9. Chapter 9
T he car ride is filled with old-fashioned games like I Spy and Twenty Questions and stories of growing up. Well, the guys share light-hearted stories of growing up. I couldn’t think of any fun or silly stories to share, so I passed.
Quoth hadn’t wanted to return to his cage for the ride up here, so instead we left the motel window open a crack for him to come and go as he pleased. I’m sure he’s getting a little stir-crazy not getting out whenever he likes here.
We reach the city right at noon. The traffic picks up, and it feels like we have slowed to a crawl. I fill my cheeks with air and blow out a hard breath. Patrick reaches up from the backseat and rubs my shoulders.
“Don’t worry,” Josh says, looking over. “Matty won’t be upset if we are a few minutes late.”
I muster a weak smile. “That’s good to know, but it’s not just that…”
The guys wait patiently. Patrick gently massages my shoulders, and Josh sets his hand on my thigh. We drive in silence for a block before I continue.
“I don’t like crowds. I never have. They are just overwhelming and a lot. Even when I only thought it was weird dreams that made sleeping hard, the dreams were more vivid any time I’d been in a large group. So I learned not to.” I shrug. “I didn’t get invited out because I didn’t have friends. When my family tried to force me to go somewhere, I’d fake sick or just lock myself in my room. Eventually, they gave up trying, and I was left to my books where I could escape to a different world without consequences and losing sleep.
“I loved to read about high schools and academics. I’d imagine I was one of the characters living a life full of drama and intrigue. Sometimes I was the mean girl or the best friend, but most of the time I was the girl being bullied for being different. When those felt too real, I started reading fantasy and paranormal books. Most of those characters are much more accepting of people’s quirks and differences. And stuff like that could never happen in real life, so those books were safe. Except now I’m living a paranormal book.”
I pause to rub my temples like that could change what is happening around me.
“Anyway, with how much more I am starting to see, especially while awake, I am not super excited to be in the city and around all these people. You two take it in stride that I see dead people. Most people don’t and just think I’m crazy and should be locked up. It’s just a lot.”
While I was rambling, we reached the restaurant and parked.
“If it’s too much, I can go meet Matty on my own,” Josh offers, giving my leg a light squeeze. “But you know we won’t let anyone harm you or lock you up. At least, we hope you know that.”
“I do.” I inhale deeply, then let it out. “I can do it. Let’s go meet this Matty and hope he has some answers.”
The men nod and open their doors, climbing out. I follow suit, falling into step with Patrick as we walk up to the door.
Patrick pulls open the heavy wooden door, revealing one of the fanciest restaurants I’ve ever seen. Long white tablecloths cover each table, already set with stacks of plates, multiple glasses, and more silverware than I know what to do with.
Stepping inside, I shiver from the blast of air conditioning. A large, dark wooden hostess stand blocks us from going farther into the space.
“Do you have a reservation?” asks a girl who looks to be in her early twenties with platinum blonde hair and a face full of makeup. Her eyes slide over the three of us in jeans and T-shirts, and her smile hardens. “Or should I offer you directions to some of the other places around here that may be more your… style?”
My shoulders hunch forward as I try to take up less space. Patrick wraps an arm around my waist, tucking me against his side as Josh steps forward.
“We are meeting a friend here, Matthew Archibald. He should have told you to expect us.” This is the first time I think I’ve seen Josh cross with someone.
The hostess’s eyes widen. “Mr. Archibald? Of course. He mentioned he was meeting someone. He just didn’t mention it was… You weren’t the types he usually meets with…” she trails off.
“Hmmm…” Josh purses his lips. “Lead the way.”
She nods quickly and steps back from the stand. “Follow me.” She turns and shows us to a small room off the main dining room. There are three tables in here, but only one has someone sitting at it.
“Mr. Archibald,” the woman says. “Your guests are here. We will send your server in soon and then give you your privacy.” She dips her head and quickly leaves the room, sliding a pocket door closed behind her.
“What happened to her?” asks the man at the table. He looks up at us, his eyes so dark they appear black.
“She didn’t think we belonged here,” answers Josh. “But once I said we were your guests, that all changed. Why’d you pick this place anyway, Matty?”
He sighs, running a hand through his short light brown hair. “I’ve told you I go by Matt or Matthew now, Josh. I haven’t been Matty since I was eight.”
Josh smirks. “I know. Anyway, I know you’re a big-shot lawyer, but what gives with her reaction? Do you bring clients here a lot or something?”
“Nope,” Matt answers. “I decided to expand my investments. I’m a part owner of the restaurant.” He chuckles.
“Well, that’s new,” Josh says, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.
Patrick and I follow suit.
“These are the friends I mentioned, Morrigan and Patrick. We are in a bit of a pickle and are hoping you can help us out.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I offer, meeting his dark eyes and feeling like I’m being sucked into a never-ending void. I smile and let myself fall farther.
Patrick reaches over and shakes Matt’s hand.
“Nice to meet you too,” he murmurs, and I feel a shiver run down my spine, but this one isn’t from fear. “And I hope I can help you, too, but first, let’s eat. What good is being a partial owner of a restaurant if I can’t enjoy the food?”
As if on cue, the door slides open, and a man in black slacks and a white button-down enters the room with a stainless-steel pitcher in his hand. He reaches past me and fills one of the three glasses in front of me with water before circling the table.
When everyone has a drink, he finally speaks. “Which bottle would you like today, sir?”
“Bring us a bottle of pinot noir and pinot grigio. We will go through the preset menu for tonight,” Matt answers without looking through the menu.
The man bows slightly and retreats from the room, sliding the door closed behind him.
My eyes go wide as I look over at Josh, thinking maybe I should have taken him up on his offer to come alone, but also knowing we are a team and I need to be here.
Josh snorts. “He’s not that bad, Mor. He just pretends to be a stuck-up ass.”
Matt chokes on the sip of water he had just taken, then beats his fist on his chest. “Well, there’s the Josh I grew up with. Always snarky. But he’s right. I’m typically more laid back. I just came here because we had some bad reviews, and I wanted to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
“And coming into a private room is how you are doing that?” asks Patrick. “Wouldn’t being undercover be a better way to assess what’s happening here?”
Matt raises his hand, rubbing it across his short beard. “That’s a good point.” He shrugs. “But Josh made your needs seem urgent and personal. So I thought the party room was best.”
We are saved from answering by the door sliding open again. The server returns, carrying two bottles of wine. He opens the first, pouring a small amount of red liquid into a wide glass. Matt takes a sip and nods before the server finishes pouring the wine.He does the same with the white wine except the glass is taller and skinnier.
“Thank you, Gerald. We will take the appetizers now.”
The server nods at Matt, then leaves the room as quietly as he came in.
“That was weird,” I say, then blush. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”
“It’s okay, ma cherie.” Matt smiles gently. “It takes some time to get used to, and if you’re wondering, yes, I do feel like a prick when I act like this. But this is what our clientele expect when they come here. At least with me, the staff won’t get screamed at or threatened to be fired.”
I don’t know how to respond, so I nod and stay silent.
Josh and Matt catch up on life while we wait for the first course. In addition to buying part of the restaurant, Matt has had some high-profile cases go to court in the past few months. There were death threats involved, so now he is trying to lie low for a while.
The door slides open, and two servers appear carrying something that’s either a deep plate or a shallow bowl. They set one in front of each of us before leaving the room. It looks kind of like overcooked pasta.
I look at the multiple spoons and forks on the table, and my anxiety simmers into a boil. I have no idea which one to use, and all three men are looking at me.
Matt clears his throat and points to the spoon the farthest from the plate. “If you want to use them all, you use them from the outside in, but I honestly don’t care. Pick whichever one you like the best.”
I snort a laugh, throwing my hands up to cover my face. “Oh God, sorry! That’s embarrassing, but also, I don’t have strong feelings towards silverware, so I guess I’ll use the one on the outside.” I pick up the spoon and take a bite. “This is so good! What is it? Wait, do I want to know?”
The guys all laugh before Matt answers, “It’s risotto. A rice dish. It is one of our most popular appetizers and can be served with lobster or scallops on it.”
The nerves of meeting a new person seem to have passed, and I allow myself to get sucked into the small talk until the desserts are brought in and placed before us. When the room is empty except for us, Matt turns back to the table.
“Now that the food is done, Josh said you wanted to ask me about a stone you found?” Matt states. “Can I get some more details on where you found it? And I’m guessing you brought it with you?” He waits for my nod and then holds out his hand.
I reach up and carefully untangle the string from my hair, then slide the necklace out from under my shirt. The green stone hangs heavy and dull from the end of the chain.
Passing it over, I relay the story of finding it in a tree and thinking it was glowing but leave out the part of the ghost child handing it to me. I’d only just met the man, and while Patrick and Josh seem to accept ghosts, who knows if Matt will be as understanding?
Matt holds it up to the light, licks it, and scratches it with one of his knives. He even squeezes a slice of lemon over the bit he scratched off. I watch, fascinated and worried at the same time because what sort of person just licks something a stranger hands them?
I was able to find a section in the grimoire about power stones on the drive down. The witches of Spells Hollow used crystals in their magic. It amplified the witches’ powers, and spells could be boosted by different types of stones.
It also said each founding house had a stone of power linked to its house. Each family had their own magical specialty, and based on that, they each received a stone. There was one paragraph about protecting the stone because if it was stolen, that would boost the other houses while weakening ours.
I’m not sure if this is my family’s power stone or another family’s or just a crystal that was used when the town was active, but the first step had to be learning what type of stone it is.
Matt clears his throat. “My best guess is that this is azurite.”
“And how sure would that guess be?” asks Patrick.
“About ninety-five percent sure,” Matt answers. “I don’t have my full testing kit here, and I haven’t got samples to compare it to, but from what I can see, that’s what I’m guessing.”
“Does the book say anything about what azurite is linked to?” asks Josh excitedly.
I pull the grimoire out of my purse and open it to the page marked with a ribbon. Scanning the list of crystals used for magic, I find what I’m looking for. “Azurite: increases psychic powers. It also has healing powers and will help maintain good physical and mental health. Well, that’s not too bad, right?” I ask.
Matt gives a deep chuckle, “If you believe in the woo-woo stuff, yeah, that doesn’t sound too bad. Maintaining good mental health is important. Where did you say you found this? I’ve not heard of a piece this size being found in ages.”
“Spells Hollow,” I answer, my face flushing slightly. This is why I stopped telling people the truth of what I really saw when I was a child. No one believes you when you say you can see ghosts.
“That haunted place?” Matt asks.
“Yep,” answers Josh. “We are heading back there after this. Want to come with us in case we find some other crystals?”
“It could be a good place to lie low,” adds Patrick. “I doubt very many people would come that far to find you.”
Matt thinks for a minute before nodding slowly, “When you put it like that, yeah. It probably is a good place to hide out in for a little while. And maybe we will score some more stones while we are out there that I can add to my collection.”
“Good.” I smile. “I have a feeling we’ll be needing more of your help. Let’s grab you a bag and get on the road. Something tells me we are on the edge of something big.”