The Witch's Key Read Free Page A

chill a minute. They don’t know
we’re…uh-oh.”
    “What? Did they see you? Do they know we’re
here?”
    She rocked back in her seat, abandoning her low
profile to the man approaching. “They do now.” She looked up at
Carlos and delivered a manufactured smile. “Detective Rodriquez,
good morning. Fancy meeting you here.”
    I looked up just as Carlos came to a stop alongside
our table. He did not seem as surprised to see Lilith as I expected
he might, and he definitely did not seem to recognize me.
    “Fancy isn’t the word I would use,” he told Lilith.
“Amazing, maybe.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yes, seeing that a tornado took your house and
all.”
    “I noticed.”
    “And you did disappear for a while.”
    As the two spoke, I noticed Carlos sneaking peculiar
glances at me, each one lasting marginally longer than the last. I
tried avoiding eye contact with him, focusing instead at the bottom
of my coffee cup, which had emptied entirely too soon.
    “I didn’t disappear,” Lilith insisted. “As you might
imagine, I had lots of matters to attend to, what with all the
complicated insurance claims, transportation hassles, lodging
issues and the like, I’ve barely had time for a good hot bath.”
    “I’m sure,” said Carlos, although, now he was looking
at me again. I could not stop myself from looking up and giving a
little nod hello. I hoped it would get him off my back, but the
inadvertent eye contact only seemed to tweak his interest in me
further.
    “Miss Adams,” he said, finally relinquishing his fix
on me, if only temporarily, “at some point in your busy schedule, I
wish you had made the time to come and see us. You have to know
that we all thought you were dead.”
    Lilith reeled back in mock surprise. “Did you?”
    “Yes. We were very worried.”
    “Pity. Well, I am sorry, but clearly, as you see, I
am not dead.”
    “Indeed.” He seemed to narrow his attention on her
more intently now. “Clearly, you are not. In fact…”
    He hesitated. I knew at once what he was thinking.
The rite of passage had returned Lilith and me to the prime of our
lives. At exactly what age that is, I cannot say. But with me, the
difference was demonstrable, so much so that even my best friend of
thirty years could not recognize me. But Lilith’s change seemed
less obvious. Already a raving beauty before the passage, her
return to prime suggested only a subtle optimization to her
appearance. To say that she looked younger was arguable. To infer
that she looked more alive, indisputable. I have no doubts that
Carlos wrestled with that observation before speaking out, perhaps
even suspecting witchcraft in the equation. But always one for
playing his cards close to his vest, his reluctance to cast
insinuations prevented him from articulating those suspicions.
    “In fact, what, Detective?” Lilith asked.
    Carlos shook the question out of his head. “Nothing.”
He turned to me again. “So, who’s your friend, here?”
    “I smiled up at him. “I’m—”
    “That’s my cousin, Tom,” said Lilith. “He’s letting
me stay with him while I straighten out that whole house getting
blown away thing.”
    “Is he?” Carlos offered me his hand. “It’s nice to
meet you, Tom.”
    I knew that Carlos’ handshake was akin to shaking a
cold fish, so I took it and squeezed it like a nutcracker.
“Pleasure is mine,” I said, and the look on Lilith’s face told me
it was hers, too.
    Carlos pulled his hand back and gave me a look like
he might slug me. That is when I knew I had made a mistake. He
crowded his brows and peered into my eyes with unusual focus,
giving me the look that one gives when one can swear he knows you
from somewhere. I thought that if I turned away he might give it
up, but no such luck. He shook his finger at me, narrowed his eyes
and said, “Don’t I know you?”
    I shook my head and tried once again to climb into
the bottom of my coffee cup. “I’m sure you don’t,” I said. “I’m