A Nomadic Witch (A Modern Witch Series: Book 4) by Debora Geary Page B

“Fine then.  Feel free to find a woman who agrees with you.”  She picked up her tea, willing the twinkle out of her eyes.  “I’d say you have a couple more minutes before wee Morgan becomes quite unhappy with her current state of affairs.”
    She’d have sworn two lavender eyes twinkled right back at her.
    Dark brown ones snapped with fear-tinged fury.  “What is this, some kind of twisted revenge?”
    No, my sweet, wounded boy.   Moira set the thought free, trusting his mind would be unable to ignore it.  I believe it’s a long-needed gift.
    She held her breath until Marcus stormed out, oddly contented babe still in his arms.  And considered it a fine start to her morning.
    ~ ~ ~
    Nell looked at the Taj Mahal of hotels dominating the landscape in front of them and glanced over at her brother.  “She lives in a casino?”
    Jamie grinned.  “No.  A few blocks away.  Maybe Daniel thinks we should try the slots first.”
    Great.  A Realm taxi driver with a sense of humor—just what they needed.  Nell picked up her phone to text her husband, and laughed as a nine-year-old face came onscreen instead.  “Sorry, Mama.  Aervyn wanted to help, and he missed a little.”
    Even better—apparently they were letting five-year-olds drive now.  “Uncle Jamie will practice with him later.  Can you beam us to Adele’s offices now?”
    Mia nodded, full of repressed humor.  “They’re really sparkly.”
    That was quite the statement from the Queen of Glitter.  “I’ll tell Uncle Jamie to put on his sunglasses.  Beam us over, Scotty.”
    “Beaming.”  Mia looked down—and Nell felt the odd suck of a Realm transport spell.
    When she popped out the other end, the first thing she did was grab her brother’s sunglasses.  “Holy hell.”  “Sparkly” was an entirely inadequate adjective for the bedazzled view.
    “It takes work to out-glitter Las Vegas,” said an amused voice over her shoulder.  Nell spun around—and found herself nose-to-nose with gold lamé.
    She’s not surprised to see us.   Jamie’s mindsend was cautious, but impressed.
    “Course I’m not.”  Adele nodded at the glitzy woman standing by the door and headed into the office building of Underwood International.  “You’re smart people, and I’m not hard to find.”
    Nell slammed down her mental barriers.  “You mindread?”
    Gold shoulders shrugged and angled toward the private elevator.  “Only when someone with decent power is being sloppy.”  Adele eyed them both.  “And that’s the last advantage I give up on my turf.”
    Message received, loud and clear.  Adele Underwood was a force to be reckoned with.  A very shiny force.
    Which meant it was time for an apology.  “Sorry.  Witches who live in Berkeley shouldn’t throw stones or make fast judgments based on appearances.”  Nell held out her hand.  “We have a mystery to solve, and we’d really appreciate your help.”
    “You’d have had it anyhow.”  Adele’s eyes outsparkled her rings.  “But since you’re going to play nicely, I won’t mess with you for a few days before I give it.”
    She could have done it—that was abundantly clear.  Nell nodded.  “You’re a witch.  One who can do more than just the occasional fire globe.”
    “Not much more.”  Adele ushered them both out of the elevator onto carpet four inches thick.  “A stitch of mindreading, intermittent empathy, a little precog.  And occasionally the dead talk to me.”
    “Not what your bio says.”  Jamie paused, taking in the gold-plated view of Adele Underwood’s private office.  “You peddle snake oil.”
    Oh, boy.  Clearly her brother wasn’t quite ready to extend his respects to a fellow witch.
    “I don’t.”  Adele gestured to two chairs.  “I used to work the customer service hotline at a telephone company.  You wouldn’t believe the number of people who called just to chat.  People need someone to talk to.  I provide that.”
    “For