Once Upon a Charmed Time Read online

  “How was your flight?” she asked as she stuck her hand out to shake mine.

  “We arrived safely.” That was all I’d say about that trip—thinking of the flight gave me another panic attack.

  Chapter 6

  “Victoria, this is Nicolas Marcos and Liam Rankin. They’re here to help too.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said.

  Nicolas and Liam shook her hand and exchanged pleasantries.

  “Please come back to my office.” She gestured down the hall.

  She led the way as we followed her.

  “Maybe I should look into getting a formal office?” I whispered.

  Nicolas smiled. “You do you.”

  Liam winked.

  We stepped into her equally exquisite office. She had a massive desk in the middle of the room with a breathtaking view of the city.

  “Please have a seat. I’m just so excited that you’re here.” She sat behind her huge desk.

  “We’re happy to be here,” I said. “Though I wish it had been under better circumstances.”

  As much as I wanted to be in awe of the surroundings or to chitchat, I needed to get right down to business.

  “What can you tell us about the current situation?” I said.

  Her expression changed. “It’s still serious. We need the magic back for the witches.”

  “How many witches have lost their magic?” I asked.

  “At least twenty right now.”

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “It started about two weeks ago. At first it was just one and then a couple days later two. After that it just kept growing. We’re worried that it will eventually be all of us.”

  “What were the first signs?” Liam asked.

  “Decreased magic. It was slow at first, but it seems to be speeding up now.”

  “We may need to speak with some of the victims,” I said.

  “Most of them will want to talk. Though they may want to remain anonymous. No one wants to be a bad witch,” she said.

  I exchanged a look with Nicolas and Liam. “Not a word out of you two.”

  Liam held his hands up. “Not saying anything about your bad magic.”

  Victoria gave me a pitying look, as if she’d just remembered all the stories about my disastrous spells. Yes, I had been labeled the bad witch. No need to broadcast that information.

  “Anyway, is there anything else you can think of that might help us figure this out?” I asked.

  Victoria leaned forward in her chair. “There is one thing. I don’t know…”

  She seemed hesitant to continue.

  I scooted up closer to the desk. “What?”

  “There is a witch who joined the coven about two weeks ago. I just thought the timing was suspicious. I’d hate to accuse an innocent person though. Her name is Cameron Smith and she lives in Beverly Hills. She came to the coven and said she wanted to join.”

  “You asked her to do the spells in order to be a part of the coven?” I asked.

  “Yes, well, I wasn’t here when she cast the spells. I was given a full report on what happened and was told she did the spells wonderfully.”

  “But you never actually saw the spells being cast?” Liam asked.

  “Well, no, but the other witches saw. I have a file on what happened.”

  “We’d like to see that, please. Also, if we could get the names of the people who helped… Do you have her address so that we can go talk with her right away?” I asked.

  “I can get that for you.” She picked up the phone. “Tina, can you get the address for Cameron Smith?”

  Why didn’t I have an assistant? I really needed to speak with the board members about that.

  “She’ll have it for you soon.” Victoria placed the phone down.

  “Thank you.” I stood from the chair. “Would you like to come with us to speak with Cameron? She might be more willing to talk if someone she knows shows up at her door.”

  Victoria nodded. “You’re probably right about that.”

  Tina knocked on the door and then brought Victoria a slip of paper. Victoria handed me the paper. Next she handed over the file.

  “When would you like to go?” Victoria asked.

  “As quickly as possible. We’re ready now if you are.” I tucked the file under my arm.

  “Sure. I’ll meet you outside,” she said.

  Nicolas, Liam, and I went back down the elevator.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “It’s a lead, I suppose. It doesn’t seem that promising,” Liam said.

  Sadly, I knew he was right. After stepping off the elevator and out of the building we waited outside by the door. After a couple minutes Victoria joined us.

  “The rental car is right over here.” Liam put emphasis on the word rental. He was used to his sports car. He couldn’t be the smooth guy in this little thing.

  Somehow we managed to fit in the car. I wasn’t entirely sure we would be able to get out. After navigating the traffic we arrived at our destination. The area of houses was gorgeous. Soon we pulled up to a large house. Tall iron gates secured the drive.

  “I’ll text her and let her know we’re here,” Victoria said.

  A few seconds later and the gates opened.

  “It’s a nice house. Does she live here alone?” I asked.

  “As far as I know it’s just her. I think her husband died.”

  “Oh, that’s tragic,” I said.

  The car sputtered up the driveway toward the house. It was like we were riding a lawn mower. We’d barely gotten out of the car when the front door opened. Cameron stepped onto the porch, waving her hand in a grand gesture, as if she was the queen greeting the public. She wore a long blue strapless gown. Her blonde flowing hair reached her shoulders. I had no idea why she was dressed like that.

  “I must say I was surprised you came over,” Cameron said with a forced smile. Her attention shifted to me.

  I moved up the wide steps and shook her hand. “Halloween LaVeau. Pleased to meet you.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you.” She studied my face.

  No need to tell me what she’d heard. I knew it was about my struggles with magic. That was all behind me now. After an awkward stare she looked at Nicolas and Liam.

  “This is Nicolas Marcos and Liam Rankin, leaders of the Enchantment Pointe and New Orleans Covens.” I gestured.

  She quirked an eyebrow. “I had no idea I would get visits from the Underworld leader and so many coven leaders.” She laughed nervously. “Would you like to come inside?”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Cameron opened the door wider and gestured for us to enter.

  “What do you think about her?” I whispered as we followed Victoria inside.

  “She does act a bit strange, doesn’t she?” Nicolas said.

  “She acts nervous,” Liam said.

  “Yes, I picked up on that as well. Of course she could just be nervous because the leader is here and she thinks that means she did something wrong,” I said.

  “Maybe it’s because she did do something wrong.” Liam quirked an eyebrow.

  Victoria looked back to see if we were coming. We hurried in the house to catch up. It was just as beautiful on the inside. Right away I noticed a strange smell and feeling. The aroma wasn’t bad. It was just strong. More of an earthy scent. I tried not to sniff like a bloodhound. We followed her across the house.

  “Would you like to sit outside by the pool?” Cameron asked.

  “That’ll be fine,” I said.

  I didn’t think this visit would take long, but I would go along with whatever she wanted. We moved out onto the patio overlooking the sparkling blue pool. We sat in the lounge chairs around the table. She stared at me and I knew she wanted me to get to the reason for my visit.

  “I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here today,” I said.

  “Yes, I guess I do wonder why the leader is visiting little ol’ me. I�
��ve only been a member of the coven for two weeks.”

  “We’ve heard that,” I said. “Anyway, I suppose you know the magic has been not so great for some of the witches lately.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard. It’s such a tragedy,” she said, tilting her head down as if trying to hide her lack of true emotion. “I just worry about losing my magic all the time.”

  How did I ask her without coming right out sounding as if I was accusing her of something? This was a tough position, but it was part of the job.

  “A couple of weeks ago you came to the coven. I was wondering if you noticed anything different or unusual when you joined?”

  “No, nothing at all.” She looked at me with her wide, innocent blue eyes.

  I hadn’t had a chance to look at the file in depth yet, so I was little at a loss for information on her.

  “What were you doing before you joined the coven? How long have you been practicing your witchcraft and when did you know you were a witch?” I bombarded her with questions. It probably sounded like an interrogation.

  Her eyes widened. “I suppose most of my life I knew about the witchcraft, but I really didn’t try until about six months ago.”

  “That isn’t a very long time. I guess you’re really good at it naturally.” I studied her face.

  “I’ve only been practicing for six months.” She smiled.

  “Months?” My voice rose.

  That made it sound as if I was jealous, but it just slipped out.

  “Oh, there was someone asking me about the coven. He had a lot of questions. Like how many members and how we cast spells. Even where we cast the spells.”

  “What was this person’s name?”

  “I didn’t catch his name. Anyway, I thought you might want to check out.” She flashed another smile.

  “Oh, really, why is that?” I asked.

  “Just because he was asking a lot of questions about the coven.”

  “You didn’t tell me about this,” Victoria said.

  “It completely slipped my mind. I just now remembered. Sorry about that,” she said with a wave of her hand.

  I stood from the chair. She wasn’t giving much information now, but this wouldn’t be the last Cameron saw of me.

  “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. We’ll leave you alone now,” I said.

  “The pleasure was all mine.” She forced a smile.

  She walked us out to the door, as if making sure we got out of her house. As we stuffed ourselves back into the car I looked back at the house. She waved from the front door.

  “She can’t wait for us to get out of here,” I said.

  “It’s written all over her face,” Nicolas said.

  Chapter 7

  “Wait,” Victoria said as she buckled her seatbelt. “There was someone I talked to the other day, and as a matter of fact, he gave me his card. I have it right here in my purse.”

  She rummaged in the bag for a few seconds before finally reaching in and pulling out something. She handed me the card. The name Carter Cobbs was written across the front.

  “An accountant?” I quirked an eyebrow. “So he was just asking about being a witch?”

  “Yes, that was all he wanted to talk about. I told him if he wanted to speak with me further he could make an appointment, but he never called. I never heard from him again.”

  “Yet he gave you his card?” I asked.

  “Yes, maybe he thought I would call him for some reason. I don’t know.”

  “Well, an address is listed on Carter Cobb’s card. We should go there now since we know he talked with you and Cameron,” I said.

  “Tell me which way to go,” Liam said as he started the car.

  I gave him the address and he pushed it into the GPS. Soon we were headed to the location. I hoped it wouldn’t be another dead end.

  “This doesn’t look right,” I said as we pulled up to the old building.

  The windows had been boarded up and it looked as if absolutely no one lived there.

  Liam shut off the car. “Well, we’re here now, so let’s check it out anyway.”

  We all got out of the car and headed up to the front door. When I knocked on the door one of the hinges broke. I stepped inside the old building. The others followed me.

  “Is anyone here?” I called out.

  Of course it was vacant, although there was some old broken furniture around in the rooms. Plus, a lot of dust and dirt.

  “Hello?” Nicolas said.

  “This place has been empty for a long time,” I said.

  “Maybe they were really old cards,” Victoria said.

  “Well, there’s obviously no one here, so we have to do something else. Maybe we can find out the correct address for this person.” I paused and scanned the room.

  “We could speak with some neighbors.” Victoria gestured.

  “That’s a good idea,” I said.

  “While we’re here let’s take a look around the rest of the place,” Nicolas said.

  He sounded as if he was thinking something might be up with this place, and I had to admit I had a little bit of that feeling myself. So we went room to room checking to make sure no one was there and to see if we found anything significant. As I was about to leave the back room I glanced over in the corner and noticed a bag on the floor. I walked over toward the bag.

  “What is it?” Nicolas asked.

  “Looks like someone left their belongings,” I said.

  “Just be careful with that thing,” Liam said. “You never know what might be in it.”

  “Like a bomb?” I asked.

  He stared at me with his mesmerizing eyes. “Exactly like a bomb.”

  Letting out a deep breath, I reached down and picked up the bag. Nothing exploded so I supposed I was safe, unless it was triggered when I opened the thing. What was I thinking? Of course it wasn’t a bomb, right?

  I moved back to the middle of the room and placed it on the floor. I knelt down and grabbed the zipper. Everyone was staring at me without saying a word, so I quickly unzipped the thing. Nothing happened, so I released another deep breath. I peered inside.

  “It’s a bunch of bottles,” I said, looking up at the others.

  “That’s nothing,” Liam said.

  I reached in to pull one out. “The thing of it is they look like potion bottles.”

  “Now that I think of it, this place is a bit creepy,” Liam said.

  “You think?” Nicolas said.

  “Maybe it’s nothing. Or maybe this man Carter Cobbs is practicing witchcraft,” I said.

  “Maybe they’re not his bottles at all.” Nicolas studied one of the bottles.

  “Yes, well, now we need to find out for sure who this man is. My guess is yes, he’s practicing witchcraft. And my guess is that was why he was talking to you, Victoria.”

  “We definitely have to find him,” Nicolas said.

  I zipped the bag up and picked it up. “Regardless of what we find out, this thing is coming with me as evidence.”

  “Good idea,” Victoria said.

  “I think I’ll give this number a call,” I said. “In the meantime, let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps too.”

  We all walked outside. I placed the bag full of bottles in the trunk of the car and then as I leaned against the car I dialed the number on the card. It rang numerous times, but no one answered. I supposed I had expected that to happen. But now I had to plan my next move. We had to find the correct address and number for this person. Maybe he hadn’t even given the right name.

  “Do you remember what this man looks like?” I asked. “Could you describe him?”

  “He’s tall with a hat and beady eyes. Also he’s thin and has dark hair.”

  I supposed this trip hadn’t been a complete waste. We’d found out about Carter Cobbs and we had kind of made a connection to what was going on with potion bottles. That gave us somewhere to go from here, I guessed. We filed back into the car.


  “Where should we go now?” Liam asked.

  “What if we got fingerprints from the bottles? Maybe we could track down Carter Cobbs that way. If he has a criminal record we want to know. Do you know anyone in the police station, Victoria?” I asked.

  “I may have a few connections that could tell us something,” Victoria said.

  “Great, give Liam the address and we’ll head there now. If you’d like to go, that is.”

  “No, absolutely I would like to go. I’ll help any way I can.”

  She gave Liam the address and the next thing we knew we had pulled up at the police station. We went inside like we were the Scooby Gang or something. She asked for Detective Manning. After a few minutes of waiting the young detective greeted us. His blue eyes sparkled and his hair was the color of sunshine on a summer morning

  “Hello, Victoria.” He stretched his hand out toward her.

  His gaze fell on Nicolas, Liam, and me several times as he checked us out. Victoria explained why we were here. He motioned for me to hand him the bag.

  “Why don’t we go into my office,” he said.

  We followed him back to a small room. The walls were glass so everyone could peer in at us. He placed the bag on top of files on his desk, unzipped it, and peered in at the contents.

  “It looks like a bunch of old bottles that you might find at a flea market.” After putting on gloves, he pulled one out.

  “Yes, but they could be much more than that. We believe they may be for potions.”

  Victoria shook her head, letting me know that Detective Manning knew all about the witches and the coven.

  “We think it might be connected to a case of witches who can’t perform magic.” It was a bit of a stretch, but they could possibly be related.

  He sat down and leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. “All right, tell me more.”

  “Well, anyway, if we can find some fingerprints from these we might be able to prove that someone is trying to harm the witches.”

  He studied my face for a moment. Nicolas coughed as if he wanted to stop the detective from staring.

  “I suppose I could do that, yes.”