“Hey, witch. I was wondering if you were ever going to notice I was gone.”
“You could have called me. What are you doing?”
“I’m on the road again. There was some flooding up north, and some witches lost a bunch of magical items. I’m on the team to track them all down. I’ll be back as soon as we’re done cleaning up this mess. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I can tell you all about it when you get back. I just got back from Rosaline’s funeral. I saw Athan last night,” I said.
“Did he do anything to hurt you?”
“Not physically,” I said.
“What?” Trixie asked.
“Nothing. He’s just convinced me that Alex wasn’t what I thought he was. That maybe he’s not missing, he’s just gone.”
“Are you going to be okay? I can try to get out of this,” Trixie said.
“No, you go. I’ve got Voodoo. Athan isn’t bad either. I have a feeling he’s looking out for me.”
“An elder in your pocket. Nice,” she said. “Hey, but I should go. We’re pulling off for a sandwich break and then it’s my turn to drive.”
“See you soon,” I said.
“Call me if you need me.”
I’d planned on spending a quiet afternoon at home because it seemed wrong to walk around investigating Rosaline’s murder on the day of her funeral. Finding the killer would bring her justice, but I was afraid people would think it was tacky.
My plans to just relax at home were interrupted by the fact that I felt like I was coming out of my skin. I couldn’t sit still. Even a cup of relaxation tea, heavy on the relaxation, couldn’t quiet my racing mind.
“There might be information at the bookshop,” Voodoo said. “Maybe he left something behind.”
“Trixie said we shouldn’t go in there,” I said.
“Yeah, until you met with the council. You’ve done that,” Voodoo said.
“You’re right. And no one is going to help me, but if he really did leave for good, I doubt he left anything of importance behind.”
“You never know,” Voodoo said.
“All right. We’ll go to the bookstore,” I said. “What about his house? His old house, I mean.”
“Let’s just start with the bookstore,” Voodoo said. “If we don’t find anything there, then we’ll go to his house.”
The ice cream shop was still open, so Voodoo and I parked a couple of blocks away and walked down the alley. We went in through the back door of the bookshop. Voodoo helped me with the lock, and all of the protection spells were my own. It wasn’t a hard breaking and entering job at all.
It was a little dusty upstairs, but otherwise the store looked untouched. The people of Knox Hills were unhappy about the bookstore being closed, but it wasn’t like someone could buy it. No one knew where Alex was. If anyone wanted to open a bookstore, they’d have to start all over again.
“Let’s go downstairs,” I said. “There’s nothing up here.”
We walked through Alex’s office and I opened the secret door. Voodoo and I descended the steps, and I flipped on the light. What I found absolutely took my breath away.
I found… nothing.
The basement was empty. There were still a few shelves there, but all of the books were gone. The glass cell in the middle of the room was gone as well.
“Someone got through my protection wards,” I said.
“No, Allegra. No,” Voodoo responded softly.
“You mean he left, and before he left, he took all of this with him,” I said.
Even though I sort of already knew, seeing it was hard. Alex had left with the intention of never coming back.
“I still want to check his house,” I said. “I want to be thorough, and then I’ll let it go.”
On the drive over to Alex’s house, it struck me how silly I’d been. Why hadn’t I checked his shop and house right away?
Trixie had wanted me to wait. I believed she’d seen it as preserving the crime scene. If there was any evidence, she’d wanted to keep it secure until we got the council’s assistance, but we hadn’t gotten their help. And there was no evidence.
If I’d just gone in there in the first place, I could have spared myself a month of pain, but would I have seen the evidence the same way? If not for what Athan had told me, he’d connected the dots, then perhaps I would have thought that Alex was kidnapped, and his abductors had come back to the shop to clear him out. I would have bent myself over backwards to keep from believing Alex had left me.
I pulled into Alex’s driveway because I didn’t care who saw me go inside. No one would question me going into his house, and a quick look around told me no one was there to question it anyway.
Alex’s house was a two-story Italianate built out of yellow bricks with a bright red front door. That front door was unlocked.
I walked inside halfway expecting the place to be ransacked, but we lived in a small town. You could leave your doors unlocked and no one would dare go inside. That didn’t stop me from using protection wards and sigils around my house, but I was worried about more than mere burglars.
It didn’t occur to me until I was already inside that Alex possibly had things that persons more sinister than the common criminal might want to get their hands on. I reminded myself that he would have kept those in his secret basement at the bookstore. Plus, I had Voodoo with me for protection.
Alex’s house had the feeling of something abandoned. It was slightly dusty, just like the bookstore, and the feeling that the owner was never coming back hung in the air like a stench.
Like a moth to a flame, I walked up the wide wood staircase to the second floor. I went into Alex’s office first. My feet took me over to his desk as if they already knew what we were looking for.
A letter.
Dear Allegra,
If you’ve come this far, then you’ve figured out that I am gone. I’d like to say that I hope I spared you the pain of a nasty breakup, but that would be a lie. A breakup would have been too easy, and it’s more than your kind deserves…
I crumpled the letter up and dropped it on the desk. I didn’t need to read anymore. At least he hadn’t pretended to be kind about it like the last one. I remembered it feeling as if my ex-fiancé thought he was doing me a favor. Alex had left me with no such illusions.
“Let’s go home, Voodoo,” I said.
“Don’t you want to look around some more? Maybe…”
“No. It’s time to go,” I interrupted him. “There’s nothing more here for me.”
I felt numb on the drive home. I’d already heard the truth, so when I saw it for myself, it wasn’t as soul-crushing as it would have been if Athan hadn’t warned me.
“Are you all right?” Voodoo asked. “You look a little pale.”
“I think I need to focus on my life,” I said. “The ice cream shop and on becoming a better witch for myself. It’s time to put other things aside. Maybe stop getting involved where I don’t belong.”
“You want to stop investigating Rosaline’s murder because Alex left you?” Voodoo asked.
“Maybe,” I said. “It’s either that or I could cut my hair off and bleach it. There are tutorials online on how to put it in a ponytail and then just chop it off.”
“Okay, so we’re in the hair chopping off stage,” Voodoo said. “Normally, I would protest, but it could be hilarious. And when it goes badly, you can just make it grow back.”
“You don’t think I should give up on Rosaline’s murder,” I stated.
“It won’t make you happy, but if you need a night off from it all, then take it. Rest but don’t quit.”
“Rest but don’t quit,” I repeated.
I was going to say more, but when I turned on my street, the familiar black Bentley was parked in front of my house. Athan had given me the day like I’d asked and not a second more.
He got out of his car as I pulled into the driveway. I noticed immediately that he didn’t wear his usual glacially cool expre
ssion. In fact, he looked rattled. I didn’t want to think about what could make such a powerful witch look so concerned, but I was about to find out.
He strode up my driveway with furious purpose. “Get in my car, Allegra,” he barked at me.
“What? Why? What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be involved at all, but I knew you’d never forgive me if I didn’t step in. Get in the car, Allegra. I’ll explain on the way,” he commanded.
“I’ll do no such thing,” I said and took a step back. “You’re scaring me, Athan.”
Voodoo stepped in front of me and growled. He bared his teeth and lunged at Athan.
“Stop, dog!” Athan barked back. “Any other time, that would get you killed. I’ll let it go this time. Allegra, it’s your friend, Gareth. Please get in the car. He’s in the hospital in Rivermill. I did as much as I could, but he was in bad shape. You’ve got to go him to see if you can do any more healing or perhaps… maybe to say goodbye.”
“All right. Okay,” I said. “Voodoo, I can’t take you into the hospital. You should go next door.”
“No, I’m going. I’ll stay in the car. It’s fine.”
Voodoo and I got into Athan’s Bentley and he sped off into the night. Rivermill was less than a half an hour away, but Athan had some time to explain as he drove.
“I was in the cemetery collecting graveyard dirt for a little project I’m working on,” Athan said. “I heard moaning and gurgling off in the trees around the back section of the cemetery. I found him back there. Allegra, he was cut to ribbons. Someone must have stabbed him a hundred times at least. I could only do so much before the ambulance arrived. My intentions… for my project… they weren’t exactly pure. So I wasn’t in a magical place for healing. I did my best. I kept him alive. He shouldn’t be.”
“Do you know what room he’s in?” I asked.
“It hasn’t been that long,” Athan said. “He’s probably still in the emergency room, but I’ll find out.”
Athan pulled his car into the parking structure near the Emergency Department entrance. We got a lot of looks, and I almost forgot we were in a Bentley.
“You sure you want to leave your car here?” I asked.
“I don’t care about that. Besides, no one will touch it.”
I looked again, and the people who had been oogling the car hung their heads and walked away.
“That must come in handy,” I said as we hurried to the door.
“It wasn’t me. It was the dog,” Athan said.
“Oh, right. I guess he can protect himself.”
When we got inside, Athan and I immediately located a nursing station on the first floor. The nurse seated behind the desk was young and pretty. She looked up from her computer and her jaw dropped a little. Before she spoke, the nurse ran her hands over the stiff white fabric of her uniform pants and then patted her hair.
"Can I help you?" she asked almost breathlessly. I couldn't believe how adoring her gaze was as she focused on Athan.
"You can,” he said. "We have a friend here. He was brought into the Emergency Department with severe stab wounds. We have to find him."
"Oh, my," the nurse said. "Are you family?"
"See, this is the part where you're going to tell me you can't give me any information,” Athan said. "But let's skip all that, and you just tell me what I need to know."
Athan's voice was commanding, but at the same time, he still managed to sound flirtatious. The nurse just stared at him for a moment, but then her smile returned.
"Right away, sir,” she said. "What did you say his name is?"
"It's Gareth Torres,” I said.
She looked over at me and jumped a little. I'd startled her because she'd been so hyperfocused on Athan.
"I'll be right back,” she said and gave me the evil eye. Not the actual evil eye, but the one a jealous woman gives another who she believes is in her territory.
"I don't think we're supposed to override people's free will like that,” I said when she was out of earshot.
"I wasn't,” Athan said with a devious smile. "She wanted to give me what I wanted. All I did was convince her it was okay."
"Must be nice,” I said.
"I'm doing this for you," Athan retorted.
"I know. I'm sorry. Thank you."
The nurse came hustling back over to us. "They've got him stabilized, and he's about to go into surgery. I'm afraid you can't see him until after. I can show you to the waiting room. I don't think the surgeon will come out and update you until someone in the family says it's okay, but it's the best place for you to wait."
"We need to see him now. Please take us to him. I'll be in your debt," Athan practically purred to her.
I felt a twinge of jealousy in my belly. It was my turn to shoot her the evil eye, but I quickly stuffed those feelings down. Don't be ridiculous right now. I chastised myself. This is not the time nor the place for this childish jealousy crap.
"Yes,” she said and turned to take us to the room.
If anyone saw the nurse take us into Gareth's room in the Emergency Department, no one said anything. My guess was that Athan used magic to make sure they looked the other way.
The nurse stood there expectantly for a moment after we stepped into the room, but Athan just thanked her dismissively. I barely noticed her shoulders fall and her bottom lip jut out because I was too focused on Gareth.
He looked terribly pale, and his breathing was jagged and shallow. I couldn't believe he was just lying in the room like that instead of being rushed into emergency surgery.
"They probably only have one surgeon,” Athan said as if he could read my mind. "In a small hospital like this, they might not even have one here at night. I'd guess they're already in a surgery or on their way here."
"This is terrible,” I said and wiped a tear away from my eye.
"No, it's not. We're going to fix this before the surgeon even gets here. If they're dragging them here from home, they'll get a stern talking to about wasting the surgeon's time. That will be that."
"You don't think the doctors here will be suspicious?"
"No,” Athan said. "They'll just assume they did excellent work. Now, let's do this."
I stood on one side of Gareth's bed, and Athan stood on the other. He extended his hands to me, and I took them. I could feel something inside of me charge like Athan was filling me with an actual electrical current.
"Do I just do the thing with the white light?" I asked.
"Yes,” Athan said. "You do that, and I'll do my thing. We don't need to chant or anything."
"We should have called a circle,” I said.
"No time. Don't worry, Allegra. I will protect you."
"Okay,” I said and closed my eyes.
While I pictured a soft white light flowing from my hands out over Gareth's body, Athan's hands got warmer. They got to the point of being hot, but it was never unbearable to hold onto him. Whatever we were doing, it was some of the most powerful magic I had ever experienced. The most impressive part was how well Athan controlled it. I knew that much power in the hands of a lesser witch would have been absolute chaos. Athan guided it with a strength and skill that I found awe-inspiring.
"I think we're done,” he said and pulled me out of my reverie.
I looked down and Gareth's color had returned to normal. His breathing was slow and deep. He was sleeping peacefully, and it was obvious he was in no pain. Gareth's body was relaxed and not struggling.
"That was amazing,” I said.
"I wish I could have done it sooner,” Athan said. "We never would have had to even come here."
"What changed?" I asked curiously. "You said you weren't in the right mind to do this back at the cemetery. Why was it so easy for you here?"
"Because I had you here, Allegra. You make it easy for me to be good."
"That's quite the compliment,” I said.
"I'm not flattering you. It's the truth,�
� he said.
"What do we do now?" I wondered out loud. It was more to myself than Athan, but he responded anyway.
"We can go home, or we can stay. It's up to you,” he said.
"I don't think Gareth has any family. I'd like to stay with him for when he wakes up,” I said. "You don't have to, though. Could you take Voodoo back to my house?"
"I'm not leaving if you're not leaving,” Athan said. "Someone tried to kill your friend in a very vicious manner today, and if you think I'm just going to leave you, you're nuts."
"I can protect myself,” I said.
"I won't take that chance. Not when your familiar isn't with you."
"Speaking of Voodoo, I need to go check on him. Maybe I could sneak him in,” I said.
"I'll go with you,” Athan said.
"No, stay here with Gareth. Just in case. Please."
"Then you stay here with him. I'll go check on Voodoo. I'm pretty sure I can get him inside unnoticed if that's what you'd like. Now that the healing is done, I can focus my magic on that."
"Yes, please."
"I still don't like leaving you here alone,” Athan said.
"I'm not alone. I'm in a hospital emergency room. There are tons of people around. It's fine,” I said. "I can protect myself."
"I'll be right back,” Athan said and left the room quickly.
There was a single plastic chair on metal legs pushed against the wall. I pulled it over close to the bed and sat down. Though I wasn't trying to heal him, I still felt compelled to take Gareth's hand. I began talking to the Goddess and the universe asking them to protect Gareth and help the police figure out who hurt him.
I'd been so frantic that it was the first time it occurred to me that it was probably Rosaline's killer who hurt Gareth. But why? Had he figured out who killed her? Had the killer intended to kill them both all along?
I was so deep in these thoughts that I didn't hear the door to Gareth's room open, or if I did, I subconsciously thought it was just Athan returning. Since I didn't hear the person come in, I also didn't hear them walk up behind me.
But I did feel the needle go into my neck. Unfortunately, whatever they injected me with was so strong that it knocked me out before I could use any magic to protect myself.
Sprinkles, Spelled, and Slayed Page 10
