by Boyles, Amy
A thin slip of paper dangled from his mouth.
Sylvester slithered up a table leg and dropped the paper by Axel.
The divination.
I pointed to it. “That’s it according to him.”
Axel curled his fingers around the paper. “Are you ready?”
I nodded.
He smiled at me warmly and then unfolded the sheet.
TWENTY
Axel opened his mouth to relay the writing on the slip when someone crashed through the door.
I turned in time to see a body hurtle toward me. Axel pushed me out of the way and raised his hand.
The man came to a skidding stop, his arms and legs splayed like a pinwheel.
I peered through the shadows cast in the room. “Burt? Burt, is that you?”
Burt ran his hands over his hair. “Yes, it’s me. Here I am. Caught breaking into Beverly’s old divination room.”
Well, so were we. Once Burt had time to think about it, I’m pretty sure he’d figure out that Axel and I were doing the same thing.
Axel released the magical hold on Burt, who slowly came to rest, toes first, on the floor.
He threw up his hands. “You caught me. I came here looking for something that could help me. The police are still looking at me as a suspect. But now I look even more guilty.”
He paused and stared at us. Burt blinked as if realizing for the first time who stood in front of him. “Wait a minute. The two of y’all shouldn’t be here, either.”
I shook my head. “No, we shouldn’t. As much as I hate to say it, we’re doing the same thing—looking for clues that will help you.”
He wrapped me in a hug that sang of desperation. “Oh, bless you, Pepper.” He released me and pressed a palm to his heart. “I have been sick since this whole thing started. Then Connor overheard something about a divination, so I came up here to check.”
He pointed dramatically at the clutter of papers in cubbies. “Don’t ask me how I was going to find one in a million, but I would’ve given it my best shot.”
I nodded to Axel. “We found it and were just about to read it.”
“Please. Don’t let me stop you.”
Axel glanced down at the slip. His mouth quirked bitterly. “It talks about Beverly’s death all right. Read it for yourselves.”
I took the paper. Burt nearly launched himself over my shoulder to get a better look.
He gasped. “‘Beverly, you will die if you don’t keep your mouth shut.’”
I inspected the paper. It was handwritten with distinct penmanship that looped at the start of the m for mouth.
I glanced at Axel. “Is this a joke? This isn’t a divination.”
“Yes, it is.” Axel took the slip and tucked it into his pocket. “It’s a threat divination.”
“But why would other people even know about it?” Burt said. “Assuming this is what the two ladies in town were talking about.”
Axel rubbed his bottom lip. “Could be that Beverly let it be known she had been threatened.”
“But if that was the case, wouldn’t Garrick be looking for this?” I raked my fingers through my hair. “And how did two random women know about it?”
Burt settled a fist under his chin. “Maybe Valerie is letting folks know.”
I snapped my fingers. “Valerie is Prissy's new minion. She has good reason to get rid of Prissy. It’s easy to let a rumor start that Prissy had murdered Beverly and there was a divination to prove it.”
“And Valerie looks innocent if someone else finds it,” Axel said.
The three of us exchanged a long look. Axel spoke first. “I’ll make sure Garrick knows about this.”
Burt exhaled a deep breath. “Bless you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Ever since I got here, I’ve felt that someone is watching me.”
Little blades like thumbtacks spiked down my spine. “You too?” And here I’d hoped that Burt’s eyes were the ones I’d felt.
“Yes, me too.” Burt nodded toward the door. “Let’s get out of here.”
We vacated the room and tromped downstairs. Burt headed for the door, but I tugged Axel’s arm. “There’s still one more thing we need to do.”
“You go on, Burt,” Axel said. “We’ll catch up in a few.”
Burt glanced around. “Okay, but be careful. This place is making the fine hairs on my chest stand straight up.”
I choked back a laugh. The way Burt put things, even in a crisis situation he was hysterical.
Axel, Sylvester and I headed to Deidre’s office. Axel lit his orb again, and I started riffling through the stack of books.
“Deidre said she’d placed the book in the drop box, but nothing was there.”
“I don’t think she wants you to have it.”
I rested my finger on a leather spine and glanced at him over my shoulder. “Why wouldn’t she want me to have it? It’s just a book—one that she can’t even read without a Craple to help her.” I returned to scrolling book titles. “There wasn’t anything I read to her that was worth hiding from me.”
He slid a tome from its spot in a bookcase and opened it. The binding crackled as the pages peeled back. “Positive there isn’t anything she wouldn’t want you to know?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
The sound of leather gliding over wood filled my ears as Axel replaced the book. “Just because something wasn’t important to you doesn’t mean it wasn’t important to Deidre.”
“Please. All Deidre’s trying to do is prove that the Tipples have been here for ages.”
Axel shot me a charged look. “Are you sure about that?”
I shook my head in frustration. Sometimes I just wished the man could answer a question without throwing another question on top of it.
“Why are you being so evasive?” I fisted a hand to my hip. “Is there something you’d like to say?”
“It just seems like she’s going to a lot of trouble to prove something about the Tipples.” I started to protest, and he flashed his palm. “Calm down. I’m not saying Beverly was any better because she had a deep prejudice against anyone who wasn’t a blue blood witch like her. I don’t understand why these two women would work so hard to prove the other wrong. Deidre wants to prove the Tipples are an important family, and Beverly didn’t want anyone but an Unk to be able to walk the streets of Magnolia Cove.”
“I don’t know if that’s true about Beverly. You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I? There are witches who would wipe out all half-breeds if they could.”
I scoffed. “You saying Beverly Unk was one of them?”
“Without a doubt.” His fingers traced the spine of a book. “But is Deidre also someone like that?”
“No way.”
He hitched a brow. “Can you be sure?”
“Of course I can be sure.”
“The book’s missing.”
“Someone stole it from the drop box, or she was mistaken.”
He shot me a dark look. “You’re being too nice.”
“I’m not being too nice. Deidre’s done nothing but help me.”
He nodded but said nothing.
“You doubt me.”
“Not you. Her.”
I tugged my hair over one shoulder and braided it to kill the frustration growing like a mound in my gut. Otherwise I’d snap at Axel. “So you don’t think the book’s here.”
“Could be? Could be somewhere else.”
“If it’s at her house, Betty should be able to get it.”
“If Deidre gives it to them.”
“Will you stop? All we’re doing is going round and round.”
He dropped his finger from the binding it currently poked and sauntered to me. A testosterone cloud filled the air. I nearly choked on Axel’s manliness.
When he wove his arms around my waist, my breath hitched. Pure, unbridled energy flowed off Axel. It was like someone had used a bellows to puff h
im full of power.
Thing was, no one needed to use a bellows. He simply possessed more power than most wizards or witches.
Mistrust filled his eyes. “Let’s hope Betty’s able to get ahold of that book.”
“What’s going on with you?” I tugged his bicep. “You’re acting weird.”
“Because it doesn’t make sense to me why a witch would lie about something like that.”
“We don’t know she lied,” I argued.
“Yes, we do,” he said firmly. “The easiest explanation for the book not being in the drop box is that Deidre never placed it there in the first place.”
“Okay.” I shrugged, giving up. “You win. She never put it there. Since we’ve come to an understanding, I’m ready to leave. I hope you are, too.”
He uncoiled his arms from me and gestured toward the door. “After you.”
It was cool outside. I pulled Sylvester to me to give the snake extra warmth. His eyes glittered, but the snake made no move to thank me.
Oh well, it’s not like I was surprised about that. Though I had to admit it seemed as if Sylvester was slowly warming up to me.
I glanced over at Axel and found him staring at me. I smiled shyly and he winked.
“You look gorgeous in the moonlight.”
“Thank you, sir. I must say that you do—”
Something crashed in a bush beside the school. I jumped and whirled to face whatever it was.
Axel placed an arm protectively in front of me. “Stay here.”
“I will not. What if you get hurt?”
His expression turned so dark I decided it best not to argue with Axel ever again.
Kidding. I’m sure we’d argue again, but not on this.
Without waiting for my answer, Axel launched himself into the bushes. I heard a scuffle, a howl, and when he reappeared, Axel held someone by the scruff of the neck.
My jaw fell. “Rufus?”
He shrugged in embarrassment. “In the flesh.”
“What are you doing here? Creeping around at night?”
“I came to work some late-night experiments.”
Axel shook him. “Tell her the truth.”
Rufus answered quickly. “I am telling the truth.” A nervous laugh escaped his lips. “It’s just that I heard the two of you and didn’t want to intrude, so I stayed out of sight.”
I tapped my foot impatiently. “In the bushes? You stayed out of sight in them?”
“That’s exactly right.” He raised his palms in surrender. “I know how this looks, but believe me, I was only going into the school.”
Axel’s voice filled with disgust. “Right. I’m sure all you were doing was hanging out because you were about to make some sort of midnight amulet. Am I right?”
He wagged a finger. “Funny thing about that—you are. Whoever would’ve thought the wolf would be right about something when it came to me?”
Axel’s jaw tightened. He glowered at me. “Do you believe me now?”
I rocked back on my heels. I fisted my hands to my face and exhaled a staggered breath. I’d been so stupid. So, so stupid. I’d believed this person was my friend, but here he was, at night, appearing out of thin air.
My fingers trembled as I slid them into my pocket and pulled the charm from its resting place. I held it high for Rufus to see.
“This isn’t a protection amulet, is it, Rufus?”
“Of course it is.” He jerked his chin at Axel. “What lies has the wolf been filling your head with? What’s he been saying?”
I brought the stone to my forehead. “I’ve been so naive. Here I thought you wanted to be friends, you wanted to protect me. But you’ve been spying on me.”
His expression sobered. “I would never do such a thing.”
“You wouldn’t?” Now it was my turn to be infuriated. “You just did. It’s been you following me around. When I’ve felt an extra set of eyes on me, it’s been you.”
I shoved my finger in his face. “You betrayed me.”
Rufus’s face twisted in anger. “I betrayed you? Are you insane? I’m trying to keep you safe. Protect you. For goodness’ sake, you’ve given yourself to a werewolf, a creature that would devour you without thought, and you think I’m the bad one?”
He tugged at his collar. “Would you release me?”
“Gladly.” Axel opened his hand, and Rufus dropped to the ground.
He rose and brushed off his jeans. His voice trembled with rage. “You are so naive to think you can just prance around Magnolia Cove and that no one will ever harm you. Why? Because you’re Betty Craple’s granddaughter? You have power that makes others jealous. Very jealous. They’ll want to steal it the same as me. I’m only trying to help you, Pepper.” His ire dampened. When Rufus spoke next, it was with a featherlight voice. “Why can’t you see that?”
I gripped the stone in my fist. “Because friends don’t spy on friends. That’s how it is. You don’t tell me it’s a protection amulet when it’s a homing device. That’s not how it works.”
He opened his arms wide. “And would you have taken it knowing what it was? Of course not. Not on your life would you have accepted help from me, Rufus Mayes, the scourge of Magnolia Cove.”
My voice was barely above a whisper. “I might’ve. You don’t know.”
Our gazes locked, and pain radiated from my heart. It had felt good to know Rufus was on my side, that he was trying to be someone different. But this agony felt like a fiery spear had lodged itself in my ribs.
He’d used our friendship to spy on me.
Axel had been right all along. He’d told me what the amulet was, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it.
No more. There was no doubt in my mind what the thing was. I lifted the charm into the air and threw it at Rufus. It skidded across the grass and landed at his feet.
Slowly he stooped to palm the stone. “I did it for the right reasons.”
I scowled. Fury filled every nook and cranny of my body. What was wrong with him? I couldn’t school Rufus on how to be friends. I didn’t have time for that crap. Heck, I barely had time to run my shop and freaking deal with murders every few weeks in Magnolia Cove.
Hardness I’d never known lashed from my tongue. “I don’t think you know the difference between good reasons and wrong ones.” I inhaled deeply and lifted my chin. “From now on, Rufus Mayes, you are no longer welcome in my life. You have crossed a line that can never be erased.”
Rufus’s jaw dropped. He recovered by throwing back his shoulders and lifting his chin. “You think I’m the bad guy. You’ve always thought that way. Even when I’ve tried to help you, it’s me who’s seen as wrong, as doing something I shouldn’t when all I want to do is help. Yes, I should’ve told you about it, but you never would’ve accepted the gift.”
He shook his head in disgust. “But if this is what you want—to think I’m evil and that I haven’t changed—then you have your wish. From now on I will stay far away from you, Pepper Dunn. I’m leaving Magnolia Cove. It’s a place that will never accept me.”
He pointed a finger at me. “But know this—our truce is off. Whatever friendship we built has been destroyed.” He splayed his arms. “The old Rufus Mayes is back, and the one thing I want above all else”—his lips coiled into a smile that made me shiver—“is to own your power. And one day I will have it.”
He threw down his hand. A cloud of smoke erupted from the ground, enveloping him.
Axel thrust open his palm. A wind blew the fog away. I coughed as it dissipated into silky strands.
My gaze locked on Axel’s. I curled inward, hugging my gut. He strode over and wrapped me in his arms. I placed my fingers on his biceps and realized I was trembling. My knees quaked. My teeth chattered.
“Come on, let’s get you home.”
I pressed my forehead to his chest and bit my lip to stop the tears from falling. “Did I do the right thing? I pushed him, Axel. I pushed him to become like he was before. If he hurts anyone, it’s my f
ault.”
“You did exactly what you should’ve done. He was wrong to give you that amulet without telling you. I don’t think Rufus knows how to be good. His views are warped.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. “I feel like I did this.”
Axel hooked his finger under my chin and lifted until our eyes met. “Pepper Dunn, don’t you ever question that decision. Rufus Mayes made it perfectly clear who he is. He’s pure evil. He’s placed you in his crosshairs.”
My fingers curled into Axel’s jacket. Everything I’d tried to help Rufus had been useless. I didn’t know why I was so upset. Was it because he couldn’t be the person I wanted? Or because he’d become that person but couldn’t control the lust for evil in his heart?
I pondered this as Axel wrapped me in his arms. “We’re taking a shortcut to Magnolia Cove. By magic.”
I nodded and held on tight as power surged around us. The earth trembled beneath my feet, and it was then that I knew why I was so upset.
The pain in my chest buoyed because I wanted Rufus to be something he couldn’t possibly be. Power would always be his undoing. Apparently my power was at the top of his list.
I dug my fingers into Axel harder. Well, this was one girl’s power that Rufus would never own. The only way he would take it would be over my dead body.
Let’s hope it didn’t come to that.
TWENTY-ONE
I had hoped when we reached the house, my mood would lighten, but it didn’t. Still, I shoved aside my irritation at Rufus, even though I was the target of his anger.
Axel and I stood outside the cottage. I stared at the door, not wanting to go inside.
Axel tried to tell me that none of this had been my fault. Rufus was who he was, and no amount of my wanting to change him would alter anything.
Axel gripped my shoulders and stared at me with such intensity I swore he could see the pit of my soul. “It would’ve turned out this way. Even if you turned back time and changed something. Say you didn’t take the amulet; it wouldn’t have mattered. Rufus will always be Rufus. At the end of the day the darkness wins in him. Always.”
