“What exactly do you oversee, and how come I never saw you before if you’ve been around for ten years?” I ask a little skeptically.
“We had a deal, remember?” Gunnar’s voice has an edge as he glares over at Grim and Calix on the sofa. “I wasn’t allowed to be in contact with you.”
Calix lets out a loud snort. “Yeah, you just sneaked into her house and left rocks all over the place.”
“At least I didn’t try to trick her into thinking I was just a human. And they’re not just rocks,” Gunnar mutters defensively.
“Stop,” Grim orders. “There is no point in arguing about what was—we are here now.” He levels a scowl at Gunnar. “We need to figure out what’s happening with the witches. There’s no way she should be as powerful as she is and not show the evidence of her magic.”
Gunnar’s nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath. “Over the last few years, the coven has doubled in size. I didn’t only stay here because of Damiana.” He pauses, as if to prove a point. “I also wanted to keep a closer eye on Vanessa and the club she’s running. She’s always had new seekers joining, but not at this rate.”
“She must be siphoning the magic some way. Her followers weren’t leaking magic the way she was, but they showed all the markers of magic usage, dark magic,” Grim reasons.
“And you think it has something to do with the Charmed dead bodies you’ve found?”
Gunnar nods a little, his eyes going unfocused.
“I’m concerned about the number of bodies, and where the rest of the power is. Even the coven leader wasn’t holding that much magic. She’s either sharing it with someone else, or someone else is sharing it with her.”
“Fuck!” Gunnar punches the top of the chair arm and I hear a crack.
“Hey, knock that shit off,” I scold him. When Gunnar lifts his fist up from the chair, the arm has a huge dent, and a thick piece of wood is jutting out like a broken bone through the fabric. “Really?” I blink at him, expressionless.
“I’ll fix it,” he offers, trying to poke the wood back through the rip.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t bother, you can replace it.”
“I will.” Gunnar is still trying to piece the arm back together.
“Why are you so upset anyway? If Vanessa is breaking the rules, just kill her and be done with it.”
“I would be happy to, but if I kill her without evidence, then we would have a war with the witches on our hands.” Gunnar gives up trying to fix the chair and a piece of wood crashes to the ground, but everyone pretends to ignore it.
“I don’t really see a problem with that, either. If they’re causing trouble, get rid of the whole lot of them. If they’re killing monsters, they deserve it.”
“If we did that, it would make all the other factions uneasy. They would think we were trying to take over, and I just don’t want to deal with that headache.” Gunnar circles his fingers over his temple.
“Well, what are we going to do about it then?” I look at all three of them.
“We need to figure out who the other players are. Berserker, do you have any ideas?” Grim examines Gunnar.
“I might. I have a few of my men watching Vanessa. She’s not likely to do anything with me around. I’m hoping she’ll lead them to whoever she’s working with.”
“So, we’re just going to sit around waiting for her to do something?” I can’t keep the incredulous tone from my voice. “How do we know the guy isn’t out killing a Kapa, or another Troll right now?”
“Someone did,” Grim states. “The reason I was called away was for the death of a Mimic.”
Calix whistles through his teeth.
“What’s a Mimic?” I trade glances with all of them.
“A being that can take over another’s shape. Some people call them Doppelgängers,” Grim informs me.
Gunnar rises to his feet. “If they’re strong enough to take out a Mimic…I need to put a stop to this now.”
“We can help,” Calix interjects, scooting forward on the sofa.
“Yeah, I want to help.” I nod eagerly. One thing I’ve never had was a strong sense of purpose. I’ve never even had a job. The only thing I can claim my parents ever did for me was fill my bank account. But that money came with a price, one I was happy to pay because I knew I didn’t want anything to do with them—ever.
