I shifted my weight from foot to foot, trying to decide what to do. After all, I probably shouldn’t go after Caranthir alone. He was an elf, and I was just a witch who could do one spell, and I couldn’t even do it that well. Not to mention, I was pretty sure he was a murderer.
On the other hand, my friends and law enforcement were nowhere to be seen. What if Caranthir decided that the heat was too heavy and he escaped? There would never be any justice for Myrtle, or even Patricia.
I knew what it was like to lose a loved one. I knew what it was like to be unable to get any justice, because unfortunately, cancer and heart disease weren’t the sort of things you could get revenge on.
As the pain of losing my parents rose up in my chest once more, I knew what I was going to do. It might not have been the right decision, but it was the one I was making.
I started to run after Caranthir, checking one last time as I made my way past the people crowded around the tables to see if I could spot Amy or Sara, or Chief Enforcer King.
Nope. They weren’t there; I was on my own.
Chapter 22
“Caranthir,” I called out when I was only about thirty feet from the elf. We were definitely far from the lake now, and as I looked around and realized I could no longer see anybody in any direction, I started to think that maybe this was a bad idea.
“Oh, hello there, young witch. You’re Tina, are you not? You’re the new arrival in town.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”
“What can I do for you on this fine morning? It’s nice to see you at a coven event, while Philip’s death was sad, it really was a lovely service.”
My goodness was this elf ever wordy.
“Absolutely, I was honored to have been a part of it.” Yeah, this was a bad idea. I decided to backtrack on my plan to confront Caranthir. I was going to go back, speak with Amy, Ellie, and Sara about it, and then we could tell Chief Enforcer King what we had discovered and let her deal with it. That was definitely the much smarter play. “Sorry for interrupting. I just saw you leaving, and I wanted to say hi.”
Caranthir smiled, and a wave of relief washed over me.
“Of course you were. Now, why don’t you tell me why you were really here?”
That wave of relief quickly changed into one of pure dread.
“What do you mean?”
“You must not know much about elves. We have very good intuition.”
Right. I’d literally just had this conversation with Kyran, like ten minutes earlier. Of course Caranthir could sense that I wasn’t here just to make idle chit-chat.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Might as well double down on the lie. What did I have to lose, after all?
This time, Caranthir’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course you do. You think I killed Philip Vulcan. And I can’t deny it, in fact, it is the truth. I am his murderer.”
“You were embezzling from the hospital, and he found out,” I said, trying out my theory, and Caranthir nodded solemnly.
“Yes, that is correct. I incorporated a company, Heliosupplies Limited, in one of the larger paranormal towns, where I knew I could get around undetected. I would then invoice that company for false services rendered.”
“Helios being the Greek god of the sun,” I said, nodding.
“I did not think anyone would make the connection if they ever had found out. However, I also hadn’t expected a new arrival from the human world, and I certainly wasn’t aware that you had discovered the invoices, only that you were investigating the murder and had spoken with Patricia multiple times.”
“We broke into your offices to find out why Philip had been fired. We saw that you wrote he was fired, but Patricia Trovao swore that Philip never would have stolen anything.”
Caranthir laughed, but the sound was cold and jarring. “Of course, she would think that. She was sleeping with him, wasn’t she? I don’t know if Philip ever stole anything, but the man certainly wasn’t beyond threatening my good self with blackmail.”
“That was why he had a ton of cash at the bar that night,” I said.
“That is the case, yes. I allowed him to believe that I would pay him, although I was well aware that once the handouts began, they never would cease. Therefore, that night, after giving him a few hours to spend his money, I called him and asked him to meet me at The Magic Mule. I had no idea that was where he had spent his evening, as I, being an elf, do not frequent such lowly establishments as the local public house, and I certainly would never be seen at the one frequented by witches and wizards. Therefore, it was the perfect place to commit a murder; Chief Enforcer King would automatically assume the crime was committed by a witch or wizard, and given the man’s propensity to follow his – erm, how to put it delicately – second brain, I assumed there would be no lack of suspects to be found among his own kind.”
I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes. This guy was not only pompous and pretentious, but he also seemed to feel that elves were inherently superior to other paranormal beings.
“Yeah, well, it can’t have been that perfect a crime if I managed to figure it out. I’m barely even a witch.”
“Yes, that was an unexpected, and rather problematic occurrence,” Caranthir replied.
I wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen next. After all, I had a feeling Caranthir wasn’t going to be entirely down with handing himself in to Chief Enforcer King.
“So, where do we go from here?”
“Well, now the only thing left to do is to silence the person who figured out I was the killer.”
Great. Why hadn’t I thought to ask Kyran if elves had any special weaknesses?
I took a step back and looked around. Nope, there was still no one anywhere nearby. Maybe if I made a run for it I had a chance, but Caranthir had to be a foot taller than me; he’d catch me easily. It wasn’t as though I was particularly athletic.
Still, if it came down to a fight, I was still going to lose.
Neither fight nor flight seemed like particularly good options right now, but flight seemed like the less bad one.
I turned on my heel and ran, hoping that the element of surprise might net me a few extra feet of distance. After all, all I needed was to run far enough to get into view of someone, anyone, and then I could call for help. That was all I needed, to see someone else.
Running blindly back in the general direction of the lake – I couldn’t remember exactly which path I’d taken – I looked around, hoping someone, anyone, would pop up into view.
“Help!” I called all the same, hoping my voice would carry further than my eyes could see. It didn’t take long before Carathir caught up to me, though. Ice ran through my veins as soon as I felt his hand gripping the fabric of my shirt.
“Help me!” I called out in one last, desperate attempt at rescue before he reached over and covered my mouth with his hand. I tried to bite it, but couldn’t manage it.
“Come on, little witch, it’s time to get rid of you once and for all,” Caranthir growled in my ear, dragging me towards a large fountain about thirty feet away. It was at least forty feet wide, and made in the style of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, with Jupiter in the middle and other, presumably lesser celestial beings at his feet. That said, I definitely wasn’t focusing on the beauty of the architecture so much as the large, deep pool in front of the statue to which I was currently being dragged.
“It will be such a tragedy,” Caranthir said slowly. “The new witch in town drowned in a tragic accident, in the coven gardens, no less.”
I glowered at Caranthir, unable to say anything, and he laughed that same cruel laugh once more. “This really is your own fault for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, witch. I hope you enjoyed your foray into the paranormal world.”
And with that, Caranthir plunged my head deep into the water. For a second I started to struggle, but then I began to feel calm, the same calmness I felt when I fell into the water in the backyard. I realiz
ed a second later what I had to do. Instead of fighting the water, I embraced it. I pushed off the edge of the fountain, diving deeper into the water, but out of Caranthir’s grasp.
I came back up about ten feet away, completely soaked, standing in waist-deep water, and pulled out my wand. Caranthir laughed.
“You must be joking. Even that idiot dragon I sent to scare you accidentally knocked you off the broom this morning, that’s how awful a witch you really are.”
I held firm. After all, Caranthir was right. I knew one spell, which was completely useless, and it wasn’t even a good one.
Caranthir made to come into the fountain to get me, when all of a sudden a ball of black fur came flying out of nowhere.
“Hy-ahh!” Mr. Meowgi called out as he launched himself toward’s Caranthir, claws out and ready.
“What-“ Caranthir cried out in surprise, an instant before Mr. Meowgi landed, turning Caranthir’s cry of surprise into one of pain.
“Get off me, you mongrel!” he shouted.
“Mr. Meowgi! Be careful!” I called out to my cat, surprised at how quickly I had formed a bond with him. I didn’t want him to get hurt, no matter what.
“Don’t worry, these claws are better than nunchucks,” Mr. Meowgi replied. A second later, however, Caranthir grabbed Mr. Meowgi and tore my cat off his face, launching him at a nearby tree.
“NO!” I shouted, my voice a panicked squeal as my familiar dropped to the ground, letting out a small meowl. As I heard the sound of his pain, something in my brain snapped.
“By the power of water, make this elf suffer,” I said, without even realizing it. Pointing the wand at Caranthir, a wave of water flew from the end and enveloped Caranthir.
“What is this? It burns! It’s burning!” I stood, watching in a combination of horror and surprise as Caranthir writhed in pain. Did I do that?
Then my focus turned to Mr. Meowgi. I ran out of the fountain, leaving Caranthir to his fate, and made my way to my familiar. I picked him up delicately, cradling him in my arms.
“Are you alright?” I whispered to him. “Mr. Meowgi, please be alright.”
Chapter 23
Mr. Meowgi opened his eyes slightly. “I am sorry. I failed you, sensei.”
“No. No, you didn’t fail me at all,” I said, tears falling from my eyes. “You’re amazing, Mr. Meowgi. You came to rescue me, and you’re going to be ok. Now, let’s get out of here.”
As I got up, however, the tree against which Mr. Meowgi had been thrown began to uproot and fell to the ground. I turned to see Caranthir holding out a hand towards it. Right. Kyran had said elves had a very earth-based magic. His face was scratched red, and he looked like he was in horrible pain, but he was still not going to go down without a fight. With the tree blocking our path, we now had to get past him to escape. But how? I had no idea what the spell that I’d done even was, let alone how to do it again. It had just been, well, instinct when I’d seen Mr. Meowgi hurt. And the only other spell I knew was actually useless here.
Still, I knew that no matter what, I had to get help for my kitty. No matter what it took.
Caranthir took a threatening step towards me. “Right, I’m going to get rid of both of you,” he growled, and I stepped back, pressing against the trunk of the tree.
“Tina, duck!” I heard a familiar voice say, and I didn’t even bother to look up. A second later a gust of wind passed above me, and I looked up to see Amy riding on the back of Sara’s broom. She had her wand out, and a second later a magical bubble escaped from it and encapsulated Caranthir.
He pressed against it, but unlike the bubbles I made with soap as a kid, this one didn’t pop. In fact, nothing happened at all. I could see his mouth moving inside of it, but couldn’t hear anything.
The broom carrying my two friends swept around, and they landed next to me.
“Tina, are you alright?”
“I am, but I’m not sure if Mr. Meowgi is,” I replied. “He’s definitely hurt.”
“Come with me,” Sara said. “We’ll take him to my mom.”
“Do you guys not have vets here?” I asked as I climbed onto the broom and held onto Sara with one hand, carefully holding Mr. Meowgi with the other.”
“What’s a vet?” Sara asked.
“Chief Enforcer King is on her way,” Amy said. “I’ll make sure that Caranthir can’t leave this particular prison until she gets here. You enjoy that, it’s probably a nicer prison than where you’re going,” she said, glowering at the elf.
I didn’t have to hear him to know he was swearing his head off at Amy. So much for mister cool, collected and super-pretentious.
But right now, I had more important things to take care of. “Ok, let’s go,” I said to Sara, and she lifted the broom off the ground once more.
With Sara in charge of the broom, the ride was fast, smooth, and didn’t end with anyone falling off. She landed in front of the hospital a couple minutes later, and we burst through the emergency room doors.
“Mom!” Sara called out, waving a hand at her mother, whose mop of red hair stood out at the back of the room.
“Sara, what is it?” Heather Neach asked, coming over. “I’m quite busy today.”
“It’s Mr. Meowgi,” I said, holding my cat out to her. “He was attacked. Please, fix him.”
“Oh goodness, poor thing,” Heather said instantly. “Bring him over here.”
I raced over to the room Heather indicated, and placed him on the flat, stainless-steel table inside.
“Tell me he’s going to be ok,” I muttered, my hands moving to my mouth.
“It’s going to take more than that elf to end me,” Mr. Meowgi muttered, and I almost started to cry. Still, I was hoping for an actual doctor to give me the ok instead.
Heather poked and prodded at Mr. Meowgi for a little bit, and as soon as she touched one of his ribs, he let out a howl of pain.
“I think I know what he has, let me do a spell to make sure.”
Heather took out her wand and pointed it at Mr. Meowgi’s side. A second later, an X-ray of my familiar appeared on the wall, as if projected there, and I gasped.
“Yes, that’s a broken rib for sure,” Heather nodded. “Just as I suspected. Let me get a potion made for him, and he’ll be good as new in just a couple of minutes.”
I patted Mr. Meowgi on the head gently while Heather left the room.
“Thank you for saving me,” I whispered to him, tears now falling openly. “You were so brave.”
“Like Bruce Lee?”
“Exactly like Bruce Lee
“And you,” I said, turning to Sara. “Thank you. You saved us both.”
Sara blushed heavily, obviously not used to such praise.
“I didn’t do much, really. I just brought Amy over so she could do the actual spell.”
“How did you know I was in trouble?”
“Mr. Meowgi. He came over and began acting crazy, and we knew something was wrong. Amy and I ran to grab my broom, and then Amy did a spell to find you, and told me where to go. When we saw Caranthir looking like a crazy person, we figured he was attacking you, and so she stopped him. As soon as we landed Amy texted Chief Enforcer King and told her where we were.”
“He’s the one who killed Philip,” I said. “I figured it out, and I couldn’t see you and Amy anywhere, or Chief Enforcer King. I went to confront him, then decided it was a bad idea, but he already knew, and tried to kill me. Then Mr. Meowgi came and saved my life.”
“I heard your cries for help,” Mr. Meowgi said, his eyes still closed.
“How come you heard them, and not anyone else?”
“He’s your familiar,” Sara explained. “The two of you have a stronger bond than anyone else. He’s much more sensitive to your cries than anyone else would be.”
“Ah, that explains it,” I said, nodding, just as Heather came back into the room. She carried in her hand a small cauldron; it was basically the size of a cereal bowl, but made of cast-iron instead
of ceramics. The inside of the cauldron was half-filled with a deep, blue liquid. Its thick viscosity reminded me of mud, and as it bubbled away slowly, with a big bubble forming and popping every couple of seconds, I had to wonder exactly what it was.
Heather pulled out a syringe and filled it with some of the liquid, then made her way to Mr. Meowgi.
“Alright, little guy. Open wide,” Heather said, and Mr. Meowgi happily lapped up the mixture. “Tastes like fish, delicious,” he muttered. “Oooh, and my rib feels better, too.”
“Just a little bit more,” Heather said. “I’m not sure the dosage rate for cats, but hopefully it’s similar to humans.”
“Are there no vets in Western Woods?” I asked.
“Again, what’s a vet?” Sara asked, cocking her head to the side.
“A veterinarian. Basically, a doctor who specializes in taking care of animals.”
“No. If there’s ever been an issue we just take them to the regular Healers,” Sara replied. “That’s an interesting concept, a Healer for pets.”
“It certainly is,” Heather said. “Now, Mr. Meowgi should be good as new in a few minutes. Would you like me to look you over as well, dear?” she continued, looking me over. “You look as though you’ve gotten yourself into a wee little bit of trouble, lately.”
I shook my head and smiled. I definitely would have looked like a drowned rat, now. “No, thank you. Mr. Meowgi certainly needed your help a lot more than me. I only look like a disaster right now, I feel mostly fine.”
“What did the two of you get into, anyway?”
Sara and I shared a look. “It’s a very long story.”
“Alright, well, you can take him home now.”
“Good, and I feel like I deserve some fresh fish to help me recover from such a nasty fight,” Mr. Meowgi said. “After all, I took on an elf who was much bigger than me, and I won.”
Seeing as Mr. Meowgi had saved my life by doing so, I had to agree. “Alright,” I smiled. “Sara will take us to the store and you can pick out the piece of fish you want yourself.”
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