Chapter 13 Komal
Mamma: Don’t forget your date with Joe tonight. He expects you at eight. He has a tech startup. Doesn’t that sound clever and successful? Just like our beautiful daughter.
Did you get your hair done for your date? I should hope so, when I saw you last you looked like one of Dolly Auntie’s yarn monstrosities!
“WHAT CAN I GET FOR you ladies?” Lilac looks up from wiping down the bar. “Is it girls’ night out again? Do I need to have the paddy wagon on standby?”
“There will not be a repeat of Dora’s hen do,” Isis says with surprising force. Behind her, Dora crosses herself fervently.
“We actually came to talk to you about Alyra,” Mina says at the same time I blurt out, “A gin and tonic, please.”
“Komal, this is serious business.” Mina raps her cane on the floor.
“Arf!” adds Oscar, her guide dog.
“Exactly.” I settle onto one of the stools. “And all business conducted with a G he was always out in the gardens, talking to the plants, or in the library, studying herbology texts.”
“What kind of magic does he have?”
Lilac shakes her head. “I want this husker caught as much as anyone, but I won’t give away Dusk secrets, especially when they’re not mine.”
Damn vampires, always so tight-lipped.
“Thank you for your help,” Arabella says.
“If I show up on your doorstep with a bunch of gold bars I need disappearing in a hurry, you’ll remember you owe me.” Lilac shrugs as she slips out, leaving the snug doors closed.
We pull our chairs in close together. Every Nevermore Coven member glares at me. I pretend I don’t see.
“So, Lilac seems suspicious,” I say. No one acknowledges me.
“We didn’t know that Augustin was Dusk Court,” Maisie whispers.
“I don’t see why it matters.”
“You don’t see why it matters?” Beth’s voice rises in pitch. She slides onto the floor and twists herself into a yoga pose. “I’m so stressed right now, my chakras are all out of alignment.”
“I think what Beth is trying to say is that Augustin comes from the court with the magic required to create a poison that would knock out Alyra. And he was outside Sanctus the night she died, agitated about something,” Mina says.
“There could be a logical explanation for that,” I say. “Augustin is always agitated.”
“Why are you defending him, Komal?” Beth glares at me.
That’s a very good question.
Why am I?
Because in all the years I’ve faced off against Augustin Durant at council meetings, he’s fought ardently and annoyingly for what he thinks is right.
He earnestly believes in bureaucracy and rules and the proper way of doing things.
I can picture him banning the Gorilla Gardener for public gardening without a license. I can’t picture him husking anyone.
Because I spent the evening trapped in a cupboard with him, and he was a perfect gentleman.
Because he drew circles on my back when I was afraid.
Because I heard the pain in his voice when he spoke to a child who isn’t his, a child he so obviously loves.
But one thing I’ve learned as a member of the Nevermore Coven is that you can’t always believe the best of people. And if I’m going to catch the husker and improve Argleton, then I can’t let my personal feelings get in the way of the truth.
And the truth is… Augustin Durant could be the killer.