“I guess,” I said cautiously. “Still, I don’t like it. I think it was an accident that I beat one the first time.”
Cat shook her head. “Of course it wasn’t an accident. You’re just that good a witch. You don’t see it, but the rest of us do. You’re already better at magic than I am, and I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
“I can’t even ride a broom properly! I was riding a kids’ broom, and I even screwed that up!”
“And you also killed one of The Others single-handedly. The thing is, we don’t know how many of them there are. My guess is there’s not a huge number of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if we take another couple of them out if that’ll be about it. Think about it. We could take them out now, and make it easier to get rid of them forever.”
“Maybe we should ask Grandma Cee about it,” I said thoughtfully, but Cat shook her head.
“No way. She might go for it, but there’s no way my mom would. We have to do this on our own.”
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s do it. But if we’re going to do it, we need the telepathic connection. If one of us gets attacked by one of them, we need the other person to show up. Two of us against them are definitely going to be better than one.”
“Agreed,” Cat nodded, before leaping up and taking me into a huge hug. “I knew you’d be on board with this. We’re going to get them, Alice! We’re going to kill them for good.”
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. After all, I was a lot more worried about doing this than Cat was. But at the same time, she had a point: The Others were presumably out there somewhere, gathering strength. They wouldn’t have given up on us completely. Maybe enticing them out of hiding now and defeating more of them would be a good idea.
Still, I shivered at the thought. I didn’t like The Others. In fact, I hated them. They had taken my biological mother’s soul. They were unpleasant to be around. But was this endless limbo–where we weren’t certain when they were going to come back–really any better?
I sighed as I made my way to the kitchen and made some coffee, as Muffin meowed below me while gently tapping my leg with his paw.
“Time for breakfast, little guy?” I asked him with a smile as I grabbed a can of his food and poured it out for him. I watched Muffin happily munch on his food–ok, inhale his food was probably a more accurate term–while I sipped on my coffee.
Maybe I had to be strong. Not just for me. Not just for my mom. But for everyone I knew here in Sapphire Village. For Chase, who, as much as I tried to resist the idea, I knew I was falling in love with. For Cat, and for Peaches. For Muffin, who had gotten decidedly fatter since I had inherited him. For Archibald, who would never get to listen to The Hobbit if I wasn’t around to get him the audiobook.
Yes, Cat was right. We had to try and trick The Others into coming after us, so that we could defeat them now, before they got stronger.
Cat came into the kitchen and I handed her a mug before we both got ready for the day. After all, it was going to be a big one.
Chapter 13
When I finally made my way downstairs, around ten, I was actually feeling somewhat alert, which was a nice change. I’d managed to sneak in an extra two hours of sleep after Cat had left, and I might not have been ready to take part in a chess competition or anything like that, but I certainly felt like I was ready to handle whatever today could bring.
I found out pretty quickly that meant my other cousin, Peaches. And she looked angry.
Peaches stormed through the door at about ten minutes after ten, just after I moved Archibald and the audiobook which was still playing The Lord of the Rings to the back room of the store. Peaches looked exactly like Cat, except without the weird cat-themed clothing, and her hair was, well, peach-colored rather than purple.
And today, her face was beet red.
“Hey, Peaches,” I greeted her. After all, I hadn’t seen my cousin in about a week; after The Others had started making a more consistent appearance in Sapphire Village she decided to spend most of her time in Brixton Road, where she was safe from them. Cat and I had decided not to allow our lives to be dictated by those who wanted to destroy them. And besides, I’d spent my whole life in the human world. I was just getting used to being a witch, and spending one hundred percent of my time in this magical witches-only town was just a little bit more than my brain could handle all at once.
“Don’t you ‘hey Peaches’ me,” my cousin replied. “Do you want to tell me what my bike’s doing out there locked up on a rack?”
I kind of felt like if I told Peaches the truth right now she wouldn’t exactly be thrilled with me.
“Oh, Cat said I could borrow it,” I tried to reply nonchalantly.
“Liar!” Peaches replied.
“I’m not lying!” Technically, I wasn’t. Cat had said I could borrow it. It just wasn’t for riding, it was for bait.
“I’ll make you tell the truth,” Peaches shouted, pointing a finger at me.
“Peaches, no!” I shouted as she released the energy from her fingers. I ducked instinctively; I had no idea what would happen if Peaches’ spell hit me.
At the same time, Muffin jumped up on the counter, directly in the line of fire. I tried to grab him as I ducked down, but it was too late.
I got up and looked at Muffin, horrified, wondering what was going to happen to my poor cat. But, from the looks of things, everything was normal.
“Oh my God!” Peaches said, her hands covering her face, looking through a small gap in between her fingers. “What have I done to him?”
“I… don’t know,” I said, looking at the cat, who gazed at us like we were crazy for fussing over him. Suddenly, he let out a meow, and a bunch of bubbles came out of his mouth and began floating upwards. Muffin, being a cat, immediately lifted a paw and touched one of the bubbles, which popped. It was like he’d become a human version of the bubble makers I used to love as a kid.
As though he realized it was him that had made the bubbles, Muffin let out another meow. And again, bubbles rose up. I looked at Peaches.
“Well, as far as spells you’ve done that have gone horribly wrong, this certainly isn’t the worst thing ever,” I replied, and she nodded.
“Thank goodness. I’d have hated myself if anything serious happened to Muffin.”
He let out another indignant meow, as if he understood Peaches and was trying to say “Hey! This is serious!” but when another pile of bubbles came from his mouth we both burst into a fit of giggles.
Muffin looked at us angrily, then began to stride off toward his beanbag chair, where he promptly sat down in a huff.
“Let me see if I can fix this,” I said, pointing to Muffin while focusing really hard on his regular meowing, no bubbles involved. A couple of seconds later the energy released from my finger, and Muffin looked over at me. Nothing weird had happened, at least. He let out another meow a second later, and thankfully, there were no more bubbles.
“Oh good! Thanks for fixing that,” Peaches said.
“Maybe you should have just not tried to jinx me,” I offered.
“I wasn’t trying to jinx you, I was trying to put a spell on you so you couldn’t lie anymore!”
“How is that different than a jinx?”
“Well, the intention wasn’t bad, I just wanted the truth!”
“I told you the truth! Cat let me borrow your bike!”
“Just so you could get it stolen!”
I sighed. “So you’ve already spoken to Cat, have you?”
“When I realized my bike was gone, I figured it was her and not you who took it.”
“Yeah, well, you were right about that.”
“She finally admitted to me what you two were doing. You can’t use my bike as bait!”
“Well, to be fair, Cat told me it was ok.”
“That should have been an extra red flag!”
Ok, Peaches had a point there.
“Sorry. If it helps, no one stole your bike last night.”<
br />
“Good. I made sure mine was reasonably priced, so it wouldn’t be a good target.”
“Well, that’s not helping us get Cat’s bike back.”
Peaches burst out laughing. “Is this what this is about? Someone stole Cat’s bike and you’re trying to get it back?”
“Well, sort of.” With that I explained to Peaches everything that had happened over the last few days. When I was finished, Peaches made her way over to one of the couches in the shop and lay down along it, putting a hand on her forehead.
“Goodness. Things really are happening in Sapphire Village.”
“I know, Denise Williams blames me for it.”
“That cow?”
I told Peaches what had happened at the meeting in front of the police station.
“That’s outrageous,” Peaches said, shaking her head. “What are you going to do about it?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I want to go talk to Frank.”
“You should do that,” Peaches agreed. “He would definitely be a much better mayor than Denise. She’s all about lies and negativity. Sapphire Village is a happy place, though I don’t spend much time here.”
“Except to bug your sister. How did you notice your bike was missing, anyway?”
“I went to get some paints I left in my old apartment, and it was gone. Since there was no sign of anyone having actually broken in, I assumed it was Cat, and I was right.”
I nodded. “So how about it? Do you want in as we catch a murderer and bike thief?”
Peaches shook her head. “Nope, sorry. Not this time. I’m heading back to Brixton Road, where we’re safe from The Others. Grandma Cee wants you back there soon, though. She wants you to keep practicing your fire spells to defeat them, and she’s talking about putting you on a real broom again.
My back twinged involuntarily at the thought and I groaned, making a mental note to ask Cat about the appointment with Sirona. “I don’t think I can handle a full broom. I didn’t even manage the kids broom without an accident.”
“Well, at least now you’re forewarned,” Peaches offered with a shrug.
“About my impending death. Yeah, great. I think I’d rather let The Others take me,” I muttered. It was only half a joke. I hated flying on the broom that much.
Peaches laughed. “Well, now that I know what’s going on I guess it’s ok that you have my bike. Cat wouldn’t tell me the real story, which is why I came here. I can’t believe you guys used her bike as bait and it got stolen without you noticing.”
“Are you heading back to Brixton Road, then?” I asked, and Peaches nodded.
“Yes. Though I hope I’ll be able to come back here sooner rather than later.” She sighed. “I wish I was better at magic. If any of The Others came after me I’d be completely hopeless.” My heart suddenly went out to my cousin; I hadn’t really realized that while Cat and I had had success in fighting off The Others, Peaches had absolutely no chance, and that was probably why she spent all of her time in Brixton Road now.
“Hopefully you’ll be able to come back soon,” I offered with a small smile.
“Yeah. In the meantime, make sure Denise doesn’t become Mayor, please, or I may never come back.”
I laughed. “If there’s one thing that would make Brixton Road seem infinitely more attractive, that would be it! I’ll do my best.”
Peaches got up and gave me a quick hug before heading back out the door. As soon as she left, Muffin let out another meow.
“Don’t worry little guy, you’re not going to become the victim of any more wayward spells,” I told him, giving him a pat on the head as I walked past to organize some books on the shelf.
Chapter 14
As I was putting some books away, I sighed to myself. The realization that Peaches was hiding away in Brixton Road because she knew she’d never survive an encounter with The Others was getting to me.
“Something the matter?” a voice behind me said suddenly, and I let out a squeal of surprise. “Sorry. I keep forgetting I’m a lot quieter than I was when I was alive.”
I turned to find a woman who looked almost exactly like me–if I was twenty-five years older and weighed an extra hundred pounds–looking back at me through semi-translucent eyes. The ghost of my Aunt Francine, who owned the shop until she died–choosing to take her own life rather than have her soul taken by The Others–was staring back at me.
“No kidding,” I replied.
“Hey, I’m just getting used to this whole being-a-ghost thing. People used to hear me coming back when I had footsteps.”
“I guess I can understand that, I’m still getting used to this whole being-a-witch thing,” I said, sitting on one of the chairs.
“You look like you’re in a rather melancholy mood. Would you like to talk about it?”
I nodded. “I guess so. As long as nothing I say gets repeated when you go back to Brixton Road.”
Aunt Francine had made a habit of sharing her time between both worlds. “Oh, that’s not a problem. Sage and I are having a disagreement right now anyway, so I thought I’d come back around here and give Archibald some company for a while.”
“He’s currently finishing up The Lord of the Rings,” I warned her. “So don’t be surprised when he comes out talking about Hobbits and Sauron and stuff.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Francine laughed. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m just kind of feeling bummed about The Others and all, you know? Like, I just realized that Peaches is actually now staying at Brixton Road because she can’t risk being caught by them.”
“Yes, I do know exactly how they can affect your life,” my aunt replied darkly. “After all, I’d still be alive and running this bookstore if it weren’t for them.”
“So you think Cat and I should try and draw them out?”
“Woah, I didn’t say that!” Aunt Francine replied. “Is that what you and Cat were thinking?”
I nodded. “If we try to get them to come out now, when we already know I can kill them, then we have a better chance against them in the future. They’re obviously trying to regroup and grow stronger now. Cat and I want to stop that.”
Aunt Francine sighed. “I understand what you mean. And while my instinct is to tell you not to do it, at the same time, I can see the logic in what you’re saying. After all, you’re becoming a stronger witch as well, every time you have a lesson with Grandma Cee out in Brixton Road. I can see it.”
“So you think we should do it?”
“I think you should do what you think is right,” Aunt Francine replied. “There’s a risk to your plan, but I don’t think your logic is incorrect, and if you’re willing to tackle them again, I’m certainly not going to stop you.”
“Thanks, Aunt Francine,” I told her. “Cat and I are going out tonight. Will you be able to follow us just in case?”
“Of course,” Aunt Francine nodded. “I can’t do much in this stupid ghost body, but I certainly will do whatever I can to help the two of you take them down for good.”
“Great,” I replied. “Though there’s no guarantee that they will come after us tonight. This is more about trying to find a murderer.”
“A murderer?” Aunt Francine asked, and I spent the next little while explaining to her everything that had happened over the last few days. When I was finished, I realized it was already a little bit after twelve, and I wanted to have one more try to see if Sally Wentworth was at home.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” I told Aunt Francine as I headed outside. I walked out to Sally’s place and knocked on the door, but again, there was no answer. I definitely didn’t need to break in this time; it appeared she was really well and truly not coming home. As I was walking back toward the village, thinking about buying a chicken Caesar wrap for lunch, my phone rang and a smile crept across my face as the caller ID announced that Chase was calling me.
“Hey,” I greeted him warmly. “What’s up?”
“I ju
st thought you should know, Sally Wentworth’s mom filed a missing person’s report this morning, apparently, she hasn’t been able to get in touch with Sally since Saturday morning.”
“No kidding. So she really has dropped off the grid.”
“Yeah. I’m going to start looking into her whereabouts more seriously today. I had another witness come forward as well, he said that he saw Sapphire Sam looking through windows that Saturday as well, and that soon after leaving Peter’s bike place he rushed off.”
“Toward the police station,” I continued.
“Exactly.”
“But how did he end up back in the alley behind Cat’s?” I mused.
“That’s what I can’t figure out, either,” Chase said. “No one seems to have seen Sapphire Sam after that.”
“That’s weird in and of itself, isn’t it? After all, I know it was getting late, but it was still a Sunday in June.”
“True, but a lot of the people here then were tourists, who wouldn’t necessarily think to call the cops about what they saw. Plus, to be honest, a lot of people were uncomfortable around Sam, who obviously had mental health issues, and tended to avert their eyes when they saw him. Plus, school’s not out for the kids yet, and it had been raining that day, so it wasn’t that busy. Only a handful of people would have seen him.”
“Ok,” I replied. “Still, it’s too bad.”
“It really is,” Chase said. “I was hoping that canvassing the neighborhood would have gotten better results.”
“For sure. Thanks for letting me know.”
“No problem. We’ll track her down. And by ‘we’, I mean the police force. Not you.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied in a mock military tone.
“I mean it. Sally might not look like much, but right now she’s the prime suspect in this murder investigation. You need to stay out of it.”
“Understood,” I replied. “Cat and I are working the bike thief angle, anyway.”
Death Quixote (A Paranormal Cozy Mystery) (Magical Bookshop Mystery Book 4) Page 8
