Portion Disaster

by Zoe Arden

  A short while after that, I reached Mistmoor Point. I rounded a corner and made my way through Mistmoor's downtown area. It was cute, though not as cute as Sweetland's, in my opinion. The shops here were mostly brick, just like in Sweetland, and the beach was nearby—beaches were always nearby when you lived on an island. But Sweetland just had a cheerier look to me. It wasn't something I could explain, it just did. Sweetland residents had a saying—the sun shines a little sweeter on Sweetland.

  I pulled up outside Creams, Cakes, and Creations, feeling like I was betraying Felicity and her mom by coming here. It was silly, of course. I wasn't planning to buy anything, just ask a few questions. Still, I couldn't help but look around me as I stepped out of the car. I hadn't really thought this through. What would I say if Felicity or Lincoln saw me? Or Tazzie Singer? Tazzie would almost certainly say something to Eleanor, and the last thing I needed was my family knowing that I was off interrogating people when I was supposed to be resting.

  You're getting paranoid, I told myself and laughed. I shook it off and opened the door to the bakery. The first thing I smelled was cinnamon, followed by the rich scent of cocoa. I didn't know what they were baking in here but, whatever it was, it smelled amazing.

  A bell chimed as the door shut behind me. I approached the counter, looking at the cupcakes lined up behind their glass display cases, and my jaw dropped. There were chocolate peppermint cupcakes with demibane extract. Peanut butter cookies with quartz ink. Raspberry dark chocolate brownies with posie extract.

  "See something you want?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw Blossom Woodruff standing there, watching me.

  "You sell this stuff in your bakery?" I asked, trying to keep the squeal out of my voice.

  "Of course," Blossom said calmly.

  "But it's illegal."

  Blossom's lips thinned. "If it was illegal, then we would have been shut down long ago." She came around to my side of the counter and started pointing to various items. "Demibane is not the same as demigone. Demibane is perfectly legal."

  "But it can make people sick."

  "Only if used wrong," Blossom said. "If used correctly, it just makes people relax. They talk and talk and talk and tell you all their secrets." She sounded proud of this fact. "And posie extract is no more dangerous than fluffernutter root when used correctly."

  "But most people won't use it correctly," I said. "You may know what you're doing when you make these but what if a witch buys them who doesn't know any better? If you give posie extract to someone under twelve, it can make them go insane."

  Blossom shrugged. "We don't sell them to humans and they always come with a warning. If people choose to use them in a way other than advised, that's on them."

  I couldn't believe it. "It just seems wrong," I muttered.

  Blossom laughed. "You sound like the Witch's Council. They tried to force us into stopping our creations once but failed." Her face was a creamy milk color. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a high bun. "A lot of this stuff can do good if used correctly. Did you know that quartz ink can actually cure the flu when taken in small doses? That one we do sell to tourists. They love it. Besides, quartz is only dangerous to witches when mixed with peppy powder. You should know that."

  "So, you specialize in pastries created with dark herbs and plants?" I asked.

  "Someone's got to," Blossom said. "Besides, dark extracts are only as dark as the wizard using them."

  I took in a breath and let it out. I didn't want to lose my temper, I would never get my questions answered if I did that but I thought Blossom was a little nutty.

  "So," Blossom said. "Did you want something? Tell you what, I'll spot you a posie chocolate chip banana muffin." She winked at me, walked back behind the counter, and pulled one off a tray.

  "Err, thanks," I said, staring at it. I was afraid to touch it. I was twenty-two, not twelve, but posie extract was powerful stuff. I didn't want to take any chances. Blossom finally placed it in a container so I could take it to go and handed it to me. I held onto it, trying not to make a face.

  "Are Edith and Calista here?" I asked her.

  "My mom's in back working on a few things. Calista's at home. I didn't want her coming in today. She needed her rest." Blossom looked closely at me. "You look like you could use some rest, too."

  "I'll get some. I just had a question first." This was it, now or never. "When we were all in that cell last night, waiting to be released, I asked you and your mom if you'd seen anything strange at the party."

  Blossom was straightening some shortbread cookies on her display shelf. She paused, leaving one cookie dangling precariously over the edge.

  "And we told you no," she said.

  "Right. Only... I didn't believe you." There was a long pause. Until the moment I'd spoken, I'd intended to beat around the bush about it. See if I could drag the information out of her. I didn't know what made me change my mind but being blunt had suddenly seemed a much better idea.

  Blossom lifted her eyes to mine. I thought she was going to yell but, instead, she sounded calm. "It was silly," she said, her cheeks glowing.

  "What was?"

  She took the plate of cookies out of the display case and began restacking them. And restacking them. And restacking them. "I didn't eat those silly macaroons, you understand, so I couldn't have been hexed. I wasn't hallucinating."

  My breath began to pulse in my chest. "Of course not. But still, you saw something."

  She made a tower with the shortbread and sighed heavily. "Just a black mist," she said quickly. She sounded almost relieved to be getting it off her chest. "It wasn't anything much, really. Probably just a shadow. Or maybe the smoke from your candles. Only..."

  "Only...?"

  "Only it seemed like a lot of mist to be candle smoke. It was like a big, dark cloud. Pitch black. You couldn't see through it."

  I crinkled my brow. "Did your mom or Calista see this... mist?"

  "No," she said. "I asked them when we got home."

  "Why didn't you say anything?"

  She shrugged. "What does it matter? It's not connected. It was just a shadow, that's all. I'm sure of it." But there was doubt in her eyes. "Here," she said suddenly, handing me three of the shortbread cookies. "Give one each to your aunts and your dad."

  "What's in them?" I asked, looking at them suspiciously.

  "Nothing, just some fluffernutter root." Under her breath, I heard her say, "And demibane."

  I put the cookies in the container with my muffin and thanked her, then hurried from the store before she could give me anything else. I didn't understand why anyone would shop here. I supposed she had a point about some plants that were considered dark actually being helpful in certain situations but it didn't seem worth the risk to me.

  I got into my car, tossed the container on the seat, and made a mental note to leave it in the first garbage can I could find. My phone buzzed just as I turned the key. I was worried it was Aunt Eleanor or Trixie, wondering where the car was. I looked down at my phone and let out a sigh of relief. Just Lucy.

  I flicked open the text message. My heart skipped a beat. I tried not to read too much into it. After all, it was hard to get context from a text, but Lucy sounded scared.

  Ava! Get to Coffee Cove as fast as you can. 911!

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  SIXTEEN

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  I kicked the car into gear and spun out of the parking space. I tried calling Lucy but got no answer. My heart was racing. I tried to focus on what Blossom had told me. Black mist wasn't much to go on but it was a start. Could she really have imagined it? Yes, but something told me that hadn't been the case. Call it witch's intuition. I just had to figure out what it all meant.

  I couldn't keep my mind focused on the mist though. Lucy's text just replayed in my mind. As fast as you can. It occurred to me that I should have called Mystic
Cupcake. If something had happened, my dad or aunts would know but there was little reception out here in the middle of the island.

  When I finally pulled up outside Coffee Cove, I screeched to a stop. I yanked the front doors open so fast I almost ripped them off the hinges.

  "Lucy!" I called out, running inside. Several customers waiting in line paused to look at me. Lucy was standing behind the counter. She looked fine. "Err... Lucy?" I asked, feeling suddenly stupid. I walked quietly over to her. She left one of the other baristas to finish taking orders so she could talk to me. "What's wrong?" I asked her as quietly as I could over the noise of the coffee grinder. One of my favorite things about Coffee Cove was the constant scent of freshly ground coffee.

  "Nothing," she said.

  "Nothing? I thought you were dying or something. What about your text? You told me to get here ASAP."

  "Yeah, but not because something's wrong. Exactly."

  "Then what is it?"

  Lucy lifted one finger and pointed toward the back of the coffee shop where the tables and chairs were set up. My eyes fell instantly on who she was pointing toward.

  Damon Tellinger.

  Ex-boyfriend, human, and heartbreaker.

  "Did you know he was in town?" Lucy whispered.

  "No." My throat was dry as dust. I tried to swallow and got nothing.

  "He just showed up here like an hour ago and sat down."

  "Did you talk to him?"

  "I took his order. I thought maybe he'd tell me what he's doing here but he didn't. He just asked if you were around, so I texted you."

  I filled my lungs and let it out. "Thanks."

  I stared at him a long minute, trying to decide what I should do. Damon was human. One of the few who'd lived on Heavenly Haven and openly acknowledged the existence of paranormals. At least, he had after we'd started dating. He was watching us, clearly waiting for me to come over. "Can you bring me an iced latte? I think I need caffeine."

  "Sure. Just give me a minute," Lucy said.

  I saw several sets of eyes on me as I walked slowly to Damon's table and Lucy went to make my latte. The looks had nothing to do with Damon. I didn't mind the stares, precisely, I just wished I knew what they were thinking. Were they pitying me because of what had happened at my party? Or were they blaming me for Trevor's death?

  "Hey," I said to Damon when I finally reached his table. I wasn't sure where to begin. 'Hey' seemed like a safe starting place. The last time I'd seen Damon had been about a year ago. Our relationship hadn't exactly ended on the pleasantest of notes. Damon sat at the table, looking at me with sapphire blue eyes I could never forget and a serious expression that made me rethink coming over. Maybe he was in town visiting friends. Maybe he didn't want to see me. I might have misread his look.

  "Um," I said, smacking my lips together. I took a step back. Damon quickly rose, pushing his chair back with such force that it almost fell over. He pulled me into a giant hug before I could even say anything. He was six feet tall and muscular. I could feel the warmth of his body as he held me close. The smell of his aftershave. I loved Colt more than anything but Damon had been my first real boyfriend. The first man I'd ever really cared about. We would always share that connection.

  "Ava," he whispered in my ear. "I've missed you."

  My heart raced. This wasn't what I'd expected. I gently patted his back with one hand, afraid of sending the wrong signals. When he finally pulled away, I spotted Lucy by the milk frother with her mouth hanging open. I blushed and tried to pretend she wasn't watching us.

  "Do you want to sit down?" he asked.

  "Uh, sure. Yeah. Okay." He pulled a chair out for me and I sat opposite him. I was glad that Coffee Cove used silencing charms around each table to keep things quiet. Even if she'd wanted to—which I was certain she did—Lucy wouldn't be able to hear us unless she was on top of us.

  "So, how are you?" Damon asked. His dark hair was longer than I remembered. He'd always worn it a bit tousled but now it was almost touching his shoulders.

  "Fine," I said.

  "And your aunts?"

  "Fine."

  "Your dad?"

  "Fine."

  He smiled. "Is fine the only word you remember?"

  I giggled. "Fine, yes, no, more chocolate, please... the truly important words in life."

  He flashed an infectious grin my way.

  "Damon... why are you here? In Sweetland, I mean."

  His smiled dimmed slightly. "Because of you," he said.

  My heart stopped. Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable. "Me?" I asked, trying to wet my lips, but I had no saliva to wet them with. Lucy showed up with my latte just then. She set it on the table and stared at us with her hands on her hips.

  "Thanks," I said, kicking her ankle when she didn't move. She rolled her eyes at me and left but I knew she'd be watching us. She'd expect details about our conversation later.

  Lucy moved back behind the counter and started talking to Melbourne Hammond and William Carney. Just my luck that they were both here today. They were no gossip mongers but with Melbourne dating Trixie, news of Damon was bound to get back to her sooner rather than later. And William had a way of remembering every piece of information he ever came across. Sometimes it was helpful but I didn't need him imprinting a mental image of me and Damon on his brain forever. I wanted to talk to Colt first, let him know Damon was here.

  "I've gone through a lot of changes since I left Sweetland," he said. "And I realized how badly I treated you when I left."

  "Y-You did?"

  "Yes. And I wanted to say I'm sorry."

  I let out a sigh I didn't realize I'd been holding. "It wasn't your fault. So much happened that year... not all of it good."

  "I know. But I could have dealt with it better. Should have dealt with it better.”

  "It's okay. I get it," I told him.

  The history between me and Damon was a complicated one. It had started with we were both children, before we'd ever even met. His father was a witch hunter who'd killed my mother and tried to kill me when I was just a baby. He'd have fit right in with Mothers Against Paranormal Predators. They seemed to have the same ideas.

  My own dad had saved my life but killed Damon's dad in the process. When we'd first met, I hadn't realized who Damon was until I was already head over heels for him. There'd been no way we would ever have been able to have any kind of stable relationship, though. It just wasn't possible given the circumstances.

  "Look, I hope this doesn't sound weird," Damon continued, "but I was hoping maybe we could be friends."

  "Friends?" I gulped.

  "It's just that I'm thinking of moving back to Heavenly Haven. I wanted you to hear it from me first. And I thought it would be easier if we could sort of patch things up."

  "Moving back?" I asked, surprised to hear him say that. "The last time I saw you, you never wanted to set foot on this island again."

  "Yeah... I met this girl." His cheeks darkened.

  "A girl?" I broke into a broad smile. The tension in my shoulders melted away. "Damon, that's great. Who is she?"

  Hearing that he'd met someone lightened the load I'd started to carry since he'd told me he'd missed me. Colt wouldn't have anything to be jealous over now. Damon had a girlfriend and I had Colt.

  "Betsey LaGrange. She lives in Mistmoor. Do you know her?"

  I thought hard, trying to picture her face. "Yeah, I think so. Blond hair. Green eyes? Has a thing for Smurfs?"

  "That's her," said Damon, laughing. "I met her one day when she came down to Florida. It was pure luck. I mean, Heavenly Haven's a small place, it's not every day you bump into someone who lives here. Unless you live here yourself, that is."

  "I know what you mean," I assured him.

  "By the way," he said. "Happy birthday. I, uh, heard about your party."

  "Oh, that." I shuddered. "Disaster's the only word for it. Let's not talk about it, okay?" He nodded. "And listen, I'd love to be friends." I reached across the
table and patted his hand. "I'm happy for you. Really."

  "Thanks," he said and gave my hand a squeeze.

  "What about you? Who are you seeing these days?"

  "Me? I thought you knew."

  "No. Why?"

  The door to Coffee Cove opened just then and Colt walked in. He spotted me and Damon at the table together, our hands laid one over the other, and his face turned the color of a purple grape. He crossed the room in three swift strides, ready to kill Damon.

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  SEVENTEEN

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  "Colt!" I yelled, letting go of Damon's hand.

  I stood up quickly, trying to block Colt's path to Damon. The last thing I wanted right now was for the two of them to get into a fight because of me. I'd already felt the odd stare from people as I'd walked into Coffee Cove. I didn't need to give people any further incentive to talk about me behind my back.

  My fears were minimized when Colt did not pull Damon out of his chair but kissed me instead. Hard. Long. Passionately. It caught me off guard and took my breath away. The kiss seemed to go on forever. Our lips melted together. Colt's arms wrapped around my waist. When he finally let me up for air, my head felt dizzy. He swung one arm around my shoulders and looked at Damon with an expression that said, She's my girl. Get your own. I was actually sort of flattered. I'd never seen him get so jealous.

  Damon cleared his throat and rose from his chair, his arm extended for a handshake.

  "Hello, Detective Hudson. It's been a while."

  Colt stared at him with a slightly confused expression then took his hand. I relaxed even more, until I realized that neither of them were letting go.

  "Um, guys," I said, trying to laugh it off. Colt's face was going from red to pink to white back to red. Damon's was a light shade of green. I gently tried to pry their hands apart but it only made them grip onto each other tighter. Their knuckles were turning white.