A thick smell crinkled my nose. Why was there so much smoke? Was the shop on fire? If another one of my spells had started a house fire, my mother would kill me.
“I didn’t start the fire, I swear!” My eyes burst open, and I nearly fell out of the chair. Someone caught me around the waist, settling me back in the seat.
“Relax, Tessa. There’s no fire,” Derrick’s voice rumbled in my ear.
I searched the room to be sure. Vivian held up the bundle of sage and waved it around.Oh, yeah. Not fire, possession.I shuddered.
“Did it work?”
“It did.” Derrick wrapped his arms around me. “You were great.”
“She slept through the whole thing,” Vivian grumbled. “Honestly, Ella and I did all the hard work. Possessions don’t just happen, you know?”
I found Ella standing off to the side. She reached for me, and our fingers grazed before sliding through each other’s. The symbols on my palm had stopped glowing now, which made me a little sad. Even though the connection with Ella was uncomfortable, I knew I’d miss it when it went away.
There in the séance room, the three of them filled me in on what had happened, retelling Ella’s story until a snippet of information made me interrupt.
“Hold on. Did you say the man had a mark on his arm? Was it a Vitalis mark?”
Both Ella and Vivian looked confused, but Derrick’s eyes widened. “Isn’t a Vitalis mark what you saw on Prince Marcus? They’re given to royals as a blessing, right?”
“Correct, which means we were right to think Diane had a son with the king. The child would have been Jane’s nephew.” I untangled myself from Derrick’s arms, excitement humming through my body. “I know how to find his name.”
“How?” Vivian asked.
“The boxes of books we brought over from my shop. My mother kept a ledger of the spells she performed. She cast the Vitalis mark on Prince Marcus when he was a baby and would have cast the second mark if there’d been another child. Even out of wedlock, a son would be a candidate for the mark. He’d be listed in the book.” I ran to the storage closet.
It took some time to find it, but I retrieved my mother’s ledger. The book was heavy, hardbound, and nearly a hundred pages—thankfully, categorized by date. I flipped through and found the year Prince Marcus was born. His entry was listed with his full name, type of spell, and the date. I kept going, slower, in my search for the next few years. And there it was, an entry for a Vitalis mark dated nearly five years after Prince Marcus was born.
I read the name aloud. “William A. Porter.”
We’d found our killer.
Chapter 30
Vivian packed her pedestal candle and sage bundle into a bag and slung it over her shoulder.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine by yourself? You’re welcome to come explore the haunted mansion. I’ll let you wave the sage around.”
I scrunched my nose, still uncomfortable after my spiritual invasion the night before. “As fun as that sounds, I’m good. Derrick sent one of his officers over to keep watch, and I want to wait for him to finish his meeting with the king. If he confirms what we learned, we can start hunting William Porter.”
“Suit yourself.” She twisted her hair into a bun and tied it back. Loose strands tumbled into her face, and she blew them out of her eyes. Hands on her hips, Vivian studied the items spread out over her séance table. “Tessa, you’re going back to the magic shop soon, right? Don’t get me wrong, I love having a house guest, and the officers Derrick sends over are kind of cute, but you’re turning my séance room into a potion mill.”
I sprinkled a dash of sea salt into a clay pot filled with an oozing substance and added a crow’s feather. A puff of noxious smoke bloomed, sending Vivian back on her heels.
“Yup, I’m going to need you to vacate the premises immediately.”
Covering my nose with my sleeve, I waved away the thick cloud spewing from the pot. “Drat, I think I added too much iron dust. Don’t worry, Viv, I’ll clean up when I’m finished.”
“What are you making?” she asked, pinching her nose.
“Dinner,” I deadpanned.
“Very funny.”
“Actually, I had an idea for a potion that can prevent someone from telling a lie. Imagine how useful that would be in interrogations. I’m going to surprise Derrick with it if I ever figure out how to make it work.”
“Honestly, I think you’re already there. I’d reveal my darkest secrets from that smell alone.”
