Chapter 20
“You are the one who needs to leave,” Trent said to Sonja.
“You’ve been trying to pit the hellhounds against each other since you got here.
We aren’t teaching them to be mean; we’re trying to get them to control their other side.
You caused this, and you should be thankful that Mia was here to fix the fire. The entire forest might have gone up.”
“I told you when I came that outsiders were not allowed during the training process. It was bad enough that you brought the second hellhound here, but then Sarah and the baby? We were at summer camp, not hellhound school.” Sonja glared at him. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”
“That’s good, because there was no way you were going to get me to leave Mia and even have a short relationship with you.
We are not compatible. At all. If this was your plan, you were way off base.
Now go get your things. I want you out of here before I get back.
” Trent turned his back on Sonja and went to join Mia in Christina’s car.
Sarah packed Em and Tempest into her car and followed Trent and the rest back to the academy. Now, they were all sitting around the front room, waiting for Mark to get out of a meeting and come to the academy to talk about the hellhounds and their training.
“If you hadn’t come, I might not have a house.
” Trent put his arm around Mia. “And the forest might have burned down. The drought has kept everything powder-keg dry out here this winter. Cerby and Tempest weren’t out of control, Sonja was.
I don’t think it helped that I kept Cerby in my room at night.
He barked several times in the middle of the night, and I suspect Sonja was trying to get inside. She has a thing for me.”
“Really.” Mia rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, one of those sad, unrequited-love types of things.” Trent held up his hands. “I was good, just ask Sarah.”
“Your man was a perfect gentleman to all the women in the house, which made Sonja even madder. He put Em to bed every night, then he’d go to his room with Cerby without coming back down to the living room.
Sonja freaked out the first time. She kept asking what was taking so long.
When I got your text that you were safely tucked in, I headed upstairs myself.
I bet she sat there for another hour, waiting for you to come down.
” Sarah sipped her water. “We worked well together, I think.”
“Brandon Maxwell sent the letter asking for the house training,” Mia added to the discussion. “Then he lied to me and told me he didn’t.”
“Why would he want Cerby trained at home?” Trent asked, but then he looked around the room and realization hit him. “So Sarah and I would be taken out of play. Two less people to worry about. Whoever this is was trying to isolate you.”
“I bet he didn’t count on me coming back,” Damien said as he stood and refilled his glass from a crystal decanter of what Mia assumed was whiskey from the smell.
He, Thomas, and Grans were all sipping the liquor.
Trent and Levi had beers. Christina was drinking sparkling water.
Sarah was on soda and Mia had just switched to a wine cooler.
No one was driving tonight. Mark would pick up his family, but not until they talked about the murder.
First, they needed to get Trent and Sarah caught up with what had happened since they’d been quarantined.
“You’re lucky you still have a house. That’s why hellhounds are trained far away from structures in the woods or the desert.” Thomas leaned back on the couch with Abigail by his side. “If you remember, I wasn’t a fan of this plan.”
“But it kept Cerby home. I think he’s done. Having Tempest there accelerated the training process. Sonja kept denying it, but even she could see they learned quicker together. Now, without someone egging them on to fight, they should be fine.”
“She was using a cattle prod,” Sarah said. “I was planning on pulling Tempest tomorrow once I saw that. Sonja denied using it, but I saw it in her bag. She tortured them to get them to fight. It’s not right.”
“And it’s against training protocol,” Thomas said. “If you don’t mind telling your story again, I’d like to report this to the National Office. If she’s doing it, maybe the rest of the McManns are too.” He stared at his drink. “No animal should have to deal with mean trainers.”
“Nor should humans,” Grans added. “Even though Suzanne Parker’s dead, I filed a complaint against her testing methods. I don’t know if anyone else in the department uses the methods she used on Mia, but leadership needed to know.” Grans absently leaned into Damien’s side and closed her eyes.
He met Mia’s gaze and smiled. His plan was going well, it appeared.
“Okay, so we know that Brandon set the house training program in motion, and we know he was at least one of many who complained about my level from the first test.” Mia was trying to think this through, but she was tired and hungry.
“I think he hid his complaint with all those other fake complaints,” Christina added. The doorbell rang and she stood to answer it. “That’s either Mark or pizza. No offense, Sarah, but I’m hoping for the pizza.”
Both had arrived. As the Baldwin family got reacquainted, Mia and Christina retrieved plates and napkins from the kitchen. The group paused the discussion and took a few minutes to eat.
Mark broke the silence. “Suzanne Parker’s death has been ruled an accident. The mayor came by with the report, and the recommendation that I close the case. I believe he tried to mind wipe me as well. I didn’t know he was part of your social circle, Mia.”
“Not my circle,” Mia reminded him again as she took another piece of Hawaiian pizza.
“If he did push the magic button, we know the killing has a magical component—not just in the method but also in the motivation. Huh. This is the first time I haven’t been able to tell you that a murder isn’t related to magic.
I’m not happy. I like it when ‘my’ people are good and kind and don’t kill others.
How do we punish someone in the magical courts?
Does the coven have a Mark I can take this to? ”
“The Mark in the coven already knows about the human ruling. Now, that person is working on making sure the killer is found and punished,” Thomas explained.
“Mia, I’m surprised the office holder hasn’t reached out to you before.
I guess they assume if you cleared it from being magic-related, they had no reason to tell you. ”
“You’re saying ‘office holder.’ Does that mean you don’t know who it is? As a full member of the coven, you don’t know?” Mia’s head was hurting. The food hadn’t helped like she’d hoped.
“Mia,” Abigail started gently, but then sighed as Thomas met her gaze.
“We have a sheriff, I guess you’d call it.
Someone who handles rule breakers. We have prisons and trials, just like humans.
But the person who brings a rule breaker to trial is kept secret.
That way, if you’re interviewed, you won’t know who to lie to and who to tell the truth to. It’s complicated, but it works for us.”
“So all we can do is wait for the office holder to make a decision and put the killer up for trial? How do we give them what we know?” Mia curled up her legs under her. She hadn’t gone this far to find Suzanne Parker’s killer to stop now and trust that someone else would do the job.
Mark was pacing with Em in his arms. He’d missed his little girl. “Believe me, I feel the same way. It’s like working hard to get an A, but then not being told your score—just that you passed and not to worry about it.”
“So that’s it? We’re done?” Mia couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Think of it this way,” Abigail said. “If Brandon, or maybe even Sabrina, killed Suzanne Parker and you gave him the evidence you’ve collected, he could get rid of it. It’s better for everyone to stay out of this now.”
“It’s not right, and I hate it, but from what you’re telling me there’s nothing I can do.” Mia pushed away her unfinished pizza. “Sorry, Trent, but if it’s okay with you, I need to get some sleep. Are you going back to the house?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay here for a few days. Even though we fixed the damage, the smoke smell takes a bit longer to get out.” Trent looked at Cerby, and the hellhound covered his head with his hands. Tempest inched closer to Sarah. The dogs were sorry.
Mia laughed at the dogs’ reactions. They knew they were in trouble. “I’d love to have you stay. I’ve missed all of you. But for now, I’m beat.”
“You’re still recovering from the test,” Grans said as Mia stood to go upstairs. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep this group from throwing a kegger while you sleep.”
Mia laughed. “That was one worry I never had. Thanks. Now I’ll be listening for blaring hard rock.”
Sarah stood and gathered up the baby’s car seat. “We’re heading home too. If I’m right, I’m sure the house is a disaster. Mark and I have some work to do before we head to bed.”
“To my defense, I thought I had a couple of weeks before I needed to start cleaning.” Mark took the car seat and handed Sarah the baby. “Come on, Tempest. Let’s go home. And no fire games. I don’t have top-of-the-line, premium home insurance.”
Tempest barked in response, then turned and barked at Cerby. The two had become fast friends.
Mia was on the second floor when she realized Damien was following her with Mr. Darcy. She turned in the foyer and shook her head. “I’m fine. Tired but fine. You don’t need to follow me.”
“I’m not. The library asked me to come up and get the academy’s original blueprints. There’s something we need to know before the remodeling is finished.” He put his hand on her back as they started up the last flight. “As tired as you feel, I’m surprised you didn’t take the elevator.”