Magical Probi (The Federal Witch Book 2) Read online

  “Dad, are you sure? They breed like crazy.”

  “We can control them. Your brothers and the others need some challenges.”

  “Sure, I guess. I’ll give Chuck a call and see what we can do. You will have to pay for the cages.”

  “Money is not an issue. Tell your friends I will pay them a hundred dollars a pair as an incentive. They must be alive and in good condition.” Mr. Moore motioned with his hands and made pointing directions as he talked.

  “I’ll call him right now. Chuck needs the money for car repairs.” She whipped out her cell phone and began dialing. Chuck answered almost immediately. He had been at graduation but returned to the dorm. His parents didn’t come to the Academy. Politics got in the way. He was no longer Pack to them and even though this was neutral ground, it was an issue with his enforcer brothers. I could tell from the way Cat nodded her head that Chuck was all in for the capture and cage. I could almost feel his approval of the task through the pack bonds we had created this year. The spell I used was supposed to build with time. It was still too new to be completely sure. I shrugged it off. We were approaching the main cafeteria, and I needed to be alert.

  There was a small line to get inside, so I had just a minute alone with Grandmother. “How is the family? Camilla still causing trouble?”

  “At the moment, no. Her brood, on the other hand, has always been trouble. Winter and Autumn have been caught tourist tipping a few times. Poor Cappy is at his wit’s end over those two.”

  I smirked. Winter was my age and should know better. Autumn was the younger of the two. Whatever possessed my aunt to name them after seasons is the real question. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “Not yet, fortunately. Those two have done more harm than you ever did. The squirrels hate them by-the-way. I have seen them go out of their way to drop nuts and excrement on them.” She peered at me closely. “You don’t have anything to do with that do you?”

  I really couldn’t hide very much from her. “I sort of asked them to chase Camilla when I was nine. She said something nasty to me, and I was upset. It was the only time they have ever listened to me, I swear. If they are chasing the girls, it is all on them!”

  Grandmother began to laugh. “You. You are the reason they flock to her yard and throw nuts at her. Dear, I wish you had told me that years ago! We brought in animal experts to try and get them to stop.” She chuckled some more and shook her head. “Your aunt has been saying you set them on her for years and no one believed her. Do not tell anyone else this. We shall keep this our secret. Understood?”

  I nodded to her. The line began to advance. Director Mills stood at the front of the line welcoming each guest in personally. “Hello again, Agatha. Is this your Grandmother?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. This is my grandmother Marcella Blackmoore.”

  The Director took my grandmother’s hand. “Your granddaughter has become a valuable asset to us here at the Bureau. Thank you for bringing her to us.”

  “Thank you for getting rid of your predecessor. But you’re welcome. So far you have done a good job with her, she still respects her elders and is polite. Between you and me, I kicked the Council in their posterior and made them send competent instructors for her.”

  “Um, Grams?” I’m guessing she didn’t know about the instructors.

  Grandmother held her hand up to me to silence me. Knowing her like I did I shut my mouth.

  “I’m sorry you went to that trouble, Mrs. Blackmore. The Council decided not to send any more instructors for Agatha this year. She was forced to learn on her own the spells that were needed. They sent written instructions along with spell books.”

  Grandmother turned toward me in shock. “What? Child, you should have contacted me!”

  “Grandmother, I thought you knew. The instructions were fairly easy to do. I think I have a handle on it now.”

  She shook her head. “Those idiots! You will have to show me the instructions at your lab. I will be speaking to them about their idea of instruction, very soon. Maybe they will survive it.”

  Director Mills looked a bit alarmed by grandmother’s outburst and stuttered a reply. “Mrs… Blackmore. Don’t cause the FBI any trouble over this, please? We need a good relationship with the Witches Council.”

  Grandmother smiled at the director, and I cringed. It was the same ‘Go to Hell’ smile she used with Camilla.

  “Don’t worry Director Mills; they will respect you when I’m done with them.” She was rubbing her hands together as if planning something. This was not good.

  “Marcella are you causing the good Director here trouble?” Cat’s father pushed his way past me and shook the Director’s hand. His appearance broke through the gloom that had descended upon us all. “Robert Moore, nice to meet you.”

  “You must be Catherine’s father. Nice to meet you at last. Did you know she is the first female Alpha at the Academy?”

  “Actually I didn’t know that.” He moved in closer to the Director and began to talk to her about the Jackalopes and other Were issues. I glanced at Cat and smiled. That was very timely of her father to break in like that. Grandmother was about to set something on fire. I looked back at her, and she was just staring at the good looking Were.

  I stepped over and touched her arm. “Are you alright?”

  She looked at me and smiled. “Of course child. I’m fine. Let’s go in and socialize a bit. I need to eat something and relax for a moment. We can talk later when you show me your laboratory.” I smiled and led her into the cafeteria. Several dozen parents and students were wandering around. Tables were set up with finger food and snacks. I sat grandmother down at one of the empty tables and went up to the food line. Many of the staff were on duty serving, and I was able to chat with them. They all congratulated me on my graduation. My Winters of living here were almost over.

  Walking back to the table, I found Cat and her father sitting and talking to grandmother. Cat’s father was doing most of the talking. “… Marcella, please don’t do anything rash. They are the devil we know. Replacing them could be worse.”

  “You have a point Robert, but I will still bring my displeasure to them. They should know by now not to cross my family or me. I will take your advice under advisement.” She looked up into my eyes. “Ah, Agatha. Is that for me?”

  “Uh, what?” I had been trying to understand their conversation and lost track of my own.

  “The plate dear?” I looked down at my hands and blushed. Gods what an idiot I was today!

  “Sorry,” I handed it to her and sat down next to her at the table. “So how do you two know each other?”

  Grandmother looked at Robert and gave him a smile. Looking back at me she replied. “Socially, dear. Robert and I share some mutual acquaintances. I will tell you about it someday. Let’s just say we know each other and leave it at that shall we?” Look she gave me was not one that I would cross so I left it alone. Grandmother has many secrets.

  I looked at Robert and caught his eye. “Did you want so see my lab along with grandmother? It’s not on the official tour, but Cat and I spend a lot of time there.”

  Glancing at my grandmother, he looked back at me and smiled. “Not this trip Miss Blackmore. Cat will fill me in on anything she thinks I should know. I have transportation to organize and I need to find some cages. If you ladies will excuse us?” He stood up from the table and motioned to Cat to follow him. I watched my roommate leave then looked back at Grams.

  “So, want to see the lab now?”

  “Of course I would. Is it very far?”

  “It’s a few miles away, but the Director let me borrow one of the grounds keeper carts for this event. Usually, I get Chuck to take me out there or just hike. Cross-country it’s not too far.” I stood up and pointed toward the kitchen. “It’s parked in the rear out of the way. We can cut through here.”

  The kitchen staff were all present and said their hello’s as we cut through the kitchen. I introduced Grandmother along the way to so
me of my favorite staff as we walked. These were the people that fed me and asked after me on a daily basis. Grandmother actually complimented the chef on his appetizers and they exchanged recipes for a few minutes. I smiled at my friends as I led her out the back door.

  “Those are some very loyal people Agatha; they really care about you.”

  “They have been there for me during the winter breaks. I just did what you always told me to do.”

  “What was that dear?”

  “Kill them with kindness. When I first got here quite a few on the staff were frightened of me after the incident with the former Director. I tried to be polite and friendly with everyone, and most of them came around eventually. Most of the staff now barely blink when I enter the room. The students, on the other hand, make up all sorts of stories about me. I ignore most of them.” I led grandmother past the staff cars over to a four-wheeled cart at the edge of the lot. “Here we are. Hop on.”

  I pulled out the keys and fired the cart up. It was faster than a golf cart but not by all that much. I headed off toward the edge of the reserve telling grandmother about what I knew of the forest. I had to swerve a few times to avoid the Jackalopes. They were more of a problem on the Marine base than on our campus.

  As we finally approached the gate to my lab grandmother remarked at the apparent security that I had.

  “I like the fence you have. Did you have much trouble extending the wards out this far?”

  “Not really. One of the Council teachers taught me how to do that. Of course, that was before I turned his beard bright red. That one really wasn’t my fault. I did tell him my aim wasn’t perfect.” Grandmother smirked at me.

  “Child, I heard some of the stories that the fools they sent tell about you and your magic. If I was to believe them, you are the worst witch since the one that house fell on. Can you believe they actually claim you conjured up a troll and it attacked the instructor?”

  “Um, that one is sort of true.”

  Grandmother turned in her seat and stared at me. “Is it really?”

  “Mostly. The instructor was Brady something. There have been so many of them that I forget the names. It was snowing, so we used one of the practice fields. It was near the highway, and he told me to use a ‘detect creature’ spell. I had never seen that spell before and told him that. He insisted that I do the spell, so I did an off-the-cuff one.”

  Grandmother shaded her eyes with her hand. “What happened?”

  “It detected creatures all right. I had no idea there was a Frost Troll under that bridge! My spell located it and woke it up. It was quite mad. Like a bull, it took one look at Brady’s red hair and took off after him. That was the last I saw of him. Hopping across campus with a large hairy troll in pursuit.”

  “Oh, dear. Maybe I should not have yelled at them so coarsely.”

  I smiled and triggered the spell on the gate. They unlocked and opened slowly. I related the story of the gate and how military intelligence wanted inside my lab.

  “Serves them right. It’s good you caught them. The explosion my trap would cause may have harmed them.”

  “Yes, I did try to tell the General that. They may try again soon. That reminds me, I do have something to show you.”

  We passed through the gates, and I closed and locked them behind me. Better safe than sorry. I parked the cart in front of the loading dock and led grandmother through the door.

  “This is the main storage area.” I pointed at the boxes piled around the room. “I have been making the magical bombs as you taught me. I pack and store them when completed. Thank you for teaching me how, they saved my life last year against that Demon.”

  “Agatha you are the future and the only grandchild that matters. Your cousins couldn’t figure out how to make anything without blowing themselves up. Your Aunt has messed them up so badly.”

  “I remember how Winter acts. Is Autumn as bad too?”

  “She’s worse. That boarding school they sent her too gave her too many bad habits.”

  “That is one thing I’ve learned here. Bad habits lead to worse habits. Better to break them early. The greenhouse is through that door.”

  I opened the door to the lush jungle I had grown here. The long-neglected commercial greenhouse had become a witches paradise of magical herbology.

  “Agatha this is why I call you the future! You grew all of this in three short years without any outside help. What do you have going on over there?” She pointed at the domed bed of grass.

  “That is for Fergus. I cross-bred a couple species of hay to make a special blend. I use it as a reward. He gets to come and spend time rolling around in it.”

  “Really? Do you have seeds for me?”

  “Of course I do.” I reached into a small refrigerator and pulled out a small bundle of envelopes. “I have the hay here along with some local flowers and other herbs I’ve not seen at home. I thought your garden might enjoy them.”

  She took the packets and smiled at me. I led her back through the storeroom into my laboratory and office area. We sat at my desk to talk.

  “Grandmother, what do you know about the bracelet?” I showed her the armband on my wrist.

  “It took to you. Excellent. You are the first in two generations to wear it.”

  “What does it do?”

  “When did you put it on?”

  “Cat and I were at the FBI Critical Incident Response base camp for the kidnapping investigation we were assigned to. The agents were fighting amongst themselves to gain access to our equipment that was locked up. The Russian Mercs wanted my supplies, and I warded the car to prevent them from getting anything. I remember pulling it out of my pocket and slipping it on as I thought about what I wanted to do with my life. It tingled when the hasp clicked shut.”

  “It’s a justice bracelet. They were used by the Enforcers of old to enhance the strengths of those that wore them. That one has been passed through the family for over two-hundred years. My grandmother was the last one to wear it. She told me it gave her a boost and talked to her sometimes.”

  “It talks?”

  “I can only repeat what she told me. I was about ten at the time. I always hoped it would accept me.”

  “What happened to your grandmother?”

  “Her name was Verity; it means truth in old English. She was a European Council Enforcer and one of the first to come to the new world. When I knew her, she was in retirement and very ancient. Women in our family live a long, long time Agatha. She had a very forceful personality. After her death, the bracelet passed into the possession of the head of the family. More than once the Council here in the new world has sought it out. It will protect you. Never allow anyone to remove it.”

  “Can it be removed?”

  “I really don’t know. Don’t try, please.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  “Good. Now, I know we discussed this on the phone, but I want you to tell me about the demon you stopped. All of it, please. It’s very important that I know in case the Council brings it up to me as head of the family.”

  “OK.” I then proceeded to describe the investigation and how we stopped the Demon from killing more people. It took about an hour to get through the entire story.

  ~~~~~~~

  On the ride back to campus Grandmother took my hand. “Trust in yourself Agatha. Great power comes with great responsibility. You have to have faith.”

  I gave her a funny look. “Grams that was a line from that movie you took me to a few years ago, remember?”