Demon Debacle: A Witches of Abaddon’s Gate Mystery Read online

  It wasn't uncommon for Michael to be out of touch for a week or two at a time. That used to worry Destiny and me to death, but we’d come to terms with the fact that it was just what he did, and he loved it. Now if he didn't answer, we just assumed that he was undercover and would get back to us as soon as he could.

  "Has anybody been injured?" I asked.

  "Not yet," Broch replied. "At least not seriously. A couple of people got some bruises and scuffs last night, but nothing that even required the attention of a healer. So far today, this guy knocked over a few people, but I don't think anybody was injured." He pressed his lips together for a minute, staring in the direction that the man had disappeared. "I don't know how long that's gonna last, though, if we don't figure out what's going on."

  Though we were a town full of magicals and weird stuff happened all the time, I didn’t believe in coincidence, and I started to wonder if there wasn’t more going on than what met the eye.

  2

  Once April and I had ordered food, we talked about what had happened at the Cracked Cauldron the night before and then again today. April was aware of what Kira was doing because she'd been directly involved in a possession just a couple weeks before. She propped her elbows on the table and leaned across so she was closer to me, and no one would hear our conversation.

  "You think this has anything to do with what Kira and Michael are doing?" I paused for a second, trying my best to think of another explanation. I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of all that again, even though I’d promised my help if they ever needed it. "It's the only thing that makes any sense. I mean, what else would cause two people to act basically the same way in a matter of just a few hours?"

  Calamity, who was sitting on the booth bench beside me, shook her head. "This is Abaddon's Gate, though. Weird things happen all the time. I don't think it's a good idea to jump to conclusions, but it probably wouldn't hurt to get ahold of Michael or Kira and make them aware of the situation. They are in a much better spot to make the decision than we are."

  I unrolled the silverware from my napkin more to give my hands something to do than anything else. “I agree. Broch said he couldn't get ahold of Michael, but maybe he'd be more responsive if he saw text for me."

  With that, I plucked my phone off the table and punched in a text. I kept it vague, but I did express that it was urgent. I wasn't sure if his texts were monitored but I didn't want to take any chances. Destiny’s phone had once been hacked by the bad guys, so on the off chance that Michael's phone wasn't secure, I figured discretion was best.

  After I hit send, I decided to go ahead and call him, too. Just because he hadn't been available last night or even twenty minutes ago when Broch had called him, that didn't mean he hadn't hit a spot where he could answer his phone now. That didn't net me any luck, either, though.

  "What now?” April asked as she took a drink of her tea.

  I lifted my shoulder, unsure how to answer the question, "I guess for now, all we can do is wait."

  "You have Kira's number, too,” Calamity reminded me. “Maybe you should give her a call. The local cops might not know about her, or at least how to get ahold of her, but it’s possible she’s available even though Michael isn't."

  I picked up my phone and fired off a text to her, too, then laid my phone back on the table as Wendy delivered our meals. It occurred to me that she and Michael had been out together a few times lately since he'd finally realized that she was flirting with him rather than just being nice. Maybe she’d talked to him. I smiled up at her and thanked her for the food.

  She smiled back, her sunny disposition shining through. "Is there anything else I can get for you guys?"

  April shook her head, but I decided to go for it. "You haven't by chance talked to Michael today, have you?"

  She shook her head, sending her bottle-blonde messy bun wobbling. "Not since yesterday morning. You know how he is though, half the time you just have to leave a message and wait for him to call you back.”

  I was happy that there wasn't a trace of bitterness in her tone when she said that. Michael had had problems in the past finding a decent woman because none of them were either willing or confident enough in their relationship to accept that there was nothing personal when he didn't immediately answer the phone or reply to a text.

  "Is everything okay with you guys? Like, Destiny's okay, right?" The concern on Wendy’s face when she asked was genuine, so I rushed to reassure her.

  I held up my hand. “No, we’re all good. There's just something else I need to talk to him about, so if he reaches out today, will you please tell him to get ahold of me? It's kinda important."

  A knowing look crossed her pretty features. "Does this have anything to do with what happened at the Cracked Cauldron or over on Vendors Row this morning?"

  Since I was relatively sure Michael had at least given her the bare bones of his job description, I nodded my head. “Maybe. I just wanna make sure he knows about it. I know he's working on a particular case, and this might have something to do with it."

  One side of her pink-tinted lips curved up in a wry smile as she leaned closer to us and lowered her voice. “Do you mean it might have something to do with the whole escaped souls thing?"

  April raised a brow, obviously as surprised by the fact that Wendy knew about it as I was. "Yeah," my friend replied. “It does seem out of character even for the gate, don’t you think?”

  Wendy nodded as she shot a quick glance toward her other tables. “It is. None of it makes any sense, but they do seem oddly similar, don’t they? And in case you're wondering, the reason I know about the whole soul thing is because I came face-to-face with one of them a couple of weeks ago."

  That startled me. I wasn't aware that there'd been more than just a couple of cases in town, but in retrospect, I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised.

  "I think it's beginning to become a bit of an open secret," she said. "I don't think they're going to be able to keep it under wraps for much longer because even though we’re not exactly the poster child for normal, that's all strange even by our standards. One or two incidents would be easy to explain, but it's turning into a pretty big deal. Especially considering the behaviors in each case are different, people are starting to put together that something strange but connected is going on."

  I hated that she was right, mostly because I was afraid of the backlash on Kira. She'd already been punished by the Angel's Council, and I hated to see her have to face public condemnation as well, especially considering none of it had really been her fault. Her mother, who was notorious in the angel community for making bad decisions, especially when it came to men, had fallen for one of the souls locked up in the gate. It was Kira's family’s responsibility to guard the gate, and it had been beyond anybody's comprehension that one of them would be so derelict in their duty as to actually open it. As a result, more than just her mother's bad boy had escaped, and since Kira's mom had disappeared without a trace, the brunt of the punishment had fallen on Kira.

  It didn't seem fair to me, but the council said that because she hadn't taken her mother's warning seriously and stopped her before she could do it, she was at fault.

  April cast a worried glance at me. "That's not good. I wonder how far it's gone."

  I glanced at Wendy. Waitresses dealt with people from all walks of life every day, and most people didn't even realize that they were being overheard while discussing town gossip over their morning biscuits and gravy.

  Wendy pressed her lips together and glanced toward a table of goblins that had just come in. "It's not too bad yet," she said, “but people are starting to ask questions. My guess? Give it another incident or two, and people are gonna start making noise."

  Considering I was pretty sure we were seeing another “incident” right now, that didn't give me much hope that Kira was gonna escape public notice. I tapped out another quick text to her emphasizing how important it was that she get ahold of me.

&nb
sp; Wendy patted me on the arm. "I need to get over and take care of those goblins, but I'll be sure to tell Michael to get ahold of you if he calls me. And I'll be sure to let him know about the situation, too."

  With that, she hustled off to take care of the table, who were now frowning at her in irritation.

  While we ate, I must've glanced at my phone fifty times to make sure I hadn’t missed the message.

  Finally, Calamity jumped up on the table and scooped my phone toward her. "You can't will either one of them to return your call. Enjoy the rest of your meal, and then we can get to shopping."

  April, who'd been watching my phone as closely as I had, glanced at me with worry etched across her face. "I hate to even bring this up, but you have worked with them before. And I experienced it firsthand. Do you think maybe we should start checking into it? At least until they get back with us?"

  I shook my head. Though I had helped them once, it had been a one-off situation that I wasn't eager to repeat. "No, even if I wanted to — which I don't — I have zero connections and very little knowledge of how to deal with a situation like this."

  April braced her elbows on the table and leaned closer to me, lowering her voice. "But didn't Kira give you one of her soul traps? I mean, she wouldn't have left it with you if she didn't have faith in you."

  Before I could respond, Calamity put the kibosh on that idea. "Absolutely not. She's not trained, and I'll not stand by while she puts herself at risk. The only thing any of us can do is hope Michael or Kira calls back soon."

  Since I was in total agreement, I didn't add anything. I made potions and beauty products. Even though I had magical power in spades, I had zero interest in using them like that. It wasn't that I lacked courage, it was that Calamity was right. I wasn't trained, which meant that by intervening, I could be putting other people at risk. I was perfectly willing to put myself out there, but I wasn't willing to put the people I cared about in harm's way. I'd leave it to Kira and Michael, and that was that.

  3

  April and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. I managed to pick up everything I needed to restock the shop and also grabbed a few things that weren’t on the list. By the time we were finished, we’d walked off our late lunch at the diner and were ready to eat again. Since we’d been walking in the blistering heat all afternoon, a cold beer was calling my name.

  "What do you say we go to the Crack Cauldron for a beer and a burger?" I asked, glancing at the time of my phone. It was only four o'clock, so we be just in time for happy hour but would miss the evening crowd. Perfect.

  "I think that sounds amazing," she replied, hoisting her bag higher onto her shoulder. "I'm not sure which sounds better, the burger or the beer, but both are better than forcing our way through one more store.”

  I was completely in that camp. Though I loved shopping, there was always a little bit of stress involved because I wasn't a huge fan of having to fight my way through the crowds. Don't get me wrong—the people were all a part of the experience, but I could only get jostled and called to by hawkers so many times before I hit my limit. We were only two streets over from the Cracked Cauldron, and the lady with the excellent bread was right on the way, too, so bonus.

  Relief washed over me when we pushed through the doors of the sports bar. The AC felt like heaven, and we stepped to the side of the door for a second to let our eyes adjust to the dim interior. The smells of fried foods, wood polish, and the slightly musty smell that accompanied most old buildings made my stomach growl because it was unique to the crack cauldron my belly new burger was in its future.

  "Hey, ladies!" Shane called from his place behind the bar. He slung his bar towel over his shoulder and made his way toward us. "Beer or wine?"

  “Beer, please," I replied. “It's too hot for wine.”

  April held up her two fingers indicating she’d have the same. "I think we’re both gonna do burgers, too.” She turned to me. “But just so you know, it’s never too hot for wine. That’s why they make whites.”

  I couldn’t argue with that, so I grinned. “Valid point.”

  I was glad to see that there were only a few other people in the place, so our regular stools were empty. We slid up onto them and hung our bags from the hooks underneath the bar.

  By the time we were situated, Shane had our beer in front of us. "Your regular burgers?"

  “Yes, please, and don't forget the extra pickles," Calamity said, hopping onto the stool beside me.

  “Yes, ma’am. Heaven forbid," he replied with a little salute and a wink as he ambled toward the kitchen window to put our orders in.

  I took a long drink of my beer and sighed. There was nothing like a cold one after a long day of shopping in the heat. I rolled my head on my shoulders and just took a second to let the stress drain away.

  “I hear you had some excitement in here last night,” I said when Shane came back.

  He huffed a breath out through his nose. “Just a little. Derek, one of my night bartenders, went berserk, and it was all out of the blue. He's worked here for almost a decade and is a great guy. He's always chill and friendly and has never so much as raised his voice, as far as I can remember."

  Since it had been the constable who had told me about it, I didn't figure it would hurt to mention the details. "I talked to Broch this morning, and he said your man doesn't even remember what happened. I guess he even cleared the truth seekers.”

  Shane nodded as he wiped down the bar in front of us, careful to avoid our beers. "So I hear. I talked to Derek after they let them loose, and he feels horrible. He said the last thing he remembers is pouring a beer for Frank, and then the next thing he knew, I had him in a headlock. It makes me feel kinda bad, but there wasn't really anything else I could do. I've had to put him on leave until we figure it all out."

  "I'm not sure that's going to happen too soon," April said, tucking a flyaway blond lock behind her ear. “That’s why we were talking to Broch to begin with. They just had another similar situation happen over in the market this morning. The guy almost knocked Mila over when he rushed past her. He was slingin’ stuff off carts, and then he just snapped his fingers and disappeared before the constables could get him.”

  Shane frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I hate to hear that. I've already got one girl out on maternity leave, and Jacob is out on vacation. He hasn't seen his family in a couple years, so I hate to call him back. I'm not sure what else to do other than to let Derek come back to work and keep a close eye on him. I thought maybe it was just going to be a day or two, but I can't run this place by myself."

  "Well, technically you can," Calamity said pulling over the sippy cup of tea that Shane had set in front of her. "I've seen you handle this place when it was packed full, but it would suck for you to have to do that if you don't have to."

  "Yeah, I'm getting too old to do all that for more than a night or two. It's why I keep so many staff on and have been takin’ most nights off. As a matter of fact, it's a fluke that I was in here last night. Jacob decided to leave a day early or else I wouldn't have even been here."

  It really was lucky then because Jacob was a ferret shifter and his size and build reflected that. He was barely my height, and maybe a buck-twenty soaking wet. No way he could've stopped Derek, who was a big, burly bear shifter like Shane.

  "Do you have anybody you could just pull in for a few nights?" I asked, racking my brain to think of anybody I knew that could help.

  He nodded. "Yeah, one of the bussers here is actually training to be a bartender, so I could pull him in. I hate to do that, though, because he just started training and doesn't know much beyond pouring a beer or making simple rum and cokes. Still, I'll do what I gotta do. Maybe I'll let Derek come back, and then just work the shop with him, or at least hang around. He has a new kid, so I hate to cut his income if I don't have to."

  I nodded as I thought of something that might help. Or rather, someone. The Cauldron was Michael's favorite place to eat lunch
, and he frequently stopped there even when he was on a case as long as he was in town. There was a good chance Shane had seen him, so I decided to ask. "You seen my cousin around?"

  He shook his head. “No, I haven't. I sure wish he'd stop in, though, because if there’s been two cases like this, then it might have something to do with that side project him and that angel are workin’ on."

  "How did you know about that?" April asked, trying to be nonchalant as she picked at the corner of her coaster.

  Shane barked out a laugh. "Are you forgettin’ that I run a bar? There's very little that goes on in this town that I don't know about, including the fact that some batty angel got it in her head to let her boyfriend out of Abaddon's Gate. My only question is how she got past the gargoyles who guard it. I've heard that place is impenetrable, so even if she lost her mind and decided to do something like that, that's what the gargoyles are there for."

  I hadn't heard anything about gargoyles, but it made sense. There’s a reason you see them posted on the corners of buildings and on pedestals outside of mansions. Humans thought they were there just for looks, but magical people knew different. If you saw a place with a gargoyle in front of it, you needed to think twice and even a third time before you were dumb enough to try to breach it without permission. Now that I knew the giant stone shifters guarded the Gate, I was curious, too.

  I pressed my lips together. “That’s the first I’ve heard about the extra security. It's hard to tell how she got around them, though. I know the angel Michael’s working with, and she's taken the brunt of it since her mother disappeared. I feel bad for her, actually, because she seems to be really sweet."

  I started to say more, but I didn't want to blow her cover. Or invade her privacy, for that matter. I didn't know how much she wanted people to know about her, and it wasn't my place to tell them if they didn't already know.