by Zoe Arden
“She should stay here,” Colt was saying.
“She can’t lure them out if she’s not there.”
“She’s not bait!”
“It should be her choice!”
I realized they were talking about me. “What should be my choice?”
Colt sighed and waved his hands through the air.
“I’ve got a lead on Slater and Polly. They were spotted at Whisper Crossing.”
I suddenly understood what the argument was about.
“I’m going,” I told Colt defiantly.
“I know,” he said. “You always insist on being stubborn. Fine. Let’s go.”
* * *
2 8
* * *
Sheriff Knoxx blazed toward Whisper Crossing at a rabbit’s pace. Colt and I jogged along behind him in Colt’s car. Sheriff Knoxx left his sirens off, not wanting to alert Polly and Slater to our arrival if they were actually there.
“Someone phoned in a tip,” Colt said.
“A tip? Who?”
“No idea.”
Colt was going so fast he almost lost control of the car and hit a tree. He wiggled his nose at the last minute and we avoided colliding with it. We drove the rest of the way in silence.
We pulled up beside Sheriff Knoxx. He was already out of his car and scouring the ground.
“Stay in the open,” Sheriff Knoxx said to me. “If they see you; they might come out.”
Colt shot him an irritated look. “Stay close,” he whispered. We inched along the ground together.
“I’ll check the cemetery,” I said.
“Not without me, you won’t.”
He chased me up the hill to the graveyard, then jolted ahead of me at the top. He was faster than wind when he wanted to be. I lost sight of him behind Sara Sweetland’s tomb. The towering angel propelled up toward the sky, its arms outstretched. Its wings turned in on itself. Knowing that I was related to her gave me a new perspective. I looked at the tomb not in awe, but in admiration. Admiration for a woman who had given her life so that me and everyone before me might’ve been born.
“Ava!” Colt called. I looked in the direction of his voice. “Run!” He came into view, his supercharged wand drawn. Slater and Polly were just behind him.
I turned and ran.
“Sheriff Knoxx!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Polly saw me and started toward me. I ran down the hill, knowing that Colt could take care of himself, especially with that “wand plus” he was carrying. “Sheriff Knoxx!”
The sheriff materialized from the bushes just as Polly made a grab for me. I felt her fingers pull at the ends of my hair, but they went right through.
She saw the sheriff running toward me. He was almost as fast as Colt. Polly stopped and did an about face, running as fast as she could away from him.
“Ava,” Sheriff Knoxx panted, “get to my car and lock yourself in.” I started running toward it. He chased Polly into the surrounding woods. I was almost to the police cruiser when I heard Colt’s gun go off.
I turned and scanned the graveyard where I’d left him. I didn’t see him or Slater. Anywhere. It made me uneasy. I started back up the hill. I knew that was the last thing Colt would want me to do, but the last thing I wanted was for him to die.
“Colt!” I yelled when I didn’t see him.
Slater’s head popped out from behind Sara Sweetland’s tombstone. He ran straight for me, tearing into me like a fullback as he hit my midsection and sent me flying backward. We tumbled down the hill together, tangled in each other’s grip.
“Aaahh!” I screamed.
We landed with a thud. Slater was human but he was still bigger and stronger than me. He was pressing my face into the grass. I could taste dirt on my tongue and my head ached badly. I tried to roll over and get him off my back, but it was no use. I wondered if anyone had ever drowned in dirt before.
Suddenly, I was free. As quickly as my headache appeared, it vanished. Colt had tackled Slater and was rolling on the ground with him. They were locked together in one endlessly long loop.
“Colt!”
I ran after them, almost losing my balance and falling as my head began to spin. I guess Slater had hit me harder than I’d thought. Slater got up and started back up the hill. Colt grabbed him and they fell back to the bottom together. Colt punched Slater hard across the face. The back of Slater’s head hit the ground and he stopped moving.
“Is he dead?” I asked, breathless.
“No, just unconscious.” Colt looked around. “Where’s the sheriff?”
“He chased Polly into the woods.”
Colt picked Slater up, hoisted him over one shoulder, and carried him to his car. Inside, he cuffed both of Slater’s wrists to the door handle. His head lolled as Colt left him there and headed toward the forest. I started after him.
“Stay here,” he barked at me, sharper than I think he meant to. He paused when he saw the look on my face. “Here. Take this.” He gave me his super wand. “If Slater does anything, aim that between his eyes and say ‘iganzio fiero.’ Got it?” “
“Ignazio fiero,” I said and gave the wand a wave. Colt ducked and grabbed the wand.
“Never say that unless you intend to use it,” he said and ran toward the forest. I’d have to remember to ask him what that meant when this was all over. Holding it, I felt invincible. There was something about the feel of it in my hand that made me think that with this wand, I could do anything.
Five minutes passed and Colt and the sheriff still hadn’t reemerged. My heart started beating like a bird’s wings lost in flight. I took a tentative step toward the woods. Then another... and another... until finally I was a yard from the edge. The forest was thick, and I could barely see through the first layer of trees.
“Colt? Sheriff Knoxx?”
There was a rustling of trees, and Colt suddenly appeared, one arm wrapped around Sheriff Knoxx’s waist, the other supporting his head. Sheriff Knoxx was walking—barely.
“Oh, my roses! Is he okay?”
I ran to the sheriff, whose eyes were bloodshot. His face was turning green.
“Hurry, get the car.” Colt quickly reached into his pocket and tossed me his keys.
“What happened to him?” I asked.
“Polly stabbed with some kind of knife.”
“A knife?” I asked. “I don’t see any blood.”
“Ava! For once, will you just do as I say and get the car?
I ran back to Colt’s car and slid inside, shifted the gears, and peeled toward the spot of grass where Colt was struggling to keep the sheriff upright. Colt laid the sheriff gently across the back seat and shut the door. I handed him back his supercharged wand, sorry to let it go.
“Hurry, get him to the hospital. You don’t have much time.”
“Where are you going?” I demanded. I’d thought he was going with me.
“I need to wake Slater up. If Sheriff Knoxx has a chance of surviving, I need to know what that knife was dipped in. I’ll radio ahead when I have my answer. You just get him to the hospital.”
“But—”
“Ava! Don’t argue. Just go!”
I shifted into gear and took off.
* * *
2 9
* * *
I arrived at Sweetland Hospital to find that Colt had called ahead. Dr. Dunne was waiting for me at the curb with several nurses. They got Sheriff Knoxx onto a gurney and wheeled him inside. He was starting to look like a gremlin.
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Dunne told me as they pushed him into the emergency room. “Detective Hudson told me what the knife that cut him was laced with.”
“He did?”
I’d been worried it would take Colt hours to get the information out of Slater. How had he done it so fast?
“Yes, I’ve already been on the phone with Amanda Hollyberry. She’s advised me what to do and is on her way down here right now.”
The doors to the emergency room closed and a nurse stopped me f
rom following them through.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “but you’ll have to wait here.”
I was getting tired of being told that I had to wait somewhere, but I didn’t think that now was the time to moan about it. I took a seat in the waiting area. Twenty minutes later, Eleanor, Trixie, and my father joined me.
“How is he?” Eleanor asked. She’d been crying. Her face was pale and ragged.
“I don’t know. Okay, I think. Before they wheeled him back, Dr. Dunne told me that he could fix him up. No problem.” Dr. Dunne hadn’t said that exactly, but I wanted to make her feel better.
“Where’s Detective Hudson?” my father asked.
“I don’t know. He had Slater and was taking him—”
“What?!” my dad yelled, jumping out of his seat and pulling Trixie with him. Eleanor’s eyes widened so much I was afraid they might fall right out of their sockets.
“They got Slater?”
“You mean, you haven’t heard?” I asked. “I assumed that if you knew about Sheriff Knoxx, you must know about Slater.”
“No,” Eleanor said. “When Detective Hudson called to inform me about Zane, he didn’t say anything about Slater.”
“Well, they caught him,” I said proudly. “Sheriff Knoxx and Colt. Actually, Colt’s the one who saved me when Slater attacked me. Sheriff Knoxx chased Polly into the forest. She’s the one who stabbed him.”
Eleanor began to sob all over again.
A deep voice boomed from the nurse’s station, “The sheriff will be okay.”
We all turned to see Colt strolling into the waiting area.
“How do you know that?” Eleanor asked. “Have you spoken to the doctor?”
“No, but I saw the way your sheriff handled himself against Polly and her dark magic. If it had been me, she’d probably have killed me. He defended himself like a pro. If he hadn’t gotten his foot stuck in a snake hole, he’d have had her.”
Eleanor beamed proudly. “Zane is very good at his job.”
“Sheriff Knoxx is a fighter, that’s for sure. He’ll be just fine. You mark my words.” Colt looked in my direction and tilted his head toward the soda machines.
“Anyone want a drink?” I asked. “I’m buying.”
“Grape soda,” Eleanor said.
“Orange for me,” said Trixie.
“Dad? You want anything?”
He shook his head. “I’m glad you’re okay, honey,” he said and hugged me so hard I almost stopped breathing. When he finally let me go, Colt was already standing by the soda machines waiting for me.
“How did you get that information out of Slater so fast?” I asked him.
“He wasn’t really unconscious. At least, not when I got back to the car. I opened the door and he jumped to life. Almost kicked me in the—well, let’s just say he was very much awake.”
“So, he just volunteered the information?”
“Not at first.”
I gave him a quizzical look.
“I might have implied that if he didn’t give me the information I wanted, I’d turn him into a dust mite. That did the trick.”
“Would you have really done that?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
I let that sink in a minute before continuing. “Where’s Slater?”
“Otis has him.”
I blinked.
“Otis? Otis Winken?”
“You sound a little like him when you say that, you know.”
“You don’t understand. I love Otis. Most people do. He’s sweet and kind and... shouldn’t be left alone with someone as dangerous as Slater.”
“I know that, but there were other officers there. Not just Otis.”
“Who has the key to the jail cell?”
Colt hesitated before answering. “Otis.” He crinkled his nose. “You’re right. We should go.”
I said a quick goodbye to everyone. They didn’t like my leaving but understood when I told them we had to interrogate Slater. We hurried to the station. Otis was eating a large bag of potato chips when we arrived.
“Hey, Otis,” I said when we got there. I hoped I sounded casual. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“Hi, Ava. Hello, Detective Hudson.” Otis reached into the bag and produced a large chip, which he proceeded to suck down in one chomp. “Would you like one? Me and Tadpole don’t mind sharing.”
“Tadpole?” I asked, looking around. The skunk was nowhere to be seen.
“Sure, come on out little friend.”
At Otis’s coaxing, Tadpole poked his head out of the bag. Potato chips pieces were stuck to his fur. He waved at us then turned and dug back in.
“Tadpole likes potato chips. Turns out they’re his favorite thing.”
“Er, that’s great, Otis,” I said, trying not to be disgusted. “Listen, can we see Slater?”
“I need to interrogate him on Polly’s whereabouts,” Colt added.
“Sure,” Otis said amiably. He tossed Colt the keys to the cell and reached in for another chip.
“Thanks,” Colt said.
We went down the hall to the main cell. It was used mostly for drunks and petty theft criminals. Most of which were tourists. Slater was the only one in the cell right now. He looked like he was in agony.
“Don’t send me back there,” he begged when we approached him.
“You mean Swords and Bones?” Colt asked. “They’re already on the way.”
“Please, you don’t understand. They’ll put me in solitary. I can’t do that again. It wasn’t my fault.”
“What wasn’t your fault?” Colt asked.
“The escape. I swear, I had no idea Polly was gonna do that. She just showed up out of nowhere. So, please, just let me stay here. I’ll be quiet.”
He seemed on the verge of hysterics. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. It made me wonder just what, precisely, they did to inmates at Swords and Bones. I knew it was a maximum-security prison, but beyond that, I hadn’t a clue.
“Come on, man,” Slater said, reaching through the bars for Colt’s collar. He was trying to pull him closer. Colt stepped back, and Slater got nothing but a handful of air.
“Maybe I can help keep you out of solitary,” Colt said. “If you help me.”
“Sure, what do you want to know?”
“Where’s Polly Peacock?”
Slater groaned. “I don’t know.”
Colt raised one unbelieving eyebrow. “Really? You don’t know?”
“She’s been sleeping in the forest or at the beach. I don’t know. She wanders around at night looking for stuff.”
“Think, where would she be right now?”
Slater’s face was so tight and red it almost looked comical. “I just don’t know,” he said. “Oh, but someone’s been helping her. I know that.”
“Who?” Colt asked.
“I don’t know. I never met them, and Polly wouldn’t mention them by name. I think she was scared of them.”
“Interesting,” Colt murmured.
I thought so, too. Who would Polly be scared of? She was more ruthless than anyone I knew.
“How did they plan the killings? Or her escape?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know that Polly was killing anyone. She’s gone crazy or something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought you were in favor of killing witches.”
“Yeah, sure, but Polly wants to get her powers back. Do you know that?” he asked desperately, thinking maybe he’d struck on something he could use as a bargaining chip.
“We know,” Colt assured him.
“I told her I liked her better without her powers. Tried to convince her to stay the way she was.”
“Really? How did she take that?”
Slater lifted his shirt. Five giant red slash marks ran across his chest at an angle. “She did that with her nails. Not even a wand. I think she meant to kill me. I’m telling you, she’s crazy.”
A loud noi
se sounded from Colt’s pocket. He slipped his hand in and shut it off. “Come on,” he said to me.
I followed him back into the hall.
“What was that noise?” I asked.
“A portable deception detector,” he said, pulling out a small silver triangle. It was spinning wildly in the air as Colt held it up for me to see.
“I thought all deception detectors were potions.”
“It’s something new the Council’s trying it out.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means Slater’s telling the truth. About everything. He doesn’t know where Polly is, and he doesn’t know anything about the murders. In other words...”
“In other words, we’re right back where we started.”
* * *
3 0
* * *
“The good news is he’s going to be fine,” Eleanor said as we set the dinner plates into the sink. “The hospital wouldn’t let me spend the night, but first thing in the morning, I’m going back over there.”
“Eleanor,” my father said gently, “they’re releasing him in the morning. You don’t need to go back there. He’s okay.”
“I know that,” Eleanor said. “I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly for Zane.” She dried off a dish and looked at the ring on her finger. It seemed to be extra sparkly tonight.
“Really?” I asked my dad. “They’re releasing him in the morning?”
“Like I keep trying to tell your aunt, Sheriff Knoxx is fine.”
I watched Eleanor study her hand. It was obvious how much she loved Sheriff Knoxx. Despite their differences, they had found a way to make their relationship work. I turned my head and saw Colt staring at me, much like the way Eleanor was staring at her ring finger. The blush crept into my cheeks. I pretended to drop my fork so I could bend over and hide my face.
Talk about difficult relationships. What would dating Colt be like? A self-absorbed COMHA agent? Except that I knew him better than that now. He wasn’t self-absorbed, just absorbed with his job. Was that really so bad?
“I’m going to bed,” I told them all. “Good night.”
The next morning was January seventh. I looked out the window as the sun came up. Would it be the last sunrise I ever saw?
