He’d repeatedly apologized for his verbal attacks on me, too. After all, he’d been the one to tell the entire coven what I’d just learned at the time—that I was the daughter of a mass murderer. He knew that the sins of my father had nothing to do with me, but, according to Finch, Garrett was pretty upset about how close Wade and I were. That, in and of itself, was ridiculous, since there was nothing going on between Wade and me. The heart was a fickle thing, in Garrett’s case. He was still one of the hottest guys in the coven, but I just couldn’t look at him the way he looked at me. I didn’t feel that spark, the proverbial je ne sais quoi.
Our only date had gone sideways after Wade showed up with Clara Fairmont, then got into an argument with Garrett. That episode still puzzled me, weeks later. What had Wade been thinking, when my purpose had been to get intel out of Garrett regarding their Bestiary investigation?
“Define creepy,” Tatyana replied. “The man has quite the reputation as a physician. In fact, I’m told he’s one of the best in his field, able to mix medical science and magic in ways never seen before.”
“You’re quoting out of his profile in the San Diego Coven Gazette, aren’t you?” Astrid said, heavily amused.
“That’s what it says!” Tatyana chuckled.
Garrett then moved his sights to Wade. Again, I noticed a tinge of sadness. He and Wade had once been close friends, and neither wanted to talk about what happened between them. Still, I was curious.
“Most of the rumors you’ve heard about Krieger are unfounded,” Wade interjected. “He is kind of creepy-looking, though.”
“Rumors, as in how he snatches young magicals from their beds, does horrible experiments on them, then wipes their memories and puts them back in their covens?” Astrid replied.
“Or how he did a whole Dr. Frankenstein thing a few years back and made a new magical from different body parts, before having to put the creature down after it blew up his laboratory?” Santana chimed in.
“What about that time he slipped powerful toxins into the Miami Coven’s lunch, and they ended up going berserk for an entire afternoon?” Raffe joined the Spooky Krieger train, laughing.
“Miss Merlin!” A male voice made my head snap and instantly silenced everyone at the table. I recognized the German accent right away.
“Dr. Krieger,” I murmured.
Wolfgang Krieger had the most silent footsteps in the San Diego Coven. No one ever heard him coming. Case in point, the entire Rag Team were frozen in their seats, their eyes wide with horror as they hoped he hadn’t heard anything they’d just said. Their anguish was my anguish. Damn Empathy!
Krieger was a tall man in his mid-forties, with broad shoulders and short, slick blond hair. His eyes were a pale and clinical blue, devoid of emotion. He wore a white lab coat over his gray suit at all times, along with a pair of small, thin-rimmed glasses. For all intents and purposes, Wolfgang Krieger, originally from the Berlin Coven, seemed designed to instill fear in the hearts of his beholders.
“Dr. Krieger, we didn’t see you there,” Astrid managed, her voice uneven.
“You’re not supposed to, Miss Hepler,” Krieger replied flatly.
His emotions were clear to me—sheer amusement, with an undertone of insult. He felt offended by the rumors, which he’d obviously heard, but he seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting my crew. I wasn’t one to get on the physician’s bad side before my second Reading, so I kept that little nugget to myself and watched my teammates quiver before him. Even Wade seemed wary, and that made me smile.
“Anyway, Miss Merlin,” Krieger continued. “I believe it’s time we arrange a second Reading for you. It’s been on my to-do list for a while now, but Miss de la Barthe’s other projects have been keeping me quite busy. I do apologize for taking so long to find you.”
Astrid’s German impression hadn’t been far off. Krieger’s accent was strong, cutting through his English like a giant clumsy knife.
“Dr. Krieger, it’s all right. I completely understand,” I replied politely. “I suppose Adley’s work was a lot to take in?”
I had no idea what I was talking about, since I didn’t know anything about the previous physician’s projects, but I was hoping that Krieger would tell us. He nodded.
“Yes, the magical detector is quite an ambitious project,” he said. “Miss de la Barthe was exquisite in her field. I must give credit where it’s due.”
My eyebrows rose. “Magical detector? Someone’s still working on that with Adley gone?”
Krieger stilled, his forehead smooth and his gaze cold. “You know about it? It’s supposed to be top secret.”
“I suppose it’s not top secret, since you just told us about it,” I replied with a smirk, secretly surprised that he’d actually played into my little scheme. “But don’t worry, I haven’t told people. I only overheard it myself from Alton and Tobe.”
Krieger shook his head. “I’m either getting old, or you’re very good at getting people to reveal things they normally wouldn’t,” he replied, then smiled briefly. “But you’re right. It’s not a secret. It’s just that not many people here talk about it, mainly because Adley didn’t tell anyone about what she was doing, except Alton and Tobe. And yes, I’ve taken over the work she’s done so far.”
“So, what’s a magical detector, exactly? I never got the details,” I said.
“We’re trying to develop a detection technique, based on the Reading. Something simple that would allow us to identify magicals out in the human world, without their blood,” Krieger explained. “The project is still in its incipient stages, but the theories behind it are sound and rather promising.”
“You want to have a detector handy to identify new magicals,” Wade concluded. “Without a fuss and without the humans noticing.”
“Indeed, Mr. Crowley. Our purpose is to find the magicals before their powers manifest so the covens can bring them in and take care of them,” Krieger replied.
That sounded like a very good idea, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but worry about how easily such a tool could be used to hunt magicals instead of helping them. If this device fell into the wrong hands, like those of Katherine or some other evil bastard looking to do harm, or even the humans if they knew about us… I didn’t even want to think about it.
“Anyway, Miss Merlin. I will make time in my schedule over the next couple of days for your second Reading,” Krieger added. “Please make sure you’re available.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
A knot formed in my throat. It was finally happening. The second Reading. The confirmation of my Mediocrity or the debunking of it. I was definitely nervous about it. I had my work cut out for me in both scenarios. With the certainty of Mediocrity, I had to work twice as hard to get to a level where I could feel confident enough against someone like Katherine Shipton. If, however, I wasn’t a Mediocre after all, I still had to work and push myself to take on someone as deadly as my aunt. Not knowing for sure was the worst part, though.
“And don’t worry, I’ve upgraded the Reading syringes,” Krieger said, grinning.
“Oh. I’d forgotten about that part,” I murmured, getting the chills as I remembered the size of that monstrous metallic syringe that Adley had used to draw my blood. “Glad to hear about that, I suppose.”
“I’ve had trouble getting some of our new magicals to sit down for a Reading,” Krieger replied. “And I’m not one to tie the youngsters down. That’s just… barbaric! I figured it was better to redesign the tool itself and make it more child-friendly.”
Looking at him now, Krieger wasn’t creepy at all. He was actually quite sweet, and his emotions were all positive as he spoke to us. There was no deception… nothing to ring any alarm bells. The rumors were definitely ridiculous.
“I’m sure the young magicals of the San Diego Coven are grateful for that,” I said, smiling.
The Rag Team was still frozen, and Krieger didn’t let that slide, either. “Now you can all go back to repeating folk tales about how I boil babies in cauldrons,” he quipped, then gave me a playful wink. “And I’ll be in touch, Miss Merlin, to schedule your Reading.”
I snorted a laugh as he walked away, overwhelmed by the face-burning embarrassment inundating me. Santana, Astrid, Raffe, Tatyana, and Dylan were all red-cheeked. Wade, on the other hand, was stifling a smirk. Mr. I’m-Right-All-The-Time.
“So, he heard everything,” Astrid whispered.
“He totally did,” I replied, feeling my ears get close to melting temperature.
They needed a minute or two to recover from the shame, while I struggled to regain my composure, dealing with their sheepish emotions. Still, I was pleased we were still given assignments together as the now-notorious Rag Team, whenever delicate coven work was required. We’d done a good job during the gargoyle incidents, so why split us up?
Alton rose from his table, leaving Imogene with Leonidas and the preceptors, and made his way toward our table. He exchanged a nod with Krieger as the physician passed by him and headed for the exit.
“Morning, team!” Alton greeted us. “Meeting in my office in twenty minutes?”
“Morning, Alton,” Wade replied, his brow furrowed. “Did something happen?”
Alton put on a flat smile. “We’ll talk in twenty minutes,” he said, before returning to his table.
That instantly put us all on edge, especially me. My nerves were already bending and stretching to new limits. I wondered if this was about Katherine Shipton.
Maybe it was time to settle that score. I certainly looked forward to it.
Three
Harley
Alton’s office was always a pleasure to be in. I would’ve loved to have such a sweet slice of the coven all to myself—provided I was ready to commit to being there for the rest of my life. I was already tempted to do it, but part of me still wasn’t ready to let go of my independence.