Witch's Bell Book One

the crime within the day.
    Murders were another thing, though. She'd only seen two before, and both times she'd had to find an excuse to run into the bathroom and throw up.
    'You can't rush into these things,' she eventually offered, staring determinedly up at the building, 'you have to be careful,' she was still patting down her skirt, 'pet,' she added as an afterthought.
    Detective Nate arched an eyebrow, his expression teetering on the edge of annoyance. 'Right, only thing is, the murder is in there,' he pointed at the door to the building. 'And unless you think the outside of the building committed the crime, we're really going to have to go inside to get the full story. Oh, and another thing,' he ducked under the police tape and made for the stairs, 'I'm not your pet, dear,' he called out over his shoulder.
    Ebony bit her lip from annoyance. Who did this guy think he was? Barely a half-hour ago he was staring at her all trout-lipped as her magical bookstore tried to kill him. Now he was all gung-ho to go and check out his first magical-murder. He should still be whimpering, Ebony decided firmly, still shaking in his shiny shoes at the mere thought that witches exist.
    'Whatever,' she snapped, 'rookie then.' Ebony finally ducked under the police tape, ignoring the shiver than shot down her spine. 'You won't be so ballsy when you see it,' she added to herself.
    'Hey there Eb,' the cop at the door nodded to Ebony as she walked up the steps. 'How's that store of yours?'
    'Howdy, Jeb,' Ebony sauntered up to the man, gave him a wink, and deftly snatched the Styrofoam cup from his hands, 'store's fine. How's the wife?'
    'Gees, Eb, you're such a thief,' Jeb looked at his empty hands, shook his head, and proceeded to open the door for Ebony, 'and the wife's fine.'
    She took a quick sip of her stolen brew, and winked. 'You know, you are meant to arrest thieves, Officer.'
    'Oh, I can't arrest you, Eb. You'd be a bad influence on all the other guys in lock-up.'
    Ebony walked in, pretending to look thoughtful. 'Good point.'
    Detective Nate was waiting for her just inside the door, and had obviously witnessed the entire exchange, as he was staring at Ebony with mild disgust. 'When you're finished, everyone is waiting for us on the second level.'
    Ebony bit lightly into the edge of her cup, and smiled barely. 'Don't rush me, rookie. Remember, it's your first day. And me,' she patted her chest, 'I've been here... for ages.'
    Nate looked decidedly underwhelmed by her reply. 'Been here for ages. Wow, I can't compete with that.'
    She narrowed her eyes, staring at him from over the edge of her coffee. 'You know, this isn't a game, Detective Wall. Upstairs is going to be a crime scene unlike anything you've ever seen. No amount of training will ever prepare you for it.' Ebony tilted her head up and to the side, in an attempt to get just the right angle, so she seemed both deliciously ominous and thoroughly in control.
    When the detective just stared back at her, expression blank, Ebony gave a small harrumph and pushed past him. 'Where did you come from, anyway?'
    'Carrington,' Nate somehow appeared at her side, matching her pace easily.
    'Oh, the big city,' Ebony took one last sharp sip on her coffee, before tossing the cup into a bin.
    Nate rolled his dark eyes. 'We've got a potential homicide; you mind not messing up the crime scene?' He walked over to the bin, fished out Ebony's discarded cup, and handed it to her. His face looked like the picture of a perfect policeman: his jaw was set, his eyes cold, and his mouth drawn. It was the face of a man who would stand in the path of a charging bull, telling it off for being a public nuisance.
    Ebony sneered through a smile, finally snatching the cup off him when she realized it was going to take too much effort to win this one. 'Right, and exactly what did you do in the big smoke, Detective Wall? Did you arrest old ladies for jaywalking?'
    'No,' Nate flattened his tie, 'I worked in homicide.'
    The words fell flat against Ebony like a tidal wave. Great, she thought bitterly. No wonder he was hardly sweating over the idea of walking into a brutal crime scene. It would all be old hat to him.
    When Ebony had finished swearing at the man in her mind, she realized he was paying particularly close attention to her expression. 'What?' she made the word as hollow and forthright as possible.
    'Correct me if I'm wrong,' Nate had his head tilted slightly, as if he was examining some specimen