Cornbread & Crossroads

by Bella Falls

  “We cannot accuse a resident without proof. Not in this climate,” Lady Eveline warned.

  “But we can’t allow Nick to get away with hurting Fenwen,” I countered.

  “I’m with her,” Lucky added. “I say we hit first and ask for forgiveness later.”

  The regal vampire stopped listening to the leprechaun and me and pointed at the town hall. “Looks like your aunt is going to make some sort of speech.”

  “Residents of Honeysuckle Hollow, as the new occupier of the high seat, it is my duty to keep those who matter safe from harm.” Aunt Nora surveyed her audience, avoiding my scrutiny the second she spotted me. “As I have proclaimed a state of emergency, my first act will be to shut down our borders. No one will be allowed in or out until we can assess the current threat level from today’s egregious breach.”

  The moment my aunt finished her announcement, all of the lights illuminating the evening sky blinked out as if the town itself protested against her actions. Whispers and murmurs morphed into shouts of concern. We waited the usual time for the electricity to return, but it remained off. Without the whirring motors of modernity, the air filled with cool breezes and chirping cicadas.

  I conjured a small light orb to light the three of us.

  “So much for my emergency plan to leave and sit this out from afar,” complained Lady Eveline.

  Lucky crossed his arms. “I wonder what Flint will have to say about her stomping all over his territory.”

  My fingers played with the pendant, and my heart thundered. “Oh no. If she’s locking down the barriers, then Mason won’t be able to get in.”

  “We’ve got more pressin’ problems to deal with,” Lucky said. “Although I wouldn’t mind a little muscle to help.”

  “Will I do?” Dash asked, joining us. “I don’t know what it is you’re planning, but if you want to overthrow a certain witch in charge, then I’m all for it.”

  The shifter wasn’t the man I wanted, but he’d do. I grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to hear my plan. “Before anything else goes wrong, we have to go after Nick.”

  “You mean, the spa guy with tats down his arms?” Dash clarified.

  “Yes. I think he might be involved in Fenwen’s disappearance.” But I hoped with all my heart not her death.

  The wolf shifter’s eyes glowed yellow. “What do you need me to do?” he growled.

  “I think the best plan of attack is to confront him head-on,” I suggested. “Maybe I can talk directly to him and convince him that it’s for his own good if he cooperates.”

  “In my considerably long life, I have found negotiations rare in their efficacy when the perpetrator has already shown you who he is through his actions. A villain always tends to be…well, a villain.” Lady Eveline examined her long fingernails as if we weren’t making plans to invade someone’s home and place of business.

  Dash grunted, “I agree.”

  While we deliberated, the town’s power blinked back to life. Several onlookers cheered, but I cursed under my breath. No lights would have provided good cover for us.

  “We’re wastin’ valuable time,” Lucky complained. “I’ll break down the door m’self.” With short strides, he took off in the direction of Serenity Oasis.

  Lady Eveline followed the leprechaun, her high heels clicking on the pavement. Determined, I headed after the two of them, ignoring Dash’s disapproving gaze. He didn’t have to chastise me for jumping into trouble. If I could be a part of finding the sprite who’d risked her own life to save me, then nothing would stop me from trying.

  Lucky approached the old Abernathy house from the side. “No advantage to us if he sees us comin’.”

  Dash made us stop at the far edge of the property. “Let me scout the perimeter and see what I can sense.”

  “You’re not the only one with super senses, wolf. I’ll bet I can beat you,” Lady Eveline said, her smile showing off her fangs.

  He cracked his neck with slow deliberation. “You’re on.”

  I stayed crouched behind an overgrown camellia bush while the vampire and shifter rushed off.

  “Lucky, you said that fading for the fae is worse than death. Why’s that?” I pressed.

  He sighed. “There’s a wide gap between livin’ and dyin’ as well as dyin’ and not existin’ for every being on this planet. But since the lives of our kind are tied to the Earth itself, then we can last as long as it does.”

  “That’s a long time.”

  “Aye, it can be. And sometimes, life can be too hard to bear or perhaps something critical happens to us. Then we are at risk of fading away little by little until we are a husk of our very bein’.” He gripped my arm. “You have your ghosts that can haunt ye, but I guarantee our shades are far more sinister than anything ye have encountered in your young life.”

  For all the time I’d lived in Honeysuckle, there was still a lot I didn’t know about some of my fellow neighbors. I put it on my to-do list for the future to grill my friends and learn as much as possible about their complicated lives.

  Dash returned to us, but Lady Eveline beat him by half a second in a blur of speed. She examined her long, manicured nails as if she’d never moved, a slight grin on her ruby lips.

  The shifter breathed hard after his exertion. “It was harder to distinguish his scent from the oils and lotions he used. The place reeks, but I don’t think he’s in there.”

  “If you possessed the ability to jump at will to the second story, then you would have seen that no one is home,” Lady Eveline boasted. “I detected no trace of his warm-blooded carcass.”

  “Could you sense if he’s got someone trapped in there?” Lucky asked.

  The vampire’s arrogant expression dropped. “I’m afraid the simpler answer is no. Something about your kind keeps us from perceiving you in the same manner.”

  Dash drew a knife out of his back pocket and flicked the blade open. “Looks like we need to break in and check for ourselves.”

  Avoiding the security lamp that shed light into the backyard, we snuck through the shadows and brush to the back door of the spa. The shifter jimmied the lock with the tip of his knife until something gave way. Turning the knob, he pushed the door open.

  “That was a little too easy,” Dash whispered. “If I were a bad guy with something to hide, then I would make sure no one could get in.”

  “The bottom floor is the spa. He told me his office and private space were upstairs,” I explained. “But you’re right, we should take precautions.”

  Holding both hands in front of me, I chanted, “Abracadabra and hocus pocus, bring my powers into focus. Make sure this bad guy won’t give us crap and show me if there’s a boobytrap.”

  Once released, my spell flew through the house with purpose. When nothing came back, I figured we were safe from any safety hex or counter curse. Dash insisted he make the first move and took the first step inside. We followed behind him, finding ourselves huddled together in the small kitchen.

  The shifter flicked on the lights, surprised at our protests. “He’s not here and no one would suspect anything if they saw a light on.”

  Lady Eveline inspected the clean room and drew a long kitchen knife out of its block on the counter. “This could come in handy in case I was wrong.”

  “Why would a vampire need a knife? I thought your fangs were the weapon,” Dash teased.

  “And risk getting blood on my dress?” She sighed in dismissal, sliding the knife back in its slot. “I miss the days where I carried a sword.”

  Lucky ignored their banter. “Charli, could you use your powers to find Fenwen?” Hope danced in his eyes.

  “It’s really hard for me to find people. I’m better at objects,” I admitted, hating to ruin his expectations. “But I’ll try.”

  Taking ahold of his hand to ground my magic with his desire to find the sprite, I gathered my power and centered myself. In an almost whisper, I conjured, “Inside these walls, a spell was cast and hurt my friend with a
heated blast. Fenwen’s heart is tried and true, so give us all a little clue. Where oh where can the pixie be? Reveal where she is hidden to me.”

  A very faint connection pulsed, and I grabbed onto the thin thread. “She’s here, but I think she must be hurt. The link isn’t that strong.”

  “Where do we go?” Lucky vibrated with the need to find the sprite.

  Closing my eyes, I studied the vague picture in my mind. “Upstairs. There’s a desk and a filing cabinet. It must be his office.”

  Dash grabbed my shoulder to keep me from moving. “This time, you’re going to stay put and let those of us less fragile handle things.”

  The kitchen light dimmed and went out, immersing us in darkness again. With my free hand, I conjured a light orb, willing it to hover right in front of the wolf shifter’s face. “You were saying?”

  Obeying my intent, the sphere floated in front of us, and we wound our way through the downstairs rooms to find the staircase leading to the second floor.

  “I hate incense,” Dash grumbled. “The whole place stinks.”

  At the top of the stairs, the delicate golden thread flickered out. I counted the number of closed doors, trying to guess which room Fenwen might be in.

  “Which one is it?” Lady Eveline asked.

  I dropped Lucky’s hand from mine. “I don’t know. The connection’s gone.”

  “Then we’ll try every door.” Dash pushed past me and kicked down the one to our left. “This is a bedroom, and it looks like he’s taken off. There’s clothes all over the place.”

  Logic dictated that the bathroom would be behind the door in front of us in the middle of the hallway. “Try door number three, the one to the right.”

  Lady Eveline attempted to turn the doorknob, but found it locked. She balled her hand into a fist and punched a hole through the wood. Reaching through the busted opening, she unlocked the door and opened it.

  “She’s in here,” the vampire called out.

  Lucky rushed past me. When I entered the room, I found him knelt down in front of Fenwen, her figure crumpled on a small sofa facing the desk.

  I gasped. “She must have been here all along.”

  The air conditioner in the window whirred back to life, and I flicked the switch on the wall, blinking at the harsh change in light.

  Lucky placed his ear over her thin chest. “Her breathing is shallow.” He looked up at the three of us in despair. “I should take her to the park. The remnants of our magic that we called upon should still be lingerin’, and that can only help.”

  Lady Eveline bowed. “As my talents run on the faster side, it would be my honor to carry her there now.”

  He placed a hand over his heart and returned the gesture of respect. “I would be indebted to you for your kindness.”

  With great care, the vampire bent down and picked up the limp body of Fenwen. “Hold on, little one.” She disappeared in a blur.

  “I should go,” Lucky said, shaking my hand in gratitude. “I’ll need every single fae in Honeysuckle to come to her aid.”

  “When she’s revived, bring her to my grandmother’s house,” I offered. “Since Doc Andrew’s been based out of there, it’ll make it easier for him to look after all the patients under one roof. Use my room, the second one on the left at the top of the stairs.”

  “Thank ye most kindly,” replied the leprechaun before taking his leave.

  Left alone, Dash and I rummaged around the room. “Maybe we can find some clue as to where he would go,” I suggested.

  The shifter picked up a random paper and sniffed it. “It depends on when he left. If it was after your aunt closed the borders, then he couldn’t escape.”

  I stopped my search, alarmed at his revelation. Without knowing it, Aunt Nora may have trapped a criminal and potential killer in with the rest of us.

  Dash rapped his knuckles against the wall and repeated the action, moving around the room.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, sitting down in the desk chair and pulling open drawers.

  He pressed his ear to the wall and listened while he knocked on it. “At home, I have a few things I need to keep secure and away from prying eyes. When I bought my new place, I enclosed part of a room and created a hidden space.”

  Catching on, I swiveled in the chair and stared at the bookcases. “Perhaps one of these books acts as a lever?”

  Dash snorted. “That’s only in movies. Far too complicated for the real world.” He removed a print of a lotus flower and tested the wall. “Ah, there it is. Come over here and I’ll show you.”

  I closed the distance between us, and he took both my shoulders in his hands, directing me to stand right in front of him. With gentle fingers, he pushed my head against the wall.

  “Listen and see if you can hear the difference,” he instructed. His knuckles rapped on one part with a dull thud. When he moved to a different place, a hollow echo reverberated in my ear. “See? There’s empty space behind here.”

  I backed away, impressed. “So, how do we get in?”

  “That’s the easy part.” Dash smirked.

  I punched his bicep. “What, are you going to bust through like Lady Eveline did?”

  “Why would I need to do that when all I have to do is push like this?” Placing his palm on the wall, he leaned against it, and I heard two distinctive clicks. A door carefully blended in with the wallpaper popped ajar, and Dash tugged it open.

  He clicked the cord on the light hanging from the ceiling. “What in the world is all this?”

  Curious, I stood on my tiptoes to see past his hulking frame that filled the doorway. “Hate to tell you, but invisibility isn’t one of your superpowers. Either step in or out, but you’re blocking my view.”

  He backed out with a grunt and gestured for me to enter. Shelves lined both walls and small jars of varying sizes filled the spaces. Each glass vessel contained substances of all different colors that swirled and floated like a mix between liquid and smoke.

  “I wonder what they are,” I said, picking one up and admiring the reaction of the hue to my touch. “It’s like there’s a little lightning storm inside.”

  Dash chose one to inspect, but after a short moment, he drew in a quick breath. “Charli, I think you should be really careful and put that back.”

  “Why?” My fingertips ran over the surface, creating sparks of light where they touched.

  “Because mine has a name on it. And I’ll bet yours does, too.” The shifter reached up and put the jar back. Leaning over me, he pointed at the etching into the glass that I’d missed. “Read that.”

  “Henry Balmerlee Jenks. I always wondered what the B stood for,” I mused.

  “Don’t focus on your assistant’s name,” Dash growled. “You need to be asking yourself, what’s in the bottle?”

  Replacing the bottle marked with Henry’s name, I chose another one with hues of purple and pink floating inside. “Lily Margaret Blackwood. Dash, what are these?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But something about what’s inside them gets my hackles up.”

  “Read me some of the other names,” I demanded.

  With care, he picked up several bottles and read them one by one. I matched several of the names with those whose behavior had seemed off or even opposite to their normal self.

  “Bennet Sheldon Raynor,” the shifter recited.

  I snatched Ben’s jar and cradled it next to the vial labeled with Lily’s name. “That’s why he asked her to marry him. Whatever’s inside, it’s made them do things that wouldn’t happen in real life. Or at least, might not happen in the same way.”

  “I don’t follow. Are you saying that someone made Ben propose to Lily?” Dash asked.

  The idea sounded ridiculous, and yet I’d had the talk with the tall advocate not too long ago about how he wanted to wait for marriage. Did that mean he would never ask her? My gut always assumed they would tie the knot at some point, but seeing them all ooey gooey in love at the
town hall felt…wrong.

  “One thing’s for sure,” I said, glancing around at all the other ones sitting on the shelves. “We need to find out what’s in all of these jars.”

  “Souls,” a deep voice answered from outside the hidden space. Nick Draven leaned against the doorway to the secret space with his tattooed arms crossed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Dash stood to his full height, blocking me from view. “What do you mean when you say souls?”

  Nick pointed at the bottles. “That stuff in there is a piece of a soul.”

  I pushed the shifter aside and addressed the spa owner. “How do you know?”

  “Because I stole them.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Startled by his confession, I almost dropped the two jars I held. Dash placed his hands over mine to steady them.

  “Here, you better give those to me. Probably best not to break them and let whatever’s inside out.” The shifter placed each vessel back on its original shelf. “At least until we know what’s what.”

  I half expected Nick to slam the door shut and lock us in his hiding place. Instead, he moved out of the way to let us out. Dash left first and grabbed the spa owner by his shirt with a snarl, slamming him against the office wall.

  “Dash, don’t.” I yanked on his bicep, trying to keep him from hurting the suspect. “We need to talk to him first.”

  “So, talk,” Dash gritted through his teeth. He held his arm against Nick’s throat to trap him.

  “He won’t be able to give me any answers if you choke him hard enough he passes out,” I pleaded. “Or worse.”

  Although Dash roughed him up, Nick didn’t flinch or fight back. His face turned red and he gasped to breathe, but he still didn’t try to free himself.

  “That’s enough!” I roared, stepping back. “If you don’t let him go right now, I will hex you so hard”—I struggled to come up with a good threat— “that all your hair will fall out. Including that scraggly beard.”