Spell Searcher Read online

  Spell Searcher

  Paranormal Criminal Investigations #4

  Laura Greenwood

  Contents

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Author Note

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  About the Author

  Untitled

  Spell Searcher

  Paranormal Criminal Investigations #4

  Laura Greenwood

  © 2022 Laura Greenwood

  * * *

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; [email protected].

  Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:

  www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk

  Cover by Vampari Designs

  Spell Searcher is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  If you find an error, you can report it via my website. Please note that my books are written in British English: https://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/report-error.html

  To keep up to date with new releases, sales, and other updates, you can join my mailing list via my website or The Paranormal Council Reader Group on Facebook.

  Blurb

  A dead body with no evidence about how they died...

  * * *

  Cassie and the team are left confused when they discover a murder victim in a locked room with no other evidence of how they died. It will take all of their skills, knowledge, and magic to work out what happened and catch the killer before they strike again.

  * * *

  Can they unravel the mystery?

  -

  Spell Searcher is an urban fantasy mystery and book 4 in the Paranormal Criminal Investigations series.

  One

  Cassie almost couldn't believe that she was going to have a proper day off. Or that she wasn't going to have to spend it alone. With only the four of them as the permanent residents of the Paranormal Criminal Investigations building, they didn't often manage to have days off at the same time unless they had no open cases at all.

  Which was a rarity. She had no idea if paranormal crime had always been this high, or if it just seemed that way because they were still catching up on the cold cases and the ones that would have gotten away with it otherwise, but it certainly felt like there had been an increase in it over the few years she'd been working for the department. Though there was also a chance that they had simply gotten better at detecting what was really going on.

  The murmur of a man's voice singing the lyrics to a song she didn't know coming from the bathroom, filling the air with a homely feel. This was what she loved about living with her mates.

  She smiled to herself at the sound of Hadrian in the shower. She'd never have guessed that he was the kind of vampire who did that, but living together for six months had more than opened her eyes to some of her guys' habits.

  Like the socks Zack left all over the floor.

  She narrowed her eyes at the offending trail of socks, completely baffled by how they managed to get everywhere.

  "Silly bat shifter," she muttered to herself.

  Riz popped into being beside her as if called by her reference to Zack. He flitted around, leaving a trail of red sparks behind him as he did.

  "I didn't mean you," she assured her familiar.

  Riz ducked and dived, skimming past her head and pointing one of his wings at her accusingly.

  "I didn't mean me, either," she said. "I forgot I can shift again." It was easy to do.

  While Zack had been born a bat shifter and had been able to change forms for his entire life, she had only gained the ability recently with the strengthening of their mate bond. It worked the other way too, though he was only able to do very basic magic and nothing as complicated as shifting.

  It was the same with Hadrian, though thankfully she hadn't had any cravings for blood. And things were different with Issac. Whatever connected them was yet to overcome the difference between her witch life magic, and his death magic necromancy.

  No wonder she'd found herself studying mating bonds and their effects on paranormal blood in so much depth. By this point, she had to be one of the leads in the field of paranormal genetics, though perhaps that was because not many people were doing it. She should put some feelers out to see if she could find more people working on the same things she was. If they could exchange information, then it would further all of their research.

  "What were you muttering about?" Hadrian asked.

  She glanced up to where he stood in the door wearing just a towel and his hair dripping wet.

  "I wasn't muttering," she countered. Had she been talking out loud about genetics? She didn't think so.

  He raised an eyebrow. "I could hear you from the bathroom."

  "Oh. It was just Zack's socks. I was about to deal with them." She lifted her hands and called on her magic. Red sparks that matched the ones Riz was made of popped into being and she sent them towards the offending clothing.

  The socks lifted into the air and danced their way through the air towards the laundry basket, falling in one after the other and leaving the floor blissfully clear.

  "That's handy," Hadrian said. "It's a shame you wouldn't be able to do it automatically."

  "I wouldn't have to do it at all if Zack was able to pick them up."

  "We'll train him eventually," Hadrian promised.

  "Or we can lock him in his room until he takes his socks off," she muttered.

  "You're muttering again." A smirk lifted the corner of his lips. "It's supposed to be a good day."

  "It is a good day," she countered. "What do you have planned?"

  "I was thinking we could do absolutely nothing."

  Her face fell.

  "I'm joking," Hadrian said quickly. "But what I have planned is a surprise."

  "How am I supposed to know what to wear if you don't tell me where we're going?"

  He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her for a little longer than necessary to take in her clothes. "You're fine the way you are."

  "You'd say that no matter what I was wearing." She reached up and touched her bright pink hair. It was probably time for her to change the colour of it,

  "I would," he agreed. "But in this case, you're perfectly dressed."

  "Hmm. I'll take your word for it."

  "I just need to throw my clothes on and then we'll get going." He disappeared into his room but didn't shut the door.

  Cassie sighed. Somehow, he was still a mystery to her. Sometimes, he acted like this, almost playful in nature. Other times, he could only be described as stoic, especially when he was leading their team over at the PCI. Even his job as the team's technology expert was a bit of a juxtaposition with the more old-fashioned side of his personality.

  Hadrian reappeared a few minutes later, fully dressed. "Ready?"

  "I've been ready for twen
ty minutes," she pointed out.

  "Excellent. Then let's get going."

  She shook her head, mildly amused, but not minding too much.

  They were about to step out of the door when the shrill ring of the landline phone caught their attention.

  "Can we ignore it?" Cassie asked.

  "We shouldn't. What if it's Zack or Issac?"

  "That's what I'm worrying about," she murmured.

  He chuckled and stepped back into the house, picking up the phone before she could say anything else.

  "Hello, Hadrian speaking. Mmhmm. No, we haven't left yet, that's how I answered the phone."

  Cassie chuckled softly. It had to be Zack on the other end.

  Hadrian sighed loudly, leaving no doubt in her mind about what he was calling about. "All right, we'll be there as soon as we can." He set the phone back in the cradle.

  "I guess our day off has to wait?" she asked.

  "It does. We have a body."

  She nodded, completely unsurprised by the news.

  Hadrian sighed. "I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. It's our job."

  "That it is. I'll call and get our lunch delivered to the PCI building."

  She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry our day was ruined."

  "Don't be. I still get to spend it with you."

  "That would be a lot sweeter if we didn't have a murder victim to go deal with."

  "Perhaps. But it was sweet all the same," he teased.

  "That it was."

  Hadrian pulled out his phone and checked his messages. "All right, Zack's sent the directions. We'll meet them there."

  "It'll be good when we have more people in the office," she admitted.

  He raised an eyebrow. "I've heard you say you dread it on more than one occasion."

  "Only because I'm used to just sharing the lab with Issac. I don't like the idea of sharing with someone I don't know."

  "You worked in a lab with dozens of people when we met."

  "Mmhmm. And a part of me hated it. I can't get away with my own research if people are looking over my shoulder all the time."

  "Then it's a good job you're going to be in charge so you can do whatever you want."

  She chuckled. "I think that's an abuse of power."

  "Only if your boss says that it is. I think we can convince Richard that it's important for the paranormal community that you continue to research."

  She eyes him warily, knowing that he was telling the truth about that. Richard seemed to be their biggest supporter on the High Council. Though she hadn't had much to do with any of the other members, so perhaps that wasn't quite the truth.

  "I'm interviewing people next week," Hadrian said as he locked the door. "But I'll give you final approval over anyone who might end up in the lab."

  "You'd better. We can't have anyone who is going to slow down the work we do."

  He nodded his agreement, which she knew he would. The way they all worked together was one of the ways that they managed to put so many people behind bars who belonged there.

  They got into the car and set off, with a very different destination in mind than the one they'd had before.

  It was time for them to do their jobs.

  Two

  The same nervous excitement that accompanied her to the other crime scenes she'd visited fluttered in her stomach the moment Hadrian parked the car. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this, and was grateful that in finding her mates, she'd also found her dream job.

  Issac waved them over to the station set up with SOCO suits, a serious expression on his face. Even from this distance, Cassie could tell that it wasn't good news.

  She exchanged a worried glance with Hadrian, but he just shrugged.

  "You know as much as I do," he said.

  "Reassuring," she muttered.

  They made their way over to the necromancer and started to suit up.

  "What's the situation?" Hadrian asked.

  "Weird," Issac replied.

  "We're used to weird," Cassie pointed out.

  Issac winced. "Weirder than usual." He sighed and went to run a hand through his hair before realising he shouldn't do that while they were part of a crime scene. "You know that riddle about a body in a room that's locked from the inside with no other exits?"

  "Vaguely." A bad feeling settled in her stomach.

  "It's weirder than that," Issac admitted.

  Cassie's eyebrows shot up. "How can it possibly be weirder?"

  "Well, the door's locked and the body is inside, but there's no sign of any injuries," Issac said. "Zack's in there now, but judging from the amount of cursing coming from the other room, it isn't good news."

  "Any sign of magic involved?" Cassie asked.

  "Not that we can see, but hopefully there'll be samples Zack can take once we're back at headquarters," Issac said.

  Hadrian snapped on a pair of gloves and pulled up the hood of his SOCO suit, prompting Cassie to do the same. "Is the body fresh enough for you to raise?"

  The necromancer nodded. "We've got time, that's why we waited for you."

  "Good. Let's get set up and hopefully it'll reveal whatever it is we're missing." From Hadrian's voice, Cassie knew that he wasn't feeling so confident about it. But this was the way things went sometimes, and they almost always got the people behind the crime. Hopefully, this time wouldn't be any different.

  She followed Issac inside the small flat, surprised to find it didn't look that much different from the one she'd lived in prior to moving in with her mates. For some reason, the description Issac had given of the scene had made her think of plain white walls and no furniture, but that was the furthest from the truth.

  "She's in the kitchen," Issac said.

  "And everything was definitely locked from the inside?" Hadrian asked.

  "We've had technicians check it. No movement from the outside, and no magical tampering," he said. "I'm sure Cassie could check it with magic again if you wanted."

  "No need, I trust the techs have done their job."

  Cassie couldn't help but think that was the right decision. Annoying the techs who were supposed to help process any crime scenes they found, as well as do some of the other drudge work, didn't seem like the best idea, and that was definitely what questioning their effectiveness at checking something as simple as whether the doors and windows were looked would achieve.

  Zack stood up as the three of them entered and gave them a tight smile.

  "No luck?" Cassie asked, longing to go over and comfort her mate, but knowing it was better that she didn't. Not only was this a potential murder scene, but there were other people around who probably wouldn't appreciate the show of affection.

  But she'd make it up to him when they got home. He clearly needed the reassurance.

  "All right, Cassie, you get the camera. Zack, get ready to ask the questions. Issac, do your thing," Hadrian instructed everyone.

  Cassie picked up the camera and set it up to record, trying to ignore the mildly uncomfortable feeling she always got from knowing she had to tape the dead when they were at their most vulnerable. But if this woman had been murdered, then it was their job to work out who was to blame and to do something about it. In order to do that, they needed to provide as much proof as possible, and in this case, it meant filming Issac using his necromancy powers to raise him.

  "Ready," Issac said.

  She nodded her agreement, checking on Zack to make sure he was ready too. They often didn't have long to ask the questions, so it was important that they were ready to go as soon as Issac started.

  The necromancer rolled up the sleeve of his suit and sliced his arm so a trickle of blood welled up. He immediately began to hum, pulling the magic that lived in his blood to the surface.

  No matter how many times Cassie had seen this, she still found the whole process fascinating, and longed to know more about how it worked. But death magic was proving elusive to study, and she still had more questio
ns than answers about it.

  Purple smoke rose around the body and sank into it through the nose. Cassie counted down in her head, knowing what would come next.

  The woman gasped, her eyes fluttering open and searching the room.

  "Hello," Zack said.

  "Hi," the woman responded, seeming confused. "What are you doing in my house?"

  "I'm afraid something bad has happened." Zack kept his voice low and soothing. Cassie just hoped it would be enough to help the woman through her current predicament. "You've died."

  "Died?" the woman squeaks.

  "Yes. I'm very sorry."

  "But how are you speaking to me if I'm dead?"

  Zack glanced at Issac behind the woman to wait for his assent to talk about the necromancy. Issac nodded, unable to say anything while he continued to hum or else the magic would wear off and they'd never be able to recall the woman.

  "The man sitting behind you is a necromancer," Zack said. "We think there's a good chance you've been murdered and we wanted to ask you some questions to help us catch the person who did this to you."

  "Nobody did this," she said. "I was about to start the washing up and then everything went black. Are you sure I'm dead?"

  Cassie's heart broke clean in two for the woman. She'd probably expected nothing bad from her day, and here she was lying on the floor about to completely disappear from the world.

  "Is there anyone who might have wanted to hurt you?" Zack asked.

  She shook her head. "No one that I know of."

  "Does anyone else live here?"

  Even before Zack had finished asking the question, Cassie knew that it was going to be too late for them to get an answer. The woman's consciousness left them, slipping away towards whatever happened next. Cassie had never been sure about the existence of an afterlife, and if that was where the souls of people went after they'd died. Perhaps they were just talking to an echo of who the person in front of them had been before her untimely passing. It was impossible to know without more studies into how necromancer magic worked. And that was going to be virtually impossible when necromancers liked to keep to themselves even more than some of the other paranormal types.