Wisteria Warned

by Angela Pepper

One issue that held them back was Grampa Don. Both were wisely reluctant to drag the cranky senior away from the only home he’d known for decades. But then everything changed. It was Grampa Don who suggested, on the eve of Corvin’s return, that maybe it was time for the Moores to “get out of this crazy town for once and for all.”

  They’d discussed the matter as a family late into the night, and came to a decision. They would be leaving. They planned to put the house up for sale immediately. Whether the house sold or not, they would move before the end of summer, so Corvin could start the school year in his new home.

  And where was this new home?

  London!

  As in London, England.

  The Department of Water and Magic had a branch there, which did not surprise me one bit. London was a perfectly logical place to have a secret underground organization run by supernatural beings. Having such a Department in our small town of Wisteria was the illogical place, or so it had seemed.

  Over dinner, Bentley, Zoey and I learned more about our hometown and the unique structures beneath it. Wisteria and parts of Westwyrd, including Castle Wyvern, stretched over the magic equivalent of shifting tectonic plates. These plates, when they moved, didn’t cause earthquakes, but they did open up fissures and tunnels between worlds, and even through time itself.

  Now, keep in mind, Grampa Don was the one who told us about the connections between the worlds. His memory wasn’t exactly the most reliable, so the story about the shifting tectonic plates might have been more bedtime story than actual geography. Besides, time travel wasn’t real. Even witches knew better than to believe in such—as my aunt would call it—tomfoolery.

  I would miss the Moore family.

  Except I would be glad to not have Chet Moore around, with his not-unattractive face that he shared with Archer Caine, and with his not-unattractive body that I still had too many borrowed memories of. My feelings toward him were complicated, to say the least. He’d deceived and manipulated me, and while I tried to play it cool and act as though I’d forgiven him, deep down I had not. I’d just learned to live with the complications.

  Life would be easier for me if Chet Moore moved away. I would not miss him popping up in my life, sticking his nose in my business, and judging my parenting skills.

  Also, I would be glad to no longer live in fear of Chessa. No more stress over bumping into her at a bad time, or reminding her of all the flirting Chet had done with me while she was in a coma. Some of Chet’s friendliness had been acting, but she and I both knew that some of it had been real. I didn’t want to test her jealousy, or feel her fury. My skull belonged on my head, and not on her chic white coffee table as a decorative candy bowl or other vessel of her choosing.

  And, when I really thought about it, while I enjoyed some of Grampa Don’s antics, he’d never quite warmed up to me. And I didn’t care for his prejudice toward me and witchcraft in general.

  Corvin might be the only one of the Moore family I would truly miss. With his round face and his big, spooky eyes. And the adorable way he would suddenly yell out inappropriate or offensive things. Oh, the number of times he’d screamed at me that I was a witch, or a ghost, or both. Priceless!

  I would miss the little weirdo.

  “That’s the third one,” Bentley said, startling me out of my thoughts.

  “The third what?” I shielded the bright pink sky with my hand and peered out over the ocean. “Did you see a horn out there or something? Rumor has it there’s a narwhal shifter who lives in the area.”

  He put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side. “The third sigh,” he said. “I don’t want to be one of those boyfriends who’s always asking you if something’s wrong, but...?” He gave me a questioning look.

  “Just thinking about how I’m going to miss Corvin.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Talk about a phrase I never thought I’d hear myself say.”

  “No offense to the kid, who has grown on me, but I won’t be sad to see the backs of that family. I’ve seen how Chet Moore looks at you, when he thinks Chessa isn’t looking. And then I’ve seen how Chessa sees him looking, then looks at you.” He gave me a serious look. “That woman does want to use your skull as a candy bowl.”

  I gasped. “I know! Right?” I waved one hand. “Nobody else believes me.”

  “I believe you,” he said solemnly. “Maybe I didn’t before, but after having dinner with them tonight, I am one hundred percent convinced.”

  “You’re not just saying that because you’re my boyfriend, and it’s your job to be supportive of your crazy witch girlfriend?”

  “No. That woman is terrifying. And I’m saying that as an actual vampire. I’m hard to kill, as long as my head stays attached to my body, but I get the feeling that woman would pop my head off in a heartbeat.” He looked down and scooped some beach sand in one hand. “That’s one of two reasons why I’m glad you wanted to leave dinner early and go for a walk with me.”

  “Is the other reason because you’re watching your figure and didn’t want to be tempted by dessert?”

  He let the sand sift down through his fingers. “I can’t be tempted by cheesecake,” he said, as serious as ever. “Or donuts, or cookies, or even your croutons, which were very crunchy and good. Those things don’t tempt me.”

  “Oh. Is that because of your, um, powers?” I could say the word vampire now, but I preferred not to.

  “No.” He dusted the sand off his hands and turned to look at me. The sun finished setting just then. The orange drained out of the sky, leaving Bentley’s face a cool blue. His eyes were like mercury.

  I asked, “Then why?”

  He reached up and swept my hair out of my face and then tucked it behind my ear.

  The light faded away. Day turned to night.

  In a husky voice, he said, “Because lately, the only thing that tempts me is you.”

  I started to protest that he was being way too romantic. Cheesy, even. Talking about how I was his only temptation? It was a bit much!

  But then, I became intensely aware of my body, and the exact weight of my arms and legs, and where all my limbs were. I felt the angles of my posture as I sat on the log, and the fluttering of my dress along my sides.

  I wanted to say something silly to dispel the dizzying effect Bentley had over me, the way he made me feel so weak in the places that were supposed to be strong, but I couldn’t say anything. My mouth wouldn’t obey, because all my mouth wanted to do was kiss him.

  All I wanted to do was kiss him.

  The world around us was blue, growing cooler, and I felt first my own heart racing and then his.

  He had his hand in mine, pressed to his chest.

  I felt like someone had cast a buoyancy spell on me, like I might float away.

  He looked deep into my eyes, and before he could say anything even more romantic that might turn me all the way into jelly, I kissed him.

  A giant sea monster could have emerged from the ocean right in front of us, and neither of us would have noticed.

  We sat on the log on the beach, our bare feet in the warm sand, and we kissed each other until the stars came out, and then we held on to each other for warmth and kissed a while longer.

  Chapter 37

  PERSEPHONE DIAMANTE ROSE

  WEDNESDAY MORNING

  The night before she was due to return to her job at the Wisteria Police Department, Persephone Rose couldn’t sleep. She finally gave up on being well rested and got up at five o’clock. After giving her tiny rental cottage a deep cleaning, she made a hearty breakfast of poached eggs, crispy bacon, and a stack of waffles.

  As usual, she saved the bacon for last, and was about to enjoy the first piece when there was a knock at the door.

  It was her father, Rhys Quarry. He was wearing one of his terrible vintage salesman suits. It was brown and corduroy, with suede elbow patches, and she could have sworn she’d given away that exact suit to a charity drive the last time he’d come to visit.r />
  “That suit,” she said by way of greeting.

  He dusted off the hideous lapel. “Can you believe someone threw this out? I found it at a thrift store. It’s a near perfect replacement for my old favorite that mysteriously disappeared.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “How lucky.”

  He shrugged. “Anyone can be lucky. All it takes is the right mindset. When Fate closes a door, she opens a window.” He lifted his nose and sniffed audibly. “I didn’t interrupt breakfast, did I?”

  She nodded for him to come inside. “I’ll whip up some more waffles.”

  He patted his stomach. “No need. I’m trying to cut back on carbs.”

  She had no response to this new concept of her father cutting back on carbohydrates. For one thing, all of Persephone’s feelings about pancakes and waffles were inextricably linked to happy memories of her father making them and piling stacks on her plate. It was because of these happy associations that she’d taken the time to make waffles that morning. For another thing, her mind had switched back to worrying about returning to the WPD after the whole Krinkle debacle.

  Inside the cottage, father and daughter filled mugs with coffee and took seats at the table across from each other. She thought about returning to the workplace where everyone thought she was an idiot who couldn't follow basic privacy and security rules.

  After a comfortable silence, Rhys said, “Cheer up, my little shadow. It could have gone so much worse.”

  She felt the breath hitch in her throat. As usual, her father had read her mind using his all-knowing parental powers. Hearing his sympathy and love nearly pushed her to tears. She’d been holding on for so long, but now she was weakening, giving in to those self-pitying feelings, and she hated that about herself.

  She drowned her rising angst with a big gulp of hot coffee.

  Her father asked, “So, where are we at?”

  “Bentley thinks I’m an idiot, and Zara...” She blinked furiously and frowned at the pepper shaker on the table. “Zara hates me.”

  “No. She does not,” he said emphatically. “Zara doesn’t hate you. I’m the expert on being hated by that particular redhead, and I can assure you, your sister does not hate you.”

  “Half sister,” Persephone corrected, sighing and tilting her face up to stare at the ceiling. Looking up like that helped her angry tears go back to the well of chaos inside her.

  “She doesn’t hate you,” Rhys said. “Zara is a complicated person. She had to toughen up at a young age. Her mother wasn’t the easiest person to live with, trust me, and then she had to raise a kid as a single mother. Zarabella Diamante Riddle is...” He trailed off. He didn’t need to tell Persephone the facts she already knew.

  “I’m going to tell her everything,” Persephone said. “How I only sent those photos to Krinkle because we were trying to track down whoever was giving her orders. How I’ve got no romantic interest in Theodore Bentley whatsoever. How—”

  Rhys interrupted. “No interest whatsoever?”

  She flicked her gaze down from the ceiling to her father, who’d frozen with both rust-colored eyebrows raised expectantly.

  “Ew,” she said. “Don’t be gross. Detective Bentley is almost as old as you.”

  A smile spread slowly across his face. “Almost as old as your dear old dad? I am both flattered and deeply offended.” He leaned back in his chair and unfastened the button of his brown suit jacket. “But all shall be forgiven in exchange for your bacon.”

  “Sure. You can have my bacon. I’ve lost my appetite anyway.” She looked down at her plate, was surprised to find it empty, then gave her father a dirty look.

  “Perfectly crisp,” he said, licking his lips. “But I’m still peckish. How about you? I’ve got an idea.” He rubbed his palms together. “Let’s find ourselves something juicy. There’s nothing quite like pouncing on a chubby field mouse to put the bushiness back in one’s tail.”

  She crossed her arms. “I’m not eating some malnourished, half-dead snake food you bought at the pet store for your imaginary red-tailed boa constrictor.”

  “I don’t expect you to.” He got up from the table, crossed over to the window above the sink, and pushed it open. “We’re going hunting. Shift and follow me.”

  “Don’t you dare shift! Not here, Dad. I live here. Someone will see you.”

  “Nonsense. You picked this house because it’s near the park.”

  “Near the park, yes. But we’re at least four blocks away from the trees.”

  He cleared his throat. “Young lady, when you were a teenager sneaking in and out of the house past curfew, four blocks was nothing.”

  She bit her tongue. He did have a point.

  “Go or don’t go,” he said, tapping his foot impatiently. “But I’m going, and hunting for a juicy mouse is just the start. I’ve got something else I need to do.”

  She shook her head. “Now what?”

  “According to my sources, by which I mean my own pointy ears, Zara is planning to walk to work today through the park. I’m going to pay her a very civil visit, in which explain how it only appeared that I betrayed her and left her for dead that one time.”

  “Do you mean the time you used her cat for bait?”

  “The cat,” he mused. “I forgot about that part. Not one of my finer moments.” He shrugged. “But if the plant had taken the bait, I would have happily gotten her a new cat. A better cat, even. And besides, sometimes we must make sacrifices for the greater good.”

  “Tell me about it,” she sighed. She tried not to think about all the nice things she’d given up to move to Wisteria for her new assignment.

  “So that’s the plan, then,” Rhys said cheerfully. “We’ll have a nice run in the sunshine, just the two of us, like old times. We’ll catch a few mice to get ourselves warmed up, and then make proper introductions.”

  Persephone gave her father a skeptical look. “Why would we need to get warmed up?”

  “To dodge the lightning balls. Zara doesn’t hate you, but she still hates me, remember?”

  Persephone looked at the open window. Her fingers twitched as her body, two steps ahead of her conscious mind, prepared to shift.

  She wanted to go. She had met Zara already, but not really. They were still strangers, and knowing that made her heart ache. Ever since Persephone had found out about her half-sister, the witch, she’d been longing to meet her, to finally throw her arms around her one and only sibling. Though they had different mothers, the two shared blood. They even had the same middle name: Diamante, in honor of their shared great-great-grandmother, a woman of great power.

  Persephone decided to go, to ambush her half-sister immediately. It was time. The Krinkle case had been closed. There was no more reason for secrecy. She would introduce herself to the powerful witch, and deal with whatever balls of lightning flew her way. In her shifter form, Persephone was extremely agile.

  She rose from her chair and said, “No offense, Dad, but maybe I should break the news to Zara by myself.”

  “You can certainly try to outrun your old man.” He grinned and nodded at the window. “Go on. Off you go.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll give you a ten-second head start.”

  “Dad!”

  “Nine and a half seconds.” He tapped the spot on his wrist where a watch might have been. “Nine. Eight and a half. Eight...”

  Persephone Rose shifted into her animal form, flicked her bushy black tail, and leaped out the open kitchen window.

  *

  Thanks for reading the 9th book in the Wisteria Witches world, Wisteria Warned by Angela Pepper.

  The adventure continues... in the next book, WISHFUL WISTERIA.

  Turn the page for a note from the author, and see the back page for the full series listing.

  Sign up for Angela's newsletter at www.angelapepper.com to get an email when new Wisteria books are released!

  Author’s Note for Wisteria Warned

  Dear super-fun friend,

/>   I hope you were pleasantly surprised by the change in the way this part of the Wisteria saga was told. In previous author’s notes, I’ve mentioned how I prefer books that stick with one character for the whole book, and that I write books the way I’d like to read them, but then, surprise! We get chapters with the gorgons, the Moore family, and even the Permits Department gang. I wasn’t planning to visit those other characters, but then I thought... oh what the heck! The alternative was to leave out the details about who was influencing Temperance Krinkle and let Zara and Bentley believe she’d been acting on her own, and that perhaps there was a long-lost cousin who sent her a book. But then I realized what a fun opportunity it would be to “zoom out” and show the big picture of all the people in town, and how they’re affected (or unaffected) by events.

  I have always wanted to write stories about the other people in Wisteria, but I’m only one person, and it takes me a lot of hours to carefully and lovingly create the novels about the Riddle family, so that’s where my focus is. However, zipping over to visit other characters for a chapter or two is so delightful. It probably won’t happen again in the next book, because that’s a very different story, but you might see some other characters having their own chapters in future books. Or you might not. I do have plans, but, as Codex said, plans are things humans make for the gods to laugh at.

  During the writing of this book, birthday candles became a big ongoing joke. We went to my husband’s aunt’s birthday, and she had 71 candles on her cake. (Happy birthday, Phyllis!) I asked if she had a permit for all those candles, and everyone laughed, even though they hadn’t read my book. It’s just a funny idea. I know people joke about having the fire department on standby, but I don’t think I’ve heard people ask about permits. Maybe it’s a thing everyone does? Either way, you have my permission to begin asking about candle permits at any birthday gatherings. As for Phyllis’ cake, we sang the song, and it took her many puffs to blow out all the candles, which were melting into one super-candle, and yes, the smoke detector did go off. The birthday girl’s lovely old blue-eyed Siamese cat was not impressed, but remained snuggled next to me on the couch making funny cat faces.