Of Murders and Mages Read online

  Everyone stared at us with increased fascination. So much for being undercover.

  Vanessa was still giggling, so I kicked her, not too hard but enough to get her attention. She attempted to look serious, though the corners of her mouth kept curling up as she talked. “I’m sorry, Isadora. I’ll be good.”

  Isadora’s eyes narrowed. Skepticism and white-hot anger were rolling off of her. Hate was starting to solidify. “Go clean yourself up. I’m going to speak to your mother.”

  Vanessa sighed dramatically, either unaware or not caring about Isadora’s growing hatred and the magic building around her. “Fine.” She trudged out a door as a worker slid new drinks and nachos onto the window.

  Isadora spun around at the noise, and everyone ducked out of sight. She jabbed a finger at the plate and drinks resting in the window. “Deliver those right away.”

  “Of course, right away. And when I get back, I’ll put in this order.” I moved over to grab the plate and moved the drinks carefully on my tray, jumping when she yelled again.

  “Give me that order.” She snatched the order pad off my tray. “You can’t even write down orders correctly. And get that cat out of here. I don’t care if she’s magical or not. If I find a single cat hair in this room, the cleaning bill for the whole restaurant will come from your pay.”

  She banged on the bell at Beth’s dessert window while I practically ran into the hallway. I checked that Patagonia was behind me and opened the door to the betting lounge wide so she could race ahead.

  I didn’t know where the order belonged, but the number of drinks and the only group with the same number of people swinging around to look when I entered the room made it an easy guess.

  I apologized for the delay as I delivered the food then raced back to pick up the next order. I kept Patagonia in the hall and tentatively poked my head into the kitchen. It was empty, not even a head poking out of a window, except for a plate with a slice of chocolate cake in the window.

  The cake needed to be delivered quickly, so I grabbed it and double-timed it back to the lounge, Patagonia racing ahead then stopping right in front of me. “No tripping me, silly cat. I’ve had enough drama for one day.”

  The top of the cake was so smooth that it reflected each light of the betting lounge. Surrounding the slice were red rose petals. The texture of the interior was smooth, more a ganache than a flour-based cake, and the rich chocolate scent tickled my nose. My mouth watering and stomach growling, I realized I had forgotten lunch and had only the barest of breakfasts. I felt weak, meaning I probably needed more sugar. Maybe I could order a slice of my own after this shift.

  I slapped a smile on my face and placed the cake in front of the couple. “Here you go. Lustful Lemon. Enjoy!” I turned to go but was interrupted.

  “Excuse me! This is not lemon. Look, there are rose petals. It’s roses of remembrance. How dare you bring this?” the woman screeched.

  I turned around and jumped when I realized she was inches from my face. I leaped back, and she shoved the plate at me.

  Leaning forward to get her face back into mine, she lowered her voice. “I know you did this on purpose to remind him of his dead wife, so back off. He’s all mine.”

  Patagonia hissed at her, baring her teeth.

  The woman looked at her and hissed in response before slapping a fake smile on her face and bending over to grab the man’s arm. “Come on, Eddie. We should go to the show to make sure we get the best seat. We can get some cake later.”

  I pursed my lips and spun around to return to the kitchen. I would not make a scene. I stormed through the hallway but remembered to carefully open the correct door into the kitchen. Inside, Vanessa was all cleaned up.

  “Wow, that was fast.” I looked her over. “How did you get the cheese out? You’re not even damp.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Duh, magic. Why do you have a cake?” She edged closer and licked her lips. “It smells really good.”

  “I screwed up the order, and the chick accused me of doing it on purpose to make her date think of his dead wife. People are nuts.”

  “Was that that trampy blonde, Cynthia, with Eddie VanGuard?” She went over to a table covered with utensils that we sent out with each order.

  “Could have been. She was definitely a trampy blonde, and she did call him Eddie.”

  She pulled a fork off the table and came back. “Eddie is a rich politician, and Cynthia was his wife’s nurse. She’s been trying to get a ring on her finger since the wife died, but I don’t think Eddie is interested.” She cut off the point of the cake and lifted it to her mouth.

  “What are you doing? We can’t eat it.” I lifted the plate away from her.

  “We have to. We can’t screw up again, and bringing back an expensive piece of cake because you mixed up the order will get us in so much trouble. The magic is already running out, so they can’t resell it later. I’m starving and need sugar, but most of all, I am missing Dad this week. He wouldn’t make me study all day and night.”

  I had been following her logic until the last one. “What does your dad have to do with it?”

  “It’s remembrance cake. It thins the barrier between the living and dead just a tiny bit so you can feel the love of all those who have crossed over. Not much at all, because that is dangerous, but it’s enough.” Her eyes got a little shinier. “Don’t you miss your dad?”

  “Fine.” I handed her the plate and went to get a fork. “But we don’t tell anyone.” I sliced through the smooth texture with the fork and scooped it into my mouth.

  The chocolate instantly assaulted my senses with smooth, rich flavors. The sugar hit my bloodstream, and I starting feeling stronger. But the biggest thing was the tingly wave the flowed over me. It was warm and loving as memories of all the wonderful times with my father flooded my mind. Every trip, every phone call, every gigantic bear hug came flooding into my mind, and I was filled with his love for me, his only daughter. I knew that not only had he loved me, but that wherever he was, he still did.

  I took another bite and caught Vanessa’s eyes as a tear slipped down my face.

  She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Good, huh?” She took another bite.

  “What are you doing!” Isadora screamed, her voice bouncing off the room, which was steadily rising in temperature.

  I paused, my mouth full and the half-eaten cake on the plate in my hand. I swallowed hard, the mouthful painfully making its way down my throat. “The order was wrong.”

  Isadora stared so hard I thought she was going to burn a hole right through my face. “Orders that are wrong go back to Beth’s table so she can harvest the magic. They are not eaten.”

  Vanessa finished off the bit on her fork. “If it’s such a big deal, I can pay for it.”

  If anything, that infuriated Isadora even more. “This is my kitchen, and when you are here, you follow my rules. If I ever—” She cut herself off then pointed beyond us. “I want them out of here.”

  I turned slowly, dreading what was behind me. Vin loomed in the doorway to the hall, looking like a thunderstorm. The anger rolling around the room was building to such a high level that I resisted the urge to fan my face from the heat.

  His fists were balled so tight that each knuckle stood out white. “What are you doing?”

  I quaked and tried to will myself to answer, when I realized his glare was not on me as I’d expected, but directed fully at his sister.

  She squirmed under his stare, and her cheeks turned red.

  Isadora turned all her wrath on Vin. “Get them out of here. Now!” The walls quaked under her building anger.

  Vin grabbed his sister’s arm and frog-marched her out the swinging door and into the hallway, stopping short of entering the betting lounge. I followed behind but at enough of a distance to be out of the immediate splash zone of his anger.

  He turned his sister to face him. “What are you doing down here? Why are you wearing that?”

  She avoided his glare. �
��I’m investigating. I’m… I’m undercover.” She mumbled the last part.

  “You’re what? I told you to get Olivia or Mom to come down here.”

  She jutted out her chin defiantly. “Neither of them wanted to come. They’re busy. I wanted to, and I did a great job. Didn’t I, Ella?”

  I held up my hands. This was one fight that had nothing to do with me, and I was not about to get in the middle.

  Vin never took his eyes off his sister. “This is dangerous. There’s a killer somewhere.”

  “I know it’s dangerous, but you are letting Ella investigate, and she doesn’t know anything.”

  “No one questions that.” He jabbed a finger in my direction. I was tempted to defend my honor, but that didn’t seem like the right time. “But you’re my sister. I have to protect you. I promised Dad.” He said the last thing slowly, imploring her to understand.

  “Dad never wanted me to live walled away in a castle. We used to talk about all the fun, exciting things I would do when I grew up. He knew I wanted a purpose. What’s the point of all my training if I can never use it? If he was here, he would… he…” She sniffed loudly, and tears started trickling down her face.

  Vin reached out and enclosed her in a gigantic hug.

  She sobbed into his shoulder as the tension in the hallway lowered.

  He awkwardly patted her back as if he were trying to dislodge a piece of food stuck in her throat. “What did you do to Isadora? I’ve never seen her like that.”

  She sniffled and stepped back. “We ate a piece of cake, and she had a total cow.”

  “You weren’t messing around with Beth’s cakes, were you? Come on, Vanessa. You know they can be addictive.”

  My ears perked up. “What?”

  Vin look startled, as though he had forgotten I was there. “You too? Be careful. We get cake junkies from time to time, but Beth is very good. She would never overdose you, but if you buy black-market cake, you can end up dying. It is pretty powerful magic. Now what did you learn?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing. There was some excitement and anticipation, but overall, things were pretty mellow. Other than Isadora losing her mind. She was pissed, but nowhere else was anything weird.”

  “Nothing? Not even some sneakiness?” he said with a glimmer of a smile around his mouth.

  I chuckled. “Not even that. What’s next?”

  Vanessa wiped her face. “Inhibition?”

  Vin spun around to face his sister. “No, no, no. You’re not going.” He had gone a little white in the face and waved his hands side to side to cut her off.

  She stomped her foot. “Yes, I am. You can’t stop me.”

  They stood glaring at each other.

  I cleared my throat. “What’s Inhibition?”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I delivered pot stickers and draft beers to three gentlemen sharing a table in the back row. The show was set to start in a few minutes, then I would need to be more discreet about serving. I grabbed a quick order from a bachelorette party of five already tipsy women then went to put in the order.

  The theater had rows of tables rather than seats. Each row was on its own level, and the tables only had seats along the back side so no one’s view would be obstructed. Meals and drinks would be served throughout the show.

  I looked behind me to find Patagonia, as had become my habit, then remembered that Vin had forcefully suggested she go home. One second she had been diligently cleaning between her toes, and when I turned back, she was gone. He assured me that she was fine, and if I was just a bit stricter, she would stay home.

  I got in line behind Vanessa. “I didn’t get why Vin was so freaked out about you being here.” I looked to the far back corner where Vin had parked himself. He radiated grumpy energy, and the people at the table nearest him had asked to pay any amount to upgrade to a different table.

  His protests in the hall had mostly focused on how dangerous it was, but there was an undertone I couldn’t place. Even my attempts to read the emotions had left me confused. Rather than fear and anger, as I had expected, he seemed to mostly feel embarrassed.

  When neither Olivia nor his mother, Auntie Ann, had been free to help, he had relented but insisted we stay close, and only if a waitress was willing to take the night off.

  As luck would have it, Natasha was assigned to the show and was happy to take the rest of her shift off, especially when Vanessa slipped her all the tips she had collected in the betting lounge.

  Vanessa turned around and raised an eyebrow. “Have you been to Inhibition before?”

  “No. I told you I hadn’t even heard of it until now. I know Tiffany’s in it.” I gagged myself with a finger. “I assume it’s one of those acrobat shows or something.”

  She gave me a big smile. “Yep, exactly. Don’t like Tiffany?”

  “You didn’t hear! She attacked me this morning because she thought your brother and I were dating.”

  “That sounds like her. She’s crazy jealous and just plain crazy.”

  I waited while she put in her order, then I added my own. The music started to get louder as the lights dimmed.

  I followed her to the back corner opposite Vin, where we could see the window where we picked up food and all our tables. They had a button at each table that glowed red when they wanted to place an additional order. A couple worked their way up with an usher’s help to the empty table next to Vin.

  The deep bass of the music rattled my chest, and a sensual female voice rose in wordless vocals and the curtain slowly rose. A row of female dancers were strongly backlit so only their black silhouette was visible. They either had elaborate headdresses on or had feathers for hair. I was betting on the headdresses. In unison, they locked their arms onto their neighbors’ shoulders and started kicking like a chorus line.

  The room was filling with a variety of emotions from excitement to pleasure, but my cheeks burned red with the rising sensation of lust that had surged along with the music. The dozen ladies on stage were shapely, but the level of sexual emotions seemed a bit much.

  The lights shot up, and I gasped. Every one of those women was topless, with only the barest of bejeweled thongs covering only the minimal landscape of their lady garden.

  Twenty-four perfectly shaped, plentiful breasts bounced and jiggled in time to the high kicks and dance steps of the gorgeous women on stage.

  They dropped their arms and spun off stage as the music changed to a jazzy number as the lights went dark again.

  I had no idea how long they had been dancing. Their bosoms must have hypnotized me. I understood why Vin had been hesitant to have his sister here and why he had so deliberately parked himself as far away as he could get while watching over us.

  When the lights went up, a single figure stood on the stage, two large feather fans in her hands. Even before she started dancing, I knew it was Tiffany. Her energy of heavy seduction over a veneer of anger was the same as this morning when she had kissed Vin goodbye. Flicking a fan just fast enough to cover herself but slow enough that we could tell she was nude, she spun and danced.

  Her eyes were trained on the upper corner opposite us.

  “Uh-oh. She knows Vin is here,” Vanessa whispered in my ear.

  Tiffany was pushing out enough sensual magic that I was sure everyone in the place was tingling in their nether regions.

  The person at the window gestured to me that the food was ready for one of my tables. I stepped over to take the food and found myself weak at the knees and fanning myself to cool down. I was going to need to tell Vin that I needed to leave and clear my head after I delivered the food to the table second from the end.

  I carefully weaved my way past the other tables, where several couples weren’t even attempting to be discreet as they pawed at each other. I started unloading the food to a table of two couples when a set of fingers pinched my behind.

  With a scream and a jump, I lurched away, flinging the tray and the food still loaded heavily on top onto the tab
le at the end.

  A woman screamed, and a man started shouting, but I was trying to fight off a pair of hands that slipped around my waist and lips that were slobbering on my neck.

  I screamed as I pressed against my assailant with both hands, but he refused to budge, other than his hands, which roamed over my stomach. “Get off me.”

  The lights came on, and the sickening thud of fists against flesh led to the weight and hands being lifted off me. The dazed gentleman was in Vin’s fists, being shaken like a rag doll. Two other security guards were attempting to peel Vin off the man.

  I rubbed my forehead. The emotions swirling around made me nauseated, and after a few moments of gagging, everything in my stomach wrenched out and landed on a familiar six-inch heel with lacing digging deep into a fleshy calf.

  “Gross! Eww! It’s you!”

  I followed the leg up to the woman that I had met and offended in the betting lounge—Cynthia and Eddie VanGuard. She and her date were covered in the appetizers I had spilled when I had been accosted, and her shoes with covered with masticated remembrance cake.

  I smiled. Thank heaven for small favors. If anyone deserved it, they did. The woman lunged at me, but a security guard grabbed her around the middle and dragged her away.

  Vanessa grabbed my arm. “What happened?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing.” For the millionth time that day, I was shaky on my legs, and I struggled to make sense of what had happened. “I was about to deliver some food when someone grabbed and groped me.” I shuddered against the violation of being touched.

  Vanessa ran a hand over my back. “If it helps, he didn’t mean to. Tiffany must still be feeling insecure, because she was pumping out so much magic that she got half the room lust drunk.”

  I spun around to face the stage.

  Tiffany was shrugging on a robe as Vin towered overhead, shouting at her. It was too far to hear the words, but his body language combined with his emotions surging across the room confirmed that he was angry. His anger was red-hot and a sensation that I was getting used to already. Feeling it was starting to be a comfort. I knew he was close and, like a bear, he would run down whatever was in his way.