Hemlocked and Loaded

by Annabel Chase

  Markos cupped her chin in his oversized paw. "It took a lot of courage for you to confess to both of us like this. To me, that shows your true character."

  She wiped her cheeks with another tissue. "I'm so happy to hear that, but it's really Emma I’ve wronged."

  My chest tightened as I watched the witch blow her nose again. How could I not forgive someone with so much love in her heart, she was willing to risk losing Markos by telling the truth?

  "I forgive you, Beatrice," I said. “We all make mistakes. It’s how we handle them that matters. And I think you and Markos have more in common than you might believe.”

  Beatrice scrunched her nose. “We do?”

  “You’re a good witch, Beatrice,” Markos said. “And smart, beautiful, incredibly organized…”

  I laughed. “I don’t think her organizational skills are what made you fall in love with her.”

  “Markos…He loves me?” She didn't dare meet his gaze for fear of seeing the wrong answer in his eyes.

  He bent down and kissed her wet cheek. "Markos does. And he’s sorry he didn't see it sooner."

  Beatrice smiled through her tears. "Can Markos stop talking about himself in the third person? It's making Beatrice question her choices."

  When they laughed, the sound echoed in the night air. I couldn’t have been more thrilled for them.

  "I'd like to have Nameless Faces play for the reception here,” I said, my mind racing. If we held the reception at multiple venues, we could have Look Mom, No Wings play at Moonshine, too. It would be an incredible night for the whole town. "And we’ll take the two largest packages for drinks and dessert."

  "How will you divide up the guests?" Markos asked. "I imagine the shifters will want to be together."

  I shook my head. "Nope. Everyone is getting mixed up. This is going to be like high school." I thought of the wide range of paranormals exiting the high school when I went to see Sean. A melting pot. A potpourri. A cornucopia. Whatever it was, it was beautiful and that was exactly what I wanted for our wedding day.

  "Congratulations, Emma," Markos said. "I have a feeling your wedding is going to be one for the Spellbound history books."

  I did, too. I only hoped it was for the right reasons.

  Chapter 18

  Now that Rochester had given me a chance to get the charges against Tomlin dropped, I wasted no time getting out to the Akers’ land. I was about to start a brand new chapter in my life and I wanted the same for the werelynx.

  I drove Sigmund back to the Akers’ property to gather evidence to present to the wizard prosecutor. Sedgwick flew above the car, never one to miss an opportunity to hunt.

  You drive like an old, blind woman, he said.

  And you complain like one, I countered.

  Maybe you can have your wedding reception out here, Sedgwick suggested. This place is big enough to fit everyone in town.

  For some reason, I doubt the Akers would agree to it. They seem to dislike trespassers.

  When are you going to talk to Daniel about the multiple receptions? the owl asked.

  When I have time, I huffed. As you can see, I’ve been a little busy.

  I think you’re stalling.

  I have complete confidence Daniel will love the idea, I said.

  Not to take the spotlight off you, Bridezilla, but I don’t see any signs of a boundary, Sedgwick said. Not from this vantage point.

  Last I checked, a werelynx lacked the ability to fly, I said. I’ll check things out from the ground, thanks.

  I’ll shout if I see any dung piles, Your Highness, the owl said. Wouldn’t want you to ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes.

  I would appreciate that. I parked the car on the side of the road and stopped to study the perimeter of the field. Nothing obvious here. I trudged across the land, scanning for any sign of ownership. Tomlin was right. I could see the Akers’ house in the distance, but it was unclear they owned this patch of property.

  I surveyed the ground, careful to avoid stepping on poop or roots. There were loads of wild vegetables growing here. It was obvious why Tomlin thought this was a good place to forage. The vegetables weren’t in neat rows, nor did they appear to be cared for by anyone except Mother Nature.

  Poop alert, two o’clock, Sedgwick said.

  I glanced at the ground slightly to my right. I don’t see any.

  Not yet, he said. Incoming!

  I hopped to the left as Sedgwick dropped a bomb. “Hey! There’s a whole field here. No need to cut it so close.”

  Sedgwick chuckled. Sorry. When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.

  I turned my attention back to the field, determined to ignore my cheeky familiar. All these vegetables are making me hungry. Now I want to go home and make a stew.

  Sedgwick flew down to investigate. Throw a few mice in and I’m all over it.

  I wrinkled my nose. “No, thank you. Now I’ve lost my appetite.”

  He settled on a nearby stump. I won’t tell if you want to take anything away as, you know, evidence.

  “You won’t tell because no one else can hear you,” I said. “But I have no interest in stealing from the Akers. They’ve felt traumatized enough.”

  Aren’t you technically trespassing? Sedgwick asked.

  “I have permission to investigate the area,” I said. At least I hoped so. I probably should have gotten that in writing. I didn’t want to end up defending myself in court.

  I inspected the variety of plants and vegetables. “I wonder why the Akers don’t use these for food. I see rosemary, carrots, and parsnip…” An image flashed in my mind of the plants in Janis Goodfellow’s magical greenhouse.

  What’s wrong? Sedgwick asked. You’ve got that weird look on your face like you know your pants are too tight, but you want to justify why you should still wear them.

  “First of all, there’s no expression that says all that,” I said. “Second of all, I think I may be wrong.”

  You? Wrong? Sedgwick asked with mock horror. Now that’s something I’d like to get in writing.

  I crouched down to inspect the parsnip. “I don’t think this is a vegetable, Sedgwick. I think it’s hemlock.”

  Hemlock does grow in the wild, Sedgwick said.

  “I know,” I said. “I learned all about it from Janis. I’d like to take some to her to confirm my findings.”

  Don’t touch it, Sedgwick warned. Even skin contact can have a negative effect on you.

  “Aw, I’m so touched that you care,” I replied.

  I don’t want you to look like a circus freak on your wedding day and scare your guests. He paused. On second thought, go on and touch it.

  “I need to find something to dig it up with,” I said. I ended up using a stick to dig the root out of the ground and then wrapped it in a few burdock leaves to carry it.

  A noise across the field drew my attention. I rose to my feet to look around. “Oh no. I hope it’s not the Akers,” I said.

  It’s probably an animal, Sedgwick said. I saw quite a few from the air. Even a skunk.

  “Could you make yourself useful and scope out the area?” I asked. “If it’s the Akers, I don’t want them to attack me.”

  Sedgwick took to the skies and flew in a long circle as I made my way back to the car.

  Any sign? I asked.

  No signs of land ownership. No signs of the Akers. Basically, no signs.

  I got into my car and drove straight to Janis Goodfellow’s. There was no time to waste. If Janis confirmed that the plant was hemlock rather than parsnip, I’d have my answer.

  Well, the good news is that Rochester will probably drop the charges against your client, Sedgwick said.

  Yes, but the bad news is that if what I’m thinking is right, I said, trespassing is going to be the least of poor Tomlin’s concerns.

  The first thing I noticed when I stepped into my office was the blossoming plant on my windowsill. The second thing I noticed was the large vat located behind my chair. Given its size
and shiny silver coating, I probably should've noticed it first.

  I tapped on Althea's adjoining door. "I see you decided to make some improvements to my office."

  The door jerked open and Althea appeared in the doorway. "Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

  I gestured toward the two new additions. Her expression brightened. "It's not even my birthday. What's the occasion?" She sauntered into the room and went to inspect the plant. “She’s a beauty. We’ll take good care of you, won’t we?”

  “I thought you brought these," I said.

  "No, Miss Boss," she said. "I haven’t been in here all day. I was waiting for you to roll out of bed."

  I laughed. "You know I don't stay in bed all day, right? I do other things before I come here." Sorceress training, academy classes, wedding planning, therapy…the list was endless.

  "Sure. Other things like sleep." Althea stroked the leaves of the plant. "This one's absolutely gorgeous. Oh, look. There's a note." She snatched it from where it was nestled near the soil and began to read. "It's addressed to both of us." Her snakes hissed as she continued to read. "Beatrice murdered our plant? Did you know that?”

  "Not for very long," I admitted. "I was waiting to see if she would tell you herself. I guess this is her way of making amends."

  Althea inclined her head toward the vat of what I had no doubt was moonshine. "She's doing a pretty good job, I'll say that much. You're cool with her now?"

  I told Althea about our conversation at the Tiki Bar. “I worried at first that she was going to turn into another Elsa, but she’s so much better than that." Anyone who was brave enough to confess to Althea and try to make things right was okay in my book.

  "She was even smart enough to store the vat in your office," Althea said. “That shows good judgment.”

  “I’m glad you think so, because you’re going to be sitting next to her at the reception."

  Althea seemed surprised. "I assumed I'd be sitting with Amanda and Miranda. Everyone always lumps us Gorgons together.”

  "We’re mixing things up this time, Althea," I said. "Whatever happens, it's going to be a night to remember."

  Althea gave me a pointed look. "Be careful what you wish for, Emma."

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “Everything’s under control.”

  “Good, because I’ve got a nail appointment. Seeing your cuticles last week reminded me I’m long past due.”

  Heat warmed my cheeks. “Maybe you should make me an appointment while you’re there.”

  “I insist on it.”

  Twenty minutes later, I sat at my desk, pretending to review Tomlin's file. It was difficult to focus on the words. My mind kept drifting to the complexities of life and the choices we make. Sometimes even when we try to be the best versions of ourselves, we fall short. At least changes were coming to the sentencing guidelines. That made me feel a little bit better about what was about to happen, but I took no pleasure in it.

  The office door opened and Tomlin popped his head inside. "Are you ready for me?"

  I waved him in. "Right on time."

  "I come bearing gifts," he said, and lifted a coffee cup in each hand. "Every time I've been to see you, your assistant has given you a latte. I figured I'd save her the trouble this time.”

  My heart sank. Tomlin was a good paranormal. He didn't deserve this unfortunate turn of events. "Thank you so much," I said, accepting the latte. I took a sip and sighed contentedly. "I don't know what I’d do without Brew-Ha-Ha."

  Tomlin sat in the chair across from me and grinned. "You'd start going to Perky’s."

  "I guess that's true, but it wouldn't be the same. Not for me."

  Tomlin sipped from his own cup. "So you said you had information to share. Have they dismissed the trespassing charges against me?"

  "Unfortunately not," I said. "But I wouldn’t worry about that right now because you’re going to have bigger dragons to slay."

  Tomlin's eyes widened. "Bigger dragons? What does that mean?"

  I took another sip of my latte and the liquid warmed my insides, despite the slightly bitter taste. "Did you get the extra shot of confidence?"

  "No, is that what you normally have? I added a shot of luck," he replied.

  My brow creased. "A shot of luck? I didn't even know they offered that." They should promote it to the casino crowd.

  Tomlin remove the lid from his cup and blew off the steam. "So tell me about the bigger dragon. Sounds serious.”

  “It is. I went to the Akers’ property again to have another look at the borders."

  "And?" he prompted.

  "I noticed something." I paused. My stomach began to feel funny. I was probably nervous about what I was about to say. "I found wild hemlock growing there."

  "I didn't realize hemlock grew naturally here,” Tomlin said.

  "It's rare," I said. "But there are a few places in town and, apparently, you discovered one of them. The Akers weren't even aware because they neglect that space.” I met his gaze. "You didn’t realize when you dug it up because it looks just like parsnip.”

  Tomlin appeared stunned. “Hemlock looks like parsnip? How would I know that? I'm not a wizard."

  “You wouldn’t know that,” I said reassuringly. “To the untrained eye, it looks like a root vegetable. Anyone could have made that mistake, Tomlin.”

  Tomlin's lips formed a regretful line. “Seamus and I had made up. The stew was a peace offering, like I told you. I didn't realize there was anything wrong. Even after I came back to the house and saw him losing muscle control, I didn’t know why.”

  “And remind me why you left? You didn’t want to try your own stew?”

  “No, no. I’d planned for us to eat the stew together, but I forgot the oregano that I wanted to sprinkle on top. It was the piece de resistance, as Geena used to say. I didn't want to leave it out, so I ran home for it.”

  “But then you never ate the stew,” I said.

  “How could I? I was too busy watching Seamus die,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “I didn’t want to touch the stew after that. I even threw out the leftovers. I still consider myself lucky that I didn’t eat it. When the autopsy report came back, I knew I’d dodged a silver bullet.” He stopped talking and his face reddened.

  I studied him. “How would the autopsy report have tipped you off that it was your stew? You said you didn’t know anything about wild hemlock.”

  Tomlin sipped his latte. “Okay, fine. Geena had warned me about it one time when she persuaded me to go foraging with her. I’d forgotten her little sermon until I heard the autopsy results, then it all came rushing back to me and I realized what had happened. So now you know the truth. Happy?”

  “Of course I’m not happy,” I said, my frustration evident. “Why didn’t you turn yourself in? You even tried to direct me to Sean!”

  “I honestly wasn’t trying to mislead you there,” Tomlin replied. “I wasn’t thinking about it when I mentioned his visit. I convinced myself I’d done nothing wrong. It’s amazing the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day.”

  “And I guess you told us about Seamus’s fight with Maxwell before you knew it was your stew.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “I’m not a complete monster.”

  He could’ve fooled me. In fact, it seemed that he had. At that moment, the coffee cup slipped from my hand. My fingers seemed to be disconnected from my body.

  "Tomlin,” I choked. “Did you put hemlock in my latte?"

  Tomlin gave me a rueful smile. "I told you I added a shot of luck. I just neglected to mention the luck was for me."

  I gaped at him. "Why?" My other hand began to feel numb.

  "I saw you at the Akers’ property that day," he admitted. "I was trying to do the same as you. Figure out whether there was a clear boundary for the trespassing case so I could help get it dismissed. I didn’t want to avoid a murder charge only to be sent away for a trespassing charge. I was in my lynx form. That's why you d
idn't see me. We’re very stealthy creatures when we need to be.”

  My throat became dry. "How could you tell I knew what had happened?”

  "Your expression,” he said. "You were shocked when you discovered what looked like parsnip. I realized then that you’d figured it out. I’d considered digging up the whole field of them before then, but it was impossible with those nosy wereferrets around.”

  "I wasn't even sure whether you knew what you’d done," I said. "I thought maybe it would come as a surprise to you now." Clearly not. The realization was both disappointing and horrifying. I wanted Tomlin to be better than this. I wanted everyone to be better than this. "So now you’ve gone and poisoned me, too?"

  “I’m starting to turn my life around and I can’t let you ruin it. It isn’t fair.”

  My pulse began to slow. “And this is fair to me how? I only want to help you.”

  “But you’ll have to turn me in,” Tomlin argued. “You’d never get away with ignoring the evidence.”

  My body weakened. “And you’ll never get away with this.”

  “Sure I will. I checked first that Althea wasn't here before giving it to you,” he said. He took my cup and wiped the outside of it with a cloth from his pocket. "Anyone could have poisoned your latte. You have powerful enemies, you know. Mayor Knightsbridge is already under house arrest. It wouldn’t be difficult to pin this on her."

  My chest tightened. "You forgot one thing."

  "What's that?"

  “After I confirmed it was hemlock with Janis Goodfellow, I told Astrid what I knew," I said. “I asked her to meet me here after I got your side of the story. I knew what I had to do, as difficult as it was. It shouldn’t be long now.” Too late for me, but not too late to catch the killer.

  “No, it shouldn’t.” Tomlin shot out of the chair like a rocket.

  As weak as I felt, I mustered the strength to conjure a quick spell. “As gentle as a morning breeze/make this lying werelynx freeze.”

  The basic spell was all I could manage. I slouched in the chair, too incapacitated to move. The door flew open and Astrid appeared. She took one look in the room and knew there was a problem. She bypassed the frozen werelynx and rushed to my side.