by Ruby Loren
“Cosy?” She’d lost me.
Adelaide let out a shrill little laugh. “He’s scheduling all kinds of meetings with you. I know what he has planned. We work closely together… very closely.”
Now I was getting the picture. “He just wanted to talk to me about a new tourism drive for the town, because I run the local interest magazine. What you walked in on was the only meeting planned, as far as I’m aware?” This conversation was genuinely baffling me.
“Look, I get it. You’ve just broken up with your bakery boyfriend and you’re trying to sink your claws into one of the few eligible bachelors this town has left to offer. But I’m telling you to back off!”
“I’m not interested in Gareth at all,” I said, amazed I was even having to defend myself, and even more interestingly, that Adelaide saw me as a credible threat. She’d been one of the clique who’d ignored me throughout our school years - something I’d actually been grateful for. “I’m not even sure if I’m on the same page as he is for this tourism scheme. Have you noticed him acting at all strangely recently?”
The change in Adelaide’s expression was immediate. She completely closed down. “He’s busy with his work. I know what you’re up to, Hazel… you like to poke your nose into other people’s business and try to solve the town’s latest mystery. Gareth isn’t hiding anything! He’s a great mayor, and I can’t believe he even asked you to be a part of the tourism drive. He said we had it all under control. I’m supposed to be the town’s shining light…”
It was like talking to two different people at once. I was struggling to keep up. “I think he’s just interested in using my magazine. I’ll be happy to help, but that’s all I’ll be doing.” I wanted to get this straight.
There was a howl from what sounded like the edge of the clearing. I still couldn’t see anything, which worried me. What if Jesse’s hellhound was the only one I could see?
I turned my focus back to Adelaide to tell her to fly to safety, but I discovered she was smiling at me.
“I’m sure you won’t be doing anything at all with Gareth. The things we do for love,” she said, her lips curving up. She took a small device from her pocket and tossed it into the grass. The red light flashed. I realised it was some sort of tracking device.
The blonde witch pushed off from the ground and soared upwards, leaving me alone in the forest with the hellhounds that Adelaide had led here.
I considered reaching for a weapon and trying to pull Adelaide back down to face her own music, but I wasn’t sure that the witch was acting in her right mind. In fact, she’d said something which had made me realise that she wasn’t the only person in town who’d gone out of their mind for love. She wasn’t the first person willing to kill for it, either.
I knew where Helen’s body was… and I had a pretty good idea of who had put her there… and why.
I was still mentally congratulating myself on solving the mystery when three hellhounds stalked into the clearing.
17
Erebus
“Nice doggies?” I tried, before wishing I hadn’t said it. Did that line ever work in films? Nope.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Hazel Salem.” A woman stepped out into the clearing.
At first, I didn’t recognise her, but then I saw her eyes… the same colour as mine. “You’re the new devil in town,” I said. I hadn’t seen her face properly the night I’d witnessed her shaking hands with the mayor, but now I did, I was surprised I hadn’t heard more about her if she truly was hanging around town. She had a tanned complexion and brown hair drawn back from her face and fastened in a plait. Her tan was further set off by those eyes that we shared. She looked like Lara Croft, if Lara Croft had ever worn a power-suit.
I could tell she was taking me in, too, and judging by the glint of amusement in her eyes, I was not living up to the hype.
“Did Adelaide really make a deal with you to get rid of me because she thinks I’m after the mayor?” I asked, even though I knew she wasn’t the only one doing crazy things for love.
“A lot of people have been making a lot of different deals. As a professional, I’m sure I couldn’t say…” the she devil said, pretending to consider it.
“Right,” I said, having seen enough evidence to conclude that Adelaide had definitely known who she was bringing here tonight.
The woman smiled in a way so similar to Jesse, it was creepy. “Oh, Hazel, you always need to remember to ask yourself whether you’re looking at the deal, or the price paid for the deal,” she told me, cryptically. “But let me start by saying I’m not here to do you harm. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a very long time.”
“Do you have a name?”
The devil laughed. “Sure… it’s Chloe Rex.”
I blinked at the normality of it and she grinned again.
“We don’t all dream up fanciful titles for ourselves,” she said, heavily implying that Jesse was using a stage name. I’d guessed that much long ago when I hadn’t been able to find a single trace of him. “But then… some of us are made, others are born and bred for this.”
“What are you doing in town?” I wanted to cut to the chase.
Her lips curved ever upwards. “Just my job… I’m here to raise a little hell.”
The three hounds growled uneasily by her sides. I felt the back of my neck prickle and turned to see a fourth one creeping up behind me. It stopped when I made eye contact with it. Four hounds to Jesse’s one… I could see why he was worried.
“You can see them.” Chloe sounded more curious than surprised. “They told me you were different.”
“They?” I asked, but she just smiled in response. Apparently devils were all cut from the same cloth.
“I’m glad you’ve agreed to work with the mayor. I trust that you will pick the right side in all of this.”
“It would be helpful if you could explain what ‘all of this’ is. Perhaps then I’d make a more informed choice,” I said, fed up with half-truths and endless dancing around.
“A devil can never reveal the deals they’ve made,” she said, parroting what Jesse had already claimed.
“I guess I’ll just have to figure it out for myself.” I smiled thinly, hoping she got the message. I’d seen the way the mayor looked when he let his veneer slip. “I don’t know if you’ve heard… but I’m pretty good at solving mysteries. Whatever it is that you’re hiding from me, it’s not going to stay hidden for long.”
“We shall see.” Chloe narrowed her eyes. “It’s almost laughable how easy all of this is,” she said, more to herself than to me. “Tell Jesse that Chloe says ‘Hi’ and that he’ll soon be no more than a piece of gristle caught between my hellhounds’ teeth. I doubt he’ll be the last in this town to go that way.” She tilted her head at me.
“Are you working for the Witch Council?” I asked. I couldn’t help but notice that this devil’s arrival in town had coincided with their release.
Her eyes narrowed again. I wondered if it was a tell that she was about to lie to me.
“I work for anyone who makes a deal. But I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it all, Ms Mystery Solver,” she sneered, before her expression turned thoughtful. “It’s a shame. I thought you might have potential.”
“I’m not going to put myself in debt to anyone,” I told her, firmly. I’d never worked well under anyone’s authority, as my mother would have been able to attest. My whole life I’d hoped to run my own business and now that I’d achieved it, there was no way I was handing control to anyone else - not over my life, or my magic.
“I’m sure we’ll meet again soon. Hopefully under more exciting circumstances.” She grinned again. I got the distinct impression that by ‘exciting circumstances’ she meant me being hunted down by her hounds. “Tread carefully, Hazel. A wrong step could be your last.”
“Thanks so much for the vague ominous threats. It was a pleasure meeting you, too,” I said, half-bored, half-infuriated by Chloe Rex and all things devil rel
ated.
She gave me one last look before she pulled the same vanishing trick I’d seen Jesse use. For a moment, I was left alone in the clearing with four hellhounds, before they turned and ran back through the trees, howling as they chased down a different quarry.
In spite of all of the bravado I’d put on display, I shivered.
I felt a strong sense of deja-vu when I found myself sneaking into Helen Regal’s back garden and breaking into the shed the next morning. I was hopeful that her family was out working, or busy with other social engagements, and I wouldn’t be disturbed.
Sean had warned against rash action like this in the past, but I knew the way the law worked. Warrants had to be requested and waiting times respected… waiting times that gave your suspicious criminal plenty of time to cleanup the mess I was hoping had been left behind. A mess that would confirm my theory.
I took a deep breath and opened the door of the shed. Power tools hung on one side of the wooden hut and garden tools on the other. Paint pots and mixing tubs littered the floor, as well as all the tools a painter-decorator might need, including sheets and brushes.
It didn’t take long for me to find what I was looking for. There was a large bag of plaster propped up against one of the walls and next to it, a tub of mix that had gone hard and been abandoned. I reached out and touched the bag. My fingers came away with a fine dusty residue. I felt grim satisfaction rise up inside of me. I was more certain than ever that I’d solved the case. It was time to crack it wide open… with the help of Detective Admiral.
I pulled my phone out and called Sean to tell him what I’d found and what I suspected. There still wasn’t much in the way of conclusive evidence, but I was hoping that what I’d found today would lead to the discovery of something so irrefutable that it would cause all of the dominoes to fall down.
Whilst I was explaining to Sean why I’d broken and entered for the good of the investigation, I kept my eyes fixed on the house - just to make sure that no one returned and caught me in the shed. I’d never been an intentional law breaker in my life. I’d never even broken the rules at school. Doing this was giving me a serious case of nerves. If Sean could just get here with the rest of the local police, this could all be over, and I could pretend I was never here and he’d found the shed door open…
I saw something that made my pulse skyrocket.
Someone had appeared at the kitchen window.
They disappeared the moment I spotted them from my place in the shed, but I’d seen enough to recognise the person inside the kitchen. And all of a sudden, any remaining doubts I’d had about who was responsible for what I now felt certain were two murders left my mind.
Jane Spiney was in Helen Regal’s house.
“Is everything okay? You went quiet,” Sean said, still on the line.
“It’s all fine. Everything’s under control. Can you come through the woods and go for the shed that way? There’s someone in the house, so if you can find the plaster dust before they see you, that would be best for everyone.”
“Are you in any danger?” Sean asked, surprising me by asking that instead of pressing me for more information.
“No, I think I’m fine. I’ll try to get out when the coast is clear and keep watch from the edge of the trees.”
“Okay. Be safe. We’ll be there soon. And Hazel…”
“Yes?” I said.
“Don’t ever do this again,” he told me before putting the phone down.
The ghost of a smile crossed my face as I returned my phone to my pocket. Detective Admiral was angry with me… but not as angry as usual. I was definitely making progress. He’ll thank me later, I thought, knowing that I was standing next to the key that unlocked the mystery.
I’d wondered why there’d been a strange coating of dust on the door handle leading out to the garden on the day Jesse and I had found Helen missing. I was almost certain that the dust had come from the bag of plaster in this shed. The fact that it had been on the door handle undisturbed told a story I wasn’t able to ignore. It was almost destiny that Jane Spiney was here, today of all days.
I was about to slink out of the back of the shed when I saw the hellhound.
It was standing at the bottom of the garden, looking towards the kitchen window. I glanced back and discovered Jane was in view again, this time appearing to wash some dishes. The hellhound took a step forwards, focusing on its target. In a few second’s time, a scene of domestic mundanity was going to dissolve into a bloodbath… unless I did something to stop it.
I cursed Jane under my breath as I put together more of the puzzle pieces and realised there was probably an entirely different facet to this mystery I hadn’t even considered. Chloe Rex had heavily hinted that she’d been making a lot of deals around town, and I knew that the hellhound on the lawn was not Hecate. If Jesse was to be believed, Jane must have broken the terms of the deal she’d made with the new devil in town. And I was about to witness the consequences.
“Ngggh!” I said, before making a really, really bad decision, and stepping out of the shed and into view, between the hellhound and the house. Words weren’t able to sum up how stupid this probably was, but even though I thought I could guess at what Jane had been up to, she was still currently a witch in my coven… and I’d made a promise to protect them all from the hounds of hell.
“Jane!” I yelled, making the witch look up from the washing up. Her eyes went wide when she saw me - a sure sign of guilt if I ever saw one, but that shock quickly turned to confusion. Then, because I really hadn’t thought this through, she did the worst thing possible.
She walked over and opened the kitchen door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding unsure. She surely suspected the real reason I was snooping around in the back garden of Helen Regal’s house… and she probably knew she’d just been caught. But there was no time to discuss any of that. The moment she’d opened the door, the hellhound had darted forwards and was about to run straight past me.
“Shut the door, there’s a hellhound!” I yelled at the witch, desperately fumbling for some kind of weapon I might be able to use against the attack dog. Its eyes glowed as it rushed past, shooting me a curious look, but otherwise ignoring me. I was not the target.
Jane’s eyes widened, but she heeded my words and shut the door. She may not be able to see the death that stalked her, but it was impossible to ignore the howl the hound let out as it ran. And the consequences of her own actions.
I was having problems of my own.
My magic tended to spit out a convenient weapon for the task at hand but even as I tried to turn my magic to this new purpose, I felt it flounder and then flop. Apparently I was all out of hellhound-dispatching weapons.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, making my second terrible decision of the day and running after the hellhound unarmed. I’d just have to figure something out as I went… and try not to get chewed up in the process.
“Hey! Hey you! Get away!” I shouted when it was right in front of the door. The next second, it passed straight through. I’d forgotten that hellhounds were inter-dimensional and could pull tricks like that. Soon the hound would get to Jane, and there’d be a genuine trail of gore leading out into the woods.
I made it to the kitchen door and threw it open. The hound paused inside the house and turned to me. Its red eyes glowed brighter. I knew it was warning me to back off. “Stop it,” I said and then said it again, louder and with more power. The hound looked at me and shook its head, as if to clear its thoughts, but before I could dwell on what - if anything - had just happened, it carried on down the hallway.
I heard Jane shout out in terror and knew she’d heard the sound of the hound’s claws clinking on the wooden floor.
“What the devil’s going on?” Daryl Hex yelled, before I heard Jane telling him to keep quiet and stay back. The foxes were both in the hen house… but someone had let in a wolf.
I shook my head free of any though
ts about the pair possibly deserving a fate like this and ran after the hound. Two wrongs did not make a right, no matter how evil I thought the guilty were.
With witch sight, I saw that Jane had thrown up some sort of protection spell outside of the sitting room door, where she was clearly hiding with Daryl. The hound had paused for a moment and was sniffing it. Even as I rushed down the hallway, I saw it bite straight through the magic. The rest of the spell curled away, as if touched by a burning torch or the kiss of decay. It was both horrifying and awesome to watch. I now understood why witches were so afraid of hellhounds. Their magic was literally consumed by them. Was that the reason why my own magic wouldn’t respond when I called it?
There was no time to consider the rules and laws of magic and devils. I needed to do something right now, or Jane, and possibly Daryl, were going to be mincemeat… literally.
“Stop!” I shouted again, running after the hellhound like a madwoman. Jane was cowering in the corner, staring around the room and shaking, unable to see the hound standing watching her savouring the moment of attack. “No you don’t!” I said, reaching out and grabbing its thick curling pelt.
It tried to shake me off and turned with a growl and an open maw. I dodged and held on… and then something unexpected happened. My magic, which had so far ignored me, came to life and travelled through me like a lightning rod… straight into the hound.
The dog gave a startled yelp, and I felt a stab of empathy. I knew he’d been set on Jane and would have killed her, but I still didn’t want to have to hurt an animal… ever. It wasn’t his fault he’d been used as a debt collector. As I looked at the hound in concern, it turned its head and looked back at me. There was a strange sensation, like a bond snapping into place. The hound tilted its head at me, as if awaiting orders.
“Good dog. Stand down,” I said and watched as the hound thumped its tail on the floor in response. Something came down the bond that had magically forged between us. A name: Erebus. I knew the hound’s name.