Magic & Madness

by Annabel Chase

  Right.

  “I’m Sasha Font de Olores,” Liliput’s mother said.

  “Nice to meet you,” I replied. The next woman had the most genuine smile of the group. Her clothes were more casual, and her auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail.

  “I’m Ivy Cotton-Birch,” she said. “I’ve seen you at a couple of coven meetings.”

  “Oh, you’re a witch?”

  Her head bobbed. “I tend to have one foot out the door at meetings. My kids are active in sports and it’s a struggle to fit everything in and not lose my sanity.”

  “Ha! You and me both,” I replied. “Your kids aren’t attending the Black Cloak Academy?”

  Ivy gave me a rueful smile. “Not yet. The oldest doesn’t come into her magic until next year. How about your daughter? She must be close.”

  “Next month.” I made a big show of crossing my fingers. “She’s beyond excited.”

  “What if she takes after you?” Sasha asked. “Then her magic might be delayed.”

  Did everyone in town know my business? Who was I kidding? These ladies were probably the operators of Gossip Central. “My magic wasn’t delayed. It was deliberately suppressed for reasons I’d rather not discuss.”

  “You mean because your family didn’t approve of your parents’ marriage, and your father hid you away in the human world after your mother died?” B’linda sighed dramatically. “Families can be so overbearing. Try requesting cremation in your will in a family full of vampires.”

  “Anyway, the point is there shouldn’t be any issue for Marley.” I fervently hoped.

  “I’m Colette Dobbs,” the next woman said. Her curly blond hair and flawless skin reminded me of a porcelain doll. She wore a short, shimmery dress that looked straight off the runway. Her bright orange wings flapped gently in the breeze. “My son is Pippin. He and Marley eat lunch together.”

  I snapped my fingers. “Right, Pippin.” In fact, I’d never heard the name Pippin drop from Marley’s lips. I was not doing a bang-up job in the mothering department if I didn’t even know the name of my daughter’s lunch mates. Note to self: ask more questions at home.

  “Pippin mentioned that Marley always packs her lunch,” Colette continued. Her tone suggested this was not the done thing.

  “My daughter is a finicky eater,” I explained.

  “That’s what I told him,” Colette said. “I mean, she’s a Rose. It’s not as though your family can’t afford school meals.”

  I balked. Packing lunch equaled poverty in Starry Hollow? “She’s getting much better. My aunt has amazing Sunday dinners, and that has really expanded Marley’s palette.”

  “My Pippin wouldn’t touch seafood until we took him on a Mediterranean tour,” Colette said. “Now he demands fried Kraken. I’ve had to explain to him that it’s a delicacy.”

  “Weren’t Krakens thought to be extinct until about fifty years ago?” I asked. I’d definitely heard that somewhere.

  Colette flicked a dismissive finger. “That’s what makes it such an incredible cuisine. You have to know where to buy it and it’s very expensive.”

  Uh oh. I had the sinking feeling that Colette would be the type to hunt unicorns for their horns if the laws weren’t so strictly enforced.

  “Liliput tells me that Marley has never left the country,” Sasha said, examining me. “I told her that couldn’t possibly be true.”

  “Marley had never left New Jersey until we came here,” I said, not remotely embarrassed. “Starry Hollow has been an enormous change for us.”

  “You really don’t strike me as a Rose,” Sasha said, looking me up and down. “Aster and Linnea are such iconic beauties.”

  I sucked in a breath. How was I meant to respond to a statement like that? “I’m told I take after my mother.”

  “Enough chitchat,” B’linda said. “We need to get down to business if we expect to have our next Power Puff in place by tomorrow.”

  “What happened to the previous member?” I asked.

  Sasha rolled her eyes. “Her husband died, so she and her kids moved closer to her sister. I mean, couldn’t she hold off until after the carnival? Marcia knew it was our busy season. She totally left us in the lurch.”

  Ouch. “Her husband died?” I asked.

  Sasha placed a cold hand on my shoulder. “Sorry, does that trigger you?”

  “No, it doesn’t trigger me, but thank you for asking.” Clearly, they were aware of Karl’s death, too. Was dealing with difficult personalities part of the interview?

  B’linda ushered us inside toward the kitchen. “Why don’t we have a few nibbles and discuss our expectations for the next Power Puff?”

  “Don’t mind Sasha,” Ivy whispered, as we entered the house. “Nymphs can be bitchy.”

  “Not vampires?” I asked.

  Ivy suppressed a smile. “Vampires are arrogant. There’s a difference.”

  B’linda’s kitchen was the size of the entire main level of Rose Cottage. Everywhere I turned, I was confronted by a sleek, shiny surface.

  “Where’s Lowry?” Colette asked, surveying the kitchen.

  “He’s running errands today,” B’linda said. “I thought it would be best for him to be out of the way while we conduct the interviews.”

  “Who’s Lowry?” I whispered to Ivy.

  “Her manservant,” Ivy replied.

  “Are we using one of his recipes again for the baking competition?” Sasha asked. “There’s no way we can top last year’s.”

  B’linda gave her a sly look. “We can and we will. Nobody bakes like the Power Puffs, am I right?”

  Ivy whipped out her wand. “Tell me what we need.”

  “You can use magic for the baking competition?” I queried.

  “Spell’s bells, yeah,” Colette said. “There are no limits. That’s what makes the competition so fierce. You can submit whatever perfect baked goods you can create.”

  I wondered whether Holly would use magic. As far as I could tell, she didn’t seem to be practicing with magic. As a tree nymph, she’d have to buy potions or borrow spells from a magic user.

  “How handy are you with a wand?” Sasha asked, scrutinizing me. Based on her expression, she was leaning toward “not very.”

  “I’m still learning,” I said, “but I have the best teachers in town.” I’d die if Hazel and Marigold ever heard me say that. They’d immediately summon a healer to check my temperature.

  “Of course you do,” Sasha said. “You’re a Rose.”

  Right. And that was probably the only reason I was permitted the opportunity to interview with this elite group of mothers. Sweet baby Elvis. Why did I let Florian talk me into this? Marley’s adjustment had been fairly seamless, and if she came into her magic on time, she’d transfer to the Black Cloak Academy anyway. Ugh. Parenting was hard.

  “My husband works with Sterling,” Colette said.

  “You mean works for him,” Sasha pointed out. Ooh, burn!

  Colette pulled a face. “Nobody wants my husband in charge of anything. Even the remote control rebels against him.”

  The other women laughed. “You’re too hard on him, Colette,” B’linda said. “I seem to recall a time when you thought the full moon of him.”

  “That was B.C.,” Colette said. “Before Children. It’s easy to be loving and devoted when there’s no one else to take care of. Throw children into the mix and eventually he’s a selfish ogre who forgets how to match his socks in the morning.”

  “Is he an actual ogre?” I asked hesitantly.

  Colette looked at me as though I were a moron. “Of course. What else?”

  “Aster and Sterling are absolutely lovely,” B’linda said. “I don’t spend as much time with them as Colette and Manfred, but we travel in the same social circles.”

  I focused on Colette. “I didn’t realize you knew Aster.”

  Colette tossed her curls over her shoulder. “Yes, she and I are forced to attend the same work events.”

  �
��Sterling’s been flying solo at work events recently,” I said, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to ignite any gossip about my cousin.

  “Lucky Aster,” Colette said. “They’re dreadfully boring. Trust me. I’m always looking for ways to keep myself entertained. Manfred thinks it’s important that I’m by his side. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s only because he wants me to drive.”

  “So he can drink?” I asked.

  “No, because he’s not very good at driving a car either,” Colette replied.

  “You must’ve seen something good in him before you married him,” I said.

  “The size of his bank account,” Sasha said, snickering.

  Colette smiled. “Well, that certainly didn’t hurt.”

  I was beginning to feel out of my depth. These women weren’t like me. I felt sorry for Manfred, and I could tell I was the only one.

  “What’s it like to be a widow?” Colette asked. “I asked Marcia, but she didn’t seem eager to discuss it.”

  My beating heart screeched to a halt. “Excuse me?”

  “Marley’s father,” Colette said. “He died….”

  “Yes,” I said, shaking off the strong desire to punch her in the face. I couldn’t tell whether her question was meant to unnerve me or whether she was insensitively curious. “Karl died in an accident. He was a truck driver and spent a lot of time on the road.”

  Colette cocked her head. “A truck driver? As in someone who drives trucks for a living?”

  “That’s right,” I said. “He transported goods across state lines for a company.”

  As Colette studied me, I suddenly felt like an exotic animal on display. “But you’re a Rose,” she said in disbelief.

  “You’ve heard their story,” B’linda said, as she set out bowls with snacks. “Ember and Marley were living in some human trash heap called New Jersey, oblivious to their true heritage.”

  I bristled. “We lived in an apartment in Maple Shade. We had a wonderful neighbor downstairs called Mrs. Kowalski.”

  “An apartment?” Colette repeated. “You didn’t have a house?”

  “No,” I said. “We couldn’t afford a house. Karl and I married young and Marley came along before we were ready.” Not that I blamed my beautiful daughter for our financial circumstances. Not in the slightest.

  “And now you have that exquisite cottage on the grounds of Thornhold,” Sasha said. “What a fortunate turn your life has taken.”

  “You don’t need to tell me,” I said. “There are some mornings I wake up and forget where I am. I think I’m back in New Jersey, getting ready to repo a few cars.”

  The women blinked at me. “Repo?” B’linda said.

  “I repossessed vehicles that people stopped making payments on,” I said. “It was my job before I came here.” And a very unpleasant one.

  “Huh,” Colette said. “And here you are now, a reporter for Vox Populi. Incredible.” She seemed slightly miffed by my good fortune.

  “I’m very grateful,” I said. “I don’t take any of it for granted.”

  “I can tell,” Ivy said. “You don’t give off that entitled vibe.”

  “Unlike your aunt,” Sasha said. “She acts like Starry Hollow is her town and she permits us to live in it.”

  I laughed. “Yes, Aunt Hyacinth has a certain air of superiority. By the same token, she’s been amazingly generous.”

  “She hated your mother,” Sasha said.

  The other women gasped. “Sasha!” Ivy scolded her. “You don’t know that. It’s only a rumor.”

  “Hate’s probably too strong,” I said. “I’m aware that she thought my father could do better. Then again, she seems to disapprove of everyone’s other half, except Sterling.” I smiled at Colette. “My aunt is very fond of Sterling.”

  “Tell her it could be worse,” Colette said. “She could have Manfred as a son-in-law.”

  I truly hoped Colette didn’t speak this way about her husband in front of her children. Denigrating him to me was bad enough. I’d have to ask Sterling and Aster what their story was. Aster probably stopped attending events because she couldn’t bear to be around the other couple.

  “Who’s ready for a glass of hibiscus fizz?” B’linda announced.

  Colette’s hand shot in the air. “You don’t need to ask me twice.”

  “No, certainly not,” Ivy said quietly.

  “Alcohol?” I asked. I’d never had hibiscus fizz.

  “What else?” B’linda asked, pouring the contents of the bottle into five flutes. “Your aunt doesn’t serve this?”

  “My aunt is very particular about her cocktails,” I said. I took a sip. Bubbles aside, the alcohol itself was relatively smooth and fresh. “Very nice.”

  “Were we to add you to the group,” B’linda began, “there are a few items we need to discuss, especially if you expect to jump straight into the baking competition for the carnival. Thanks to years of working together, we already know our strengths and weaknesses. Tell us, Ember, what are your weaknesses?”

  “In general, or in relation to baking?” Both lists were fairly long.

  “Baking,” B’linda said.

  “I guess I’d say I have all the weaknesses.” I shrugged weakly. “My idea of baking has always been to run down to the store at night to get the discounted pastries.”

  The women exchanged horrified glances. Marley would be so disappointed in me for botching this interview. Then again, the thought of spending quality time with this group left me feeling mildly nauseated.

  Sasha puckered her pouty lips and sucked down half the glass of hibiscus fizz. “Maybe we should come at this from a different angle. What would you say are your strengths?”

  “She’s a Rose,” Colette said.

  “And she’s dating the sheriff,” Ivy added.

  “She works for that dreamy vampire, Alec Hale,” Sasha said. “And he’s a best-selling author.”

  “Those are excellent points,” B’linda said.

  My head swiveled from left to right. Those were my strengths? Not one of them was really about me. “I’m actually very disciplined. I work hard. I can fly a broomstick like nobody’s business, and I’m good with deadlines.”

  Sasha polished off her drink and set down the flute. “That all sounds wonderful. How strong is your magic? Anything like your aunt?”

  “Or like your cousins?” B’linda asked. “Descendants of the One True Witch are meant to be extra powerful, isn’t that right? Do you have that kind of potential?”

  “We’d prefer to add a member with excellent magical skills,” Colette said. “Ivy’s respectable, but Marcia excelled at spell casting.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Ivy said.

  I felt overwhelmed. “Like I said, I’m training every day. We don’t know much about my potential yet.”

  “Show us a spell,” B’linda demanded, tapping her heel on the tile floor.

  “Now?” I hesitated. I wasn’t sure I could act under pressure. “What kind?”

  “Your choice,” Sasha said. “Impress us.”

  I had a feeling it would be impossible to impress this group. I focused my will and aimed my wand at the nearly empty bottle of hibiscus fizz. “Repleo.”

  The bubbling liquid filled the bottle.

  B’linda broke into a wide smile, her veneer fangs gleaming under the artificial kitchen lights. “Welcome to the Power Puffs, Ember Rose.”

  4

  Marley and I hovered in the air on my broomstick, waiting for air traffic control to give us the green light to park. The carnival had brought more congestion to the Starry Hollow skyways, so freelance controllers had been hired to manage the situation.

  “Your new broomstick is so smooth,” Marley said. She wasn’t an eager flyer, so any words of praise for the broomstick were high, indeed.

  “I didn’t realize what a difference the broomstick itself could make,” I said. I’d figured the experience would be the same no matter which type I rode.


  “Did Alec ever admit that he gave it to you?” Marley asked.

  The light flashed green, and I turned the nose of the broomstick downward in preparation for landing.

  “He won’t,” I said. Truthful admissions would be too out of character for the emotionally stunted vampire. If he admitted to buying me an expensive broomstick as a gift, he’d need to explain why he’d done it.

  Strands of hair finally stopped slapping my cheeks as I eased the broomstick into a parking spot. The wind was determined to give me the disheveled look instead of the together look I’d tried to adopt before I left the cottage. I bet Queen B never arrived at events with a tangle of knots in her hair.

  “There are so many paranormals here,” Marley said, marveling at the sight.

  I’d never seen so many broomsticks in one place before, not even at the monthly coven meetings. The carnival had certainly elicited an impressive turnout.

  “Are any friends from school here today?” I asked.

  “Probably everyone!” Marley extricated herself from the broomstick as soon as humanly possible. I could tell she was relieved to be back on solid ground. To her credit, though, she’d maintained her composure during the entire ride. My little girl was growing up, not throwing up.

  We headed to the entrance where two giants held up a banner promoting the Annual Goldenrod Carnival. I wondered how much they were paid to stand there all day holding a sign. They probably worked in shifts.

  Marley craned her neck to gape at the giants. “This is going to be the coolest carnival ever.”

  We passed beneath the banner and the smell of exotic foods filled my nostrils. “Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten breakfast.”

  Marley arched an eyebrow. “When does that ever stop you?”

  “Good point.”

  Wandering through the carnival was like visiting a paranormal theme park on speed. Bright colors, loud sounds, and strong scents invaded my senses.

  “Pegasus rides!” Marley ran to an enclosure where a group of winged horses were gathered.

  “You know they fly, right?” I asked.

  Marley gave me a disgruntled look. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”