Jinx & Tonic (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 3) by Gina LaManna

Author:Gina LaManna [LaManna, Gina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LaManna Books
Published: 2016-11-10T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

By the time the sun rose, we’d come up with a game plan. It’d taken hours of heated discussion, four mounds of pancakes, and Ainsley’s sense of humor to keep things in check.

Harpin had arrived with Hettie and Gus. As always, he got along with no one. Even Ainsley snapped at him once or twice, and she knew how to phrase things in a way that made everyone happy. As it turned out, she was a wonderful addition to The Core.

“So Harpin and Gus, you’re responsible for tracing the blood magic,” Ainsley said, bouncing a pencil against the notepad in front of her. While Hettie poured a fountain of syrup over her pancakes, Ainsley took charge of the meeting and detailed the next steps in our plan. “Whatever it takes. Start your investigation around the prisoner and work your way back from her escape. If you find her, don’t do anything rash. Understood?”

After a long hesitation, the two men nodded.

“Great. Hettie, you’re going to wiggle your way into the Candidate hideout,” Ainsley said. “Use your position as Zin’s grandmother. Be senile. Whatever it takes—find out if the Candidates have heard rumors about what’s been happening.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Hettie saluted so hard she nearly tipped off her chair. “Your wish is my command. Lily, I can see why you raved about this assistant of yours. She’s impressive.”

“The very best!” I agreed.

“And now I’m blushing.” Ainsley smiled. “Unfortunately, I have to head back to the mainland this morning. I’m going to check with MAGIC, Inc. and see if they have any information on The Puppeteer or mind bending. Don’t worry, I’ll be discreet and report back on any findings.”

When Ainsley stopped talking, I cleared my throat. “What about me?”

“Oh, dear, isn’t it obvious?” Hettie looked to me. “Make sure Ranger X does not catch wind of our investigation. He can’t know about it or he’d put the kibosh on things faster than I burn pancakes.”

I felt a touch of hurt bubbling up inside. “But I want to do something. . . something active. For the group. For Zin.”

“You can actively distract him.” Hettie waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Can’t think of a better distraction than smooching.”

“I’m serious,” I said. “I don’t want to just be a distraction. I want to help. I want to look for The Puppeteer, or search for blood magic. I’m the one who went into The Forest with Ainsley, we should be the ones following it up.”

“This is a group effort,” Hettie said. “We are all equally involved, and we have to do what’s best for all of us.”

“Well, it doesn’t feel very fair,” I said. “I want—”

“We all want things we can’t have,” Hettie said. “I’ve been dying to touch Ranger X’s butt since you brought him to my casa, but I don’t go doing that left and right.”

“Yes, you do,” I said. “You do whatever you want.”

“Well. . . ” Hettie shrugged. “I’m old and senile, and with age comes the great responsibility to do whatever I want.

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