by Zoe Arden
I hopped out of bed.
“Whoa, slow down there,” my dad said. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To talk to Damon.”
“I’m going with you then.”
“Dad, I can’t talk to him with you there,” I said.
“Um, excuse me,” Sadie said. “Wheelchair.”
The first day here, they had made me stay in bed. This morning, they’d brought me a wheelchair and told me I could use it to get around if I wanted to explore. As if the hospital was full of adventure.
“I don’t need that thing,” I told her.
“Hospital rules. If you want to see your boyfriend, you need wheels.”
I stood with my hands on my hips, trying to stare her down.
“If you don’t use it,” she said, “then I’ll have to seal the room with a lock spell.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said.
“Try me.”
My dad rested one hand on my shoulder. “Honey, why don’t you let me wheel you to Damon’s room?”
I finally relented, much to the satisfaction of both Nurse Sadie and my father. Eleanor said she was going to pay a visit to Colt. He hadn’t had any visitors yet, and she felt bad for him.
“I guess he doesn’t have many friends at the Council. It’s sad, really. He’s a nice young man,” Eleanor said. I thought I might like to pay a visit to Colt myself, after I saw Damon.
“Aunt Eleanor, can you do me a favor? Grab that box on the dresser and take it to Colt’s room with you? But don’t let him open it. Not till I get there.”
“It’s a pretty big box,” my dad observed. “What’s in it?”
“A surprise.”
Outside Damon’s room, I knocked on the door.
“Come in.” His voice sounded distant.
I got out of the chair. My dad put a restraining hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down.
“Hospital rules, remember? You wouldn’t want to get Sadie in trouble, would you?”
I sat back down and wheeled myself into the room, not really caring about Sadie but wanting to get out from under my father’s thumb.
“Hey,” I said as I wheeled toward Damon’s bed. I checked behind me to make sure the door was closed. Hospital room doors didn’t have locks, so there was nothing I could do to ensure privacy, but from the way Damon was looking at me, maybe that was a good thing.
“You better get out of here before my mom gets back,” he said and yawned.
“She’s still here?” I asked.
“Of course, she is. What do you think? That human mothers care less about their kids than witches?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said defensively. “I just haven’t seen her in a while is all.”
“You’re hardly her favorite person, Ava. I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for her to call on you.”
Damon’s face was pale except around his eyes, which were still puffy.
“My eyes are still burning,” he said, going to rub them but stopping himself.
“When Colt fired that off, he wasn’t thinking about you,” I said. “He was just trying to stop Polly.”
“Yeah, I doubt he’d think of me even if he had a brain.”
If Damon had really received his sleep aid already, they were gonna have to try again and double his dosage, because this wasn’t working. He was just as mean and unpleasant as ever.
“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the way this all went down,” I told him.
“Yeah, I know you are. You know what else I know?” he asked. I was afraid to answer. “I know that I don’t care. Not one flying beezwitch.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying everything between us is over, Ava. I can’t handle this lifestyle. I wish I didn’t even know that witches existed.”
My eyes began to burn as tears formed at the back of them.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m really not, but... I never want to see you again.”
Whoa.
Talk about feeling like he’d slapped me across the face. His words were like a bee sting straight to my heart.
“B-but... Polly’s back in jail. You know that, right? This time, she’s going to Swords and Bones.”
“A lot of good that did Slater. He got out of there easily enough.”
“Yeah, but Margaret helped Polly with all that stuff. She’s not here do to that anymore. They buried her body yesterday, and she’s never coming back.
“Yeah, but, Ava, there’s always gonna be another Margaret out there. Someone who wants to use you or abuse your power. Especially now with this whole Sara Sweetland curse thing you’ve got hanging over your head.”
I bit my lip. Why had I told him all that stuff in my letter? I should have kept my mouth shut like a normal person.
“I’m leaving Heavenly Haven with my mom. I can’t stay here anymore. I made a mistake coming back.”
“I’m... I don’t know what to say.”
Damon’s tone softened ever so slightly.
“Say goodbye.”
I sucked in as much air as I could get. “Goodbye,” I muttered and rolled myself toward the door before my tears could fall.
In the hallway, Renee was standing with her hands on her hips, yelling at my father. He was standing there and taking it as if she was nothing more than a speck of dust. He looked as though he couldn’t have cared less when she called him a “slug-infested bottle toad.”
“There you are,” he said, smiling when he saw me. “All ready?”
“Yep. Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
“You stay away from my son!” Renee continued to yell as my dad wheeled me down the hall back toward my room.
Sadie went running past us. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll quiet her down. If not, I’ll eject her from the hospital.”
My dad watched her go.
“She must be brave to take on Renee like that.”
“Can you wheel me to Colt’s room for a minute?” I asked. “If you don’t mind?”
“Sure. I bet he’s dying to open that present of yours. It’s cruel making a man wait to open a gift, you know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”
Eleanor rose when I came in. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
I made sure no one was watching and got out of my wheelchair.
“Are you allowed to do that?” Colt asked.
“I’m fine,” I told him.
“They won’t even let me get out of bed.”
“Here, maybe this will help keep you entertained.
I grabbed the box Eleanor had set on the counter and handed it to him.
“I can’t believe you send me a gift then make me wait to open it.”
“I know, my dad already chastised me for that. Cruel and unusual punishment, right?”
Colt grinned and ripped the paper off the box. His eyes bulged when he opened it.
“Oh, Ava... this is... I can’t believe...”
“Speechless, huh?” I grinned.
Colt removed the saxophone from the package and cradled it in his arms.
“Go on. Play something.”
“But, I haven’t played in years. What made you think of this?”
My cheeks colored. “I was thinking of that story you told me about your dad. His murder, I mean, and how you gave up being a musician after his death. I just thought... There’s no reason why you can’t be both. A musician and a COMHA agent.”
He looked at the saxophone skeptically but with a certain longing.
“If he were alive, I’m sure he’d be proud of you. I am.”
“Thank you,” Colt said, his gray eyes turning softly upon me.
“Play something.”
“I’m not sure I remember how.”
“Just try.”
Colt put the saxophone to his lips and blew. A soft, melodic tune filled the room. It floated through the window to the outside and down the hall to the other
patients. I closed my eyes and let it fill me, too. There might still be a curse hanging over my head, but that didn’t mean my life was over. It was only getting started.
* * *
epilogue
* * *
“So, you mean to tell me,” Colt said between mouthfuls of peanut butter dream bar, “that all this time, Otis Winken’s familiar could actually smell that Margaret was dangerous.”
“Turns outs that’s one of Tadpole’s gifts. Smelling danger.” Sheriff Knoxx laughed and grabbed another dream bar off the plate he was sharing with Colt.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Colt asked the sheriff.
I brought them both another glass of milk.
“Thanks,” Colt said.
“Well,” Sheriff Knoxx sighed, “the darn groundhog saw his shadow.”
“So?” I asked. “It’s always spring on Heavenly Haven, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but it turns out that some of the guys down at the station were betting on it with the fellas at the firehouse. The firehouse won and chaos broke out at the station. Every officer is blaming every other officer. You know how it goes.”
“Uh, yeah,” Colt said. “Sure. I know what you mean.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. In the last month, I’d come to know a lot of Colt’s tells. When he was lying—or bluffing, as he liked to call it—he had a tendency to raise his right eyebrow. Just like he was doing now. I’d thought about pointing it out to him, but then I’d lose the advantage of knowing when he was bluffing.
Eleanor came out of the back. “Trixie’s on another one of her benders,” she whispered.
“Oh, no,” I said. “You don’t mean...”
“I do. Blood pudding. Just pretend it looks good. Don’t say anything. It’s her way of dealing with losing Melbourne.”
A second later, Trixie came out of the back carrying a gigantic steaming pot of boiling blood pudding.
“Look at this!” she cried, proudly showing off her latest creation.
“Oh, wow. That looks...”
“Amazing,” Sheriff Knoxx said.
“Thank you. Would you like to try some?”
“Oh, uh, not right now. I’ve got, uh, work to do down at the station.”
She turned to me and Colt.
“I’ve got to go investigate that break in at Dale’s Hardware the other day,” Colt said, trying to make his escape as well.
Since Melbourne’s ashes had been found, she’d gone a little nuttier than usual. All of her frostings were red now, “In his honor,” as she told us. And she’d started incorporating blood into everything. Not human blood, of course. Animal blood. Still, who wanted a pistachio beautifying cupcake with cow’s blood? No one, by the number of sales we’d had for it.
“I thought Sheriff Knoxx was handling that,” Trixie said suspiciously.
“He was,” Eleanor said.
“I am,” Sheriff Knoxx said. “It’s just that, uh...”
“There was some dark magic involved in the break-in as it turns out. So, since I’m permanently stationed in Sweetland now, it’s my job to investigate.”
“Hmm,” Trixie murmured. “I still don’t see why Sweetland Cove needs a dark magic expert living in town.”
“Well, I’m not really an expert,” Colt said.
“All right, then. More blood pudding for Ava. This time, I strained the blood out of three kinds of sausages. Tell me what you think.”
She grabbed a large bowl off a shelf and scooped some out for me.
“Ava, you promised me you’d go with and help me out,” Colt said.
“I did?”
He tugged on my shirt and raised his right eyebrow.
“Oh, right. Sorry, Aunt Trixie.”
Colt and I hurried out of the store. My father was lucky he was on that lunch date with Sadie. I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent him a quick text.
STAY AWAY FROM MYSTIC. BLOOD PUDDING. P.S. HOW’S THE DATE?
A second later, my phone buzzed.
WILL DO. THANKS FOR THE WARNING. THIRD DATE RT ARND CRNR
I smiled, happy for my father. It had been over twenty years since my mother had died, and in all that time, he’d never gone out with another woman. Ever. It was about time he started living again. And I liked Sadie. She’d been nice to me at the hospital after Damon left.
I’d poured my guts out to her my last night there, telling her all about Damon and our problems. I didn’t know what it was about her, maybe the fact that she was a virtual stranger, that made it easier for me to talk to her. Whatever it was, it helped. The next day, Sadie snuck me out of the hospital so that I could see Damon’s ferry take off. It gave me closure. If my dad was gonna find someone to grow old with, I thought Sadie was a good choice. Maybe one day Trixie would get over Melbourne and do the same.
“Earth to Ava,” Colt said, waving his hand in front of me. “Did you hear what I said?”
“Oh, sorry. No. I was just thinking.”
“About Damon?” he asked, his face tightening like it always did whenever Damon’s name was brought up.
“No, actually, I was thinking about my dad. And Melbourne. Does it ever bother you that we never actually saw his body?”
Colt shrugged. “You don’t usually get bodies with vampires. We went through his entire house. There was nothing to indicate the ashes weren’t his.”
“Yeah, I know, but still... why were his ashes in the coffin?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, his house was torn apart, right?”
“Right,” Colt agreed.
“So, did whoever kill Melbourne put his ashes in his coffin after he was dead?”
Colt was staring at me, frowning. “I don’t think I take your meaning.”
“It’s like this. If someone breaks into my house to kill me, and we’re fighting, why would I go and hide in my bed? Why wouldn’t I run out of the house? Or... or at the very least, lock the door to the room behind me? That door was open when we went into the coffin room.”
Colt chuckled.
“What?”
“I don’t think ‘coffin room’ is the official name. I believe vampires call those rooms their ‘vestibules.’ “
“Well, whatever it is, don’t you think it seems a little... staged?”
I could tell the idea hadn’t occurred to him before. Now that it had, I wondered if it would gnaw at him like it had gnawed at me.
“Is Sheriff Knoxx really okay with you handling the Dale’s Hardware break-in?” I asked, changing the subject. Talking about Melbourne was only bringing me down. I guess that, despite my doubts, in my heart of hearts I thought he was gone.
“He did,” Colt said. “It’s the third one this week. Rather unusual for Sweetland Cove.”
“Probably some grungy tourist.”
“Maybe,” Colt said, frowning.
“You think it’s something more than that?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know yet. That’s why we’re going to investigate.”
“That’s good. I don’t mean the break-ins, obviously. Those are bad. But it’s good that you and Sheriff Knoxx are getting along so well now.”
“He asked me to be a groomsman in the wedding next month.”
My jaw hit the sidewalk. “A groomsman? You’re kidding?” I squealed. “I’m a bridesmaid. You can be my date!”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I hadn’t said them.
“Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that,” Colt said.
“You have?”
“Yes. I thought... I mean... I don’t think we should wait until March to go on a date. Do you?”
I knew my face was burning. “I... no. I don’t.”
“Good. Then I’ll pick you up tonight at your place? Say, eight o’clock?”
“Eight it is.”
The rest of the day flew by. I heard everything Dale said about the break-in, but I wasn’t sure I retained very much of it. At 7:45 that nigh
t, I was just putting the finishing touches on my face when the doorbell rang.
“Oh, my roses, he’s early.”
There was a knock on my door.
“Ava,” Trixie called out, sounding excited. “He’s here.”
“Entertain him for a minute, okay? I’ll be right there.” I grabbed my compact and added it to my purse.
I could hear Colt’s voice carry up from downstairs. It was muffled, but not so much that I couldn’t understand what he said. “No, thank you.”
“Oh, no,” I muttered. “I forgot to tell her not to offer him the blood sausage cookies.” I grabbed a shawl off the closet door and turned off the light as I twisted the knob.
A soft creak sounded from near the window, followed by a man’s voice. “Ava?”
I turned to see the outline of a man standing at the foot of my bed. My heart stuttered. I flipped the light switch back up.
“Melbourne?”
“Ava, I need your help.” He stayed at the foot of the bed, not wanting to startle me any more than he already had.
“I... we... all thought you were dead.”
“I am dead. I’m a vampire.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. We found your ashes.”
“I know. I placed them there.”
“Why?”
“I needed certain people to believe I was gone. With all the deaths happening in Sweetland at the time, I thought it might be my best opportunity.”
“But where have you been? Who are you running from? Let me get Colt; he’s just downstairs.”
“No!” Melbourne hissed. He jumped forward, and I had to stifle a scream. “I’m sorry. Detective Hudson can’t be involved with this.”
“Why not?”
Melbourne hesitated. “Because it concerns his father.”
“His father? What about him?”
“Look, we don’t have much time. I’m not trying to scare you. I just I don’t have anyone else to go to.”
“What about Trixie? I’m sure she’d help you with whatever it is.”
“I know she would. I know she cares for me. I’m afraid her feelings might get in the way of what needs to be done.”
“And what is it that needs to be done?”
There was another knock on my door. “Coming,” I called, turning toward it. The door opened, and Eleanor poked her head in.
