“What?” Alarm slithered through me—although really, the cat was well and truly out of the bag when it came to my ability to use the wild magic. “What reason did you give them?”
“Not the wild magic, though the High Witch Council will undoubtedly be aware of your ability to interact with it now, thanks to your father. I simply said it was your psychic skills that had saved this reservation on numerous occasions now and it’s about time you received an official status and remuneration for the amount of time you’re away from your café.”
“And did they all laugh hysterically at the prospect?”
He smiled. “No. They actually agreed it would be a good move. You’re to be officially employed on a part-time basis as of last night. I have a heap of forms for you to fill in to make it official, but pay will be backdated.”
“Huh,” I said, surprised. Although, in truth, I shouldn’t have been, given my dreams and premonitions had long ago warned that I would become reservation witch. They just didn’t predict this variation. “Well, I’m not going to say no, because I absolutely hated being left out of the loop.”
He laughed. “I did get that impression on the few occasions you weren’t directly involved in investigations.”
“And what about Belle? I mean, shouldn’t she be getting consultant fees or something, given how often she helps out with ghosts and the like?”
“To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it, but yeah, good idea. I’ll see what I can do. Ready to go?”
I nodded and glanced at Ava and Belle. “I don’t think we’re going to get much sense out of either of them for a while, anyway.”
“I think you might be right.”
I slid off the stool, slung my purse over my shoulder, and then hobbled around the counter.
“I heard about your feet,” he said. “From Aiden’s description, I expected you to be on crutches.”
“Aiden exaggerates.”
“Our ranger does have his faults, but I wouldn’t have said exaggeration was one of them.” He studied me for a moment. “The wild magic accelerated the healing, didn’t it?”
I shrugged. I couldn’t admit that it was my merges with Katie’s soul that were enhancing not only my sight and olfactory sense, but also my body’s ability to heal. He still didn’t know about the second wellspring, and I intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. “Who can really say?”
It was an answer that didn’t please him, if his expression was anything to go by. “The sooner that fucking book gets here, the better.”
“With that, I agree. I’d rather read about any problems that could arise from fusing with the wild magic than discover them the hard way.”
I followed him across the room, but when I neared Ava and Belle, Ava caught my arm and dragged me into their huddle.
“It’s so good to see you again, Lizzie dearest. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” Though Ava’s voice was soft, it was filled with such emotion that tears stung my eyes. God, how I wished my own mother was capable of emoting even half as much. “Thank you for taking such good care of my baby girl.”
I returned her hug fiercely. “I missed you too, but I’m afraid you’ve got that last part the wrong way around. I wouldn’t be here if not for Belle.”
Her arm briefly tightened. “We’ve all got so much to catch up on—”
“Yes, and you don’t need me or Monty hanging about for the initial bit.” I dropped a kiss on her wet cheek. “We’ll see you both in a few hours.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was a litany that washed through my mind, though Belle was speaking to Monty rather than me. I can never repay you for this.
“I don’t need repayment, Belle,” he answered softly. “I just wanted to see you happy.”
I am. Though how the hell you managed to keep this from me—
“Trade secret,” he said. “Now, stop speaking to me and start catching up with your mom. Lizzie, you coming?”
“Absolutely.”
I kissed both women, then followed him out the door. He’d parked directly out the front, in the no-standing zone, and must have seen my expression because he grinned unrepentantly. “It says ‘no standing except for deliveries.’ I was delivering.”
I laughed and climbed into his old Ford. “When on earth are you going to start using your Mustang rather than this old rattletrap?”
“Considering the condition of many roads in this reservation, absolutely never. She’s a cruiser; a dirt road and her tires will never meet.”
“The rattletrap isn’t going to be great on a lot of those roads either.”
“True.” He did a U-turn and headed toward the hospital, where the morgue was situated. “But given the record this place has of destroying cars, the rattletrap is a mighty good move—especially given you’ve already destroyed two SUVs, and both Aiden and Ashworth lost their trucks. It’s doubtful there’ll be an endless supply of cash for new cars coming from the council’s coffers, even in a reservation as rich as this one.”
He did have a point. I crossed mental fingers that we didn’t lose another SUV, let alone my little Suzi. I might not have had her for very long, but I was already attached.
It didn’t take us long to get across to the hospital. Monty parked out the front of the morgue—which had only recently reopened after a spell bomb had torn it apart—and then led the way inside.
The blonde receptionist looked up with a smile. “They’re waiting for you in morgue one.”
“Thanks, Betty.” Monty immediately headed left.
We were buzzed through the door and then walked down a corridor to a door at the far end. Monty opened it and ushered me inside. The smell of antiseptic and death hit so strongly, it felt like it was coating the back of my throat. I blinked and did my best to ignore it.
Aiden and Ciara were examining a body on the middle table of the three in the room, but glanced up as we walked over.
“Lizzie,” Ciara said. “It’s lovely to see you, but it’s also somewhat surprising.”
“She’s now officially my deputy, on a part-time basis, so expect her presence more often.”
Aiden raised his eyebrows. “When did this happen?”
“Agreement came through yesterday—”
“I wasn’t informed—”
“Because it’s not a ranger decision.” Monty stopped beside Ciara. “We got a cause of death yet?”
“Initial blood and tox results only, but there are no indications that he’d been drugged or drunk.”
“Which is what we expected,” Aiden added.
He did not look happy, which no doubt meant he and I would be having a “discussion” later about my new position. I loved the damn man, but there were times when his protective tendencies got tedious.
I did my best to ignore the radiating annoyance and studied Patrick’s body. He lay in three pieces, his left arm and the opposite leg having been torn from his body. “The teeth marks and bruising would seem to indicate he was still alive when he was torn apart.”
Amusement touched Ciara’s expression. “Are you now gunning for the position of coroner’s assistant?”