Page 26 of Amber: Deja Brew

“There is one thing,” Wes says.

“What is it?” I ask hopefully, and Julian perks up next to me.

“We can sue.”

“Screech?” I ask.

“No. Minerva. What she did with the cursed pebble was definitely illegal. Plus, the reviews are all false, and they’re hurting our business,” Wes says, and the way he calls it ‘our business’, like we’re all in this together, makes me smile. “If we can prove she is behind those, too, that’s more than enough to sue at the supernatural court.”

“Are you sure?” I ask hopefully, picturing a sobbing Minerva begging a judge not to put her in jail.

“We can’t sue Mini!” Julian cries at the same time.

“What?” I gasp. “She’s ruining our business, Juli! You’re seriously going to let her get away with this?”

“No. But we can’t sue her! My parents will kill me.” He runs a hand through his messy blond hair. “Look, I’m going to track her down, and I’ll find a way to fix this. I promise.”

Julian takes out his phone and punches in a number. Then he puts it on speaker, and a grinning photo of a young Minerva Mont-Evil pops up on the screen. The witch looks exactly like I remember from our first day at the academy. So gorgeous and perfect that I’d tried to half-shift into her and ended up with a waist-length beard, bald scalp, and forehead braces instead. And the stupid witch and her friends have never let me live that down.

“You didn’t think to call her earlier?” Chase asks with a pointed glance at the phone screen.

Juli’s cheeks flush, but he doesn’t reply.

I wait for the phone to ring, but Minerva’s fake, sugary-sweet screeching comes on the line instead. Was she sitting by the phone waiting for him to call?

“Hey, it’s Mini!”

My blood starts to boil, and I feel myself start to shift.

“Please leave a message after—”

Julian presses the end call button, cutting off her voicemail.

“Now what?” I scowl at the phone. It makes no sense that I’m mad that Minerva didn’t pick up, when just a few seconds earlier I was mad that she had, but I am.

“I’m going to try her parents,” Julian says resolutely. He scrolls through his contact list and puts the call through on speaker. A few seconds pass, but like Minerva’s phone, it goes straight to voicemail.

“That’s odd.” Julian frowns. He hangs up on the recording of Mr. Montgomery and tries a different number.

This time, the phone starts to ring. Finally!

Except instead of one of the Montgomeries, a photo of Julian’s mom pops up on the screen.

“Juli!” His sister Erin picks up on the third ring. “Oh broomstickles, I’m so glad you called! Mom says we can’t visit until next month, but—”

“Erin, didn’t Mom tell you not to pick up her phone?”

“Well, she shouldn’t keep leaving it on the kitchen table,” Erin snaps, and I can practically see her pouting face. “And anyway, she’s in the shower.”

“In the middle of the afternoon?”

“Ever since Dad retired, he’s been at the restaurant or out buying ingredients,” Erin suddenly changes the topic. I glance at Julian, hoping he’ll take the hint and end the call so we can come up with another plan, but then Erin lowers her voice and adds, “Mom’s been working out every afternoon. I overheard her tell Mrs. Montgomery she’s worried Dad’s losing interest in her. That’s why she really wanted us all to come down to Silver Springs. So she and Dad could spend some alone time.”

“What?” Julian cries. “Dad wouldn’t lose interest in Mom!”

I honestly can’t picture it, either. Julian’s parents have always had the perfect relationship, the kind I’ve wished I could have with Julian. It feels wrong that now that he and I are finally together, his parents might be heading toward divorce.

“Do you think maybe we can come visit sooner?” Erin pleads. “Mom’s been so worried, and—”