Page 13 of Shift of Morals
Caroline had a knack for copying something down to the errant string, but her weddings came off as cookie cutter copies rather than anything filled with joy or heart. For humans, that didn’t matter so much. But for paranorms, weddings were rare and precious. Immortals did not take weddings or joinings lightly. Thus, Caroline had fallen out of favor with many in Joy Springs.
But this bride was human and might not have realized or…she’d been encouraged to use Caroline for some nefarious reason.
But something about this bothered me. “Caroline usually checks for nefarious magic,” I murmured. “Why wouldn’t she do so this time?”
Ash leaned over to freshen our coffees. “Maybe she never met the groom. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, especially if he traveled a lot or wasn’t involved in planning.”
“Maybe,” Moira acknowledged.
But it didn’t feel right.
“You think they threw money at her?” I asked at Moira’s thoughtful look.
“Possible, but Caroline comes from money.”
Ash snorted. “Rich people stay rich because they don’t turn their nose up at more money.”
“Not all of them,” Tess said as she floated over. “The smart ones invest wisely and don’t buy a new Porsche every few years.”
My nose wrinkled. “Those things seem like death traps.”
“Death is a lot more fun when you’re going 190 miles per hour,” Ash murmured.
“What about some kind of magical influence?” I asked. “Could someone have spelled her into silence?”
“Maybe,” Moira said. “Or compelled silence from her.”
“Interesting. Did you hear back from the mother?”
“Nothing as of this morning, but the email was delivered, so it wasn’t a fake address.”
I grimaced. “The person might know we’re onto them.”
Moira shook her head. “All the questions were pretty innocent. But I don’t think we should ask her again. Or whoever it is who owns the email address.”
“Should we pay Caroline a visit?” Ash asked.
I nodded. “After the meeting at the Keep.”
Once I drained my coffee, I stood. “I’m going to try to see if I can get anything from the blooms.”
“You haven’t tried already?” Moira asked, surprise in her tone.
“Only the preservation spells. I try not to read the memories from anything our customers bring us. Doing so could degrade the plant.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt too much now since it’s beginning to fall apart.” Moira rose. “I’ll walk with you.”
“Thanks. It should be fine, but the magic is unfamiliar to me, so better safe than sorry.”
“How cansomething so pretty be so vile?” Moira whispered, standing slightly behind me and peering at the bouquet over my shoulder.
“Everything we touch holds a resonance of our energy. For it to hold this much, the groom must have either spent a lot of time around the bouquet or handled it for more than a few minutes at a time.”
“Weird.” Moira stepped up beside me, rubbing her hands over her arms. “Grooms usually care little for the nuts and bolts of a wedding.”
“Right. Which is why this is so strange.”
We stared at the thing for a while.
