Michaela's hands were magic, each scratch of her nails against my scalp removing another worry. "Trix, you need to relax." she declared. She squeezed my shoulder, showing me how tense I still was.

  "Funny, I was just thinking how relaxed I was," I said with a defeated sigh. I tried to relax against the counter, taking in the smell of chemicals and the artificial fragrance of the dark blue dye Mickey was massaging away with shampoo and tender fingers.

  "You need a vacation." Michaela declared.

  "When would I take one without everything falling apart?" Michaela wrapped a towel around my shoulders, and I sat up. I grabbed my phone off the table and unlocked it. My heart immediately dropped. There were ten missed calls from Adelice and Ellen in the last twenty minutes. Missed calls and texts were nothing; I was constantly drowning in notifications. Not from Ellen or Addie.

  "I think something happened, Mickey. I've got a bunch of missed calls." I explained as I pulled up Addie's contact. It rang twice, and then I was answered with an anguished cry.

  "Ads, are you okay?" There was a scuffle, and Ellen's voice was on the other end.

  "Lainey was murdered, Beatrix." Everything went quietly. That wasn't possible. Who would kill Lainey? A granny deadest on winning the blue ribbon? She had never hurt anything, not even a fly, her whole life.

  "That must be a mistake."

  "Addie and I are leaving the police station right now. It was Lainey."

  I nodded. "I'll meet you at their place. I'm leaving right now. Be safe." Ellen said her goodbyes. I could hear Addie wailing in the background right as she hung up. I was gathering my things before my phone was locked and in my pocket.

  "What happened?" Michaela asked. The worry was evident in her voice.

  "Lainey was murdered." I slung my backpack over my shoulder. "I'm on my way to her and Addie's right now."

  "What the hell happened?" she demanded. "I just saw her last night. How is she dead?"

  "I don't know. I don't know anything other than Ellen said it was murder." I explained. "Just try and keep things quiet and calm for now. And maybe on standby to get the girls or something. I'll text you." I rushed out the door to my car. Once settled inside, I pulled out a mirror and attached it to my phone cradle. I used a lip liner to draw the sigil.

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  "Is there an emergency?" Prince Ashpar's face appeared in place of my own on the mirror.

  "One of my coven mates was murdered."

  "Text me the address. I'll be there in 30."

  ~*~

  Ellen had settled Addie on the couch, curled under a soft blanket with tea and her dog. She barely acknowledges my entrance. She was just staring at the wall. Ellen cocked her head towards the kitchen, and I followed.

  "Did the police say anything?" I asked.

  "They think it was a random mugging." Ellen didn't believe that. I didn't think that. Lainey might have been a pacifist, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have been able to get away from a regular mugger. I could think of at least six non-violent solutions; non-violence was not my philosophy.

  "I've already called the demons," I informed her. "Ashpar will be here soon. We'll investigate it and see if we can dig up anything suspicious."

  "Why would you call in the demons?"

  "Because I want them to commit any crimes we need to commit to figure this out," I said with a shrug. The first place to start would be the morgue. I wasn't going to break into the morgue. That's what Ashpar was for. I also should have mentioned breaking into the morgue in front of Addie. It's the only logical choice, but it was still insensitive to talk about in front of her. Unfortunately, Ashpar might.

  "How are you?" I asked to change the subject from solving the murder. That was my concern, not Ellen's or Addie's. Lainey's family hadn't been in the coven as long as mine and the other descendants of Salem's survivors. Still, her mother joined as a college student when my grandmother was Supreme. Our mothers and Ellen had been thick as thieves. Now our mothers are gone, Lainey is gone. I imagine that losing Lainey was like losing a beloved sister; it was probably like losing a daughter for Ellen.

  "I think I'm still in shock," Ellen confessed. She cast a glance over to Addie. "Someone should stay with her and the children."

  "I agree. I don't know how long I'll be tied up with Prince Ashpar, can you?" I was already formulating a list of who would be best to call if she said no, even though I knew she wouldn't. Michaela would be first. She and Ellis, her roommate, could switch off. "Maybe they should come stay with you even? I know the police said it was random, but…I won't rest easy until I've confirmed it myself."

  "I agree. I'll pack some stuff for all of them. Can you sit with her?" I nodded. Ellen left down the hallway to the bedroom, and I went to the couch with Addie.

  "Hey, Ads," I said softly as I sat beside her.

  "She knew this would happen." She wasn't talking to me, not really.

  "What do you mean? Did someone threaten her?"

  Addie finally looked at me and nodded slowly. "She was doing some card reading yesterday morning before she left. She was so distressed. She wouldn't tell me anything, but what else could she have seen?"

  "Did she leave the cards out?" Addie shook her head. I took her hands in mine as I continued speaking. "Ads, I asked The Prince to help me investigate this. I'm going to figure out what happened, I promise you."

  "What if it was a hunter, Beatrix?"

  "Then I hope that it wasn't the Order." The Order was a secret branch of the Catholic church, and much like the church, it was old and well-established. We had been in a treaty with them my entire life. If a member of the Order killed Lainey, the treaty was broken.

  That meant war.