by Amy Boyles
Axel shook his head. “I’m afraid the creature might rip it from his hands.”
I balked. “Doesn’t he need protection?”
Axel rapped his knuckles on the table. “He’s not the one Erebus is after.”
I bit my lower lip in thought. “If you think so.”
“I’ll stay outside with him.”
I grasped Axel’s arm. “No. I don’t want you in danger.”
He smirked. Axel picked up my hand and tenderly kissed each finger before pressing it to his chest. “We all have to fight this thing. Even if it—God forbid—accomplishes its task, who’s to say Erebus won’t then attack the rest of the town?”
Axel was right. I kissed him and crossed to the stove, turning up the kettle until steam poured from the spout and the sound of its whistle filled the kitchen.
“I’ll keep an eye on Sylvia. You stay with Garrick.”
Axel rose. His jaw tightened. “It’s a plan.”
I settled the rattling tea service on a table. My heart jumped into my throat, pulsing at the hollow of my neck. I had to watch Sylvia like a hawk and somehow coax her into explaining exactly how she fought off a magic eater.
My friend. A woman who had helped us plenty of times I had to get information out of. The thought made me nervous as heck.
Cordelia and Amelia played checkers by the fire. Betty rocked in her chair, humming a song to herself. A skein of yarn lay by her feet, and needles clacked as my grandmother knitted.
Betty was clearly stressed to the max. Never before had I seen her knit anything.
I didn’t even know she could.
I created a teacup for each woman and nestled it beside them. When I was finished, I poured a cup for myself and sat across from Sylvia.
“Where’s CJ?” I said.
“Outside with the men.” Sylvia raked her red fingernails through her hair. “He’ll come in after a while to get some rest.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for him to be out there?”
She shrugged. “I think he’d rather be with the men than the woman right now.”
“I can understand that,” Flower said from her spot curled up by the fireplace. “Part of me would rather be with them.”
My gaze darted to the stairs. “Where’s Hugo?”
“With the men,” Betty said.
“Sounds about right,” I murmured. I turned my attention back to Sylvia. “I’m so amazed that you survived the magic eater.”
Sylvia curled her legs under and leaned back on the couch. “I really don’t know how I did it. I was standing in my shop and heard a loud noise. Next thing I knew a dark mass, like a combination between a cloud and mist, drifted into the store.”
Her voice quaked. “I’d never seen one before, but no one had to tell me it was pure evil. My hand shot out as if it had a will of its own, and I shouted a banishing spell. It wasn’t anything specific, so I knew whatever it was would come back, but it was enough to keep the magic eater from killing me.”
“It took Saltz Swift in the school,” I said. “He had left Flower and me to teach a class and got caught. I’m sure he was on guard.”
Sylvia nodded absently. “It wasn’t enough. Honestly, I considered myself lucky to have survived. Under any other circumstances I don’t think I would’ve made it.” She dropped her head into her hands. “Poor Saltz. He wasn’t always the best person, but he would never have done this. Never would’ve cursed us.
“It’s just so horrible.” Tears dripped down Sylvia’s face, and in that moment I didn’t think she was guilty of having summoned the magic eater. But if she didn’t, who did?
Forbes Henry, that’s who I figured.
“Does Forbes know y’all were camping out here tonight?” I said.
Betty nodded. “The stubborn old coot didn’t want to come. Said he’d take his chances. If he’s still alive tomorrow, I say we hang him upside down and pinch a clothespin over his nose until he confesses.”
“I agree,” Amelia said. “If he can outlive Saltz and Snow, he must be behind all this.”
I agreed. We women in the room all stared at one another, silently contemplating how we would torture an old man into confessing.
How warped I was. I cringed at my thoughts. But at least I knew I wasn’t the only one having them.
The wind howled outside and I shivered. I hoped the men would be okay. I worried that even with the protection spell on the house, it wouldn’t be enough.
A screech came from outside. The five of us bolted from our seats. I raced to the door.
“Don’t go out there,” Betty snapped. “The protection spell only works with the door shut. If the magic eater is out there and you open the door, you risk letting it inside.”
“But we have the book,” I said.
Betty and Sylvia shifted into uncomfortable silence. That’s when I realized the worst of the worst.
“Y’all are scared, aren’t you?”
Neither woman answered.
From outside the men yelled. I whirled on Betty and Sylvia. “In all the time I’ve been in Magnolia Cove, the two of y’all have never been afraid of anything. Now you’re scared? Well, what if this magic eater wants more than just you six? What if it wants the entire town?”
I fisted my hands as I stared into their guilt-ridden faces. “Are y’all just gonna sit here while those men fight for you?”
No one moved. I darted to the book and grasped it between both hands.
I ran toward the door, and in a flash of magic, Betty was standing in front of it, blocking my path.
“Pepper, you must wait!”
“Why?”
“See if the men can stop it first,” she said.
“Why? I don’t understand.”
Betty’s lower lip trembled. “There’s a clause in the magic eater’s spell.”
The men shouted. The wind howled. It sounded like a tree had been ripped from its roots.
“What are you talking about, a clause?”
Betty’s gaze shifted to Sylvia. Sylvia elbowed Betty. “Tell her.”
“You’d better tell her,” Cordelia said. “My boyfriend is out there.”
“So’s my fiancé,” I said. “If you’re going to be sitting in here like chickens while they’re outside fighting, you’d better tell us all about this clause.’”
Betty worried her hands. “It’s in the book—under an asterisk at the very bottom of Erebus’s page. You need a magnifying glass to see it. If you don’t get Erebus back into the book willingly, he’ll wreak even further havoc.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “Tricking him is getting him in there unwillingly.”
Betty frowned. “It’s dangerous.”
I couldn’t leave Axel and the other men out there any longer.
“I’ll take the risk.” I opened the front door, fully prepared to be flinging a book at a scary magic eater, but instead found myself head-smacking into someone.
“Ouch,” I yelled. “What the heck?”
“Get out of my way.” A body stormed past me. I glanced up, shocked to see the salt-and-pepper-covered head of Forbes Henry standing in the doorway.
He brushed off his shoulders. “I’m seeking shelter.”
Lightning cracked outside, illuminating the doorframe. Forbes Henry’s tall but brittle body glowed in the light. He was old—at least eighty—with a very serious frown. He moved slowly with the help of a golden-eagle-topped cane.
He stared at us. “Well? Isn’t anyone going to offer me something to drink? I had to outrun a magic eater to get here and nearly died trying.”
We all looked at one another. I glanced at the teapot. “Let me fix you something.”
Forbes yanked a fedora off his head and tossed it on the couch. “Put a shot of bourbon in it. That’ll help my nerves so I can tell y’all the story.”
My gaze flickered to Axel, who stood behind Forbes. Axel nodded to me. He smirked in disbelief. “Let’s get you comfortable, Mr. Henry, so you can tell us
exactly how you managed to outrun a magic eater.”
NINE
Forbes Henry sat on the couch while we gathered around.
Axel kept shooting me glances that suggested he didn’t trust Forbes one bit.
I don’t think anyone did.
The two of us stood by the far wall, our heads together while Forbes, with shaking hands, sucked down his hot tea and bourbon.
“I spoke to Sylvia,” I whispered into Axel’s ear.
His head turned slightly toward me, and I got a whiff of his scent—earth and musk with a hint of soap. Axel always, and I mean always, smelled good. I wished I could smell as good as him.
“And?”
“I don’t think she’s the one we’re looking for.” My gaze landed on Forbes. He smacked his lips after taking a long sip of tea.
“I need more,” he demanded.
“I really think I might throw something in his face before the night is over,” I said.
Axel coughed into his hand to hide a chuckle. “You’re probably not the only one thinking that.”
Forbes cleared his throat and rested both hands on the gold-topped cane. “Do you want to hear my story?”
“If you’re ready to tell it,” Betty said.
The old man’s eyes ticked around the room like the second hand of a clock. “I don’t suppose any of you have ever had to outrun a magic eater?”
“No, and we already know that,” Cordelia said impatiently. “We want to know what happened.”
His eyes glittered with anger as they swept over Cordelia. Magnolia Cove’s richest man did not like impudence.
Wow. I felt so smart using a word like impudence.
Forbes made sure not to look at Cordelia for the rest of the conversation. “I was alone in my house. I’d just heated up a can of soup and was about to eat it when the windows started quaking.”
“So there was warning,” CJ said. “Golly, I’m so glad there is. Can you imagine being asleep and this creature just appears and kills you?” CJ shivered. “Gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.”
“I was annoyed if nothing else,” Forbes said.
“Why does that not surprise me?” I murmured to Axel.
Forbes continued. “One of the windows exploded inside, sending glass shattering into my living room. That’s when the creature entered. It was a hulking black mass, two hollow pits of hell for eyes and a mouth that was a tunnel that I knew would suck me dry. I called for my cane and created a holding spell. It wouldn’t last long, I knew that. The magic eater’s power would be too strong for it. But that spell gave me time to leave my house and flee here.”
Betty pointed her pipe toward the door. “What was all that commotion when you arrived?”
“We thought he was the magic eater,” Axel admitted sheepishly. “He showed up in a tunnel of power that whipped at the trees.”
“I’m a powerful wizard,” Forbes said with finality. “I can’t help it that you’re not used to seeing so much raw power.”
I rolled my eyes. Boy, did this guy think a lot of himself.
“Do you think it followed you?” I asked.
“Do you hear it outside?” Forbes snipped.
I stared at Axel and shook my head, amazed at how rude this man could be. When I turned back to Forbes, I’d made sure to plaster a big smile on my face. “No, I don’t hear it outside, but Sylvia had said before the creature snuck up quietly to her shop.”
“Then she’s deaf,” Forbes snapped. “It’s loud.”
All gazes shot to Forbes. I was pretty sure at least one person wanted to spell his lips shut so he’d stop talking.
“If we want to survive,” Forbes said, “we need to figure out a way to trick the magic eater back into the book. It might come here tonight. If it does, we need to be prepared.”
“Smartest thing you’ve said,” Betty replied. “Does anyone have an idea for that? Erebus won’t go willingly. There’s no telling how long he was trapped in the book in the first place. A little taste of freedom might be just what he’s been waiting for.”
“Sounds like he might go to the beach before he comes here,” Amelia said. “Who could blame him? I’d rather be at the beach. The gulf is so nice this time of year.”
“But it’s always so crowded in the summer,” Sylvia added. “It’s best to go after school’s back in session.”
“That’s true,” Amelia replied.
Betty smacked the flat of her hand on the chair. “Will the two of y’all focus? We need to figure this out.”
Cordelia threaded her fingers through her hair. “Why don’t we just call him over to one of us and hide the book behind something? Then when he gets close, snap the book over him. Will that do it?”
Betty’s lips coiled into a sly smile. “I think that just might work. Great thinking, Cordelia.”
“Well, this is all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” I snapped. “Someone slipped me the wrong spell.” I didn’t say it, but I was thinking that it was someone in the very room we all occupied.
Forbes spoke up. “Well, it wasn’t me. I might be old, but I want to hang on to every bit of life I’ve got left. Even if I spend most of it heating up cans of soup to eat.”
I didn’t trust one crotchety word that leaped from Forbes’s mouth. He was the guilty one who’d called down the magic eater. I was sure of it.
I considered his story and wondered if all of it was true. He said the window had broken and that he’d had soup. If the old man was telling the truth, the window would still be broken, wouldn’t it? There would be irrefutable proof that Forbes’s story was true.
I just wondered if there was a way for me to sneak out without anyone worrying.
After all, the magic eater wasn’t interested in me.
“Pepper,” Axel said in a low growl, “what are you thinking?”
I scowled. Figured Axel would catch me planning in my head. I scoffed as if the thought were ridiculous. “What makes you think I’m thinking anything?”
“You only get that look when you’re up to something.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Spill it.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I was just thinking that if what Forbes says is true, his window would be broken.”
“And if it isn’t, then he’s lying.”
“Right.”
“And we could say he’s the one who started this mess and force him to stop the magic eater.”
“Right again.” I smiled. “So what do you say? Think we can slip out and check?”
“No. We’re needed here. What if the creature arrives?”
I nibbled my lower lip. It did sound horrible, leaving my family to investigate a house.
“We would be gone no more than five minutes. Couldn’t you whisk us there with magic?”
“It would take a lot of magic.”
“I’ll do it. I need to practice traveling anyway. All we have to do is show up, check it out and return. Simple as that.”
Worry filled his eyes. “What if something goes wrong? While we’re out there?”
I linked my arm through Axel’s and rested my head on his shoulder. “What could possibly go wrong? Erebus doesn’t want us.”
Axel’s gaze scanned the room. “Fine. We go quickly and just see if his story is true. But we take someone else with us, just in case we need to get a message back here.”
I could hardly contain my excitement at my victory. “Okay. We’ll bring Hugo.”
Axel shook his head. “No. If anything happens, Hugo will want to protect you. It’ll put him in danger. The magic eater may attack.”
“And the last thing we want to do is provoke it,” I whispered.
“Right.” Axel nodded toward Flower. “So I say we bring the possum. If anything happens, she can run back, tell everyone what happened.”
I scanned the room of wide-awake witches and wizards, looking for a way to make our plan work. “Okay. G
reat idea.”
“What are y’all two conspiring about over there?” Betty said.
I cringed.
Axel wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “We’re discussing how to sneak away together and elope. Given all the drama going on, we figured it would be best to get married without anyone else around—in case something bad happened, that is.”
“Can’t say I blame you there,” Cordelia said snidely. “That’s what I would do if I were y’all.”
Betty snorted. “No one’s sneaking off anywhere.”
We’d see about that. “Let me at least clean up.” I crossed to Forbes, who sat with an empty cup of tea and bourbon resting on his lap. “Can I get you more?”
Forbes scowled. “No, I suppose not. Too much of that and I’ll be blind drunk if the magic eater shows up again.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” I mumbled. I took the rest of the empty cups, loaded them on the tray and headed into the kitchen.
“Flower, I could use some help in here.”
The possum blinked at me before stretching and pawing her whiskers. “If you so say.”
“I say so.”
Betty shot me a hard look but said nothing. I grinned innocently, but I knew my grandmother wasn’t buying it.
When I entered the kitchen, I settled the cups in the sink and turned around to see the possum giving me the stink eye. I wondered if she was taking lessons from Betty Craple.
“What do you need me to do? Wash? Dry?”
“I need you to come with Axel and me to Forbes Henry’s house.”
The possum arched a brow. “Tell me more.”
As soon as I finished explaining the situation, Axel walked in.
“Do they suspect anything?” I said.
He nodded. “Oh yeah. Betty will probably walk in here any minute.”
Speaking of the devil, the door opened and in sauntered my grandmother. She had a look so ferocious she could’ve given a lion a run for his money. She pulled her pipe from her mouth and blew a square of smoke.
“So you’re going to Forbes,” she stated.
I scoffed. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Can it,” she said. “I’m coming too. The likelihood that the magic eater will hit the same place in one night is small. Let’s go see if Forbes is telling the truth.”