Scales and Scandals: Magic & Mystery, #13

By Lily Webb

Sometimes the truth can tip the scales…

 

For magical mom Zoe Clarke, keeping life together is a challenge. Between rebuilding her news business from its ashes and the threat of an ancient evil still breathing down her neck, Zoe's spread thin — and it's starting to catch up with her.

 

So when rumors of the appearance of a mysterious, magical scale start making the rounds, Zoe has no choice but to take them seriously. But after that scale suddenly goes missing, Zoe quickly becomes a suspect in the swirl of a supernatural scandal.

 

With pressures mounting at home and an increasingly suspicious public watching her every move, Zoe knows there's more to this story than meets the eye — especially after she makes a startling discovery that changes everything.

 

Can Zoe track down the scale's thief and clear her name? Or will her next headline be her last?

 

Scales and Scandals is the thirteenth book in the Magic and Mystery series of witch cozy mysteries. If you like suspicious shifters, supernatural scuttlebutt, and magical murder mysteries, then you'll love this lighthearted thirteenth entry in Lily Webb's spellbinding series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lily Webb
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223368953

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

As even more people I didn’t recognize poured into the freshly renovated offices of The Crescent, I thought for the first time in more than a year that maybe, just maybe, this little news business of mine might actually be okay. I didn’t know which was harder to believe: that after a year of rebuilding in the wake of a fire, we’d finally reopened, or that people cared enough to come and show their support for our re-opening fundraiser.

I flitted among the crowd packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the lobby of the new office building, smiling and waving to those I recognized as I passed. I didn’t have anywhere near enough time to stop and talk to everyone, but I had no choice other than to gawk at the nearly overflowing donation box sitting on a table in the center of the room.

Vanessa Le Deux, the famous streamer and one of my newest employees, had footed the bill for nearly all the renovations as thanks for me, well, saving her life a year ago. But even her massive funds weren’t unlimited, so while we’d completed the renovations within the budget, that was all we had. I still needed to pay my growing staff, keep the lights on, and deliver the independent news only we could.

There was no way to know for sure how much money had been dropped in the box without counting it, but I could tell just from looking that we were going to survive for at least the next year. That was more than I’d been able to say confidently for months.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one captured by the money. Ellie, one of my twins, sat in a chair across the room staring at the box, her little legs kicking and swinging off the edge. A smile split her face before quickly turning into full-bellied laughter, and when I followed her gaze, I realized why: Blaise, her brother, had shifted into his puppy form and was trying to climb the table legs to get to the money box.

Horrified, I cut through the crowd and scooped the little pup into my arms. And just what do you think you’re doing? I asked, staring down into the pup’s warm eyes. Blaise whimpered and squirmed against my grip, and by the time I set him down, he’d already changed back into his human form.

I wasn’t doing anything, Mom. I was just trying to make Ellie laugh. She’s bored, Blaise insisted, and Ellie nodded enthusiastically behind him, her red pigtails bouncing.

Uh huh, sure. Come here, Ellie, I said, kneeling as I motioned for her to join us. She hopped off the chair and hurried over. I lowered my voice and leaned closer to the two of them. Look, I know this is boring as spell to you both, but I really need you to be on your very best behavior. Some incredibly important people are here tonight, and I need to impress them. Do you understand?

Yes, Mommy, Ellie said with a smile. And when Blaise said nothing, she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

Yes, Mom, Blaise sighed.

Good, thank you.

Does this mean we aren’t going to Levitate? Blaise asked as his gaze drifted to his feet.

If you stay out of trouble for the rest of the night, our deal’s still on, I said, and both of the twins’ faces lit up instantly. They’d been begging me to take them to the new magical indoor playground for weeks, so I’d finally caved by bribing them for good behavior.

We will, we promise, Ellie insisted. Right, Blaise?

Yeah, we promise, he said, nodding.

Good. Now why don’t you go find Mrs. Morgan? If anyone could help me keep the twins under control tonight, it would be their new first grade teacher. Luckily for me, the kids both loved her — though their father often joked it was because she looked just like me. Unluckily for me, they seemed much more inclined to listen to Mrs. Morgan than to me.

Do we have to? She’s been acting weird, Blaise said, his face scrunched.

She acts weird all the time. Come on, race you! Ellie said and dashed through the crowd before Blaise had the chance to object. I stood and said a silent prayer that they didn’t knock anyone or anything over on their mad dash to find Mrs. Morgan, but locked eyes with a familiar pale face instead.

Marcel! I shouted, and hurried toward the casually dressed vampire standing in front of me with a glass full of a dark red liquid. Curly black hair dangled down one side of his face, obscuring one of his blood-red eyes. Marcel managed not to spill any of his, uh, beverage, as I threw my arms around him and he flashed me a fanged smile when we parted.

It’s good to see you again too, Zoe, he said.

Dear Lilith, it’s been years at this point! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Marcel Desfleurs, photojournalist extraordinaire, anymore than I could imagine what he’d been up to in that time.

Marcel shrugged one shoulder. A mere blink of an eye for a vampire.

Fair enough, I laughed. How have you been? Anything juicy in your corner of the world?

Funny you would ask, Marcel said, his smile widening while he lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip. His tongue flicked away the spot left behind, and he leaned closer to me. You didn’t hear it from me, but I have it on good authority that Chief Mueller and the MGPD are about to announce something big.

I already know about them hiring Gil Fergus, if that’s what you’re referring to.

Marcel chuckled. Nope.

I raised an eyebrow at him. Then what is it?

They’ve found a drakon’s scale, Marcel said, and my stomach flipped. With all the furor over getting The Crescent back up and running, I’d mercifully forgotten about the fire breathing shapeshifters who’d burned it down. I didn’t know what significance a scale of theirs held, but judging from the way Marcel talked about it, it was a lot.

Are you sure?

As sure as the sun isn’t my friend.

How do you know? I whispered, as if anyone in the packed room could hear us over the noise, anyway.

Oh, come on, Zoe. You know a good journalist never reveals his sources. But I will say that there’s some dispute about whether it’s actually a drakon’s scale or if it belongs to something less concerning.

Well, I’m glad the MGPD is taking it seriously, I whispered back through a shudder. For as much trouble and destruction as the drakons, a species of dragon-like creatures that’d evolved from gargoyles, had caused a year ago, they’d been suspiciously low key since. But I’d never been able to shake the chilling warning from one of them that their leader hadn’t finished with me yet. But wait a second. Why did they just now find this scale?

I didn’t say they just found it. I said they were going to announce that they’d found it, Marcel corrected, but that didn’t make me feel any better. For all we know, they could’ve had it and been sitting on the announcement all year.

Chief Mueller was notoriously tight-lipped, so that wouldn’t surprise me. What did surprise me, though, was that this was the first I’d heard any of this. I was supposed to be one of the best-connected people in Moon Grove, so how had this slipped past me? Probably too much distraction with The Crescent.

Anyway, looks like you might get the chance to ask them yourself, Marcel said, lifting his glass toward the office’s front doors where Chief Mueller himself had just entered, flanked by Officer Ewan Barrett and their newest hire, Officer Gil Fergus. Gil had transferred from the police department in Fort Fang to help bolster the MGPD’s ranks. Seeing him standing next to his colleagues proved just how unlike them he was.

His tall, muscular frame towered over the others, and his intense blue eyes swept over the crowd quickly and decisively. He’d combed his salt-and-pepper hair into a neat coif, and though he wore a nice polo shirt and dress pants, he still looked one thousand percent like a cop. He also didn’t look like the friendliest person in the world. And if that was true, then it would certainly make my already fraught relationship with the MGDP even harder.

Aren’t you going to introduce yourself? Marcel asked with a teasing smile.

Might as well get it over with, I sighed and clapped Marcel on the shoulder. Are you sticking around? I’d like to catch up more.

We’ll see. Good luck, he said, so I took a deep breath and approached the three officers. Unsurprisingly, Gil spotted me first. He looked me up and down once, so fast I could barely track his eyes, and scowled.

Hello, Officer Fergus, I started, doing my best to ignore his expression. I’m Zoe Clarke. It’s nice to meet you finally. I offered him my hand, but he just stared at it and nodded.

I’ve heard all about you, Ms. Clarke, he said flatly, his deep voice crisp and firm.

Well, if it was Mueller telling you then you have to take it all with a grain of salt, I said, and Mueller snorted. The Chief and I had developed a complicated relationship over the years, and though we’d mostly learned to tolerate and work with each other, it wasn’t easy. Anyway, welcome. I’m glad you’re all here.

Good to see you, Zoe, Barrett said and pulled me in for a hug. Is Flora here yet? he asked when we parted. He’d been dating my fairy friend off-and-on for years, and I didn’t know where they stood today, but decided it wasn’t the right time to ask.

She’s here somewhere, but I haven’t seen her in a while. Though with her ethereal white-blonde hair and four wings, the distinctive fairy wouldn’t have been hard to find.

Then I’ll let you all catch up while I track her down, Barrett said and disappeared. Mueller, Gil, and I stood staring at each other awkwardly for a moment in his absence.

Well, it certainly looks like you’ve done well with the place, Mueller commented as he glanced around the new lobby of the office. The entire building burned down in the drakon attack a year ago. So when we rebuilt it, we added a second floor for our work area and reserve the ground floor for a spacious lobby and waiting room.

Thanks. It’s been a long road to get here, but I’m glad we’re finally getting back to business, I said, and I meant it. As stressful as running a news company could be, I much preferred it to managing a reconstruction job. And according to my employees, I was much better at the news part, anyway.

I can imagine, Mueller said, and again the conversation died, replaced by the low buzz of other