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

made an incision, a small spray of blood dirtying his white lab coat, then handed the bloody instrument back to Heidi and exchanged it for his wand. He waved it over the splayed cat, green light flashing from the end, then looked up to shoot me the stink eye.

“How, Jolene? How can you eat right now?” His voice was muffled behind the mask.

I scoffed. “Uh—it’s late, I’m hungry.” I lifted my chopsticks. “I brought some for you guys, so don’t get snippy with me.” I dove back into my ramen and plucked out the hardboiled egg.

“Ugh.” Heidi scrunched up her face. “You don’t want to eat out in the lobby?”

“Psh.” I chewed on the egg. “And wait with the cat’s stressed-out witch?” I rolled my eyes. “Talk about an appetite killer.”

Will and Heidi exchanged looks before he bent back over the cat, shaking his head.

“Hey, you guys remember Letty Jones?”

Heidi’s eyes slid to the side for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah. What’s she up to?”

Will rolled his. “Am I supposed to know who this is?”

I waved my chopsticks. “I forgot you didn’t grow up in the Darkmoon, Will.” I addressed Heidi. “Well, she’s not up to much anymore, because she’s dead.”

“What?” Heidi blinked at me.

I slurped up some broth and nodded. “Peter called me up to this posh estate on a top tier. Turns out she was marrying some rich dude, Chaz Harrington, and—”

“Wait.” Will looked up from his work on the cat and leaned into one hip. “As in Teddy Harrington’s son? The one who’s running for councilor?”

I nodded.

Will scoffed. “I grew up in a family like the Harringtons.” He raised his bushy brows. “Marrying a girl from the Darkmoon would’ve been quite the scandal among the elite.”

I smirked at him. “So how does coming out as a gay bear shifter compare—more or less scandalous?”

He shot me a flat look. “Laugh it up—those people will eat you alive.” He jabbed forceps at me. “I bet you Chaz had some ulterior motive.”

Heidi nodded her agreement, her long black hair tucked under a surgical cap.

I swallowed a bite of pork. “Like what? Letty didn’t have money, connections, status…” I shrugged. “His campaign manager said something about voters going for a Cinderella story. Could that really have been why he married her?”

Will shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past those people. They’d do just about anything to get ahead.”

I rolled my eyes. “They’re already ahead. Why are they clawing to get even more on top?”

He shook his head. “They know what they have, and they’re terrified of losing it.”

I watched Will for a moment. I’d been teasing him earlier, but he knew what it was like to lose it all. When his temper had gotten the best of him at a party, he’d publicly shifted into his bear form. He’d lost his job, his home, his connections. Even his family had disowned him.

I bit my lip. I’d lost it all, too, but I’d grown up in the Darkmoon. As heartbreaking as it had been to claw my way out, only to sink back into it—at least it was home for me. I forgot sometimes that this neighborhood and lifestyle were completely foreign to Will.

My friend murmured something to Heidi. She grabbed a vial of glowing purple potion off the back counter and carefully poured a few drops onto the cat. It sizzled and steamed.

I frowned. “You know, we think Letty died from a food allergy, but she was supposed to have had this anti-allergy potion on her.” I leaned forward toward Will. “Where would she get something like that? Everything I’ve learned about potions recently makes me think something like that would be expensive.”

Heidi and Will exchanged looks.

“What?”

“Normally, yes, it would. As would this little concoction.”

Heidi held up the vial of purple liquid and grinned. “But if you live in the Darkmoon and need potions, you go to Alabaster Monroe and he cooks it up.”

I frowned. “Who?”

Will rolled a gloved wrist. “Disgraced potion master?”

I shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

He sighed. “He was one of the best in his heyday, like thirty years ago, but he’s a madman and lost his license.”

“Why?”

Heidi mimed drinking the vial.

Will bent over the cat with his wand. “For imbibing his own potions. Bit of a lush.”

I pressed my lips together and lifted my chin to get a better view of Will suturing up the cat. “Can you give me his address?”

He glanced up at me and narrowed his eyes. “Seriously, how are you still eating? Aren’t you freaked out by bodies?”

I shrugged and slurped up more noodles. “Yeah, dead bodies.” I pointed my chopsticks at the cat. “But the cat’s alive—right?”

He huffed.

“So.” I raised my brows. “That guy’s address?”

Will growled and stared me down. “Oh sure, Jolene, it’s not like I’m busy right now!” He held up his gloved hands. “Let me just wash the blood off, real quick, and I’ll go dig it up for you.”

I grinned around a mouthful of noodles. “Thanks. No rush.”

He shot me a dark look.

10

Alabaster Monroe

Will ducked his tall head to fit under the porch and rapped a knuckle against the door. Heidi, Will and I crowded together to stay out of the rain which fell in a chilly downpour, though the overhang didn’t help much. Thanks to the Sansea winds, the rain blew in nearly sideways.

I shivered and held the neck of my bomber jacket closed. “You sure this is the place?”

Will rolled his eyes and shot me a look. “Oh gee, now that you mention it, I’m not.” He batted his lashes at me. “I think it’s a great idea to go knocking on strangers’ doors late at night in the Darkmoon District—no worries there.”

I answered him with a flat look.

Heidi danced on her toes next to me. “It’s so cold!”

The curtain over the door’s window pulled to the side, and an old man with narrowed eyes briefly glared at us through the dirty glass before the curtain fell back into place.

Will raised his brows at me