by Erin Johnson
Full Moons, Dunes & Macaroons
A Cozy Witch Mystery
Erin Johnson
For all the ladies. You deserve the best.
And in loving memory of
Grandpa Webb— happy birthday.
I will carry on your memory by striving to be
as cheerful as you always were.
Contents
You’re Reading Book 5? You Must Be Into This Series!
1. Liquid Feast
2. Ario Grande
3. Too Many Cooks
4. In the Broom Closet
5. Big Brother
6. Cantina
7. Tent Talks
8. Maid Service
9. The Naked Truth
10. The Moon Movement
11. A Fly on the Wall
12. Slow Hands
13. Suspicion
14. Shaday and Elke
15. Island Getaway
16. Love Triangle
17. Ring of Fire
18. The Armor of Damavash
19. The Battle
20. A New Kind of King
21. A Proposal
22. An Accusation
23. Brave
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1
Liquid Feast
I shifted on the crocheted fuchsia pouf that I sat on and squirmed to get comfortable. I leaned closer to Maple beside me and lowered my voice. "My left cheek is numb."
She chuckled and pulled her skirt lower over her thighs. She sat with her legs tucked to the side of her own pouf. "I should not have worn a dress tonight." She sighed sadly. "No one told me not to wear a dress."
I shot her a sympathetic look. Luckily, I'd opted to wear white cropped pants with a floral-embroidered white camisole. I could at least sit cross-legged.
The man standing before us droned on, a champagne flute embellished with rubies in one hand. "I still remember when cousin Shaday took out that guard by whacking him behind the knee with her wooden sword… and she was only four! Watch out, Hank, she's always been a feisty one."
A twitter of laughter rose from the guests who sat at the long, low tables that formed three sides of a square, with the royal table on a raised platform forming the fourth side. The cousin twirled his long mustache around a finger, pleased his joke had landed. Kill me now. My eyes darted to Hank. He sat in the center of the head table beside Shaday, their families flanking them. Both looked lovely and royal, the perfect couple.
Maple found my hand under the table and squeezed it. "You okay?"
Had my train of thought shown on my face? Something twisted in my chest, but I wrenched it down and took a deep breath. I forced a smile. "I'm at my boyfriend's engagement dinner to another woman, why wouldn't I be okay?" I gave a dry chuckle and Maple's frown deepened.
"No, really. I know you're tired of me asking, but—"
I sniffed and lifted my chin. "I'm fine, Maple."
She tilted her head and lifted a blonde brow, unconvinced.
I tried again. "Really. We're all adults. This wedding is just a formality and I've known it was coming since day one." I waved a hand, brushing it all off. Maybe if I told myself that enough times, I'd really believe it.
She pressed her mouth into a tight line and leaned closer. "Just because you know it's coming, doesn't mean you're prepared. I can't imagine how hard this must be."
Heat flushed across my chest, but I sat straighter and vowed to ignore it. "It's not that hard. Hank and I are fine, and I actually like Shaday. I just have to get through the ceremony, and then life will go back to normal." I sighed. "Well, a new normal."
Maple's eyes grew wider. "But where are they going to live? I mean, Shaday's been back here in the Fire Kingdom the last few months, but once they're together all the time, won't that make it harder for you and Hank?"
I swallowed, my throat tight. I really didn't want to talk about this, not now… not ever. Hank had been trying to broach the subject with me for weeks, but I always changed topics or ended our conversations abruptly. It was too painful. What I'd gathered though, was that Shaday, as the firstborn, would have become queen had she chosen to marry someone the Fire Kingdom tribes approved of, one of their own. By marrying Hank, she passed the right to rule to one of her younger brothers. When they grew older, of course. Currently they were in their early twenties and late teens.
So Hank wouldn't have to move to the Fire Kingdom permanently, but he'd have to visit for extended periods. He'd wanted to know if I'd come with him when that happened. I hadn't given him an answer yet. How would that work with my job at the bakery? How would I feel, being in a foreign land without my friends, as the girlfriend of a married man?
I shook my head—big questions, the kind that gave me headaches. And no one, including Hank, believed me when I said I didn't want to talk about them. I took a deep breath and let my shoulders drop.
I gave Maple's hand a squeeze back. "We can talk later, okay? Let's just have fun tonight." I willed my face to relax. "I really am okay."
Her blue eyes stayed worried, but her mouth quirked to the side. "All right. We can talk later."
I grinned and relaxed. "Good."
Shaday's cousin, giving what felt like the fiftieth toast of the night, paced before us in the open square between the tables. There had been a near constant parade of guests trying to outdo each other by presenting lavish gifts to the royal couple, followed by even more elaborate toasts to their health and happiness.
"Shaday has always been so kind, angelic even, to her distant relations and I know that she will continue to be in her future with Hank…."
I rolled my eyes and leaned over. "This guy must want one huge favor."
Maple chuckled. "Or he's making up for a terrible present."
I smirked. "Yeah, he probably regifted them a toaster."
"A what?"
I giggled at Maple's drawn brows. "Human thing. I forgot." My stomach growled and I pressed my hands to my aching middle. "And whose idea was toasts before dinner? They ought to be punished."
Maple lifted her brows again at my tone and Iggy chuckled. My little magical flame munched on a stick of his favorite wood, linden. He burned inside a gold, Moroccan-style lamp that sat on the table nestled amongst the gold-rimmed glassware and little pots of jellies and spices.
"Yeah, you're totally fine." He cackled again and addressed Maple. "Just listen to her, she's starting to sound like me."
Maple shot me a look and paled. "Not good," she muttered to herself.
I rolled my eyes and leaned an elbow on the table, Iggy's golden heat warming my face. I'd been surprised to find the desert actually got chilly once the sun went down.
"No. If I were you, I'd be acting like normal me, because you're getting to eat. While hungry me is acting like normal you, because I'm starving and cranky." I sat back and folded my arms with a huff. "So unfair."
Iggy glared at me. "Unfair? You'd like to see me burn out, then? If I don't eat I extinguish, but apparently that's preferable to you becoming hangry, godd
ess forbid."
I shook my head at him. "You're so dramatic." I let out a heavy sigh. "I mean, I like a liquid dinner as much as the next girl now and then, but I could use something solid with all this wine." I twirled the stem of my gold-rimmed wineglass between my fingers.
Maple elbowed me and I looked up, startled, to find Shaday's third cousin twice removed, or whoever he was, staring at me. In fact, all four long tables, I mean, at least a hundred people at each one, staring at me. I gulped and ducked my head. "Sorry."
He lifted his hooked nose and continued. I stared at my lap, the back of my neck burning, until I felt everyone's collective attention shift away from me.
"Sorry," I whispered to Maple. "I didn't realize I was speaking so loudly. Maybe I am a little grumpier than I realized."
"Jud a lil?" Iggy said, his mouth full.
Blissfully, the cousin wrapped up his toast and lifted his glass. Murmurs and the swishing sound of shifting silk and taffeta filled the air as the hundreds of guests, and I, lifted our champagne flutes.
"To my dear cousin Shaday and her handsome beau, Prince Harry."
I lifted my chin and downed the glass in one gulp. The bubbly liquid left my mouth dry and my head light. Maple gripped the edge of the table, and the gold and red silk tablecloth bunched between her fingers.
"I think one more toast and I'll be beyond tipsy." She swayed slightly and Wiley, sitting on her other side, slid an arm around her shoulders to steady her.
"Whoa, there. You just need some food."
Maple patted his hand, which rested on her shoulder.
"We all do," I grumbled. Iggy gave a happy moan as he munched his third split log of the night and I glared at him. Not fair.
As the cousin made his way down the head table, bowing and hugging and shaking hands with Shaday's younger brothers and then her parents, Amelia, dressed in her signature white, spoke to Hank. He looked so handsome in his royal finery, complete with a blue-and-gold sash. Even among all the glittering jewels, silky gowns, and glowing lanterns, Hank stood out.
He looked handsome and composed, and had kind words for everyone—though he must be as exhausted and starving as all of us. I grinned when I spotted Francis hovering behind him—literally. The vampire's toes dangled a couple of inches above a beautiful rug which lay atop soft desert sand. Tall, thin, and pale, he seemed to glow in the moonlight. He wore his long black hair slicked back from his face. He yawned, and with his mouth open wide, I glimpsed his needle-sharp, catlike fangs.
He blinked his jet-black eyes and looked as bored as I was. I cocked my head to the side. His cat eyeliner looked better than mine. I wondered if Rhonda had done it for him. With Francis roped into bodyguard duty by Hank's father, King Roch, to whom he was beholden, Rhonda sat with us, a few seats down on my right. I leaned back and glanced past Wiley to her. She swayed slightly, a half-empty wine glass in each hand. I grinned. She, at least, was enjoying her "dinner."
I looked back up at the head table and my shoulders slumped as my eyes slid to Shaday. Her long black locks tumbled in tight curls over her bare shoulders, her dark eyes glowing against her tan face and the spattering of freckles that made her so uniquely beautiful. She spoke then, and ducked her chin as the cousin threw his head back and laughed. Maybe they were close, and I was just being cynical.
I dropped my eyes to my lap and clenched my hands together. I shouldn't even be here tonight. Wool and the other Fire Kingdom bakers moved among the tables, refilling glasses of champagne, wine, and orange blossom lemonade, helping out the kitchen staff. Which was where we would have been, had Hank not insisted that I and the other bakers were his friends and deserved places at the table. My stomach clenched.
I didn't deserve this. I'd been nothing but negative and grumpy all night. And if I didn't even deserve a seat at the table, how could I deserve Hank?
"Hi, Imogen."
I jerked and looked up.
Wool's dark eyes, like pools of chocolate, stared down at me. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Even his voice reminded me of the treat, smooth and rich and velvety. No wonder Maple was into him. Well, that and his lush curly hair, handsome face, and broad shoulders. I forced a smile and hoped my dark thoughts from a moment ago hadn't been written all over my face.
"Hi, Wool. No, that's all right."
"She must have drifted into a starvation-induced coma." Iggy clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock sympathy.
Wool took a knee to address my flame and grinned. "Damavash flames are always the fieriest."
"Ha!" Iggy burst out in cackles. He turned to me, then Maple and Wiley and all the other bakers beside us. "Did you hear? Oh man! This guy. Did you hear, Annie? Fiery! So funny." He shot Wiley a pointed look. "Wool is the best."
A smile played at the edges of Wool's handsome mouth. "You remember me, little flame?"
Iggy grew deadly serious. "You saved me." He half-turned and shot me a look. "When that one almost let me extinguish." He glowed brighter. "I will always remember you for that, always."
Wool chuckled. "It was not such a thing, Ignatius."
"Ignatius?" I burst out, before I could stop myself.
The little fire rounded on me and puffed himself bigger and brighter. "That's my name. So what?"
My jaw dropped. "Ignatius is your name?" My mouth worked a couple of times before I could get another word out. "How did I not know this?" I gaped at Iggy. "And what does a Damavash flame mean?"
Wool cleared his throat, a deep sound. "My apologies. I did not realize Iggy was your preferred name." He looked at me. "I asked him his true name for the spell I used to revive him during the competition."
Iggy turned in his lantern. "Oh, psh. Ignatius is great, you can call me whatever you want."
Oh, wow. Someone was fangirling hard. I grinned. "Okay… Ignatius."
Iggy whipped around and narrowed his eyes. "I said he could call me that."
I fought a grin. "Are you embarrassed?"
Iggy huffed. "No, geez. It's just that when Wool says it, it sounds cool."
I bit my lip to keep from laughing outright, and nudged Maple under the table. Wool rose and refilled my glass of lemonade from a giant golden pitcher.
"And a Damavash flame," Iggy continued, "to answer your question, is the best kind of flame."
Wool's eyes sparkled but he nodded his agreement. "It's true. You have a special fire there, Imogen."
Iggy whispered, "He called me special," his eyes wide and round.
I rolled my eyes. "He certainly is."
"Damavash flames come from Damavash Volcano." Wool tilted his head to the side. I looked left across the sandy valley towards the looming shadow in the near distance. The tall mountain was only visible in the night because of the glowing blue veins that laced through it.
"Why does it glow blue?" Maple asked.
Wool filled her glass with orange blossom lemonade. Henna-like tattoos wound over the back of his right hand and up his wrist—the traditional tattoo of the Fire Kingdom. K'ree had told me that when people from the Fire Kingdom married, a special artist merged each person's tattoos to create a new pattern, that was tattooed on their other hand. My stomach sank. Would Hank be getting a tattoo to match Shaday's when they married in three days?
"There is a story our people like to tell," Wool continued. "Called the legend of Damavash."
Wiley folded his arms and scoffed. "Sounds like a kids’ story."
Iggy rounded on him. "Insult him again and I'll burn you."
Wiley's eyes widened and his lip curled. "Sea snakes!"
"Yeah, Iggy," I muttered. "Take it down a notch."
Wool chuckled. "It isn't an insult. It is a children’s story, but many believe it's based in truth. The legend goes that long ago, the mountain was just a mountain and Damavash a young man who lived in the city at its base. But when the monsters were driven from the wilds, a great serpent of fire named Tar claimed the mountain as his home. He clouded the sky with his smoke so that
day was dark as night. He burned their crops, devoured their animals, and his heat caused all the rivers and lakes to dry up."
Maple gulped.
"When Tar came for the city, none could stop him. Their magic and spells just bounced off his charred skin, thick as armor. But when the serpent came for Damavash's home, the young man stepped forward to save his family and the fire gods smiled upon him. A golden eagle, carrying armor in its claws, dropped from the skies and gave Damavash the gift. The magical armor deflected all of the fire Tar spat at him, and Damavash drove him to the heart of the mountain and trapped him in it with a spell. Many believe that the glowing veins and the molten fire that seeps from the mountain come from Tar, still trapped inside."
"It was a lion!"
We all turned to look down the table at the older man with the white beard and tall turban who had interrupted. "It was a lion that brought him the armor, and the recent theft proves it."
I leaned forward and addressed the older gentleman. "Theft?"
He scowled, which pulled his bushy white brows together. "Of Damavash's armor from the Royal Artifacts Museum. It's all anyone can talk about these last couple of weeks. Well, that and the wedding, of course."
The woman beside him nodded, her veil sliding over her shoulders. "Over a dozen witnesses, including royal guards, testified that a lion prowled into the museum, lifted the armor onto its back, and walked right out with it."
My draw dropped. "Really?"
Another man scoffed and folded his thick arms across his thicker stomach. The firelight from the lanterns glittered off the many-pointed star medal at his collar and the various ribbons and medals on his shoulder. "Ov courze not. A lazy guart vas ashleep on za job and got heez buddiez to back heem up and say eet vas za fabled lion, returnt to bestow za armor on za next vorthy hero." He shook his head. "Anyvone who beliefs such rubbish ees oon fool. Oon regular zeef shtole eet, zat ees all."
