“Want me to come over and see if I can get her to open up?” I wasn’t much of an expert on teenagers, but Jenna and I liked each other and she seemed to enjoy talking to me.
Sandy let out a sigh. “No. I’ll call you in a little while if it seems like we’re still getting nowhere. How about you? Are you healing up?”
“Yeah. Still have vertigo and not about to drive myself, but I’m better than I was yesterday. I had to talk to Essie last night, and you know just how much I enjoy that.” I didn’t want to burden Sandy with anything more than she was dealing with, but she had to know. “Listen, and this is hush-hush until Delia gives us permission to speak about it openly, but there was a vampire kill in Bedlam. Delia found the body yesterday morning. She dropped by yesterday, asking me to pump Essie for any information she might have.”
Sandy barked out a laugh. “I can just imagine how much fun pumping Essie was. At least you’re not a guy and you didn’t have to pump her the old-fashioned way.”
I choked. “I don’t think it matters to Essie whether I’m male or female, and…ewww. I love Aegis. He’s a vamp. But the thought of doing the vampire queen? Oh, hell no. Bite your tongue.”
“Better than biting hers,” she said, again letting out a stifled laugh. “All right, I’d better get off the phone and see if Jenna is ready to talk yet.” Sandy sounded like that was the last thing she wanted to do. “I guess I need to learn and learn fast on how to be a mother. My only fear is that now that I am her mother, or at least her guardian, she’s going to start resenting me like she did Derry.”
“I don’t think Jenna will ever resent you,” I said. I had no clue whether that was true or not, but I felt the need to reassure her. I set my phone down and looked over to Kelson. She had just finished putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. “Are you ready to go?”
“Five minutes, while I get my purse and make sure the front door is locked.” She glanced outside at the rising storm. “Wear a jacket. Even though we’re mostly going to be in the car and in stores, it looks nasty out there.”
“Delia told me that a storm front is coming in. It’s supposed to be the worst storm Bedlam has seen in ten years, so once we get home we need to make certain that everything outside is either tied down or put away. I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help there.”
“That’s what I’m here for. Come on. While we’re out, I’ll stop and get some more milk and eggs and a few other things we’re running low on.” She hustled through into the living room, and returned with our jackets and her purse. “Here, put your arm around my shoulder and I’ll walk you out to the car.”
I stood, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “I think if you just hold me by the elbow and maybe put a hand on my back to steady me, I will be fine. As long as we go slow, that is.”
Kelson placed her left hand on the small of my back, and angled toward me so that she could take hold of my right hand. Slowly, we made our way to the sliding glass door, and then out into the backyard. It was quicker to the driveway than going through the front door.
As we crossed the grassy side yard, a sudden gust almost blew us off balance. The wind had to be blowing at around forty miles an hour. Kelson stopped, holding me steady as the gust blasted past. A branch from one of the tall firs went sailing past to land in the yard. A good three feet long, it was splintered on the end that had broken off from the tree.
“Are you sure you want to go to the store today?”
I nodded. “Yes, we have blustery weather all the time. I’m not going to let a little storm stop me. It’s not like I’m heading out onto the water again.” In retrospect, Delia was right. Aegis’s plan had seemed foolhardy. But hindsight was always best, and it had seemed like an incredibly romantic idea at the time.
The fresh air seemed to strengthen me, and by the time we reached the gate I could walk a few steps on my own. Kelson shut the door after I slid into the passenger side. I buckled my seatbelt. The skies cracked wide, then, and a heavy rain began to pound down around us. Kelson raced around to her side of the car and dove in, laughing.
“Well, we’re in no danger of a drought, are we?” She started the ignition, and the car purred smoothly. Kelson had traded in her sedan for a Subaru Outback. As we eased out of the driveway, I glanced at my CR-V longingly. I liked to drive, and I didn’t like having to be dependent on anybody else.
“I have a feeling we’re a long ways from a drought.” Another branch went flying by, landing too close to Aegis’s Corvette for comfort. “This is shaping up to be a tidy little storm, isn’t it?”
BEDLAM WAS A magical little town. Literally. There was so much magic in our town that it changed the very weather of the island. With about six thousand permanent inhabitants, I suppose we were actually a village, which was more apt, given the nature of Bedlam. Oh, we had a few chain stores, but most of our shops were boutiques, privately owned and inherently unique.
The town was spread out across the island, but with a fountain in the square and a large park where we held community events, downtown Bedlam had a quirky charm all of its own. The lampposts and shops were decorated for Samhain. Brightly colored streamers were draped from lamppost to lamppost, and orange and purple lights wound around the poles. The park had a massive display of jack o’ lanterns—all carved by townsfolk. A few of the witches who worked for the city had enchanted them so that they wouldn’t rot until Samhain was over, and at night, they lit up, a sparkling display of the haunting reminder that it was the season of death and the time of the ancestors. The Fae who lived on the island had enchanted them with faerie fire, so they glowed with the twinkling lights that darted in and around the display.
“We should stop at Calou Bakery for some bread. I know Aegis likes to make dinner rolls, but I’ve been hankering for croissants and French bread lately.” I loved the bakery. Run by a hearth witch named Glenna, Calou Bakery was intensely comforting. She kneaded magic into every bite.
“All right, but I’m going in. You’re going to stay in the car.” Kelson found a parking spot right in front of the bakery.
I grinned. “You call on the parking goddess again?”
Kelson had a knack for finding open spots right when she needed them.
She laughed. “So, what should I get?”
“French bread—several loaves. A couple croissants. Maybe some of her cinnamon rolls? And if she has it, a fresh apple pie.” I could have gone on—there was a long list of things that Glenna made that I loved—but I decided to opt for a little self-control. Not to mention, I had noticed that Aegis was starting to get mildly offended when I brought outside baked goods into the house. The more he baked, the more he enjoyed it. I didn’t want to stomp on his ego.
Kelson returned, her arms full of fragrant packages. My mouth began to water, even though I was still full from breakfast. I promised myself that when I got home, I could have a cinnamon roll with a peppermint mocha. Until then, I’d be good and keep my hands to myself.
I had decided on Diamond Promises for the ring. We turned left on Brandy Street, and sure enough, there was a spot right in front of the store. I glanced at Kelson.
“I’d like to know what kind of magic you use for that,” I said with a laugh.
“I’d like to know too. You know I don’t do magic—I’m a werewolf. But I do seem to have an innate ability to track down a spot wherever I go. Ready?”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and slipped on my jacket. The sky was awash in an army of gray clouds, and fat droplets bounced on the sidewalk. The air crackled with static electricity. It smelled like thunderstorm weather. Kelson dashed around to my side of the car and opened the door for me, helping me out. The vertigo was still strong, but it was definitely on the wane. She guided me to the door of the shop, and we slipped inside out of the storm.
Diamond Promises was more of an artisan’s studio. One large main room was divided into two sections—three display cases with benches in front of them for
the clients to sit on. And then, across the back of the room, looked to be a jeweler’s studio, with workbenches, and a Chinese apothecary cabinet, which I assumed held various jewelry clasps and the like. One door led to a back room area. Vines from a large potted plant to one side trailed up a wooden stake that touched the ceiling, weaving through a rope trellis suspended across the room. The storefront windows glimmered with a faint light. Magical protection, no doubt.
A woman was dusting the jewelry in one of the front cases, and a man was seated at the bench in the work area, intent on his work. They both looked up as we entered.
“May I help you?” The woman stepped around the case. She was Fae, I could tell that from her energy. She wore a knee-length black dress, with a discreet nametag that read “Nera.” She motioned to one of the seats by the front counter. “Have a seat.”
“I’m Maddy Gallowglass. I’m looking for a ring for my boyfriend.” I sat down.
Nera fluttered around us, overly excited for my mood. “Oh, are you going to propose? We have some lovely men’s wedding rings or we can make a custom one—”
“Hold that thought,” I said, holding up my hand. “Nobody’s proposing to anybody. I just want… Think of it as a promise ring. A love token. I’d like something with Celtic knotwork on it, if possible, and here’s the width of his finger.” I handed her the string and flashed her a smile. “Trust me, when—if—we ever shop for wedding rings, it will be together.”
That punctured some of her balloon, but she got right to business. “What kind of metal?”
“Has to be gold. No silver. He’s a vampire.”
That brought a double take, then a nervous laugh. “Of course. I don’t want to be responsible for hurting him.” She looked through the inventory in the right-hand case. “What about a claddagh band? We have one in gold with Celtic knotwork running around the band.” She took the string and measured it. Then she brought out the ring and set it on a cushion in front of me. The gold band was highly polished, with two hands holding the traditional claddagh heart with a crown over it. A fede ring, it stood for all that was loyal: vows and oaths, promises, hope, and faith.
I picked up the ring. It made sense, truly. I wanted a ring to promise my love to Aegis, to reassure him of my trust and loyalty. Just like the key to his heart that hung around my neck.
“This is lovely. Is it the correct size?”
“Actually, yes, and you’re lucky—we’d have to order in another if he needed a bigger size. This ring can’t be sized due to the design.”
The knotwork was beautiful, intricately interwoven. I glanced at the man in the work area, who was wearing an eyepiece while he looked over a ring. “Did he make this?”
“No, Mr. Diamond didn’t make that ring, but he ordered it straight from the smith in Ireland who did. The jeweler who makes these comes from the Winter Court.” She motioned to the case. “I have a few others if you’d like to see them. Some have birthstones, others are simple knotwork, but very beautiful.”
I nodded, still staring at the ring. Something about it called to me and I knew it was the right choice. “I really like this one. How much?”
Nera looked surprised, but relieved. She probably received a commission on sales and no doubt, I was her easiest one of the day. “Twelve hundred, marked down from one thousand, five hundred. We’re having a special this week, though, with twenty percent off any purchase over five hundred dollars.”
“Can you gift wrap it for me?” I suddenly froze. “Oh hell, I forgot. My purse is at the bottom of the lake.”
Nera’s smile vanished and her eyes narrowed. “Oh?”
“Can you hold this for me for an hour? I’ll go to the bank and get cash—” Again, I froze. Even though they knew me at the credit union, I didn’t have any identification.
Kelson came to my rescue. “I’ll put it on my card and you can write me a check when we get home.” She pulled out her wallet.
“I can’t ask you to do that—”
“It’s not like I don’t submit a bill each week for groceries and household goods. I’m fine with it. Go ahead and ring up the purchase.” She handed Nera her credit card.
We were out the door, jewelry box in hand, and back in the car within a few minutes. “We need to replace your identification. You can do it online, but that may take awhile.”
“You want to drive me to the DMV?” Luckily, Bedlam’s department of motor vehicles was small, given the population, and wait times were generally short. I had my Pretcom identification card, but needed a state one as well.
We spent the next forty minutes going through the hoops of getting me a new license. I had already filed reports on my lost credit cards and replacements were on the way. I never carried my social security card, so that was still safe, as was my passport.
Complete with a temporary license and feeling much more secure, I wove my way out of the DMV, holding on to Kelson’s arm. The wind had picked up even more, and was now blowing a steady forty miles an hour. The gusts were worse.
“We should get home so I can anchor down anything that might take a mind to go sailing,” Kelson said. She glanced up at the clouds. The rain had abated, but looked like it could return at any moment. The sky was an ominous mixture of gray and silver, coming out of the northwest, down from the Discovery Islands that dotted the Strait of Georgia and the Johnstone Strait in British Columbia. “My instincts say this is going to be a bad storm, and a long one.”
I could feel what she meant. There was a shift in the wind, and the bracing gusts bit with a bone-deep chill. The temperature had dropped at least five degrees since we had left the house.
“Let’s stop and get some pizza on the way, but yeah, home we go.”
As we paused at the stoplight by Turnwheel Park, an upsweep hit the car, rocking us as it whipped past. The streetlights swung wildly on their lines and I winced, hoping they would hold. All the birds had vanished, hiding in whatever safe places they could find to ride out the storm.
After a quick stop at The Pizza Stone for three large take-and-bake meat-lovers pizzas, we headed for home. We were rounding the bend where Elk Wood turned into Yew Tree Road—the street the Bewitching Bedlam was on—when a massive gust just about blew us off the road. Kelson clutched the steering wheel, turning hard so that we bumped onto the shoulder. We were next to Old Man Tee’s farm, and the field next to us stretched for a good quarter-mile, filled with ripe orange pumpkins. He had probably sold half of them, but this weekend the rest would be gone. I caught my breath as we rode out the gust, waiting for it to subside.
“That was almost hurricane force.” I shivered. This storm was shaping up to be no joke. Bedlam was in for a good blow, all right.
“We’re almost home,” Kelson said, easing back onto the road. She tapped the accelerator and we sped quickly along the last mile. We had just passed the Heart’s Desire Inn—which was a ten-minute walk from the Bewitching Bedlam—when a massive crash behind us shook the road and everything on it.
I glanced out the side mirror. A huge oak stretched across the road, uprooted from the front yard of the Heart’s Desire Inn.
“Crap. Ralph just lost that massive old tree in the front yard.” And then it hit me that, had we been a few seconds slower, we would have been under that oak tree.
Kelson must have realized that too, because she whipped into our driveway. “Come on, let’s get you inside first. Then I’ll bring in the groceries. I forgot the milk, but we can drink juice.”
I eased out of the car, shaking. She ran around to my side and slipped her arm around my waist. I clung to her as we quickly crossed the lawn to the kitchen. Once I was inside, through the slider, she ran back to the car to retrieve the baked goods.
Shaking, I was about to call Ralph to ask if everybody was okay when a flash of lightning broke through the clouds, so bright that it almost blinded me. Kelson made it back to the house, just in time to avoid the quarter-sized chunks of ice that beg
an to fall. As the ice pellets bounced on the grass, coating it with a sheet of white, I stared out the window, thinking about the sudden onslaught of bad weather. Was Fata Morgana behind this? I wanted her to show herself, to quit hiding behind the storms. The bronze pentacle was sitting on the table where I had left it. I picked it up, fingering it gently. What was going to happen next? But even as I asked myself the question, I realized I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
Chapter 7
BEFORE I COULD call Ralph, he called me. “Maddy, I need a favor.”
“I saw the tree go down. Kelson and I barely managed to drive past it before it hit the ground. Is everybody all right? I was going to call you.” I felt bad that I hadn’t immediately called him to check. I got too caught up in my thoughts sometimes.
“We’re all right, but can you take in two of my guests for the night? When the oak fell, it punched a hole in the roof right into their rooms.” He sounded so forlorn that I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
“I don’t know. Let me ask Kelson. I think so, but I’ll call you right back.”
“Ask me what?” Kelson was putting away the bread. “You want some soup and toast?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Ralph just called. When the tree fell, it punched a hole in his roof and he wants to know if we can take in a couple of his guests who were affected by it.”
“Let me check. We were supposed to have two couples show up this afternoon.” She put down the loaf of bread she was holding and hustled off to the office. Within a few minutes she returned. “We have the room. Because of the storm, both couples who were due to check in today left a message that they would have to reschedule. The ferry’s grounded due to high winds, so they’re going to check into a hotel in Bellingham instead. I assume you’ll issue refunds to them, given the weather was unexpected?”
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