Maceo opened his arms, hoping Judias would accept the embrace, but the Witch just gave him a glare that could freeze the flames of Hades.

“I see you still remember how we left things.”

“Remember? How could I forget?” Judias took a breath, trying to keep a hold of his temper. “You asked me to choose between you and my magic.”

“And we both know what you chose at the end.” Maceo replied.

Judias shook his head with a chuckle. “Don’t you start that now. I was doing fine. In the past two years, I didn’t come to find you and I didn’t visit your side of the Realm.”

When Maceo realized Judias wouldn’t welcome his embrace, he dropped his arms to hang at his sides. “I see you still kept your hair curly.”

Judias sniffed. “I see you still kept that God-awful cologne. I thought they stopped making it when Briar Rose woke up.”

Maceo laughed. Judias had always hated his favorite cologne. He looked around the loft and nodded in approval.

“This place is amazing. What do you do here? And where exactly is ... here?”

“I’m a private investigator for all Beings; Mortal, Magical, and Enchanted. You can think of me as your friendly neighborhood Witchy Sherlock Holmes. Helping anyone who needs it.”

Maceo scooped up a piece of candy from the bowl on Judias’ desk. “Hmm, like what?”

“Well, some Magical Beings hire me to vanquish Demons -- or sometimes other weird creatures. I don’t get many Enchanted clients, though. They usually just call on their Fairy Godmothers for help. Still, it’s not a boring job.

“And to answer your second question, we’re in Gladen Falls. Its’ a college town in the Mortal Realm. You’d know that if you used a map instead of that damn Pixie Dust to find me.”

Maceo spent a few seconds unwrapping the candy as he listened to Judias. He finally freed the cherry-flavored hard candy and popped it in his mouth as he looked at the Witch.

“Look Red, I came because I didn’t see you at the service. I got worried and-”

Judias quickly interrupted. “What service? Who died?”

The Witch must not have heard the news. Maceo worked on the candy as he tried to find the words.

Eventually he sighed and said, “Red, Athena died this morning."

Funeral services in the Enchanted and Magic Realms had to take place ten minutes after the Being died because they had to bury or cremate the Being quickly, so no one else tried to steal their magic or possess their bodies.

He wasn’t sure how he sounded; tone was hard for him, and God knew, the last thing Judias needed was to think Maceo didn’t care about this.

Judias arched his eyebrow with an amused huff. “That’s a sick joke, Mace. That’s something I would say, but you? I thought you were better than that.”

Maceo shook his head, slowly taking the Witch’s soft hands into his own. “Red, I’m not kidding. This isn’t a joke. Athena is dead. They found her this morning.”

Judias looked into Maceo’s eyes, searching. “You’re serious?”

The Prince nodded.

“How ... did she die?”

Maceo hadn’t been able to visit the crime scene, but he had sources in the S.E.I.P.S. agency -- Special Enterprise In Protecting Supernaturals. “Well, I heard she was stabbed, but there was also a man a few feet away from her. The murder weapon was gone. There was also a pile of ashes next to her that the agents believe were remains. They’re analyzing it now. Do you know anyone by the name of Dominic Ortiz?”

Judias shook his head.

“Apparently, he was a Wizard. Which makes me believe whoever killed Athena, also killed him.”

“You figured all that out on your own?” Judias asked dryly, as he took back his hands.

Maceo had missed Judias’ sharp tongue. Kind of. “Look, I’m trying to figure out what’s going on here. Athena was a very dangerous Witch and if she’s dead, then who knows what Witch is next?”

“Or just her. I know it’s hard for you to believe, but Athena made plenty of enemies throughout her life. Any one of them could’ve just snapped and killed her. She gave up her Immortality a few years ago, so her death was inevitable.”

Maceo opened his mouth to agree when in a sudden, smoky light, a strange creature appeared in the loft. His eyes widened.

The creature cracked the bones in its neck and let out a growl. “Hello, friend.”

Maceo spat out the candy and unclenched his right hand as a blue light enveloped it. “What are you?”