Amuletto Kiss

by Gina LaManna

  “Them?”

  “The lawyers, the judges, all those people in their fancy suits and shiny briefcases. Nobody listened to me, least of all my own suit. The lawyer they assigned me was a moron. I considered firing him and defending myself, and the only law I know is from the movies.”

  I couldn’t hold back a quiet laugh which surprised both of us—me most of all. I’d expected to come here and, at worst, find a horrible murderer roaming free on the streets. At best, I thought I’d get confirmation that the man hadn’t done it. Never in a million years had I expected to feel sympathy for Sammy, and even the beginnings of an oddly forged bond.

  “Look, I’m really sorry,” I said. “I don’t know why, exactly, but I’m sure you didn’t do it. And it’s awful that the law didn’t find her true killer, and you were punished instead.”

  I didn’t explain further because I couldn’t. There was no good way to tell Samuel Palmer that I suspected witches or wizards had been behind my mother’s murder, and when push came to shove, human cops were no match for magic.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry too,” he said, dryly. “I am sorry about your mother. It’s just a little hard for me to sound sincere when two people lost their lives that day.”

  “Your life isn’t over.” I swung my bookbag down and withdrew all the candy I’d purchased, along with any remaining cash I had left. “Here. I wish I had more for you, but this is all I have.”

  Sammy frowned as he took the items from me. “This is all you have?”

  “I know, it’s not even real food, but...”

  He looked up, a kinship behind his bloodshot eyes. “Thank you. I wish I could help more with your mom’s case, but I have no clue who offed her or why. I wish I did, believe me—it would’ve saved me a lot of time and heartache.”

  “For whatever it’s worth,” I said, backing away with a touch of a smile. “I don’t think Miss Hubick’s as over you as you might think.”

  He glanced down at himself. “Look at me. I can’t go back to her now.”

  “It’s not about what’s on the outside.”

  He gave a dark chuckle. “It’s not like I have all that much to offer on the inside, either. I’m washed out, Miss...what was your name?”

  “Lily.”

  “Miss Lily.” He extended a hand and shook mine. “Best of luck. I’m sorry I can’t help you more.”

  “Best of luck to you, Sammy.”

  He covered my hand with his much, much larger one, and the warmth and sentiment behind his grasp made me forget the reason I’d come here in the first place. It wasn’t until he’d let go and disappeared around a bend in the alley that I looked up and truly saw around me, realizing hints of stars pecked through the early evening glow. Evening had snuck up on me, and I needed to get off Filbert Street.

  The sun set early around this time of year, and my lunch had been a late one. The entire day had passed in a blur, and though I hadn’t learned much new information about my mother’s murder, I was confident on one front: Trinket’s theory was correct. And, since the suspects who’d been convicted hadn’t committed the crime, the real murderer was still out there.

  On that somber note, a sudden itchiness slithered over my skin; I recognized the feeling of watchful eyes following my every move. As I hesitated, I noticed a movement behind a dingy curtain, and the clatter of a trash can tipping over nearby. While I hadn’t felt frightened on Filbert Street during the day, the night brought with it far more terrors, and all of Miss Hubick’s warnings came back in a rush.

  I backed out of the alleyway and continued on the street. I made it a few blocks before I realized I was headed in the wrong direction. Glancing at my palm, I muttered the words to the bus station where Frank had dropped me earlier. Another bus to The Isle left within the hour, and I could make it if I hurried.

  Seeing a U-turn blinking on my palm, I flipped around to head in the direction from which I’d come. A few steps later, the itchiness returned. I hadn’t looked up from my palm, partly in fear, partly in concentration. That turned out to be my biggest mistake.

  By the time I looked up, there were at least five of them. Four big, burly men and one skinny little woman with mangy hair creeping toward me. I thought I spied a sixth figure in the shadows, but I was too busy with the first five to pay much attention to anything else.

  “Hey, pretty, pretty girl,” the woman cackled. “What were you talking to Sammy about? We saw you handing out some goodies, darling, and we want to play, too.”

  “I don’t have any more goodies.” I cinched my bookbag tighter subconsciously. I didn’t have any money, but I did have a slew of valuable library books as well as my Forgotten Ferns. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help you, but—”

  “Don’t lie, precious dolly,” the woman said. “We’re your friends. You and I, we women have to stick together, don’t we?”

  I glanced behind me, but the sixth shadow had solidified into another figure, bigger than the rest, and he inched closer from the rear.

  “I just got lost around here, er, looking for my boyfriend,” I said. “He’s a cop. He’s supposed to meet me around here soon.”

  “Whaddya think, Binky?” The woman looked to the large man behind me. “Is she lying?”

  The man referred to as Binky—the largest man of all—gave a positive grunt, and the woman slunk toward me like a rabid fox. She reached for my hair, swirling the ponytail around her finger while I stayed stock still, trying not to show my fear. I sensed an animalistic instinct in her, and there was no doubt she’d latch onto the first display of weakness.

  “What a pretty little doll,” she said again, surveying me. She jerked her head toward the huge man looming behind me. “Know why I call him Binky?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, struggling not to quiver in his shadow. “It doesn’t seem to fit.”

  “Because that was the name of my dolly,” she said with a fierce laugh. “And big Binky here is just an old teddy bear. He protects me, just like my little dolly did. Do you know what else?”

  I shook my head. My palms grew sweaty, and my chest felt on the verge of cracking with the rate my heart was pounding.

  “I like to collect dolls,” she said, curling a finger under my chin. “And you’re a pretty little thing.”

  The woman was nuts. Absolutely crazy, but she also seemed to be the leader of the gang. I had to go for her first. I had a decision to make. My first option was to forget about privacy laws and bust out magic in public—and suffer the ensuing consequences. My second choice was to die.

  Pretty easy decision, in retrospect.

  I immediately launched into an incantation with gusto. I didn’t care who heard, who understood. MAGIC, Inc. certainly couldn’t find fault with self-defense, and even if they did, I couldn’t care less. Without a spell, I might not have a life to defend.

  The spell grew in my palm, a blinding light I tried to hide for as long as possible. I shielded it from the woman as she circled me, studied me like a designer might study her muse.

  Binky noticed it first. “Car,” he grunted. “Her hand.”

  At first, I thought he was mentioning a vehicle, and I chanced a look behind me.

  But the woman responded to him, as if it were a nickname. “What is that?!”

  Her screech brought me back to attention, and I swung a hand toward her, muttering the final words that’d launch the spell. However, mere milliseconds before I could release the magic from my body, concentration was ripped from me again, this time by brute force.

  And...fur.

  A snarling, beautiful, terrifying jungle cat knocked me from my feet and sent me skidding to the curb. As I hurried to stand, I watched as Zin went straight for the woman’s throat. She pulled back from the kill shot at the last second, letting her claw gently graze the woman’s face.

  Even so, a gentle graze from a jaguar is a dangerous thing. A line of red bloomed from the woman’s cheek, across her forehead. The pack of men watched as Zin circled their leader,
sniffing the scent of her blood.

  Crazy or not, the woman clearly wasn’t an idiot. She knew when to run.

  “Binky!” the woman screamed. “Get me out of here!”

  The monstrous man looked between Zin and the woman and shook his head, just once. Zin’s golden eyes dared him to step forward.

  The woman struggled to get out from under Zin, but the fight was too easy for the latter. Zin kept the woman pinned to the ground, her posture just begging the men to step forward in a rescue attempt. To end things, she let out a terrifying growl that sent even Binky scattering to the dark recesses of the city.

  Only once the men were completely gone did Zin back away and allow the woman to wobble up and stumble toward the alley. She disappeared into blackness while Zin licked her paws and watched, her posture proud.

  A few minutes passed in which I caught my breath on the sidewalk, trembling with relief, fighting back frustration and all-around confusion. I’d just begun to see straight when I looked up to find the jaguar sauntering deeper into the alley.

  “Zin! Leave her alone—she’s not worth it,” I called, scrambling to my feet and launching after the sleek figure. I couldn’t keep up with Zin in her current form, but I had to try. I worried she’d take things too far with the human, and I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Chill, Lily—I wasn’t going to eat her.” Zin’s voice tinkled from the depths of the alley. She gave a pleasant smile as she shook off a few stray black hairs while stepping out of the black shadows behind the garbage bins. “She tasted disgusting. Got a whiff of her when I tickled her face—don’t worry, I didn’t really hurt her. It won’t even leave a mark.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “Hello to you, too,” she retorted. Zin glanced down at her nails, seemingly annoyed they hadn’t yet retracted. “Ugh, stupid lady. I have blood under my fingernails.”

  “Zin, what were you thinking? I had control over the situation. What are you even doing here?”

  “You had what exactly under control? The lady looked like she was going to eat you. She was a nut, Lily. You’re lucky I was here.”

  “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” I said through gritted teeth. “So, I’ll say thank you, first.”

  Zin finally caught the tremor of anger in my voice. “Whoa, girl. I was here independent of you. I caught your scent while I was prowling around as an alley cat and figured I should check the situation out. I saw what was happening, switched into a jaguar, and you know the rest.”

  “Yes, I do. But I was ready to handle the situation, Zin.” I raised a hand and showed her the glimmer of the spell that lingered in my palm. “I could have taken her on my own.”

  “Sor-ry,” Zin said, still sounding too casual for my liking. “Next time some psycho woman is trying to recruit you to be her dolly, I’ll make sure to pull my punches and watch.”

  “That’s not what I mean. Thank you. I appreciate your help, but...I’m confused. What are you doing on the mainland in the first place? Did Ranger X put you up to this? Were you spying on me?”

  Zin’s eyes blinked wider in surprise. “What are you talking about? Or course not. Why would I spy on you? I was working on my...er, my mission.”

  “Yeah, this secret mission I can’t know anything about. I thought you were looking after Poppy, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense why you’d leave her unprotected on The Isle and turn up here, in the exact alley that I’m in, at this exact moment.”

  “I told you I was following a scent!”

  “Whose scent is around here except for mine and Binky’s and the rest of the psycho posse?”

  “Binky?”

  I just shook my head. “I don’t blame you for tailing me, Zin. I’m sure you were just following orders, but at least tell me the truth.”

  “I wasn’t following you,” she reiterated. “Come on, Lily. You have to believe me.”

  “I need to head home,” I said on a sigh. “I’ve been off the island for almost two days, and it’s time I return. I’m going to hop on the bus and take the ferry. Are you coming with me?”

  “No, I have business here to attend to,” Zin said sullenly. “I’m not watching over you, Lily. I’m sorry I stepped in and interfered.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, then realized how childish I sounded. “Look, I really am sorry. I just...I wish Ranger X wouldn’t do these things. I can take care of myself.”

  “He loves you,” Zin said, frowning. “He’s just watching over you because he doesn’t want you to get hurt.”

  “By sticking my cousin on my every move?”

  Zin realized her error as she shook her head. “I don’t mean me. I already told you that Ranger X had nothing to do with this—I wasn’t tailing you.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Fine. You know what? I don’t have to convince you. I’m sorry I ruined your moment of glory. Have a good night, Lily.”

  It wasn’t a pleasant way to end the conversation, so I forced out another apology before Zin spun away from me and morphed back into an alley cat. I debated calling after her again, but she’d already disappeared.

  I had no time to linger, either—especially not in these parts. I needed to get back to The Isle, and the last bus left in thirty minutes. From there, it’d pop me onto a paranormal ferry that would get me home just in time to collapse into bed and start all over tomorrow.

  Tomorrow, I’d apologize to Zin again, once I’d had time to think, to calm down, to face X—and to find out why he’d stuck Zin on me in an assignment that showed he doubted my training.

  I set off in a huff toward the bus, not stupid enough to ignore the wave of relief and gratefulness that followed once I was situated in the uncomfortable seat. No matter what I’d told Zin in my moment of anger, I was lucky she had arrived when she did. Though I knew I could’ve taken the woman out... that still left Binky and four others. Even a witch had her limits.

  With a sigh, I tipped my head against the window and left a quick Comm memo for Zin. I wondered briefly if she had reverted to her jaguar form by now to track whoever—whatever—her target might be.

  “I really am sorry, Zin,” I muttered into my Comm. “I’m on my way back to The Isle. Stop by the bungalow when you get in, no matter what time. I want to give you a hug and say thanks in person. I...er, I love you.”

  I quickly disconnected once an older gentleman with an eye patch sat down next to me. He proceeded to flip open a spell book that hummed in an annoying buzz. Letting my eyes close, I fell asleep and didn’t fully wake—shuffling in a zombie state from the bus to the ferry—until I returned to the bungalow and found someone waiting for me.

  Chapter 16

  “YOU!” I JABBED A FINGER at Ranger X as I burst through the door. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  His face had been creased in a warm smile. He looked happy.

  I stopped mid-stride, my mouth parting in surprise as I took in a completely transformed storeroom. Instead of the friendly clutter of bright colored potions and vials, curtains had been hung over the shelves in a deep burgundy, shielding the mess from view. And that was just the start.

  Along one wall, the fireplace glittered warmly and two candlesticks as long as my arm dripped slow wax down their sides. Along the ceiling ran strings of fairy lights, twinkling in a cheerful glow. In the center of it all sat a beautifully adorned table containing a delightful-looking dinner: steak, all varieties of side dishes, and two goblets of red wine.

  Ranger X already had one of the goblets in hand, and his smile perked brighter at my surprised glare. “Of course I couldn’t tell you about this! That’d defeat the purpose of the surprise.”

  “Surprise...?”

  “Happy anniversary,” Ranger X said, standing, crossing the room to nip my neck with a soft kiss. “We started dating a year ago.”

  “A year...” I gasped. Already, more than a year had passed since I’d discovered my true roots, since I’d begun the transition into my role as Mixologist
, since I’d met the love of my life. “Wow, that...I’m so sorry, I hadn’t realized.”

  “You have a lot on your mind.” Ranger X pressed a gentle kiss against my forehead. “And my assistant cares about these things. Yours doesn’t.”

  “Where is Gus, speaking of the devil?”

  “I sent him home. I figured it’d be late when you got back, and I didn’t want to give up a second of our alone time.”

  “But...” I struggled for an argument. I’d burned through the door ready for a fight, ready to confront X about setting my cousin up to follow me, only to find a gorgeous meal with an even more delectable-looking man who was all mine. “Well, wow. Thank you.”

  “Sit down, have a glass of wine.”

  “I’ve been traveling, X—I really need to shower and—”

  “Have a sip of wine, water, something—and then shower. It’ll take me a few minutes to warm up our plates. I expected you, er, some time ago.”

  “I’m sorry.” My shoulders slipped lower, and my heartbeat felt erratic in my chest. “I forgot about our anniversary, then I came home late...I’m oh-for-two, and I’m so sorry. Did you at least get my memo?”

  “Yes—I knew you’d be late. It’s no big deal. Shower, relax, we have all night together. I figured we could both use a little break. You were away from me for too long, and I missed you.”

  “Not enough to leave the tail behind,” I muttered, then continued toward the stairs. “I’ll be right down.”

  “What?” Ranger X stiffened. “What’d you say?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’m going to shower.”

  “Not so fast.” X grasped my wrist as I attempted to spiral away. “What did you say about a tail?”

  “Forget about it. I understand why you did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “I know you set Zin on me!” My voice raised in helplessness—I didn’t want to bring this up now. If only I’d kept my mouth shut. “And no, she didn’t cave and tell me, so don’t blame her. This is between me and you, okay?”

  Ranger X’s hand tightened further, his eyes darkened. “Why would I have set Zin on you?”