by Lily Webb
Chills raced down my spine at the mention of the Brotherhood, the cult that Zoe had warned me about but that I didn’t want to believe existed. Marcus muttered a spell I couldn’t hear that sheared off the ropes on my wrists, and pulled our wands from the back of his pants to hand them to Zoe and me. As soon as the polished wood grazed my fingertips, its magic coursed through me like an electric current. For the first time since I’d woken up in the tunnel, I dared to think that I might still make it out of this alive. Still, I tried my best not to let the newfound hope show on my face.
Besides, I still didn’t have a clue how I could take down three warlocks who were much more powerful than me. And how would a brainwashed Zoe react if I tried? The picture she’d shown us of her family back in Moon Grove flashed in my mind, and my stomach lurched. I couldn’t imagine having to hurt her, but I had to stop this.
Blackwood turned his focus on Zoe and leaned forward to whisper instructions in her ear. I didn’t understand why he didn’t want the rest of us to hear, but it didn’t matter because it gave me time to think. Blackwood was at the center of everything, just like Marcus and Ryder had said. Though Marcus had cast the spell that killed Officer Dunham, and Dunham had pushed Rory off that cliff, it was Blackwood pulling the strings.
And then it hit me: If I could sever those connections, Blackwood’s entire house of cards would come crashing down all at once, and if Blackwood couldn’t speak then…
Before I could talk myself out of it, I tilted my wand’s tip in Blackwood’s direction as inconspicuously as I could and wished that Aunt Kiki had been tutoring me on the silencing spell rather than Jadis — because I only had one chance to get it right.
“Confuto,” I muttered, and jolted when a surge of magic shot from my wand to Blackwood’s mouth. To my shock and his horror, his lips sealed. His wide, wild eyes shot to mine as he gripped at his lips and tried to pull them apart. As he tapped the tip of his wand against them, I realized the accidental genius of my move — because without the ability to utter a spell, he couldn’t undo the curse or maintain his grip on his victims.
At the same time, the trance that Marcus, Ryder, and Zoe had fallen into broke, and the three of them came back into their bodies with dazed looks. Zoe looked from me to Blackwood and back again, before realizing she had her wand in her hand. When she did, she thrust it at Blackwood and shouted, “Dearmo!”
Blackwood’s wand rocketed out of his hand into Zoe’s as he shot backward through the air. He thudded against the ground somewhere further down the tunnel, and Zoe aimed her wand at Marcus and Ryder, faster than they could gather themselves. “Don’t try anything funny,” she ordered.
The two warlocks dropped their wands and raised their hands in surrender. “Please, we’re on your side,” Marcus said. Before he could say more, a blinding light flared in the tunnel from behind where Blackwood had landed, making us all cry out and shield our eyes.
“SVPD! No one move!” Officer Aimes’ thunderous voice boomed through the tunnel, and I almost melted in relief. When I dared to lower my arms, I found her silhouette standing with both hands gripping her wand — and another silhouette dashing toward me.
“Selena!” Thorn’s warm, familiar voice shouted, and I burst into tears as he thrust his arms around me. I realized he must’ve gone for Officer Aimes when Zoe and I didn’t come out of Hallewell’s Heels. But had it not been for my quick thinking, he might have found us in a much worse condition.
“It’s okay. It’s all over now,” Thorn soothed as I dissolved in his arms, and I pulled him as close to me as I could because I never wanted to let go. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” he said and helped me to my feet. Together, we walked past Marcus and Ryder, who still stood with their hands raised, toward the blinding light.
Officer Aimes patted my shoulder on our way. “You did good, kid. Leave the rest to the professionals,” she said, and without a word in response, Thorn and I marched up the small flight of stairs behind her. We emerged in a room filled with towering rows of shoe boxes. Several open boxes littered the floor, and half a dozen of the guards I’d seen in the square during Blackwood’s speech stood tearing shoes apart at the seams.
“What the heck is going on? Are we in Hallewell’s Heels?” I asked, dazed. Maybe it was all the action or from being trapped in total darkness, but I couldn’t believe that in all our time underground, Zoe and I hadn’t left the shop.
“Their storeroom, yeah,” Thorn said. “You’re never gonna believe this, but Blackwood was smuggling black magic into Starfall through Ryder’s shoes and his shop, Selena. Look,” he continued and stopped to pick up a bright red boot with a chunky, six-inch heel. With some struggle, he snapped the heel off, and out tumbled a vial full of black liquid, just like the one Blackwood used on me.
I shuddered at the memory and vowed to never wear heels again.
Chapter 15
When Thorn, Zoe, and I exited Hallewell’s Heels, a gaggle of reporters and guards stood waiting for us. One face stood out from the rest, thanks to his toothy, camera-ready smile and signature salt-and-pepper hair.
“Oh, thank Lilith. You’re all okay,” Mayor Morgan Nash said, and hurried toward the three of us. It’d been a few months since the last time I’d seen him in person, but the election season must’ve been a stressful time for him because dark bags hung under his normally spry eyes, accompanied by more than a few new age lines. “I can’t believe the three of you ran after Drach like that.”
“Well, Mr. Mayor, you’re guaranteed to win re-election thanks to us, so maybe it wasn’t all bad,” I said. Zoe snorted, but Nash didn’t look amused.
“That’s not worth any of you getting killed over. But what do you mean?”
Before I could answer, Officer Aimes and a few of her backup guards emerged from the shop, escorting Marcus, Ryder, and Blackwood in cuffs.
“Leo? What in the world?” Nash asked, baffled. “How did you end up there?”
“You should probably invest some money into investigating the tunnels under Starfall in your next term,” Officer Aimes said as she ushered Blackwood past us.
“What tunnels?”
“The ones that snake under the entire town,” I answered.
“Exactly. That’s how Marcus got out of his cell. Before we brought them up, Ryder admitted to using the tunnels to sneak into the SVPD to free him, at Mr. Blackwood’s command,” Aimes said.
“Wait, if the three of you were working together, then why did Marcus attack you, Leo?” Nash asked his opponent.
“It was all a stunt,” Zoe said with wide eyes, and I realized she must’ve read it in one of their thoughts — something she couldn’t have done until I broke Blackwood’s magical grip on them. “Blackwood planned it all. He was trying to create chaos and panic in town to make sure he beat you in the election, and he used mind control magic to do it.”
“Mind control?” Nash asked in disbelief.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “But he didn’t just want to beat you, Mayor Nash. He wanted to use the position to elevate and reform the Black Brotherhood.”
Mayor Nash fixed his piercing eyes on Blackwood. “The Black Brotherhood? You mean that psycho, discriminatory cult? Why, Leo? What in Lilith’s name possessed you to sink this low?”
“He’s not gonna be able to answer that,” I said, and suppressed a laugh. “I sealed his mouth shut to break the spell he had on Marcus, Ryder, and Zoe. Keep it that way until we sort all this out.”
“Luckily for you, I can hear his thoughts loud and clear, but they really aren’t worth sharing,” Zoe said and winked at Mayor Nash.
“Ms. Clarke, thank you, but I’m so sorry about this. Until a bit ago, I had no idea you were here or that any of this was going on. I’m horrified.”
Zoe waved him away. “I’m still alive, aren’t I? You have Selena here to thank for that. But for future reference, keep a closer eye on what’s going on in your town — or else you might lose more than your job.”
“Until recently, so did I,” Zoe said. “I don’t know how far Blackwood’s operation goes, or how he got radicalized, but it’s worrying.”
“I’ll get to the bottom of all that, don’t you worry. I can’t bring Eva back, but I can do that for her,” Officer Aimes said, and I knew she meant it.
“Start by digging into Dunham’s history with The Alliance for a Safer Starfall,” I said, and Aimes’ brows furrowed. “I know it’s hard to hear, but Dunham’s record wasn’t as squeaky clean as you’d like it to be. Blackwood has been bribing her with donations.”
Aimes glared at the muted Blackwood, then sighed and shook her head. “All right, then. Sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us unraveling this complete nightmare. We’d better get moving. Get them out of here, boys,” she said, gesturing at the security guards to take Marcus, Ryder, and Blackwood out of her sight.
“What about us?” Ryder asked. “We’re innocent!”
Aimes scoffed. “Hardly! Blackwood might’ve brainwashed you into doing a few things you wouldn’t have otherwise, and we’ll take that into consideration, but you still conspired to smuggle black magic into my town, and if you think I’m just going to overlook that, then you really are out of your minds.”
Though I felt sorry for the things that Blackwood had put Ryder and Marcus through, and the way Blackwood had exploited them, I thought Aimes made the right call. To their credit, Ryder and Marcus both knew better than to argue — but really, what could they have said? When Blackwood first threatened them, if either of them had gone directly to the police and exposed his blackmail, then they could’ve avoided all this. Instead, they’d both chosen to give in, desperate to protect themselves, and in the end, it’d undone them both.
When the guards had taken their three prisoners away, Mayor Nash turned to Zoe and me. “I know you’ve both been through a lot already, but can Officer Aimes and I count on your help to sort the rest of this mess out?”
“Of course,” Zoe said with a smile.
“I’ll do whatever you need,” I agreed.
“All right, then we’ll be in touch. I’m sure we’ll have a laundry list of questions. For now, you should probably get some rest. Thank you both for everything,” Nash said and walked away after the guards.
Officer Aimes followed, but stopped to look back at me. “Hey, Selena? If you ever get tired of working at Kindred Spirits, there’s a spot saved for you at the SVPD. If you want it, the job’s yours. No questions asked.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I couldn’t say I wasn’t interested, but how could I be a cop with no formal training? For Lilith’s sake, I barely knew how to use my wand and my powers. So how could anyone trust me with such an important job? “I’ll keep it in mind,” I said, which was the best I could manage.
“Please do. Talk to you later,” Aimes said and left.
Thorn wrapped an arm around me again and squeezed. “For my sanity, please tell me you aren’t seriously considering her offer.”
I laughed and leaned into him. “No, not really. I mean, I’m flattered, and I think I probably would be good at it, but I’m pretty happy where I’m at.”
Thorn sighed and kissed the top of my head. “Thank Lilith.”
“If I were you, I’d start my own business,” Zoe said, catching my attention.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet that people would pay top dollar for a paranormal investigator with your powers — including the SVPD.”
“Please, don’t go putting ideas in her head,” Thorn said, and he had reason to worry because it didn’t sound any crazier to me than joining the police force. Zoe had a point. My powers, while not always perfectly accurate or reliable, let me see glimpses of the past and the future, a set of skills that had already come in handy for solving crimes. If I was already doing it for free, why not get paid?
“My thoughts exactly,” Zoe said, having clearly read my mind. “It’s worth thinking about. Regardless, you’ve got options.”
“I think you both need to rest because this is crazy talk,” Thorn said, and we all laughed. Maybe he was right. A lot had happened in the last few days, so much that I could barely keep the events straight in my head, much less make major life decisions. “Let’s go home. I’m sure Jadis, Blair, and Kiki are beside themselves worrying about us.”
“Good idea,” I said, eager to put all this behind me and get back to “normal” life at Kindred Spirits, or as normal as living in a magical bed-and-breakfast could be. Zoe huddled with Thorn and me, and muttered the teleportation spell to whisk us away from Hallewell’s Heels.
Despite the nausea swirling in my stomach when we landed in front of the steps leading to Kindred Spirits’ front door, I’d never been happier to be home. Thorn ushered me up the stairs and shoved the massive door open with his shoulder, which groaned from the movement. I expected to find Jadis and the rest of the staff waiting with bated breath for us, but no one was there.
“Knock, knock! We’re home!” I called, and my voice echoed around the cavernous foyer.
“About time,” a voice squeaked, and I jumped when I found Luna perched on the front desk with her tail curled around herself. She fixed her bright blue eyes on Zoe. “I thought for sure you’d abandoned me here, but now that I think about it, with those twin terrors at your house, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Always so dramatic. If you keep it up, I might just leave without you, after all.”
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked Luna, still unable to believe I was having a conversation with a cat. She pointed her tail toward the east wing. “Down there. Kiki and Blair are giving Jadis magic lessons. She’s catching on way faster than you ever did, Zoe.”
Zoe pulled her wand out and pointed it at Luna. “You wanna test that theory?”
“No, thanks,” Luna said, and hopped off the desk to lead us to the massive reception room in the inn’s east wing. Inside, Blair and Kiki stood with their backs to us, watching Jadis as she flailed her wand around. I didn’t have a clue what she was doing until a blast of magic shot from her wand into the air toward a squealing ball of chaos.
At the last possible second, Lox and Keez threw their leathery arms around each other and barrel rolled to dodge Jadis’ spell, which crashed into the wall behind them and dispersed. With a cackle, the twin imps joined hands and spun around in circles, their red and blue hair blurring into purple as they whirled.
“Spin and win! Spin and win! Spin and win!” they chanted in grating voices like nails on a chalkboard.
“Nice to see you weren’t too worried about us,” I said, startling the others. Jadis whirled with her wand aimed, but dropped it as soon as she realized it was me.
“Selena! Where have you been? You weren’t answering my texts, as usual,” she said, and hurried over to hug me.
“Well, I was a little preoccupied with stopping Blackwood from taking over all of Starfall and brainwashing us into joining his black magic cult,” I said, and Jadis’ eyes shot open.
“What? Are you serious?”
“As serious as a killing curse.”
“Dear Lilith, are you okay?” Blair asked, as she and Kiki joined us.
“I’m a little shaken, but I’ll be fine. I’ve survived worse.”
“Now you sound as jaded as me,” Zoe said with a laugh.
“What happened?” Kiki asked, so I told them everything, from Marcus’ staged attack on Blackwood in the town square to waking up in the underground tunnels and the spell that’d saved us from it all.
“You pulled the silencing spell off without even knowing how to cast it?” Jadis asked in disbelief.
I shrugged.
“Chalk it up to a hunch with a dash of adrenaline.”
“That’s amazing, Selena!” Blair said, and hugged me.
“Speaking of spells, what exactly are you all doing in here?” I asked, pointing up at Lox and Keez, who were still spinning around wildly in the air and chanting.
“Oh, I was practicing my summoning spell,” Jadis said, then rolled her eyes. “Clearly, it isn’t going well. Those darn imps are way too fast.”
“Well, it sounds like we could all use a break. Why don’t we head to the dining room for some tea?” Thorn suggested, and nothing sounded better, so I nodded. Zoe scooped Luna into her arms and, on the way to the kitchen, she and I told everyone about Blackwood’s mind control magic and how he’d used Ryder and Marcus to smuggle it into town.
“I knew there was something off about him,” Blair said as we took our seats at the huge dining room table, “But I never would’ve guessed he was tied up with the Black Brotherhood.” She shuddered. “I hope this isn’t the start of a larger trend.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Zoe said from where she sat across from Blair with Luna purring in her lap. “It looks like Blackwood was working alone.”
“Let’s hope that’s true,” Kiki said as she waved her wand to summon a steaming pot of tea and enough mugs for all of us. Like the natural hostess she was, she poured some for everyone and passed them around.
“Well, if it isn’t, I’m sure Officer Aimes will get to the bottom of it,” I said as I took a mug from Kiki and sipped it. “This whole thing has really made the SVPD and Mayor Nash look terrible. They’re not going to just let it go without an investigation.”
“Good point. I wonder what will happen to your election?” Zoe asked.
“I assume they’ll cancel or at least postpone it,” Blair said. “How couldn’t they, after all this?”
“I’m sure we’ll know soon. It sounds like Mayor Nash has a lot of smoothing over to do, so I bet he’ll make a statement sometime tonight,” Kiki said, then sighed and shook her head. “I still can’t believe all this! What a crazy few days.”
