Familiar Magic Read online

  Familiar Magic

  Paranormal Criminal Investigations #1.5

  Laura Greenwood

  Contents

  Keep Up To Date

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Author Note

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  About the Author

  © 2021 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

  Familiar Magic 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.

  Keep Up To Date

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  Blurb

  How can a siren die in the water?

  When Cassie and her paranormal forensics team are called to investigate a dead body pulled out of the canal, they discover someone who shouldn't have been in danger in the first place.

  * * *

  Can they catch the woman's killer before they strike again?

  -

  Familiar Magic is an urban fantasy mystery and a side story in the Paranormal Criminal Investigations series and includes a low heat whychoose relationship. It is set between the events of Spell Caster and Spell Tamer, but can be read as a standalone case.

  Chapter One

  Cassie stared down the lens of the microscope at the sample of her own blood swimming around. It was still surreal to see it changing along with her mating bond with the three other members of the Paranormal Criminal Investigations team. Why she'd never thought about studying the effect of mating bonds on the blood of those involved before, it was a fascinating thing that needed to be understood more by paranormals around the world.

  She pulled back and jotted down a few notes about what she was seeing. She pushed the button on the microscope to take a photo of the slide. It was early days, but she was hoping she'd be able to compare her results in a few more months. Cassie knew she was lucky to have such sophisticated equipment to do her personal research on.

  The door fluttered open, making her jump.

  "Sorry," Issac said, sweeping into the room and setting a takeaway cup on her desk. "Tea, just the way you like it."

  She smiled. "Did you buy tea in advance to apologise for scaring me?"

  He chuckled. "No. You give me enough frights of my own." He sat himself down on the other desk chair. "I'm not used to sharing a lab with anyone."

  "I'm not used to sharing my results," she countered. "Thanks for the tea."

  "You're welcome. And I know what you mean. It's a bit of a learning curve sharing a lab."

  "Do you wish it could go back to just being yours?" she blurted, not meaning to ask the question. She wasn't sure what his answer was going to be, or if she'd like it.

  "Of course not. It's better for the team if you're here."

  "Better for the team isn't better for you."

  "Are you trying to get me to throw you out? I saw your old workplace, I'm not sure I'd want to go back there."

  Cassie tucked a strand of bright blue hair behind her ear. "I definitely don't. There were always too many people around and the equipment was nowhere near as flashy as what you have here."

  "Ah, so you're staying for the microscope." He nodded towards it.

  "Oh, definitely. It's nothing to do with keeping the world safer for all paranormals." Or the three men she spent her days with. She loved working side by side with her mates. It made things flow so easily. Other than getting used to Issac being around in the lab, it didn't even take much effort to be around them all the time.

  Especially as they got to control a lot of their own hours so long as there wasn't an active murder investigation going on.

  "How's your research going?"

  "All right, I think." She bit her lip, wondering about whether or not she could ask the next bit of him. "Could I have some more of your blood?"

  "Of course. How much do you need? I can let some out now, or I can get a syringe from Zack down in the morgue..."

  She shook her head. "There's no need to bother him." Knowing the bat shifter, he'd probably be grumpy about being disturbed for something so trivial. As far as she could tell, he was warming up to having her around, but he could still trend towards the serious most of the time.

  "The old fashioned way it is." He pulled out his athame and pressed the ceremonial knife to the scar on his forearm.

  "You don't have to do that now," she said hastily.

  "It's no bother. I'm used to bleeding."

  "Are all necromancers as cavalier about slicing into themselves as you are?" she muttered.

  Issac shrugged. "It's how our magic works, I don't think about it much. Do you?"

  "Think about you slicing into yourself? Yes. Especially when you're toying with your knife like that." She nodded at the athame.

  "I don't mean my magic. I mean yours."

  "Well, no. I don't have to, it's just part of me." She held up her hand and let the bright red sparks spring to the surface. They danced along her skin, tingling a little as they touched. It was second nature to her to call on it. Which was probably the point Issac was making.

  "It's the same for me. I know it doesn't make much sense to people who don't have to cut themselves to provide their magic with what it needs. But to me, it's just the way it's always been. My magic has never worked any differently and I've never questioned why. It just is."

  "It makes sense when you put it like that." Even if she didn't like the sound of it still, she could accept that it was true. Magic worked in strange ways, no matter what type of paranormal someone was.

  As if to prove her point, her familiar sprang into life. The bat made up of the same red sparks as her magic darted around between them, having the time of his life as he soared through the air, narrowly avoiding flying into some of the bigger pieces of equipment.

  "Hi Riz," she said, even though she was convinced he wasn't paying her any attention. He was too busy enjoying the newfound freedom he'd discovered. Familiars could only appear in front of witches or their fated mates, and up until joining the PCI, she'd spent most of her time in a workplace filled with humans.

  "He isn't going to interfere with any of the equipment, is he?" Issac asked, his gaze tracking the bat.

  She shook her head. "I don't think so. He can't do magic on his own. He just is."

  "I don't think I understand familiars."

  Cassie chuckled. "I don't think a lot of people do."

  "Will you tell me more about them?" The same curiosity she felt whenever she was confronted with something that didn't conform to the science or magic she already understood.

  She opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by the creak of the door opening and Zack poking his head through. "We've got a body," he said.

  Issac was on his feet in an instant, patting himself down to make sure he had everything he needed with him.

  "I'll tell you more about it later," she promised. "Riz, I mean."

  He grinned. "I'll hold you to that. I have a lot of questions."

  "And I have a lot for you about how necromancy works. But I think we'll have to wait until after we've solved a murder."

  Chapter Two

  A small crowd had formed across the bridge over the canal, making Cassie a little nervous about the recovery of the body. They'd have to be very careful about any magic they did in order to move the body.

  "This isn't great," Hadrian admitted as he came to stand beside her.

  "Do you think we can get them to go away?" She already knew the answer to that question, but felt it was necessary to voice it anyway.

  He sighed. "No, probably not. But we have a forensics tent we can put up that'll give us some privacy. If the body were fresher, we'd take her back to the PCI building for Issac to resurrect her, but it's too risky. If he waits too long, he won't be able to do it."

  "Which isn't ideal."

  "No. It's not like the post mortem. An hour extra isn't going to stop Zack finding what he needs at this point. Especially when it's been in the water."

  "But every minute counts for Issac," Cassie supplied.

  "Exactly. And we're not sure how long she's been in the canal. It's better to get this done now."

  "I can cast a spell over the entrance of the tent to repel anyone who comes too close, but any further than that and it's going to be too obvious that there's something magical going on."

  "Fine. Do that. It'll cut down on the risk."

  "How did they know to call us?" Cassie asked. She'd always wondered that, but hadn't had the opportunity to ask.

  "There's someone in the local police d
epartment who watches for certain factors in reports and re-routes them to us. We're hoping for more of an automated system in the future, but it's hard to get going with so little manpower," Hadrian said.

  Cassie nodded, seeing the potential issue. "We'll get there," she assured him.

  "Yes. We will."

  The tent appeared as if by magic, but she knew that wasn't the case.

  They made their way to the tent and pushed inside to find Issac and Zack already there and treating the body of a woman in her mid-twenties. Her hair and clothing were still waterlogged from her time in the canal.

  Cassie's heart ached at the sight. It had only been a few months, but she was already reasonably certain it wouldn't get any easier to see the dead. It was always tragic to find someone whose life had been snuffed out before their time, even if it was an accident and not a murder.

  They hadn't had a lot of those. And from the expression on Zack's face, she could tell this woman wasn't about to change that.

  "Jessica Ferris. She's a siren," he said, holding up an ID card. "Our contact at the station is friends with her sister."

  "Poor girl," Issac said, looking down sadly at the blank face.

  "How did a siren drown?" Cassie asked, a frown marring her features. As far as she knew, sirens were able to control water with their voices, and she should be able to breathe underwater too if she was in her true form and not her human one.

  "That's the question we're here to answer," Hadrian pointed out.

  "I didn't even realise there were any this far inland," Zack said.

  "Maybe she didn't like what the saltwater did to her skin," Cassie suggested, though she had to admit to having the same thought herself. As far as she knew, sirens were plentiful, but they tended to stick to the coast so they could get back to the sea easily if they needed to. As far as she knew, she'd never met one before.

  That was about to change.

  "Cassie, would you mind doing the repelling spell you mentioned?" Hadrian asked.

  She nodded. "Next time I could cast it back at the PCI building on the folded tent, that should achieve the same thing."

  "Yes. Do that," he agreed.

  She turned away and held up her hands, letting the bright red sparks sizzle over her skin. She directed her magic to the tent, letting the repelling spell go. It should keep away any curious humans who wanted to peek in and see a real crime scene.

  "All done," she said.

  Riz popped into existence, starting to make his way around the top of the tent, swooping and twirling.

  "Riz, not now," she insisted, a light note of panic in her voice. It wasn't his fault he thought he could pop up. They were alone and safe from prying eyes.

  The familiar bobbed as if saddened by her instructions.

  "I'm sorry," she said.

  He moved up and down in what she'd always associated with a nod, and popped out of existence again.

  Cassie sighed. She hated it when she had to dismiss him, but she had to put the seriousness of the situation first.

  "I'm ready when you all are," Issac said.

  "Yes, let's get this done so we can get her away from here and to the privacy of the morgue," Hadrian said.

  Issac nodded and pulled out his athame. Cassie watched in awe as he sliced into his arm and began to hum. She must have seen him do this at least a dozen times, but there was still something so captivating about it. Just like she'd told him earlier, she hadn't had much to do with any necromancers in the past, which meant she'd never been able to see anything like this before.

  Tendrils of purple smoke lifted up from the wound in his arm, wrapping around the head of the siren on the ground. The magic entered through her nose and mouth as Issac continued to hum softly. She had no idea why he had to sing in order to use his magic, but there was something undeniably beautiful about it. In some ways, it was almost as if he was singing a lament for the dead.

  Jessica's eyes fluttered open, staring around the tent at the four of them.

  "I'm dead, aren't I?" she asked.

  Cassie raised an eyebrow. None of their other victims had ever been aware enough of their surroundings to realise that. She stepped forward, realising they should have decided in advance who was going to do the talking. They only had a precious amount of time when someone was resurrected and it was best not to waste any of it on things they could talk about beforehand.

  "I'm sorry, Jessica, but you are," she said firmly, taking charge of the situation.

  A sad expression crossed the dead woman's face. "I knew this would happen."

  "What do you mean?" Cassie prompted, her heart hammering in her chest.

  "My ex," she said sadly. "I always thought that if I stayed with him, one of us would end up dead. But ending it didn't save me either."

  "Can you tell us more about him?" Cassie asked. "His name?" Even as she said the words, she realised it was too late.

  The echo of Jessica's life leaked from her once more and left her looking surprisingly peaceful on the ground.

  "At least we have something to go on," Hadrian said. "Good going, Cassie. Why don't you head outside and check no one is in the way of us getting to the van. We'll finish processing the rest of the scene." He nodded to her.

  "Got it." She pushed through the tent flap, surprised to find it was sunny outside. Something about the atmosphere inside the tent made the brightness feel odd.

  The crowd had mostly dissipated, though a few people were still lingering to take a look over the bridge. No doubt they'd move on when they realised they weren't going to see anything of any interest.

  "Are you here for my sister?" a female voice asked.

  Cassie turned to find a dark-haired woman who bore a striking resemblance to the murder victim standing next to the entrance of the tent.

  "I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to discuss that until we've made a formal identification of the body."

  A loud sob burst from the woman. "So she's dead?"

  "I'm sorry, I really can't tell you anything." Cassie shifted from one foot to the other, somewhat uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

  "But she's my sister." The woman was becoming increasingly agitated. "I need to see her."

  "I'm sorry, but that's not possible. I..."

  "I'm her sister. Look." She dug out her driving license so Cassie could read the name.

  Hilary Ferris.

  That, combined with the similarity between the two of them, had her convinced this was the sister of the dead siren, but that didn't mean she could start bending the rules for her.

  "I'm sorry, Ms Ferris, you'll be contacted shortly if there's any way you can help us with our investigation." A twinge of guilt travelled through her. She hadn't encountered a member of the deceased's family at the scene of the crime before, this was definitely a new one.

  "I should have known," Hilary muttered.

  "How did you know she was here?" Cassie asked even though she knew she should probably wait until they were in an official interview.

  Hilary sniffed. "This was Jessica's favourite spot. She's always here on her lunch break. When I saw the tent, I just knew. There's a bond between sisters. I felt she'd gone."

  Cassie made a small murmur of agreement and nodded her head. What else was she going to do? The woman somehow knew Jessica was dead, and she was understandably upset about it.

  "I'd suggest that you go home, Ms Ferris. We'll be in contact shortly if we need to be."

  Hilary bit her lip, appearing as if she might argue more. Eventually, she nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I'll be waiting for the call." She sniffed again and turned to walk away.

  Cassie took a deep breath, trying not to let the experience get to her too much, especially as she knew she'd be seeing Hilary again.

  And when she did, it'd be worse. The idea of her sister being dead would be nothing compared to actually seeing her body. She wouldn't wish that on anyone.