The Burning Bush (14 page)

“Did it work?” Minnie asked us. Her auburn hair grew longer, expanding out onto the carpet, almost extending down to her ankles. I bobbed my head up and down with my mouth open like an idiot.

“You’re stunning,” Cassie said. “Not that you weren’t before, of course, but now . . .”

“He just might propose.” I twisted around to the couch. “Angel, did you see this?”

Angel’s snoring grew louder.

“But I don’t feel beautiful,” Minnie whispered, staring at her hands. “Let me look in the mirror.”

I attempted to give the mirror to her, but Vee grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

“No! If she glances in there too soon, her real image will return.” Seizing the mirror from me, Vee gently placed it on the kitchen counter and called, “Joey, get off Cassie’s back and grab a hand mirror from the bathroom.”

Vee laid an indigo silk sheet over the mirror and mumbled a chant.

“I don’t know. I kind of still feel ugly, but light on my feet.” Minnie grabbed a plastic bag near the table and wrenched out a tiny burgundy dress. “But you really think I’m pretty?”

“Definitely,” I insisted.

“Not that you weren’t pretty before,” Cassie reassured her.

“Now, Minnie, remember this spell will only last for four hours,” Vee insisted. “You can’t eat or drink anything. And remember to stay away from water and wine. Don’t let either one even touch your skin. Do you understand?”

“But what if my body sweats during sex?” Minnie chuckled and slipped her model-perfect figure into the burgundy dress she must have bought just for the occasion. “Believe me, I’m getting him into my bed as soon as possible.”

“Sweat is fine. Rain is not.” Vee stuck her hand out. “Now that you’re taken care of, that’ll be three hundred dollars.”

After Minnie paid and left, Vee rushed to the kitchen and dragged out a copper pot.

Vee’s twins began tying purple ribbons into Cassie’s long blond hair. She smiled and showed Joey how to work her camera. Vee’s teenage daughter brought the baby into the kitchen and secured him in a highchair.

“So Vee, can you open the orb?” I leaned on the yellow-tiled counter and tried my best not to sound irritated.

Vee stared at the area behind me and yelled. “Fox Jr.! Do not draw on the nice dead lady on the couch.”

I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Fox Jr. climbing off Angel’s lap while she slept peacefully on the couch. He must have been learning the alphabet, because he’d written up to the letter M in blue marker all over Angel’s face.

“Seriously, I don’t know what is wrong with that boy.” Vee pulled off the plastic cap. Her huge afro plopped out, moving on its own. “Out of all the kids’ fathers, his was the craziest.”

“Well, at least he can write the alphabet.” I shrugged.

Vee sprinkled some green herbs into the pot in front of her. “Rise in light, lie at night.”

Silver sparks burst above the pot. Green steam rose. Vee flung a bit of white powder into the swirly concoction. “Let me see. I could open the orb for two hundred and fifty dollars.”

Vee peered into the bottom of the pot.

“You know I don’t have that kind of money.” I pouted. “And honestly, that’s fucking ridiculous.”

“Watch your mouth.” Vee pointed to her toddler, sitting in his highchair and banging a spoon.

“Come on. Why are you raising your rates? This is me you’re dealing with. I thought you would give me a good deal,” I griped, struggling not to begin whining.

“Last stolen textbook you brought here had a security spell that exploded all over my living room floor and got blue and yellow goop on the baby.” She placed her hands on her hips. “It took me five hours to get it off his skin and left black marks up and down his arms. The day care lady thought I beat him.”

Without a word, Vee’s teenage daughter rushed by us.

“Whoa! Where are you going, Patricia?” Vee asked her.

Vee’s daughter slowly turned around, wearing a tiny black top that showed the ring in her belly button. Her little cleavage poked out of the V-neck shirt. Her long cinnamon legs stuck out of her jean skirt like two slender sticks. “Mom, I already told you. Tammy and I are going to study at Carver Library in Oya district. You said I could go after you did the spell. Plus, I already checked, and Seymour is sleeping in his crib.”

“So you’re going to the library without books and dressed like a stripper?” Vee grabbed a thick, brown spell book, slammed it next to the pot, and opened it. “Go back in your room. Do your homework—”

“It’s done,” Vee’s daughter whined.

“Then clean your room,” Vee offered. I groaned, ready for Vee to have the freaking time to get to my orb. Vee’s daughter stomped away in defeat.

“I can’t wait to get out of this damn place,” the sulky teenager muttered under her breath.

“What was that, Patricia?” Vee stopped stirring.

The air thickened with tension and some silent threat. The baby paused with the banging and kept the spoon in the air. The twins rose behind Cassie with open mouths. Joey tiptoed into the living room, putting distance between Patricia and him. I almost ran with him as Fox Jr. paused from marking up the wall.
This can’t be good.
I held my breath, not knowing what would happen. But if the kids were worried, I would follow suit.

“Breeze and follow,” Vee chanted. The plants on the shelf behind Vee rose, floating on a current of air, and traveled toward Vee’s daughter to circle around her head.

“Patricia, you are not to curse in my house. Do I make myself clear?” Vee pointed at the teenage girl. The flower pots inched closer to her daughter’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Patricia whispered. Her lips quivered as the plants’ leaves clasped onto Patricia’s braids and guided the girl down the hall.

“Clean your room and take off those clothes!” Vee yelled.

A few seconds of silence passed, and then Cassie said, “Wow! That was so cool.”

Then the baby returned to banging out his little song, and the regular chaos continued.

“This is speciesism!” I hit my palm against the counter. “You’re raising the amount because I’m a Mixie.”

“Oh, blow it out your behind, Lanore. Save your MFE speeches for that blond hunk.” Vee sniffed the air over her pot and slung in a few more herbs. “I haven’t raised the prices for everyone, just the ninnies who bring me stolen items.”

“The orb isn’t stolen,” I argued.

“Didn’t steal it? No way! So what, you finally found religion or something?” Vee laughed. “Am I to believe you turned over some new leaf?”

Cassie giggled. I glared over my shoulder at her. Blushing, Cassie went back to showing the kids her camera and then took a picture of the twins standing by Angel on the couch. Light flashed through the kitchen.

“I swear it’s not stolen.” I directed my attention back to Vee.

“Then why can’t
you
open it?” She raised one black eyebrow.

“The owner’s dead,” I reluctantly mumbled.

“Out! Out of my apartment!” Vee pointed to the door. “Are you crazy? Everybody else who comes here brings me regular products. But you, you go and bring me stolen stuff and dead people’s things.”

Vee began cursing in Spanish and banging pots around.

“Just let me explain.” I combed my fingers through my dreadlocks and told her everything from the mystery of the burning bushes to what had happened at Onyx’s house.

“Fox Jr., I said no writing on her,” Vee yelled right when I finished the whole story. I checked out Angel’s face. Fox Jr. had connected the marker’s letters with lines. Angel’s face now resembled a blue-checkered board.

“And this dead girl was close to my daughter’s age?” Vee asked.

I nodded.

“I would hate to let that bastard continue to walk the streets.” Vee ceased stirring her potion. Liquid rose and formed into a stream that shot up instead of down. It twirled around her hands, blending into a darker, thick liquid. The concoction dropped back into the pot with a splat. “I still don’t like this.”

“I’ve been here for two hours.” I hit the countertop in front of me. “What the fuck?”

“Stop cursing.” Vee’s eyes gleamed sapphire blue as she chanted to the brew. “Seek the one and keep him bound.”

“What’s that? Is that for the orb?” I asked.

“No, and none of your business.”

Shuffling sounded behind me. Cassie came up and looked into the pot. White beads and purple ribbons clung to her four new braids. The twins had even tied a yellow ribbon on top of her head.

“All you have to do is open the orb,” I grumbled. “You won’t get in any kind of trouble. And trust me; there’s no security spell.”

Vee sighed and wiped her hands on her apron.

“What’s wrong with that one?” Vee gestured to Angel snoring on the couch. “She seems full of stale magic.”

“Stale magic? Is that good or bad?” I bit my lip.

“She looks like a Vampire.” Vee raised a black eyebrow. “I almost made the mistake of cursing you with continuous diarrhea, thinking you’d brought a Vampire into my home. You’re lucky I realized it’s daytime.”

Witches hated Vamps. The hatred went as far back as the Supe-Human wars. All the Purebloods believed that Supes would have won the wars if the Vamps had joined the fight.

“Do you know what I should do to help Angel?” I asked.

“No.” Vee shook her head, picked up the orb, and rolled it around in her hand. “Does this Angel have something to do with the murders?”

“What? No!” I quickly shook my head. “This whole situation is on the up and up. I swear.”

“Well, I do want payment for helping you with this,” Vee said. “Did you know Patricia got an F on her math test?”

I stifled a groan, knowing exactly where this was going. “So you want me to tutor Patricia, and you’ll open the orb for free?”

Vee grinned.

“Deal,” I muttered, even though Patricia was the worst kid I’d ever tutored in my life. There wasn’t any way around it. I had to get some suspects to Rivera as soon as possible. The sooner I finished this case, the better.

“Sounds good.” Vee pressed both buttons down at the same time. The orb lit up.

“It was never spelled.” Vee smirked. “You just needed to push both the buttons down for several seconds. You should learn patience.”

“What? Are you kidding me? You just hustled me, and you know it!”

“All right, little ones, go in the back with your sister,” Vee told all her little munchkins in a sweeter than usual voice. “We are going to listen to adult stuff.”

“But Mom,” the twins whined in unison. “You said we could watch the new
Alter Pets
episode.”

“Breeze and follow,” Vee chanted yet again, raising her hands in the air. Four plants floated in from the living room. One hovered over each kid’s head. The children fled the kitchen, shrieking. Once they were out of sight, the plants journeyed back where they’d come from.

“If you keep threatening your kids with plants, they’re going to be traumatized by nature,” I said.

“They’re Witchlings. They’ll adjust.” Vee set the orb on the counter.

“But their brands say Mixbreeds,” Cassie whispered to me.

“Their momma is an Air Witch, so they’re Witchlings. Magic doesn’t weaken because of blood mixing, sweetheart.” She turned back to the orb, dismissing Cassie with a flip of her hand. “That’s just one more Were-bullshit thing Humans want us to believe. You know they started the whole Mixbreed stuff. Back in Pre-habitat years, we were equal and considered everybody as having power and being in the Supernatural family—”

“Would you like to make an entry or play past entries?” the orb asked in a mechanical voice and dazzled us with white light. Two beeps sounded.

“Play past entries.” I seized my notebook and flung it open to a blank page. “Go to October seventh.”

It was the day Rivera said Onyx had been delivered to the habbies’ doorstep.

“No entries,” the orb reported.

“Of course not,” I muttered.

“That is not a menu command,” the orb replied.

“Oh, go fuck yourself,” I impatiently spat back.