Witch's Bell Book One Read Online Free Page B

any sense at all.
    “ You going to stand here shaking
your head all day, or are we actually going to go inside?”
Detective Nate said, his deep drawl reverberating and startling her
out of her reverie
    Ebony managed not to jump, but
barely. How long had he been standing there? Had she been that lost
in the moment that she hadn't noticed someone walk up and plonk
themselves right next to her? “I'm watching,” Ebony said, making her voice sound
as even and authoritative as possible, “a large part of what I do
is watch.”
    “ Right, of course you do. But
are we actually going to go inside? Ben's already gone
ahead.”
    Ebony didn't move, she just jutted out
her jaw a little, and patted down the flare in her dress. She
really didn't want to go inside, not that she would ever admit that
to anyone, especially not the blustering Detective Nate.
    Theft, illegal summoning,
family curses – Ebony had seen, and was comfortable, with most of the
witch work she received from the police department. She'd swan in
with her golden earrings glittering in the sun, survey the crime
scene, joke with the on-duty officers, steal their coffee, and
usually solve the crime within the day.
    Murders were another thing, though.
She'd only seen two before, and both times she'd had to find an
excuse to run into the bathroom to throw up.
    “ You can't rush into these
things,” she eventually offered, staring determinedly up at the
building, “you have to be careful,” she was still patting down her
skirt, “pet,” she added as an afterthought.
    Nate arched an eyebrow, his
expression teetering on the edge of annoyance. “Right, only thing is, the
murder is in there,” he pointed at the door to the building. “And
unless you think the outside of the building committed the crime,
we're really going to have to go inside to get the full story. Oh,
and another thing,” he ducked under the police tape and made for
the stairs, “I'm not your pet, dear,” he called out over his
shoulder.
    Ebony bit her lip from annoyance. Who
did this guy think he was? Barely a half-hour ago he was staring at
her all trout-lipped as her magical bookstore tried to kill him.
Now he was all gung-ho to go and check out his first
magical-murder. He should still be whimpering, Ebony decided
firmly, still shaking in his shiny shoes at the mere thought that
witches exist.
    “ Whatever,” she snapped, “rookie
then.” Ebony finally ducked under the police tape, ignoring the
shiver that shot down her spine. “You won't be so ballsy when you
see it,” she added to herself.
    “ Hey there, Eb,” the cop at the
door nodded to Ebony as she walked up the steps. “How's that store
of yours?”
    “ Howdy, Jeb,” Ebony sauntered up
to the man, gave him a wink, and deftly snatched the Styrofoam cup
from his hands, “store's fine. How's the wife?”
    “ Gees, Eb, you're such a thief,”
Jeb looked at his empty hands, shook his head, and proceeded to
open the door for Ebony, “and the wife's fine.”
    She took a quick sip of her
stolen brew, and winked. “You know, you are meant to arrest thieves,
Officer.”
    “ Oh, I can't arrest you, Eb.
You'd be a bad influence on all the other guys in
lock-up.”
    Ebony walked in, pretending to
look thoughtful. “Good point.”
    Nate was waiting for her just
inside the door, and had obviously witnessed the entire exchange,
as he was staring at Ebony with mild disgust. “When you're finished, everyone
is waiting for us on the second level.”
    Ebony bit lightly into the edge
of her cup, and smiled barely. “Don't rush me, rookie. Remember, it's
your first day. And me,” she patted her chest, “I've been here ...
for ages.”
    Nate looked decidedly
underwhelmed by her reply. “Been here for ages. Wow, I can't compete with
that.”
    She narrowed her eyes, staring
at him from over the edge of her coffee. “You know, this isn't a game,
Detective Wall. Upstairs is going to be a crime scene unlike
anything you've ever seen. No