Prelude to a Witch by Amanda Lee (free novel reading sites TXT) 📕

like that. Most profilers don’t travel in a team. I’m not familiar with the individual he’s sending – he didn’t provide a name – but he’ll be here this evening.”

“Coming from Detroit?” Chief Terry asked.

Landon shook his head. “This area is too small to have its own profiler. The one they’re sending works in the Midwest office in Chicago. I guess he’s taking a flight up to Traverse City and then driving here.”

I studied his face for signs he was upset. “Are you worried?”

He already had a smile on his face when he turned to me. “Why would I be worried?”

“Because of me.”

“I’m always worried about you.” He rubbed my back. “Luckily, you’re pretty good at taking care of yourself, so some of that fear has dissipated since we hooked up. I’ll always be terrified that something could happen to you, though.”

It was a good attempt to avoid the question, but there was no way I was letting it go. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it. I want to know if you’re afraid that this guy will find out what we are.”

Landon hesitated and then shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frightened at the prospect of you coming across the wrong person, someone who could hurt you if he found out witches were real. There’s no reason to think this guy will be that person.”

“Except his entire job description is human behavior. How much do you want to bet Steve arranged for him to stay at The Overlook?”

Obviously that possibility hadn’t occurred to Landon, because his face drained of color. “Oh, crap.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Chief Terry said. “You can’t very well call Steve and ask him to find different accommodations for this guy. He’ll be suspicious because he knows that you and I are at the inn all the time. It makes sense to book the profiler there so we’re all close.”

“I’m sure that Steve will have told him about Aunt Tillie,” I said in an attempt to be helpful. “We can always blame anything strange on her.”

“That’s all well and good, but Clove is going to give birth any minute,” Landon said. “What if she goes into labor when he’s there?”

Now I was lost. “Why does that matter?”

“Because you guys are born in swirls of light.”

I pursed my lips, confused. “Um ... we are not.”

“Um, you are. Do you remember when we were trapped in Aunt Tillie’s mind after she was hit in the head? I saw your birth.”

I’d forgotten that. In fact, I’d forgotten the part of her memory that involved my birth entirely. “Oh, well ... that was a weird exception. It’s not the norm. Clove won’t give birth to some swirling bits of light on the dining room floor.”

“No?” Landon didn’t back down. “Sam has witch in his lineage. That’s the reason he came to town. Are you really telling me that there’s no chance this kid is going to have a weird birth?”

I didn’t know what to say so I simply sat there with my mouth open.

“I think you broke her.” Chief Terry waved his hand in front of my face. “She’s speechless. It’s never happened before.”

“I’m not speechless. I’m just ... thinking.”

“You hadn’t considered a weird birth,” Landon mused. “That’s kind of funny given the way Clove has been freaking out. How can you guys have overlooked that?”

“Clove is freaking out over the pain,” I said. “In case you’re not aware, giving birth hurts.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Landon’s expression darkened. “I heard the story about the watermelon and the orange.”

I laughed, some of the weight I’d been carrying since we visited the girls leaving my shoulders. “I’m just saying Clove has had other things on her mind.”

“Well, if I were in her position, I’d be worried about what the hospital staff is going to do with a glowing baby.”

Landon was right. Sam’s lineage could very well push Clove’s baby into uncharted territory. Somebody was going to have to raise the issue with her, but it wasn’t going to be me. “I’ll mention it to my mother and aunts and let them tackle that.”

“Good plan. We still have to deal with this profiler. I think we have to warn everybody to be on their best behavior.”

That sounded absolutely terrible. “You can tell Aunt Tillie.”

He made a face. “Thank you for that.”

I laughed again, more of the darkness that had been dragging me down burning away. “I’m sure it will be fine. We’ve dealt with FBI agents at the inn before.”

“But we didn’t have Brian and Rosemary to deal with at the time,” Landon pointed out. “Speaking of, they just walked through the door.”

Chief Terry growled as he turned to look. “Man, is anyone else annoyed that we can’t even have lunch without those jerkoffs showing up to ruin it?”

“I’m right there with you.” Landon’s hand was on my back again. He was constantly rubbing these days because he thought it would alleviate the tension I carried around. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the only thing that would truly make me feel better was Brian and Rosemary leaving town. That was a little too “Aunt Tillie” for my comfort.

“You know, Brian was hanging around that clearing behind the Dragonfly right before the parties ended,” I said, my mind drifting back to the night I’d glamoured myself to appear as a teenager and attended one of the gatherings. “Maybe we should ask him if he has any knowledge of what happened to Paisley.”

Chief Terry lamented, “There’s no way it’s him. That would make our lives easier and we all know that’s not happening anytime soon.”

I did know that. Still ... . “It will make him uncomfortable. I wouldn’t mind seeing his reaction.”

Landon nodded. “Okay. Let’s see if they seat him near us.”

“Can I question him?” I asked.

Landon shook his head. “That would take it to an uncomfortable place. Let Chief Terry and me do the questioning.”

I blew out a sigh. “Okay, but you’d better