Olivia and I were sitting in the police station, across from Officer Ansel.

On the plus side, we weren’t in handcuffs, we weren’t behind bars, and she hadn’t written anything down. That last one really cheered me up. I knew from hanging out with Darius that when a member of law enforcement is about to do something legal-like, it requires a lot of paperwork.

She had dragged us into her office, told us to sit down, went behind her desk, sat in her own chair, leaned back, and rested her hands in her lap. Then she listened as Olivia and I stuttered out a semi-plausible story.

On the minus side, she was frowning. Throughout our frantic improv, her expression never changed. Only her eyes moved to gaze at whichever one of us was speaking.

There was a long uncomfortable silence when we finished. It was broken by the teeth-grindingly loud squeak the office chair let out when Ansel leaned forward to put her arms on her desk.

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “You went out at six in the morning to look for a book your mother keeps at coven headquarters. The door you used to get in was unlocked, and you have no idea how it got locked after you came in. The door to your mother’s office was unlocked, even though she never leaves it unlocked—”

“Uh-uh!” I raised a finger. “You don’t know that. You know she usually doesn’t leave it unlocked.”

There was a shorter uncomfortable silence.

Ansel turned to Olivia and went on like I hadn’t spoken: “And you were looking for this book in the dark…why, exactly?”

“I couldn’t find the light switch,” Olivia said.

The two of them enjoyed an extended staring contest. The competitors were evenly matched in both steeliness of eyes and hardness of soul. Commentators were split on who was most likely to win.

They both looked away. Time must have been called without a winner.

“I have to say, Miss Oliversen,” Ansel said, “I never expected to be in a situation like this with you.”

“Why? I borrow lots of books.”

Ansel glared for a moment, but declined the invitation for a rematch.

She said, “When I called your mother, she was in the shower, but I have no doubt she’ll be here shortly. We’ll hear what she has to say.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Olivia pale. There was a set to her jaw and a tension in her arms that made it look as if she was bracing herself to take on the whole world at once.

Yup. We were screwed.

That meant I had only a few minutes before my chances of getting useful information from that particular police officer went from pitifully minuscule to absolute zero.

Ansel stood up and motioned for us to follow her.

As we left her office and went back to the police station’s main room, I said, “Officer Ansel, I have a question.”

She said, “I’ll decide if I’m going to charge you and what I’ll charge you with when I hear what Mistress Oliversen has to say.”

Ansel motioned to the row of four chairs lined up by the entryway door. Their wobbly chrome legs and appalling padding made it look as if they’d been stolen from the set of a modern-industrial horror movie.

I decided to remain standing.

“No, no—that’s not it,” I said. “I’m wondering if there’s been a rise in crime lately.”

“Now you’re trying to convince me that you’re some kind of professional detective?” Ansel said.

“Nope! I’m a really obnoxious amateur.”

She studied me for a moment, then turned to Olivia. “Is she telling the truth?”

“About how obnoxious she is?” Olivia rolled her eyes and sat down on one of the torture chairs. “Oh my god. You have no idea.”

“About that rise in crime,” I prompted.

Ansel picked up her mug from the empty desk and walked over to the corner of the room. Some thoughtful designer had hidden a miniature break counter there, complete with a coffee pot. “I recently caught two teenagers breaking into coven headquarters.”

“Hey!” I pointed at her. “That’s allegedly breaking in, and I’ll have you know, I’m twenty.”

“So you can be tried as an adult?” She poured herself a cup of coffee.

My mind did some furious backpedaling. “Uhhhh…I’m a stupid twenty?”

She returned the pot to the warming plate and turned to us. “Miss Cole, that’s the first thing you’ve said all morning that I find readily believable.”

Ansel walked past us, over to the empty desk, and hoisted herself up to sit on the edge. She took a sip of coffee, then said, “Why do you want to know about a rise in crime?”

For a moment, I didn’t answer. I thought about secrets, what we hold back from people, and how Rall Axton generally found that communication works better.

“It’s about Nolan Kirby,” I said.

Olivia’s head jerked up to stare at me.

I went on, “There isn’t a lot of crime in this town, so we figured you’d hear about it if anything was happening, and if the people who took Kirby are still around, they might be involved in, you know…other crimes.”

Ansel studied me as she took another sip of coffee, then she lowered the mug until it was resting on the leg she’d brought up to her knee.

“That’s a complex question, Miss Cole.”

“Oh, please.” I waved away her formality. “You’re an inch away from arresting me. You can call me Emerra.”

“All right, Emerra. Do you know how big the Besom Days Festival can get?”

I shook my head.

“On a big year, almost six hundred people come in from out of town. That nearly doubles the population. They start pouring in a week or two early, trying to find a good place to stay before the festival begins. And not all of them are magicians. That means that, for at least two weeks, my job has included reminding residents and visiting witches that secrecy laws still apply in Craftborough. Have I been getting more calls? Yes. Have I been taking more reports? Yes. Has there been a rise in crime?” Ansel shrugged. “It’ll take at least a month to sort out that kind of information.”

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“But there’s been nothing big?” Olivia asked.

“No,” Ansel said.

“Does the coven usually ask for extra security around the festival?”

“They don’t have to ask. I’d have to be break-into-coven-headquarters stupid not to anticipate that I’d need help.”

Olivia sat forward on her chair. “But she did.”

“Who did what?” Ansel raised her mug to her mouth.

“Last time we were here, you asked me to tell my mother that you’d already made arrangements for extra security.”

Ansel took an overly long sip of coffee. Either she was stalling for time, or that cup was bottomless.

Of course, she was a witch…

But if the cup was bottomless, why would she need to refill it?

She lowered the mug. “I think I’ll let you ask your mother about that. Are there any other questions?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Can you enchant a mug to keep an infinite beverage warm?”

I was treated to a dual set of strange looks from Ansel and Olivia, but it was interrupted by a loud ding! from the entryway.

“That would be your mother.” Ansel put the mug down on the desk and went to buzz her in.

Ellis Oliversen came in looking like a million-dollar ice sculpture. No doubt her clothes were expensive, but it was the cold look of power and patience on her face that made her priceless. She didn’t glance at me or Olivia. Instead, she walked up to Ansel, her high-heeled boots clicking with every step.

“Good morning, Ansel,” she said. “I’m sorry I missed your call, but my husband gave me your message. Is there a problem?”

Ansel’s eyes might have narrowed a fraction of an inch for a fraction of a second. “That depends, Mistress Oliversen,” she said slowly. “Rall probably told you—when I went to return your keys this morning, I found Olivia and Emerra in your office. They claim that they were there with your permission. Is that true?”

My whole body clenched, waiting for the ax to fall.

“Yes, that’s true.”

Everything stopped. I wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving. Heck—my heart had probably stopped beating so that my ears could strain to their utmost on the off-chance that they might get to hear Ellis Oliversen’s unimaginable answer again.

Officer Ansel’s eyes lingered on Ellis’s impassive face. “How did they get in?” she asked.

“Was there any sign of a break in?”

“No.”

“Was there any trace of magic?”

“No.”

“Then one of the doors must have been left unlocked. I’ll have to talk to someone about that when I go in today.”

“How did they get into your office?”

“I must have left that unlocked as well.”

“I had your keys, Mistress.”

“Did you check to see if the door was unlocked before you put them in?”

Ansel’s frown was so slight, I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been watching her face like my second life depended on it.

“No,” she admitted.

“There you have it,” Ellis said.

“And the book Olivia was supposedly borrowing?”

“What about it?”

“Do you remember the name of it?”

“Ansel, I’m not even sure I bothered asking for it. It’s been a long morning. Now, if you have no other questions, I’d like to take Olivia and her friend home.”

Officer Ansel’s eyes lingered on me and Olivia. Maybe she was waiting for us to ask to be put in protective custody. God knows, I was tempted.

When neither of us said anything, Ansel turned to pick up her abandoned coffee. “I’m sure I apologize for the mix up,” she said. Her voice was flat and emotionless.

“Not at all,” Mrs. Oliversen said. “I appreciate you working so hard to do your duty.” Ellis turned and strode back to the door. “Come along, Olivia.”

She still hadn’t looked at either of us. Olivia reluctantly got to her feet and stood beside her mother. I took my place behind them.

Ansel buzzed us out. We crossed the chilly entryway and went out into the cold morning. A sharp blast of wind struck me before I could zip up my coat. I sucked in a breath and clutched it around me. Ellis’s unbuttoned coat flew back behind her like a cloak, but her pace never wavered. The wind would have to be a lot more powerful before it could bother her. She walked over to a black sedan parked nearby.

Ellis opened the driver’s door. “Get in the car, Olivia.”

Olivia stopped a few feet away. I managed to stay behind her. You can call me a coward, but I liked the idea of having something between me and Mrs. Oliversen.

“I’d rather walk,” Olivia said.

Ellis Oliversen finally looked at her daughter. Her eyes were knives. “Get in the car.”

Olivia and I obeyed. We crawled into the backseat and put on our seat belts.

Ellis pulled out of the lot, drove for a minute, pulled off the main street, and parked. She turned off the car and gazed out the front windshield at the empty black road and the motionless gray neighborhood.

When she spoke, her words clinked together, quietly, like one chip of ice falling on another. “Well, Olivia, that’s the first time I’ve ever had to lie to a policeman. Are you still proud of yourself?”

Olivia didn’t answer.

“How did you get into the building?”

Olivia still said nothing.

That was problematic. Mrs. Oliversen’s second question hadn’t been rhetorical, which meant one of us would have to answer, and I was busy trying to prove there was a connection between being mute and being invisible.

Ellis suddenly turned. She put her hand on the back of the seat beside her to pull herself around far enough she could see her daughter.

“Do you think this is a joke?” Ellis said.

Olivia pressed her lips together.

“Answer me!”

“Do you hear me laughing?” Olivia said.

My soul curled up with a silent groan. Someone really needed to teach that girl the concept of “a time and a place.”

A flush of red rose under Ellis’s immaculate makeup. Her face became stiffer—a feat I wouldn’t have believed possible moments before.

She managed to unlock her jaw enough to ask, “Have you figured out a way to cast magic on an object that doesn’t leave a trace?”

Olivia narrowed her eyes and her brow furrowed. “You think I used magic to open the lock?”

“Did you?”

Olivia’s expression turned sour. Her eyes rose to the roof of the car, and she faintly shook her head. “You know, I’m actually flattered. I didn’t think you’d ever give me that much credit.”

Ellis raised her voice: “This is important, Olivia Lauren! Tell me the truth or I will make you tell me the truth.”

“You know the truth, Mother! The most talented witch alive couldn’t do that! But you think I can? For god’s sake, I can’t even feel an object out without leaving traces!”

“Then how did you get into the building?”

“You said it yourself—there was no sign of a break-in and no trace of magic. Someone must have left a door unlocked.”

Ellis’s icy mask broke. Various muscles on her face twitched with suppressed rage. When she managed to speak, her voice was tight and quiet. “You’re right. I didn’t give you enough credit—I thought that, surely, even you would have some limits. But, no.” She pointed at her daughter’s face. “You’ve shamed me, shamed our family, and shamed your master. I have more than half a mind to tell you to pack your bags and leave—”

“Then why don’t you? Huh?” Olivia yelled. “The votes are in! The majority carries the day! Why don’t you tell me to leave?”

Ellis yelled back at her, “Because your father hasn’t seen or heard from you in a year, Olivia! I know you don’t have it in your heart to care about me or Nylah, but I thought you might spare a thought for him!”

Olivia looked as if someone had slapped her. There was the stunned, cold, blank stare, then her cheeks went red.

Ellis turned around and started the car. “What were you doing in my office? And don’t you dare feed me some bullshit about a book.”

Olivia swallowed. Her mouth opened, but she had to swallow again before she could say, “I wanted to know what happened this morning. That call you got—”

“Is that what this is about?”

If anything, Ellis sounded angrier than before. She put a hand to her head and pressed the tips of her fingers into her forehead.

Olivia charged on: “I heard you talking to Nylah. You said that someone had broken in—”

Ellis raised her voice to talk over her daughter. “For that you ruined your reputation and humiliated us? Take care of your own business, Olivia Oliversen—let me take care of mine!”

“Something’s happening in this town!”

“My god! You want to know what happened?” Mrs. Oliversen slammed on her blinker hard enough I worried she might break the stick. She pulled out onto the road and said—not quite yelling, but not quite not—“One of the wardsmen thought she felt something. We went to check it out. There was no one there, all the wards were intact, nothing had been disturbed. It was a false alarm. You want to know about trouble in town, but the only trouble I’ve had all week has been because of you!”

Olivia’s whole body went rigid. A second later, she managed a weak nod. It went on for a while, never growing any stronger.

“Yeah.” Her voice came out husky. She forced herself to be louder. “And how’s that any different from normal?”

This time it was Ellis who didn’t answer.

We drove back to the Oliversen’s house in silence. The one time I was brave enough to look at Olivia, she had her face turned toward the window. I could still see the thick tear track running down her cheek.