Reina and Ange frowned in deep concentration as they studied the map. “Could you help us for a moment?” Reina asked, in her most enchanting voice.
“Sure thing.” The man stepped out from behind his desk, with the screen still showing in my direction. The computer mouse, sadly, was out of my reach. I had to use magic.
While Ange and Reina covered his line of vision, I focused my energy on the bookings. My hand trembled as they popped up on the screen. Inch by inch I made them move up, until Harper took off her hat and fanned herself with it. She’d found the entry we were looking for.
I envisaged shutting a book, to collapse the bookings menu.
Harper put on her hat again, as a sign that I was done.
Only now did I hear the man explaining a route to Ange and Reina. Their conversation must have been going on the whole time, while I was in an almost trance-like state.
Harper took my elbow and propped me up. “I’m fine,” I whispered.
“Are the rooms number 7and 8 free tonight?” Harper asked.
The receptionist returned to his post and turned the screen away from us. I’d done my job too well and shut the whole website down, but he didn’t blink as he restarted it.
“They’re both available.”
“Excellent. We’re doing a Wiccan girls’ night out. I assume you won’t mind a bit of chanting?” Ange showed her dimples again.
“No, that’s cool, if you keep it quiet after 10pm.” He pushed over a form for Harper to fill out. I was reaching for my credit card to pay for the rooms, but Reina beat me to it.
“Can I have the keys?” she asked.
“Check-in is in an hour, when housekeeping is through.”
“We won’t need that,” I said. The less work that was done in Tim’s room, the likelier it was to find clues, with or without witchcraft.
The young man hesitated.
“I’m sure all your units are in great shape anyway, unless you’ve been hosting a bachelor party.” I chuckled, to show that I was only kidding.
He gave in and handed over the room keys.
When we left the office, he picked up his ball catcher again. I kept my fingers crossed that he’d been too busy playing to notice that despite our insistence on moving into the rooms, we piled into the car again.
The idea of dressing up as witches, to cover up any sort of actual witchcraft, had been a stroke of genius from Harper and Reina. The only thing that needed adding was a new spell, one that with any luck should reveal itself in my lair. It had happened before. I silently prayed that it would happen again.
I split with my coven for an hour, to allow time to pack overnight bags, rearrange our duties, and, in my case, put in a session with Cosmo and the spellbooks.
Chapter 24
Cosmo greeted me with flattering enthusiasm. “Did you miss me so much?” I asked when he stood up on his hind legs to ask for cuddles. I picked him up and cradled him to my chest.
“I’m not averse to spending more time with you,” he conceded.
“Thank you.”
“But also, I felt a ripple when you came through the door.”
I waited for him to explain further. Nothing came.
“A ripple?” I asked finally and lowered him to the ground.
“It’s a signal you’ve interfered with electricity.”
“Sorry. I had no choice.” One of the first things he’d drilled into me was the idea that witchcraft and modern technology didn’t mix too well. That’s why I didn’t have a microwave and all the utensils I used for our special baking had to be washed by hand instead of in the dishwasher. I’d come to accept it as a kind of invisible pollution clogging the arteries of magic.
