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“That’s okay. I’ll poke around public records and see if I can find any potential murdered parents.” Apparently I wouldn’t be meeting Jackson after all. “I better run. I need to get ready for work.” I peered into my mug of cold tea.
“I could ask his mom to help with the party.” Ruby’s hopeful voice made it tough to resist. “It would free up a little time for you, and it would give you an in with Jackson to poke around for clues about your ghost’s daughter.”
“Are you serious?” I grinned, trying not to snort. “Hey Jackson. I know you’re busy, but your mom is my new bestie, so can you help me find a ghost’s baby girl?”
Ruby laughed. “Her name is Faith, and she’s really sweet. You’ll love her.”
A sweet werewolf? I had to admit, I was curious. I’d never met a female werewolf before. The shifter gene was carried on the Y chromosome, so only boys were born shifters. Once they found their mate, she’d have to be bitten and changed into a werewolf for them to have children.
We recently discovered that rule wasn’t true for witches. Ruby had never been bitten, but she had a pair of little cubs anyway.
“Okay.” I rubbed under Mouse’s chin. “Are you going to give her my number.”
“I’m texting it to her now.”
“Thanks Ruby. Talk to you soon.”
I ended the call and got up, wincing as I stretched. Sleeping folded up in a chair wasn’t my best idea. Maybe a hot shower would help. I needed to get to the Crow’s Nest anyway. The metaphysical shop was nestled in the historic district of Salem on Essex Street, and when we weren’t selling souvenirs and psychic readings, the coven met in the back for our full moon and new moon rituals. It was our hub.
And I worked at the register and sometimes gave mediumship readings for our clientele and tourists, hoping to connect with loved ones across the veil. It used to be a simple magical life, but everything was changing. There was an ominous bite to the winter wind. Werewolves had been murdered and mutilated, their body parts stolen and sold as rare ingredients for powerful blood magic spells.
Since Ruby and Zeke had gotten together, we discovered the leader of the Coven of Shadows was one of Lillian’s peers years ago in our coven.
She also wasn’t aging.
Dread wandered down my spine as I turned on the shower. The ghost’s warning echoed through my head. “They’ll hurt her.”
This wasn’t my problem.
But whoever Ashley was, she was a witch with no mother.
Just like me.
I rolled my eyes and got into the shower. How was I going to find a witch who might not even know what she was when all I had was her first name?
When I got to the shop, I could do some web searches to see if I could find the news story. With a few more details, I might be able to pull off a locator spell. By the time I got out of the shower, my cell phone was buzzing with an unknown number. My pruned finger hovered over the ignore button, but then I remembered Ruby had given my number to Jackson’s mother to help with the holiday party.
I wrapped the towel around myself and pressed accept. “Hello?”
“Winter?”
I almost flinched at the very deep, very muchnotsomeone’s mother’s voice. My brows pinched together. “Yes?”
“This is Jackson. Ruby said you need some help locating someone?”
My eyes widened. Jackson’s voice was deeper than I recalled. Not that we ever actually spoke to each other in high school. But still.
“Yeah, but…” I cleared my throat. “I don’t have much in the way of information.”
A door opened on his side of the line. “Then I won’t look bad if I can’t find them.”
An unexpected chuckle escaped my lips. I’d never imagined he’d be…charming. “Ruby told me you’re digging up information on the lawyers working for the Coven of Shadows. That’s probably more important. I can handle this.”
He murmured something about keeping the change and then another door closed. “I can multi-task. Are you going to be at the Crow’s Nest today?”
I blinked as the bathroom mirror began to clear. “Yes. Why?”
“I’ll be in the area this afternoon. I’ll meet you there.”
