Spells on Shelves

Chapter 9 || The Proposal

Cameron walked into his office, carrying a file in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. "Thought you might need this," he said, handing me the cup. "Wasn't sure how you like it so I added a bit of both."

Finally.

I accepted it and immediately took a sip. The bitter taste of coffee exploded on my tongue, softened by the addition of cream and just the right amount of sweetness. This was heaven.

"Thanks," I said with a sigh. "I really needed this."

Edward had only allowed me tea. Something about being more healthy.

"I figured." Cameron settled into the chair behind his desk. "I called you here to discuss the previous night's events with you."

I quietly finished my coffee. All week, I'd had nothing better to do then stress about this meeting although I was surprised to see Cameron alone. I'd expected Paxton to show up and interrogate me.

Cameron opened a ledger on his desk. "As you know, Kai came into contact with a curse. He doesn't remember how it happened but we cannot rule out an attack. Of course, if that was the case, the attack failed, thanks to Rina's and Taji's—and most importantly—your timely interference, and he survived the ordeal."

"Luckily, I happened to have the right ingredients at hand."

That was the explanation I'd finally decided on. I hadn't insulted Edward's integrity again by asking if he kept his deductions to himself.

However, others might come to the same realization. Although a green witch wasn't particularly unusual, one moving outside the coven's influence would certainly raise a few eyebrows if people caught wind of it.

Not to mention that I didn't know how specific the bounty description on my head was. The only safe bet was that they'd want me alive to lock me up again. No, it was better to fly under the radar for as long as possible. 

Cameron pulled out a black-and-white picture. It showed a scarred clearing surrounded by dead trees. In the center, several interlocking magic circles were drawn on the burned ground, each line several inches wide.

My eyes drifted to the second picture that showed several bones aligned into skeletons. I swallowed.

"They found five dead bodies on the scene. Or what was left of them. We've warned all shifters underage, and who have not gone through the transformation yet, not to go out after dark. However, young shifters don't care much about safety precautions. Which means we have to catch the culprit quickly."

A dark ritual and an attack on Kai. That didn't sound good.

Cameron reclined, watching me through his calm brown eyes. "I'd like to have your input on this."

I knew exactly what this looked like and I was pretty sure, he didn't need my input to draw the same conclusion.

"Its dark magic," I said. "Like...something done by witchcraft."

"I'm glad to know we're on the same page."

And I was the only witch in town.

I tensed, Edward's warning not to use magic ringing in my ears. My fingers tightened around my cup. If they arrested me, there would be nothing I could do.

"You're the easy suspect," Cameron said. "And from my experience, things like this are never easy."

Some of the tension dissipated. I wasn't sure if it was his voice or simply his presence, but he had a way of making you want to trust him.

He placed the pictures back in the folder and closed it. "I have a proposal for you. But first, your contract with Livvy states that you're filling in temporarily. Is that correct?"