Broccoli & Broomsticks_Nocturne Falls Universe

by Jennifer Fischetto

  His grayish looking tongue peeks out of his mouth now and slides across his dry, cracking lips. “Yeah. Lots. Bring it all.”

  The guys and I exchange confused glances. At least it’s better than brains.

  I make my way into the kitchen and grab the Tupperware bowl from the fridge. It’s heavy, which means no one’s been eating it. I pop the lid and stare down at the raw broccoli, red pepper, red onion, and carrot mixture. Instead of using mayonnaise, I created a vinaigrette with olive oil, white balsamic, ginger, and soy sauce. It’s super tasty.

  I debate putting some in a smaller container. There’s no way he’ll eat all of this. But footsteps sound above, and I want to make it outside before I’m caught. I snap the lid back on, grab a fork from the drawer, and run back to the garage.

  I set the bowl in front of Gio and remove the lid. I hold out the fork and realize he can’t use it.

  Malik grabs my arm and pulls me back. “Careful. Not too close.”

  I swallow hard, realizing I hadn’t thought about it. I doubt Gio would deliberately scratch me, but one jerky moment too fast, and I could end up exactly where he is. “He can’t eat without hands. You’ll need to unchain him.”

  Gio shuts his eyes and takes a whiff of the salad. A smile spreads across his face. That’s not weird.

  “No way,” Malik says.

  “I can feed him,” Tomás says, staring at his friend.

  I wrinkle my nose. ’Cause that won’t be even weirder. “Dude, we’re right here. He’s not going anywhere.”

  “Who’s not going anywhere?” asks a female voice.

  I turn with a gasp.

  Phoebe stands in the open doorway.

  Chapter Nine

  I scoot back against my pillows and pull my knees up to my chest. The tears stopped a few seconds ago, but I’m still sniffling. After catching us, I had to come clean to Phoebe, but I pushed her out of the garage and didn’t allow her to see Gio. Seeing him chained up, the lightness in his eyes…no, all of it is too upsetting. I also asked her if there’s any way she or her necromancy family could’ve accidentally awoken the guy in the jeans and blue tee, but it doesn’t make sense. If he’s just a dead person reanimated, Gio wouldn’t be in the garage with the jerky movements of the Tin Man.

  She denied it anyway.

  Now, she sits at my feet and puts a hand on my knee. “You’ve had a wild twenty-four.”

  Something in her tone makes me chuckle. She joins in and soon we’re laughing so hard, we’re gasping for air. If anyone was home, they’d probably rush into the room, armed with lightning and fireballs.

  I squeeze her hand. “I’m glad you’re here and you know.”

  “What’s the plan?” Her blue eyes are bright. Just like me, she believes any problem can be tackled with a little wit and determination.

  Unfortunately, this situation confuses me. “I scoured through the family grimoire last night and didn’t find anything in ways of a spell or cure.”

  She scrunches up her face and thinks hard. “What about your folks?”

  “I don’t know if I should tell them now or not. I planned to, but after…”

  “Cari's big secret, you didn’t want to add to their grief.” She finishes my sentence.

  “Yep, and I really thought I could find a spell on my own.” Tears threaten to return. I swallow hard.

  “Well, there has to be something. I’ll ask my parents too.” When I widen my eyes, she holds up her hand, palm facing out. “I won’t tell them why I’m asking.”

  I relax and take a shaky breath. She’ll never betray me.

  “What about Hottie?” Her smile is wicked. She wiggles her brows.

  I giggle. She saw him. “Malik is a hunter. I’m trying to keep him from killing Gio.”

  She clicks her tongue. “Is that all?”

  “Of course,” I say really fast, but the questioning look she gives me tells me she doesn’t believe me.

  I’m not sure I believe myself anymore.

  Malik is definitely cute, and I feel safe around him, but I don’t trust him alone with Gio. No matter how hot he is, trust is the most important thing to any kind of relationship, even just friends.

  “I assume you’re not going to the party tonight.”

  I scrunch up my nose. “Not unless a cure falls in my lap before then. Sorry.”

  She shrugs. “It’s okay. I totally understand. You won’t be upset if I go, right?”

  “Of course not.” She should go and have fun. I think of Zombie Sire though. “Be careful. The zombie that infected Gio is still out there.”

  She stands and kisses my forehead. “Okay, but don’t worry about me. Concentrate on Gio. I’ll call you later.” She leaves, her sneakers squeaking in the hall on the hardwood floors.

  I lean back against the pillows and let out a long breath. Concentrate on Gio. It’s all I’ve been doing, and I feel more lost and confused. Last night, I believed a simple search in the grimoire would result in a cure. Now, I’m still hopeful but it’s dimming. I figured if I don’t know of a way to heal him, Nana or my parents would. They’re older. They’ve been through more. But earlier, Nana looked as dumbfounded as me. If our family is so powerful, how can they not know how to deal with this?

  There are other witches in town, like Pandora Williams and her mother Corette, who is our coven leader. Pandora has two sisters and there are others. Maybe one of them will know what to do. But it would mean confiding in them, and I don’t trust any of them well enough. They’re responsible adults and may tell the Ellinghams, and I’d like to keep Gio off their radar as long as possible. Besides, my folks would be livid and hurt if I went to someone outside the family before filling them in. No, that’s cruel and a last resort. If I feel it’s our only choice, I’ll go to Mom and Dad first.

  I lie there another few minutes and then head downstairs to the garage. When Phoebe arrived, I practically lunged at her, pushing her out the door. I hadn’t said a word to Tomás or Malik, and I’m dying to know what’s going on. Oooh, bad word choice.

  Hopefully Tomás wasn’t silly enough to leave Malik and Gio alone. He wouldn’t do that. And what about Malik? Last night, he was ready to kill Gio, but after spending time with me and promising Nana, he wouldn’t dare. Right?

  My steps quicken down the stairs and through the front of the house to the empty kitchen. I’ve no idea where my family is. The house sounds quiet, but that can be misleading. Nana is probably looking for information in one of her many journals. She’s written down everything since she was my age and has boxes of them in her room. Maybe there’s something useful in one of them, but it may take hours for her to comb through it all.

  I slide open the back door and step onto the deck. The sun’s warmth settles on my shoulders and caresses my face. It’s strong considering it’s only March. I don’t mind though. Between the dank garage and the dismal feeling starting to creep into my bones, a jolt of sun is exactly what I need.

  The garage door is shut, which means someone shut it after I ran out. Tomás or Malik were thoughtful enough to not spill our secret to the rest of the Ricci clan. Yay, boys.

  I push open the door, and the temperature is at least thirty degrees cooler inside. I shudder and kick the door shut with my heel. The change in brightness makes me blink several times, giving my eyes a moment to adjust. “Why is it so flipping cold?”

  I turn to Gio and my stomach sinks.

  Malik’s chains lie on the ground, beside the empty bowl of broccoli salad. Gio is gone. And so is everyone else.

  My heartbeat accelerates and starts pounding in my ears. What the hell? Did Malik kill Gio? Is he dead-dead? And where is Tomás?

  I begin to hyperventilate when the door opens.

  Tomás is zippering his jeans. “Sorry, man, had to take a leak.”

  When he notices his missing best friend, his normal goofy expression fades. “What happened? Where’s Gio? And where’s Malik?”

  That’s what I’d like to know.
/>   Malik wouldn’t do this to me, would he? I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

  “I’ll kill him,” Tomás says.

  The door opens again. I open my eyes and Malik stands there.

  Tomás turns on him, grabs him by the front of his shirt, and slams him into the nearest wall. “What did you do with Gio?”

  Malik blinks and deep lines fill the space between his brows. “What are you talking about? Get off me.”

  But Tomás doesn’t loosen his hold.

  I’m surprised Malik isn’t trying to shove him off.

  “I went out to make a call.” Malik raises his arm to show us his cell in his hand. “Gio was chained up when I left.”

  I turn back to the chains and bowl. He ate all the salad. He said he was famished. Did it give him energy? That’s crazy. Zombies don’t thrive on broccoli.

  And why is it freezing in here? It wasn’t like this earlier. What’s changed?

  I think of my brother and it hits me. My spirits lift as I grab the chains.

  The metal is freezing and sticks to my hands, like when you’re a kid and you press your tongue to the metal part of a screen door in the winter.

  “Look,” I shout. “It’s been snapped. These breaks are clean.”

  Tomás finally lets Malik go and walks to my side. He crouches down and chuckles. He knows.

  Malik, however, does not. The creases between his brows remain. “What does that mean?”

  “Gio's witchy power is the ability to freeze things. He broke free.”

  Tomás chuckles. “That’s ingenious.”

  I smile at the metal adhered to my palms. But this means he’s out there someplace, doing who knows what. He cannot hurt anyone. Please don’t let him hurt anyone. He won’t be able to live with that. And neither would I.

  “We need to find him fast.” Malik pats his jacket pocket. The same pocket he pulled the knife out of earlier.

  “Yes, we will, and if you try to kill him, I will hurt you,” I say.

  Cute or not, family trumps hotness.

  Chapter Ten

  We decide to split up to cover the town quicker. Tomás heads to Gio's usual spots—the cemetery, the waterfalls near where Tomás lives, and Mummy’s Diner. Gio loves their pie. And if those places fail to produce him, Tomás will stalk the parks and the various areas of woods. Nocturne Falls is not in short supply of nature, by the way. Supernaturals feel as one in it.

  Malik and I plan to cover every other place in town, even if it takes all day.

  Hours later, we’re exhausted, and I wish we’d had the foresight to borrow someone’s car. We’ve visited every establishment along Main and side streets, and we end up at Howler’s. It’s a bar owned by Bridget Merrow, a werewolf and the sheriff’s sister. It’s totally for the twenty-one and older crowd, so I don’t expect to see Gio, but they have pool tables and a dartboard. Maybe he snuck in. He and Tomás did one night last month. They were caught about thirty minutes in. The place had been packed, according to my brother, which is why no one noticed two underage kids at first. Living in a small town means everyone knows everyone else, especially when you’re a supernatural. They didn’t go in to drink and stayed away from the bar. They simply wanted to play pool. Maybe he did again.

  Unfortunately, Malik and I barely make it in the door before Bridget Merrow appears in front of us. Wild auburn hair and gold-flecked eyes, she’s stunning and totally blocking not only my way but even a peek inside. She crosses her arms across her chest and with a smirk says, “I don’t know this young man, but I know your family, Aria, and you are not old enough to be in here.”

  “I’m looking for my brother, Gio. Have you seen him?” I’m hoping she says she hasn’t. I want to find him, but I don’t want anyone to see what he’s become.

  “He’s too young too, and no, I haven’t seen him. Now be gone.”

  I swallow hard, nod, and leave.

  “Where next?” Malik asks.

  I’m about to give up and think about the bowl of salad.

  “Zombies are hungry all the time, right? It’s their schtick?”

  Malik softly chuckles. “I don’t know if I’d call it that, but yeah. In the past, it’s always been brains. I don’t know why Gio is responding differently.”

  “Exactly. Since he devoured the broccoli salad, isn’t it safe to bet he’d want more? And what better place to get some than a grocery store?”

  “You think he’s eating produce in Shop-n-Save?”

  I shrug. “Why not?”

  Before he responds, I take off in that direction. It’s not far from where we’re at. It can’t hurt to check.

  The parking lot is nearly empty.

  A ringing cell phone causes me to turn. It’s Malik’s. He pulls it out of his pocket and reads the display. It’s his sixth call since we left my house.

  “I need to take this,” he says.

  “We can split up. I’ll call you later.” There’s no sense in babysitting him. I feel like my hunch is going to be correct and something is obviously going on with him with these calls. Maybe it’s something to do with his dad. Whatever it is, this will be easier if I’m on my own.

  He seems hesitant though. Wanting to take the call and stay with me.

  I take a step backwards and point my finger at him. “Don’t kill him if you find him first. Promise me.”

  His expression turns serious yet sincere too. “I promise.”

  My stomach doesn’t clench, my gut is clear. I believe him now. I turn to the store as he answers his call.

  The double doors swish open when I step closer. The produce section is straight ahead, and a quick scan tells me my hunch is correct.

  While the fruit section seems intact, the vegetable one looks like a bomb had exploded. Onions and potatoes have rolled out of their bins and onto the tiled floor. Torn plastic wraps which cover packaged cauliflower blow past me like tumbleweed. Leftover broccoli and asparagus stumps are scattered around Gio’s body.

  He’s on his knees, on the floor, and when I approach, he looks up at me in wide eye surprise. His mouth is half open, and a Brussels sprout sits nestled between his teeth.

  Well, it’s good to know he’s craving more than just broccoli. From the looks of it, I’d say it’s all cruciferous vegetables.

  I’ve no idea where the store staff is, but it’s unlikely anyone has witnessed this incredibly weird scene yet, and I’d like to not be here when they do.

  “We have to go before someone calls the cops.”

  Gio looks around him at the veggie remains and springs to his feet. He sucks in the rest of the sprout and takes off through the store doors.

  What is he doing?

  I run after him, slip on a cauliflower leaf, and nearly wipe out a display of bottled lemon juice. The fake stuff too.

  When I hit the street, I spot Gio a couple of blocks ahead. Malik is nowhere in sight. I don’t take time to wonder what’s up with him though. I can’t lose Gio.

  I charge down the street and hope my actions don’t look too suspicious. There are only a few people around, and none I recognize. They must be weekend visitors.

  Gio turns down a side street, which is both good and horrible. Good because he’s off the main road and less likely to accidentally scratch someone he passes, and bad because once he’s turned the corner, I can’t see him and have no idea where he’s headed.

  I don’t have time to get my wits about me and figure out if anything is in the area that he frequents. I eventually reach the street and turn down it, but Gio is long gone. This is a residential area and he could be on any of the roads which split off. I’m not giving up though. I run down this road, peeking down every side street I pass.

  There are kids riding bikes and people walking their dogs but no gassy zombie.

  I start to wonder if I’ll ever find him when I spot the back of Malik—his broad shoulders in his leather jacket, the swell of his butt in those jeans.

  He’s walking down a quiet street and turn
s into a driveway.

  Is it Gio? Does he see him?

  I quicken my pace even though I’m panting like a dehydrated dog in the sun. My thigh muscles already feel like jelly and my left shin is starting to ache. None of it matters though. Yes, Malik promised me and Nana he wouldn’t hurt Gio, but I’m not one hundred percent convinced he’ll keep that promise under certain conditions, like if it comes down to Malik or someone else getting infected. And while, no, I absolutely do not want to become a zombie either, I’d probably risk it if it means saving Gio.

  When I reach the same driveway Malik turned down, I stop for a second to try and catch my breath. It’s pointless because sweat has trickled down from my hairline, near my eye, and the back of my neck is thick with it—not to mention the moisture collecting between my boobs. I must look like a hot mess, but I don’t have time to care.

  I gulp in as much air as possible without hyperventilating and walk up the driveway toward the unattached garage. Unlike ours though, this one has an actual automatic door for cars.

  The white house is two stories, with red shingles, and narrow. I should’ve checked out the number and street, in case I need the address, but I don’t want to go back. The usual sounds, like a lawn mower on the next street, car motors, and a yapping dog are audible.

  I step between the garage and house into the backyard, and that’s when I hear growling. It’s not super loud, but it’s unmistakable too.

  My stomach tightens. It’s Gio.

  There’s a large shed at the back of the property. The door is open.

  Shoot. This is not good.

  Brother or not, I look around for a stick as I slowly walk across the lawn. I don’t plan on killing him, but I can poke him excessively if it means not getting scratched.

  I don’t find anything though, and now I realize how foolish it was to leave home without a weapon of some kind. I really didn’t think I’d need one with Malik by my side.

  I glance back at the house, wondering if I’ll see a family of faces watching me inch through their yard. Luckily the windows appear bare, although it’s hard to tell with the way the sun reflects off of them.