“Well, souls are a funny thing,” Trudi said, turning the pancakes as she rolled her lower lip between her teeth. “Not all souls get reincarnated. Not all souls have mates. But when two halves of a soul separate under unnatural circumstances, it’s believed that they’ll return to mend what was broken.”
“That’s quite romantic,” I said.
“She saw it on Quantum Leap,” Candi said, rolling her eyes at her sister.
We all cracked up, laughing hard at the absurdity of Candi’s comment. It felt good to spend time with women, to have fun. I spent a lot of time alone, so friendship was one more of those things I’d missed out on the over years.
“We’ll help you figure it out,” Mindi promised, taking a stack of finished pancakes and loading them onto a plate before bringing it to me at the counter. “The LaFeys are pretty powerful witches. We can do a lot.”
“That reminds me,” I said quickly, pulling out my phone to check for emails from Hugh. “I spoke with the curator of the Monster Museum in Dublin a little while ago, and he mentioned that there was a journal in his possession that belonged to the LaFey family.”
I almost cried in relief when I saw several messages, complete with attachments, filling the screen of my inbox.
“I don’t doubt it,” Candi said. “Our family is ancient.”
I clicked through the messages until I found the one containing the journal entries, then opened the files and turned my phone to the women who’d gathered behind the counter in front of me.
“Hugh said that the entry stated the LaFeys helped with the ritual at the tomb,” I said, my pancakes forgotten as I watched the women scroll through the documents.
“I’ll be damned,” Trudi whispered as her gaze raked over my phone screen. “That’s Grandma Judi’s handwriting.”
“And spelling,” Candi said with a soft laugh. “The woman was a genius but good lord, it was like she’d never even heard of a dictionary.”
“Looks like it’s time to call in reinforcements,” Mindi said, pulling out her own phone and tapping quickly over the screen. “Grandma Judi’s gone, but two of her daughters are here. Let’s see if we can get you some more information.”
My heart leapt in my chest at the idea that I might actually be able to learn more soon, from people who were close to the situation. With a renewed sense of hope, I dug into my pancakes, my stomach reminding me that it had been far too long since I’d last eaten.
“We’ll make sure they come out,” Candi assured me, giving me a wide smile. “This is fun! It’s like Scooby and the gang.”
“You’re the dog,” Trudi and Mindi said together, turning their grins toward Candi.
She responded with two raised middle fingers, and I laughed around a mouthful of breakfast.
I knew I still had a long way to go, but somehow I also knew that my new friends were going to help me solve the mystery of Victor Galt and Claire DuBois.