by Mara Webb
We were about to be shown the room that we were sharing. Was there going to be just one bed? Was it a twin bed situation? Was there really any chance that the ‘Honeymoon suite’ had twin beds? I wondered if Miller was equally anxious about it. Even if we were sharing a bed, it didn’t mean that anything would happen, right?
We boarded a small elevator, and the bell boy pressed the large button at the top. This resort was larger than I had realized when I first visited the island. There was a floor labeled ‘gym & spa’ which I took note of, not because I intended to exercise obviously but they might have a steam room or something. My mind quickly rushed to the idea of being in a steam room with Miller and I felt my cheeks get warm.
“Would you like two key cards?” the bell boy asked. The elevator doors parted and revealed a hallway with two doors and an ice machine. One door was a fire exit, and the other must be to the suite.
“Yes please,” I replied. He handed one to Miller, then used the other one to swipe open the door to our room.
“Would you like me to show you around?” the man asked.
“I think we got it,” Miller said. The bell boy gave me the second key card and then stepped back towards the elevator. I looked at the king-sized bed that had been decorated with rose petals in the shape of a heart next to two towels that had been folded to look like swans. They had really gone all out on the honeymoon theme.
There was a balcony through a set of glass doors, and because we were on the top floor, we had a perfect view of the ocean. Or at least we would have when it was daylight. The setting sun was just about able to sparkle over the water in the distance.
“This is amazing,” I said. Miller turned to look at me, he had been inspecting a bouquet of flowers that were sitting on the vanity unit.
“I think there’s enough room on this chair for me to sleep, if you want,” he smiled. He was gesturing towards an armchair. I crinkled my forehead back at him.
“There’s plenty of space in this bed,” I replied. His eyes sparkled. “Do you think they have room service here?”
“What do you want from room service?” he asked.
“Honestly? I am in the mood for a double-cheese burger with extra cheese and the kind of fries you get that have a really crispy outer layer and can hold a good amount of BBQ sauce,” I said.
“Oh, so nothing super specific then,” he laughed. “If you are in the mood for that sort of thing, then I would suggest we go down to eat. I have a feeling you would get these bedsheets covered in grease.” I gasped in mock-surprise.
“You think I’m a messy eater?” I said, holding my palm to my chest as I pretended to be appalled by his accusations. “Yeah, you’re right,” I smiled. “Aren’t you starving? I feel like these boat rides are starting to fire up my appetite more and more, is that normal?”
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘normal’ to describe anything about you, but I could go for a burger for sure. Come on.” He grabbed my hand, kissed my knuckles tenderly and led me back out to the elevator. We had barely been in the room for two minutes, but I was so hungry that it was distracting. If I didn’t eat soon then I would quickly become short-tempered and I didn’t want Miller to see that side of me, not yet at least.
We rode down to the ground floor, crossed the reception area and took a table in the corner of the restaurant. Maybe this trip to Tivercana wasn’t going to be that bad after all, although even thinking it was probably enough to jinx it, right?
7
We sat at the table for longer than we needed to. We had long since finished our dinner, dessert dishes sat empty in front of us, but we hadn’t left yet. It had been nice to sit and people watch, holding hands and listening to the ocean in the distance. The sun was setting slowly tonight, painting the sky with the most beautiful colors.
It hadn’t been totally idyllic though. It seemed that some of the golf players were still arriving, and that Tivercana was underneath the flight path from mainland USA. As a jet came roaring overhead on its way to the airport, I had thought it was going to land directly on top of us.
The glasses had rattled, the cutlery bounced, and I had seen two other guests climb underneath their tables in case the roof collapsed. But like I said, other than that it was relaxing. Well, Susan also made an appearance to demand that she speak with the chef as her rare steak wasn’t rare enough.
She had shouted, “it should be pink enough that a good vet could bring this thing back to life!” There had been some foot stomping and then she’d charged off to take it out on her husband again. I wondered how long she could maintain that amount of anger.
Within an hour of the jet incident, a group of golfers had arrived in the reception area after having travelled over by boat from the main island. They were laughing together so loudly that I hadn’t even noticed Susan storm towards Miller and me.
“You,” she sneered.
“Good evening, Susan. Are you enjoying your stay?” I smiled. I was going for the ‘kill her with kindness’ response, which was clearly making her more annoyed.
“I have just been informed that the reason that the premium suite was booked up this weekend was because the manager gave it to you.” She was pulling a face as if there were poison in her mouth, as if the very words she was saying were causing pain.
“I didn’t ask for the suite,” I replied.
“Then you won’t mind swapping rooms with us,” she said.
“We aren’t going to be doing that,” Miller interjected. “I’m sure your room is nice enough that you can survive a few nights in it without breaking out in hives.”
“The nerve. The gall!” she gasped. Her husband had been behind her so quietly that I hadn’t even noticed he was there. He tugged gently on the sleeve of her coat and she started flailing her arms around like she was on fire. They both walked off somewhere, and I watched in disbelief.
“Ah Susan, always a delight,” Miller muttered under his breath.
“Effie said her house was broken into a few months ago and since then she’s been extra, you know, what ever that was,” I explained.
“I remember,” Miller said. “It was before you got here. I don’t think I got called to the scene, but I heard from a colleague that she was having a really hard time of it in the aftermath of the robbery. She probably should see a counselor or something.”
I thought about the calming tea that I’d gotten for Effie. Susan could do with drinking several gallons of that stuff. Miller and I sat in silence for a while. I hoped my face wasn’t betraying the thoughts I was having about the honeymoon suite. When would we be going back upstairs? Should I be the one to suggest that we leave the dining area?
“I’ll go pay up, unless you wanted anything else to eat?” he offered.
“I think I’ve had enough,” I replied. He stood up and disappeared around the corner to get to the cashier and I sat staring out of the window watching the stars beginning to appear in the sky. Something in the distance caught my attention.
It was a burst of white light, like a powerful flashlight had been turned on for a split second. If I’d have blinked, I would have missed it. It had come from the general direction of the main island, but what was it? A rumble from overhead made me think that another plane was inbound, but it was so brief. It was like a roar of thunder that had been interrupted. What was going on?
Someone screamed, then there was yelling. It was coming from the other side of the building. I jumped up out of my seat and ran in the direction of the noise, finding myself out on the terrace surrounding the in-ground pool.
There was a crowd gathered and I pushed myself between them to see what the fuss was all about. When I got to the pool edge I could see Miller pushing his way to the front to the left of me. We saw each other, then both looked down into the water at the body of Susan Colter floating face down in the pool.
The crowd was largely made up of people I didn’t recognize, there seemed to be a lot of men in golf-themed attire, and they were all looking
horrified at the situation. A few people in dry bathing suits clutching towels were approaching the pool, seemingly oblivious to what the rest of us were doing. When they realized, they screamed too.
“Well this is a mess,” a familiar voice muttered in my ear. It was Fitz, my cat familiar, only he was in his human form.
“Why are you here? I thought you were coming tomorrow!” I hissed. “Who screamed? Did you see what happened?”
“Yeah, this woman drowned! Aren’t you glad I came over earlier than planned?” he replied.
“You saw her drown?”
“No. But look, she is dead in a pool. That looks like ‘drowned’ to me,” he scoffed.
“Aren’t you a doctor?” I asked.
“I am a dentist. That is a doctor, yes, but unless she has died from advanced gum disease or something, then I’m not really the guy you need,” he shrugged. I knew that Effie and Kate’s cousin was a doctor, maybe she could come over to help us.
“So glad you’re here,” I rolled my eyes.
“All right, everybody needs to go back inside,” Miller ordered. The golfers that were new to the island all obeyed Miller’s command immediately, those that were Hallow Haven natives looked to me for instructions.
“You heard the man!” I yelled. Honestly, it was so dumb that there were witches here that would ignore anything Miller said just because he didn’t have magic. I mean, he was a werewolf, didn’t that count for something?
The pool area cleared, leaving me, Miller and Fitz. This was when Kieran showed up.
“I just heard!” Kieran yelled as he ran to stand beside me. “What should we do? This sort of thing can sink my hotel! I probably shouldn’t use the word ‘sink’ on account of her having drowned, but I’m freaking out!”
“All right everybody, I think we need to get her out of the water first of all,” I said. “Kieran, go and call for a doctor from the main island, I mean Brielle, no one else.”
“Got it!” Kieran nodded, disappearing.
“Fitz, just, step back,” I said. “Miller, get over here.” I crouched down and reached out to grab Susan’s arm. I had recognized the painfully tight-looking hairstyle she was wearing, so even though I hadn’t seen her face I’d known who it was. She’d spent all evening turning away and storming off in a huff, so I was quite familiar with the back of her head.
The term ‘dead weight’ came to mind. Susan had a slight build but was proving to be surprisingly heavy to move. Miller helped me pull her up onto the side of the pool and we lay her on her back. I checked for a pulse just in case, but she was dead.
I’d watched a crime thriller a few years ago where they had covered an actress in prosthetics for her death scene. She’d been found in a marsh and her body was bloated and discolored, something that was apparently typical for water recoveries. I think they used the term ‘floater’ to describe it as the natural gases in the human body— never mind, it’s too gross to even think about.
I’d been half-expecting that Susan might look like that anyway, but she looked almost exactly the same as she had when I’d last seen her. I suppose she couldn’t have been dead in here all that long. Could it even have been half an hour since she came to yell at me at the table? Her skin was a little paler, but otherwise you could have mistaken her for being asleep.
“What’s going on here?” a man asked. I looked around to see Susan’s husband on the side of the pool. I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him speak much since I’d first met him, and I certainly didn’t know his name.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step back,” Miller said, raising to a standing position.
“Is that… is that my wife?” he asked. There was a moment’s pause when I wasn’t sure what he would do next, he lifted his hands to his face and covered his mouth. I’d give the reaction a C minus if I was handing out grades.
“The doctor is on her way,” Kieran announced as he ran back towards us. “Oh…” Everyone was now looking at Susan’s husband for some sort of indicator as to how we should respond. He drew in a long, deep breath and then lowered his hands.
“I will make some calls,” he said. Weird. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“Which room are you in?” Miller asked.
“Room forty. I’ll be in there all night, so please feel free to drop by,” he replied. He reached out to shake Miller’s hands and it looked as if he had crumbs on his skin, maybe from a chocolate muffin or something. He walked back inside and the rest of us watched him leave.
“Will the doctor be taking this away?” Kieran asked.
“This?” I repeated.
“I know that sounded insensitive, it’s just that I have a business to run, and this event could make or break the resort. It’s bad PR to have the whole thing cancelled just because a woman who couldn’t swim jumped into a pool without a flotation device,” Kieran said. His tone led me to believe that he thought he was being reasonable.
“The pool area is closed to guests until I say so,” Miller instructed. Kieran looked to me, hoping for a different verdict.
“He’s right,” I said. Kieran’s face dropped.
“Fine. I knew she was going to make this weekend difficult,” he huffed. He stormed back inside and started to close the blinds over the pool-facing windows in the restaurant area.
“So now we have to wait here until Brielle arrives?” Fitz asked. I turned to see that he was back in his cat form.
“Yes,” I replied. “Is that a problem?”
“No,” he said, his sulky tone suggesting otherwise. “It’s just that I also said she was dead. No one takes my medical opinion seriously.”
“Can a dentist legally sign a death certificate?” I asked. “I’m not trying to antagonize you here; I genuinely don’t know.”
“Me neither!” Fitz purred. “That’s a good point. I’ll run upstairs and use your room to do some research. If I’m lucky, I can figure it out and get back down here to declare time of death before Brielle. Anyone want to put money on this?”
“Not even a little,” Miller replied.
“You’re no fun,” Fitz complained. He bounded away and I was left wondering how Fitz knew which room we were in, and why he thought it was okay for him to barge into it. He didn’t even have a key for our suite, so how was he planning to get in? I didn’t even want to know. I suspected that his trip to Tivercana would put a dampener on any plans Miller and I had for our night.
“I guess it’s just the two of us,” I smiled. “I mean, just the two of us, plus Susan.”
“I…” Miller said, clutching his abdomen. “I don’t feel so good.”
“What’s the matter?” I asked. Miller didn’t answer. He looked up at me, our eyes met, and I could see panic on his face. The ghost of my cousin, Greta, appeared in front of me and she looked even more alarmed than Miller did. What was going on?
“Greta?” I said quietly. She pointed up to the sky and I saw a glow that hadn’t been there before. It was cloudy, but a wind rolling across the island would soon put an end to that. I realized what she was trying to tell me. There was a full moon behind those clouds, and I was standing a few feet away from a werewolf.
I’d checked the moon cycle that morning, like I did every day since I learned about Miller. This wasn’t supposed to be happening tonight.
“Run!” she screamed.
8
I turned on my heels and ran away from the building. My instincts were telling me that I needed to draw him away from the people inside the resort, even if that meant that I was putting myself in danger. The last time he had shifted into his wolf form, it had been in the middle of the day. He had jumped out of a cliff-side cave and transformed in an instant. It seemed that his moon-transitions were a little slower. That gave me a small head start.
The edge of the pool deck area was surrounded by a low fence that separated it from the wilds of the island. As I ran towards the fence, I placed my right hand on the top and leapt over it, thanking my gym teacher f
or all those unnecessary hurdles she’d made us jump over in high school. Turned out they weren’t so pointless after all.
Once I was over the fence, I was faced with an uneven forest floor. I wasn’t wearing the best shoes for this terrain, but I needed to cover ground quickly if I had any chance of getting out of this situation in one piece. I’d been hiking with Ryder in the past and my magic had changed my shoes into hiking boots, I needed to focus on making that happen now.
I glanced down briefly and saw that I was now wearing a pair of Chuck Taylor low-tops. Not the best running shoe, but better than flip flops. It was likely the best I was going to get from my magic as I was too distracted.
I trusted Miller, of course I did, but this wolf form was something else. I didn’t know what to expect from him when he was like this. He had come to my house the first night he ever shifted, and I hadn’t been harmed, but with the moon showing up on a night when it shouldn’t, anything was possible.
Greta was running along side me, more like floating really, but I was so focused on running forward that I wasn’t paying her much attention.
“What happened?” I shrieked.
“It’s a funny story, you’re gonna laugh,” she said.
“Am I?” I replied, doubtfully.
“Well, Ryder and I were working on a little weather magic to give the golfers a few days of blue skies, right?” she began. Ryder. I felt my breath catch in my throat. Somewhere behind me I heard a growl and my pulse quickened. It was so dark beneath the trees now that I wasn’t running all that fast, I was trying to avoid running into branches and reaching out with my hands to guide my way.
It was like one of those nightmares where you are trying to run as fast as you can, but your body isn’t really moving.
“What did you do?” I snapped. “What did he do?”
“It was an accident, I think we need to start there,” Greta said. “I think Ryder is on his way over as we speak, he had his concerns once he realized what was happening.”
