Witch Bane and the Croaking Game

by Cat Larson

  “I’m not going to do that. I already told you—no cops.”

  “But why not?”

  I didn’t expect him to understand, and I couldn’t tell him why. “Just trust me, okay?”

  “And I’m still not supposed to say anything to Damon either?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Does that mean you know who did this? Are you protecting them?”

  “No, I don’t know.” Although, all flashing neon signs pointed to Fernando’s plight. I hung my head. And to top it off, I couldn’t even ask him about it. Well, I could, but I’d only get a croak back in response.

  “I don’t know, Samm… It doesn’t seem right to just let someone get away with this.”

  “And you don’t think they will anyway?”

  I was hoping that since they’d ruined my entire place and hadn’t found what they were looking for, they’d leave me alone for the foreseeable future. Their hundred grand hadn’t been stashed away in my couch cushions—oops, $98,800 now. I snorted. My piddly rent money was likely just a fraction of the interest owed.

  Griffin raised an eyebrow. “Something funny?”

  “It’s better than crying, right?”

  “I’m not so sure about that. Sometimes you just have to let it all out.”

  “And then what? If I drain myself dry, I won’t be any better off than before.”

  He scooted a bit closer. “It’s okay, you know. To cry in front of me. You don’t have to hold back for my sake. After the trials you’ve already faced…”

  His words drifted off. I knew what he was implying, but I didn’t have the energy to correct him. He was convinced Fernando was cheating on me, and my fiancé was one of those “trials.” A major one.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, but I wasn’t so sure. Yeah, if I put things into perspective, I hadn’t lost everything. I still had friends and family (sort of), but still… what was I going to do now?

  “Is that pizza place across the street any good?”

  “Lou’s? Yeah, they’re pretty good.”

  “How about we go grab some dinner, get out of here for a while?”

  “Okay.” My stomach rumbled. That sounded great. I stood but ended up plopping back down. “Dang it. I forgot. My money—”

  Griffin stopped me with a look. “Seriously, Samm? You think I’d invite you to dinner and expect you to pay your own way?”

  “It’s not like you’re formally asking me out on a date; we’re two friends getting some pizza together. So, yes. I do expect to pay my own way.”

  “Man, you’re stubborn. I’m treating tonight. End of story. It’s just a little pizza so don’t get all weird about it.”

  “Just a little pizza? I guess you’ve never been to Lou’s.”

  “No, I haven’t, so let’s go. And not another word about a friend helping out another friend.”

  “Man, you’re demanding,” I mumbled, earning me a smirk because he knew he’d won.

  We left the bathroom, squinting through the carnage that was once my apartment, and out the front door. When we came to the street, I noticed a line out the door at Lou’s, but it wasn’t too bad. It should move quickly enough. At least it wasn’t a weekend or we’d have to wait hours for a table.

  I went up and grabbed a menu. “We can place our order now so it’ll be ready shortly after we’re seated.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me how long we have to wait. At least the company’s adequate.”

  “Adequate?” I thrust the menu into his hands, and he laughed. “Just take a look and see what you want.”

  “What do you recommend?”

  “Extra mushrooms, definitely.”

  I pivoted toward the familiar voice with a huge smile. “Ashley!” I rushed over to Lou’s daughter and part-time waitress and hugged her tightly. It was wonderful to see her again.

  “You here to pick up a few shifts?” she asked. “We could use you. Cara called in sick. Again.”

  It was tempting. If there was ever a time I needed work… Lou had saved me on several occasions in the past, letting me waitress for him when I was in between jobs and needed some quick cash. I glanced over at Griffin. It wasn’t like I could just up and desert him.

  “Nope,” I said. “I’m here as a customer tonight. Thanks, though.”

  Ashley gave Griff a once-over, raising an eyebrow at me. “Stepping out on Fernando?”

  “What? No! Of course not. This is an old friend of mine. Griffin—Ashley. Ashley—Griffin.” I made introductions, but they’d barely gotten in a hello before she had to rush back to her tables.

  “Samm?” he asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Since I wasn’t the one to bring it up—where is your boyfriend anyway?”

  “Fiancé. And it’s none of your business.” His expression shifted, and he dropped his eyes back to the menu. Oh shoot. I hadn’t meant it like that. I touched his arm. “I’m sorry. It’s complicated, right?” I gave him a smile.

  “If you say so.”

  “Truth is… I wish he were here, but he can’t be right now. That’s really all I can say about it, okay?”

  “If you say so.”

  Humph. About the only thing to do at this point was brush it under the rug, which is what we did. We focused on pizza, ordering the Lou Special, minus the mushrooms. My mouth was drooling already.

  “You want to sit at the bar until our table’s ready?”

  “Sure, if we can find a spot.” All the stools appeared to be taken. We pushed through to the end where there was one free seat and squeezed in. He gestured for me to sit. “You take it,” I said. “I’m fine with standing.” You can guess how well that went over. “Oh, all right.” I plunked down, and he was forced to stand dangerously close to me.

  “What’ll you have?”

  “A ginger ale, please.” Maybe it’d settle my stomach. Normally, I’d have a glass of wine but… “I changed my mind. I’ll have a glass of merlot. Unless you’d like me to drive back?”

  “Nope, don’t worry about that.”

  He ordered my wine and a soda for him. I sipped the rich, smooth liquid, the warmth wrapping my throat like a cozy blanket. I wasn’t sure how it’d react in my topsy-turvy stomach, but I could already feel the edges of my nerves dulling. I took another sip, this one larger. It felt surreal, having my first adult drink around Griffin like I was doing something sneaky. We were supposed to be kids—how had we grown up so fast?

  I set my wine down just as Griffin’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, then shoved it back.

  “Let me guess—Damon?” He nodded. “Why aren’t you answering?”

  “It’s too noisy to hear well in here. I’ll call him back later.”

  “You can always step outside. I’ll listen for our table.”

  “Nah, he can wait.”

  Yeah, probably a wise decision. If Damon found out his baby brother was in Chicago with me, he’d probably send out a SWAT team.

  “Hey, about Tommy—”

  Our buzzer cut him off, thankfully. We grabbed our drinks and followed Ashley over to our table, a cute little booth for two in the corner.

  “Any appetizers?” she asked, and I looked at Griffin.

  “Order whatever you want,” he said.

  “No, I can wait. The pizza will be here soon enough.” No sense filling up on garlic bread or mozzie sticks when the main course would be heavy enough to bust an elephant’s gut.

  He checked out the room. “Cool place. I’m sure you’re here often, being right across the street.”

  I nodded. “The owner’s great. He lets me waitress here and there to pick up some extra money.”

  Normally, if I were in a booth like this, Fernando would’ve been sitting across from me. Seeing Griffin’s face on the other side of the table threw me into another unreal moment. It was hard to reconcile my past and present merging together like time didn’t exist at all. Was my future self in the amalgamation as well? Were al
l three parts of my life happening right then as one current event?

  Heavens to Murgatroyd, Samm. It was like I’d rented out my head to host a quantum physics symposium.

  “That’s nice,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “This place. That you always have something to fall back on.”

  “Oh right.” I knew Griffin wasn’t thrilled with my new life in Chicago, the apartment he felt wasn’t safe enough, the fiancé he thought wasn’t faithful to me. But he wasn’t giving me a hard time about it. He was just… there for me. “I’d like to stop back at my place before we leave to see if there’s anything still salvageable left to take.”

  “No problem.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “About what I was trying to say before—I’m sorry for causing a scene with Tommy.”

  Well, if he had to mention it again, I could handle him doing it this way. “You’re forgiven. But I wouldn’t have called it ‘causing a scene.’ You barely raised your voice, but you did tick me off.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m apologizing. Why was he even there, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “He came to thank me for giving him some ice for his split lip. It was no big deal. I was someone in the right place at the right time.”

  “What does that even mean? Where were you?”

  “At McGuinness Inn. Remember the apple pie? I was delivering it. The whole thing’s not even worth talking about. Although…”

  Was it worth discussing his take on the whole Penelope/ghost/impersonator thing? Probably, since even more had happened since we’d last spoken about it.

  “Why did he have a split lip?”

  “Oh. He was in a fight. Gavin hit him. I’m not defending him or anything, but why do you hate him so much anyway?”

  “The guy’s a snake. He doesn’t have the best history, especially when it comes to women.”

  “There’s gotta be more to it than that, why you freak out when he’s around me. It’s not like there’s any worry of me dating him.”

  His jaw ticked. “He’s bad news. That’s not enough?”

  I shrugged. “It just sounds personal, is all.”

  “I’ve seen the way he’s treated others over the years. He’d kick his own grandmother if she were down.”

  “Um, okay…” Sure, the guy could be a creep at times, but I thought that was a bit too harsh. “And you say I’m not trusting enough. What about you?”

  “I know to trust the people who deserve it. There’s a difference.”

  “And you’re implying I don’t?” I stiffened, taking offense.

  “I’m not starting anything with you. That’s the last thing I want to do. But to be honest here, it seems like you’ve had this edge since you’ve been back. More cynical of the ones who have your best interests at heart, like you can’t let your guard down with us.”

  “Have you been comparing notes with Sage? You sound just like her.”

  “Maybe that’s even more of a reason to take me seriously then.”

  I took a chug of wine. “We were thirteen the last time we saw each other, and now we’re twenty-six. Of course, I’m going to change. It’d be weird if I hadn’t. Did you expect me to come back and be the exact same person?”

  “I know an adult is going to be different than a teenager. That’s not what I’m talking about.” He looked down. “I just can’t help but wonder if you’re a bit harder now because you were hurt by someone you counted on, someone you loved.”

  He lifted his eyes to my narrowed ones. Maybe I should rethink the whole ‘not giving me a hard time’ thing, for I knew exactly what—or should I say, who—he was referring to.

  “Gah! For the last time, Fernando is not or has never cheated on me, let me down, or did anything else questionable.” At least not to me.

  I stared him down, hoping he’d finally get that through his one-track thick skull.

  “Here you go,” Ashley said, setting down our pizza and scooping out the first slice for me. The steam wafted up, filling my nose with the most delicious aroma ever. Aaah…

  No more talking, I decided. The only thing I wanted to do was dive headfirst into a two-inch pile of buttery, gooey, savory goodness.

  “Anything else for you two?”

  “We’re good. Thanks.”

  “Enjoy.” She patted the table then went over to check on the next.

  I shoveled in a large bite. Man, I missed Chicago-style pizza. “Good, huh?” I asked.

  He’d already polished off half a piece. “Yeah. We need a place like this in Bigfoot Bay. It’s got everything except this pizza.” He flicked me a look. “And one other thing.”

  I continued keeping my mouth full, finishing a full slice before he spoke again. “Are you happy, Samm?”

  “Very. Can’t you tell by the chunks of tomato all over my face?” I dug into my second piece.

  “I don’t mean with the pizza.”

  I sighed. “Yes, I’m happy, past three weeks aside. I’ve told you that many times.”

  “See, that’s where we’re different. These past few weeks I’ve been happier than I have in a long time.”

  I paused midchew. “Griffin…”

  “I’m not going to step out of line, but I’m also not going to pretend that it hasn’t been incredible having you home again.”

  “It’s only temp—”

  “Yes, It’s temporary. I know that. You don’t need to keep repeating it to me and everyone else in town.” I scrunched up my face. “But even though your time home has an expiration date, I’ll take that over never having seen you again.”

  “Griffin…”

  He held up a hand. “Let me finish. Please. You accused me of being jealous, and yeah, I guess I am. I can’t help it. You think it’s easy for me knowing you’re engaged to another man? It gets hard to keep shoving stuff inside and pretending like it doesn’t bother me when the girl I always thought I’d end up with is ending up with someone else, and there’s not a single thing I can do about it.”

  Wow, okay. He was really laying it all out there. There was no suitable response to what he’d just said, but if he could bare his heart and soul then the least I could do was the same. I owed him that much.

  “I’ve been jealous too, Griff. I know it isn’t quite the same, but it’s also been hard on me thinking of you and… Regina.” Even just saying her name in this context squeezed my chest. No, that was too gentle. More like piledrove it.

  “Jealous of Regina? Whatever for?”

  “Just because I’m in love and engaged to be married doesn’t mean I can’t feel such things. You were a huge part of my life, and I can’t just turn that off.”

  “What happened with me and Regina ended over a year ago. What’s going on with you is happening right here, right now.”

  “But at least I’m in a good relationship. I’ve heard how horrible Regina is. How could you want to spend the rest of your life with someone like that?” It made my skin crawl.

  “And how could you…” He guzzled down a full glass of water before saying anything else. “Do you realize how we sound? Let’s not spend the night doing this to each other.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Agreed.”

  “I won’t bad-mouth your fiancé again.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. If you say you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. I wish you all the best.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You truly mean that?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Okay, then,” I said warily. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. And just as a gesture of goodwill, you can go ahead and ask me anything. I haven’t been too forthcoming about certain things you’ve been interested in, but all that ends now.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Yep, ask me anything, and I’ll answer.”

  Anything? “Why?” And why did I feel so suspicious of the recent turnaround?

  “Because I’m not sure how much longer you’ll b
e around. My days with you are limited, and I don’t want them filled with secrets.”

  “Oh. Okay. Then, what is—”

  “Max Harper.”

  My mouth dropped, and he grinned at my reaction. Holy crud. He’d told me his pen name. “How’d you know I was going to ask you that?”

  “Maybe because you’ve been trying to get it out of me ever since that night at the ice festival.”

  I was so going to look him up the first chance I got. “Any significance or did you just pick that name at random?”

  He cocked his head. “You don’t remember?”

  “Remember what?”

  “I’m sure it’ll come to you eventually.”

  Hmm. Not sure what that was about, but it didn’t temper any of my giddiness. Sure, it was just a pseudonym, but it was like I had a part of him that no one else did. Well, maybe no one else…

  “Do you mind if I ask about Regina?”

  “What would you like to know?”

  Wowzah. I was on a high here. How much time did we have? I’d start with a simple enough question to warm up, nothing too jarring, something I thought I could handle (somewhat).

  “How long were you together before you proposed?”

  “I didn’t propose. She did.”

  “What? She proposed to you? And obviously, you accepted.”

  “I did.”

  “But why…” I tried collecting my thoughts that had scattered across the table. Why had she been the one to do it—did that mean she was more into the relationship? Not that women shouldn’t take the initiative; we hadn’t time-traveled back a couple of centuries, but what if… My mind was going bonkers. What if she had something on him, tried blackmailing him into marriage or else—

  “Because I loved her.”

  Oh… He’d misunderstood what I was asking. But more importantly, I hadn’t been expecting that answer.

  “What’s your next question?”

  “Hold on.” I held up a finger. “Ashley!” I yelled. “We’re gonna need another glass of wine over here.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I was a hypocrite.

  I cradled my second glass of merlot between my hands, mulling over his answer. I’d just flat-out admitted I was in love with Fernando, yet him saying he’d loved Regina had flipped my world upside down?