The Witches Three Cozy Mysteries 4-6

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Otto was grinning at me, waiting for Mary to leave before speaking. But Mary recoiled against me, reading that grin as more of a leer. She clutched my arm tightly.

"It's okay, Mary," I said, putting my hand on hers until she relaxed her grip.

"You know him?" Mary asked.

"Yes. Like you said, he's a friend of Edward's," I said. Otto's grin ticked up a notch at that.

But the look of concern on Mary's face didn't diminish. She leaned close to whisper in my ear. "That's not all he is."

"I know," I said. "I'll be all right. Perfectly safe. I was actually hoping to run into him, although I had no idea he would be here at this party."

"Yes," Mary said, giving him a side eye. She hadn't expected to see him at the party either, although how much she really knew about him, I had no idea.

"Go on ahead," I said, giving her a little nudge towards the ballroom. "Get me a glass of champagne. I'll be there in just a minute."

Mary nodded, then reached up and touched my head. I almost flinched away, but she was just adjusting something in my hair. Then she smiled, dropped the smile to give Otto a minimally polite curt nod, then slipped through a gaggle of partygoers lingering in the doorway to disappear in the ballroom.

"What did you ever do to her?" I asked Otto.

"Her? Nothing," Otto said. "I guess she doesn't like my outfit."

"You don't really fit in here," I said.

"Wouldn't want to," Otto said with a dismissive snort.

"I'm guessing you're here for Edward," I said. His eyes searched my face, but I knew I had kept my voice perfectly neutral when I had said Edward's name.

"I am," he said. "But I'm not the only member of my profession in attendance."

"Really," I said, looking around at the men around us with new eyes. "They all look perfectly ordinary to me."

"Camouflage," Otto said.

"And you're more of a peacock," I said.

"I am who I am," he shrugged. Then he took my elbow and pulled me a little further from the light spilling from the doorway, into the shadows. I was getting a little annoyed with people leading me around, but his eyes were deadly serious when he turned to face me.

"What is it?" I asked, clutching my bag again. My bag, and the useless wand inside.

"You told her you were hoping to run into me," he said.

"I was just putting her at ease," I said.

"Just?"

"Well, also," I said, and then I was the one moving further away from the sounds of the party. Otto gamely followed. "Evanora. I'm guessing you haven't had any run-ins with her?"

"Not I," Otto said.

"Then others?"

Otto shrugged. "I hear rumors. She definitely is moving through the same circles as I do. I think she's been avoiding me. But…"

"But?" I said when his words trailed off.

He sighed. "I might be being paranoid. Probably am. Lots of things are up in the air now since Dapper Dan was murdered."

"Dapper Dan was murdered?" I said. "That was the guy you mentioned before, the one who enforces the rules between cops and gangsters, right?"

"He was," Otto said. "Until someone put a bomb in his car."

"You have car bombs in 1927?"

His eyebrows knit together, and I remembered that as much as he knew I traveled through time, I should be more careful to keep my voice down.

"It's the first I've heard of someone bombing a car," he said. "You get a lot of that in the future?"

"Never mind. I shouldn't have said anything. Tell me why you think you're paranoid. Or rather, why you might not be paranoid."

"I feel like I'm being watched," Otto said.

"By the police or by other gangsters?" I asked.

"Either? Both? I don't know," he said, taking off his hat to run a hand through his hair. "Maybe neither. Because it's always women. Every time I get that itchy 'someone is spying on me' feeling and I look around, all I see are women."

"Women, more than one?"

"Not at the same time," Otto said. "But never the same one twice."

"How many times?" I asked.

"That I've noticed?"

"Obviously."

"Twelve."

"Twelve and then it stopped?"

"Exactly," Otto said. I didn't know if the number meant anything to him, though. But twelve plus Evanora made thirteen.

"Twelve precisely?" I asked. "That exact number?"

"Yes, woman," Otto said. "Do I seem like a person with a poor grasp of details to you?"

"No, but it's important to be clear," I said.

"What does it mean?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "You don't see any of them here, do you?"

"No," he said. "I've been making the rounds through the whole party. Lots of enemies here, but a lot of my own boys as well. And a few who are the worst sort, trying to play for both teams at once. But no sign of any of those women."

"Did you get the sense they wanted you to see them?" I asked.

Otto half-closed his eyes as he consulted his memory. "I hadn't thought of that. Maybe they did. They were subtle about it, though."

"None of that hazy memory thing that Evanora does?" I asked.

"No, I can picture them all in my head clear as day. If they do come here, I'll spot them."

"They aren't here," I said. "Brianna, Sophie and I were sure of that before we came inside. But I should tell them what's going on, just in case."

"What is going on?" Otto asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Except it sounds like Evanora is not the only witch roaming the dark corners of 1927."

"Soon to be 1928," Otto said. "Let's go in the ballroom. I could use a drink."

"So are you here because it's a gangster-friendly party, or because of the big announcement?" I asked as we strolled back towards the light and the music.

"Oh, you know about that, do you?" Otto asked.

"It seems to be all anyone is talking about," I said.

"Indeed," Otto said. The word had a gritty quality as if he were speaking with his jaw clenched tightly.

"I'm surprised to find you here, actually. I didn't get the sense that you approved," I said.

"Of Edward marrying Ivy?" Otto asked. "No, not remotely. But he's like a brother to me. I would never turn my back on him."

A waiter passed by with a tray, and Otto deftly caught two of the champagne glasses without even detaining the man. He handed one to me, and I took a sip.

"And you're here as well," Otto said, drinking his entire glass in one swallow.

"I didn't know about the announcement," I said. "Sophie and Brianna just thought a New Year's Eve party would be a nice break from our usual grind."

"Grind?"

"I mean work," I said.

"I got that," Otto said. "I'm just not sure what you consider work." Then a dark look passed over his eyes. "I'm not sure I want to consider it."

"It's mostly not like what you saw before," I said. The warmth in my cheeks was only partially from the champagne. Mostly it was shame at the memory of the last time the two of us had been together. Our lives had been in danger, but the dark power I had channeled still frightened me. "I don't usually do… that."

"Hey," Otto said, glancing around us then leaning closer to me. "I'm not judging you. As far as I'm concerned, you saved my life. Whatever you did, or however you did it, and whatever price you had to pay, I'm grateful."

"One could argue you were only in danger because of me in the first place," I said.

"One might. I won't," Otto said, then snatched another glass of champagne from a passing waiter. This one he took a mere sip from. "So you didn't know about the surprise part of the evening's festivities when you got here." I shook my head. "But after you found out, you stayed?"

"I'm all right," I said. He gave me a skeptical look. "I am. I already told you…" But this time I couldn't keep my voice neutral. It was catching and not letting go. And it wasn't about Edward. Or it wasn't just about Edward. I swallowed then forced words out past the thickening of my throat. "You remember what I said."

"I do," Otto said, once more standing almost too close beside me, eyes moving all around us to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. "And I know why you said it. You have something inside of you most people don't have, and it scares you. And you want to protect Edward from that. I get it."

"Also the time thing," I said.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Otto said.

"It does," I said.

"It's why you think that you and Edward don't belong together," he said. "But it doesn't change what's in your heart, does it? And you're going to stand here and watch him pledge himself to another? And that isn't going to crush you?"

I looked down at the champagne still fizzing in my glass and blinked hard. I kept blinking, over and over, until the danger of tears was passed.

"You're not just here for Edward, are you?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't know you'd be here," he said. He was about to say more when the song the band was playing ended and the ballroom reverberated with applause.

There was another sound buried beneath all the clapping and hooting and laughter, one that only slowly became clearer as people fell silent. A metallic ringing like a chime or a bell, coming from the front hall.

Then the butler appeared in the doorway and spoke with the voice of a Shakespearean actor, filling the room without the need for shouting. "Mr. and Mrs. McTavet are about to make an announcement. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll just step this way."

No one seemed surprised by this. They just gathered in pairs, linked arms and strolled out of the ballroom and out onto the parquet floor of the main hall.

"Do you want to run away?" Otto asked me.

"A little," I admitted.

"I have my car just across the street," he said, and I could see he was serious.

"Running away isn't going to change anything, though, is it?"

"No, but a tragedy is still a tragedy with or without witnesses."

"We're Edward's friends," I said. "We should be here for him, especially as he has no family to stand with him. We can't leave. And stop calling it a tragedy."

"As you wish," he said, then held out his arm to me. "Shall we?"

I hesitated. I still really, really wanted to run away. I wasn't even sure that Edward would want me there. He hadn't invited me, probably didn't even know that Coco had. Would it be awkward? Would my presence ruin his happy day?

No, I told myself and slipped my arm through Otto's. I wasn't going to ruin anything. If it looked like my being there was weird, I would simply disappear. But if Edward was about to be engaged to another, I wanted to be there, to show that I was all right.

Not that I thought he thought I wouldn't be. Ugh, feelings are so confusing.

"Shall we?" Otto asked.

"Yes," I said, and the two of us together made our way into the hallway, prepared to feign happiness to whatever degree was required.

For Edward.