“Well, I think we can rule them out,” Amy said. “I know those two from the way you described them earlier; they come into coven headquarters from time to time when they’re on patrol. They’re extremely honest and straight-laced, and I don’t think you will find two Enforcers more dedicated to their jobs.”
“You never know, though,” I said. “What are their names?”
“Orlock and Haug. They’re brothers. I don’t know their last names.”
“Right. Then there was Lovandir and Darwana, the elves,” I added. “And Emily and Alice Kralomok, the two witches. And Aurora, of course.”
“You can’t think Aurora did this,” Ellie said, shaking her head.
“To be honest, I have trouble imagining she did. Aurora has always been so nice to me. But in the interest of being thorough, we need to keep everyone on this list. Now, Amy, can you think of any reason any of these paranormals would have had to kill Luna?”
Amy frowned. “I don’t know. I think we need to speak with someone who was close to Luna.”
“Well, tomorrow morning is going to be the memorial, since that’s how fairies do their funerals,” Ellie said to me. “The memorial service is at dawn the day after a death. I’m not actually sure what they do with the body, but fairies consider that once one of their kind has died, that’s it, their soul is gone from their bodies so there’s no point in involving it in the memorial at all.”
“That’s an interesting way of looking at it,” I said.
“I thought so, too. We’ll have to get up early, but we can go to the memorial service tomorrow and speak to some of Luna’s friends and family then. That might give us a better idea as to who would have wanted her dead.”
Chapter 9
It was a horrible thought to have, but as I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t help but wonder why Luna couldn’t have been killed closer to December, when the sunrise wasn’t until seven thirty or so. I sighed as I looked at the clock on my phone, which read five thirty-five, and smashed the off button on my alarm.
“Why are you up so early?” Mr. Meowgi complained as he made his way under the covers that I had just abandoned. “What time is it?”
“It’s five thirty,” I grumbled in reply.
“I didn’t realize that hour even existed,” my cat complained as he curled up into a little ball underneath my blanket.
“Yeah, well, now you know how I feel when you decide to play zoomies up and down the hall at three in the morning,” I replied.
“That’s totally different,” Mr. Meowgi replied without elaborating, and a moment later I heard his soft snores coming from underneath the blanket. Evidently, my getting up wasn’t really the inconvenience he had made it out to be.
“Lucky,” I muttered as I made my way to the kitchen, where to my surprise, Ellie had left out an entire plate of cinnamon buns, dripping with ooey, gooey cream cheese frosting, the warm smell of spices wafting to my nose.
“I hope you haven’t poisoned these, but if you have, then I guess it’s my time to go,” I said, grabbing a cinnamon bun and putting it on the plate, earning myself a pointed look from Ellie.
“Even I think that joke’s in poor taste.”
“It’s too early to filter out appropriate jokes from inappropriate ones,” I yawned as I sat down at the dining table and took a huge forkful of warm cinnamon bun.
“This is how early I usually get up,” Ellie said. “I got a message from the manager of the coffee shop last night; we’re going to be closed today so that everybody can go to the memorial, and also because the Enforcers are still treating the entire shop as a crime scene.”
“Good, so all four of us will be there,” I said. “That should give us a lot more opportunity to speak with as many fairies as possible.”
By six o’clock the four of us had all eaten cinnamon buns, properly complimented Ellie on their deliciousness, and were heading out of the house.
“Where does the fairy memorial take place?” I asked.
“They have a park on the other side of town,” Amy explained. “It’s not big, not at all like the Coven Gardens. But it’s pretty cute, and it’s special to the fairies. It’s kind of like their equivalent of a coven headquarters.”
The four of us grabbed our brooms and began flying to the other end of town. I was happy to say that I was now able to float confidently up to two feet above the ground without feeling like my death was imminent. Sara had given me a few more lessons since my first experience on a broom, which had led to the inadvertent creation of the giant pool in our backyard, and while I wasn’t too confident while on a broom, at least I could get by on one now.
Still, a trip that would have taken the others less than five minutes took us about ten, and by the time we arrived at the fairy gardens, there were already dozens of fairies milling around, and a few other paranormals as well.
The four of us placed our brooms up against a tree, and I got my first good look at this, the center of fairy life in Western Woods.
It was like stepping into the center of every grandmother’s dream landscaping. Giant mushrooms at least two stories high rose up from the ground and large paths made of rocks wound their way through the garden, which looked to be about the size of a football field. Rows of lanterns were strung between the trees and the mushrooms, casting a warm glow on everyone below. Moss grew everywhere, looking soft and comfortable, and there was even a small, gently flowing river that passed through the center.
Everyone seemed to be making their way toward the very middle of the park, where a low but extremely wide ivory-colored mushroom seemed to create a natural meeting place.
The four of us made our way through, and I looked around in amazement at how adorable this fairy garden was. I couldn’t believe I had never been here before.
As the fairies floated through, they looked perfectly at home here in this garden that looked more magical and ethereal than anywhere else I had been in Western Woods.
“There is Aurora,” Ellie said, motioning to the fairy that I had seen plenty of times now at Hexpresso Bean. “Let’s go talk to her now, before the ceremony starts.”
The four of us made our way over to Ellie’s coworker, and as soon as she saw us, she fluttered over.
“Thank you so much for coming, Ellie,” she said. “And to the rest of you as well. You have no idea how much it means to us to know that Luna was this loved by the community.”
“Of course,” Ellie said. “There was no way we were going to miss being here.”
“I had only met Luna the one time, but I’m so sorry for your loss,” I told Aurora. “She seemed like such a nice fairy.”
“Oh, she was,” Aurora said. “We had so many chats together, since we worked together in such close quarters.”
“I just can’t think of who would have wanted to do this to her,” Ellie said. “Do you know of anybody that she was having any problems with? I heard she was seeing that wizard, Carson.”
“She was. She didn’t really want anybody to know, so they tried to be subtle about it, but I know word was starting to get around town. Luna told me that a few days ago a couple of older witches came by and told her that it wasn’t natural and that she should stick to her own kind and leave the wizards for the witches.”
I shook my head. “Poor Luna. That’s so unfair. She shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”
“I agree,” Aurora said. “To be totally honest, when she first told me that she was seeing a wizard, I wasn’t totally on board with it. After all, shouldn’t a fairy be with a fairy? But then I saw them together a few times, and I realized that they made each other happy, and I guess I decided that there are worse things in the world than falling in love with a wizard. But, I know she was getting a little bit of flack about it from others. A couple of old witches came by Hexpresso Bean and told her to stick to her own kind.”
“I can’t believe people would do that,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Plus, they had no shame.
They came back a few days later; they were actually two of the witches that were there when Luna died.”
“Alicia and Emily Kralomok?” Amy asked, and Aurora nodded.
“Yes. Alicia was the one that Luna said was giving her a hard time about her relationship with Carson. Still, I can’t imagine her killing over it.”
I wasn’t so sure. As far as I was concerned, Alicia was definitely at the top of my suspect list now.
“That’s crazy,” Sara said, shaking her head. “Was that the only trouble Luna had been having with anyone?”
“Yes, as far as I know,” Aurora said. “She really was such a nice fairy; no one ever had any problems with her. Or if they did, she didn’t share them with me. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go and see the head of the fairies before the ceremony starts.”
“Of course,” Ellie said, and Aurora gave us all a small smile before fluttering away elegantly.
“Well, that changes things,” Ellie said to the three of us as Aurora flew off.
“No kidding,” I replied. “Do you know Alicia well?”
The three of us turned to Amy, who, thanks to her job working at coven headquarters, tended to know all of the witches and wizards in town better than the rest of us. Certainly better than me, who knew almost nobody.
“I can definitely see her making those kinds of comments,” Amy nodded. “Alicia has always been a very bitter person. But murder? That’s a whole different story. I suppose if she were going to do it, I would expect her to use poison. Something that couldn’t necessarily be traced back to her and something that was pretty hands-off.”
“So you could see her murdering Luna?” Sara asked.
“I think so,” Amy said. “If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s that anybody can be a murderer. I think we should consider her to be a prime suspect.”
Just then, the lanterns hanging above dimmed three times, and the four of us looked around.
“I guess that’s our cue to make our way to the giant mushroom,” I said as I watched all of the other fairies around headed that way.
We all walked over to it, climbing up onto the mushroom’s cap along with everybody else. It was a little bit more difficult for those of us who didn’t have wings, but we eventually managed it. Sara, Amy, and I were all pushed up by the others, and then Amy cast a spell to allow Ellie to float up onto the mushroom.
We certainly wouldn’t have won any awards for elegance, that was for sure, but we made it up in the end.
The cap of the mushroom had to have a radius of no more than fifty feet, and even with everybody all together in a circle it was pretty crowded.
In the center of the mushroom, by herself, was an older fairy with gray hair and pastel pink wings. She was extremely elegant in her old age and reminded me a little bit of a Helen Mirren type. She fluttered her wings until she was a few feet higher off the ground than normal so that she could see everybody on the mushroom cap and everybody could see her.
“Thank you all for coming,” she announced, her voice needing no amplification. It wasn’t a loud, booming voice, but rather one with a quiet authority that still carried throughout the garden. “Today, we come to remember the soul of the fairy who we lost less than twenty-four hours ago. Luna was a loving, kind soul taken in her prime, and I thank you all for coming to remember her as the sun rises, bringing in a new day for those of us left on earth.
“If you look to the sky tonight, you may see a new star. That star is the spirit of Luna, who has left us to join the spirits of our ancestors before us. Now, as the sun rises for the first time without Luna’s presence on this earth, please be silent as we remember one of our own.”
You could have heard a pin drop as all the observers did as the fairy head honcho—I wasn’t sure what her official title was, but it was obvious she was in charge—had said to do. However, instead of looking down at the ground like humans tended to do when we had a moment of silence for something, everyone looked skywards, facing the east as the sun began to rise over the horizon. For about five minutes we all watched as the sun first began to poke its head out, then rose fully into the sky.
“Luna, may your spirit rest with the stars,” the woman finally announced.
“May your spirit rest with the stars,” came a low murmur from everyone else, and I joined in at the last second as I realized the whole crowd was repeating those words.
“Now, please,” the woman at the front announced. “Spend this day celebrating, for while we have lost a life, we should cherish the time we did have with Luna and feel lucky that we got to share some of our brief time in this world with her.”
With that, the fairy fluttered back down to ground level, and everyone began to climb off the mushroom cap, the ceremony having obviously ended.
“That was really nice,” Ellie said, wiping tears off her face. “What a lovely ceremony.”
Chapter 10
Groups of different paranormals began to form, and I split away from the others, momentarily distracted by a very cool-looking flock of mushrooms. Their caps had a design like a peppermint swirl, and there was something incredibly alluring about them.
“Don’t touch those,” a voice behind me said suddenly, and I turned to find Bella, one of the fairies I’d met the day before, smiling at me as she fluttered a few inches off the ground. “They’ll sting if you touch them.”
I looked at the mushrooms, almost entranced. It was like something inside of them was drawing me toward them, luring me, convincing me to touch them. I shook my head and broke the spell, then looked over at Bella.
“What are they?”
“We call them malfeasance mushrooms. They give off particles that draw you in, and when you touch them, they eat away at your skin. But because of the particles, you keep touching them.”
“I’m assuming they’re poisonous, then?”
“Highly,” Bella nodded. “But it’s not a pleasant death. Eating one mushroom is enough to kill you, but it takes hours. The spores eat away at your insides, starting at your stomach, and spend a few hours eating away at you until finally enough of your organs fail and you die.”
I shuddered. “Thanks for the warning.”
“They grow naturally in all fairy gardens,” Bella explained. “Let me get rid of this one for you.”
She made her way over toward the mushrooms, put her hands above them, and whispered something. All of a sudden, a black, glittery dust magically appeared, falling from her hands, and landed on the mushrooms. They immediately shriveled up, curling in on themselves, the red spirals turning black before suddenly disappearing completely with a loud pop.
Bella turned toward me and grinned.
“Wow,” I said. “I’ve never seen a fairy use magic before.”
“We have our own special brand of it,” Bella replied. “If you ever see a patch of mushrooms like these, try not to look at them. That’s what grabs you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Thank you for coming, by the way.”
“Oh, of course. I feel so bad for Luna.”
“It’s really tragic,” Bella said sadly. “Poor thing. It really was a nice service this morning, though.”
“Absolutely,” I nodded. “Who was the woman who performed it?”
“The Head Fairy, Isadora. She’s been the head of the fairies here in Western Woods for longer than I can remember.”
“She seems nice.”
“She’s really wonderful. We couldn’t ask for a better leader. She always makes sure to represent us well in town.”
“Do you know who Chief Enforcer King suspects in Luna’s death?” I asked, thinking that maybe word would have spread through the fairy ranks, but Bella shook her head.
“No. We haven’t heard a thing, which is a little bit frustrating. But I’m sure Chief Enforcer King is doing what she has to do. I’m sure she’ll find the killer. At least, I hope so.”
“So do I,” I nodded.
“It is nice to
see Aurora came, though.”
“Oh, was it ever in any doubt that she would?”
“Well, she and Luna had always had a rather difficult relationship.” As if realizing what she had said, Bella’s eyes widened and she hurried to elaborate. “Nothing that difficult, nothing that you would kill over. When we were young, both Luna and Aurora were super competitive. They always had to best one another, and it got pretty heated. One day, Luna accused Aurora of cheating on a test, and they got into a fistfight right in the middle of this very garden. But as adults, I think they realized that competing against each other wasn’t so much fun, and they realized they have a lot in common. I think they were quite good friends, now. It’s nice to see, after so many years of acrimony between them.”
“That is nice,” I said, my mind whirring at this new information. Had Luna and Aurora really been good friends, or did that competitive spirit still simmer beneath the surface? Had Luna done something that Aurora didn’t like, and had Aurora taken her revenge? I really didn’t want to believe it. In fact, a part of me couldn’t believe it. Aurora was the sweetest fairy and had been one of the first paranormals to welcome me to Western Woods.
Still, someone had poisoned that brownie, and Aurora would have been the paranormal with the easiest access to it. I couldn’t write her off as a suspect just because she was nice to me.
“Anyway, I should get going. It was nice to see you.”
“Thanks for the help with the malfeasance mushrooms,” I said with a smile. “It was good to see you, too.”
As Bella fluttered off, I looked around, trying to see if I could spot the others. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen, so I wandered around the garden rather aimlessly, enjoying the sights as the lanterns above changed from a warm, yellow glow at night to being different colors during the day. Now, rather than all being one color, they were red, blue, purple, green, orange, and more. Their light cast a strange glow on the ground, and I had to admit it gave the whole place a slightly more adorable, fun feel.
I spotted Carson Mase off to the side, standing next to one of the trees. He was staring at the ground aimlessly, not speaking with anyone. In fact, I might have been wrong, but I kind of got the idea that the other fairies were making an effort to avoid making eye contact with him. I felt a little bit bad for him until, a few moments later, Bella floated over to him and began chatting with him.
Four-Leaf Clovers Page 5
