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possible to discuss anything she could find out from her work sources. Since her friend worked for the council, she was a perfect contact. Honora heaved open the window to find Barnaby perched on the ledge. “Got a delivery,” she said, attaching the note to his leg. Within seconds, he was airborne—much faster than using a courier.
    With a renewed sense of determination, Honora tore into the package Jane had given her. The parchments contained numerous photos and detailed documentation on Jane’s missing husband. Jonathan wasn’t exactly what Honora had been expecting, and he definitely didn’t look like the type of wizard who slept around. In the photo, he was wearing wire-rimmed glasses on a slightly crooked nose, which wasn’t too strange, except for his long gray hair and beard. Honora wondered what spell he was using to get his hair to grow so long without the ends splitting. He was also sporting a deep burgundy robe, similar to those worn by professors at the academy. She easily pegged him for at least three hundred and fifty years old, which was middle-aged for witches and wizards.
    Another photograph caught Honora’s attention. This one was of a much younger wizard who looked like he could be the older man’s son. Now this guy she could see with Jane. He was clean-shaven with short brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He had a medium build and was wearing creased khaki pants, ironed to perfection. He was pure vanilla. Honora was relatively certain he owned more than a few sweater vests.
    So who was who? Now the secret started to come out. Honora immediately suspected identity magic, like a glamor or potion, was at play.
    Performing some serious magical conjuring with her kettle, Vivi had invented a potion so Clover could change her identity into the fictitious author Cassandra Reason while doing promotional appearances for her magical romance novels. Potions and spells that camouflaged a witch’s identity weren’t impossible to come by, but they were easy to detect with security spells, so no witch could commit a crime wearing a different face without his or her true identity being discovered. Identity spells were also practical for low-level security, and the police often used them to protect witnesses. Basically, any witch or wizard who had the means and wanted to maintain a low profile could obtain the spell.
    For witches like Clover, it was a fun way to hide her face for a few hours while she did readings for her adoring fans and still keep her privacy. But the spells were temporary, never lasting more than a few hours at most, and unless a witch had a connection like a potion-making sister, maintaining the false identity got very expensive.
    The question now was: Why was Jonathan Rainer hiding his face, and which Jon was the real one? Curious.
    Honora made herself a cup of black tea and dug in to the rest of the materials, reading through the notes. Jonathan was a magical physicist. He’d graduated top of his class at Haven Academy and at the College of Advanced Magic. The wizard had multiple degrees—so many that he also taught and advised training methods for other witches and wizards at the academy. Honora’s respect for him grew by the second. He’d also been awarded numerous grants from the Witch Council over the years to study magic, including barrier spells, large-scale wards, and protection magic. In fact, it appeared he was currently working for the council on a top-secret project worth millions of pounds of gold. The Rainers must be loaded , Honora thought. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about Jane covering her fee.
    Honora narrowed her eyes and read further. The grant focused on a new barrier spell and protection ward combination, but what interested her was the size. The magic was large scale. Huge. What did Everland need all that protection from, and if one of the council’s top magicians went missing, why weren’t they looking for him at a higher level? Or had the council