Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 169

169- Tracking and trading

“Well, that’s at least one piece of information confirmed. You wouldn’t happen to have a handy list of Witches or Warlocks that are secretly capable of murder do you?” I ask with false cheer. Cam grins.

“Not on me no. But it would be a long list. The list of Witches I trust NOT to be secretly. killers would be shorter. Those coven Witches are no joke.” She shudders.

“You’re not part of a coven?” Harry asks curiously. Cam shrugs.

“Nah, I’m not much one for rules. I’m not interested in secretly planning to take over the world or hoard millions of dollars or whatever it is those old crones do in their secret meetings. I’m happy on my own.” Cam responds, but I can’t help but notice a slightly wistful look on her face. Cam says she doesn’t want to have a Coven, but I suspect she is lonely. Most Witches are close with their families and Covens. Often the two are interchangeable terms. Without one… Well it would be lonely and probably limiting. Although based on her spells. that I’ve seen so far I doubt she is that restricted by her lack of help. I make a mental note to remind Harry to learn more about Witch politics and stuff. Does a coven have to be made up of all Witches? Because as much as Cam says she is okay on her own, she seems like the type to make connections. She somehow got close enough to Dr Dae to call her by her first name, and she’s willing to befriend strangers and reveal magic that most Witches would consider very top secret to help us replace a missing child.

“This adapted stealth spell. Would it have hidden their faces on a video recording? They were wearing dark glasses and hoodies, but you literally can’t identify anything, not even their skin colour, their faces are too well shaded. Unnaturally well shaded.” Bellamy asks. Cam frowns.

“I doubt it. Technology is kind of hard to mess with using magic. It’s more likely that they used a second spell to actively hide their faces while committing their crimes. Probably a basic concealment spell from what you’re describing. They’re effective, but short lived. Probably wouldn’t last more than fifteen minutes.” She concludes.

“I mean,

answer.

that should be plenty of time, shouldn’t it?” I ask. Surprisingly, Harry is the one to

“Not really Ry. I mean for the vandalism at your house maybe. But for the other murders?

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169- Tracking and trading

And the kidnapping? Think about it.” He suggests. Hmm

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“Well… They had to break in. Kill two adults, at least one of whom was a Witch and would definitely have fought back to protect her daughter. Not to mention whatever her other parent was, which we can assume is probably not harmless based on how worried everyone has been about keeping Kiara’s race a secret. They also had to take Kiara and get far enough away to hide her. And all of this without waking anyone nearby or letting Kiara escape or alert anyone.” I list all the tasks and I can see his point.

“That’s a lot for one Witch to do in fifteen minutes. It sounds impossible even.” She says, a

look of horror on her face at hearing everything laid out clearly.

“Agreed. It MIGHT be possible for two depending on what they are. A Witch could help with concealment but I suspect there would need to be someone else to help take care of Kiara’s parents. At LEAST one person, maybe more.” Bellamy reasons.

“The spell would be hard to maintain for more than a couple people. Unless there were multiple Witches, it’s unlikely that there were more than two attackers. It could be done if the second person was one of the more physically gifted races. A Shifter, Vampire, you know. Something strong and fast.” She adds. Bellamy’s brow furrows at the mention of Shifters. He doesn’t want to believe a Shifter would do something like this, not even one of the non–feline

Shifters. But as much as he wants to believe the best, the Shifters are still people. There are good ones and bad ones and a Shifter is just as likely to be a psycho killer as a Witch, Human,

or any other person.

“Is there anything else you can suggest to help us replace Kiara or identify who took her?” I ask. I don’t know how I’m feeling. Cam has given us plenty of information, and I suppose it’s good to know, but I don’t think any of it is actually going to help us replace Kiara.

“Well… They’re sort of illegal… but there are tracking spells, but they work best with the assistance of people who are close to the person you’re searching for. Do you have a family member or close friend of the girl you could ask to help out?” She questions. My face falls. For a second, I thought we might have something.

“No. She has no one.” I answer, my voice barely more than a mumble. Cam looks very

disappointed. I suppose she also got her hopes up.

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“Oh. That’s just… I mean. The poor thing…” She trails off.

“Could you make the spell for us anyway? We can pay for it. Maybe a friend will turn up.” Bellamy suggests.

“Sure. It will take me a day or two. Also I’ll need someone to get me something of Kiara’s. Hair, her toothbrush, something she wore or used a lot. Something like that to connect the spell to her.” She explains.

“No problem, I’ll have someone drop off something in the morning. Aaron collected a sample just in case something like this became necessary.” For a second I’m confused, then I remember the scrap of Kiara’s pillowcase that he took from the house. That should work as something she used a lot. I’ll have to remember to thank him again for his forward thinking.

“How much is the spell going to cost?” I ask warily. I know Bellamy can afford it, and Cam is very generous, but still. Spells are expensive, and personalised, not to mention illegal spells have got to cost a small fortune. Cam shrugs.

“I’m not licensed to sell spells.” She repeats. I swear it’s like her slogan. Somehow it’s an excuse and a denial all at the same time. It somehow implies that she doesn’t give them out but since I already know that she does it’s just sneaky.

“You’re also not licensed for illegal tracking spells, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to stop you.” Bellamy points out. Cam grins.

“Yes but no one is likely to ask me if I’ve been making tracking spells. People often ask if I sell spells and I like to be able to honestly answer that I don’t. So no, I can’t accept payment for it. Although…” She trails off.

“Although” Bellamy prompts.

could arrange

“I mean, I do have a lot of potions I’ve been working on for Shifters. If you could those volunteers to try some out we could consider it a trade.” She suggests.

“Done. I’ll replace you as many volunteers as you need. As long as you can promise they won’t come to any harm or experience any long term negative effects.” Bellamy raises an eyebrow and Cam rolls her eyes. But there is a gleam of excitement behind them.

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“Duh, of course. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Most of my potions are more of the silly prank kind. Or have medicinal uses at the request of Ella.” She adds, almost as an afterthought.

“It’s hard to get Shifter volunteers. I can test ones for Witches on myself. Humans, well… pretty much every spell works on them and they’re similar enough to Witches biologically that it doesn’t make much difference. It’s the Shifters, Vampires and other physically different magics that I have trouble with. Although I’ve made a lot of progress with my experiments on Incubi lately.” She comments. Harry crosses his arms and clears his throat.

“Excuse me?” He demands. Cam looks at him innocently.

“What?” she asks sweetly.

“Have you been experimenting with untested potions on me?” He asks. I can’t tell if he’s mad or not, his tone gives nothing away. Cam just smirks.

“Nah, I test them out on the other Incubus who follows me around. No big deal.” She says

casually. I notice Harry tense up. Interesting. As an Incubus he’s not usually prone to jealousy. This should be interesting.

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