Of Murders and Mages: Casino Witch Mysteries 1 Read online

  “So you want me to work in each of these places? You want me to try to learn a new job while doing… What exactly am I doing to investigate? The same thing that I did today? Won’t it be a bit obvious if I’m trying to learn a whole new job and trying—”

  “Relax! Don’t you think I have a plan?” His tone held more ire than seemed necessary.

  I pursed my lips to keep from snapping back.

  “The first place is the store. It’s rather large and holds lots of miscellaneous items that people often forget like lighters, toothpaste, medicine, and tissues along with liquor, beer, water, and snacks, and the far end is a separate store that is more high-end. We’ll spend some time in there, then we’ll get into your job. Don’t worry too much about what you’re doing. You’ll be a waitress, but mostly it consists of you standing around and looking pretty. You can manage that, can’t you?” He sneered the question.

  I wasn’t sure if he was questioning my ability to look pretty or to stand around. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Hardly sounds like brain surgery. I think I can handle it.” I turned to stomp off and immediately lurched forward, as Aristotle had been standing behind me. I tumbled over the large cat and barely broke my fall with my hands. The only saving grace was the couch blocking Vin’s view. My hair had slid over my face, and my shirt had busted open. I flopped onto my side to fix my clothing, which was all askew, as if it had been hit by a tornado.

  “You okay?”

  I gritted my teeth at the tone of amusement in his voice. “Fine.” Aristotle and Patagonia came to my face, and each one licked a cheek until I sat up. I couldn’t bear to look at his face. My exit was ruined. “I’m going to bed!”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I walked around the store and resisted the urge to smooth down my skirt. It was expensive and fit as well as it did when I bought it a half dozen years ago for a fancy New Year’s Eve party. The black dress was nipped in at the waist, and the length revealed my shapely calves. I felt beautiful, and the casual glances as I had walked through the casino reinforced my opinion. Overall, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

  Vin had requested that I put on something that screamed rich and cultured. I was sure he would be blown away by my appearance, but instead he had shrugged and said it was good enough.

  I had been walking up and down the aisles of kitschy souvenirs as I relaxed and tried to be aware. The scant instruction Auntie Ann had given me when I arrived was that it was like what I did for reading an emotional hologram in that I needed to clear my mind and relax. Not a difficult task. She apologized for not being able to go with me, but she was helping Vanessa to sort through all the information they had on the victims.

  The instructions didn’t seem all that helpful until I tried it. Quickly, I could feel the emotions blooming around me like a subtle scent. Unlike the emotional holograms that were static and frozen, the current emotions around me ebbed and flowed as people’s moods changed.

  A group of girls in their twenties entered, and I drifted down the aisle toward them. They excitedly chatted, their makeup slightly smeared and their voices slurred from a night of drinking. They got armfuls of bottled water and snacks as they walked around in their bare feet and carried their heels. I got as close as I could, stared at the rows of diarrhea medicine, and tried to give the appearance of deep consideration as I listened to the gals chatter.

  Their emotions spiked as they laughed about the evening. The lead girl, with her wife-to-be sash and her crown covered in tiny pink plastic penises, was overflowing with love. Tender affection for her friends surrounding her as well as her absent fiancé.

  “Excuse me,” a girl said while shoving me out of the way to reach for a gigantic bottle of pink medicine. Prickly irritation radiated off her as she unscrewed the bottle and took a generous gulp then pressed a hand to her stomach.

  I drifted down the aisle toward an older couple picking through stuffed animals. Their deep love for each other filled my senses like a cool forest breeze.

  I walked around the store, a bit confused about what I was doing here. I rounded a corner and ran into Vin, who was examining a display of snow globes. We had barely spoken today. Once we arrived, he had taken me to this store and immediately ditched me.

  Unlike everyone else, I didn’t immediately pick up anything from him. It wasn’t just that he was relaxed with no strong emotions. It was as if they were hiding in a dark corner. I edged closer and pretended to examine the tiny replicas of the casino in the glass globes while I rummaged around to find Vin’s emotions.

  “Stop it.” He growled, hints of irritation in his voice and in the air.

  “What?” I strove for innocent but knew I wasn’t getting away with anything. I gave one last attempt to push past whatever was keeping me from reaching inside him.

  He picked up a snow globe with two ceramic bunnies inside. The animals delicately touched noses while a red heart spun above their heads. The snow inside the globe was a mix of white, red, and pink hearts with glitter. It was small in his enormous hands.

  “I would not have pegged you as the snow globe type.”

  “It reminds me of my great-great-grandmother.” He turned and headed to the cashier while bouncing it in his hand.

  “Wow. You knew her? I didn’t even get to meet my grandparents. They passed before I was born.”

  He stopped and gave me a funny look before continuing toward the cashier. “She’s still alive. Let’s just say that longevity runs in my family.”

  I was tempted to ask more, but something in his tone warned me that now was not the time. I paused to consider the store. A glass wall separated the large store from a second, smaller store with more high-end items. The customers from earlier were all gone, but a new set of customers had wandered in. A man in expensive black pants wandered through the liquor section near a woman in a flirty and swishy dress of red, pinks, and purples. She excused herself as she passed in front of him, carrying a bottle of water. She got in line behind a man in a zoot suit.

  I looked him over, as his outfit was unusual even in Rambler. The angular shoulders and pinstripes were reminiscent of Dick Tracy, both the comic strip and the campy movie.

  I opened my senses and tried the read them from across the store. There was a mix of exhaustion and excitement in various amounts. The man in the zoot suit had a low simmering level of frustration, while the woman was feeling a different kind of frustration not rooted in anger. I struggled to get a handle on it until Vin got in line behind her and she turned to face him.

  Her frustration was the sexual kind. She looked at him and batted her eyes at him, arching her back slightly to show off her décolletage. He nodded at her with a slight dip of his head, but his eyes remained blank. Her frustration flared as she turned to the cashier and slammed her water on the counter.

  I went over to a display of candles and held one to my nose to hide my attempt to get a better, deeper reading. I breathed in the warm vanilla fragrance of the cream-colored candle as I closed my eyes. I searched and reached as far as I could through the store, but nothing stood out.

  “Anything?” Vin’s voice came from a few inches from my right ear, his breath tickling my skin.

  I hid the chill that went down my spine with a shrug. “Nothing sinister, just people, though you disappointed that girl in line. She was giving you the eye.”

  He grunted and switched the paper bag with the snow globe into his left hand and placed the right one on the base of my back to direct me toward the glass doors of the high-end store. “Let’s go in there.” He leaned in close again. “Be careful.”

  “Of what?”

  He held open the door, and cool, lightly perfumed air rustled the loose hair around my face. “Lots of magic in here.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I stepped through, and the hairs on my arm gently rose. The air was electrified and carried energy. The lights were brighter. I pulled in a deep breath, feeling revitalized, as though I had just awoken from a refreshing n
ap and slipped into my favorite sweater. There were racks of clothing, purses, and belts along with rows of shoes, art, high-end cosmetics, and a huge display of pet supplies.

  I drifted over to the racks of crystal-studded leashes, harnesses, and bowls. I had spoken to Patagonia, asking her to stay at the loft today. Vin said that if she showed up, we would deal with it. As I left, she had been curled up with Aristotle in the center of my bed.

  The store was amazing. Each item called to me. I started to pull a purple leather cat harness off the rack, when Vin put his hand over mine and stopped me.

  “Don’t.” His voice was quiet so as to not carry in the small store.

  “But it’s so beautiful.” I drifted over to a rack of purses and picked up a blue one. There were heavy metal buckles on the plethora of pockets. The leather was soft and supple. I lifted it to my cheek and rubbed it while breathing in the rich aroma.

  “Stop that,” Vin hissed. He reached for the purse, but I danced back and clutched it to my chest.

  “No, it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” A small part of my brain wondered when I started to care so much about purses.

  Vin grabbed my arm and pulled me close. “It’s the magic. Give it to me.”

  I tried to pull away, shielding the most perfect and wonderful purse in the world from him. “What’s magic?”

  “The store. It makes you want to buy things. You don’t really want a two-thousand-dollar purse.”

  My jaw dropped, and I dropped the purse to my side in shock.

  He let go of my arm. “I didn’t realize you would be so susceptible. Put the purse down, and see what you can find.”

  The purse was heavy in my hand. The metal was cold and smooth. Was it really magic that made it seem so special? Was it possible that the feelings I had about the purse were all fake?

  I turned the purse over in my hands. Vin didn’t know what he was talking about. This was the best purse on earth, and it would be mine.

  I ducked hard and spun away, running across the store. Vin’s footsteps behind me were heavy as a few seconds later he stomped behind me. I squealed as I ran behind a display and searched for a place to hide.

  “Ella!”

  At the sound of his voice, I stuffed the purse under my shirt and faced him. “I’m going to buy it, and I don’t care what you say.”

  “You’re magic sick. We need to clear your head.” Vin bore down on me like a freight train.

  I ran again, dashing around a shoe display. “My head has never been clearer.”

  A man behind the counter caught my eye. He gave me a smile. “Does the lady want to buy the purse?”

  “Yes!” I ran past the counter as Vin raced up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pinning my hands in front of me.

  “Brian, cut out the magic. We’ve told you that we don’t allow this level.” Vin growled. “Deep breaths, Ella.” He twined his fingers through mine.

  His thick fingers pressed into my hand brought me back to the moment, and I ceased breathing as the contact heated up.

  “Breathe, Ella!”

  I took a shuddering breath and my head cleared. Vin’s spicy scent filled my lungs and pushed out any thoughts of the purse. The two-thousand-dollar purse. A two-thousand-dollar purse that I had said I wanted to buy! “I don’t want the purse. I don’t!”

  Vin dropped his arms from around me. “Good. Keep breathing, and hand it over.”

  I shivered as the remnants of magic fell away. With a clear head, it was easy to feel the sickly sweet magic that had compelled me to want to buy the purse and everything else in the store. I lifted my shirt and handed Vin the purse while avoiding touching his fingers. The outline of where his body had been pressed against me burned.

  Brian, the man behind the counter, shrugged. “Sorry, Vin. I guess I don’t know my own strength. Or maybe your little female friend really did want the purse?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

  I shook my head. “No.” I took a deep breath and took the chance to see if I felt anything in the store. Everything was covered with sweet-and-sticky magic on it that compelled me to hold it. The buy-it-and-take-it-home energy, and underneath it was something sneaky and distasteful, like when someone made a racist joke or yelled at a puppy. Whatever magic was happening here, it wasn’t evil like the curse on the horse or the murders but wasn’t innocent either.

  Vin and Brian were arguing in harsh whispers. Vin slammed a hand onto the glass countertop, knocking over a display of rings inside. “If you don’t get your act together, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Tell me what you plan to do!” Anger rolled off of Brian, and the sickly magic oozed from him. He was definitely the source of all the magic. He opened his mouth and jabbed a finger in Vin’s direction, when his head jerked to stare at something behind me.

  I started to look behind me, when something hit me hard from behind. I took my momentum and rolled, kicking at whatever had attacked me.

  I hit the display of pet supplies as a wave of anger and jealousy crashed into me. Scrambling backward, I got a display of purses between me and the lunatic and got my first good look at her as Vin grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms behind her back.

  She was taller than me, svelte, and had large breasts. Ample cleavage was showing above her tank top. She flicked her head to the side to get her black hair out of her face. The two most noticeable features to me were her extreme beauty and the waves of emotions rolling off of her. Primarily anger but with a noticeable amount of pain underlain below.

  Vin showed the most emotion I had seen as he roared at her. “Tiffany, what’s wrong with you?”

  “I knew there was another woman.” She fought against him.

  I slowly stood up as a soft, furry body pressed against the side of my leg. Patagonia was twining herself through my feet. With an insistent meow, she rubbed her nose against my hand then arched her body into my palm.

  I scooped her up with shaky hands and held her to my chest. The magic and the attack combined had sapped my strength, but her firm, wiggly body pressed against me grounded me. She wiggled out of my arms onto her new favorite place, my shoulders. She reached across my face to grab a back paw and started chewing on her claws. The delicate fur on her hind leg tickled my nose, and I pulled it off my face before I sneezed.

  Vin angrily spoke into Tiffany’s ear. Her expression dropped, and her arms gave up their fight. He let her go.

  A second furry body pressed against me, and Aristotle had appeared and rubbed against my leg on his way to Vin. Tiffany looked over and caught sight of the enormous black cat pressed up against me and Patagonia, and her eyes flashed.

  Before Vin could grab her, she sprang at me, but this time I was better prepared. Magic flared up around us. I didn’t know what it meant or what she might be trying to accomplish, but I could at least tell that she was trying to do something.

  I gritted my teeth and dodged to the side. Instead of hitting me straight on, she winged me, throwing us in opposite directions. She crashed into a rack of ballet slippers covered in rhinestones, which showered down around her. I landed at the base of a leather jacket display that slowly tipped over me.

  I frantically clawed at the jackets, getting tangled in the security cords that attached the jackets to the rack.

  Tiffany’s anger was building as she shouted, “I knew there was something suspicious when you cancelled our date, you jerk. But how stupid are you to bring your slut here?”

  Vin didn’t reply, just glaring while his anger ratcheted up.

  “I saw you hugging her.” She stabbed a finger in my direction.

  Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and my breathing was labored as I freed myself from the jackets. I moved away from Tiffany as she screamed at Vin. Fear built in my chest. Her anger was taking on a magical hint that I didn’t understand. Fear crawled up my throat and constricted it.

  Time seemed to slow. I was horrified when fire sprouted from my fingertips. Brian appeared
in front of me with a large red fire extinguisher. Instantly, I was enveloped in a white cloud.

  My head cleared as I fell backward and coughed to clear my lungs of the noxious fumes. White powder covered me and most of the store.

  Vin held a sobbing Tiffany. He pulled her up to look her in the eye. “Stop! You are acting like a child.” He slowly bit off each word as he glared at her.

  Tears streamed down her face then her neck and over her breasts and disappeared beneath the tank top. Silent weeping shook her shoulders as she looked up into Vin’s face. “You said you loved me.” The anger was slowly being replaced by deep despair.

  His nostrils flared, and his annoyance radiated from his lifted shoulders and narrowed eyes. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  Brian tidied up the store but had come to a sudden stop when Tiffany had spoken. Half of the merchandise was covered in white dust, and only a couple of displays were still upright. He absently dusted off a few items, but his attention was focused on Vin and Tiffany.

  Tiffany sniffed hard and dragged the back of her hand across her nose. “I see the connection between you. I can see it. You’re connected, and it wasn’t there before.”

  Vin blew out a disgusted sigh. “It is not what you think.”

  “Then what could it possibly be?” she screamed, and the anger started to build.

  Brian grabbed an armful of dog collars and leashes. “Just tell her. If she can see it, then there is no point dismissing it.”

  Vin glared at him before turning back to Tiffany. “Mom and Olivia are mentoring her. I got caught up in the bonding ceremony. That’s all.”

  She sniffed delicately, but a glimmer of hope softened her face. “Really? Why didn’t I see it before?”

  “It just happened. You recognize Patagonia.” He let go of her arm to point at Patagonia, who was twining herself between my knees.

  “Oh…I didn’t recognize her.” She looked me up and down with a smug smile. “Isn’t she awfully old to bond and start her training?”