Collards & Cauldrons

by Bella Falls

  Nana’s mouth curved with a slight grin. “If I were you, I might try talking to them rather than treating them like animals you have to control.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” the chief grumbled. Facing the growing problem, he watched as his force was losing to a pack of angry fae. “Jones, Hollins, get in there. You two,” he pointed at my grandmother and me. “Don’t even think about moving.”

  Left to stand together, I watched the additional wardens attempt to hold the horde back with concern. “Why does this scene please you?” I asked my grandmother.

  “It doesn’t. I’m mortified, but I’m also relieved to see the wardens struggle,” Nana whispered back. “It means things are coming to an end.”

  I hated when she got cryptic with me. “What do you mean?”

  “Wait and see,” my grandmother commanded. “But the chief is going to learn that true authority and power doesn’t come from a titled position. It comes from making a lot of friends.”

  My head went through the list of people Nana might have called upon, and my fear and doubt over losing dissipated. No one played against my grandmother and got out of the game without being a little roughed up.

  David pushed his way to the front of the crowd and caught sight of me. “Her. Let us talk to her,” he called out.

  The crowd of fae pushed forward to see who the half-dryad wanted to speak to, and the wardens struggled to keep them back.

  Disobeying the chief’s orders, I stepped forward, careful to take notice of the two small bodies and give them a wide berth. “Chief,” I yelled for him to hear me over the din. “Let me talk to him. I think I can help with the situation.”

  He gazed at me, struggling to decide if he should let me help. When the fae pushed back on the wardens’ hold again, he gave in. “Fine. Make it quick.”

  David convinced his colleagues to quiet down. He waited for me in the no man’s land with the two dead pixies. “I found them like that. We heard they were going to arrest your grandmother, and they wanted to talk to the warden to stop them,” his voice trembled.

  “I’m so sorry. Do you have any idea who might have done it?” I asked.

  A few in the back screamed out accusations that a witch did it.

  The sprite who spoke to me before pushed her way to the front. “Why would one of us want to kill our own? No, it has to be one of them.” She pointed her toilet brush at the wardens.

  A tiny spark erupted in the wardens’ shield where she aimed. For whatever reason my grandmother was privy to, the fae’s powers were not as dampened as the wardens expected. If the sprite or any of her compatriots figured that little tidbit out, everyone in the area would find out what we all knew in Honeysuckle—the fae had far more power than most suspected.

  “David, we need to keep things calm,” I pleaded with the half-dryad. “I have a feeling everything is going to work out soon enough. But if you and your friends do any damage, you’ll create a bigger mess.”

  “We want to know that we will be taken seriously and that someone will find out who took Flit and Fleet’s life. If the big man there will guarantee that, I will do my best to calm them down,” David proposed. “Also, we want the pixies to be treated with respect.”

  “That I guarantee.” I glanced over at the bodies. “I’m so sorry,” I repeated.

  “Me, too.” David took a deep breath. Turning back to the group, he waved his hands in the air. They quieted enough to listen to what he had to say.

  I closed the distance between me and the chief. “They want you to treat the death of the pixies with respect and to promise you will do your best to discover who did it.”

  The man wrinkled his nose. “Those things think they can make demands?”

  His words upset me enough that I considered crossing sides and joining David and his friends. “They are not things. They are fae. Each one has a different lineage and culture, and they deserve to be treated with respect. See what happens when you do?”

  I gestured at his line of wardens who no longer struggled to keep up a shield. The hotel workers on the other side stood quietly, watching me talk and waiting for the chief’s answer.

  The man in charge considered his options. “What was it they wanted again?”

  “They want to be heard. They want the dead pixies to be treated the same way you would if they were witches.” I listed out the few demands David gave me. “You can do that or you could see how long your wardens will last. You wanted others to see you in charge? Now’s a perfect time to make the right choice.”

  He hesitated, and a murmur of unrest rippled through the group of fae. Taking a deep breath, he called out his order. “All wardens, stand down.”

  Looking at each other, his deputies dropped their hands and the shield disappeared.

  “You and you and you, stay here and take statements from anyone willing to talk. Jones, I want you to guard the bodies until I call in more help.” The chief shot me a side glance of irritation. “I will deal with these two.”

  As the wardens scrambled to carry out his new orders, the lights flashed on and off. The noise of the hotel ground to a halt, and we were plunged into silent darkness.

  “What in fresh Hades is going on now?” the chief barked.

  The lights returned after a tense minute, and I watched a big grin spread on Nana’s face. She winked at me, and I prepared myself for something amazing to happen.

  A light purple glow appeared in mid-air in the space between the chief and David. It extended down until it opened, ripping a hole in the room.

  A bright floral scent wafted in the air, and a lilting voice I recognized breezed through. “Aspetta, signore.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Agent Giacinta fluttered through the ripped entrance from the fairy path. “Mi displace del ritardo,” she addressed me. “I wish we might meet under better circumstances in the future.”

  “Who are you and how did you get in here?” Chief Huxley blinked and examined the sparkling portal until the space knitted itself closed and disappeared.

  The fairy’s presence both reassured me and provided evidence to back up my suspicions of my grandmother working something behind the scenes the entire time we’d been here. No doubt, Giacinta’s arrival tied into the incremental increase of power from the fae.

  The tiny agent’s wings flapped as she hovered by me, lavender dust floating down onto the floor. She approached the crowd of fae watching her with cautious gazes, ignoring the wardens all together. “My friends, you will no longer have your freedoms hindered. I ask for your patience as my agents and I sort through the travesty that has ruled your lives for far too long.”

  Large tears rolled down David’s face. “How can you guarantee that?”

  “Oh,” the fairy agent tittered. “I didn’t introduce myself, did I? I am Agent Giacinta of the International Magical Patrol, and for now, this situation and the magical community of the city are under my authority.”

  “But you’re a fae like us,” the surly gnome I’d encountered before piped up.

  Giacinta’s wings quivered. “I am, and after we are finished fixing things, any of you could have the opportunity to work with me or anywhere you choose. But for now, I ask for your patience and cooperation.” She glanced down at the two bodies underneath her. “I will have my colleagues come down here to investigate.”

  The chief stepped forward. “I’ve already assigned some of my force to handle interviews.”

  Finally acknowledging his presence, the fairy agent bobbed in front of him. “Good. Then they can assist my agents. You will be needed upstairs.”

  “I still don’t understand how you got in here or who you think you are, taking over like this,” Chief Huxley huffed.

  “If you don’t agree with the IMP agent in charge, then you can accept my authority, Chief.” Deputy Inspector Pine from the World Organization of Wardens joined us.

  The chief relaxed a bit. “Finally, a friendly face. What in the Sam Hill is going on?”


  The deputy inspector raised his eyebrows. “I think it best, Chief Huxley, if you would comply with whatever orders the agent gave you.” His eyes widened as if to convey some unspoken message. “Understand?”

  The chief screwed up his face. “If you say so, Pine.”

  “All will be explained in short order.” Agent Giacinta greeted others from her agency entering the room and gave them strict instructions.

  David called me over to him. “Is she someone you trust?”

  I nodded with enthusiasm. “I’ve worked with her before. She and her organization will make sure all of you will be able to live as you please. You’ll be free to make your own choices for your lives.”

  He accepted my assurances, and I returned to the fairy and my grandmother.

  “Va bene,” Agent Giacinta exclaimed. With a flourish, she produced her wand and waved it over Nana’s ankle monitor, which unlocked and dropped onto the floor.

  “Thank you, Agent,” my grandmother gushed in relief.

  “Prego.” The fairy got rid of her wand with another flick of her hand. “If you would please allow me to escort you upstairs, we may begin.”

  “Begin what?” I hated sounding as ignorant as the chief, who grumbled his way up the staircase.

  Nana encouraged me to follow him but held me back at the last second. “To make the final play of the game.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’ve been working with them all along, haven’t you?”

  Without answering, she nudged me forward, and the three of us made our way to the ground floor. We walked down a deserted corridor to the hall where the food had been set up. The aroma of the leftovers caused my stomach to growl out loud.

  The fairy directed the chief and my grandmother into the big hall but led me into a smaller room. She hovered at the door, and I addressed her before entering. “I have to say, I’ve never been so happy to see you, Agent Giacinta.”

  She grinned and winked. “Perhaps after we finish here, you would allow me the honor of taking a meal with you. And then maybe you will call me Gia. All my friends do.”

  It warmed me to have her call me her friend, but I knew better than to do so in front of the unhappy chief. When I entered the smaller room, my friends surrounded me, all of them trying to update me about what they’d heard or seen. I did my best to decipher all of the information but got lost in the tumult of excitement.

  “Would y’all be quiet and move out of the way so I can get to my sister?” Matt pushed between Blythe and Lily, and I launched myself at him.

  “What are you doing here?” I managed to choke out through my sudden tears.

  My brother hugged me hard. “You think word gets out about our grandmother about to get arrested for murdering somebody and we don’t all hear about it? I’ve been trying to get into the hotel now for hours. It took the arrival of WOW and IMP to get the local wardens to drop the wards.”

  “But we haven’t been able to use our spell phones because of the wards. Except that one time. Did Nana call you?” I asked.

  “Nana got word to us in Honeysuckle the night of the murder when she was taken to the station. She used her one phone call they allowed her to set things in motion.” Matt explained. “Because of her connections, she’s had a whole army fighting her battles on the outside.”

  “And all of us fighting for her on the inside.” I gestured at my group of friends milling around and comparing notes.

  “I think it’s got to be the daughter,” Lily claimed. “I heard that her relationship with her mother had deteriorated lately. And it was her name her mother called out before she died. Someone told me Peyton supposedly supported the group of witches who wanted to overthrow Priscilla.”

  “See, that’s who I think orchestrated the death,” her cousin Lavender countered. “There are two or three of the ladies who had good reasons to want the leadership to change.”

  “Would they kill to make that happen? Seems like an extreme way to alter things,” I asserted. “Mason and I spoke to Frances, the woman who moderated the first panel. I know for sure she was in direct conflict with Priscilla, even though she claims she didn’t kill her.”

  “Isn’t that what all suspects say?” Blythe joked. “They all say they didn’t do it, but someone has to be guilty.”

  “Just not Nana,” I claimed. Looking around, I noticed a person missing. “Where’s Mason?”

  “He’s talking to a WOW inspector, giving his impression of how the chief has mishandled everything from the beginning,” Matt replied.

  “And Ben’s doing his advocate thing, making sure your grandmother is legally covered.” Lily sighed loud and long. “I sure do love a smart man.”

  “We’re hard to come by,” my brother quipped.

  I snorted and he elbowed me. The return to somewhat normalcy relieved a lot of my tension and my brain had room to think through all the possibilities for who took Priscilla’s life. Even though the nasty woman had more people than most who wouldn’t be sad at her funeral, she only had a select few who would truly benefit from her absence. And one daughter who inherited everything.

  “So, is this where the party’s happenin’?” John D escorted Mama Lee into the small space. We jostled around to give them room to enter and I introduced them to my friends.

  I gave the older lady a hug. She leaned back and patted the spot on my chest where the mojo bag lay. “Good girl. I knew the root would work on you.”

  “I definitely feel luckier now than I did a few minutes ago. What are you doing here?” The lady’s presence surprised me in more ways than one. For someone who kept out of Charleston witch society’s business, she stood smack dab in the middle of the storm now.

  “Your grandmother called me the night they took her into the warden station.” She held both my hands in hers. “We had been prepared for her to report something bad after attending the conference. What we didn’t anticipate was anyone targeting her for a murder.”

  “Why do you think the wardens focused on Nana? Was it out of revenge for what happened with Calhoun Ravenel?” I’d been struggling to find a reason behind the unfair treatment of my grandmother the entire time.

  “Cal got himself into trouble all on his own. Even his sister didn’t think his approach against your town was smart,” John D stated with a little disdain in his voice. “The chief has been in the pocket of a few of the older families in town for some time.”

  “They ain’t gonna like the changes coming at ‘em now, but they’ll take their medicine if they know what’s good for ‘em.” Mama Lee cackled hard.

  Agent Giacinta hovered at the door. “Mi scusi. Oh, your group has grown in number, Charli.” She nodded her head in admiration. “May I ask for you all to join me in the other room?”

  We filed out and walked together into the room where the dinner had been served. All of the tables were folded and stacked against the walls. Several chairs were set up in a semi-circle with an aisle down the middle. A number of people sat in them, waiting, while Nana stood talking to a person in charge. Our group followed the fairy agent to the seats in the front two rows. Giacinta held me back and asked me to take the chair on the end.

  I glanced over at Peyton sitting across from me. Although she remained my biggest suspect, she wore innocence like an old suit. Then again, murderers hardly ever looked like the mustache-twirling villain. Well, maybe only the chief did.

  The fairy agent fluttered to the front and waited for the murmurs to die down. “All right. As you say in this country, we have our hands full at this moment.”

  “I would like to know why you have detained those of us who volunteered to come tonight,” Peyton complained from her seat across from me. “We provided hospitality to those who have been stuck in this hotel and for that, we are rewarded by being held here?”

  Agent Giacinta held up her hands. “If you would permit us some leeway, I am sure you will understand why those of you were chosen to stay. First, let me express my condolences to
you for the loss of your mother.”

  Peyton thanked her with a nod, and the fairy agent continued while bobbing in the air. “We have begun to allow those not involved to check out of the hotel and return home while we discuss what has happened.”

  I sucked in a breath. “Oh, no. Abigail.” Yes, I was mad at my cousin, but I had too many questions that needed answers.

  “I’ll go find her,” Mason whispered to me. He excused himself and left before I had time to stop him or thank him.

  Chief Huxley stood up. “I am still unclear as to how you can come into my town and think you can take over my authority.”

  “I would sit down and listen if I were you,” Nana warned.

  “Would you like to take over, Vivian?” Agent Giacinta asked, giving her the center stage spot.

  “Gladly. There are several loose ends that need tying up and some explanations given.” My grandmother’s eyes flashed to mine. “Ever since the Charleston district made noises about wanting to take over Honeysuckle, I put my feelers out to find out more about your magical community here. And what I discovered disturbed me to no end.”

  “What we do here is none of your concern,” the chief spit out.

  “And yet, someone on your witches’ council decided what we did was yours. Turnabout, Chief, is fair play,” Nana challenged. “I didn’t understand how underhanded your witch community had been all these years or I would have acted sooner.”

  “It’s not your fault, Vivi,” Mama Lee called out from her seat behind me. “We all weren’t aware of how deep the treachery went. Every one of you who lives here should be ashamed of how you’ve treated folk who are different from you. But that’s all changin’ now.”

  “What did you and your voodoo do now, Letitia?” Chief Huxley asked.

  John D stood so he could look at the chief directly. “It’s Hoodoo, sir, and if you aren’t willing to show us some respect, then I suggest you listen to the kinder lady up front and stay quiet until she finishes.”

  “What she did, Chief, is help me take down the magical enchantment, spells, and wards that controlled the magic of the fae here. As of now, all of the non-witch magical beings that have been living here have their full capacity of magic back,” my grandmother explained.