by Mara Webb
“How could he have known I would land safely; I didn’t even know I was capable of that,” I replied.
“Yeah, I mean that was some top-notch witch stuff. Effie and I were psyched about it!” she grinned. “Effie’s gotta go get the café ready for game-day, that’s why she’s just left. Don’t know if you heard but she was downstairs trying to tell me that she had a date for Shell’s Day and I just don’t buy it.”
“Game day?” I repeated.
“Yeah, its Shell’s Day today,” Kate replied. “The café is gonna be crazy from the moment it opens so Effie had to get over there to prep.”
“That’s today?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons that lover boy came to visit. I told him right to his face that the wolf thing was a jaw-dropper move, he didn’t seem up for discussing it,” Kate shrugged. Miller wasn’t a huge fan of conversations about his werewolf status.
“He came for me? What time is that thing supposed to start?” I asked.
“There will be events on all day long,” Kate replied. “I’m sure you will still have plenty of time to hold hands and look longingly into each other’s eyes.”
“What do you mean still have time?
“Well Greta wanted to talk to you about what went on yesterday, I’m pretty surprised you haven’t woken up asking a million questions about the thing with the water,” Kate shrugged. “But hey, I heard you shouting Ryder’s name in your sleep, so you clearly had other things on the brain.”
My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and I wished for the ground to swallow me. Then I remembered who I was talking to.
“I wasn’t shouting his name, was I? You’re teasing me,” I groaned.
“Ha, of course I am. You were sleeping like a log, but I came up here and you were still thinking about your saucy dreams so I could read you like a book. It’s our little secret though,” she winked. Darn mind readers.
“Hello?” Greta called from the hallway. “I would knock but… well I don’t have a solid form!”
“Come on in, the party is alive and kicking in here,” I said. “No one else has asked for permission before coming into the room, so you may as well join us!” Kate summoned one of the pillows from the head of the bed using her magic, then threw it back at me.
Greta floated through the bedroom door and looked at me for a few seconds with concern. “It’s been a crazy week!” she finally smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay, I couldn’t help you on Green Holt and I knew things were getting spicy because Ryder kept talking about you. I mean, talking about you more than he usually does, which is a lot.”
Greta was sulking now. Before she had died, she’d had an enormous crush on Ryder, clearly her feelings were persisting despite the fact that Ryder had expressed feelings for me on a few occasions.
“Are you just following Ryder around now?” Kate asked. “Dude get a life! Ha, I made a joke!”
“Oh sure, let’s all pick on the dead chick,” Greta grinned. “Listen, I need to talk to you about the incident with the water.”
“Shoot,” I said, plumping the pillows behind me and getting comfortable for what I assumed would be a long story.
“Effie said she got a photo of the dead guy in the arms of someone underwater, right?” Greta began. “That was Natalie!”
“I got that on my own, but go on,” I nodded.
“When Robert didn’t show up to leave the island with her, she went searching. She looked everywhere but he had obviously already been killed and hidden by then. She thought he’d just abandoned her, changed his mind about the whole thing and fled. Her grief led her to the water and, well let’s just say that some of the rumors about Green Holt are true.”
“The water took her back?” I guessed.
“Yep! Natalie was a witch, a powerful one at that. She took to the ocean and lived there as a spirit, grieving for her lost love and hoping that one day she would have the answers. She is the one that gave you that peridot stone, she was guiding you to the truth. Once Robert’s death was uncovered, their spirits were reunited and she had the answers, but only one way to communicate them; through the gem on your finger.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“Natalie was kinda making the whole ocean around Green Holt a ‘no-float-zone’ for ghosts, but now she is happy again, so we can travel around. Her rage was strong enough that it was keeping us away, but it turns out she’s actually super chatty, so we hung out last night after you threw the ring back to her,” Greta explained. “She was trying to speak with you, but she couldn’t find her voice. That’s why she was just staring at you a whole bunch. She said sorry about that, by the way.”
I thought about the figure watching me from the trees by the lagoon, the thing that had jumped out of our boat and into the water just before I got the peridot.
“Did she leave me a note?” I asked.
“Note?” Greta said. “I don’t think so, that must have been someone else. Her magic caused Tony’s fire to become dark flame, that’s why the colors were so strange. I’m guessing you haven’t seen a lot of dark fire before. Effie told me about it.”
“Yeah… I don’t like that I don’t know who left a note on my pillow,” I grimaced. “This whole place is freaky, I figured the only thing I needed to worry about round here was water snakes, or sharks, or both. Now the sea is haunted? Give me a break,” I sighed.
“Cool though, right? Very Shakespearean I think,” Kate swooned. “Throwing yourself into the sea because you lost the man you love? It’s almost as romantic as throwing yourself out of a cliff-side cave for the witch you love… like Miller did!”
“Yeah, I could see where you were going with that one, thanks!” I teased.
I pulled the sheets off my legs and climbed out of bed. Kate repeated several more times how hot it was that Miller had risked plummeting to his death for me, and I listened with a smile. I agreed with her, obviously, but the Ryder dream had thrown me through a loop.
Greta helped me choose a suitable outfit for the day while Kate continued rambling about nothing in particular, and soon I was heading downstairs to join in the festivities.
“Are you going to this golf thing next week?” Kate asked. I was pouring fruity pebbles into a bowl and checking the expiry date on the milk, but still gave her a look of concern.
“Golf thing? What golf thing? It’s not really my bag, too much standing around,” I complained.
“Oh, I mean, you’re the peacekeeper so your attendance is mandatory, but I thought you might have made additional plans that’s all,” Kate grinned.
“Mandatory? I need to get myself a manager or something,” I laughed. A knock on the door caused Kate to leap off her chair, throw the golf tournament flyer in my direction and run into the hallway.
“Miller, Miller, Miller,” she cawed from the front door. “Get in here you. Sadie is looking like a total ten today, so treat her accordingly.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he mumbled just loud enough for me to here. Swoon.
“Well, I’ll leave you too it,” Kate shouted. “Greta, come with me! We can go see if there are any strays wandering around the Shell’s Day parade route looking for a bombshell like me to kiss under the moonlight later.”
“Strays?” I heard Miller whisper.
“Unaccompanied men,” Greta clarified as she floated past the kitchen in Kate’s direction. “Bye guys!”
Just like that we were alone. Miller was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking down at his shoes and clenching his fists. It was hard to read what he was thinking. Not that I was a mind reader like Kate, but just that I usually had a better idea about what was going on. Not today though.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said. “When Tony knocked you off the ledge I just… my mind went blank, I guess. I suppose the phrase ‘animal instinct’ explains it best.”
“Scared me? What do you think scared me?” I asked, taking a step closer. I put my cereal bowl on the counter and wat
ched Miller carefully as he lifted his head up to look at me.
“You haven’t seen me in the daylight like that. Heck, I haven’t seen me in the daylight like that,” he said.
“I know you are keen to get rid of me,” I teased. “But you risked your life for me, hard to see any part of that as a negative regardless of the fact that you had four legs at the time.”
Miller looked at me and I found myself compelled to be the one to close the distance. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. Our mouths found each other, and we kissed in a way that we never had before. I could feel my magic surging in my body, the rush of it tingling in my fingertips. This was a new sensation and it consumed me completely. In that moment, there was nothing in the world that could distract me.
Miller leaned back and I opened my eyes to regard him, my head swimming with possibilities.
“Er… Sadie?” he laughed. He looked down and I realized that we were hovering a few inches off the ground. He brushed a finger behind my ear and lifted up a chunk of hair that was the same shade of blue as the little lightning bolts I always saw on my palms. “Cool dye job, Effie and Kate are gonna love it!”
The magic surge had changed my hair color. Well that’s new.
“I’m sure they will,” I rolled my eyes. I managed to gain enough control over my magic to lower Miller and I back to the ground, then laced my fingers with his. “Now what’s this I hear about a Shell’s Day parade?”
“Oh!” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a velvet box. He opened it up and inside was a necklace made up of a thin, silver chain with a scallop shell pendant. “This is part of the tradition for Shell’s Day. It wouldn’t be right of me to take you out into the middle of that parade without it,” he smiled.
Miller removed the necklace from the box and indicated that I should turn around so he could fasten it for me. I lifted up my hair to expose my neck and looked down at the shell pendant as it fell against my chest. It was so delicate and beautiful, but the feeling of his breath on my skin was even more wonderful than the gift itself.
“I love it,” I said. “Really goes well with my new blue streak!”
“Shall we?” he smiled, gesturing to the door. I held his hand again and we walked out of the house in the direction of the high street, the upbeat music filled the air, and I could hear cheers and singing. I still had no real idea what to expect from the event but having Miller’s hand in mine was all I could think about.
“Hey, Kate said I have to go to a golf thing next week. What’s she talking about?” I asked.
“Wow has Greta not mentioned that to you already?” he replied. “Let’s just enjoy today, we can worry about the golf tournament later.” Worry?
What was there to worry about?
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