Chapter 15
The kitchen was filled with people and noise when Mia got up from her potion-infused nap.
She realized it was dinnertime and Abigail had made lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and what looked like a cake.
Her stomach grumbled as she found a chair.
A plate was set in front of her and the talking stopped as she picked up a fork.
“What? Did you think you’d get rid of me that easily?” Mia said.
Levi laughed as Abigail shushed him. “Dear, you were in bad shape. Thank goodness for Damien and your grandmother. They make quite a healing team.”
Mia looked around and realized neither one of them was at the table. “Where are they?”
“Your grandmother’s resting and Damien is downstairs, unpacking the books that came this afternoon.
His kind doesn’t need to eat much to keep going.
” Abigail glanced around the table. “On the other hand, I cook when I’m worried, so we already have a soup chilling in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch and several dozen cookies in your cookie bin. ”
“The cookies are amazing,” Christina said, looking up from her lasagna. “I forgot to tell you that.”
The volume of cookies Christina was devouring was going to catch up with her, but Mia wasn’t going to be the one to tell her friend. Let the doctor do his job. Mia smiled and took another bite of dinner. Her phone buzzed. Trent had texted a message.
Glad to know that you’re awake. Eat dinner. You need the fuel.
She replied quickly.
You’re not the boss of me.
His lol made her smile and she put the phone away. Her kitchen witch doll was swinging on the rope that held it on the baker’s rack. Gloria was happy too.
“What’s been going on today?” Mia asked. “Besides what happened to me. I want to eat before I start asking questions.”
“That works, because your grandmother said we need to wait for Cleo to arrive before we talk about your missing memories. She’s doing some research at headquarters and should be here around eight,” Abigail filled her in.
Thomas glanced at his watch. “I’m heading back to the shop. Trent put in an order, and I’m going to fill it tonight and then head over to see my son. I’m worried what being locked up in that house with all those women might do to him. I can catch him up on the excitement here.”
Mia smiled at the mention of Trent, but she didn’t say anything. Levi, on the other hand, met her gaze and smiled back. He knew that Trent had already visited her via the dream walking.
After dinner, while Christina and Levi cleaned up, Mia went downstairs with the dream walking book and started reading.
She still needed to finish reading Suzanne Parker’s book, but with everything that had happened today, she thought putting it off until tomorrow might be prudent.
As she read, Damien came downstairs to grab a bottle of water.
“You look better than the last time I saw you.” He sat down in one of the wing chairs, leaning forward, watching her.
“I hear I owe you my thanks for fixing me.” She set down the book.
He picked it up and smiled. “I have a better book. Newer, at least. I’ll bring it up to your apartment as soon as I unpack it.
And, unfortunately, I didn’t get you fixed.
I restored most of the memories, but only time will tell on the others.
Tell me about your boss, Blake Sandburg. What do you know about her?”
“You can’t think Blake did this.” Mia leaned back in her chair, thinking about the last week and her interactions with her. “I mean, she’s all about her, but she’s not dangerous.”
The look Damien gave her told her he wasn’t convinced, so she went through everything she knew about Blake: her coven in New England and her attack by the succubus when she was in high school.
“She reacts to life like she has PTSD from the event. I’ve met the guy who attacked her and, yes, it was horrible at the time, but I think he’s changed. ”
“Succubi may grow old and slow down, but they never change. They crave sex, adoration, attention. It’s not something you just get over with them.
” Damien looked thoughtful. “I have another book on the succubus. I’ll find it too.
You need to know the monsters in the world sooner rather than later, I’m afraid. ”
“That’s what I keep hearing. Blake also told me more about Suzanne Parker. You knew her in another life?”
He shook his head. “I’ve only had one life. Suzanne Parker manipulated it so she had several. She liked her twenties a lot. She’d start over at twenty when she decided that she was old. I don’t mind looking older, so I just aged very slowly. I think this new body is going to be the same.”
“Okay, nice to know, but tell me what you knew about her in this last life. Who was she close to here in Magic Springs? Loves, enemies, children?”
“From what I know, she didn’t have children. I think that would have been too painful for her because she would have lost them. As for loves, she kept most of her affairs light. No attachments. She had a few friends: Cleo, Sabrina, I’m not sure who else.” He frowned. “What are you looking for?”
“A reason for someone to want to kill her. She was left in the cold with a bucket of water poured over her to make sure she didn’t survive. Water kills witches, right?”
He shook his head. “Water doesn’t melt witches, not like in the Oz books. Suzanne’s death might have been an accident.”
“Maybe, if not for the water. Someone lured her out there, drugged her to keep her outside, and then poured water on her. That’s premeditated.” Mia paused for a minute. “Was she dating Brandon? He seemed very comfortable in her house.”
Damien laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, you’re going to have to ask someone else about the social lives of Magic Springs. I’ve been away, and I never really fell into that crowd anyway.”
The rest of the group soon arrived, and Levi watched for Cleo. When the clock struck eight, a knock sounded.
“Now that’s a little creepy,” Mia said as she watched Cleo enter.
The woman was always dressed immaculately and today, she had on what Mia assumed was a fake fur coat that swept down to the top of her boots.
Witches didn’t wear the skin of animals unless it was absolutely necessary.
Cleo handed it to Levi, who put it on the coatrack.
Muffy came up and sniffed it, then went back to lie by Grans.
When Cleo got closer, Mia stood. “Thank you for coming tonight.”
“Let’s get down to it, then. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this before, but we have been busy around here, right?
” Cleo lifted her hands and placed them on both sides of Mia’s head.
As she did, Mia felt woozy. Memories ran through her head like a slideshow: her buying the academy, her first catering event, finding Dorian’s body, laughing with Trent, it was all there and all mixed together.
The vision of Trent with Sonja at the restaurant came into focus.
Cleo said, “Ah, here’s one.”
The vision faded away and the process started again. Over and over, Cleo extracted the false memories. Mia couldn’t tell if the memories that she put back were in the right place or not, but as Cleo replaced one for another, she heard a pop in her head.
Of all the things she’d done and seen since becoming a kitchen witch, this was the weirdest.
“I should have mentioned that you should try not to think while we’re doing this.
Just relax, Mia. The weirdness will be over soon.
I think there’s just one last memory.” As Cleo said that, a memory of eating lunch with Suzanne Parker and Cleo on testing day materialized at the front of Mia’s mind.
Cleo brought in soup and a sandwich for Suzanne and the lunch that Abigail had packed for Mia, and then stayed and sipped coffee as they ate.
Suzanne and Cleo talked about old times, and Cleo told Mia about how they both wanted to get involved in training young witches.
Then Suzanne’s phone rang, and she turned bright red.
“I need to take this.”
As Mia felt Cleo’s fingers leave her skin, she looked up at the witch in front of her. “That memory is new.”
“It shouldn’t be, but I think they blocked it. Whoever called Suzanne Parker that day when we were having lunch is probably involved in her death. And in building your false memories.” Cleo stepped back and stumbled a little.
Levi took her arm and led her to a chair. “Can I get you something? Tea? Water?”
“A cup of tea on a cold night would be lovely.” She patted Levi’s arm. “You’re going to be such a good dad.”
Levi blushed as he followed Christina into the kitchen to make up a tea service.
Abigail took Mia by the arm and sat her back down as well. “Any idea who did this and when?”
Cleo closed her eyes as she sorted through what she’d found.
“I can give you some impressions. I believe it’s a male.
Suzanne wouldn’t have blushed so hard if the phone call was just business.
And it had to have happened after Mia’s testing but before the coven reassigned the protection spell, which was Friday night. ”
“What? I thought it would go on as soon as the testing results were announced.” Abigail met Grans’s gaze. “She was unprotected for three days after testing?”
“Her original test was to be on Friday, if you remember. Suzanne changed the testing but didn’t update the protection spell implementation time.
It wasn’t part of her process. The coven should have updated that as soon as the new testing was announced.
” Cleo smiled as Christina brought out the tea.
“I’ll look into why that didn’t happen as soon as I get back to headquarters. ”
Mia’s first thought was that Cleo spent a lot of time at coven headquarters. Her second thought was that she should have been thinking of all the people she’d talked to while she was unprotected. “Abigail, do we know when Cerby’s house training was set up?”