Aegis cleared his throat. “Can you do anything about Essie?”
Auntie Tautau shook her head. “No, I cannot. I can’t directly intervene with regards to the troublemakers. The Aunties protect and guard. We aren’t like the Society Magicka. They have no control over us, although we sometimes work together. But we are only here to help and not harm.” She pressed mugs of hot cocoa in our hands, along with shortbread.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t hungry, so I nibbled on my cookie. The Witches’ Protection Program had been born out of the mists. I wasn’t sure where it started, but they moved when they would—not at anybody else’s bidding. During my time on the run from the witch hunters, I had prayed they would take me in, but they never had and I knew better than to complain. I wouldn’t have known who to petition, anyway.
“I’ve got Angus and Terrance on the line.” Sandy returned, setting her phone down and putting it on speaker so we could all hear them. “I’ve explained to them that Linda’s gone, though I didn’t tell them why, but they know she’s not coming back.”
“Can someone confirm that?” Angus’s voice echoed out from the phone.
With a frown, Auntie Tautau leaned forward, glaring at the cell phone. “Bah. Technology. I don’t like it, for the most part. You listen to me, young witch. I am Auntie Tautau. Cassandra speaks the truth. Don’t question the will of the gods.”
There was a brief pause.
“Right.” Angus cleared his throat. “So we need to pick a leader for the coven?”
“Right. We have to call an emergency town council meeting and I need a representative from the coven there. This is vital, Angus. Lives may depend on it. So you four better get in gear and decide who’s taking Linda’s place as High Priestess right now.” Delia leaned back, closing her eyes. She looked tired.
“That’s easy.” Terrance laughed. “Maddy, don’t you think?”
I jerked, my shoulders stiffening. “What? You want me to take over being the High Priestess? Are you kidding? I haven’t lived here long—”
Sandy laughed. “Too late. I just briefed them on the basics. All three of us agree that you’re the one for the job. You don’t have a choice, Maddy. You’re the new High Priestess.”
I stared at her. “You’re in on this?”
“You’re the best choice. I’m too busy and I don’t have the reputation you do. Terrance and Angus are men, so they can’t assume the title. Ergo—you.” She shrugged, then leaned in toward the phone. “You guys good on that?”
“We are,” Terrance said.
“Aye. Maddy’s for the job,” Angus said. They both hung up before I could say another word.
“That’s settled then,” Delia said. “The meeting will be at nine tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, we better make certain Ralph’s safe. I’ve set a watch on him, but when he came out of the thrall state, he was in a bad way. He doesn’t have many memories of what happened, but when he found out that he’s been under control of a vampire, it set him off good. He’s been howling up a storm, threatening to stake any vamp that gets in his way. He also feels horrible about what he did to you, Maddy. And he’s terrified that he might have actually killed Rose.”
“Let’s go. You do realize that once you assume the title of mayor, Essie’s going to make you a target.”
Delia shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Auntie Tautau, thank you. You’ve been more helpful than you know.”
And with that, we headed for the squad car. Auntie Tautau waved from her porch. I started to warn her to be careful but then the realization hit that she probably had more power in her little finger than I had in my whole body, and I dropped the thought.
As we headed toward city hall, it occurred to me that Bedlam was proving to be a lot more complicated than I had expected it to be. Quiet little town, my ass.
Chapter 14
THE CITY HALL was dark and silent when we arrived. A couple of deputies were headed toward their squad car as we jogged up the steps to the main plaza, and they waved at Delia.
“Sheriff, we’ve got a five-two down at the Starhopper’s Mini-Mall.”
“Be careful. You never know what else might be waiting.” She waved them on. “Damn kids. There’s been a rash of breakins at some of the smaller stores. You’d think around here they’d realize that magical alarms are cheap to come by. But there’s always some idiot kid who thinks they can beat the system and break in.”
We hurried through the silent hallway, passing the city hall and the courthouse. As we swept through the doors to the sheriff’s office, the flurry of busyness startled me. At times I forgot that some careers never had a lull.
“Ralph’s in one of the main holding cells.” Delia wove us through the cluster of desks till we came to a door on the other side of the room. There, she brushed a keycard against the scanner on the wall and an audible click sounded as the door opened.
Once through that door, the hall was concrete, and I could sense a thick muffling wave that made my magic settle into a slow pulse. A magical reduction ward, I guessed. They’d have to have that, as well as other safeguards, in place, given the nature of Bedlam’s inhabitants.
The hall stretched on for a ways, several doors along each side. It ended in a T-junction. We followed Delia to the end of the hall, turning left behind her. About fifteen feet later we came to a large gate that barred the path with a door in the center. Ten feet beyond the door was another iron gateway stretching across the hall. Beyond that, I could make out a row of cells.
The officer inside scanned Delia’s keycard and then looked at us. “Any weapons to declare?”
Sandy handed him her bag. “You might as well keep that till I come back. Gun, brass knuckles, pepper spray, switchblade…a few other things.”
The guard suppressed a smirk as he locked it away in a cabinet, then proceeded to run a scanner over the three of us. I wasn’t sure what he was scanning for, but apparently none of us had any hidden contraband that showed up, so he locked the door through which we had just entered, then opened the one leading into the cell block.
Delia led us down the hall. We passed a couple large, barred windows that let in the light from the storm outside. Huge floodlights illuminated the grounds outside, and in their light we could see that the snow had picked up again. The Winter Fae must be partying hard, I thought.
The walls were taupe. The color was bland, draining the brightness out of everything. The hall also felt like it muffled energy, as well. Nothing to trigger tempers or sadness. Just a soft smoosh of bland, bland, bland.
We came to the end of the hall, and the cell block ran to the left and right of the archway. The cell in front of us was empty, but to the left sat Ralph Greyhoof, staring quietly at the television that was playing a football game. Ralph was a Seahawks fan, and he often threw huge football and tailgate parties.
The cells to either side of his were empty as well, and I could see cameras aimed on him from all directions. He really was under surveillance.
The moment he saw us, he turned off the television, slowly standing. “Sheriff, what’s going on?” He did a double take when he saw me. “Maddy…” Flustered, he stopped and lowered his head, staring at his hooves. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I know you were in thrall, Ralph. We may have a healthy competition between us, but I know you wouldn’t deliberately try to kill me. Or anybody else.” I tried to keep from wrinkling my nose as the scent of his discomfort hit me square in the face. One thing about satyrs: they couldn’t keep their moods hidden. Their scents gave them away every time, which was why so many of their first dates went bad. When you can smell a guy’s erection, it tends to put you off your dinner.