The Detective Wins The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 10)

by Kristen Painter

  No one was around when he walked in. He adjusted his new garment bag over his arm. Dexter had given him the bag to hold all of his new clothes. “Marigold? You here?”

  He didn’t want to just traipse through the store looking for them. It felt like a very feminine space and not one he should interject himself in.

  A few moments later, she and her mom came out from a back room. Marigold made eye contact immediately. “Did you get your clothes already? That was fast.”

  “The tailor did a great job,” he said. From their body posture to their expressions, they both looked stressed. Whatever wedding stuff was going on, it must be serious. “Everything okay?”

  Marigold’s smile was weak. “It will be. We need to get back to the store.”

  “Sure thing. I’m ready when you are.”

  She glanced at her mother. “I’ll call you later.”

  Corette nodded. “Please do.”

  Wyatt raised his free hand. “See you at the rehearsal dinner tonight, Ms. Williams. But if there’s anything I can help with in the meantime, you just let Marigold know and I’ll take care of it.”

  “That’s a very kind offer, thank you. Marigold will fill you in. Now if you’ll pardon me, I have a bride waiting.” She went off toward the other side of the salon.

  Marigold looked so pensive. “Let’s go.”

  He hoisted his garment bag over his shoulder, then took Marigold’s hand with his free one. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “We’ll talk about it at the shop, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  It was a long walk back, mostly because he couldn’t stop wondering what was going on. He couldn’t think of anything that would make Marigold and her mother so anxious. The wedding was still on, wasn’t it?

  He was sure the two women would have been much more emotionally distraught if the wedding had been called off. They’d probably have rushed to Pandora’s side. That seemed to be what families like this did, they supported each other. But that wasn’t happening, so that couldn’t be it.

  What, then?

  He had no idea and was no closer to figuring it out when they arrived at the Enchanted Garden. Apparently his skills of deduction didn’t extend to matrimonial affairs.

  Marigold thanked Deputy Blythe for staying at the shop while they’d been gone. Deputy Blythe left, then Marigold checked in with Leah to see if anything needed her attention.

  It didn’t and Leah seemed to have made good progress on the wedding flowers while they’d been gone. The workroom was a mess, but in that busy, productive, organized chaos kind of way.

  Marigold went over the list of arrangements needed for the wedding, then nodded. “We’re pretty much on track. Great job, Leah. Would you watch the counter for a bit? I need to talk to Wyatt alone.”

  “Sure. I can finish these boutonnieres out there.” Leah picked up her tray of supplies and headed out, leaving Marigold and Wyatt in the workroom.

  He stood facing her, ready for anything. He hoped. “Is this about the wedding?”

  “Not exactly.” Marigold smiled the same weak smile again as she looked at Wyatt. She took the garment bag from him and hung it on one of the coat hooks by the door, then came back to him. He was on one side of a worktable, she was on the other. “We need to talk.”

  He hadn’t expected to hear that for a long time. If ever. He’d thought he’d been doing all right in the boyfriend department, but maybe not. Whatever was wrong, he’d fix it. “Okay. What’s on your mind?”

  She hesitated. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  Everything in him chilled. Was she breaking up with him? They’d barely begun. But this definitely sounded like she was about to end things. A knot formed in his gut. “Just say it. I can take it.”

  That might not be completely honest, but being a homicide detective had taught him to compartmentalize things. He knew how to suppress his emotions until there was a time and place to deal with them.

  “I haven’t told you the full truth about who I am. I haven’t lied to you deliberately, I don’t want you to think that, but there’s more to me than just what you know.”

  He frowned. Maybe she wasn’t breaking up with him, but it still wasn’t good news. “That sounds ominous.”

  “It’s nothing bad, I swear. Not for me anyway. But revealing this side of myself is hard.” She drew in a long, unsteady breath and put her hands on the table between them. Bits and pieces of flowers, stems, and leaves covered its surface. “I like you a lot, Wyatt. I sincerely hope what I’m about to share with you doesn’t change the way you feel about me, but if it does…I understand.”

  He couldn’t give her any reassurance without knowing what she was going to say, but he had to say something. “I’ll do my best to keep an open mind.”

  “Good.” She smiled a little, but now she was twisting a few of the loose leaves together. She was nervous, clearly.

  Whatever this was, she was fretting over it. Seeing her like this, so worried, so unsure, hurt him. He went to her and took her hands. “Hey, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t know…”

  He made himself smile. Not because he was happy about any of this, but because she needed it. “Just tell me.”

  She nodded. “Okay.” Then exhaled. “I’m a witch.”

  He stared at her, trying to process what she’d just said. And why she’d said it. “I don’t think that’s true at all. I think you’re very sweet. Why would you say that about—”

  “No, I mean I’m actually a witch. A spell-casting, magic-wielding witch.”

  He stared at her a little more. Then laughed as he tugged playfully on her hands. “Come on, stop fooling around. I know this town is all about the illusion that Halloween and the creatures that go with it are real, but this is taking things a little too far.”

  Cold, hard seriousness shone in her eyes. “Wyatt, I’m not kidding. I’m a witch. My mother and my sisters are witches, too. So is my daughter, but her powers are just beginning to manifest.”

  He dropped her hands and backed away. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because the pendant I found in that bookend? It’s steeped in dark magic. You’re involved in this whole mess, and you deserve to know the truth. But there’s more.”

  “More? What else could there be?”

  “There are supernaturals of all varieties in this town. That’s the reason this town exists. To give those of us with supernatural abilities a safe place to live. Where we can be ourselves and not have to hide.”

  He laughed defensively. “All varieties? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Besides witches, there are vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fae, nymphs, mermaids, dryads…the town is home to all sorts of creatures. None of them mean you or any human harm, I promise. We live in peace and harmony. You’re in no danger.”

  “No, I’m not,” he said, shaking his head at the craziness filling it. “Because none of it’s real. I don’t believe in any of that. Just like I know magic is a trick. There’s a reason for everything. An explanation. I might not know what it is just yet, but there’s always a reason. The only thing I can’t figure out is why you’re telling me all this.”

  But even as he spoke, the things he’d recently seen—the flowers growing under Marigold’s touch, the witch on the street performing magic, the strange feral gleam in Birdie’s eyes—said Marigold was telling the truth.

  He didn’t want to believe that truth, because believing it meant questioning everything. He’d come to rely on absolutes in his world. If there was a crime to solve, there was a way to solve it. Clues that led to concrete evidence.

  Magic meant there might not always be concrete evidence. And that upset everything he knew.

  “Wyatt, I’m telling you this because of the pendant. It’s dangerous. And I won’t be able to get rid of it until after the wedding. The ritual that can destroy magic that powerful takes time to prepare.”

  He stood there, listening,
but not fully accepting. “I don’t know how to react. I don’t know what to think. Except that I don’t want to believe any of this. I don’t believe it. But then…maybe I do.”

  He shook his head and paced to one end of the workroom, then back. “You understand how crazy all of this sounds.”

  “I can only guess.” She shrugged apologetically. “I’ve lived in this community all my life, so it’s as natural to me as being a witch is.”

  “A witch,” he muttered, testing the word for the weight of truth the way he’d always done with witness statements. “How is that possible? It’s not. It shouldn’t be.”

  “It is,” she said softly.

  Then, as if to punctuate the moment, Frank sauntered by on the way to his food bowl.

  Wyatt stopped dead in his tracks. “A black cat. You have a black cat.”

  “Frank’s just a shop cat. He’s not my familiar. And black cats aren’t really a witch’s favorite pet. They can have whatever kind of pets they like. The whole black cat thing was made up by…whoever made it up.”

  Wyatt finally looked at her again. “How can this be real? How am I supposed to believe that everything I’ve come to think of as a fairy tale is suddenly true?”

  “Do you want proof?”

  He couldn’t answer her until he’d thought that through. Proof would mean he’d have to believe. Or he’d have to run.

  That’s why this bothered him so much. Either he believed and he stayed, or Marigold was a liar and he left.

  He didn’t want to believe, but he wanted even less for Marigold to be a liar. He liked her. Even with this new development.

  He wanted to stay. “Okay. Show me proof.”

  A small light entered her gaze. As if she suddenly had hope. “I won’t do anything too intense, all right?”

  “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.” He crossed his arms and waited.

  She wiggled her fingers toward the table in front of her. It lifted off the floor.

  His mouth came open. He knew it could be rigged. But when would she have had the time? And why go to such great lengths?

  Then she lifted one hand a little higher and all the plant debris on the table rose into the air and whirled around in a small vortex.

  There was no rigging that. This was real. And if that wasn’t intense, what would she consider intense? “You’re a witch,” he breathed.

  It wasn’t a question, but a statement of truth.

  She nodded and set the debris and the table back down. “I am.”

  He shook his head. “How is this possible?”

  “I was born this way.”

  He shoved a hand through his hair and thought over everything she’d said. “So is everyone in town…something? When I saw you with the flowers, what was going on? The flowers looked like they were growing.”

  “First question first. No, not everyone in town is a supernatural. But a lot are. Leah is a tree nymph.”

  “I don’t even know what that is.”

  “Tree spirit. Basically.” Marigold tucked a blond curl behind her ear. “Birdie, the woman you met at the sheriff’s department, is a werewolf.”

  His mouth came open again. “That explains so much.”

  “There will be a lot of supernaturals at the wedding, too. In fact, you might be the only normie. I mean, non-supernatural human. Well, there should be one other human there, but she’s kind of a special case.”

  He put a hand to his head. This was a lot of new information. Then something else occurred to him. “Dexter, the man who owns Guildman’s, said he retired here because this is where his granddaughter goes to the school. Some place called Harmswood. Is he also here because he’s…not human?”

  That might explain some of his incredible football skills.

  Marigold nodded. “Harmswood is the same school my Saffie goes to. It’s for supernatural children. And I don’t know the Guildmans very well because they just moved here about a year ago, but I’m pretty sure they’re tiger shifters.”

  He collapsed into one of the work stools. The Wrecking Machine was a tiger. It was almost funny because his cat-like grace had often been written about. Wyatt heaved out a breath. “This is nuts. You know that, right? How crazy this all sounds?”

  She nodded. “I get it. I do. I’m sure it’ll take a few days for it to all sink in. Maybe longer.” She took a few steps toward him. “I’ve never told anyone human about my being a witch before. Are you…okay?”

  He wasn’t sure, but he liked that he was the first non-supernatural she’d shared her true self with. “That must have been hard for you to share.”

  “It was.”

  “I appreciate the effort it took.” But he wanted to know more. “Tell me about the flowers.”

  “You mean why they looked like they were growing?”

  He nodded.

  “After we put the arrangements together, I use my powers to grow the flowers and plants in them a little. I’m a green witch. Plants and flowers are my specialty. That extra touch is what makes my arrangements so big and beautiful and natural looking.”

  “I see. I guess it makes sense that a green witch would work with flowers and plants. What about the witch and vampire I saw on the street? Were they actors playing parts or…the real thing?”

  “The real thing. If you saw a vampire during daylight hours, it was probably Julian Ellingham or Greyson Garrett. There’s only a handful in town who can handle the sun. The rest are strictly night shift.”

  He sat there, staring at nothing and thinking about everything. “Wow.”

  She bit her lip. “Are…we…”

  She didn’t finish, but he heard the question in her voice and understood. She wanted to know if they were good.

  He had to tell her the truth. Especially after what she’d just shared with him. “I don’t know. If you have all these powers, why would you be interested in a regular non-magical guy like me?”

  She smiled. “Well, I’m a woman and you’re a man. Attraction is attraction. Plus, I think you have your own kind of magic, Wyatt. And as long as I haven’t scared you off, I am still very much interested.”

  Then she hesitated. “Have I scared you off?”

  “I still like you,” he said. “I just feel a little lost right now.”

  “I understand that. Do you want me to leave you alone?”

  He laughed. “This is your shop. If one of us is going to leave, it has to be me. But no. Don’t go. I can handle this. Talking about it helps. Speaking of, tell me about the pendant. Where is it?”

  “Still in my pocket, and frankly, I hate having it that close to me.” She pulled it out and set it on the table. “We have to find somewhere safe to keep it until it can be destroyed. My mother offered to take it, but I don’t like dumping this on her. Or possibly putting her in harm’s way.”

  The pendant looked innocent enough to him. Kind of like something some bohemian hippy chick might wear to a music festival. “It’s really evil, huh?”

  “Its purposes are. And the magic attached to it is very dark. Blood and ash magic, which are almost always used for nefarious motives.”

  The phone rang, and a few seconds later, Leah knocked on the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a call for you Marigold.”

  “Coming.” Then she patted Wyatt’s knee. “Be right back.”

  He nodded, eyes still on the pendant. As she left, he picked it up to look at it more closely. It didn’t feel evil. It didn’t feel like anything but metal and stone. Maybe you had to be a witch to know there was magic involved.

  A strange impulse made him loop the chain over his head.

  His last thought was that wasn’t something he should have done.

  Marigold was happy that Wyatt hadn’t run screaming, but she felt bad that she was the reason he looked like he’d been hit by a truck. She understood, though, and she felt pretty optimistic that everything was going to be okay.

  Finding out the truth about her—and Nocturne Falls—was a bi
g shock, she knew, but maybe being a cop had helped him learn to deal with big shocks. Whatever the case, he seemed to be handling things with a surprising amount of calm.

  She took the phone from Leah. “Hello, this is Marigold speaking. How can I help?”

  “You’re not answering your texts. I got concerned.”

  “Everything’s fine, Mom.” She covered the mouthpiece to whisper at Leah, “Why didn’t you say it was my mom?”

  Leah held up her hands. She had moved into the shop to give Marigold space behind the counter. “She said not to.”

  Corette continued. “Did you tell him the truth?”

  “I did.” And it had been the hardest conversation she’d ever had, outside of telling Saffron the truth about her father.

  “How’s he handling it?”

  “Pretty well, I think. He didn’t storm out or run screaming, so that’s something. But I should probably get back to him.”

  “You should, but I also wanted to tell you that I spoke to Alice about the pendant. She’s putting things in motion for the destruction ritual, but she thought I should tell you that it’s imperative no one puts the pendant on.”

  Marigold nodded. “Trust me, that is not going to—”

  Wyatt walked out of the workroom looking very, very different. His eyes were dark and wild, and there was a dangerous air about him.

  Then Marigold saw something else. The pendant.

  Around his neck.

  Marigold stared as her pulse shot up and her blood went cold. “Mom, what happens if someone puts the pendant on?”

  “They become the owner of the pendant until their death. Which, according to Alice, takes until the dark magic completely possesses that person. A strong witch or wizard could last for years. A lesser being, maybe only one year. Or just months.”

  Marigold swallowed. “And a human?”

  “Days. So you see, it’s paramount that no one—”

  “I gotta go.” She hung up on her mother, something she’d never done before in her life. “Wyatt, take that pendant off right now.”

  He smiled a terrible grin that made her shiver with revulsion. It was almost like the evil spilling off him had become visible. There was no doubt the darkness in that pendant was in charge of him.