Curse Strings

by Rebecca Regnier

  It is our light, our laughter, our smiles to you.

  At this point, Maxine stood up and walked over to me. I felt instinctively that I should bow my head and bend my knees. I did, and from somewhere, she produced a crown of flowers, like her own and placed it on my head. She continued on and did it for each member of the coven as Dorothy’s prayer continued.

  Nature’s beautiful palette you created

  and we return praise you,

  Queen of birth, of life, of this season.

  We offer our tribute in your name and in the name of Frances,

  You ladies are one and the same now and as it was always.

  Daughters of the fae, mothers of the gods,

  Bless us in this circle on this Beltane.

  Maxine had finished distributing crowns. How had they come to be? One single crown of flowers had multiplied into dozens. I tried to focus on how she’d done it; it was as if from each circlet of flowers another was born. She’d placed one on my head and lifted another off. Every woman in the coven was adorned with the crowns. And all of the crowns mimicked one that Dorothy now placed gently on the kindling.

  “Show us you hear us! Honor our tribute!” Dorothy commanded these words to the sky and that clear sky, without a cloud, or even hint of a storm cracked loud—loud enough to make some of the people gathered jump. She’d summoned thunder!

  The thunderbolt produced an arc of lightning that electrified the center of the circle and ignited the bonfire. Aunt Dorothy raised her hands to the sky.

  “Let the Beltane in honor of the goddess and our Frances begin!” And everyone burst into applause. Some started dancing around the fire, others returned to the food and drink offered to all in attendance.

  I was without words. Dorothy had just command thunder and lightning. I stood for a moment, and took it in. The power she tapped into was immense. I stared into the fire and watched as people celebrated. Yet again, Widow’s Bay, was the site of something magical.

  A question from a familiar-sounding voice interrupted my rivalry.

  “This was so nice. I should write thank-you notes. Do people still do that?”

  I turned to see a beautiful woman, standing next to me, gazing at the bonfire. She was smiling, and her hands were clasped in front of her in delight.

  There was a faded quality to her, a bit of transparency. And though I didn’t recognize her at first, as she smiled and clapped, I realized I was looking at Frances.

  It was a Frances from decades and decades ago. But her voice, her mannerisms, they were unmistakable.

  “Uh, you’re supposed to be dead.” My throat was dry, if not for Frances being one of the sweetest souls I’d met on earth, I might have run.

  “Oh, I am dear. But just because I’m dead, doesn’t mean I’m done. The tribute’s a little too hasty, we’ve got a murder to solve.”

  “Uh, yeah, can anyone but me see you?”

  “It depends. Right now, I’m purposely attaching myself to you because you’re the most likely to help get Tatum out of jail.”

  “I’ve tried. I’m still trying. I’m not sure what to do next. Plus, the vision, it showed us that Tatum had the gun. I don’t believe it, but it sure as heck didn’t give us any clues to move on.”

  “I was possessed. I was the one who showed you that vision. Thanks to that turd Alvarado.”

  “What?”

  “We started the spell, and I felt him take over. I fought so hard, but he pushed that image through me, the one of Tatum shooting Tommy Strayhorn. Yeah, that was totally fake.”

  “He possessed you?”

  “Sort of, I had a heck of a time resisting him. Remember how he tossed me around the house? Well, I fought like a cat in a rainstorm against him, and pop.”

  “Alvarado wants to keep Tatum in prison?”

  “Sure, if he can’t bring in more big baddies to upset the balance here, he’ll start dividing us up. More than one way to hex a witch.”

  “And he killed you! We have to kill him!” I was so upset, angry, and, I felt foolish. I’d left the monitoring of Alvarado to Brule; I should have been just as vigilant.

  “Well, he didn’t kill me directly, no. The effort of fighting against him was the last straw for my arteries. They were on their last legs, as you know. I was resisting him, too hard, to no good effect it turns out, and then boom, one of ‘em popped. It happens. I had one-hundred-fifty good years.” She made a pop motion with her fingers at her temple. Frances did not seem distressed about being a ghost. She was more mentally acute than I’d ever seen her.

  Holy heck, one-hundred-fifty? Were they all that old? I didn’t even want to do the math on that one.

  “What do I do? Who killed Strayhorn? How do I prove that Tatum is innocent?”

  “I can’t tell you that. I’m a ghost; I’m not omnipotent. But I can tell you this: Tatum’s alibi is a good place to start. Ooh, I wonder if I can enjoy roasted marshmallows in my non-corporeal state?” Frances the ghost had a sweet tooth, just like Frances the person. She started floating toward the melting treats. I reached out to touch her and my hand dissolved the cloud that was her.

  “Hey, wow, that was freaky!” she said as her arm reconstituted into the shape of an arm.

  “I, uh, where are you going to be, if I need you?”

  “I’m going to show myself to Maxine and Dorothy. They’ll be able to stop moping. Oh, and I can gloat how all my wrinkles are gone! Don’t worry, dear, I’ll be around.”

  I watched as she floated away.

  I had to turn my attention to why Frances had appeared.

  Tatum, and Tatum’s alibi.

  Chapter 17

  I had recorded several interviews with Detective DeLoof. I pulled out my phone. I re-listened to the interviews. There was stuff about ballistics, stuff about the argument between Tatum and Strayhorn. I heard Weston Redman shouting questions at annoying intervals.

  In the back of my head, I was grateful that our curse had worked. He was out of my hair right now, and I needed that so I could work.

  Weston Redman had thrown me off my game, and Tatum was paying for it. Alibi. Alibi.

  Where was the stuff I’d reported about her alibi?

  I realized then, that I’d asked Garrett to check on it. I’d asked him to do it and never followed up. So much had happened, including the discovery that Garrett DeWitt was a werewolf, that I was letting details slip.

  What had he said about Tatum’s alibi? I needed to find out.

  I ran to my Jeep. It felt like time was getting away from me. I decided the fast thing to do was grab my broom. I stored it in the back. I pulled it out. I looked around. Hopefully, with all everyone had seen tonight at the Beltane Bash, no one would notice me aloft.

  I pushed off from the ground. As I did, Joe happened upon me at an inopportune moment hovering above my Jeep in the parking lot. What was the phrase? In for a penny, in for a pound. Yep, here I was, on a broom, about to shoot out into the night in search of werewolves.

  “Mom, what the heck?”

  “I’ll be back soon. If not, meet me later at The Frog Toe. I’ll buy you a beer. Do whatever Pauline need you to do to help clean up! And take my Jeep!” I did not have time to explain more. My words trailed off as the night air made my eyes water.

  My son’s reaction to me zooming off on a broom was one for the scrapbooks. Occasionally, kids need to believe that their parents have access to magic powers they could only imagine. It keeps them on the straight and narrow. That box was now checked for the foreseeable future.

  I flew through the night, faster than I’d ever done before. I knew exactly where I was headed. My Jeep was good at moving me around snow and terrain, but it wasn’t broomstick fast. Typically, the arctic cold of the Upper Peninsula kept my bum close to the heated Jeep seats, but this was a broomstick level emergency.

  It didn’t take long until I spotted my destination: the logging camp. Grady had dutifully watched over Aunt Dorothy and Maxine and now he was handling my ra
bid boss. When I thought about the Yooper Naturals, Grady handling this, Brule handling Alvarado, and a million other things, I realized we really did all work in concert, to make sure our world kept turning.

  I thought of the Beltane prayer Aunt Dorothy offered up. I hoped all who lived in this circle were blessed by it, from wolf to handsome monster.

  I landed with a commotion in the middle of the log cabin village populated by werewolf loggers. By the looks of it they had continued to expand. It really was a village. I couldn’t guess at how many shifters lived here, and in the woods that surrounded us. And thank goodness, they were helping keep the good to evil balance in check. Alvarado my have tried to convict Tatum with his vision, but he hadn’t done it yet!

  Grady came out of his cabin.

  “Beltane Bash over so soon?”

  “No, it’s going strong. And thanks for sending a lot of your pack. Frances loved it.”

  “Talking to ghosts now?”

  “Yes, but I don’t have time to explain.”

  “Sorry I missed it, but I was babysitting your boss, as you know.”

  “About that, how is he?”

  “I think we’ve got the rabies issue under control. Fawn stopped by with some medicine. DeWitt really responded to that, and to her, by the way.”

  “I noticed that too. She has that effect on a lot of animals.”

  “Ha, so you didn’t drop by to visit. What’s up?”

  “What state’s DeWitt in? I need to ask him a question about the murder.”

  “He’s human, and currently relieved to know that he’s not the only werewolf in the world.”

  “He thought that?”

  “Yep, had no pack, no idea who his family is. He’s been hiding his shifting his whole life. I can’t even imagine the stress that caused him. That’s why he’s got all that gray hair!”

  “That’s tragic.”

  “It could have been, but he’s here now. We’ll get him sorted.”

  “Can I go in?”

  “Sure.” Grady put out his hand and I climbed the steps to the cabin and walked in. DeWitt was in a rocking chair, looking out the huge back window, thinking about what, I could only guess.

  “Hey, how are you?”

  “Better now. I am deeply sorry I tried to kill you.”

  “You wouldn’t be the first. And it’s okay. I understand you didn’t have any idea what was happening to you.”

  “There are whole families, troops of people, like me. That’s why I came you know, really. To find out if the legends were true.”

  “And to tell me you were hiring a photographer for me.” I winked at him. I wanted him to know I didn’t hold a grudge. I also wanted him to know that a shifter in Widow’s Bay wasn’t a freak; they were everywhere, and they were a crucial part of the town. It was all okay.

  “Ah, yes, I have some ideas about that.”

  “Good, but for now, I need to ask you what you got when you checked out Tatum’s alibi.”

  “What? Oh, uh, let me think.”

  “Remember, she said she was at The Frog Toe.”

  “Oh, yeah, and it was, uh, one of the waitresses. She told me she’d had to lock up, which was odd, she said. Normally Tatum did close.”

  “Which blew Tatum’s story that she was at work?”

  “Yeah, the waitress, that was it. I forget her name. I am ashamed to say that the smell of chicken wings had a shift starting so I had to run out of there.”

  “It’s okay. But that’s something. I’ll just head there and ask a few questions myself. Maybe someone else saw Tatum.”

  “That would help, if she had a good alibi.”

  “Yes, it would. I have to go; do you need anything?”

  “No, Grady is showing me how to control this shift thing.”

  “Good, he’s the best.” I didn’t have more time to chit-chat.

  I made my goodbyes and thanked Grady again for helping my boss.

  “Yep, I’m down for whatever, Nowak, you know it. Careful on that broom, I swear I heard a sonic boom as you approached.”

  “Haha, very funny.” I pushed off again and patted myself on the back. I was getting better at this whole broom-flying thing.

  I got across town and to The Frog Toe in record time.

  The place looked empty, I supposed that was a good sign for Beltane Bash. Why buy the brew when you can get the free kegs on the beach?

  There weren’t a million waitresses at The Frog Toe. Maybe another one had seen her that night; if they had, I could take that information to Loof. I was convinced that once he had ballistics the case was over for him. Shaking down the entire staff would be a waste to time. Especially in the middle of a festival he needed to patrol. I was going to give the WBPD the benefit of the doubt, and if I had a lead I could give them, I knew Loof would look at it.

  I walked into an empty pub.

  “Hello? Anyone in here? Mario?”

  My voice echoed. It was easy to forget how big a space Tatum had here, it was usually so packed.

  “Back here!” I heard a voice coming from the kitchen. I made my way back there to find Amanda, the waitress with the ponytail and razor straight bangs with whom I’d collided the other day.

  “Hey, I’m working on a story about Tatum, and I wondered if I could ask you a few questions.”

  “Sure. Come on in to the office, it’s quiet there.”

  It was quiet in the restaurant now, but whatever. I followed her to Tatum’s little office space off the kitchen.

  “Have a seat.” There was something off about Amanda. She’d been rude before, sure, but there was something more.

  “If you’re calling for Mario, he’s not here, you know.”

  “Okay, well, I uh didn’t really need him.”

  “I’ve had it with you interfering.”

  “What?”

  Amanda closed the door behind her.

  “It was going to be him and me. Tatum was out of the way and then you’re here. All the time.”

  “I’ve been here a few times but all the time? Who are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play stupid. Mario is not into you, so you can just stop trying.”

  “You think I have a thing for Mario?”

  “Rubbing his shoulder, consoling him when Tatum was arrested. It’s just gross.”

  “Listen, you have it wrong. Mario is my friend’s boyfriend.” That didn’t really sound right either, but whatever. It was basic girl code: you didn’t go after your friends’ husband, boyfriend, or vampire crush.

  “Stop LYING! You’re trying to ruin it.” She was yelling now, and I decided it was time to get the heck out of there. I did not have time for this soap opera of a woman.

  I heard the front door of The Frog Toe open. Someone else was here now. That was good. There was safety in numbers; maybe it was a co-worker who could help me talk her down. I felt sorry for all Amanda’s co-workers right now.

  “I’ll come back later, thanks.” I walked past her to the door and threw it open. I felt a shove. She’d pushed me! This nutty lovesick waitress had pushed me!

  I turned around and looked at her. Amanda's eyes were filled with rage and her right hand was filled with a sharp knife. It was pointed at me. Amanda was going to stab me. I could barely process that, but my flight or fight response was faster than my brain.

  I ran. I sprinted through the kitchen and heard her call after me.

  “He was mine! He’s not Tatum’s, not yours, MINE!”

  She was obsessed with Mario!

  I needed out of there. She was right behind me.

  I was moving as fast as I could, and then I was flying.

  My shin erupted in pain. I’d caught it on a chair leg and gone careening through the air. I was going to land, hard, on the cement floor of The Frog Toe.

  The last thing I heard was a scream. It was coming from Amanda.

  She was coming for me, and so was her knife. I felt my body crunch and then my head must have hit the cement.
>
  Because the lights went out in Marzie Town.

  Chapter 18

  Where was I? What happened?

  A booth. I was lying in a booth at The Frog Toe.

  I felt a sharp pain on my cheek and tried to piece together what had happened.

  I had fallen while trying to get away from psycho Amanda.

  “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it. Mario, all I wanted was you and me to be together.”

  “Shut up.” They were in the room, near me. I needed to sit up. I worked on that and the pounding sensation felt like it was going to rip open my skull. Man, I must have fallen hard. I felt a lump on my skull, ugh. I had pulled a classic horror story move, making good time, and then careening to the ground.

  Great work Nowak.

  I looked to the source of the conversation. Amanda was sitting in the booth next to me, her arms folded. Her eyes were trained on Mario, who was stalking back and forth in front of the booth. I did a quick scan of my own body, no gaping holes.

  Okay, so Amanda had failed to stab me to death. This was good news.

  And Amanda was calmer. Mario had her under control. More good news.

  I scanned the room.

  There was Sam. Oh good, Sam. I pulled myself out of the booth and headed to him. He turned to me and it was clear, something was terribly wrong. He shook his head and I cocked mine. What was happening?

  I leaned to the side to try to see around his broad shoulders.

  I could see white hair hunched over a body on the floor.

  It was Brule, and I’d seen him do this before. He was administering blood, his vampire blood, to someone who was injured.

  And all of it clicked into place. Sam grabbed my shoulders and tried to hold me back. I was strong enough to breakthrough.

  Etienne Brule sat up and turned to me. Blood was still dripping from his wrist. He looked at me.

  “I got here too late, but he’ll be okay. But he’ll need to be with me for a few days.”

  “What?” I looked down, and saw it was Joe. He was so white, except for his shirt; it was stained so red that I felt dizzy. My Joe! What had happened?