Angelica Under Glass releases August 28 — and with the countdown officially on, I wanted to share a scene I haven’t shown anywhere else yet.
This picks up right after the competition’s biggest sponsor turns up dead in her hotel suite. Faye’s the one who finds her. Lena’s about to get the phone call that changes everything.
Faye’s hands shook as she reached for the vial of tincture, one part of her mind cataloging ingredients on autopilot even as panic clawed at her throat. Rosemary. Rue. Something steeped in alcohol — vodka, in this case, though she wasn’t planning on having Karla drink it.
She might have some herself, but that would have to wait. She rubbed it on Karla’s temples and then on her wrists.
Nothing.
In desperation, she tilted the bottle opening against her fingers and drew a healing sigil with the tincture directly over Karla’s heart. “Eir and Brigid, hear my plea, come to my aid, healing by three. One for the breath, two for spirit, three for a voice that will let you hear it. Let her rise, set her free, as I will, so mote it be.”
She waited, then traced the sigil and spoke the incantation again. When nothing happened, she tried a third time.
Then she sat back on her heels, tears streaming down her cheeks. Because she could no longer deny it. Karla Shopfer was dead.
Her hands drifted to the carpet, and she snatched back her fingers with a soft exclamation. Broken glass. The crunch she’d heard and felt when she ran in. Finally taking a moment to look around, she realized that there were several vials on the floor around the body.
Potion bottles.
Hurriedly climbing to her feet, she turned on the bedside lamp and nearly screamed. Karla’s face was horrible to see. Faye couldn’t look at it, and let her eyes wander. Not only were there several vials on the floor — there was one on the bed, too. Unlike the ones on the floor, it was empty.
Dazed, she picked it up. She didn’t have to sniff it to recognize the faintly sweet, green scent of angelica. Instinctively, she dropped it back onto the covers and rubbed her nose frantically as she felt her nasal passages tighten. Thanking her stars that none had been on the outside of the vial, she let her gaze drift back to Karla.
“Oh goddess, I… I can’t… I need…” Pulling her phone from her purse in uncoordinated, jerky movements, she called her friend.
Duncan’s speech was probably the most boring keynote I’ve ever had the misfortune to sit through. I stifled a sigh and hoped it would be over soon. Thankfully, he seemed to be winding down.
Glancing around the room, I was amused to see glazed expressions on almost every face. Now was probably the best chance I was going to get to make a break for the bathroom.
Sliding my chair back, I excused myself in a whisper and ducked around the table. As I neared the exit, my phone vibrated.
Relieved that I’d put it on silent when the speeches started, I pulled the device out of my purse. “Faye? Where are you?” I frowned and tapped the answer button. “What’s going on?”
“Lena? You have to come to the penthouse. Right now. I need you.”
Veering away from the bathroom, I course-corrected for the elevator. “What are you doing in the penthouse?” I glanced around, keeping my voice low because Faye was whispering.
Faye never whispered, which, coupled with the unmistakable hint of tears in her voice, told me something was very wrong.
“I…I…She…” Faye drew in an audible, shaking breath.
Alarm whipped through my midsection like a winter storm. “Nevermind. I’m on my way.” I lurched into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor, but the elevator wouldn’t budge. “Oh no.”
“Wh-wh-what?” Faye’s voice quavered, scaring me even more.
“The elevator won’t go beyond the eighth floor without a room key. It’s OK, though,” I assured her as I stabbed at the eighth-floor button with rigid fingers. “I’ll take the stairs. Just hold on. I’m coming.” I wished Thorn was there. Not that I thought he could do anything, but I could have used his prosaic calm right then.
The ride to eight seemed to take forever, and I stumbled out of the elevator, looking immediately right and left for a stairwell.
Catching sight of the exit sign high on the wall, I sprinted down the hall in the direction indicated and slammed into the door. It was locked. “Stupid electronic locks.”
Magic had a hard time with electronic locking mechanisms. Something to do with competing energies. Potions and herbs didn’t work on them at all. Ley line energy did, but you had to be very careful. Or, at least, most people did.
Ley magic wasn’t my forte, and this wasn’t like the point-and-shoot method I’d used to singe Celia’s place card. All I had to worry about there was not dragging up too heavy a load. Locks like this were far more complicated. Do this wrong, and I’d end up fusing the metal together, sealing the door instead of opening it.
“Char would have it open already,” I muttered as I struggled to tame my heart rate. I stood back and took a deep breath.
Laying my fingers on the metal push bar bolted to the door, I hesitated. What are these called? Panic bars, that’s it.
I stifled a nervous giggle as the word came to me. It was a weird thought to have under those circumstances, but the brain is a funny thing. Still, it fit. I was certainly close to panic. Faye was the calmest person I knew. Hearing that tremor in her voice shook me to the bone.
Angelica Under Glass releases August 28.