by J L Collins
His face broke into a smile. “Whose isn’t?”
I tried to push back the sliver of guilt that wanted to take center stage. “Sully?”
“Hm?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about any of this.”
He was quiet for a moment. “There’s no need. As long…” he drew out, wrapping an arm around my waist. “…as you tell me everything on the ride home. Only then, might I forgive you.”
17
Out Of The Closet
“I think maybe if we enchant it from the other side…”
The closed hallway closet door gave off an eerie, blue glow in the space between it and the floor.
“I dunno… I kind of like it.” Fiona-Leigh grinned at the door. “It’s a nice little effect, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “Yeah, it’s definitely a conversation-starter. But I think that might be the problem. God-forbid we have actual guests in our house who have to use the bathroom at some point. I can imagine it now… ‘Oh what a lovely little place you have, Gwen! I’m really digging the way it sounds like your house is about to be sucked up into the vacuum of space and time, particularly through the hallway here. Did the glowy portal into another Realm come with the house, or is it an add-on?”
But even I couldn’t help but smile at our new gateway. And yes, it was an add-on—one personally seen to by Uncle Gardner. He was very specific with the Dwarves Guild. From our closet, we could walk through and land directly outside the gate to the manor house. I’d told him all that wasn’t necessary, but he absolutely insisted.
“I’ve been waiting for this damned gateway to be approved and the plans and spells to be set into place here for months. You’ll not be getting all humble on me now, Gwendolyn,” he had said, standing there against the wrought-iron fencing around the manor house. The large black sheet he’d placed on it was odd looking and drew my suspicion immediately.
But when he’d pulled it back to reveal the gateway, I knew exactly what it meant. He’d accepted me and everything that came with me, once and for all. With and without magic. And for that I was grateful.
But the quiet roar of the gateway had to go.
“We’ll fix it,” I said, turning to Fi. “But first thing’s first.”
“Is this the part where you tell me that I’m about to embark on my first year of magic school?” she teased, referring to many months ago when she’d been so excited at the prospect and ultimately so disappointed that it wasn’t going to happen after all. Of course, all of that had changed now.
“We’ve already had this conversation. You’re finishing out school here. Besides, what would Marina ever do without you? You gotta help keep that girl in line. Anyway, you’re getting off-topic now. There’s something I wanted to show you, actually.”
It had never occurred to me that I might see this moment sometime in my life. Before, when I first found out what having a human child would mean, I didn’t dare imagine this day. And why would I? I may have been in a bad place, but that didn’t mean I believed in self-torture.
Nodding toward the living room, I smiled. “Come on.”
She gave me a weird look but shrugged, following me.
The small white box sat on the coffee table, wrapped in a thin black satin bow.
“What’s this?” she asked quietly, tilting her head as she took a seat on the sofa. “Is this for me?”
“Think of it as an early birthday present.”
“My birthday isn’t for another three months, Mom.”
“Good point. Okay… think of it as an extension of your Winter Solstice present, then.” I was getting antsy as she tilted the small rectangular box this way and that. “There’s no note. It’s from me.”
“Okay…”
She untied the bow and slowly unwrapped it, her eyes bright and curious. Inside, lying on a soft bed of purple velvet, was a wand.
Fi slipped her fingers carefully underneath it, barely breathing as she lifted it from its molding, running her thumb along it. “Oh my god.”
Flexible though still strong, Dwarf-made in fact, the birch wand tapered from the handle to the tip, the handle made for a firm grip with a textured filigree wrapping round it. Small sunflowers—her favorite—wound upward, coiling around the initials ‘F.L.B’ before reaching to the tip. It was beautiful, earthy, and warm—just like her.
“I don’t even know what to say,” she mumbled, her voice thick. “This is the best present, ever.”
I nearly toppled backward from the force of her throwing her arms around my neck, her face wet.
“You like it?” I laughed, doing my best not to add to the tears. I think I’ve had enough of those for a while.
Her head nearly bobbled right off her neck, the way she nodded so hard. “Are you kidding me? Look at this thing!” She brandished it, pretending to conduct an orchestral ensemble with her dark blue eyes wide. “This is the coolest thing, ever!”
I stood back, amused. “I wasn’t sure if maybe you’d want something… I don’t know… different. Like Fairy silver or something.”
She paused. “No way. This is perfect for me. The sunflowers, how light it is—but not too light! And it’s not unwieldy. I love it—seriously. Thank you so, so, so much.”
More hugging and a few episodes of the Great British Bake-Off later, Oisín sauntered past, muttering something about company. Five seconds had barely passed for me to open my mouth and question him before the doorbell rang. I looked at Fi.
“Are you expecting someone?”
She shook her head. “Did you order pizza?”
“No.”
We both frowned, at least until I stood up and saw the top of a dark, curly mop of hair.
“Gee, I wonder who that could be,” she chuckled, still inspecting her new wand.
“Oh, hush,” I whispered, opening the door. Sully’s eyes searched mine for a moment before he relaxed, fixing a smile on his face when he saw mine. I let him in, that same comfortable feeling settling into my bones when I caught a whiff of his hair. Soap and something more rugged… I’d have to ask him about it later.
“Hey ladies,” he said, immediately looking over Fiona-Leigh with a skeptical eye. “You feeling better?”
She nodded and held up her wand with a great big smile on her face. “Definitely. And look what my mom got me!”
He pulled his glasses down a bit to get a better look. “Your own wand? Whoa. That is probably the coolest Christmas gift you could ask for.” He smiled, leaning his head down on top of mine. I’d of course, already shown it to him a couple of days ago after all the chaos had died down and Fiona-Leigh was back to her normal self.
“I didn’t realize you’d be off work so early,” I said, closing my eyes as he placed his arm tightly around my waist.
“Luck of the draw. Honestly, I just wanted to come and check on her. I know she’s feeling better and all, but I was just…”
“Worried?” I offered. I looked over the top of Fi’s head while she turned toward the TV, weighing the wand in her hand and completely oblivious to everyone else. “You and me both. But I’ve been checking on her like crazy—driving her crazy, too. All the traces of extrapolated magic are gone. Aside from her own dormant and now active powers, she’s clear.”
Sully shook his head, pulling me into the hallway, stopping only to glance nervously at the closet door. “That’s not going to… you know… explode or something, is it?”
“Nah. Not unless the MARC did a crappy job of constructing it. And since Uncle Gardner was there to make sure all the proper enchantments and spells were cast on it, I think we’re good. Though maybe we should come up with some kind of fun alibi, just in case,” I said, smiling as Sully pulled me closer by my hips.
“Mm. What did you have in mind, Brady?”
Jax skirted past behind us, running into the kitchen to chase a ball that had been haphazardly thrown from the living room, most likely by Oisín.
I smiled up at him some more. “Mm
… what about ‘sorry officer. My cat got stuck in the wall behind the circuit breaker, and he tore out all the wiring?’”
He shook his head. “Nah. What about, ‘Oh, officer, I didn’t see you there! What? A domestic terrorism attempt? No way, it was just my fairy godmother coming in for an emergency landing!”
“Ooh, the Fae would not approve,” I giggled, slipping my hands around his waist this time.
“So. I was thinking.”
Both of us quickly pulled away. His face looked just as flushed as mine felt.
“Yeah, let’s just… ignore all that. Anyway… I was thinking. You know how you told me all the reasons I couldn’t tell Marina about you being a Witch?”
I narrowed my eyes—I had a pretty good hunch I knew where this was going. “Uh-huh.”
“And you said that we always had to worry about how humans react, and how really it wasn’t my secret to tell?”
“Yes.”
She laced her fingers together, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “So, we already know how Marina would react…”
I shook my head, “Fi…”
But she held up her hand, her expression pleading. “Please just, let me finish, Mama.”
I sighed. “Go on.” I could feel Sully snicker as he turned his head away for a moment. Traitor.
“Like I said, we already know how she’d react. I mean, she was so excited when we told her the truth and all! And look how it’s turned out for him,” she said, gesturing to Sully. “He’s not freaking out or anything.”
“He’s an adult who knows what’s at stake, Fiona-Leigh,” I said, already over having this conversation. Again.
“I know, I know. But still. We didn’t know how he’d react and there you go. You also told me all of this wasn’t my secret. But that’s changed.” She pulled herself up to her full height, no longer slouching nervously against the wall. “I’ve changed. And I think I have the right to tell her. She doesn’t have the right to know, but I have the right to tell her if I want. At least about me. Though I think it would be nice to come completely clean with her about it all. And at the very least, she would have someone here to understand what having this knowledge is like. And who better than her own uncle, right?”
I chewed my lip. Her argument was compelling enough, to say the least. I’d never given much thought to how Fi’s new-found powers would affect her friendship with Marina. And I knew how it had affected things between me and Sully—I hated keeping so much of my life from him. Now that I knew what it felt like to have that freedom, I could see it for what it was worth.
“What do you think?” I asked Sully, nudging him. Marina was his niece, and I didn’t want him to have an issue with her knowing.
“Don’t look at me. Like the girl said, it’s her right, isn’t it? If you want my opinion,” he started, looking between the two of us, “I think Marina could potentially handle it. And I can at least help keep it that way as much as possible.”
Fiona-Leigh beamed at him, nodding. “I knew I liked you.”
I sucked in a breath, blowing it out heavily. “Okay.”
“Okay…?”
“You can tell her. But,” I quickly began, heading off her excitement with my final warning, “You have to tell her here. I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. And maybe break it to her a little bit at a time, instead of all at once. It’s a lot to take in.”
“No kidding,” Sully mumbled. “But it’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”
Fiona-Leigh let out some kind of high-pitched noise between a squeak and a squeal and clapped her hands together. ‘Oh my god! Yes, yes, yes!”
She tore off into her room, the door slamming behind her before I had a chance to say another word. Inside, I could hear her talking into her phone.
“Marina. Oh. My. God. What? Of course I’m actually calling you! This is not something I can send over in a text. You have got to get over here. I have the craziest story to tell you…”
Sully clasped my hands in his as he turned to me. And just like that, the dull roar of the closet, the excited and muffled voice of my daughter, and the sound of Jax squeaking one of his toys all faded away. It was just us.
He fixed his dark eyes on me. “And you’re sure you’re okay, too?”
Did he want the truth? I looked away. “I will be. Right now, it’s enough that she’s safe and she’s happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
The frown was still visible under his beard. “Of course. And listen, I can’t say I have any idea what you must have been feeling. But it’s okay to be upset. You gave up what I think amounts to a part of your soul. And I know you’d choose to do it every time, but please don’t feel guilty if it hurts. Okay?”
Dang it. He was going to make me cry after all. I bit down on my lip hard. I was not going to feel sorry for myself. “Thank you. It’s… enough just to hear that. I will be okay though. Really. I still have my family, and while it will definitely take some getting used to, at least I can see Fiona-Leigh learning just like I did. It’s bittersweet, but I think more sweet than bitter.”
He nodded, and I knew he understood. “It’s been one hell of a week, wouldn’t you say?”
It took everything in me not to collapse against his chest in utter exhaustion and total agreement. “Yeah. You could say that.” I brought our intertwined hands up to my mouth and kissed his knuckles. “I’m glad it’s over.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
His lips were warm, and his kiss was earnest, something that tasted like a long-won battle and the sweet tang of mint. We pulled away some time later, or maybe it was just moments after, and I felt dizzy from my head to my toes. The good kind of dizzy, as Aunt Bedelia would always say.
It would be a new day, each and every day. I would show up and accept my new non-magic status and absolutely push Fiona-Leigh to embrace her new powers (as long as she stayed in school.) I would do it with Sully at my side, and my family always at my back.
And I would be happy. Finally.
The End.
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Spell Maven Mystery Series Order:
Spell Maven from Spell Haven (Book 1)
Snitch Witch (Book 2)
Tragic Magick (Book 3)
Tell-Tale Tavern Mysteries Series Order:
Gin & Ghosts (Book 1)
Murder & Mimosas (Book 2)
Sangria & Spirits (Book 3)
Tombstones & Tonic (Book 4)
Witch Hazel Lane Mysteries Series Order:
Grits in the Graveyard (Book 1)
Devil on My Doorstep (Book 2)
Monsters Under the Magnolia (Book 3)
About the Author
J. L. (Jerri) lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, with her family and feisty furbaby. She loves southern food, literally any dog, hiking, Carolina sunrises on the beach, shopping on King Street, and curling up with about twenty different books on the weekends. Her favorites are mysteries and fantasies where the characters make her laugh, cry, and feel #allthefeels. When she gets the rare chance, she also likes to go exploring and learning more about Charleston’s rich history.
