by Zoe Arden
Damon was still alive. Polly couldn’t kill me until she killed him. After coming so close to catching Polly then letting her slip away, the Council on Magic and Human Affairs had sent an extra couple of agents down here to keep a watch over things. One of them was camped outside of Damon’s apartment. The other was walking around town, trying to blend in with the tourists.
“I’m going to see Damon this morning,” I told Colt after breakfast. Eleanor, Trixie, and my father had already left for the bakery.
“Sure. Do you want to take my car or would you rather walk?”
“I’m walking.”
“Okay, just let me know when you’re ready to go.”
I shook my head. “You’re not getting it. I’m walking. Me. Myself. Alone.”
Colt laughed. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized I wasn’t joking.
“You can’t be serious. Ava, are you nuts? Today is the seventh! The Wolf Moon starts tonight.”
“I know. That’s why I want to talk to Damon. In case I don’t get another chance.”
Colt stared at me a moment before throwing his napkin down. “There is absolutely no way I’m letting you out of my sight for a second.”
“Oh, yeah? What if I get Snowball to help me?”
Snowball came running at the sound of her name.
“Snowball is here. More tuna?”
“Snowy, can you do me a favor?” I asked, making a snap decision. Colt’s keys and wallet were sitting on the counter. “Take detective man’s keys and hide them somewhere.” Snowball sat there staring at me.
I grabbed Colt’s keys off the counter and tossed them to Snowy, thinking she’d catch them somehow and run off. She was really good at catching things. It was like she had an invisible baseball glove. But she just sat there. The keys clinked on the ground. Snowball stared at them, then looked at me.
“Hurry,” I said.
“Snowball thinks Mama is acting funny. Snowball likes detective man. He gives Snowball tuna.”
My jaw dropped open. “You mean, you won’t hide his keys for me?”
“Snowball is here to help Mama. Hiding detective man’s keys does not help Mama.”
Colt laughed, walked over to Snowball, and gave her head a light scratch as he picked his keys off the floor.
“Did you teach her that?” I demanded. “That is so not funny. But I know something that is.” I grabbed the orange juice he’d been drinking, threw it on his clothes, and bolted for the door. Maybe I just had to do things the old-fashioned way—run really fast.
I cut through yards and alleys and when I looked behind me, I didn’t see Colt anywhere. I allowed myself to slow down and tried to catch my breath.
When I finally made it to Damon’s, I was no longer panting, though my heart was fluttering like a butterfly’s wings. I looked around the parking lot to see if Colt had beaten me here. I knew how much he prided himself on his appearance and didn’t think he would have left the house without changing first. That meant I had at least a five-minute head start, and Damon’s place was less than ten minutes from my home.
I saw the extra COMHA agent they’d sent to keep an eye on Damon. He looked bored. He was playing with his phone, not even paying attention. I craned my neck and caught a glimpse of a space trooper shooting aliens on his LED screen. Great, they sent a video gamer to keep an eye on Damon when his life was in danger.
Anyone could have spotted this guy as a COMHA agent a mile away. Colt was an exception when it came to COMHA agents. He dressed impeccably and always looked put together. This man was wearing a bad suit with a yellow necktie and sunglasses. Typical COMHA agent. I strolled right past him and went up to Damon’s apartment. He didn’t even bat an eye.
When Damon answered, there was a brief second where his eyes flashed anger, but it disappeared fast.
“Can I come in?” My heart stuttered waiting for his response. I didn’t hear his mom anywhere in the background.
“I don’t know.”
“Please,” I said. “We never did have that talk. And today might be my last day to... to tell you how I feel. If Polly gets ahold of me, that is.”
“You don’t have any new leads?”
“No. Someone phoned in a tip the other day. They got Slater, but Polly got away.”
“Yeah, I heard something about that.” We stood in awkward silence.
“So? Can I come in?”
“I suppose so.”
He opened the door, and I stepped aside. I scanned the room for Renee as he shut the door behind me.
“She went out. Said she needed to clear her head.”
“Oh.” I set aside the wisecrack that was springing to my lips and reminded myself why I was here.
“I care about you,” I said, deciding to be direct. “I think you know that.”
Damon nodded. I took a deep breath and asked the question foremost on my mind.
“Do you still care about me? Because lately it seems like you don’t.”
Damon looked at the floor.
Oh, crud. That’s not a good sign.
“I still care about you,” he said. “I just...” He lifted his eyes back to mine. “There are so many things I like about you, Ava. I just don’t know if it’s enough to make up for our differences.”
“Eleanor and Sheriff Knoxx found a way to make it work. So can we.”
“Are you sure you want to?” he asked. “Seems like you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Detective Hudson lately.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Colt is just doing his job.”
“Colt, huh?”
I blushed. “I mean Detective Hudson.”
Damon nodded. I felt like an idiot. “Look... maybe... maybe if things were different, Colt—Detective Hudson and I—could have a different kind of relationship. But they’re not different. That’s not what I want.”
“What do you want?”
“You. Only... I want you to look at me and not just see a witch. I want you to look at me like I’m a woman who loves you. Not some sort of monster you need to run from.”
“I don’t think you’re a monster,” he said, reaching for me. Our noses were touching. “If I’ve ever given you that impression, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” I said as he took me in his arms.
There was one other question that had been on my mind since lunch with his mom.
“Damon, have you ever thought of...”
“Thought of what?”
“...proposing?”
His eyes bulged slightly. “My mom should never have said that to you.”
“So, it’s true?” I gulped.
“I... may have thought about it. Once.”
My heart hammered in my chest. I didn’t know what to think. One minute we were perfect for each other, the next it was like we were mortal enemies. Damon felt it, too. Only right now, we were in the “perfect for each other” phase. He leaned down and kissed me. His lips were warm and moist and made my head go dizzy. When Damon pulled away, his eyes were glowing. I knew how he felt. In that one kiss, we’d repaired all the damage from the last week.
My phone buzzed, breaking the moment. I groaned, hoping it wasn’t Colt. It wasn’t. It was Melbourne. He’d sent me a text. Just one word.
HELP.
* * *
3 1
* * *
I ran outside, taking two steps at a time as I went down the flight of stairs. I was on the phone with Colt trying to explain what was happening, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Melbourne’s in trouble. We gotta go. Help. Help him. Trouble.” I was huffing into the phone, already out of breath. If I ever got through today, I was going to start jogging.
“Calm down,” Colt said through the receiver. “You’re not making any sense.”
He had answered on the first ring. I could tell he was still miffy with me for running out on him like that, but he didn’t let that stop him from listening to what I had to say. That was one t
hing that I both admired and hated about Colt—his job was the most important thing in his life.
I stopped running for a second so I could catch my breath. “Melbourne’s in trouble.”
“How do you know?” Colt asked.
“He texted me like a minute ago. Damon and I are on the way to his house. Can you meet us there?” Damon was standing next to me, looking annoyed that the first thing I’d done when there was trouble was to call Colt. But what was I supposed to do? He was a COMHA agent and a darned good one.
There was a loud honk from down the street. I looked over to see Colt’s car sitting at the curb. Colt was behind the steering wheel. He waved and started the car up.
I laughed in spite of how irritating it was to find him out here, waiting. He’d followed me, after all. Why would I have suspected any less? That man was as irritating as a skin rash, but he was fantastic at his job. Maybe I’d write to COMHA and tell them just that.
Colt honked again, and I pulled Damon toward the car. He reluctantly followed. I could tell he wasn’t nearly as happy to see Colt as I was.
“What is he doing here?” Damon asked.
“Following me. What else?”
Damon scowled.
“Don’t be too mad. It’s—”
“His job. I know.” Damon rolled his eyes but slid into the back seat next to me.
“Where’s the COMHA agent who’s watching your house?” Colt asked Damon. He was scanning the road for the guy in the bad suit who’d been playing with his phone earlier.
“There he is,” I said, pointing to a black Corolla. The agent drove right past us. He didn’t even notice us.
“Where’s he going?” Colt asked.
“Maybe he’s going to Melbourne’s?” I ventured uncertainly.
“Nope,” Damon replied. “You’re both wrong. He’s on his way to Coffee Cove.”
“How do you know that?” Colt asked.
Damon shrugged. “He goes there every hour or two. I think he’s got a crush on Lucy. He started bringing me a latte every other hour until I asked him to stop. The caffeine was making me bounce off the walls. One of the receipts was stuck to the bottom of a cup he gave it to me. He’d doodled a little picture of Lucy with a heart over it.”
I laughed, wondering if Lucy was aware she had an admirer, but Colt frowned. “Fraternizing on the job is prohibited.” I shot him a look. “Unless you’re also capable of maintaining your duties. Some people, like me, are.”
Damon looked from me to Colt. I couldn’t remember ever feeling more awkward than I did right now, sitting between the two of them.
“We should go,” I said, and Colt started the car.
When we got to Melbourne’s house, Margaret was outside, peeking in through a window. Her car was in the driveway.
“Thank the witches you’re here,” she said when she saw me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised to see her.
“I got a text from Melbourne asking for help.” She held her phone up to show us. “I was already on my way to Sweetland when he sent it, so I just veered my car over here instead of to your house, Ava.”
“Did you see anything suspicious when you arrived?” Colt asked.
“No. I rang the bell but no one answered,” she said. “I was just trying to see in through this window. I thought I saw a shadow moving inside, but it might have been my imagination.”
“We should call Sheriff Knoxx,” I said. “He was released from the hospital this morning. I’m sure he’d want to know.”
“I already called him,” Margaret said. “I was about to call you, too, when you pulled up.”
“Good thinking,” I told Margaret.
“Let’s go around back,” Colt said, taking charge. Damon was following silently along, looking alternately angry and depressed. I wished there’d been a way to keep him out of all this. More importantly, I wished I understood my own feelings about him and Colt better.
The back door was unlocked when Colt tried it.
“Does anyone know if Melbourne normally keeps his back door open like this?” he asked.
“I have no idea,” I told him. Neither did the others.
“Melbourne?” Colt called out before stepping inside. “It’s Detective Hudson from the Council on Magic and Human Affairs. We’re coming in.”
I followed behind Colt. My foot crunched on broken glass as I stepped inside and I jumped, bumping Damon. He caught me and held me close. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, warming me. When he let go, part of me was sorry.
Melbourne’s house was in shambles.
“Either a violent event has taken place here,” Margaret said, “or a tornado swept through his house during the night.”
“Agreed,” Colt said.
“Melbourne?” I called out.
The only answer we received was silence.
* * *
3 2
* * *
Melbourne’s house, so immaculate the last time I’d been here, was a complete mess. We walked slowly through the kitchen toward the living room. There was broken glass on the floor. The furniture had been toppled over. Something that I hoped was just tomato juice dripped down the walls.
“Here’s his phone!” I yelled, grabbing it from off the counter. I quickly scanned his texts, looking for anything that might help to tell us what was going on. All his texts had been deleted except for the most recent one asking for help.
“What should we do?” I asked.
“Let’s split up,” Damon said, finally chiming in with something. “Ava and I can take the second floor. You two take the first.”
I looked at Colt and could tell he didn’t like that idea.
“I think that makes sense. Let’s go,” I said, taking Damon’s hand.
“Wait a second, wait a second,” Colt said, scratching his chin. His face looked strained. “All right, here. Ava, take this.” He reached down, lifted his pant leg, and handed me the supercharged wand. I was happy to have it back in my hands.
“Is that a Conrad Ten Thousand?” Margaret asked in awe.
“A 10,001,” Colt corrected, looking pleased that she’d recognized it.
“Whatever it is, just don’t point it at me,” Damon said.
Footsteps sounded from behind us. We all turned. I gripped the wand tightly in my hand.
A voice called out from the kitchen. “H-hello? Miss Margaret? It’s me, Otis. Otis Winken.”
We let out a collective sigh as Otis stepped into frame.
“Otis, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Oh, hi, Ava.” He smiled congenially at me and looked around the room. “Miss Margaret called the station a little bit ago and talked to Sheriff Knoxx. He’s still feeling a little under the weather and asked me to come check things out and report back to him.”
Otis was carrying his brown satchel, which I suspected was a new permanent fixture. I wondered how Sheriff Knoxx was dealing with it. Tadpole poked his head up and looked around, then scrunched his face together and looked at Otis.
“Tadpole smells danger,” he said.
I had to admit that Tadpole was cute, even if he was a skunk. One day, Otis would have to tell me just how the two of them found each other. I was pretty sure that Otis didn’t get him at a pet shop. I supposed it was probably the same way that Snowball had found me. She’d been sort of drawn to me and seemed to know precisely where to find me.
“Otis, we’re going to split up and search the house,” I told him.
“Okay. I’ll check the basement,” Otis volunteered. “Give a holler if you find anything.” He went downstairs and the rest of us went our separate directions.
Upstairs, Damon and I found three doors off the hallway. We walked toward what I assumed was Melbourne’s bedroom. The door was closed. Was it possible he was inside?
“Melbourne?” I called. There was no answer.
I opened the door to an enormous room that was at least four times larger than I would h
ave pictured. Melbourne must have used an enlargement charm on it. A giant four-poster bed with a lace canopy sat against the wall. It was the type of thing you’d see in a Dickens’ novel. Richly colored tapestries covered the walls and museum quality furniture was spaced throughout.
“Wow,” Damon muttered beside me. “Melbourne’s house is sort of amazing.”
I nodded my agreement.
This room, unlike the others, remained impeccable. It was clean and orderly. Clearly, whatever struggle had taken place had not happened in this room.
There was a door on the opposite wall that I assumed was a closet, but when I opened it, it led into another hallway. This one darker and smaller than the one we’d just come through.
“Maybe you and I should split up,” I told Damon.
“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you alone in here.”
“I’m not alone. I have this, remember?” I held up Colt’s supercharged wand and Damon rolled his eyes.
“That’s not going to help if someone sneaks up behind you and knocks it out of your hand. You may be a witch, but you’re not all powerful.”
“I never said I was.”
Damon and I glared at each other.
“Fine,” Damon finally said. “Do what you want.”
He turned and walked back out of the room to explore the rest of the rooms off the first hallway. I crept along, fuming at Damon’s idiocy. Why did every man I know insist on treating me like a child? And what had he meant by that crack about thinking I was all powerful? I’ve never, ever said anything like that to him. That sounded like Renee talking. She was a bad influence.
I ran through a mental list of all the people who might be working with Polly. It hadn’t escaped my attention that the murders had begun around the time of Renee’s arrival. I didn’t dare say that out loud to Damon, but it was true. But why would Renee be helping Polly? That didn’t make sense.
There was only one door off this new hall. I opened it and found a room engulfed in total darkness. I felt along the wall for a light switch and found it. When the light came on, it almost hurt my eyes. There was a coffin lying in the middle of the room. It was mahogany and large enough to hold two men.
