by Elle Adams
I leapt onto the broom and took flight again, steering over the lake. At last. Maybe the presence of a cat on the end of the broom had convinced it that I was a real witch.
I flew over the lake again and back to shore, elated. Now all I needed was to find the elf. I’d peeked behind the waterfall earlier, but he might have been glamoured and hiding. Or he’d found a new hiding place. I didn’t think he’d have gone home to the other elves, but if he had, perhaps there’d be no need to confront him at all. They wouldn’t hide a criminal among them, would they? Okay, my dad had hidden from the hunters in the forest, but he was a fairy, not an elf.
I landed at the lake’s edge and bounded off the broom into the shallows, splashing both of us in the process. Sky hopped off the broom and shook himself, giving me a reproachful look.
“I rode a broomstick,” I told him. “We both did. Isn’t that great?”
“Miaow.”
“All right, let’s find our misfit elf.”
Sky padded alongside me. He kept stopping and staring into the trees, his fur standing on end, but whenever I looked among the bushes, there was nobody there.
Since I didn’t have my boots, I used my wings instead, leaving the broomstick at the top of the slope to avoid having to carry it downhill. Sky sat beside it, his ears twitching.
“I’ll just be a minute,” I told him, taking flight towards the falls.
Once again, I landed beside the crashing water. I peered into the small cave but saw no signs of the elf’s presence. Even the bottles had gone.
“Hey,” I said, spotting the merman splashing in the river. “Hey, where’s Bracken?”
“He left,” he said, his expression downcast. “This morning. He went into the forest.”
Oh, no. That's what I got for dawdling. He must have moved his lair elsewhere. Or joined the other elves again. Maybe he’d reconciled with them, but I doubted it. Most likely, the other elves had had enough of him making a public nuisance of himself and dragged him into the forest themselves before he got arrested.
I re-joined Sky at the top of the slope. “He’s gone,” I told the cat. “Are you up for a walk in the woods?”
“Miaow.” Sky’s ears twitched, but he padded after me down the woodland path.
Propping my broomstick on my shoulder High Flier-style, I walked on, calling for the pixie. I’d seen no signs of him all week either, which was unusual. Coupled with his odd behaviour when I’d met Nathan’s family, I wasn’t feeling particularly well-disposed towards him, but he was my quickest route to the elves without intentional trespassing.
“Miaow,” Sky said from behind me.
I turned to the little cat. “Can you find the elves in here? You don’t have to go off alone if you don’t want to.”
“Miaow.” He darted to my side, weaving around my legs and between my feet.
“Whoa,” I said. “What is it?”
Footsteps came from the path. I froze, then relaxed when I saw the huge hulking form of Donovan of the wolf pack.
Wait. Maybe I shouldn’t relax. I’d accidentally hired his nephew as our newest team member while knowing full well how much he despised Dritch & Co, but I’d forgotten all that in the wake of the more recent drama.
Chief Donovan narrowed his eyes at me. “Blair Wilkes.”
“Oh, hey,” I said to him. It wasn’t any use pretending not to see a huge blond dude who could turn into a wolf. He was almost as conspicuous as I was in full fairy guise. “I was just walking with my cat.”
Sky wound around my legs, hissing. I hoped he wouldn’t turn into his monster glamour and start a fight.
“You look like you’re interfering in something again,” said Chief Donovan. “What do you mean by corrupting my nephew?”
I couldn’t say I hadn’t seen it coming. “I didn’t corrupt him. He applied to work at my office and passed the interview. None of the other candidates did, so my boss decided to hire him. Take it up with her if you have a problem, not me.”
His mouth turned down at the corners. “Rob never showed the slightest interest in recruiting… whatever it is you do. He applied as a joke, nothing more.”
“Actually, he’s pretty good at it. Ask Veronica.”
“If you bring any of your atrocious luck anywhere near my pack, Blair Wilkes, then I will take my family and move as far away from you as possible.”
Atrocious luck? Maybe that’s what I needed—a lucky latte. Though last time I’d tried that, it’d backfired horribly. Like seeing the future, it was impossible to plan for every possible scenario. You just had to do the best with what you had.
I gave him a smile. “If anything, I think it’s a good thing that he and Callie are working closely with the other paranormals. If they enjoy the work and want to stay, what’s the big deal? It’s not like they’re out hunting wild… er, unicorns.” I’d almost referenced the hunters but caught myself at the last second.
“You have a knack for trouble, Blair. Don’t deny it.”
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to,” I said. “It’s still Rob’s choice, and he likes working at our office.”
There was no point in denying that Callie had met with a fair few accidents when I was around, but I hadn’t actually been responsible for any of them. And Rob’s presence had improved things at Dritch & Co dramatically. I’d never thought I’d be glad to have any more of Chief Donovan’s relatives in my immediate presence, but I should have learnt to expect the unexpected from the paranormal world by now. It wasn’t as simple or black-and-white as the hunters believed it to be. Maybe the chief and I would never be BFFs, but it’d be nice to bury any past animosity between us.
“What are you doing in this part of the woods, anyway?” I asked, when he didn’t respond. “It’s witch territory.”
Not elf territory, thank goodness, but I’d never seen the werewolves’ chief wandering around here before. I’d assumed he stuck to the shifters’ areas of the woods.
He straightened himself upright. “I was having a word with Madame Grey about the new jail conditions.”
“What about them?”
“They’re not suitable for shifters,” he said. “Too much silver. Too much like…” He paused, nostrils flaring. “Hunters. Is one of them with you?”
“Hunters? Nope. If you mean Nathan, not him either.” I hadn’t heard from him since the weekend.
“No.” He inhaled. “There are humans in here.”
“Er, yeah, I know, I am one.”
Without another word, Chief Donovan turned around and disappeared into the trees.
Sky unwound himself from my legs. “Miaow.”
“Relax, he won’t do anything to either of us,” I muttered to him. “He’s quite reasonable when the hunters aren’t around. I just have a knack for touching a nerve with him. Don’t know what he meant by the hunters, though. I thought Nathan’s family left.” My heart fluttered uneasily.
Sky’s fur stood on end and he hissed. “Miaow.”
“Is there someone else out there?”
I carried on walking down the path, despite Sky’s warning hiss. The murmur of voices reached my ears, and a moment later, I spotted two small, pointy-eared figures. Bramble and Twig.
“Come to follow us, have you, Blair Wilkes?” Bramble said.
“I didn’t know you were here.” Why was everyone on the witches’ territory today? “Did you know where Bracken went? Is he with you?”
“With any luck,” he growled. “We’re in the process of convincing the king to join us on our journey to seek a new place to hide outside the woods.”
I blinked. “What? You’re leaving? Why?”
“Times change,” said Twig. “I do not think the forest is the place for us any longer.”
“Then—where? Is Bracken already gone?”
“Bracken is lost,” he said. “He’s gone, but he’s not with us.”
“So he ran off and you want to do the same?” Oh, no. If he’d left town, I could wave goodbye to any
chance of getting to the truth about the murders. “I can’t prove his innocence to the police if he isn’t here.”
“Ever since that beast showed up, the forest hasn’t felt the same,” said Twig. “Something has changed. An ill wind, as the humans say.”
So they sensed whatever was in the woods, too. Or whoever. I wished I’d texted Nathan. He’d warned me enough times about going into the woods alone. At least I had my cat with me.
“Maybe it’s because you rejected Bracken’s relationship with Annabel?” I asked. “You must know his feelings won’t change just because you think they should.”
“That’s not your place to say, human.”
“Nor is it yours.” I couldn’t believe the elf had gone. He must have left before I’d arrived at the lake, so he’d be beyond the town’s boundaries by now. Or maybe lost in the woods. Given the state of him, who knew? “He was happy with Annabel and you ruined it. How is this a good thing for anyone?”
“It’s in the past,” Bramble growled. “As Fairy Falls will be, when I convince the king.”
“Look, you don't have to leave.” I might not like him, but I couldn’t imagine the forest without the elves there. “How do you know the king wouldn’t just tell you that you’re being ridiculous? Have you told him where Bracken is?”
Bramble didn’t say anything. Hang on a minute. “Are you trying to cover your tracks rather than admit you drove him out?”
The faintest flush on his pale, pointed face betrayed his guilt. “No.”
Lie.
I rolled my eyes. “Really? I thought your people didn’t like to lie.”
“That’s your people, Blair Wilkes,” he growled. “Mine will do everything to protect our own.”
“Except if they date humans, apparently,” I said. “I saw you two talking to Annabel the other day. What were you doing, trying to persuade her to leave? I know you didn’t want them to stay together.”
“It’s not natural,” Twig growled. “Humans will never understand our ways.”
“Says who? I doubt the king will uproot all of the other elves from the forest because one of you did a runner. How do you know he’s not lost in the woods himself?”
“Perhaps he is,” said Twig, “but we’ve been unable to find him. He refused to listen to any of our attempts to persuade him to come back. I hoped Annabel would talk some sense into him, but—”
“But she doesn’t want to talk to him,” I guessed. “Because she broke up with him. Have you visited her before?”
“No.”
Lie. From Bramble’s face, he knew I’d backed him into a corner. He couldn’t lie without me knowing in an instant.
“Was it you who caused them to break up?” I asked the two elves. “Annabel couldn’t see the future at all until she went into the attic and found the crystal ball. She said she’d forgotten the crystal ball was even there until a leak in the roof forced her to go up there. Seems a weird coincidence, huh?”
The two of them were as transparent as non-enchanted glass. Somehow, the elves had messed with her crystal ball so it’d show her breaking up with Bracken.
“That girl was unsuited to set foot in our forest,” mumbled Twig.
“For what, being human?” I said. “You know breaking and entering is a crime, right? And so is using your magic on someone’s property.”
“It was an error in judgement,” said Twig.
“It was necessary,” Bramble interjected. “We are not made to mingle with humans. Work and cooperate with them, yes, but not marry.”
The penny dropped. “He was going to propose to her,” I said. “Or the other way around. Right?”
The two elves must have worked out that Annabel and Bracken were serious enough to consider a public announcement of their relationship, despite the ridicule they’d faced. I respected Annabel even more now. I needed to tell her the truth, but would she believe the elves would sabotage her if they wouldn’t admit to it?
“That’s not a nice thing to do,” I told them. “You ruined Bracken’s life, and now two people are dead and he’s too addled to help us find out who did it.”
Assuming he didn’t do it himself.
“Not only Bracken. You hurt Annabel as badly as you hurt him,” I added, when neither of them responded. “I know you play by different rules to the humans, but she did absolutely nothing to you and you tried to ruin her life.”
Bramble flushed. “It was for the best,” he said, but his voice was less heated than before. More ashamed.
I pushed harder. “You don’t have to do this,” I said. “Maybe it won’t work out between those two, but it’s not for you to decide. Not to mention there are two sets of people who lost someone they loved and they might never get closure if I don’t find and question Bracken. Even if you won’t reconsider leaving, can you at least tell me where he went?”
Twig turned around, pointing. “He was heading north along the path, last I saw.”
“So he left town.” I’d have to follow, against my better judgement. “All right. I’m going to find him, and I really hope you’ll reconsider asking your king to leave town. Not that I’d object to you leaving, but that’s the coward’s way out and you know it.”
Bramble cleared his throat. “I will reconsider, Blair Wilkes.”
Wow. Had I got through to the stubborn elf? Maybe the seer was right. People were searching for a sign, for someone to tell them what to do. I was pretty sure Annabel and Bracken should never have split up. And if I could catch him, perhaps I could help them both.
Even if one of them had to spend their life behind bars.
I turned to Sky. “Let’s find him,” I said. “Do you know the way?”
“Miaow.” His fur bristled, indicating he wasn’t keen on the idea of going any further into the woods, but it’d get dark in a few hours. I’d need to be quick.
Sky took the lead down the path. We’d have to avoid shifter territory, which occupied the north of the forest, but the path directly alongside the lake was neutral territory all the way until it ended at the town’s border, near the part of the lake furthest from Fairy Falls. I walked until I reached the top of the slope, then took flight above the lake.
Sky didn’t follow, but every time I flew to a new stretch of forest to check my bearings, he was there, reliable and loyal. Even if I might be a mediocre witch, I’d lucked out in the familiar department.
I watched the still waters as I flew over the lake, scanning the shores for any signs of the elf. I hoped he hadn’t gone into shifter territory, but chances were, he was too drunk to know the boundaries.
I halted in mid-air. There was someone standing outside the woods on the north of the lake, but it wasn’t an elf. It was a human.
Nathan’s father.
13
Mr Harker looked at me as I landed. There was no way I could hide myself—or my fairy wings.
Or Sky, who appeared in front of my legs, hissing at the top of his lungs.
I tried a smile. “Nice day for a walk, isn't it?”
“Don't play the fool with me, Blair. You may have bewitched my son with the innocent act, but I know better. What are you doing this far from town?”
“Looking for an… acquaintance.” There was no point in making up an elaborate cover story. It wasn’t like he knew the elf, nor would he make the connection unless I referenced the unfortunate incident on our last ill-fated walk by the lake.
“Was this an elf, by any chance?” he said.
Maybe not. How did he know? He must have seen Bracken coming this way and recognised him. “Uh—I guess you remember him from the lake.”
“I suppose it’s true what they say about you.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” Wariness prickled up my spine. I trusted Nathan with my life, but this man was an unknown. And while he didn’t scare me as much as his boss, the Inquisitor, something about him set my nerves on edge. What was he even doing here? He couldn’t have seen me through the trees, so he couldn’t have exp
ected to meet me.
Sky hissed at him again, but he barely spared the little cat a glance.
“I think you should drop the act, Blair. I’m not as easy to fool as some of the other hunters you might have encountered.”
No—he wasn’t a fool. But that didn’t mean I had the faintest clue what’d got him so wound up.
“Act?” I said. “If you’re going to tell me to stay away from Nathan, then that’s not happening. As for what I did to the other hunters, I’m not sorry I cost Sleepy, Dopey and Grumpy their jobs or sent the hunters packing from town for trying to unseat the council.”
“Cost who their jobs?” He shook his head. “Blair, I’ve heard of your exploits, but that’s not what I’m referring to. Since it seems you are indeed as slow as you’re pretending to be, I mean your fairy nature, of course.”
A cold hard pit formed in my stomach. “What, that’s why you want me to stay away from Nathan? I might be a fairy, but I grew up human and have no paranormal benchmark to measure myself against. I’m learning as I go, not trying to corrupt anyone. You must know you sound ridiculous. Besides, Nathan’s a grown man who can take care of himself.”
“He’s known for making rash decisions that go against tradition.”
I blinked at him. “What, leaving the hunters?”
“Yes. Now my daughter has decided to follow in his footsteps.”
Oh. Nathan had told me ages ago that Erin only joined the hunters to prove to her brothers that she could. I doubted I was in any way responsible for her decision.
“That’s her choice, too,” I said. “I didn’t say a word to her. What’s your issue with me? Sure, my cat might have caused an incident at dinner, but it’s not like I did anything dangerous or illegal.”
His gaze was sharp. “Your family members are known to be criminals and miscreants. It’s no big secret, especially to us.”
My breath caught. He knows. Of course he knows. Blythe’s mother never did tell me the details of what my family had supposedly done, but maybe he knew.
“I can’t have learned to be a criminal mastermind from my family if I’ve never met them,” I pointed out. “Can I?”