“Oooh, can you get me two of the crispy pork tacos, two of the tender steak and bacon, and three of the crunchy fried fish tacos? Extra mayo on the fish tacos please.”
“Sure,” Starla said with a laugh.
The line at the taco place was fairly long. Fortunately, George, the taco truck owner, had put up a couple of canopies for people to stand under.
“I guess he’s been having a line a lot lately,” Kane said as he looked over the lime green canopy.
“Well, his tacos are the best on the island. I mean, they’re the best I’ve ever had anywhere,” Starla said.
“I can’t argue with that,” Kane said. “They are the best on the island. The other part I wouldn’t really know about.”
“You haven’t spent any time off the island. We should fix that someday. I could take you to Stone Church and you could see my old home.”
“Yeah, I think I’d like that,” Kane said. “It would be nice, but we’ve got to be able to communicate with the outside world first. I’m guessing whatever is keeping you from reaching Juniper and the Elders is probably going to keep us on the island too.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Next,” George said.
Starla had been facing away from the taco truck, talking to Kane, but she turned around to see that they were up. Starla ordered for herself and Blossom. She got steak tacos for Damek because she assumed he wouldn’t want fish after all those years living in the cat.
They took their order and went back to Starla’s place. Blossom and Damek were already there waiting. The gift shops on the pier closed for dinner. Most tourists had already moved on by then and the cruise ships were all gone for the day.
Damek and Blossom had been sitting on the sofa watching a movie when Starla and Kane walked in. As soon as they made it through the door, Damek stood up and whirled around to face them.
“What have you got?” He seemed excited and his eyes honed in on the book in Starla’s hands.
“It’s the Book of the Depths. I got it from the basement of the library. There are a bunch of different tomes, but this is the one that said it had the answer.”
“And these are just sitting out for people to peruse?” Damek asked suspiciously.
“No. Nan the librarian has to let you down into the basement,” Starla said and then turned to Presto. “By the way, Presto, Nan the librarian said to say hi.”
Presto stood up from his spot next to his food bowl and his tail bristled. “Oh my. Did she seem upset? Did she say anything else.”
“Nope. Just that, and she was smiling.”
“Oh good,” Presto said, and then curled back up next to his bowl. “If she wasn’t angry, then I’m sure everything is fine.”
“What’s that all about?” Starla asked the cat, but he was either fast asleep or doing an excellent job pretending to be.
“I haven’t seen these in so long that I forgot they existed. The Elders must have forgotten them too,” Damek said and held out his hand for the book.
Starla handed it over. He took it and started walking down the hall to what Starla assumed was the spare bedroom. “I need to study this,” he said as he walked away.
“What about your tacos?”
“Later.”
While Damek studied the book, the other three witches ate. When they were done, Blossom went to check on him.
“He said he needs a while longer.”
“How long is that?” Starla asked.
“I don’t know. He was studying pretty intensely and muttering something under his breath. I think we should leave him alone.”
Kane had the on call phone on him, and it rang. He stepped outside the front door to take the call.
“He’s going to leave, isn’t he?” Blossom asked.
“Most likely.”
“Well, then you and I can have a girl’s night while Damek studies that old book.”
“What do you want to do?” Starla asked. “We could play board games.”
“Or we could start making candles for your new shop.”
“Or we could watch a movie,” Starla said.
As much as she did want to get her new business started, it seemed like the wrong time. There was so much going on that one more thing could become overwhelming fast.
“Can I pick the movie,” Blossom asked hopefully.
“Sure.” Starla knew she was going to pick something scary and that she’d regret letting Blossom choose. But it would make Blossom happy and that’s what really mattered.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Blossom asked an hour into the movie. Starla was clinging to her friend’s arm and biting her lip hard.
“Yep, I’m fine,” Starla squeaked out.
“I’ll turn it off,” Blossom said and paused the movie. “I can watch it later with Damek.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I guess Demons in the Night wasn’t the best movie choice, given what you’ve been going through.”
“It’s okay,” Starla started to say.
She was interrupted by Damek walking into the room with the book still open. His face was scrunched up in frustration and he frantically turned pages.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he said and put the book down on the coffee table. “This cursed thing will not give up a thing beyond this,” he said and pointed at an illustration. “I’ve tried everything, but this is all it will show me.”
“You spent all that time looking at this one page?” Starla asked before looking down at the open book.
She barely heard Damek explaining that he’d been trying to use magic to get the book to give up more. He eventually gave up and brought the book back to her. Starla would have heard him more clearly if she hadn’t been in shock.
The illustration was of a knife with an ornate wood handle. It looked exactly like the one that had been used to kill the dead sleaze on the beach.
“I know that knife,” Starla said. “It was the murder weapon in the case of the guy on the beach.”
“Hey, I recognize it too,” Blossom said.
“But you weren’t at the murder scene,” Starla said. “How would you have seen it?”
“We used to carry replicas in the shop,” Blossom said. “A lot of the gift shops used to carry them, but that was years ago.” She bit her bottom lip. “But there is one shop on the island that still has them. Thomas’s grocery store has a few in his souvenir section. He never sold them all, and he’s left them on the shelf.”
“What is it?” Starla asked as she knelt down to get a close look at the book on the coffee table. “I mean, what is the significance of the knife?” It wasn’t lost on Starla that she couldn’t understand the symbols that made up the writing in the book. She could use magic to interpret it, but that would have been a wasteful use of magic if Damek could read it.
“It’s a merfolk ceremonial knife. They used it for some of their rituals back when the mer were allowed to practice magic.”
“Why did they sell them in the gift shops on Clownfish Cay?” Starla asked.
“One washed up on shore quite a few years back,” Blossom said. “It was a huge deal because it’s made of wood, but the ocean didn’t damage it. At one point, they sent it off to the Smithsonian or something like that for analysis.”
“So, the original is off somewhere in a museum on the mainland?” Starla asked. For some reason, the prospect of the real knife being gone made her nervous.
“No, they sent it back. Since we don’t have a real museum on the island, the library holds on to that stuff.”
“So Nan the librarian has it. That’s good to know.”
It looked like Blossom was about to say something, but they heard a familiar tapping on the patio door. Well, it was familiar to Starla and Blossom. Damek had not encountered the creep before.
“What is that?” Damek asked as he strode toward the patio door. “Does Kane often do that creepy scratchy knock when he wants in. I thought he’d have a key by now.”
“Don’t,” Blossom and Starla called out at the same time.
“Oh,” Damek said, and stopped in his tracks. He recalled what Blossom had told him earlier. “You mean that freak is out there trying to harass you when I’m here? He’s going to regret that.”
“Stop,” Blossom pleaded. “Just let him leave.”
“I am not going to let him do this to you anymore. It stops now.”
The three heard a sickening cackle on the other side of the glass. The creep could hear them, and he thought what Damek had said was hilarious.
Damek opened the blinds, and the man was standing there with his face and palms pressed against the glass. It was impossible to distinguish his features, but he was clearly not afraid of Damek’s presence. That sent a shiver shooting down Starla’s spine.
Damek hit the glass with his palm and it made the creep take a step back. Starla tried to make out his features, but the shadows hit him just right so that she couldn’t.
While she tried in vain to identify the man, Damek yanked the patio door open and stepped out. “Enough,” he said and raised his hands up in the air.
“Damek, no!” Blossom called out.
Electric blue magic arced from Damek’s hands and coalesced above his head. “You’re finished here,” he said and threw the magic at the creep.
The blue electricity shot up in the air and completely missed the stalker. It formed into a bolt of magical lightning and struck Damek. He cried out in agony and fell to the ground.
The stalker laughed hysterically and then ran off into the night. Starla was grateful that he’d fled, but she was terrified that Damek’s magic had been turned against him.
Blossom and Starla ran over to Damek and knelt down beside him. He was alive and his eyes were open, but he couldn’t move or speak.
“Let’s get him back in the house before that guy decides to come back,” Starla said.
The two witches dragged Damek back into the house and laid him out on the sofa. She made sure the wards around the doors and windows were still in place and then set to work looking for the air mattress in the spare bedroom. She knew that as soon as Kane heard about what had happened, he’d insist on staying.
By the time Kane returned, Damek was able to talk and move around a bit. He’d managed to sit up, and Blossom had fallen asleep next to him with her head in his lap.
“She’s not going to leave my side,” he said and gently stroked her hair. “You two might as well go to bed.”
The air mattress was made up for Kane in the spare bedroom. He dragged it into Starla’s bedroom and placed it at the foot of the bed.
“Don’t argue with me about this,” he warned.
She didn’t. Starla was glad he was right there.
Chapter Ten
Kane had wanted to take the next day off to stay by Starla’s side, but all heck had broken loose on Clownfish Cay. It was like the whole island had gone crazy. He’d been called into work early because they’d had so many calls about thefts and fights breaking out.
“We have to figure this out now,” Blossom said as soon as Kane was gone. “I have this feeling that it’s only going to get worse. It’s people stealing and fighting right now, but you know how bad it could get if the darkness gets to these people.”
Starla agreed. She knew that Kane wouldn’t like it, but they had to do what they had to do. “We’ll have to leave Damek here. He’s not ready to go out yet,” she said.
“I feel terrible doing that, but I think you’re right,” Blossom answered.
“I’m right here,” Damek grumbled. “You guys don’t have to protect me.”
“We’re not. Presto is. He’ll be here to stand guard while we’re gone,” Starla said.
“Don’t answer the door,” Blossom warned.
“Yes, mom,” he groused.
“Damek.” She shot him the look.
“I get it.” He raised his hand slowly in surrender. “I’m going to stay right here on the sofa. Could you guys leave a bag of chips and a soda here for me?”
Blossom went to the kitchen to get the snacks for Damek. Starla heard a rustling and noticed that the book was ruffling its pages. She looked down at it, and the page with the knife picture was rustling, but the book remained open to that page.
“I want to go talk to Thomas,” Starla said once they were outside in the front yard.
“What?” Blossom asked. “I mean, I wanted to solve the murder too, but we’ve got bigger things.”
“I think they might be related,” Starla said.
“You think that the murder of a tourist is related to the darkness growing?” Blossom frowned. “I guess that’s not too crazy, but how is solving the murder going to help us with our magic problem?”
“I don’t know, but I just have a feeling.”
“You have a feeling?” Blossom asked skeptically.
“Okay, I think it’s what the book wants.”
“Well, if it’s what the book wants,” Blossom echoed with a shrug. “Should we walk or call a taxi?”
The air was charged with negative energy. There was most certainly something afoul on the island.
Thomas’s store had the closed sign in the window and the door was locked, but Starla saw him inside. She knocked on the glass door to get his attention.
The shop owner smiled and unlocked the door to the store. “Come in, ladies,” he said.
They stepped over the threshold and Thomas locked the door behind them. Blossom stayed to speak with him, but Starla made a beeline for the shelf where the souvenirs were displayed.
“Sorry the shop is closed, ladies. I had three people attempt to shoplift this morning, and then the fights started to break out.” His eyes followed Starla down the aisle.
“We understand. Sorry to bother you, but we wanted to ask you about something,” Blossom said.
Starla came back to where they were standing, holding one of the souvenir knives wrapped in plastic. “We wanted to ask you about these.”
“Those old things?” Thomas asked. “What about them?”
“One of them was used as a murder weapon,” Starla said. “We were wondering if you’d sold one recently.”
“Sheriff Kane has already asked me about this. I checked my records and I haven’t sold one within the last few months,” Thomas said and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “But, Starla, dozens of shops used to carry those. Who knows where the killer got theirs?”
Something seemed off with Thomas. He was nervous, but Starla couldn’t fathom why. It wasn’t as if anyone suspected Thomas of the murder. He’d done so much to help after the storm. He was beloved by the entire island. And yet, he had a look she couldn’t quite place in his eyes.
“Thank you,” Starla said. “It was worth a shot.”
“What do we do now?” Blossom asked.
“I think you should go back to my place and stay with Damek,” Starla said.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going back to the beach to find Noel. She was supposed to see if she could find any information on the darkness. I want to know if she found anything.”
“You’re going out to a remote beach alone?” Blossom shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“I’ll be fine,” Starla retorted.
“My little brother will never let me live it down if I let you go alone.”
“You’re right. He wouldn’t,” Starla admitted.
“Then you’re taking me with you.”
Blossom called a taxi and they took it as far as the library. The pair of witches walked the rest of the way to the beach down in the sand. They waited for around an hour before Noel appeared in the water.
She walked out of the water and up to where Starla and Blossom sat. The mermaid plopped down with them.
“You’re not going to like what I found out.” Noelani said.
“Just spill it,” Blossom said wearily.
Starla was taken aback by Blossom
’s shortness. She’d had no reason to be curt with Noel. The darkness had have begun to invade her friend. That meant it was only a matter of time before it got to her too.
“Your magic has awoken a creature in the depths. But it’s not an animal or a spirit. It’s something in between. The darkness has taken the form of a monster. It’s the reason we weren’t allowed to talk to you. My people blame yours for raising the creature from the deep.”
“So, this has happened before?” Starla asked. She hoped that Noel didn’t see Blossom roll her eyes.
“Yes. It has happened more than once. The darkness is never satisfied. It always seeks a way to increase its influence. A monster like the one trying to free itself now would not only reveal the presence of magical beings to the world, it would spread fear across the planet.”
“Fear it could feed from,” Starla said softly. “What do we do?”
“It will rise eventually, when it draws enough power from magic,” Noel said. “You can try to hold back using your magic, but someday it will get enough. There’s no stopping it now.”
“Or we could cast a whole bunch of magic and draw the thing out,” Blossom said and stood up. “I’d much prefer to take this thing on under our terms, rather than spending our whole lives sitting around waiting for it to rise.”
“Blossom, we can’t do that,” Starla said. “We’re not ready.”
“When are we ever going to be ready, Star?”
“I don’t know.”
“We’ll wait until Damek is feeling better, and then we’re going to slay a sea monster,” Blossom said and started to walk away from the beach.
“I’m sorry,” Starla said to Noel. “I think the darkness is getting to her.”
“It probably is,” Noel replied. “But I think she might be right. I’m not sure I can get my people to agree to help, but I can probably convince my sisters. Whatever magic you do to draw it out, do it here. We’ll come to you.”
“Okay,” Starla said.
“And Starla.”
“Yes?”
Sleaze on the Beach Page 7
