Magic & Monsters (Starry Hollow Witches Book 12)

by Annabel Chase

  “Okay, fine. You’re right. I have an agenda. I need to talk to one of your guests.”

  “Well, I only have one, so that should make the process of elimination pretty simply. Jarek Heidelberg?”

  “That’s the guy.” I sucked down more iced tea. “Is he here now?”

  “No, but he’ll be back any moment according to his last text.”

  I frowned. “He texts you?”

  “I told him to let me know when he’d be back so I could have food ready. He’s tracking that creature that Florian is so excited about.”

  “The tepen.”

  She snapped her fingers. “That’s the one.”

  “Are you sure he’s tracking it?” I was under the impression that Jarek would want to prevent others from tracking it, rather than hunting down the tepen himself.

  “I’m not sure. I sort of zoned out after he started talking about the environmental impact of tepen urine on local flora and fauna.” She grimaced. “He’s a smart guy, but not the best conversationalist at mealtimes. Of course, Hudson couldn’t get enough.”

  “Do you happen to remember if Jarek was here yesterday morning?”

  Linnea pursed her lips, deliberating. “No. He left before sunrise, same as today. He said the evidence suggests that the tepen is more active at dawn and dusk.”

  I turned my head at the sound of the front door opening and closing. “I guess that’s him.” I slid off the stool. “Mind if I intercept him?”

  “Be my guest.” She smiled. “Well, technically he’s my guest, but whatever. Do your duty.”

  I zipped through the dining room and into the foyer before he could head upstairs to his room. Following a strange guy to his room might send the wrong signal. I learned that one the hard way.

  “Excuse me. Are you Jarek?”

  He paused mid-step and looked at me. “That’s right.” His floppy brown hair dipped over one eye as though he’d failed to heed his mother’s advice that it was time for a haircut. Never mind that he looked at least thirty years old. That collared shirt and sweater vest screamed mama’s boy.

  I broke into a smile to put him at ease. “Hi. I’m Ember Rose, a reporter for Vox Populi. It’s the weekly paper here in Starry Hollow. I was hoping to ask you a few questions for an article I’m writing.”

  His face registered pleasant surprise. “You want to interview me? This is a first. Normally the media elbows me out of the way so they can get a better shot of whatever creature I’m trying to protect.”

  “I’m definitely not here to elbow you.” I flapped my elbows in a show of good faith. “I have questions about Winston York and the tepen.”

  His expression turned solemn. “I suppose you’ve heard the news. A terrible tragedy, albeit unsurprising. You can’t expect nature to treat you as a friend when you’ve treated nature with such blatant disrespect.”

  “I guess you’re relieved that he’s gone. You seem to have strong objections about Mr. York’s livelihood.”

  He splayed a hand against his sweater-vested chest. “I’m a tree nymph, Ms. Rose. I don’t wish living creatures ill will for any reason.”

  The guy was a literal tree hugger. Well, that made sense. “Are you thirsty? Linnea has homemade iced tea in the kitchen. We can sit outside and talk.”

  “That would be very nice. I much prefer the outdoors.”

  No surprise there. Jarek and I entered the kitchen where Linnea was in the process of removing the baked apple crumble from the oven.

  “Oh, how heavenly,” Jarek said, immediately fixated on the dessert. I couldn’t blame him; it looked mouthwateringly good and I didn’t typically go for fruit masquerading as dessert.

  “I’m testing the recipe, so it might be awful, but you’re welcome to try a piece.” Linnea pulled two plates from the cabinet.

  “I’ll be a willing test subject, for sure,” Jarek said.

  I made myself useful and poured the iced tea. “Jarek and I are going to sit on the back patio and talk.” The more I buttered him up now, the faster the answers would slide off his tongue. Hopefully.

  “I can bring these plates outside once it cools,” Linnea offered.

  I handed a glass to Jarek and motioned for him to follow me out the back door.

  “She’s a wonderful innkeeper,” Jarek said as we settled on opposite sides of the round wrought iron table. “Very attentive.”

  “She’s a wonderful everything,” I said.

  “I thought she was a witch, yet she doesn’t seem to use her magic much.” He swallowed a mouthful of iced tea. “It’s rare to meet a magic user that doesn’t like to flaunt it.”

  “She’s a Rose,” I said. “We have a unique history when it comes to magic.”

  His brow lifted. “Oh? I’m interested in hearing more. The natural world fascinates me.”

  I laughed. “We’re talking about magic, Jarek. There’s nothing natural about that.”

  “On the contrary. Magic to a witch is like salt to the ocean. A necessary and natural element.”

  I hadn’t thought about it like that before. “I guess the whole concept is still relatively new to me. Maybe I’d see it your way if I’d had magic from birth.”

  Jarek nearly spat out his iced tea. “What do you mean?”

  I waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, don’t get your branches in a knot. I’m a witch. I just didn’t know it until…It’s a long story and I need to interview you, not the other way around.”

  The back door opened and Linnea eased her way out with a plate in each hand. She set the dishes in front of us and pulled cutlery from her pocket.

  “I need honest feedback,” she said. “If it’s lacking, I don’t want to serve it to my guests.” She looked at Jarek and her brow furrowed. “Present company excluded.”

  “I volunteer as tribute,” I said and stuffed a generous piece in my mouth before anyone could say another word. Linnea watched me carefully for any sign of dismay. I had a terrible poker face, so I was grateful that the crumble was, in fact, amazing.

  “And you didn’t use any magic to make this?” Jarek asked, seeming suitably impressed. He’d also dug right in.

  “No. The recipe belongs to my boyfriend’s mother so I wanted to make sure I followed it to the letter.”

  Jarek flinched at the mention of a boyfriend and I felt a pang of sympathy for him. He seemed like a decent nymph, but didn’t he realize that Linnea was way out of his league?

  Heat rushed to my cheeks as I realized what I’d just thought. Out of his league? What did that even mean? Was I turning into Aunt Hyacinth?

  “Is it too hot?” Linnea asked, the lines in her brow deepening. “Your cheeks are bright pink.”

  “No, it’s perfect,” I said. “Must be the sun. I spent a lot of time outside today.”

  As Linnea returned to the house with a relieved smile, I downed the iced tea and returned to the crumble for another delicious bite.

  “A fellow nature lover then,” Jarek said. “There’s nothing better than the great outdoors. That’s why we have a duty to protect nature from ourselves. If we don’t, then who will?”

  “Tell me about your job,” I said. “You run around the world making trouble? I have to admit, I’m on board with the concept.” I shoveled more crumble into my mouth and let it melt on my tongue.

  “I’m an activist, Ms. Rose. I don’t run around for the purpose of causing trouble. My focus is on protecting and preserving rare species like the tepen. Sometimes I peacefully protest with signs that symbolize my discontent. Sometimes I go a step further and block entrances or slash tires.”

  “Basically you’re the nature activist equivalent of an angry ex-girlfriend.”

  He didn’t crack a smile. “I was fortunate enough to grow up with more money than I’ll ever need, so it feels right to spend my time doing something worthwhile.”

  “How do your parents feel about your job?” I wondered if they were like Aunt Hyacinth who would be mortified if Florian took any extreme action that su
llied the Rose name.

  “They would prefer that I settle down and get married, have a few children, drive a Honda SUV. That life doesn’t suit me though.”

  “Are you against having children?”

  “Like Winston York, I’m a proponent of population control. One of the beliefs we had in common.”

  “How did you know to come to Starry Hollow?” I asked. “Winston lived here, so it makes sense that he heard the news about the tepen before anyone else. How did you learn about it?”

  Jarek ducked his head. “I follow certain outlets outside mainstream media. There was an alert that mentioned York was emerging from retirement. I knew that meant a sighting of some kind.” He swigged his iced tea. “I was ecstatic when I learned it was because of a tepen spotting. A tepen is rarer than the Loch Ness monster.”

  “Wait. Nessie lives?” I’d always thought the swimming Scottish dinosaur was a myth. Somehow moving to the paranormal town of Starry Hollow didn’t change my perception.

  “Oh, Nessie lives. Multiples Nessies, actually. Beautiful creatures with the most elegant necks you’ve ever seen.” He sighed dreamily. “I only wish that places wouldn’t try to capitalize on their existence for the sake of a profit. It puts their very survival at risk.”

  I thought of Florian and his T-shirts and knew what Jarek’s opinion would be of my cousin’s attempt to capitalize on the tepen.

  “How did you become an activist?” I asked, genuinely intrigued. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn his parents were accountants.

  “When I was growing up, I was obsessed with nature. Some children made houses with toy logs or blocks. I made houses outside with sticks and invited the insects to live there.” He smiled at the memory. “Anyway, when I was seven, I watched a series about supernatural creatures on the verge of extinction and I knew they would be my calling.”

  “It seems to me that your interests were aligned with Winston York’s rather than at odds.”

  He blew a raspberry. “Nonsense. Winston York brought unnecessary attention to these rare and wondrous creatures. Every time he put a spotlight on one of them, they became more endangered than they were the day before. Same goes for the tepen.”

  “So you came here to what?” I prompted.

  “I came here to do what I always do. Disrupt his filming and prevent him from showing footage of the creature. That tepen deserves to spawn in peace. That egg deserves to hatch without an audience. Thanks to Winston York, there’s a parade of paranormals in town and they all pose a threat to the tepen.”

  “Without paranormals like York introducing these endangered creatures to the world, there’d be little to no funding to protect them,” I said. “His films generate interest. Arguably, the film you saw as a child generated your interest in saving them.”

  Jarek leaned forward, his face hardening. “Winston York was motived by selfishness and don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

  “Is that why you left the notecard for him?”

  He flinched. “You know about that?”

  “I went to visit his widow and found it in his workshop.”

  “I was hoping to dissuade him. Perhaps if I had, he’d still be alive.”

  “Yes, his widow had similar feelings on the subject.”

  “See? Selfish,” Jarek said. “His own wife preferred that he stay at home and leave the tepen be, but he was too driven by self-interest to care.”

  “How is it self-interest? He didn’t capture these creatures and sell them. He didn’t force them into captivity and reproduction. He didn’t have a zoo. How was he selfish?”

  “He should have left them alone.” Jarek crossed his arms and jutted out his chin. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s no better than Lionel Lattimer.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Boy, I really am giving you an education today, aren’t I?”

  “No need to rub it in. I told you I didn’t grow up in this world. I’d never heard of Winston York until a couple days ago.”

  Jarek studied me with a gleam in his eye. “To live in a world where no one’s heard of Winston York. Fascinating.”

  “No, Jarek. Not fascinating. I’m not one of your rare and endangered species. I’m just a witch.” I scraped the remnants of the crumble off my plate and ate them. “Now who’s Lenny Lassiter?”

  “Lionel Lattimer.” Jarek scowled at the mention of his name. “He owns a cosmetics company called Simply Sparkles. Fairies in particular flock to his products.”

  “Fairies would flock to a toddler’s finger-painting as long as it sparkled.”

  He chuckled. “You’ve caught on quickly for someone new to the paranormal world.”

  I wiggled my phone in my hand. “Being a reporter has forced me to learn.” I omitted the part about my impatient aunt and the coven lessons.

  “Why is the owner of a cosmetics company relevant?”

  “You have cosmetics companies in the human world, Ms. Rose. What are the issues that arise?”

  I pondered the question. “Animal testing?”

  “Not just testing on animals. Someone like Lattimer will pursue the same rare creatures as Winston York in an effort to extract any substances that might enhance his products.”

  “Wow. He chases down these creatures so he can take from them?” In my mind, Lionel Lattimer and Winston York were nothing alike.

  “He’s a scourge on this earth.”

  “Did you see York this week or was your only interaction the notecard you left for him?”

  “I saw him once, the day before he died. He was setting up his camera on the beach and I asked if he received my notecard and tried to convince him to go back into retirement.”

  “I’m sure that went well.”

  He snorted. “He saw me coming and got out his pepper spray.”

  “Have you assaulted him before?”

  Jarek hesitated. “Define assault.”

  “Pretty sure there’s a legal definition.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t intend to hurt him. I was only trying to protect the nest.”

  Oh, wow. Jarek had a history of attacking the victim? This didn’t bode well.

  “When was this?”

  “A few years ago in a town called Siren Lake. He was filming a rare supernatural bird.”

  “And that was a problem?”

  His nostrils flared. “Yes, it was a problem. His filming disrupted the nesting habits of the bird. Of three eggs, only one ended up hatching.”

  “And you blamed York?”

  “Of course I did. It was his interference. He should’ve left well enough alone. The knowledge that these creatures are out there and continuing to exist should be sufficient. No need to capture their images and habits at close range for the world to witness. How would you like to live in a fishbowl, Ms. Rose?”

  “Trust me. I’m in touch with that emotion. How did you assault him?”

  “I knocked him out of a tree,” Jarek mumbled.

  “How? You climbed up and pushed him?”

  “No, nothing as violent as that. I was trying to encourage him to come down and leave the nest and my powers took hold.”

  “Your tree nymph powers?” Most boring superpower ever.

  “Yes, the tree began to shake and before I knew it, Winston was on the ground in front of me. He broke his arm.”

  “I see.” I made a note to check out Winston’s medical records and confirm the break.

  “Not long afterward, he announced his retirement. He didn’t retire right away, mind you. It was more of a publicity stunt to bring attention to his films.”

  “What happened when he showed you the pepper spray? Did you leave?”

  “I did, but I left a message in the sand made out of seashells.”

  “What did it say”?”

  “Go home.” He hesitated. “Well, apparently it ended up saying ‘go me’ because some opportunistic children ran off with a few of the shells.” He scowled. “Another argument in favor of popul
ation control.”

  Good thing he wasn’t staying with Aster instead of Linnea. One day with the twins and Jarek’s activism would undoubtedly turn violent—if it hadn’t already.

  “If you’re interested in a more well-rounded view of Winston’s life, you should talk to Lionel Lattimer. He and Winston had several run-ins over the years and I know for a fact that he’s right here in Starry Hollow. I saw him at the coffee shop the day I arrived.”

  “The Caffeinated Cauldron?”

  “That’s the one. They have an excellent organic chai tea latte.”

  “Nobody has excellent chai tea lattes unless you like the taste of vomit in your coffee.”

  “Such strong opinions. I admire that.”

  “I’m from New Jersey. They feed them to us in the water supply. Any idea where I can find this guy?”

  “No, but if I had to guess, I’d say check the most expensive hotel in town.”

  I leaned back against my chair. “Rich and fancy, huh?” I wondered whether Aunt Hyacinth knew him. I’d have to check with Simon, her butler. He knew all her contacts, plus it would help me avoid speaking to my aunt directly. As much as I tended to bulldoze my way through a situation, when it came to my aunt, I often opted for the path of least resistance.

  “What are your plans now that Winston is dead? Will you go home?”

  “Not while the others are here in pursuit of the tepen. If I can find the nest, I’ll do my level best to protect it from interlopers.”

  “So you’re going to protect it from paranormals tracking it by tracking it yourself?” Did he recognize the irony of his plan?

  “I understand what you’re thinking, Ms. Rose, but it isn’t the same. I keep a respectful distance and my only interest is on protecting the creatures that can’t protect themselves.” He paused. “Although it seems the tepen did a pretty good job. Never agitate a creature with a poisonous stinger, especially one on the verge of reproduction.”

  “There are times I wouldn’t mind having a poisonous stinger.” Instead, I had to be content with a sharp tongue. “Do you have any clue where the nest is? I know the deputy is searching too. He’s also committed to keeping the area clear of trespassers.”