Sadness tugged at my heart and I made my way over to her. “I’m going to miss you. I’m glad I got to know you a little bit, even if it was just in ghost form.”
“I’m glad as well,” Aunt Francine replied. “I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to take over the bookshop. I know it’s in good hands. Corrine really raised you to be a wonderful young woman.”
Tears welled in my eyes. I really wanted to reach forward and take Aunt Francine into a big hug, but of course that whole transparent ghost thing got in the way of that. Instead, Peaches came over and wrapped her arm around me.
“We’re all going to miss you, Aunt Francine.”
“Well, I’m not gone just yet,” my aunt said with a small smile. “Who knows, there might be a bit of paperwork to be done yet.”
I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, but neither did Cat nor Peaches. Peaches eventually went upstairs, begging away so she could work on some of her art. Aunt Francine and Grandma Cee went back to Brixton Road, using my portal in the bookshop, to report on what had transpired here tonight.
Cat and I lay down on a couple of couches, looking up at the ceiling. Muffin made his way over to me and I patted him absent-mindedly.
“What happens if a witch tells a human about her powers? Is there like some sort of witch jail that I’d get sent to?”
Cat gave me a hard look. “No, but you just can’t tell them.”
“Why not?”
“Their little brains can’t handle that sort of knowledge. Look at what happened to the X-Men. They’re studied, tortured, ostracized.”
“Surely that wouldn’t happen here, though?”
“Why not?” Cat shrugged. “I mean, knowing what you know about humanity, do you really think that the non-magical humans knowing about us would really just let us live our lives normally? They would want to know how to get our powers. They would study us. They would probably do a lot of it against our will.”
I supposed Cat had a point. “But what about those of us who um, maybe like a human?” I asked, and Cat grinned at me.
“Wow, way to phrase that like a grown woman. Anyway, it has happened that witches have fallen in love with people with non-magical powers. After all, your mother was one of those people. But, that sort of thing is frankly frowned upon, and while people in serious relationships do eventually tell the non-magical person in the relationship about their powers, it is strongly suggested that they wait until the relationship is serious. And, if they ever break up, there is an obligation to cast a spell on the person who doesn’t have magical powers to make him or her forget that they ever knew about magic.”
“So, it’s not like I wouldn’t be able to use my magic if I told Chase?”
Cat shook her head. “No, but if you’re going to do it, you need to absolutely know that you love him, and you need to know that you want to spend the rest of your life with him.”
“I’ll be back later,” I said. After all, it was now Monday, which meant that the bookshop was closed for the day.
“Be careful what you do,” Cat shouted after me.
It didn’t matter. I knew what I was going to do, and I knew that it was right.
I found Chase in his office, and as soon as he looked up at me he smiled.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Can we go somewhere? To talk, I mean,”
“Sure,” Chase replied. “Honestly, I’m not really that busy today.”
The two of us walked in silence down the main village square. It was a comfortable silence, not awkward at all. I was just going over in my head everything that I wanted to tell Chase, and I was sure he was just enjoying the nice day.
As we got closer to the main part of the village, we ran into Vicky, who was out walking Kyle’s dog. I supposed it must have been a day off for the school kids.
“Hello,” Vicky said to us cheerily as she made her way toward us, being dragged along by Lewis, who obviously wanted to say hi. I leaned down and gave the good boy a pat, and his tail wagged happily. “How is the investigation coming along?” she asked Chase. “Polly has been a complete wreck. I didn’t see her at the school at all this week, and she just looked so dreadfully sad at the funeral.”
Chase nodded officially. “Yes, when someone loses someone they’re close to it is quite difficult. We’re continuing the investigation, and we plan to be making an arrest shortly, although I can’t give you any more details than that.”
“Of course, I understand completely,” Vicky said with a nod. “I’m so glad it sounds like things are coming to a head.”
After another couple of minutes of small talk, Vicky and Lewis moved on, and as Chase and I continued along the street, I looked at him curiously.
“Why didn’t you tell her that you’re not investigating it as a murder anymore?”
“Because I don’t really think it was a suicide, and at this point, I’m trying everything I can to get some answers out of people. In a place like Sapphire Village, you never know what spreading false information like that can draw up. Now, where should we eat?”
“How about the Wild Lake Café?” I suggested. After all, early on a Monday morning, in low season, it would be unlikely that there would be many people around. We could easily take one of the booths at the back, and there would be virtually no chance that our conversation would be overheard. That was pretty important right now, after all.
“Sure,” Chase replied. “I love their eggs benedict.”
Chapter 22
Five minutes later we were seated in a booth at the back of the restaurant. The waitress had dropped off a couple of menus and promised to be back in a few minutes. As I looked around the space, I realized this was definitely the right place to tell Chase everything. There were two other sets of diners in the whole large restaurant, and as I’d asked for us to be seated in a private corner, they were definitely nowhere near us. The large backs of the booths gave us an extra layer of privacy, as well.
Still, I couldn’t help but second-guess myself just a little bit. Maybe I should have suggested we go for a walk somewhere instead. A hike, maybe? No, there was still a risk of running into people there. And I figured Chase would probably want to have been sitting down for this.
When we finally placed our orders–I was so nervous I basically just blurted off the first thing I saw on the menu, and barely even knew what I had ordered–I looked at Chase.
“I have something important to tell you,” I told him.
“Ok,” Chase said slowly.
“I need you to know that this is definitely not what you think.”
“I hope not, because it sounds to me like you’re about to break up with me, or you’re pregnant.”
“What? No, to both of those. Of course not!”
“Ok, then lay it on me.”
“I will. But I need you to know, this is going to blow your mind. You won’t believe me when I tell you. You’re going to think I’m insane.”
“I trust you. I’ll believe you.”
“No, you won’t. Because when I found out, I didn’t believe Cat.”
“All right, well, tell me what it is, and we’ll see.”
I looked at the table and took a deep breath. This was it. Was I about to scare off the best thing that had ever happened to me? Was Chase going to freak out as soon as he found out and never talk to me again? Was I going to have to explain to Cat that she had to do a forgetting spell on Chase, so he wouldn’t remember we ever had this conversation?
Despite all the risks, I knew this was right. It felt right. I had never felt about a man the way I felt about Chase, and I wanted him to know the truth about me. For better or for worse, I needed him to know.
“I’m a witch,” I said quietly. “Not like, the way some people use gemstones and stuff and put them in circles to try and make themselves feel better sort of way, either. I have genuine, bona-fide magical powers, and last night I almost had my soul taken by a group of soul-sucking creatures who feast on magical powe
rs. Thanks to Cat, Peaches and my Grandma, who lives in a magic-only town not far from here, I was saved. But I needed to tell you. That was what the conversation yesterday was about. I wasn’t about to run off on you, but I knew there was a good chance I’d be killed. But, I wasn’t.”
Chase stared at me for at least ten seconds without saying anything. “A witch, huh?”
I nodded. “Yes. I know, it sounds absolutely insane. But it’s true.”
“Now, I know you own a bookstore, and I know that Harry Potter is definitely popular and all, but you do realize that witchcraft–like, real witches–aren’t real.”
The waitress picked just then to come by with our food. Chase and I sat in awkward silence until she left, at which point I motioned down at the breakfast I’d ordered–two fried eggs, toast, and some bacon. I pointed at the eggs, imagining them turning green, and a second later, they went from a pure white to a nice pastel green color.
Chase’s eyes widened. A second later, I changed them back, in case the waitress decided to come back and ask how everything was tasting.
“No way,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“I’m not,” I replied.
“Can you, I dunno, turn this glass of orange juice into apple juice?” he asked, motioning to his drink.
“Sure,” I nodded. Focusing on the glass of orange juice, I imagined it being a delicious glass of fresh-squeezed apple juice instead, pointed, and a second later it was completely different. That sort of magic was basically child’s play for me now.
“Wow, you’re not kidding,” Chase said, leaning back in his seat, his food forgotten.
I shook my head. “No, I’m not.”
“So the mysterious fire last night outside the village?”
“That was us,” I said. “Last night we had what we hope to be a final confrontation with the Others, a group of soul sucking beings that prey on witches’ magical powers. They can only be defeated through fire, and light, and when grandma Cee used her powers to defeat the final one last night, we accidentally set some of the woods on fire. We quickly put out the fire, and then left before anyone showed up and saw us. You can understand, I’m sure, that it would have been pretty tough to explain.”
“So this thing you did last night, you almost died?”
“I did,” I said, nodding. “In fact, I came a lot closer than I had hoped. Peaches and Cat are the only reason that I’m still here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Chase asked.
“We’re not supposed to tell humans, I mean, people without magical powers. In fact, Cat doesn’t think that I should even be telling you now. It’s so risky; can you imagine what would happen if the world at large discovered that magic is real?”
Chase nodded slowly. “I can, yes. I guess I do understand why you keep that hidden. So the events of last night, was that the reason for the weird lunch yesterday?”
I nodded. “Yes, sorry. I couldn’t tell you what was going on, but I wanted you to know that I cared. I wanted you to know that I cared about you, and as soon as everything was over yesterday, I knew what the last thoughts that would run through my mind before I died, because I almost did die. I knew that I had to tell you, that I needed you to know about my powers, because the fact is, I love you.”
“I love you too,” Chase said, reaching across the table and taking me by the hand. “I don’t understand this whole magic thing yet, and to be honest, I think it’s probably going to take me a while and that it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I mean, you have to admit, it’s completely insane.”
“I understand a lot more than you think. My mother was killed by the Others, and she made sure that her best friend, who had absolutely no magical powers, raised me in Miami. That was what kept me safe, and I had no idea that I had magical powers until I moved here. So yeah, trust me, I definitely know exactly how you’re feeling right now.”
“When I fell out of the window at the College a little while back, there was a hedge there that broke my fall, and I could have sworn that it hadn’t been there before.”
“Yes,” I interrupted. “I put that hedge there, because I knew that if I didn’t you were going to die. I knew it was a risk, but luckily you didn’t seem to suspect anything.”
Chase shook his head. “I thought I was going insane. I’d always been so good at noticing things in my environment, and I absolutely could have sworn that there was no hedge there earlier that day, and yet obviously magic had been completely out of the question when it came to consider things. I had to settle on the idea that I was just not quite as observant as I thought.”
“Don’t worry,” I grinned. “You’re definitely still observant, that one was all on me.”
“So all these times that I’ve been telling you to be careful, when I’ve been asking you to wait for me, and not go after murderers by yourself, you’ve actually just thought I was an idiot.”
I shook my head. “Not at all. I thought you were someone who cared about me, someone who cared about my safety, and who just didn’t know that I was able to handle myself a little bit better than you would have expected.”
“This is just so much to take in,” Chase said, running his hand through his hair. “Is there anything more to worry about when it comes to these Others that you’re talking about?”
I shrugged. “To be honest, we’re not sure yet. But we think we have defeated them for good. From now on, there should be no more risk of death for me from a group of weird soul-sucking creatures.”
“I suppose if they are still around, there’s not much I could do to help?”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“I’m not used to feeling helpless,” Chase said with a small smile. “I’m used to being right in the action, getting right into the thick of things, and yet here no matter what I know that if they’re not done, I’m going to have to sit back and watch as some weird things try to kill the woman I love.”
“Well, hopefully it isn’t going to come to that. If we are lucky, they’re gone for good.”
“I hope so. If anybody could beat them, I know it’s you.”
I smiled across the table at Chase. I knew that this wasn’t going to be the easiest transition ever, and that there were probably going to be submissions that would spring up based on my magical powers, but I knew from this conversation that no matter what, we were going to be able to work through anything.
Frankly, this could not have gone better.
Epilogue
“How did it go?” Cat asked as soon as I walked back into the bookshop, about an hour later.
“Really well,” I replied. “It took him a few minutes, but he’s definitely getting used to the idea of me being a witch, and I’m pretty sure we’re not about to be burned at the stake anytime soon.”
“Well, that’s good,” Cat said. “Although the idea that burning us at the stake would actually work is pretty hilarious.”
“I just wish we could figure out who killed Vanessa,” I said with a sigh. “After all, as nice as it is to have you here, I’d rather have you still be super busy at your café rather than hang out here with me.”
“Me too,” Cat said. “Nothing interesting ever happens at your bookshop.”
“You do realize we had a murder here, right?”
“That wasn’t during business hours.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes as I made my way to the counter to grab my iPad. As I opened it up, I noticed that Archibald’s book was now published. He wasn’t around, but I knew the ghost would be very excited.
“It’s just such a strange case,” Cat said. “It’s almost as though everything we know about it is wrong.”
My brow furrowed as something in my brain clicked.
“What if everything we know about it is wrong?”
“What do you mean?” Cat asked.
“Well, the one thing that we can say for certain is that Vanessa bought the cyanide.”
“I’m with you there; al
l the evidence shows that she did in fact buy it herself.”
“What if she’d never bought it to kill herself?”
Cat gave me a strange look. “What do you mean? Why else would she have bought the cyanide?”
“What if she bought it to kill someone?”
“But she didn’t kill anyone with it. I mean, unless you count herself, but then we’re back to suicide, and I think neither one of us believes that happened.”
I got up and began to pace around the room as everything suddenly began to make more and more sense. “I know, but what if that had been her plan, and what if someone else found out about it first, and then used her own cyanide against her to kill her?”
Cat thought about it for a moment, then looked up at me. “That actually makes a lot of sense. It would explain why Vanessa bought the cyanide, but also why her committing suicide doesn’t make any sense. But who was Vanessa trying to kill?”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Maybe Polly? But why? Or maybe her fiancé. After all, Kyle told me that she wasn’t very interested in planning the wedding for the last few weeks and more. He thought she might have been burnt out about it, but what if she was bailing because she knew the wedding was never going to take place?”
Cat’s eyes widened. “Of course! That actually makes perfect sense. For whatever reason, she didn’t want to marry Kyle anymore, so she decided to kill him instead.”
“The only problem is, even if Kyle had figured it out, there’s absolutely no way he would have had the opportunity to poison the coffee. It had to have been someone who was at the book club.”
“So we’re looking for somebody who cared enough about Kyle to kill for him, who somehow found out about the cyanide, and who was at the book club.”
I nodded. “And I think I know exactly who it is. We need to call Chase. I promised him if I figured out who killed Vanessa that I wouldn’t confront them by myself.”
Fifteen minutes later Chase, Cat and I were standing in front of Vicky’s front door. We had gotten the address from Chase, and as soon as I explained our theory, he agreed that it made perfect sense and that we needed to go talk to her.
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