Pretty Little Fliers: A Cozy Witch Mystery (Magic Market Mysteries Book 1)

partying in the street and Daisy’s labored breathing filled the silence.
Slink!
A metal panel on the door slid open, and two dark, narrowed eyes gazed out at me. “Password?”
I lifted a hand and wiggled my fingers.
“Oh! Hey, Jolene!” The eyes softened.
The panel slid shut, several locks clicked, and then the door swung open. Pale light spilled into the alleyway, and I jerked my head at the cop to follow.
Heidi, Will’s assistant, stepped out from behind the door and grinned at me. Twin black braids hung over the shoulders of her white lab coat. Underneath it she wore a polka dot tube top and leggings.
She winked an almond-shaped eye. “We got ramen.”
I sniffed the air. The salty, meaty aroma made my stomach grumble. When was the last time I’d eaten? Yesterday?
Heidi tipped her head toward the back room. “I ate all mine, but you know Will. So slow. I’m sure you could steal some if you hur—” She stopped midsentence as the cop and his dog stepped into the tiny waiting room behind me. A few beat-up chairs lined the wall, and a tall counter surrounded Heidi’s spot at the receptionist’s desk.
Her mouth fell open. “Ohhhhhh no.” Her eyes widened, fixed on the cop’s face.
I gulped. Yeah, this wasn’t going to go well.
I cleared my throat and swept my hands to the side. “Heidi, this is Officer…?” I raised my brows at him, suddenly remembering I didn’t know his name.
“Flint.” His throat bobbed, eyes ringed in red as though he’d been crying. “Peter Flint. This is my dog, Daisy. Can you help her?”
The dog whined.
Will pushed through from the back room, eyes down on the bowl of ramen in his hands. He sported his typical blue scrubs, but his leather sandals and messy hair made a sharp contrast to the professional attire.
We all held still, silent.
Will twirled noodles around a pair of chopsticks. “Jolene, if you think I’m gonna share, you’re wrong, because you had a chance, sister. We asked you if you wanted anything from Wong’s, and you said you had a client so—”
He looked up and froze. His blue eyes widened as he took in the scene, then narrowed to tiny slits under his heavy brow. His mouth flattened, and a muscle in his jaw jumped behind his five o’clock shadow.
I scratched behind my ear and dropped my gaze. Man. If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.
“Jolene.” His voice came out a low growl. With trembling hands, he set his ramen on the tall counter beside him, then balled his hands into fists at his side. A vein popped out of his red, blotchy forehead, and he shrieked, “What in the actual fu—”
I raised my hands and cut him off. “He came to me! Okay? You think I want this?” I took a few tentative steps toward my friend, palms raised like I was soothing an angry bear. Easy, boy. “The dog’s injured and needs our help and I didn’t have the heart to—”
Huugghhhh!
I spun in time to catch Daisy vomit up a nasty green glob. It pooled on the floor, sizzling and steaming. The dog’s black lips curled back from her teeth, foam and poison-green bile dripping from them.
Heidi yelped and jumped back, then turned to Will. “I’ll get a sample.” She dug around in the pockets of her lab coat and pulled out a small glass vial with a cork stopper.
My tall friend rolled his bloodshot eyes. “Oh, perfect.” He clasped his huge hands at his chest. “And it’s fatally cursed. Splendid.”
Peter, the officer, looked like he was about to be sick himself. “Fatally?”
Will scrunched up his nose and shot a long arm out. He grabbed me by the neck of my ratty Banshee band tee. “Jolene, a word?”
He gritted his teeth and held a finger up to the cop. “Just a minute, Officer.” Will dragged me through the swinging door into the back.

ANGER ISSUES
I swatted at my friend’s hand, but he just tightened his grip around the neck of my shirt and pulled me closer to his livid face. His big eyes bulged and he bared his teeth.
“You brought a cop here?!” he shouted. “Lovely, Jolene! Lovely!”
I glared up at him, his face inches from mine. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a temper?” I tried, futilely, to pry his beefy hands off me.
Before I knew him, Will had been one of Bijou Mer’s top surgeons. He’d mingled with the elite of the elite and lived a lifestyle of the utmost luxury. All until he lost his temper at a dinner party at some lord’s mansion and publicly shifted into a bear.
As soon as word spread that he was a shifter, he’d lost his practice, his loft—everything.
His nostrils flared, and he shouted in my face. “Funny, Jolene! Just hilarious!”
I turned my head away and winced when some of his spit flew into my eye. Gross. I peeled my eyes open.
Heidi’s take-out bowl of ramen sat on the metal exam table in the center of the small room. Score. I reached over and plucked the hard-boiled egg out.
As I brought it to my mouth, Will slapped it out of my hand
“Hey!”
I pouted down at it where it now lay, still intact, on the floor. Underneath the savory smell of the food, I detected lemon cleaner… and cats. But hey, cleaner. Heidi kept the tiny place spick and span—five second rule, right? My stomach rumbled, and I reached for the food on the ground.
Will shook me, and I blinked up into his red, blotchy face.
“This is serious, Jolene!” he hissed. He shoved me away and turned, tugging at his wavy brown hair. “I can’t believe you,” he grumbled as he paced.
I stumbled back and tugged at my shirt, attempting to smooth it. The wrinkles weren’t entirely his fault. I sniffed my pit and crinkled my nose.
I’d been wearing my favorite band tee for several days straight at this point, sleeping in it even, and the humid summer weather wasn’t doing me any favors. I’d have to