Page 107 of Autumn L.A.W

And then Rosa shared an urban legend. She’d heard about an old log cabin. Deep in the trees. Boarded up. So creepy that even curious teenagers gave it a wide berth after one look. Was it an urban legend? Or very practical real estate for a witch who liked to be left alone.

Duke exhaled slowly.

“If that’s her,” he murmured, more to himself than to Rosa, “then she’s not hiding. Not really.”

He glanced toward the window, toward the stretch of land beyond the mansion’s carefully maintained illusion of normalcy.

“She’s settled here. And confident in her safety.”

Rosa shifted nervously. “Am I in trouble?”

Duke gave her a look.

“Yes,” he said. “You’re very much in trouble.”

Then he turned, already moving, mind racing ahead to the next step.

Local meant trackable.

Goddess, let her be a year-round resident. Because eight million people are already a nightmare. Adding summer visitors? That turns the search into chaos with a beach pass.

Behind him, the mansion stood quiet for a beat—then the lights dimmed, as if it, too, knew the hunt might be impossible.

After enlisting Lioness’s remote viewing gift and his own magical intuition, Duke eventually tracked down the log cabin. It was well-worn and made of actual whole logs. Its door and window trim were covered in runes and symbols—some of which he’d never seen before.

“Now, what will happen if I try to open this door?” he muttered.

Oddly enough, the latch clicked on its own, and the door creaked open about an inch. He waited a moment, and when nothing happened, he carefully pushed the door fully open. He poked his head in, and still seeing nothing to worry about, he entered. Looking around, he didn’t see any sorceress. He was about to leave when he heard a voice coming from the shadows.

“You are looking for answers,” the voice said.

He spun around to find the sorceress standing behind him. She had long black and gray hair and dark, piercing eyes that seemed to see through him.

“I need your help. It’s about the talisman you offered to a woman at a dry-cleaning store. It was used to steal the body of my friend.”

“The talisman is incredibly powerful, and I was tasked with keeping it safe.”

“By whom?”

“Never you mind.” She cleared her throat and continued. “About a year ago, I had sensed that others were trying to take it, so I hid it away in my dirty laundry basket. I had forgotten that my great-niece was coming to visit, and the girl thought she’d be helpful by taking her great-aunt’s clothes to a laundry service—accidentally sending the talisman away.”

Duke opened his mouth to speak, but she held up one hand and stopped his words. Then she continued.

“To thank the laundress who’d found it, I told her what it could do and would allow her to use it, once. As soon as it had been used, I would know and would return for it.”

“So, you were afraid someone was going to steal this very powerful object, and you handed it over to a dry cleaner for a year?”

The sorceress just shrugged.

Duke sighed and thanked the sorceress for her cooperation. Then he asked her the most important question. “Can you bring my friend back to her original body?”

The sorceress looked at him sadly and shook her head. “It’s impossible to undo what was done.”

Shit. How do I tell Victoria that she may have to remain in her current form for the rest of her life?

Oddly enough, an instant later, Duke found himself standing outside of the old woman’s cabin. Apparently, he had been dismissed.

Duke reappeared in the library with all the enthusiasm of a man who’d just been handed a “no refunds, no exchanges” verdict from the universe. Not ideal.