Chapter 17
Farrow
I made it to the end of my shift with no sign of magic. But Timothy’s questions bothered me because his family was mixed up in sorcery, and when he was a child, he was used for his connection, even if he doesn’t remember.
In the locker room, I’m torn between getting changed and going home and going to the library where the records are kept, but how do I explain knowing about Timothy or his mother?
If I search for her, someone will notice, and I’ll need to be ready to answer questions. However, the higher-ups will be busy with the glitter incident, which may work in my favor and buy me a little more time to unravel this knot, or it may work against me if they are checking everything.
“What’s wrong? You look like you deleted your channel.” Crispin leans against my locker.
“It’s not that bad.” Though that depended on your point of view. Discovering a sorcery connection may be considered worse by some people. “I need to go to the library as I think one of my houses has a connection.”
“What kind of connection?” Crispin lowers his voice.
“Husband. His ex-wife was…apparently.” I flicked my tail. “No signs in the house.”
“But something is bothering you about it.”
I sighed and pulled on my shirt. It had been stretched across the shoulders by my brother’s plates. It used to be my favorite. I wish he’d turn into fucking glitter. “Yeah, if there were magic, I’d report it, but there isn’t, so there’s nothing to report.”
Not that I wanted to make a report because then I’d lose access to Timothy and my new income stream.
“Need some help?”
“Nah, it won’t take long as I’m sure there’s nothing to find and I’m being overly cautious.”
“Better that than glitter…too soon?”
I forced a smile. “There are worse ways to die.” I lifted my hands, showing my claws. “Meow.”
Crispin grinned. “Wait until you see my next video.”
I don’t suppress the shiver that runs from horns to tail. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Decision made, I headed upstairs and swiped into the library.
There were only a couple of people there, so I didn’t need to wait for a booth to become available.
I closed the door and sat. As soon as I did, the back of the door illuminated.
Using the keypads on each armrest, I logged in and typed in Susanne Trapper.
Her file filled the screen. I opened it with a couple of swipes and spread out the pages.
Everything I read would be logged, so I paused and scanned the headings before randomly tapping on pages.
I need to learn about Timothy and his father, so I start with the family history.
There is no hint that the father had any magic.
Timothy was their only child and had a strong connection to my world, which explained why he’d sensed me and was interested in all things monster.
A part of him must remember what the connection felt like.
When his mother left, the pain and fear of monsters would’ve severed the connection.
He’d have mourned the loss of mother and magic, not understanding why the loss cut so deep.
He’d been watched for several years longer than usual to be sure that he didn’t find a way back to magic, and there was a link to his file—which I was so tempted to open and barely resisted.
I closed the page on family and selected the section about Susanne. There were pages of information, but I didn’t need to know every bit of magic that she’d ever worked. I skipped to the end to see if she’d appeared in someone else’s jurisdiction or if she’d been killed.
It was neither.
Susanne had died here, in my world, from multiple stab wounds obtained in the human world. Which meant the killer was walking free in the human world.