Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (simple ebook reader .txt) 📕

“Get this—he failed out of architecture school, then worked as a low-level clerk for one of the activists. I assume that’s when he saw an opportunity to sell the activist leaders out for his own benefit.” She scoffed. “Real stand-up guy. After that, Ludolf shows up in a bunch of records of meetings and official decrees—Roch set him up as a sort of ambassador to shifters initially. I found a bunch of applications—Ludolf applying for positions in Roch’s cabinet—all denied.”

I smirked— Ludolf being denied anything was slightly consoling. “What happened there?”

Madeline tipped her head side to side. “Ludolf’s ambitious, I’ll give him that.” She shook her head, and her glasses fell down so that she had to push them back up. “Reading between the lines of some of Roch’s replies to his denied applications, I’m guessing the former king had a very specific use for Ludolf and wouldn’t let him rise any higher than underground shifter mob boss, despite Ludolf’s attempts to move up the hierarchy.”

I unclenched my jaw and drummed my fingers on the wooden arm of the chair. “So… Roch basically set Ludolf up as mob boss of the shifters. But even though Ludolf rules the shifters… he was still under the thumb of Roch.”

She nodded. “And from the tone of the letters I saw… I doubt Ludolf’s satisfied with that. He had grander aspirations than king of the sewers.” She shot an arm out. “No offense… you know, I’m sure the sewers are… cozy.”

I scoffed at her. “It’s fine. I didn’t grow up down there and have only visited a few times. And it’s pretty much what you’d imagine.”

Her pained expression relaxed.

I frowned. “Okay… so what does that mean for Ludolf now that Roch’s been tried for his crimes and locked up?”

Madeline shrugged. “A lot of Roch’s cronies are still at large and still in positions of power. Maybe Ludolf’s still trying to move up the political ladder? But I doubt anyone’s willing to overlook him being a shifter.”

I bit the tip of my thumb. Could Ludolf’s potion obsession have something to do with his attempts to rise up the ranks? Was he working on some project he thought would impress Roch or his cronies? I thought again of all the missing activists, and my stomach turned—how could he do that to his own people?

Madeline splayed her hands. “I told you what I know—now I’m going to need some intel from you in exchange for all I gave you.”

I frowned. “What do you want exactly?”

She scooted closer, knocking over a stack of letters, and looked intensely into my eyes. “I want to do a piece on the secret shifter underground. It’s going to be even bigger than my exposé on Carclaustra, I can feel it. This entire clandestine world below people’s feet—it’s going to blow their minds!”

“Err.” I leaned back in the chair and blew out a heavy breath. “Madeline, this is going to get me in even hotter water with Ludolf.”

She gripped my shoulder. “Girl, he cursed you and is testing potions on you. That’s not going to get better. If I write this piece, at least there’s a chance someone intervenes.”

I sighed. I didn’t have a whole lot of hope for that, but I took her point that it really couldn’t get much worse.

She pointed at the manila folder under my arm, the police file I’d borrowed from Peter. “What’s that? Does it have to do with the Malorie Rutherford case?” Her eyes lit up. “If I could just take a peek at that, we could call it even.”

I shot her a flat look. “Nice try.” I took a deep breath. If I told Madeline about the underground, it’d be taking a step in a direction I could never go back on. Keeping shifter secrets had been embedded in us from a young age, all of us shifters.

To reveal them to an outsider, much less a reporter, felt like a betrayal. I hoped I wasn’t pulling a Ludolf and selling out my own people. Then again, if the current system thrived on secrecy and misinformation about shifters, then maybe this would be a step in the right direction.

Maybe Madeline’s piece would help to get out the truth about shifters and break some of Ludolf’s power. Snakes, I hoped so.

I sighed. “Alright—what do you want to know?”

26

The Bodega

After talking with Madeline, I was just a few streets over from my neck of the woods in the Darkmoon District. I was exhausted from spilling shifter secrets to the thorough, though nosy, reporter, and felt I deserved some treats for all my hard work. I decided to pick up some snacks, with about a gallon of wine, from the corner bodega before heading back up to Peter’s place, where I might share some of it with him.

The bell tinkled over the door as I stepped in out of the rain. A few other shoppers milled about the tight, muggy space, the linoleum slick with muddy footprints. I glanced to my left toward the checkout counter to wave hello at Biddy and Jan—the two middle-aged women who ran the place. But they were both busy ringing up a customer, so I slid a basket over my arm, tucking the police file I’d borrowed from Peter under my armpit.

I browsed the few aisles, shelves packed with food, an assortment of everyday potions and tonics, along with quills, toenail clippers, and black candles. Bright neon lights flashed outside the windows, blurry with rain. I ducked under the bat perches for sale that hung overhead and threw an assortment of items into my basket until I could barely carry it.

I headed to the checkout and heaved my basket up onto the counter. Biddy and Jan worked together to ring me up—Biddy lifting each item and calling out the prices to Jan in an overly loud voice, considering she stood at her elbow. Jan, for her part, punched the prices into