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The video blurred as Lars skimmed back to the point where Destiny first appeared.
“She’s leaving this tent.” Peri touched the steel screen, her finger planted on a wooden plaque hanging from a pole with colorful scarfs tied at the edges.
“Lars, zoom in on the sign,” Gabriel ordered.
The image blurred as it focused on the plaque, but it was still easy to see.
“Madame Ruiz,” Peri read the painted letters out loud. “Fortune Teller Extraordinaire.”
“Could she be a witch?” Valen asked the obvious question.
“It’s possible.” Peri shrugged.
A true seer would never stoop to playing games with premonitions. They understood the danger of offering information without context. But many witches made extra money on the side by telling fortunes or selling crystals that offered everything from true love to magical healing.
Gabriel glanced toward his servant. “Lars, can you find any information on Madame Ruiz?”
There was a pause as Lars swiveled toward a separate computer on the desk, typing in the name to pull up several links.
“She has a Facebook page,” Lars said, leaning toward the monitor. “Madame Ruiz. The stage name for Georgia Stemp, cashier at Safeway and proud mom of two.” He clicked on another link, his eyes widening in surprise.
Gabriel moved toward his servant. “What did you find?”
“There’s a news report that Georgia Stemp was discovered dead in her tent after the fairgrounds were evacuated. The death is being ruled suspicious.”
“It has to be the miasma,” Peri breathed.
Valen didn’t argue. It was one thing to have a group of drunken humans wrestling in the middle of the fairgrounds. It was another to have the local fortune teller turn up dead after Destiny visited her tent.
“Perhaps she had some magic,” he said.
Gabriel peered over Lars’s shoulder at the computer. “Anyone else killed?”
“Several were injured. Six were taken to the hospital, but none in critical condition.”
Peri wrapped her arms around her waist, as if she was suddenly cold. “Why would Destiny be at a small-town fair in Kansas?”
“Maybe she’s seeking power,” Valen offered.
Peri arched a brow. “From a cashier?”
Valen shrugged. “I doubt she has a lot of options.”
“Options…” Peri glanced toward the fairy. “You said this was Meade, Kansas, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you bring up the area on a map?”
“Of course.”
Peri turned back toward the screen. Curious, Valen moved to stand at her side as a satellite image of the area appeared.
“What are you looking for?”
“I recognize that town. There’s a coven there called the Dayan Society. My mom would travel there to exchange magical artifacts when I was young.” She pressed the tip of her finger to a spot on the map. “It’s less than twenty miles from Meade and located on the main road. Destiny would have driven rightpast it. If she’s fleeing from the miasma, why not go there for protection?”
“Or even if she’s been infected, it would make more sense to seek out the coven,” Valen agreed, unable to find a logical explanation for why Destiny would have bypassed a large coven to risk exposure at a small human fair. “There were at least a dozen witches there to drain.” A coven was usually anywhere from twelve to thirty witches. “Why choose a faux fortune teller?”
