by Amy Boyles
I dug deep and summoned the fire quickly. Heat roasted from under my palms, dissipating over the ice.
I watched Axel. His hands were placed on Ellis’s shoulders. Normally I would expect his hands to glow, but they didn’t. Instead strange symbols peered out from beneath his palms.
Circles and triangles, stars and markings I’d never seen filtered out from him. It was strange. I’d seen him cast fire and light from his palms, but never writing.
It was pretty cool.
Axel’s eyes were shut tightly. Sweat sprinkled his brow. I realized sweat trickled down my spine, pooling at the apex of my tush. This was the easiest magic I’d ever worked, y’all. Not kidding. Seriously I was simply the conduit for the fire. Axel was the one doing all the work.
Then it started to happen. The ice dripped onto the floor. Rivulets ran over the tile. Pieces of Ellis’s clothing cut through the encasement. He was slowly melting.
“Ease up, Pepper.” Axel said it without even looking at me.
I did. I slowed the fire as the melting picked up speed. Within a minute or two most of Ellis was free. The white sheen on his face was quickly replaced with a more healthy color.
I focused on drying his clothes. Who wanted to wake up wearing sopping wet clothing? If the ice hadn’t killed Ellis, the pneumonia that would set in might.
The police station door opened. Karen and Roger swept in. They took one look at Axel and appeared relieved. They whispered to each other, and Karen clutched Roger’s shirt.
Ellis slowly came to. I pulled my hands away, figuring I’d done my part. I walked over to greet Axel’s parents.
“How’re y’all?” I said.
“Pepper, we were so worried.” Karen grabbed my hands. “We knew Axel wasn’t home, and I was terrified he’d gone out in this weather.” She spied Ellis as the last of the ice dripped away. “From the looks of it, I had reason to be worried.”
“Someone attacked him,” I said.
“Oh no.” She clutched me tighter. “You’ve got to be so careful. Especially after what you did today, protecting me. You can’t do that, Pepper.”
Roger’s mouth turned down. “Karen’s right. We’re grateful to you for stopping the prison wraith, but doing that sort of thing can be dangerous.”
“Ellis.” Garrick’s voice sliced through our conversation. “How are you? Do you remember anything?”
Ellis rubbed his head and moaned. “Oh, what an ache. It feels like I ate a huge scoop of ice cream.”
“Freeze headache,” Axel said. “That can happen after what you’ve just experienced. Take it slowly.”
Ellis blinked. His gaze bobbed around the room, eventually settling on Garrick. “What am I doing here?”
“You were found behind your house frozen solid.” Garrick pointed to the puddle on the floor. “Luckily you’d been spelled with protection so you didn’t die.” Garrick said it lightly but with a hint of accusation.
I mean, why would anyone freeze Ellis Mobley, who was second in nastiness to Cookie Mobley, and throw a protection spell on him? It didn’t make sense. If someone had killed Cookie, it only made sense that they would kill Ellis, too.
At least, that’s what I would do.
If I was a killer, I mean. I would make sure Ellis was dead—no spell of protection within a familiar’s blink of an eye. Why would I want him protected if I wanted him dead?
Unless, of course, it was a warning.
That at least made more sense than freezing him and accidentally saving his life in the process.
Garrick handed Ellis a cup of coffee. “What do you remember? The last memories you had.”
Ellis took the coffee and thanked Garrick. Shocker. This was a man who threatened children and me and my family over his dog. His dog. Listen, buddy, if the dog liked you, it would’ve stayed with you.
“I remember,” Ellis croaked. “Forgive me, my voice is raw.”
“The effects of the spell,” Axel explained. “It can take a few hours to recover from freezing magic.” His gaze flickered to Garrick. “You might want to give him a few minutes before you ask him questions. His memory might grow stronger the farther away from the freeze he is.”
Ellis extended a hand in protest. “No, no. I can remember. I had arrived home. It was so cold I went around back to make sure I’d covered the water spigots. Don’t want them freezing, you know. I got back there, and someone surprised me.”
Ellis took a long sip of coffee. He shivered. “A person surprised me, and the next thing I know, I’m here, standing with you in a police station.” He quirked a brow to Garrick. “You say I was frozen, huh? Someone worked a freezer on me, did they? Probably the same person who’s tinkered with our weather.”
“Actually the person who tinkered with our weather was your late wife,” I said.
Ellis scowled. “And how would you know that?”
Great. He had me there. How stupid of me to open my mouth. What was I going to say, I broke into your house and placed my hand where she died. That’s when I had the vision and she told me?
Nope. That wasn’t going to happen.
I went with the best bluff I had. “Are you kidding? This weather spell has her magical handprints all over it. It’s obvious.”
“Hmm,” was all the response I got from Ellis. Well, at least he didn’t deny it.
“Do you know who did it, Ellis?” Garrick prodded. “The person who froze you?”
Ellis pressed his fingers to his forehead. “There was a figure.” His gaze swept over the room. “It was…it was. There!” He pointed his finger in Karen and Roger’s direction. “It was her! I remember that hair. All that long hair. It was the last thing I saw before I ended up here.”
Ellis stiffened. He kept his finger locked on Karen. “She’s the one who did it. The one who froze me. She killed Cookie, too.” He turned to Garrick. “I demand you arrest her. Right now, Sheriff Young, on charges of murder and attempted murder!”
TWENTY-THREE
“I at least have to question her, Axel.”
Garrick, Axel and I stood in Garrick’s office. Axel had his massive arms crossed while Garrick sat behind his desk, feet propped on the wood.
“She already told you she was outside looking for me.”
“You know as well as I hardly anyone’s outside.” Garrick lifted a sapphire paperweight and turned it in his hand. “It doesn’t look good.”
“She was looking for Axel,” I argued. “She told me that herself. Besides”—I pointed at Garrick—“you told Ellis it was strange someone had placed a protection spell on him along with the freeze spell. You know what I think?”
“What’s that?” Garrick said.
“I think you believe that Ellis spelled himself.”
Garrick stopped titling the paperweight and glanced at me. “Now why would I think that?”
“The tone you took with Ellis hinted at it.” I slapped my thigh in frustration. “You’ve got Mr. Horrible Personality out there accusing a visitor in town of murder and attempted murder. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Everyone knows Karen was found over Cookie’s body,” he said.
“So what? She decides to threaten Ellis by freezing him halfway? Threaten him how? The prison wraiths already came after her once. If she was smart, she’d be fleeing this place, not waiting around and trusting justice to prevail. Because what justice is there? Wraiths that decide who goes to jail when? Without even a trial? That isn’t justice. You know that as well as I do, Garrick.”
I took a breath. “There’s something suspicious about Ellis Mobley. Everyone knows it’s always the closest kin that kills a loved one, so why isn’t he in jail?”
“He didn’t have a motive, Pepper,” Garrick said darkly.
“Money. That’s what the neighbor woman, Brittany Barker, said. She heard them arguing about money.”
Garrick shook his head. “Why am I discussing this with you? You’re not a police officer. This isn’t your case. It’s not even you
r business.”
“But she has excellent points,” Axel said. “My mom didn’t do it. She’s being railroaded by Ellis. He still has pull with the prison system. He could have told the wraiths to go after her. You and I know once they sink their claws in the guilty, the case is shut. It’s never reopened.”
Axel pressed his fists onto Garrick’s desk. “They’ll come after her again. If they take my mom, there’s no telling what that will do to me and then to this town. She’s innocent, Garrick.”
“Are you threatening me, Reign?”
Axel’s jaw clenched. “Nope. Just stating fact. Fact—my mom is innocent but an easy target because she’s visiting, a new witch in town, Garrick. New witches aren’t always welcome. Especially when their sons are werewolves.”
Garrick studied Axel for a long moment before pulling his legs from the desk. “I’ll keep her for show. How’s that?”
“If it’s really only for show. But my suggestion would be to talk to Ellis. Put some pressure on him. It’s like Pepper said. Why would someone freeze him with a protection spell?”
Garrick yanked his hat off and raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. But I plan to find out.”
We left the police station. I was exhausted and annoyed that we had fewer answers than when we’d started.
Axel steered the Rover toward my house. “Ellis has it in for my mom.”
“It sure seems like it.” I patted his shoulder. “They won’t convict her of this. For one thing, I’m not convinced Ellis is innocent. Even if he didn’t kill Cookie, there’s something deeply suspicious about him being frozen.” I turned to him. “Cookie said I had seen the stone. Axel, it must be back in that house. We’ve got to get it.”
I nibbled my bottom lip. “Of course I don’t know what I’m going to do when I find it, but I’ll figure that out. Can’t be too hard.”
Axel sighed. He pressed back into the seat. “So I’ve got a question totally off topic.”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing Christmas night?”
I blanched. Not getting a present from you, I almost said. But I bit my tongue nearly hard enough to draw blood so I wouldn’t say that.
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Well, we can head over to the wishing hat and see if it granted your wish.”
I smiled so wide my face hurt. “Sounds about perfect. I’d love to.”
“Great.” He quirked a brow. “It’s a date.”
“But before then we’ve got to sneak back into Ellis’s house and go through Cookie’s magical room again.”
His expression darkened. “No.”
“Why not? Axel, I know it’s there. I know that stone has to be there. Somewhere. We just have to look harder.”
“We almost got caught tonight. Besides, with the freezing, Ellis is going to be on high alert. No way.”
“Fine,” I said, but that isn’t what I meant.
I was getting back in that house. One way or another.
The next morning I awoke to Amelia standing over my bed. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
I wiped sleep from my eyes. “Why? What is it?”
“It’s Christmas Eve! It’s a great day. We’ve got so much to do!”
I sat up, groggy and bleary-eyed. I could’ve slept for a thousand more years. Seriously. Easily a thousand.
I yawned and stretched. “What do we have to do?”
“First of all, we have to bake for Christmas and get the evening dinner ready. Then tonight there’s the town singing Christmas carols. It’s so much fun. Everyone gets together and we sing and it’s joyous. We love it.”
“Okay. Let me get myself together.”
Turned out Christmas Eve luncheon was a big deal in the Craple household. Betty chopped and baked, sliced and diced while the rest of us took orders.
She slid a cutting board full of diced celery into a pan. “How’s the heart fire treating you?”
I swiped a line of sweat from my forehead. “Fine. I guess I don’t understand what the big deal is. I don’t know why the fire has to have a vessel in order for the town to stay magical.”
Betty stirred the pot full of hissing chopped veggies. “The point is the fire needs a conduit. That, I told you. If there isn’t a conduit, it doesn’t have the focus it needs.” She frowned. “Why? Is there something wrong?”
“It’s just…I don’t understand why I’m given this big surge in power. What’s the point of it?”
Betty stifled a smile.
I pointed a spoon at her. “What? What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Whatever it is, you need to tell me.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Where are your cousins?”
“Doing decorating things.”
“You would think I’d be more worried about my power, wouldn’t you?” she said.
I glanced at the thickening ice on the windows. “I would think you’d be more concerned with us becoming the Arctic Circle.”
She shrugged. “I’m worried about it, but I know that we’ll get it fixed and soon.”
She stirred the pan. “I’m not worried about my powers or this town because if they don’t return, the town will be safe.”
I turned away from the bowl of mashed potatoes and glared at her. “What. Do. You. Mean? And you better not tell me it’s because the fire’s going to stay inside me. That better not be what you’re saying.”
She grinned devilishly.
My voice rose. “Betty, I’m serious. I’m not ready for this sort of responsibility. I’m still learning how to use my magic. I can’t have the added weight of the heart fire.”
“You’ve been doing just fine.” She threw a dash of salt into the pan. “Just fine. You’ll discover that as a head witch things are easier. Axel, me, we have to use potions and chants. But not you.”
“Yeah, I know. I know all this. What’re you saying?”
Betty lowered her voice. “I’m saying the heart fire only enters strong witches. Whether you like it or not, you’re a strong witch, Pepper.” She returned to stirring before adding, “Time to get used to it.”
“Well, I will get used to it. I suppose.” It was the only rebuttal, though limp and shabby, I could think of.
After that, the conversation stalled. But her words about the fire filled my head. The heart fire had to have someone as a conduit in order to work. I thought about what Axel had said about the weather spell, how it was difficult magic. I wondered something similar.
“Betty?”
“Hmm?” She sipped a spoonful of vegetables. “Yes?”
“The weather spell is strong magic. But that would mean the spell that’s screwing up your powers would be the same way, right? A big, powerful spell.”
“Right,” she said.
“I’m only thinking. I have no idea if this is right or even close to it. But I’m wondering—Axel said that spell would be housed in a stone because it would need to be grounded. Cookie herself admitted it would need to be in one.”
“Yes, that makes sense, kid.”
“What if that stone was like the heart stone and needed to be attached to someone in order to work? Because it’s so strong. Is that a possibility?”
She shrugged. “I suppose so.”
I picked up a hazelnut from a bowl and popped it in my mouth. It made sense. “Cookie said I had seen the stone, and I’ve been convinced it’s in the house. I was going back there tonight because I knew I needed one more chance to find it. But now I’m thinking I was wrong.”
Betty tapped the spoon on the pan. “What do you mean?”
I pressed my fingers to the sides of my nose. “She said I’d seen the stone before. If that stone is connected to another creature because it needs a conduit, then I have. She also said the night she died is the night he stopped talking. Ellis talks. He talks a lot and manages to say most of the wrong things, so I don’t think the stone is tied to him. There’s no way.”
Betty waddled over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. “Magic that works with the elements is incredibly strong. Since the spell took hold after her death, we know it isn’t Cookie who’s grounding it.”
“Right.” I pointed at Betty. “That’s exactly right. I know it isn’t Ellis because he talks and he’s already suspicious. For goodness’ sake, I’m convinced he placed a freezing spell on himself to make Karen look even more guilty.” I smiled at Betty. “So who was the other man in Cookie’s life?”
She scratched her chin. “You got me there, kid. If my magic was at one hundred percent, I’d probably have an answer for you, but since I don’t, I’m dry. All out of answers.”
“The one being Cookie loved is Arsenal.”
“The dog?”
“Think about it. He doesn’t speak. I’ve thought it was strange since he first showed up at the house. It seems like he should be able to unless he’s mute—which is totally a possibility. But then there’s that strange collar he has. I’d never seen anything like it. Neither had Amelia. It’s blue and hums.”
Betty gasped. “It’s a stone!”
“Exactly! It’s the stone grounding both spells—the one screwing with your magic and the one keeping us in a deep freeze. All we have to do is get the collar off him and Arsenal may be able to tell us how to break both spells.”
Betty clapped her hands with glee. She swayed her hips, and for a second I thought she was going to break into a jig.
No such luck.
“Come on, kid! Let’s get that dog.”
We hustled from the kitchen to the living room, where Amelia and Cordelia were putting the last of the ornaments on the tree.
“Amelia!”
“Oh!” She dropped a glass bulb. Before it could hit the floor, Cordelia nodded to it. The bulb floated back up into Amelia’s hand. “Thanks, cuz.”
“Call it an early Christmas gift,” Cordelia said.
“Amelia,” I repeated, trying to rein in her attention.
“Yes?”
“Where’s Arsenal?”
Her face crumpled. “He’s gone.”
My stomach plummeted. “Gone?”
