Conjuring Quantico (The Federal Witch Book 1) (4 page)

Up close the door to my laboratory looked like any other building in the area. It followed basic military construction from the mid-twentieth century. Blocky and boring. I inserted my key and opened the door.

“That’s it? Just a simple lock?”

“Not quite. I turned off most of the security features. Greenhouse first. I need to check on the plants and pick up some hay for Fergus.”

“Why do you have a greenhouse?” The director stared in shock as I opened the door to wonderland.

Chapter 3

I have always loved Gram’s garden and had long wished for a garden of my own. Now I had it. With a little judicial use of witchcraft and herb magic I was able to transform the broken down commercial greenhouse into a tropical paradise. All I needed was a few tropical birds and someone to bring me a drink with a little umbrella. Too bad Fergus had to ruin it for me.

“Where’s the hay? I don’t smell hay! You said there was going to be hay!” Up until now the little terrorist had been very quiet. He knew not to distract me while I was fighting the Russians.

“Miss Blackmore, why is your pocket talking?”

I glanced to my right to see Director Mills staring at me. Her eyes were pinched together, and she was squinting at my upper body. I started laughing.

“I’m sorry Director, I guess you don’t know about Fergus.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Unicorn. The Director recoiled back from my hand.

“What? Never seen a Unicorn before? I could give you some horn, chicks dig the horn. It’s my best feature!” Fergus started strutting back and forth across my open hand. Director Mills had her head cocked to one side as she stared at my familiar.

“Technically, Fergus here is my familiar. Most modern witches don’t bother with them anymore. He was sort of an accident and has been with me since I was seven. Fergus stop showing off, she isn’t interested in your horn.”

The mini Unicorn looked up at me and stamped his hooves. “Fine. Whatever. Where’s the hay?”

I stepped to my right and opened up a Plexiglas cover. Inside was a small bed of what looked like grass.

“Hay! Gimme gimme gimme! Agatha put me down! Please!” I shook my head ruefully and set Fergus down in the middle of the small field.

“Don’t eat too much! You’ll make yourself sick.” The Unicorn was doing a strange little dance as he galloped around the field.

I turned back to my friends and the Director. “Unicorns.”

All three of them were staring at me. “What? Is there a bug on me?” I started checking myself.

“Agatha, there’s no bug. Me and Chuck want to know if you tell him bedtime stories too?” She laughed at me.

“I still feel a bit guilty for his size. I mean it’s been almost eleven years since it happened but he could be off chasing other Unicorns. Instead he hangs out all day with me.”

“What did you do?” I looked back at the Director.

“It’s not in my files? I assumed you knew my story.”

“Your files are incomplete; that is one of the factors that caused the mess outside. I am sorry about that, by the way. Director Offenberg either changed your records or never filed them properly.”

“Offenberg! That was what his name was! I could never remember. Fergus just called him piss boy. In answer to your question, I was given Fergus as a seventh birthday present by my Aunt Cordelia. Unicorns are suppose to be a status symbol for young witches. I refused the present and told them I wanted a pony instead. I zapped him myself and he gained the ability to talk. It appears that Unicorns like to cuss. They like to cuss a lot. So I tried to fix it. And then he got smaller. There is a bit more to it but that is the basics. If you want the whole sordid truth of it all contact my Grams or the Witch Council, they can tell you.”

Waving off the matter, I spread my arms. “This is the greenhouse! When they gave it to me half the glass was broken and the watering systems didn’t work. After I got it fixed, I started up my garden. My family coven and circle are composed of what might be called classic, or herb witches. Or at least the older members are. I was home-schooled by my grandmother. She taught me everything she knows about Earth Magic. Much of what Grams does is magic of that style. Potions and charms work very well in the right hands. Many of the ingredients needed for such concoctions are rare and costly. An Earth witch will have an extensive herb garden and many contacts to get the things that she needs. When it was agreed that I would be coming here to school she made sure I would be able to have the things I would need to do my job.”

“Wait, so all of this is magical?” The Director looked around at the various plants and flowers in wonder.

“Most of it is. Even the hay greedy guts over there is in has magical properties.” Fergus was sound asleep in the middle of the bed of hay snoring.

“Most modern or non-trad’s buy their ingredients off the Internet. Many of the magical properties are washed out and have lost strength by the time they get them home. My garden can be very powerful in the proper hands.”

“So the Russians wanted a garden?”

“Sort of. There are a few plants that are so rare that many in the community think they are mythical. They can be sensed if you know what you are looking for. I have a few other things next door too. Come on, let me show you.” I waved them over to the door. A short hallway connected the greenhouse to the warehouse. My lab was on the far side.

The warehouse was more of a garage. A large reinforced steel roll-up door was at one end of the room. It was secured to the floor with chains and very large locks. Several large eye-bolts were sunk into the concrete ensuring the door did not roll up. A small pile of crates sat at one end. Long tables covered in clear plastic cases dominated the room. “This is my primary supply cabinet. Each of these boxes hold herbs and other materials that allow me to make certain spells and formula.”

Cat and Chuck had been here before so to them this was old news. The Director walked up and down the aisle of tables and peered at the snap-tight boxes. “What’s in here?” She reached for a box.

“Be careful with that one, Director, it is a very powerful aphrodisiac. It can bring love back into your life if prepared properly.” The Director froze and then very slowly opened the box. Inside was a bag of dried leaves and flowers along with fresh flowers held in a magical stasis.

“They look like hops. So delicate. What is it?” She was gently stroking the leaves and flowers.

“Origanum dictamnus or Dittany of Crete. It only grows in a certain part of Crete up in the mountains. You have a good eye. It’s in the hops family of herbs. This little beauty is traditionally a healing herb, but it makes a good present for newlyweds to spice up the wedding night. The Greeks value it as something to be used for love.” I gently closed the box and smiled at the Director. “I’m going to guess that you garden a bit.”

“My family are farmers and Dad plays at brewing his own beer.” I nodded.

“Through there is my lab. I make potions and other things so I can practice my witchcraft.” I pointed to the other door. “The FBI get me as an agent and they get my skills. But all of this is mine. I can’t be effective without it. All of it is why those three attacked me. Some of this would set them up for life back home.”

“You said that before, outside. What do you mean by that?”

“Let's go into the lab. I have a small kitchenette where we can sit down.” I opened the door and led them into my lab. Off to the side was a small round table and four chairs. A refrigerator and microwave sat in the corner. “Chuck, there are some nuker meals in the cabinet over there if you’re hungry.”

The large Were strode over to the counter and grabbed a snack.

“Cat, I have soda and water in the fridge.”

She opened the door and pulled out a couple of drinks. “Director?” She held up a soda.

“Diet if you have it. Thank you.” Cat set a bottle of water in front of her.

“The FBI hires Merc’s to take care of magical stuff for them. Do you know why?”

She stared at me with a puzzled look on her face. “What do you mean why? The Witch Council won’t provide help so we have to hire from outside.”

“I’m sorry, what I meant to say, was why only hire Russians?”

“That I don’t know. We have a list of help that we can call on to aid in investigations. I don’t understand how you could take out the three of them alone. They are some of our best hires!”

I sighed. “I had a similar conversation with Director Offenberg. He didn’t believe me or at least I don’t think he did. Russian magic users took a real beating in the Demon War. The Rodnover priesthood was controlled by the volkhvy. Call them priests or priestesses. It was they that paid the highest price in stopping the ‘Madman of Berlin.’ They burned themselves out in a magical distraction that allowed the English Witch Council to strike directly and bypass the Demon Prince’s protections. Their loss spelled an end to the theocratic rule in their country. Stalin took over and we now have what the country became. The magic users lost their teachers and their leaders all in one fell swoop. They have no Council to stop them from whoring themselves out to the highest bidder. They are diminished but refuse to believe it. I told your predecessor that hiring them was a mistake. They will do as you ask of them but that is all. They really only look out for themselves unless you pay them heavily. Pure mercenaries. With them nothing is free.” I paused for a moment. “I have a bit more juice than they do. But magic is magic. I have had better teachers and have access to better components.” I waved at the greenhouse.

“You said training. Why is the Council sending trainers to you here?”

“Boy, he really didn’t like me did he if he left all that information out of my files? To quote Fergus, my magic is lopsided. My first spell broke records. I changed a bunch of squirrels at age four. I had my accident with the Unicorn at seven and I have done a few other things. Spells such as protection or the basics I can do just fine. It is when I have to concentrate upon something or don’t think things through that accidents happen. It was part of the deal in my coming here. Many in my family are afraid that I will accidentally change them. They informed the witch schools of that fact. Only the FBI would take me. But you had to agree to teach me the basics of law enforcement and allow the Council to send magic trainers. They claim they can fix me.”

“How many teachers have they sent?”

I heard a smirk from the far corner of the room. Ignoring my recalcitrant roommate I continued on. “After this morning over a dozen. I keep breaking them.”

“OK. That explains the overly excited elderly man I had in my office this morning. He made no sense whatsoever, but kept repeating that it was not his fault. What did you do to him?”

“I still don’t think I was wrong. He was trying to train me to do a diagnostic spell that would trace magical sources. He claims I wrote the wrong word down in my book.”

“Wrong word?”

“Most wizards or witches perform magic in a different language. We could do it in English but the use of the different language makes it more of a ritual than everyday practice. Generally, we use Old Norse. There are some that use Latin or Greek. I prefer the Norse. The word actually has five different spellings that mean essentially the same thing. However if used in a spell different things can happen. That was news to me, actually.”

“What did you do to upset him so?”

“One of the many teachers they have sent told me to always cast a look-around spell before casting. Just to make sure that there were no bystanders or innocents that can possibly be harmed. Montgomery, the old guy, told me that spell was unnecessary and to do what he told me to do. So I did. He began yelling at me as soon as I spoke the wrong word. The diagnostic failed to happen and there was a bright flash of light. Behind us on the edge of the tree-line a rabbit and a deer had literally just stepped out as I cast. Somehow the spell fused the two creatures. We now have at least one Jackalope here on the reservation.”

The director smiled and then when she realized I wasn’t kidding, grimaced. “Why do you say at least one?”

“I think I sort of saw three earlier in the field across the street. The last time I did something like this was when I was four. Those squirrels are still purple. I have no idea how far that spell may have gone. I’m sure the Council will be contacting you before too long. I half expected to hear from them before I ran into your trio of Russians.”

“About them. Will the Council send someone?”

“Well, I sent them the required message after I froze them. They usually respond within twenty-four hours. Think of them as cable repairmen. The spell will hold until they show up.”

Director Mills looked at me and then at Cat. “What am I to do with the three of you?”

“We would like for you to let us be students, ma’am. It’s why we’re here. Think of us as natural resources. We just need training to make us more useful.”

“I know school hasn’t started yet, but I want all of you to keep low profiles from now on. This incident is going to make waves. I will take responsibility for most of it, but there could be repercussions. Be careful. Now I need to get back to my office. My assistants must have thought the world ended or something by now.”