“Improper spellwork tends to escalate,” Elwood continued. “Anger or greed-fueled magic is unpredictable. Whoever cast that hex may not understand what they started.”
Az leaned back in his chair. “So the situation could get worse.”
Movement flickered across the wall again. The shadow detective had returned.
Elwood glanced at the wall and shook his head. “Our goal is to figure out who cast the hex before that happens, so we need a plan. Anyone have any thoughts?”
“Is there any way we can see the other entries?”
“Right,” Sandy said enthusiastically. “Maybe Ivan’s wasn’t the only one hexed.”
Declan gasped. “And maybe it wasn’t just the beer.”
We all turned and looked at him, waiting for him to finish.
“Remember how disappointed Malcolm was? He said he mailed his application in plenty of time, but they didn’t receive it. Which is too bad since his was actually pretty good for beer. I didn’t even have to force myself to drink it.”
I looked to Elwood. “A hex to make his application get lost in the mail. Is that possible?”
“Sure. If the witch could get it close enough to Malcolm like she did with Ivan.”
Declan grimaced. “So what keeps witches from cheating like this all the time?”
Elwood shrugged. “Ethics, morals, knowing right from wrong. The same things that keep any creature from doing bad things. Anyway, everyone keep your eyes and ears open. Ravenstone isn’t known for keeping secrets, so if you hear or see anything, let Gideon know.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and the meeting was called to an end. As the room slowly emptied, I glanced back at the wall.
Eugene’s shadow lingered there, and then for a moment, the detective silhouette returned.
“Eugene?”
The shadow detective formed a cheerful thumbs-up, and Declan laughed.
My wolf stirred uneasily. Elwood was right, magic created out of malice was prone to get out of control, and whoever had hexed Ivan's brew hadn’t been good or ethical. I didn’t like the idea of a rogue witch causing problems in my town, but with a town full of outsiders and lots of beer, Grady had his hands full keeping the peace, so if someone was going to track down our troublemaker before things escalated, it was going to have to be me.
I watched the wall a moment longer, and the detective faded back into Eugene’s normal form. His first instinct had been a murder board, and I really hoped he wasn’t right.
Chapter Seven
Confronting Old Foes
Declan
Leon wasn’t my favorite guy, but I could be polite for a few minutes, right? Although I’d always sucked at hiding my feelings, so maybe not.
Then again, Leon wasn’t trying to hide his feelings about me either.
It was Monday afternoon, and we were meeting in his creepy antique store–more of a cluttered thrift store, really, despite being called Arcana Antiques–to go over a few last-minute festival details. What joy. But a week-long festival took a lot of coordination, and as the main PR person, I wanted to make sure we advertised all the events. Even the last-minute ones, like the Sip and Stretch, that I was sure no one had told me about before Hazel had called me to say I was going to it.
“So what happened to Beer Bingo?” Just as I asked the question, my phone buzzed to announce a text. Normally, I’d ignore it since I was in a meeting, but I welcomed thedistraction. Besides, what if the hex maker had been found, and I didn’t need to get the bottles from Leon anymore? I glanced at the screen.
I wanted to groan when I saw Josh’s name. Seriously, how many times did I have to tell him I wasn’t coming back for him to get the message?
Josh:You + Me = The Perfect Team. I can’t stop thinking about you.
Me:Bullshit. Stop bothering me. We’re over.
I set down my phone to find Leon frowning at me.
