Chapter 35

Julia

Our meeting with the police had barely begun, and Gryph already looked furious. If it weren’t for his excellent self-restraint, I was certain he’d have tossed one of the shades out a window.

We were seated in one of the conference rooms at Bliss. The detectives were sitting across the table from us. Both Detectives Hardy and Mason looked annoyed. That is unless one compared them to Gryph. They were practically bubbling over with joy compared to Gryph.

“There is no reason for you to know where Gryph lives,” I told them for the third time. Gryph had simply grunted when they’d insisted he provide them with his address.

“He could be a suspect,” Detective Hardy argued.

“He’s not,” I replied. “We all know he’s not. Tatiana is missing. It seems that should be your focus.”

“We don’t need you to tell us how to do our job,” Detective Mason growled, standing and leaning across the table some.

“Miss Dupree is right,” Detective Hardy stated. “We’re here to discuss Tatiana Ashcroft.”

Detective Mason slumped down in his chair, looking like a sulking child.

“Did you know Tatiana Ashcroft before she came to Bliss?” Detective Hardy asked.

“We went to school together,” I replied. “She’s a few years younger than me, so we weren’t close, but we spoke a few times.”

“Did you have any contact after school?” Detective Hardy asked.

“I’ve seen her at a few council meetings, but we never spoke,” I replied. “It wasn’t until she came to set up a fantasy weekend with Desmond LaCroix, her warlock, that I really talked to her.”

“How would you describe her relationship with Desmond LaCroix?” Detective Mason asked.

I hesitated before responding. “She seemed to want him to be the one.”

“Because she loved him?” Detective Hardy pushed.

“Not really,” I replied. “I’m not entirely certain what her motivation was for being with Desmond. She pushed me several times to tell her whether I thought their magic was a good match. Since that’s what my family does, she thought I could just give her a simple answer.”

“Did you answer her?” Detective Mason asked, leaning forward slightly in his chair. “This could be motivation for LaCroix to come after you.”

“I told her I couldn’t do that for her. We don’t just go around performing impromptu affinity tests. It would be irresponsible,” I explained.

“Are you trying to tell us you didn’t have any opinions regarding their compatibility?” Detective Mason demanded.

“I always have suspicions,” I replied. “That’s not the same as performing a test. My suspicions could be wrong, and I would never stake my reputation on them.”

“So, you want us to believe you didn’t tell her anything?” Detective Hardy asked doubtfully. “It would be hard to avoid sharing what you suspected.”

“Julia is trying to help you,” Gryph growled.

I decided I’d better steer things away from this subject before Gryph lost his temper. The detectives both seemed determined to push things. This was one of those times when I really wished the preternatural legal system offered some of the same protections humans had in theirs.

“I planned their weekend for them nearly two months ago,” I told the detectives.

“Did the weekend go well?” Detective Hardy asked.

“They were supposed to go two weeks ago, but they canceled shortly before their trip,” I explained.

“Who canceled the trip?” Detective Hardy asked.

“Tatiana canceled in an email,” I replied.

“Did she give any reason for canceling?” Detective Hardy asked.

I shook my head. “She simply thanked me for helping her figure out what she wanted and told me things weren’t going to work out.”

Gryph suddenly looked very intrigued by what I’d said. He leaned forward in his chair as he spoke. “That could be read a lot of ways. If the wrong person looked at the email, they might assume you’d helped her decide LaCroix wasn’t the right warlock for her.”

“I suppose,” I admitted.

“What was your impression of Mr. LaCroix?” Detective Mason asked.

“He seemed nice,” I replied. “We’d never spoken before he came to Bliss with Tatiana. Even when I was planning a fantasy weekend for him, I barely spoke to him.”

“That’s right. LaCroix was lower on your council’s hierarchy,” Detective Hardy said with a sneer. “It’s all about where you rank with your Council of Witches, isn’t it? A witch like you wouldn’t associate with a low-ranking warlock.”

“Julia’s not like that,” Gryph snapped.

“I’m really not in the mood to be judged by you,” I told the detectives. “I’m tired, and the only reason I came out to meet you tonight was so I could help find Tatiana. If you want my opinion, Desmond wouldn’t have hurt Tatiana. I don’t think they loved each other, but he was very determined to make her happy. Maybe she was meant to be his witch, or maybe he was just using her to elevate his status with the council. I have no way of knowing what his motivations were, but he definitely treated her well.”

“Miss Ashcroft’s family seems convinced he’s responsible for her disappearance,” Detective Mason told me. “We can’t find any trace of Desmond LaCroix.”

“Maybe they ran off together,” Gryph suggested.

“The Ashcrofts insist they broke up,” Detective Mason replied.

“Her parents admitted to insisting they end things. They didn’t think he was good enough for her,” Detective Hardy added bitterly.

“That seems like a good reason for them to run off,” Gryph pointed out.

“Actually, it makes it unlikely they ran off,” I told Gryph. “Witches can be a lot like werewolves in their fear of surviving without the support of the council. We also tend to live in witch subdivisions so we’re close to other witches. Other preternatural communities aren’t welcoming of witches. We can live among humans, but then we’re limited on the amount of magic we can use.”

“I imagine that would be difficult for most witches,” Gryph added. “It seems witches use spells for just about everything.” He was definitely not mistaken in that observation. Most witches couldn’t even open their garage door without a spell. “There are witch communities all over the country. What’s stopping them from moving to one in another area?”

“Witches are stuck in the middle ages in many ways,” I explained. “One’s family and territory define their status. It’s possible to live in a different area. Mel’s mom lives in Arizona, but she’s still under the rule of the council out here. She uses a transport tube to attend meetings. Tatiana can’t simply cut ties with her family or the council and still remain in the witch community.”

“Meaning she and Desmond couldn’t have run off to have a bonding ceremony performed in a different territory,” Gryph deduced.

“Actually, that’s something they could accomplish,” I told him. “For the right price, a couple can find someone to perform the ceremony. I’ve heard of it being done in Texas and New York.”

“We really should get back to the subject of Tatiana Ashcroft’s disappearance. We believe this may be related to the threats against Miss Dupree,” Detective Mason stated.

“It seems as unlikely as Desmond LaCroix being responsible for the witch’s disappearance,” Detective Hardy scoffed.

“Do you have any more questions for Julia?” Gryph interrupted.

“Do you think Tatiana Ashcroft and Desmond LaCroix could pass an affinity test?” Detective Mason asked. His gaze locked on mine.

I hesitated. The council frowned on witches with my ability speculating on whether witches would pass affinity tests. I decided answering the police as part of an investigation rather than the couple in question would be okay. “I don’t believe they would have passed.”

“Those are all the questions we have regarding Tatiana Ashcroft for now, but we still need to know where you’re staying,” Detective Mason pushed.

“Is she a suspect?” Gryph asked. “If so, we should get her lawyer down here.”

“Miss Dupree isn’t a suspect, so she doesn’t need a lawyer,” Detective Mason insisted.

“In that case, you can either contact me here or by phone,” I told them.

Neither detective seemed happy as they left the offices, but I didn’t really care if they were happy.

“Now that they’re gone, I need you to tell me everything you know about Desmond LaCroix,” Gryph stated.

“Do you really think he might be the one threatening me?” I asked, still finding it hard to believe.

“I know you said you weren’t worried about him, but it’s a pretty big coincidence that the witch he was seeing disappeared shortly after she canceled their weekend adventure,” he began. “It definitely sounds like she ended things with him, and the way she worded her email to you may have made him think she was thanking you for telling her they weren’t compatible. He’s missing, and she’s missing. You seem convinced they didn’t run off together, so something happened after she sent you that email.”

“You’re right,” I admitted with a sigh. “I’ll go through the files I have and call my mom to see if we can get any information about Desmond LaCroix and his family. Do you think the police will find Tatiana alive?” I asked, hoping he’d tell me I was wrong for fearing she might already be dead.

“It’s always possible,” he replied hesitantly.

“But you don’t think it’s likely,” I finished with a sad sigh.

“No, I don’t think it’s likely,” he admitted. “The police didn’t act like they think it’s likely either. They’re not in a huge hurry to find her because they think it’s too late.”

I was quiet as the weight of Gryph’s words settled around me. If Desmond had killed Tatiana for leaving him, I really was in danger.

As if reading my thoughts, Gryph slipped his arm around my shoulders. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Sass. You have my word.”

I smiled and let out a deep shuddering sigh. I wasn’t the type to fall into a man’s arms and let him take care of everything. I prided myself on being a strong, independent woman, but I was glad Gryph was with me. All the things I’d once believed to be reasons we couldn’t be together had only added to the list of reasons I loved him.

That should have been my oh shit moment—that instant when I realized I was in love with an alpha male. Instead, my magic heated within me, and everything felt as if it were exactly as it should be. Gryph was mine. Now, I just needed to figure out what that meant.