by Susan Harper
Monica covered her mouth in surprise. She had not even thought about this. She supposed she should have, though. Bonnie had been at Holly’s cabin for hours before the place went up in flames. It wasn’t like someone could have given her the medication beforehand, because they would have noticed that something was wrong earlier in the evening before she had finally decided to lay down. It had to have been someone close by. Someone who had been at the get-together. “That’s terrible,” Monica said. “But you’re right. Okay, so who all was at the house?”
“You and me and Isaac,” Brian began. “Holly and her adopted parents, Bonnie and George. Her adopted uncle was there with his kids.”
“What were their names again?” Monica asked. She had only briefly spoken with them that evening.
“Kyle, George’s brother, and the kids are Mark and Mattie,” Brian said. “Then there was Grace and Naven.”
“Right, and her birth dad Jonathan, his wife Norah, and their daughter Anniston,” Monica said breathlessly. “It’s a good thing you’re going to be on the case. Got a house full of mystics and mortals together.”
“That’s a lot of suspects,” Brian said. “But I suppose it’s better than not having a clue.”
“You can rule Holly and Isaac out,” Monica said. “Can you imagine any sort of motive for Holly wanting to hurt her mom or Isaac wanting to hurt her?”
“Not at the moment,” Brian said, “and I know them both really well, but I can’t let my personal relationship with them prevent me from doing my due diligence. Though, I do agree with you that those two seem the least likely. Holly’s always been close with her mom… Then again, you’ve told me about that case with Anniston’s other body. I feel like with mystics involved, I can’t really rule out anything, can I? I mean, Isaac could be a literal doppelganger and our Isaac is off somewhere locked in some medieval dungeon in Wysteria.”
Monica nearly snorted. “You’re stretching what’s probable a bit there, don’t you think?’
“Maybe,” he said, turning down the dirt road that led toward Monica’s cottage and Holly’s cabin. “I can’t place a motive for Holly or Isaac. What about Holly’s dad?”
“George or Jonathan?” Monica asked.
“George, her adopted dad,” Brian said.
“You tell me,” Monica said. “You know them. Tonight was my first time meeting them. Any trouble in paradise?”
“If so, I wouldn’t know it,” Brian said. “They’ve always been really good together. And, as far as I know, she’s always gotten along really well with George’s family, including Kyle and his kids.”
“Okay, so that’s something we should look into since neither of us seem to know much of anything about their marriage,” Monica said. “Grace and Naven?”
“Grace seemed thrilled to meet the woman who had raised her other half,” Brian said. “But she did lose her mom recently. Could she maybe be jealous of Holly’s relationship with Bonnie?”
“Maybe, not that she seemed it,” Monica said. “You know, Naven and Bonnie got into a little tiff at the beginning of the night. I wasn’t there to witness it, but I know Bonnie was irritated. He made some sort of comparison between her and Grace and Holly’s birthmother. She was very offended, but they both seemed to let it go pretty quickly. He apologized.”
“Still, good to know they were irritated with one another. We don’t exactly know anything about him, now do we?” Brian said, now pulling up the drive. “Guess that leaves Jonathan, Norah, and Anniston. Thoughts on them?”
“I doubt it, but then again, Norah was part of Remembrance once. That was a lifetime ago for her. She fled from the group, but maybe she doesn’t like the idea of Holly having been raised by mortals?”
“Holly’s not her daughter,” Brian said. “You think she would get that offended on her part?”
“No, but maybe on Jonathan’s behalf,” Monica said. “She is totally in love with him. Maybe she thought getting rid of Holly’s adopted family would mean less competition for Holly’s affection toward her and Jonathan and Anniston?”
“I think that’s a stretch too,” Brian said. “If we’re looking at jealousy for motive, Jonathan might be the more viable suspect.”
“If Jonathan was the jealous one, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to target George as opposed to Bonnie? Besides, he is a big teddy bear. I have a hard time imagining that man even knowns how to light a match let alone drug a woman and set a cabin on fire,” Monica said. “Anniston is beyond excited about all this new family. You saw how excited she was meeting Grace tonight. Holly’s told me she’s been just as giddy about meeting Bonnie and George.”
“Okay, well, we’ve talked out initial instincts,” Brian said, putting his truck in park. “Now let’s see what we can find evidence-wise.”
They climbed out of the car. There were several patrol cars, a fire truck, and a crime scene unit van all posted outside the house. Some large lights had been set up so that the fire department and crime scene unit could make their way through the scene now that the fire had finally been put out. Half of the cabin was completely gone, and the large tree that Grace had caused to fall on the house to let the flood of rain come in was still lying straight through the living room.
“Chief!” Brian called, and Monica scanned the surrounding area in search of Chief Tollr.
The big, round man with the scrunched-up face was the police chief for Bankstown. Unbeknownst to everyone outside of Monica’s inner circle, Chief Tollr was in fact a half-breed troll from Wysteria. The man had been living in Bankstown for most of his life, though, and though he was a bit troll-like, mortals never noticed that he was not truly one of them. “Ah, Brian, glad you’re back,” Chief Tollr said, stomping his way toward them. He spoke to Brian and Monica in a whisper so that his investigative team could not hear. “I found a bit of evidence of magic around that tree. Did you do that, Monica?”
“No, Holly’s sister did,” Monica said. “She caused a rainstorm to try to put out the fire and knocked the tree down to let the rain in.”
“Impressive wand-work!” Chief Tollr said, surprised.
“No wand,” Monica said, and he looked confused for a moment. “I suppose we never told you that Holly is half of a matured Ibeji.”
The man clutched his chest in surprise. “You’re joking!”
“No, sir,” Monica said. “Last of her kind, the Sorcerer’s Council assumes.”
“You’re pulling my leg.”
“She’s serious,” Brian said. “If not for Grace, this whole place would have gone up in flames. I probably wouldn’t have made it out with Holly’s mother, either.”
“Holly…a real life Ibeji, and here I’ve been having her make my coffee every Tuesday morning before my early shift!” Chief Tollr shook the surprising news off. “Well, I’ve spoken to the fire department. They’re ruling this as arson. Not sure how it was started just yet, but they know it began in the bedroom where you found Bonnie. Woman’s lucky you got to her when you did, Brian. Five more minutes, and she would have been burnt to a crisp. I want you investigating this as an arson and attempted homicide.”
“My thoughts exactly, Chief,” Brian said.
“Head of the fire department is here. Have a word with him before he leaves so you can make sure you’re well informed on what they’ve found,” Chief Tollr said, and Brian nodded and excused himself. Tollr turned back to Monica. “You got insurance?”
“No,” Monica said. “But I do have a sister who’s great with reconstructive spells.”
“I figured as much,” he said with a wink. “I’ll leave Brian to it then.” Tollr hobbled off to continue speaking with the investigative team.
Monica, as she was contemplating her next move, spotted movement in the trees. Her eyes narrowed, and she felt a sudden rush of anger as she spotted Abigail hiding in the woods. Monica barged right up to her, surprising her a bit. “Abigail, what are you doing here?” she snapped.
Abigail took several steps back
. She had her wand drawn out from her pilgrim dress sleeve. “I was headed back to the portal like you told me when I saw smoke,” Abigail said. “When I got here, you all had already left, so I started looking around to try to figure out what had happened.”
“Holly’s mom was hurt,” Monica said. “But she’s going to be fine. Now, why are you still here?”
“I just told you,” Abigail said, her little button nose scrunching up in frustration. “I was trying to help.”
“Well, don’t,” Monica said. “Go back to the mystic side where you belong before someone sees you dressed like that and starts asking questions.” Monica paused. She raised an accusing eyebrow in her direction. “Abigail, you didn’t have anything to do with this fire, did you?”
Abigail glared up at her. “You… You really think…” She stomped her foot and threw up both hands. “Fine. I’m going. Message received, Monica. I won’t bother you anymore.” And with that, she stormed off, and Monica silently added one more person to their long list of suspects.
7
Monica’s cottage was frightfully quiet that night when she finally settled down. Usually on nights when she couldn’t sleep, she would talk to Abigail. Now that no longer seemed like much of an option. True, she had certainly been the one to have pushed her away. Abigail had seemed eager to remain friends, but Monica simply wasn’t sure she could trust her entirely, and finding out that she had been at the crime scene hadn’t helped matters.
After an hour of tossing various ingredients into a cauldron brewing over the fire, Monica settled down on the couch and began fiddling with her phone that Isaac had finally insisted on her getting. She could see why mortals found these things so addicting. He had downloaded a number of game apps for her that she had gotten quite drawn into. She kept glancing up at the cauldron, waiting for it to start bubbling properly.
She wasn’t even really sure why she was still bothering with the potion. They had begun months ago working on an ancestry potion for Holly after rightfully suspecting that the Sorcerer’s Council was being dishonest with them about what they had found, but now it seemed like a rather moot point. They knew Holly was an Ibeji. They knew her father was half-mortal and half-immortal. They knew her mother had been a witch named Morgan who had once been a part of Remembrance but had fled them to save her daughters from becoming their little soldiers. What else the ancestry potion could possibly reveal was difficult to say. They had found everything out that they had sought out to discover, but Monica continued. She continued mostly because she had already spent a considerable amount of time on the potion and wanted to see it through to the end. She continued also because she was a potions expert, always had been, and enjoyed the challenge of something new.
Monica flipped through the potions book she had gotten that detailed the long, almost painfully slow process of creating such a potion and discovered that she was not too far off from finally completing the concoction. Her phone, which she had tossed aside on the couch, suddenly buzzed. She picked it up curiously and could see that Holly was texting her.
Mom’s still sleeping, but doing great
She smiled, glad to hear that Holly’s mother was doing well, and she responded promptly.
Glad to hear it! You staying at the hospital tonight?
No – Dad is. Told me I could sleep at his place tonight… since mine is kind of… you know… gone
Why don’t you stay here with me?
The last text was greeted with a number of thumbs up and an all caps GIRLS NIGHT!!!!
Monica smiled, glad that she was going to be having a bit of company that evening. She hurried to straighten up the place, and she removed the cauldron from the fireplace and replaced it with a cooking pot so that she could prep some actual dinner for herself and her guest. Before Monica knew it, Holly had arrived, and they were both seated on the couch enjoying some duck stew. They spoke mostly about the evening’s maddening events and about how Holly’s mom was doing, but eventually, their conversation drifted.
“I saw Abigail when Brian and I came back to the crime scene,” Monica said in an almost whisper.
“Abigail?” Holly asked. “What was she doing?”
“Well, she claims she saw smoke and came back to check on us,” Monica said. “I’d like to think that Abigail didn’t have anything to do with what happened, but…”
“Oh, please, Monica,” Holly said, practically kicking her. “You know Abigail wouldn’t have tried to hurt us. And my mom was drugged. What sort of reason would Abigail have for going after my mom?”
“I don’t know,” Monica said and sighed. “Do you think I should give her a chance? That I should just pretend like I didn’t see what I saw?”
“No, you can’t just let it go,” Holly said. “But you do have to remember that the Abigail that you saw was Abigail over three hundred years ago. She’s obviously not that same person anymore, you know?”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Monica said. “I guess I’m just being a butt because I got my feelings hurt.”
Holly laughed. “Just a little. What you’re feeling, though, it’s merited. If you need space, tell her that. You two were best friends long before I got involved, you know? She was your familiar, after all. You’ve known her just about all your life.”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Monica said and sighed. “It’s a lot to think about. I didn’t like the way she was talking about your sister either.”
“What was she saying about my sister?” Holly asked.
“She just said she had a funny feeling about Grace,” Monica said.
Holly rolled her eyes. “Isaac was saying the same thing, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Monica said. “You think they’re paranoid or that maybe they’re seeing something we’re not?”
“We don’t even know her enough to have a funny feeling about her yet,” Holly said. “I think it’s just the way we met her. It was a little weird.”
Monica laughed. “You mean the fact we met her on the opposite side of the world in a pub or the fact her boyfriend tried to make out with you?”
“Shut up!” Holly laughed. “A little of both, I suppose.” Holly set her now empty bowl down on the coffee table and turned to face Monica. “When you said duck stew, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but that stuff is pretty good.”
“You know it,” Monica said, smirking.
“So, I have a favor to ask,” Holly said with a sigh. “Brian managed to get some things from the fire department that were saved from the fire—or rather, I should say, halfway saved. I was wondering if you could help me work a little magic and do some repair work for me?”
“What sort of things?” Monica asked.
“Pictures, mostly,” Holly said with disappointment. “Mom and Dad did some spring cleaning a while back. They just don’t have the storage at their small house that I do at the cabin, so I offered to take a few things…including family albums…”
“Oh, Holly!” Monica yelped. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, they’re ruined. Those that weren’t destroyed in the fire got soaked by Grace’s storm,” Holly said. “And it’s, like, all of our family photos—even some from when my parents were just kids. Do you think you could help me fix them?”
“Totally,” Monica said confidently. “There is actually a potion spray you can make for simple fixes like burns on paper and paper-like materials. It’s really easy to make. I can brew it in the morning before I get to the shop.”
“Perfect,” Holly said. “If you’re okay, I might be a tad late coming in tomorrow because I’m going to go by and see my mom before I come in. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” Monica said.
“Okay, thanks,” Holly said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll text my dad to box the damaged pictures up and I’ll get them from him in the morning before I head to the bookshop.”
“Great,” Monica said. “We’ll repair the pictures tomorrow.” Monica stood up and put the dishes in the sink before hea
ding back into the sitting room and returning her cauldron to the fire.
“What’s that?” Holly asked.
“The ancestry potion,” Monica said. “I know it seems kind of pointless to continue on with it at this point, now that we know what all we do, but since I was so close to finishing it, I figured I would. No sense in wasting all of those potion ingredients.”
“I’m sorry you put so much time into it,” Holly said.
“It’s fine,” Monica said. “Who knows? We might be able to discover a long-lost cousin or something.”
“Yes, next thing we know, we’re going to find out I’ve got goblin in me too,” Holly teased, and Monica giggled. “So how much longer before it’s done?”
“Few days. Maybe a week,” Monica said, taking time to stir the greenish goo. “Once it starts bubbling a bit black, it’ll be done. At that point, I just add a bit of you.”
“A bit of what?” Holly asked just as Monica strutted across the room and plucked some hair from Holly’s head.
“A bit of you,” Monica said perkily. “A hair will do.” She placed the hair inside a small vial and set it on one of her bookshelves. “I’ll let you know when it’s ready so you can be here when we add the hair.”
“Thanks, Monica,” Holly said, beaming brightly while simultaneously rubbing the top of her head where Monica had plucked the hair. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
8
The following morning, Monica brought a number of potions ingredients with her to Backroom Books. She fully expected to see Holly there, but was a bit surprised when she saw Mona and Grace already in the shop. Evidently, Grace had elected to come see Holly at work that morning, and Mona had escorted her through their private portal. Holly arrived only a moment later as Monica was placing some of her potion ingredients behind the counter.
“What’s all this for?” Grace asked.
“A repairing potion,” Monica said, opening the minifridge that sat by the barista station and pulling out various water bottles she had stored in there filled with potions. She grabbed a few of the ingredients she had fumbled with into the store and mixed them inside one of the bottles that contained a shimmering lavender-colored liquid. She shook it well and then proceeded to snatch up a spray bottle she had brought with her, which she filled with the finished potion. “That should do it, Holly.”
