can to move forward into the future. What matters is that you help now, and from what I've heard from Justin, that's precisely what you're doing.”
“ You're right, of course. Do you think his questions can wait until I drop these packages at the post office?”
“ What's in the packages?”
“ I sold some potions and herbs on my online store. I've got to mail them.”
“ Sure. I'll tell Justin to be patient. Maybe we can find one of the Coven staff to help you fill your orders too.”
“ Thanks.”
“ Now how about you stop clutching that empty container and let me see if I'm smooth enough to get my shirt off you.”
Fiona grinned, daring him to try. He didn't move straight for the hemline as she expected, but started to tickle her until she barely noticed when the shirt was removed. Then he was kissing her deeply, and she barely noticed anything but him until the morning.
55
CHAPTER FOUR
She woke up early the next morning to get her packages out before Justin could miss her presence too badly, and then she reported to the Coven Protection Office.
“ Sorry I'm late.” Justin was already there, concentrating on the wall, which had diagrams and drawings all over it pertinent to the case. There were another five officers of Coven Protection, and Seb. He grinned and winked at her, as if to say that he was there for her. She wasn't so sure, but it didn't hurt to consider it.
“ Seb said you had important business. Besides, it gave us time to set up our office.”
“ I know you well enough that it was set up last night.”
“ Ah, Fiona! You wound me!”
“ Save the theatrics for your wife,” she said without any of the vitriol implied by the words.
56
THE DUTIFUL WITCH
“ What we've got set up is a time line of our investigation.” Indeed, along one electronic blackboard was a neat time line of what they presumed happened, and beneath it, another of when they had gathered the information. Images punctuated both time lines. “From Skylar, we learned that there was a concerted effort put into kidnapping witches, including by using outside contractors like Skylar's aunt and brother. We discovered that while we knew the Dark Order hadn't gone away, they were building a plan of considerable magnitude. They've put together time and resources. They're doing this stealthily to try to stay under the radar. And from all indications, they're working towards something big. They had a whole plan of how they were going to use Melanie and the other hostages as sacrifices. Which is why we need to take the offensive and make sure we compile the best intel. Because if we don't know what we're up against, they can start the kidnappings again at any time, and we'll be caught with our metaphorical pants down.
“ In that effort,” he tapped a baton against the chalkboard for emphasis, “we learned from Melanie's abduction that they're smart. They covered the holes we found in Skylar's aunt's plan so that we couldn't use it against them. We discovered that they've got secret hideaways where they take witches to sacrifice them. It's clearly a ritual sacrifice for a purpose, as evinced by the meticulous drawings of pentacles and power symbols in different configurations. We didn't know what they were sacrificing for. Since we use our own natural magic, only the earth witches usually use drawings or symbols. But these are black magic and blood magic symbols, and even our most experienced earth witches can't make heads or tails of them.”
“ You've been holding back on me then.”
“ What?”
“ You know I'm an earth witch. I deal in symbols and incantations. But because of the circumstances of my birth, I've researched as much as possible in black and blood magic while staying clean myself. You showed me the pentagrams, but you didn't show me the discarded choices in the markings. Their thought processes could lend a lot of clarity towards what they're working
“ You're right, of course. Do you think his questions can wait until I drop these packages at the post office?”
“ What's in the packages?”
“ I sold some potions and herbs on my online store. I've got to mail them.”
“ Sure. I'll tell Justin to be patient. Maybe we can find one of the Coven staff to help you fill your orders too.”
“ Thanks.”
“ Now how about you stop clutching that empty container and let me see if I'm smooth enough to get my shirt off you.”
Fiona grinned, daring him to try. He didn't move straight for the hemline as she expected, but started to tickle her until she barely noticed when the shirt was removed. Then he was kissing her deeply, and she barely noticed anything but him until the morning.
55
CHAPTER FOUR
She woke up early the next morning to get her packages out before Justin could miss her presence too badly, and then she reported to the Coven Protection Office.
“ Sorry I'm late.” Justin was already there, concentrating on the wall, which had diagrams and drawings all over it pertinent to the case. There were another five officers of Coven Protection, and Seb. He grinned and winked at her, as if to say that he was there for her. She wasn't so sure, but it didn't hurt to consider it.
“ Seb said you had important business. Besides, it gave us time to set up our office.”
“ I know you well enough that it was set up last night.”
“ Ah, Fiona! You wound me!”
“ Save the theatrics for your wife,” she said without any of the vitriol implied by the words.
56
THE DUTIFUL WITCH
“ What we've got set up is a time line of our investigation.” Indeed, along one electronic blackboard was a neat time line of what they presumed happened, and beneath it, another of when they had gathered the information. Images punctuated both time lines. “From Skylar, we learned that there was a concerted effort put into kidnapping witches, including by using outside contractors like Skylar's aunt and brother. We discovered that while we knew the Dark Order hadn't gone away, they were building a plan of considerable magnitude. They've put together time and resources. They're doing this stealthily to try to stay under the radar. And from all indications, they're working towards something big. They had a whole plan of how they were going to use Melanie and the other hostages as sacrifices. Which is why we need to take the offensive and make sure we compile the best intel. Because if we don't know what we're up against, they can start the kidnappings again at any time, and we'll be caught with our metaphorical pants down.
“ In that effort,” he tapped a baton against the chalkboard for emphasis, “we learned from Melanie's abduction that they're smart. They covered the holes we found in Skylar's aunt's plan so that we couldn't use it against them. We discovered that they've got secret hideaways where they take witches to sacrifice them. It's clearly a ritual sacrifice for a purpose, as evinced by the meticulous drawings of pentacles and power symbols in different configurations. We didn't know what they were sacrificing for. Since we use our own natural magic, only the earth witches usually use drawings or symbols. But these are black magic and blood magic symbols, and even our most experienced earth witches can't make heads or tails of them.”
“ You've been holding back on me then.”
“ What?”
“ You know I'm an earth witch. I deal in symbols and incantations. But because of the circumstances of my birth, I've researched as much as possible in black and blood magic while staying clean myself. You showed me the pentagrams, but you didn't show me the discarded choices in the markings. Their thought processes could lend a lot of clarity towards what they're working
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