by Amy Boyles
Okay. He could stop being so cryptic now. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to talk.”
“That was before I saw the baby stealer,” he whispered.
“Baby stealer? Oh, you mean Dewy.”
“The baby stealer,” he repeated. “That’s what we call her.”
I led Titus toward a side door. As I crossed the floor, I looked for Roman, but he was gone. So was Dewy. A sinking feeling spread over my belly. I did my best to ignore it, but it pitted my stomach.
When we were completely alone in the cold, I said, “Tell me what happened. I knew she stole a baby unicorn, but that’s all the information I have.”
Titus whinnied. “Five years ago that woman snuck into Fairyland and took one of the young. Luckily we realized quickly he was missing and sounded the alarm. When we found the witch, she had a blade in her hand and was preparing to steal his horn.”
I blew on my hands to warm them. “Reggie didn’t tell us that part.”
“Only a few of us know what really happened.”
“So she was going to steal the unicorn’s magic.”
Titus nickered. “There’s not a shred of doubt in my mind. That woman is evil.”
“Evil enough to kill?” I said, quirking an eyebrow.
“Evil enough to kill a baby.”
A shudder swept down my body. The words vibrated in my core. If someone was evil enough to kill a baby, there probably wasn’t much they weren’t capable of.
“As I said, her heart is a twisted thing.”
I cocked a brow. “What does that mean?”
Titus bobbed his head. “It means I can see her heart.”
I paused. Unsure how to take that. “You can?”
His black eyes sparkled in the streetlights. “It is barbed and twisted from pain—some of it done to her, some of it self-inflicted. It is a heart so wounded I doubt it will ever recover and become the thing of beauty it was at birth.”
“Okay, you lost me.” I scratched a spot behind my ear. “You can see what a person’s heart looks like?”
“All unicorns can.”
“All of them?”
He nodded. “Hers is so mangled that Roman’s heart should easily know it.”
“Roman’s heart?”
Titus nodded again.
I wanted to ask, to desperately know what Roman’s heart looked like. Should I ask? Turned out, I didn’t have to.
“His is guarded. A band runs over it, shielding it. But there is a lock to open it. For all that Roman Bane has been through, the muscle of life of his heart is unscarred.”
I scrunched up my face. “So his heart knows that Dewy’s isn’t good?”
“A true heart recognizes a dark one intuitively. As your heart knows that Roman’s is good.”
I smiled. “I do know that Roman is good.”
“So does your heart.”
“May I ask what mine looks like?”
Titus pawed the ground. “You may ask, but I cannot tell you. It is for you to discover the truth of your own heart.”
“Oh,” I said, disappointed.
“But I will say one thing.”
I glanced at him, hope swelling in my chest. “Yes?”
“Your heart can unlock Roman’s if you let it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How?”
“That, I cannot tell you. It is for you to figure out.”
Oh well, I guess one couldn’t just have the mysteries of the universe handed to them. Shucks. “Thank you for that information, Titus. I’ll walk you back inside.”
We stepped through the door into a whirlwind of commotion.
“I saw you! I saw you do it!”
A woman stood with her purse in hand, beating it over a man’s head.
The man shielded himself. “Honey, I didn’t do anything!”
“I saw you look at her!”
Not far away stood Dewy. Oh, I wondered who the woman could possibly be talking about?
Just kidding. The woman raised her purse again. It snagged a cluster of streamers overhead, sending the decorations sagging to the floor.
Roman saw me and strode over. I stiffened.
“Well,” he said. “Looks like this party’s over.”
I inspected him, looking for some clue of something, like maybe Dewy had marked him with a big black X on his cheek. Or his crotch. On first glance I didn’t see anything.
“Yep, looks like this Valentine’s Day is done.”
He flashed me a perfect smile. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”
Right. So much had happened, I’d almost forgotten what I was going to tell Roman. Of course now didn’t seem like the right time.
I waved my hand. “Oh, nothing,” I said dismissively. “You feeling okay?”
Roman grinned. “Never better.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
***
The next morning was Sunday, which meant I stayed in my pajamas for most of it. Milly knocked on the door about ten, which was a bit early for my taste, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
She wore a shapeless brown cardigan under her coat. Her normal frown looked deeper than usual.
“I came to get Reggie. It doesn’t need to be out of my house for too long.”
I crossed to the coffee table where it had been living. “Why’s that?”
Nan walked in holding a mug of hot coffee. She sat on the couch. “Because Milly gets to keep him because she was once Queen Witch. He’s not supposed to leave her house.”
“Oh. Could we get in trouble?”
Milly caned over to the sidebar where we kept the coffeepot simmering on Sundays, and poured herself a cup. She cackled. “Toots, if I got in trouble for everything I’ve done, I’d be on the registry of bad witches.”
I frowned. “Not sure how I feel about that.”
Milly grinned. “I’m joking, but I do need to get it back.”
Reggie opened. Pages flapped back and forth. “I’m thinking about staying,” boomed the voice.
“If anyone discovered you were gone, I’d be in big trouble,” Milly said.
Grandma entered. “It would put the council in a tizzy. They’d be pulling out their hair and making wigs with it.”
Reggie yawned. “I need a vacation. It’s been too long. Besides, you might require my vast knowledge to assist in your murder investigation.”
That seemed like a good point. Maybe he could help.
“And it appears the Apel sisters need to learn some magic,” Reggie added.
I smirked. “Have you been eavesdropping?”
“I don’t know what would make you ask that,” he said.
“Because Milly’s always coming up with spells for us to learn,” I said. “Seems to me you might’ve been listening to our conversations.”
“I am the official Registry of Witches. I don’t need to eavesdrop.”
“But you did.”
“Maybe.”
Sera and Reid entered the living room. “What’s going on?” Reid said, plopping down in a chair.
“Reggie wants us to learn a new spell,” I said.
“Awesome. I’m more than ready.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” he chided. “Not you. Only the sisters with powers.”
Reid crossed her arms. “Crap.”
Sera poured herself a cup of coffee. “What spell should we learn today? How to make it rain frogs? How to see into the future?”
“I like that second one,” I said. “Count me in.”
Reggie thumped his pages back and forth. “How about a truth serum spell.”
Grandma clapped her hands. “There’s nothing like a good truth spell. Why, I remember one time a hooty owl was refusing to tell me which way the snaggletoothed tiger had gone. I sprinkled a little truth on him and before you know it, I had that tiger pinned by his toes.”
I sipped my coffee. “Then we know this spell must work.”
Sera smirked but said nothing.
“Milly,” I
said, “are you going to teach us?”
Milly squeezed the head of her cane. “How about we teach you together? Would that be all right with you, Reggie?”
“Sounds deliciously delightful.”
Milly clapped a hand against her thigh. “In most spells, you only need to focus and make the magic work. In a truth spell, you must be physically close enough that you can yank the truth right out of the person’s head.”
“Like how close?” Sera said. “A few inches?”
Reggie curled up the edges of his cover. “Centimeters work better than inches.”
“Okay, so a hairbreadth,” I said.
“That’ll do. The better you get at the spell, the farther away you can stand,” Grandma said.
Sera brushed some lint off her shirt. “But for now I’ll jump on my prey and hold them down.”
“Precisely,” he boomed.
“Let’s work it out,” Milly said. “Reid, do you want to be the guinea pig?”
“Sure,” she said. “It’s about all I’m good for.”
I patted her arm when she walked past. “Don’t be so down, little sis. We all love you.”
“Thanks,” she said cheerfully.
“Most of the time,” I added.
She stuck her tongue out.
Milly turned to me. “Now, Dylan, focus on the question you want to ask Reid. Got it?”
A thought immediately came to mind. I clicked my tongue. “Got it.”
“Good. In a moment you’re going to ask your question out loud. When you do, you need to tap Reid either on her head or on her chest. Focus on the truth and tap her. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do it.”
I shook out my hands and focused. I felt magic coil in my stomach. It felt good, like an old friend. After a deep inhale I said, “Reid, tell me why you’re dating Rick. Because he’s really been a douchebag lately.”
Her mouth started to drop in shock, but I poked her forehead. A ripple of blue magic flooded from my finger over her body. It shimmered before disappearing in a plume of vapor.
Reid’s eyes glazed over. “He only turned into a douchebag lately. He used to be so cool. I’m staying with him because I’m afraid of losing him.”
The ripple dissolved, and Reid rubbed her head. She looked at us. “Did you do it? Did you ask me a question?”
“I sure did.”
“I don’t remember,” she said.
“Good thing,” Sera said.
I shot her a shut-it look.
Reid glared at me. “Why? What’d you ask?”
I shrugged. “Nothing. Not a thing.” I quickly pivoted to Milly. “So is that how it’s done? They forget they were ever asked a question?”
Milly smiled. “Exactly. That’s how you get away with doing the spell. Of course, if they find a thread of magic on them within a day or so, they’ll know something happened.”
Reid pulled a pink wiggly thread from her ear. “You mean, like this one?”
I took the twine between my fingers. “I’ve been wondering what my threads look like.” It was small, hot pink and only about an inch and a half long. It curled into a little ball in my hand. It was, I had to say, quite darling.
Yes, I know I’m weird.
I tipped my hand and let the magical thread fall to the ground, where it became nothing more than another piece of lint ready to be swept up.
“Even if someone finds the thread on them, they still won’t remember what happened.” Reggie chuckled. “It’s a useful spell. One that every witch should know.”
“Does every witch know it?” I asked.
“No. Very few. Only those with wonderful teachers like yourselves.” He shuffled through his vellum. “Lesson learned.”
“Great.”
“But you might want to watch who you work it on,” Milly said.
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It works best on nonmagics.”
“We’re not supposed to work magic on regular people,” Sera said.
Grandma cracked her knuckles. “Then it probably won’t be a spell you use too often,” she said, throwing a look to Milly.
“What’s that look for?” Sera asked.
Grandma shook her head. “What look?”
“The one you gave Milly?”
Grandma fiddled with the scarf around her neck. “It’s nothing. Not a thing. Nothing for you to worry about.”
A smidge of worry tempted to sneak into my mind. I decided to let it go and returned to drinking my warm cup of joe.
“I still want to know what you asked me,” Reid said.
I waved off her concern. “It’s not important. It was only a stupid question.”
She fisted her hands to her hips. “If it was so stupid, then why don’t you tell me?”
I turned to Sera. “Hey, do you need to work from the bakery today?”
She slurped her coffee. “Yeah. There’s some prep work I need to do for tomorrow.”
“I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on, too. Want to head out soon?”
Sera rose. “Let me shower and we’ll roll on out.”
I flashed Reid a grin as I exited the room.
“I’m going to find out what you asked me,” she threatened.
“Go for it.”
***
We made it to town a short while later. I parked in front of our side-by-side stores, Sinless Confections and Perfect Fit.
“Hey, isn’t that Roman’s car?”
I followed Sera’s finger across the street to Dewy Dewberry’s new shop.
My heart crashed to my feet.
“Yep.” I unlocked my shop and shoved the door open. “Sure is.”
Sera followed me inside. “You think he’s interviewing her?”
“I don’t know.” I giggled uncomfortably. “He could be shagging her.”
Sera grabbed my shoulders. “What?”
I wobbled over to a chair and sank down. I told her what I’d seen the night before about the scarf and all that.
“You don’t think he’d go for her, do you?”
I gave her my how-stupid-of-a-question-is-that look.
“Her clothes do seduce people,” Sera grumbled.
I threw up my hands. “Every time she’s around, she talks about how hot Roman is, how she wouldn’t let him go if he were hers, and that you can’t let a man own you. Next thing I know she’s got her scarf wrapped around his neck. What do you think she’s up to?”
“Seducing your boyfriend.”
I lowered my face into my hands.
Sera placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Dylan, I don’t think Roman would do that. No matter how hard she tried. He loves you too much.”
I sat back. “Yeah, but he doesn’t think I love him.”
“Oh,” she said, realization dawning on her. “He’s told you, but you haven’t told him?”
“Right.”
She clicked her tongue. “Still, Roman’s not like that. I don’t buy that he’s in there seducing her.”
I perked up. “Want to go over and find out?”
Sera’s eyes widened. “You mean spy on them?”
I rose. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. Peek through the windows.”
“You might get arrested.”
“I’ll say I tripped and fell onto the glass.”
She shrugged. “Works for me.”
We stalked across the street. “Let’s go around back,” I whispered. “That’s where the real action is.”
Sera rolled her eyes. “Oh Lord.”
“You’re the one who wanted to come with me.”
“I know. I’m already regretting it.”
We reached the back door, but there weren’t any windows. “Crap,” I said.
“Just go around the front,” Sera said.
The door swung open. I froze. Roman stepped outside. He wore a black duster that came down to his calves, jeans and sunglasses. He stopped when he saw me.
Dewy came out from behind him. She was wearing a satin bathrobe. The material was thin enough to see she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. The toad smirked when she saw me.
“Out for a stroll? It’s totally a nice cold day to be out wandering near people’s trash cans, don’t you think?” she said.
I stretched. “Yep. Just getting our exercise on. Beautiful winter day. You may want to get back inside before something freezes and falls off.”
Dewy frowned. “If there’s any other way I can service you—oops, I mean be of service to you, Detective, let me know.”
Roman nodded. “Thanks.” He didn’t turn back to look at her. Instead he stared at me until he heard the door shut behind him.
“What are you doing out here? Going through her garbage?”
“No,” I snapped. “I was out walking.”
“Behind Main Street.”
“It’s as good a place as any to get exercise.”
“Right.” He cocked his head toward Sera. “I see Dylan talked you into her harebrained idea.”
“Yep, well listen, I need to get back to the bakery, so I’ll see you both later.” The words flew from Sera’s mouth in one continuing sentence. She dashed off before I had the chance to say good-bye.
“Well, I’ve got work to do, so I’ll see you later,” I said.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said innocently. “Not one thing.”
Roman took my arm. “I’ll walk you back.”
I skewered him with my glare. At least I think I did. “I don’t need your help to walk anywhere. I’m a big girl, in case you haven’t noticed.”
I took off across the street. Roman matched my stride. Not that it was hard given he was six-two and I was five-five.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
I stepped inside and shrugged out of my coat. Roman shut the door and leaned against the glass. “Darlin’, last time a girl said there was nothing going on, about five minutes later she was trying to set my hair on fire.”
“Don’t give me any ideas.”
He slid his glasses to the top of his head. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of her.”
Anger burned in my core. A volcano of emotion erupted. “Okay, I’m really trying not to be childish and stupid, but last night I saw her wrap her scarf around your neck.”