by Zoe Arden
"I wish you'd told me," she said. She went to him and put her arms around his neck, pulling him close. I suddenly got the feeling that I didn't belong there anymore.
I cleared my throat. "I'll see you tomorrow, Aunt Eleanor."
She nodded silently, and I backed out of the room. This wasn't the right time to interrogate Sheriff Knoxx. I'd let Eleanor handle things for now, and I'd talk to him later.
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CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
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A muffin sailed past my head, just barely missing me.
"Watch it," I cried. "You almost hit me."
"That was the point," Trixie said. She grabbed another muffin off the counter and threw it at me.
"Hey!" I shouted, ducking just in time.
Eleanor came out of the back room. "What in the whole wide witching world is going on out here?"
Trixie pointed a finger at me. "Do you have any idea what your niece just told me?"
Eleanor looked in my direction. I felt my face heat up.
"First of all, I'm fairly certain she's your niece as well as mine. Second of all, I imagine there are any number of things Ava could've told you to set you off. Which of them was it?" She paused and looked at me like she was trying to feel me out.
"What?" I asked, feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Eleanor turned back to Trixie. "Don't tell me all this fuss is over those hideous pink tights of yours. It wasn't Ava's fault they got mixed in with your whites. And anyway, you shouldn't wash tights in the machine to begin with. They're bound to get holes doing that. It would've happened eventually one way or another."
I groaned.
Trixie turned her eyes back to me.
"You're the one who ruined my favorite tights?" she squealed.
"Who'd you think did it?" I asked her.
"I thought it was your dad."
I laughed. "Since when does my dad do laundry?"
Eleanor interrupted us. "If this isn't about laundry, then what is it about?"
"Ava just told me that she thinks Melbourne was the last one to see Zulubar and Kyrab other than Dr. Dunne."
Eleanor looked sharply at me. "What you talking about? You haven't said anything to me about Melbourne."
"I know, I know, I wasn't sure I should."
"Why not?" asked Eleanor.
Trixie rounded on her. "That's not the question you should be asking," she snapped. "You should be asking her when she lost her mind and turned into a vampire hater?"
"I don't hate vampires," I said.
"Then why are you picking on Melbourne?"
"I'm not picking on him."
Trixie was alternating between holding her breath and hyperventilating. Her face was red as a beet and in another second or two, steam would come out of her ears if she wasn't careful.
Eleanor put out a placating hand. "Ava, why don't you tell us what makes you think Melbourne has anything to do with Zulubar and Kyrab and their disappearance?"
I sighed. "Sadie told me."
Their mouths dropped open. "Sadie?" Trixie asked, her voice smaller, less certain. "Sadie Belle?"
"Yes. It was an accident; she didn't mean to tell me." I let out a breath. "Before Dr. Dunne was injured, I went to the hospital to talk to him. This was a couple days ago. I went down there to ask him about Zulubar, and Sadie mentioned that Melbourne was the one who brought them to the hospital the night they disappeared."
Trixie had stopped throwing things at me but her eyes were still livid. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" she snapped.
I hesitated. "I was afraid it might hurt your relationship with Melbourne. You two are so good together, you belong with each other, but I know it's not always easy. I was afraid something like this might only make it harder."
Trixie's face softened. "I'm sorry I threw those muffins at you."
"At least they weren't the cranberry ones," I told her. "A cranberry in the eye could really sting." I smiled to show there were no hard feelings.
"Are you two made up now?" Eleanor asked.
I looked at Trixie. Her face was still scowling, but I didn't think the scowl was directed at me anymore.
"What did Melbourne say when you asked him about it?" Trixie wanted to know.
"Not much," I told her. "He sort of indicated it was true, but also sort of denied it. It was strange, actually. He kept tugging at his ear and—"
"What?!" Trixie shouted. "What did you just say?"
"Uhh..."
"Did you say he was tugging at his ear?"
"Yeah. A lot. Why?"
"That's one of his tells."
Eleanor and I stared blankly at her.
"Whenever he's lying, he tugs his ear. It's the only way I can tell."
"There's something else I haven't told you," I said. "Either of you."
Eleanor and Trixie exchanged a look.
Eleanor lifted her eyebrows at me. "Well?"
"Is this about Colt?" asked Trixie.
I looked at her. "How'd you know that?"
"I've had a feeling that you've been keeping something from us. You've talked a lot about the goblins, Zulubar, and Dr. Dunne. The one thing you haven't wanted to talk about lately is Colt. It just made sense, to me, at least."
"Did you find out where he's been?" asked Eleanor.
"Sort of." I licked my lips. "He's here. In Sweetland."
"He's back?" Trixie screeched. "When did he get back?"
I shrugged. "No idea. He barely talked to me when I saw him. Just gave me a quick kiss and dashed off."
"You saw him?" asked Eleanor.
"A few nights ago, outside Mack's Bar." I paused, waiting to see if they'd ask any more questions about Mack's. When they didn't, I continued, "He told me to stop looking for him. He basically told me to stop looking for Zulubar, too."
"Stop looking? Why?" asked Eleanor.
"He wouldn't tell me. He just said it was dangerous."
"Ava..." Eleanor said, her thinking face on. "How did you know to find him at Mack's? Or did he find you?"
My face colored. "Well, uh, when I snuck into COMHA—"
"You mean broke into," Eleanor corrected me.
I ignored her.
"I sort of borrowed Colt's file from Dean's filing cabinet. It mentioned Mack's."
Eleanor's face paled. "You stole a government file?"
"Borrowed it," I said.
"You're like a super spy or something," Trixie said. "You could be the next Jane Bond." She was smiling. Eleanor shot her a look and when she turned her head, Trixie stuck her tongue out at her.
"Why are you telling us this now?" asked Eleanor.
"Because when I talked to Melbourne, he sort of indicated that Colt was involved with Zulubar and Kyrab somehow, too. Also... when I talked to Colt, I saw something on his hand." I gulped. "A four-leaf clover. It was there on his palm."
Trixie's and Eleanor's mouths dropped open. "Are you sure?" asked Eleanor. Her voice was low and breathy. I could tell this was hitting them as hard as it had hit me. They were shocked. I nodded.
"If what you're saying is all true," said Trixie, "then I want to talk to Melbourne. Now."
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CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
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Melbourne looked up from his spot at the counter when we came in. He was doing more paperwork. Or maybe it was the same paperwork from the other day. He smiled when he saw Trixie and started to wave, but his smile dropped away when he saw me.
I caught Lucy's eye, and she gave me a questioning look. I shot her a look back that I hoped said I'll tell you about it later and followed Trixie to the counter. There were a handful of people waiting in line to order their coffee; we breezed past them and stopped in front of Melbourne.
"I need to tal
k to you," Trixie said.
Melbourne looked at me. His smile was gone entirely now. He was once again his stoic self. I was glad that we'd left Eleanor and my dad back at the bakery. I had the feeling it was going to be hard enough getting information out of him just the two of us. If there'd been more of us here, he might've felt cornered and kept his mouth shut altogether. I wasn't so sure he wouldn't do that now.
"Sure, what about?" he said, trying to act normal.
"Not here. In back," Trixie said.
He tugged at his ear and looked toward the back room. "It's an awful mess back there right now. I haven't cleaned it in days."
"That's okay," Trixie said. "We've been dating long enough now that I've seen your messes before."
If Melbourne had had blood in his body, I was pretty sure his cheeks would've turned bright red just then.
He looked around the coffee shop as if looking for a way out. Or maybe he was just looking for an excuse to latch onto so that he wouldn't have to talk to us. His eyes landed on Lucy.
"I just remembered, I promised Lucy I'd listen to her new drink ideas today."
"You can do that later," said Trixie.
"I can't. I've already pushed it off for far too long. She's my best employee. I owe it to her."
I looked over at Lucy. She was watching us with an expression of curiosity that almost matched my own. Melbourne was going out of his way to find a reason not to talk to us right now. What was he trying to hide?
"Melbourne," Trixie said, "if you don't get in that back room right now and talk to us," she paused, thinking it over for a minute, "then I won't make any more batches of AB-negative brownies for you."
His eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"I would."
He grunted. "All right, in back." He glared at me as if I was somehow responsible for all of this. In a way he was right, but it seemed to me that he was discounting his own role. If he wasn't trying to hide something, we wouldn't be here.
We went into his office, and he shut the door.
"All right, what is it you want to know?" he asked.
"What is this business I'm hearing about you and Zulubar and Kyrab?"
"I don't know. What have you heard?" He glared at me again. Even though he was a vampire, I didn't find him particularly frightening. I knew him too well for that. I may not have known him as well as Trixie or Lucy, but I knew him well enough to know that he didn't go around biting people or draining their blood.
"It would save us all a lot of time if you would just come clean," Trixie said, folding her arms across her chest. She was getting frustrated.
"Melbourne, I've already told Trixie about our discussion the other day," I said, hoping that might spur him on to say something more. It had the opposite effect. He clammed up like a man who'd been arrested for murder.
Trixie sighed. "Fine. You're going to make me drag it out of you, aren't you?"
"If Ava already told you about our discussion, then I don't know what more there is to drag out of me."
"You didn't tell me that much when we spoke before," I said. "You just insinuated a whole bunch of stuff."
"What's the difference? You knew what I meant."
"Yeah, but I need more information." I looked at Trixie. "We need more information."
"Like what?" he asked.
"Like where's Colt? And Zulubar? And Kyrab?" Trixie demanded, stepping up to him so that they were nose to nose. Her face had taken on a shadowy dark side I hadn't often seen in her.
Melbourne pressed his lips tightly together. Suddenly, Trixie reached out and began to tickle him. His face remained stoic and impassive for a moment, but when she reached under his arms, he broke out into cackles.
"Stop!" he shouted, laughing hysterically. "Stop! No! Don't!" He was squirming, trying to get away from her. Trixie followed him around the room, arms outstretched, her fingers working overtime as she tickled every inch of him she could get her hands on.
"A-A-All right!" he squealed. "I'll talk!"
Trixie restrained herself. There was a small smile lighting on her face. She looked pleased with herself.
"I did take Zulubar and Kyrab to see Dr. Dunne."
"Why did they need you to take them? Why couldn't they just go themselves?" I asked.
"They were afraid. Someone had been threatening them."
"I don't understand," I said.
"Neither do I," said Trixie.
Melbourne sighed. "I'm a vampire. Vampires are very strong. Stronger than goblins, stronger than witches, stronger than most paranormals out there. If you were worried that someone was trying to hurt you or the person you love, who better to have in your corner than a vampire?"
There was a knock on the office door.
"Just a minute," Melbourne said.
"Melbourne?" It was Lucy. "There's a customer out here who wants to talk to you. They say the dark coffee is too dark."
Melbourne rolled his eyes. "Just a minute," he told us and went to deal with the customer.
"What do you think?" I asked Trixie when he was gone.
"I think it makes sense what he said about escorting Zulubar and Kyrab to the hospital in order to protect them. He was essentially acting as a bodyguard." She paused. "What doesn't make sense to me is why they went to the hospital in the first place."
"And I still don't know what Colt's role was in all this."
Trixie tapped her foot impatiently. She looked at the clock. "What's taking him so long?"
My eyes widened. "Oh no," I said. "You don't think... Would he leave?"
Trixie's eyes widened now, too. She ran to the door and flung it open. She passed through it and out into the coffee shop. I stood staring after her
"Do you see him?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No. He's gone."
* * *
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
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I hurried over to Lucy.
"Did Melbourne say where he was going?"
She shook her head. "No. Why? What's wrong?" But it was too much to go into just now.
"I'll tell you later. Which way did he go out?"
She looked to the entrance. "Right through the front door. Why? Which way should he have gone out?"
I turned to Trixie. "Where would he have gone?"
Trixie shrugged. "I have no idea."
I turned back to Lucy. "What about you? Any ideas?"
"On where Melbourne would've gone?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah."
She scrunched her face up. A few of the customers in line were looking at us, but none of them said anything. They were probably filing this event away for future gossip.
I lowered my voice. "Come on. Melbourne must have a favorite lunch spot, a favorite hiding place, a favorite something."
Trixie and Lucy both drew blank faces. "I can't think of a thing," said Lucy.
I blew out a sigh and grabbed the sleeve of Trixie's shirt. "Let's go," I told her.
"Go where?" She followed along as we exited the coffee shop.
"To find him, of course."
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Let's start with something simple. Where does Melbourne get his blood from?"
Trixie's eyes widened. "Good idea. The Sweetland Tomato Shop."
"Tomato Shop?" I asked, drawing my brows together.
"It's not really a tomato shop," she said. "You know how the tourists on this island are. They can't very well call it 'blood shop,' can they?"
"I suppose not. But why tomatoes?"
She shrugged. "Why not tomatoes?" She took a step to the left. "Come on, I know where it's at."
I followed along beside her. "How come I've never heard of this place before? I've lived here long enough, I thought I knew all the stores on Heavenly Haven."
"You do," she said, "but this one's not on Heavenly Haven. Not technically, anyway."<
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We were headed for the beach. Off in the distance, not far from the pier, I saw a large boat hovering on the water. The sign out front read Sweetland Tomato Shop.
"This is where Melbourne gets his blood from?" I asked.
"This is where most of the vampires on Heavenly Haven get their blood from. There's one other shop closer to Mistmoor Point, but otherwise there aren't a lot of options. Remember, there aren't that many vampires on Heavenly Haven to begin with. More than two shops would be overkill."
I hovered outside the shop, nervous about going in. It wasn't just a boat, it was more like a yacht.
"I'll go in," Trixie said, seeing me wring my hands together.
"I'm sorry," I told her. "It's just the idea of all that blood..."
"It's not as if it was taken from humans against their will," Trixie said. "Any human blood they have in there was donated. Most vampires don't even drink human blood anymore. From what Melbourne's told me, most of their stock is either animal blood or that new fake stuff that guy in Europe invented."
"You know an awful lot about blood, don't you?"
She shrugged. "I'm dating a vampire. It comes with the territory."
She went inside and returned a minute later, shaking her head. "They haven't seen him."
"Would they tell you if they had?"
She thought about it for a second. "I think so. They know Melbourne and I are together. I told them I had a new batch of O-negative cherries jubilee bars for him. If they'd have seen him, they'd have told me."
"Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong," I said.
"What do you mean?" She pressed her lips together. "Wrong in what way?"
"Well, we've been trying to think of a place he might have gone to. Maybe what we should be thinking about is who he might've gone to."
