Page 22 of Of Magic and Murder

I wave him off. After all the curses I’ve broken and the unfortunate dead I’ve spoken to over the years, it was a relief to peel off Ashton’s sock and see the blackened skin. Magical contamination to such a degree isn’t common, but that wasn’t the first case I’d had to deal with. I’m just glad I was able to help him—even if Roxy and Ash did boot me from the room right after so they could…

My cheeks heat up to remember what they must’ve done in that bedroom after I left the antique shop. Despite the handful of lovers I’ve had over the years, I can honestly say I’ve never had a male look at me the way that Ash looked at Roxy the moment he came back to life, took in her scent, and realized she was his fated mate.

Well, no. There was this one time when I could’ve sworn that Riordan⁠—

Uh-uh. Can’t do it.

I clear my throat. “That’s right. I forgot. Wormwood is traditionally used to ward off or banish unwanted ghosts.”

Roxy sucks in an angry breath, her cheekbones so sharp, they could cut through paper. “And she wanted to use it on Ash? Okay. I know he wasn’t a ghost and it probably wouldn’t have worked, but she basically told me that she would’ve killed my mate before he was my mate if she got the chance. So if I seem a little giddy that she kicked it? Whoops.”

Ash reaches over the counter, trailing his fingertips along Roxy’s shoulder. “I’d take a bullet for you any day.”

Roxy lifts her hand, covering Ash’s with her palm. “Love you, babe, but if you get killed trying to protect me, I’m hauling your ass back to this side and asking Penelope here to translate as I rip you a new one. Got it?”

He smiles. “I’m not going anywhere without you, my mate.”

“That’s more like it,” Roxy says, sniffing slightly as she pats his hand. She turns her head, suddenly remembering that I’m still here. “Anyway, you might think about that worm stuff. Olivia doesn’t deserve your help. If that banishes her, oh, well. I don’t see a problem with that.”

Ash presses his lips together, trying not to laugh as he busies himself with closing his book and putting it to the side. With his mate around, no way he’ll be getting back to it anytime soon, especially when she’s this riled up.

Now, I understand why Roxy isn’t fond of Olivia. I’m not fond of the witch. Still, I have a duty as a seer, and while I’ll keep the reminder that wormwood is used by supernaturals to banish unfriendly ghosts and spirits in my pocket, it’ll have to be a last resort.

I nod, murmuring a soft thank you to Roxy, and that’s when I make a mistake. I basically ended that part of the conversation, leaving the feisty raccoon shifter to return to her earlier one.

Whoops.

CHAPTER 6

ACQUIESCE

she did it! the magic lady did it!

gus never doubted her for a minute.

— gus

“So anyway… back to Riordan. Max got a call this morning from his brother, asking to be let in past the wards. Guess Deputy Lick-My-Balls finally decided he was done brooding in whatever mysterious wolfy hole he crawled into after he disappeared.”

“Roxy,” Ash murmurs again.

Her innocent expression used to fool me in the beginning. It doesn’t anymore and that’s why, when she turns her guileless face toward Ash and mouths the word ‘what’, I have to swallow my giggle to see the look of exasperation mixed with adoration on Ash’s.

“You promised you were going to stop calling him that,” he says to his mate.

She holds up a nail that resembles a claw. “No. I’m pretty sure I promised I’d stop calling him that to his face.”

Ash tilts his head, conceding that point.

Me? I’m trying to ignore the way my heart is thumping wildly.

Normally, listening to Roxy and Ash bicker is entertaining. They’ve been mated long enough now that I’ve gotten used to the way she deliberately pushes at his manners just to make him sigh, while Ash looks at his mate like he still can’t believe Fate gave him a precocious raccoon shifter to follow around for the rest of his life.

Right now? I barely hear them. I’d tried to ignore it before, when Roxy made her first announcement, but now that she’s said he’s back… I can’t tell. Whatever connection I might’ve imagined is gone, though I can’t forget how I only just cast that spell for Honey the night that Olivia was murdered.

I figured that, like always, it didn’t work. If my magic backfired, that should’ve meant that Riordan would have this sudden urge to get even farther away from Moonburrow. But if he’s here… did it work?

Did my magic finally work the way I wanted it to?