my sister well?” Maybe Fitz would know who she’d been on a date with.
“I wouldn’t say well, but since we are heavily involved in the community and she sold us our house, we’ve spent a fair amount of time together.” He flashed another grin and then looked down at his phone, as if checking something, though he didn’t touch the screen. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to take you along with me to the station. My business should be pretty quick so you wouldn’t be away too long from your witchling.”
Atlas nodded, “I’m happy to stay with Aspen while you go.”
As much as I didn’t like being away from my sweet little witch, it would be a lot easier to focus on finding out any information on my sister’s case without needing to divide my attention.
“That would be great.” Using my thumb to gesture toward the nursery, I kept my arms in front of the damp spots on my shirt. “I’m just gonna go feed him and get dressed, if you can wait?”
“Not a problem,” Fitz said. “I’ll go wait for you in the car and get some emails answered.”
Shuffling into the nursery and cursing myself quietly, I gripped the edge of the crib, finding Aspen asleep, so gloriously peaceful. I didn’t want to wake him, but I needed some relief and didn’t want to deplete my magical stores with another pumping spell.
