Witching The Night Away: A Cozy Mystery (The Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

Witching The Night Away: A Cozy Mystery (The Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 3)
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lot of time together?”
    “We’re social,” Aiden admitted. “I consider him a friend, certainly. And Piper, to some extent, though I see her less often.”
    Bailey sat down in the chair where Avery had sat. “And… you and Avery…?”
    It took Aiden a moment to follow her. “Ah. I see,” he said when he caught on. “Our association is entirely platonic, I assure you.”
    Somehow, that relaxed a bit of tension in Bailey. She’d gone on a date with Aiden, once, before either of them realized the other was part of a magical world—well, Bailey had known before then, but Aiden hadn’t known she’d known; it had gotten complicated quickly after that. For that matter, she supposed it had started out complicated, too.
    Still, that didn’t mean that Aiden couldn’t be interested in both of them. But she had to admit, privately, that she was glad he wasn’t.
    “It’s your business anyway,” she said. “I didn’t mean to pry. But listen, I just met Professor Turner, the archaeologist. He says you gave him permission to study the caves. Why didn’t I know about that?”
    Aiden sighed, and leaned back in his chair. He threaded his fingers together and rested his hands over his stomach. He was in another suit that had been tailored to within an inch of its life and fit him perfectly, as always—one that Bailey hadn’t seen before. She’d never seen him wear the same one twice, in fact, and wondered just how many he had. Or, maybe it was just one suit, and some trick of wizard’s magic that made it look different? There was no way to know; Aiden was tight lipped about the particulars of what he could and couldn’t do with magic.
    “I didn’t feel it warranted a consultation,” he said finally. “Though I do realize that you must be cautious about the presence of any scrutiny around the Caves. But, as you have said before, they do have a tendency to keep their secrets to themselves. I doubt we have anything to worry about.”
    “But you know they’re sensitive,” Bailey said. “Why didn’t you just send him away? We don’t need that kind of risk.”
    Aiden took that in stride, unoffended that Bailey was, essentially, telling him how to handle his affairs and his business. But he wasn’t swayed, either. “If I had turned him away,” he said patiently, “it would have aroused even more interest. People want what they cannot have; that’s a basic truth we too often can take for granted. This way, he can do his research, and move along convinced that he is still looking for the answers he seeks.”
    She supposed he wasn’t wrong on that count. Still, she didn’t like it. “What if he does find something, though? And it goes public? The stones weren’t supposed to be able to be stolen, but they were. What if the magic of the Caves is… I don’t know, on the fritz or something? You said it yourself; they’ve been different since Martha was killed.”
    “I’ll concede that point,” Aiden said. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. How did you get along with him?”
    “Well enough,” Bailey said. “I think he likes me alright. Nerd to nerd.”
    Aiden smiled. “Indeed. And he has to apprise me of anything he digs up down there. Metaphorically,” he added quickly when Bailey’s eyes widened. “He won’t actually be digging, I promise.”
    “He’s going to be doing this every evening after tours?” Bailey wondered.
    “Actually,” Aiden said, “I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. There won’t be any tours until he’s finished.”
    Bailey stared. “The books, though,” she said, “they were full for the next week.”
    “I rescheduled them,” Aiden said.
    She winced. “A lot of those people will have been on vacation, Aiden; you can’t just inconvenience them like that.”
    “And yet, I did. Most of them took it well enough; they’re probably hoping the investigation by Professor Turner will… ahem, ‘turn’ up some interesting new tidbits.” He
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