by Amy Boyles
We reached the top of the stairs and turned right to go to our room.
“Dylan,” a voice whispered from the shadows.
I glanced over and saw Eliza hiding in a corner. Dark hair slashed across one side of her face. It made her look dark, regal, powerful.
“Roman,” I said, my voice trembling, “it looks bad for him.”
She took my hands in hers and pulled me into the alcove. Her fingers gripped me hard. They were cold and bony, reminding me of a skeleton. “I’ve got a plan for him,” she said.
Her eyes shone wet with tears. Her lips trembled. Eliza had been crying. She knuckled a bead from under her lashes.
I squeezed her hands tightly and said, “What is it? You have an idea how to free him?”
She nodded. “Tonight. I’m breaking him out.”
CHAPTER 18
A shrill laugh bubbled from Grandma’s throat. The sound hit me in the chest, rippling to my fingers.
“Eliza, normally I’d say let’s get the castle rodents to help us, but breaking out Roman won’t solve anything. It might make for a very humorous chase sequence, but I have the feeling that’s not going to work here. Though it might be humorous to watch Dylan file down the bars on the windows or stick dynamite under the door. You know, I love a good old-fashioned Western-style breakout scene.”
I clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her from talking. Tears pooled in Eliza’s eyes. She was about an inch away from breaking the dam and spewing tears everywhere.
“What Grandma means is, Roman doesn’t want to be broken out. Even if we went to the trouble of making an escape for him, he’d never go for it. Never. He’d stay put. Remember, he’s been on the run before and won’t want to do it again.”
Eliza dropped her face in her hands. “I can’t go through this again. Not with him. I feel like I keep losing my family over and over.”
My heart withered at her words. A hole was punched right in the center of my chest, and I felt as useless as I was pretty sure I looked.
“I need to see Roman,” Eliza said.
I shook my head sadly. “Jonathan won’t let us. Roman doesn’t want us to see him, either.”
Eliza stiffened, her eyes narrowed to slits and her hands clenched. “I’m going to see him, one way or another. Come on.”
The three of us stalked through the castle until we reached the dungeon. A new officer had been posted, probably one not so easily swayed by any of my sisters. He held up his hand in a stop gesture.
Eliza was not intimidated. Her nostrils flared as she tipped her chin down and gave him the glare of death. “I’m here to see my nephew. We all are.”
The policeman crossed his arms and sank back onto one hip. “No visitors.”
Eliza jabbed his finger in his chest and said, “Do you know who I am? I’m Jonathan Pearbottom’s wife. I can have you sitting behind a desk nostrils-deep in paperwork so thick you won’t come out of it for ten years. So I suggest you let us see my nephew, or else.”
The authority that Eliza used sent a streak of terror running through me. I’m sure it had little or no effect on the officer, but if I was being threatened with losing my job or being buried in a mountain of paperwork, I probably would let us in.
The officer’s fingers twitched. He was thinking it over. I could almost see the calculations working in his brain. This was the boss’s wife—should he do what she said? Which was going to bring on the greater wrath? Doing what she said or not doing what she said?
In the end his hand curled around the key and he unlocked the door. Stepping aside, he said, “They’re all yours.”
Eliza’s face split into a grateful smile. “Thank you so much. We won’t be long.”
The snaking corridors and dark hallways seemed to last for just a moment. Before I knew it, we were standing in front of the cell Roman shared with his father.
“Roman, Richard,” Eliza said.
Both men crossed to the bars. Since there were two of them, I guess Pearbottom had decided to shut them in. Double trouble, I suppose. My chest tightened at seeing them.
Richard’s movements were more rushed, more frantic. Roman moved fluidly, slowly. It was as if he didn’t want to come to us, but I knew he did. He had to, right? I mean, we were almost married.
What a story to tell our children. There was a time when your father and I were almost-married.
Eliza took Roman’s hand in one of hers and then Richard’s in the other. “I had to see you both. I know you’re not guilty. We want to get you out of here. We’re doing everything we can.”
Richard shuffled his feet. He gazed down at the floor and mumbled, “All I wanted was for my son to be free.”
Eliza squeezed his hand. “That’s all any of us want.”
Roman reached for me. Our fingers threaded together, and it took everything I had not to burst into a bottomless pit of tears.
“How are you holding up?” he said.
I nodded, pushing a cluster of sadness way down into the depths of my gut. “Doing okay. Doing everything I can to get you out of here. But it’s like one lead doesn’t pan out, and the next one doesn’t pan out and the next one.” I sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”
Roman nodded. “Let Jonathan do his job.”
I scoffed. “Jonathan thinks you should be in here. He thinks you’re guilty, and if it was up to him, you’d be officially charged. We are running out of time, Roman.”
He pulled his hand from mine and scrubbed his palm over the back of his short hair. “There’s gotta be something that they’re missing. There must be something.”
I gripped the cold steel bar. “Is there anything else you remember? Any smells related to magic? Anything that could help us? Because from the looks of it, there wasn’t anyone else on that balcony, and Pearbottom doesn’t believe that Angelique threw herself off.”
Roman’s jaw twitched. He shook his head and said, “Nothing. Nothing else happened. I turned my back, and the next thing I knew, she was sailing over that balcony.”
I tightened my hands until my knuckles paled. Unless something panned out, there was nothing that would help Roman. But I couldn’t tell them that. I couldn’t tell my fiancé that it looked like he was going to jail.
Acid ate at my stomach. An iron taste filled my mouth. It would wreck me if Roman went to jail.
I lifted my chin and dug my heels into the ground. “I know you don’t want me to find out who did this, but I am going to. If it takes everything I’ve got, if it takes every last breath I have, I will find them.”
Eliza rested a hand on my shoulder. “And I’m going to help her.”
Grandma threw a scarf over her neck and poked the air with dramatic authority. “I’m on the case too. If I have to summon thousand-winged beetles to save you, then so be it.”
Eliza squeezed Boo’s and Roman’s hands one last time and said, “We promised we wouldn’t be too long. When we come back, we will be setting you free.”
We left. My heart was heavy. I felt horrible. Terrible, and I didn’t know which way to turn. I felt like my life was exploding into a thousand bits of confetti.
Eliza linked her arm around mine. I leaned into the older woman, hoping some of her strength would seep into me.
“You know what we need?” she said.
“A male harem?” Grandma said.
“No,” she said slowly, “but if I wasn’t married, I might consider it.”
I snickered. “Other than the fact that we need to solve this case, what else could we need?”
Eliza smiled. “We need a break. Our brains need to reassemble themselves so we can think. Let’s round your family up and get some pedicures.”
I frowned. Of all the things I thought she was going to say, I didn’t think that would be it. We’d just left the dungeon, and a little pampering was the last thing on my mind.
“Pedicures?” I repeated.
Eliza threw her head back. “I know it sounds silly, but trust me, it will help.”
I shot Grandma a look. She shrugged and said, “Sometimes getting your feet done is the next best thing to a male harem.”
I laughed. “What the heck? Let’s go get pedicures.”
PEDICURES TURNED out to be a serious endeavor at the castle. There was an entire staff who performed them, and they were all too happy to seat my family in one corner of the spa while they went to work.
We sat in a circle, each of us grinning from ear to ear—even Milly. She raised a foot from the water and wiggled her toes. “Ever seen a bunion like that?” she said.
I grimaced. “No, I haven’t, and I hope I don’t inherit them.”
She cackled. “You’ll be lucky not to, toots.”
The girl filing my toenails looked up and said, “Would you like a massage?”
“Sure.”
She pointed at the chair I sat in. Magic drizzled from her finger, and a moment later, invisible hands kneaded my neck and scrubbed my scalp.
“Oh, wow, that’s amazing.”
I could practically see the drool hanging from Reid’s mouth. She tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. “I’d like a massage, too.”
The technician cutting her toenails pointed at her chair. Another swirl of magic filtered through the air.
After that, Sera asked for a massage, as did Grandma and Milly. Magic buzzed in the air. Even though I couldn’t feel their massages working on me, the pulse of power drummed in my chest. I sank into the chair even farther and exhaled a deep shot of air.
Eliza turned to me. “See? There’s nothing like a pedicure in the castle.”
“Wow, you are right,” I said. “This was a great idea. Completely rejuvenating.” My lips curved into a smile. “Thank you.”
Reid sighed. “You know, this is a great break from decoding that book.”
“Been breaking your brain over it?” I joked.
Sera nodded. “Actually we have been. We decided the whole Twizzler thing was wrong, but we have come up with something else.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“There seems to be one name that keeps coming up—it’s like Honey or Sugar, but that’s not it, though it’s something similar.”
My gaze froze on Reid. “How does the name keep coming up?”
Reid fluffed the ends of her burgundy curls. “That’s what’s interesting. It’s not like Angelique did work for the woman, but more like they were working together. I don’t know. It’s funny. I know we’ll figure it out as we keep working on it.”
Sera cracked her knuckles. The diamond on her left hand flashed as she did so.
“How’s Brock taking all this with Roman?”
Sera pulled the sleeves of her shirt down to her wrists. “He’s dealing with some business in Monkey Town or else he would be here. He’s heartbroken and angry. Says that of all the people he’s known, it’s like Roman has the worst luck.”
A pit formed in my gut. “I know. It’s terrible.”
Eliza nodded. “Roman doesn’t deserve this. He’s a good man intent on helping others.”
Grandma wiggled her fingers at us. “Roman is a good man. I know it sounds silly to say, don’t worry, but I don’t want you to worry. We’ll have all of this solved soon. The killer will show themselves, or Reid will figure it out sooner rather than later.”
The technicians finished our pedicures, and I sank into a dreamy state. My brain relaxed, and I felt like I was swimming in my seat, that’s how calm I felt.
I realized the spell that Helga had put on me must’ve completely worn off because I hadn’t said anything stupid in a while.
My family and Eliza headed back to the rooms while the girl working on me made little daffodils on my toes.
“How long have you worked here?” I said.
“About ten years.”
I blinked. Brown hair curled below her shoulders. Her dewy complexion revealed features without one line. Not one mark of worry seeded her face.
“You don’t look like it,” I said.
She giggled. “I have youthful magic, so I look younger than I am.”
“Oh, like Queen Em,” I said.
Em was old, like really old, almost one hundred years. She used her magic to keep her young looking. I guess technically she could live to be two hundred years old and not look a day over thirty.
Pretty neat trick, huh?
The woman smiled. “Yeah, so I’m older than I look.”
I closed my eyes while she worked on my toes for another moment. “Do you enjoy working here?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s great. At first I didn’t know if they’d hire me.”
I opened my eyes and cocked my head in interest. “What do you mean?”
She blew on my toe. “Well, let’s just say I have some bad elements in my family.”
I studied her. Even though she didn’t have any lines on her face, her accent revealed that she was a bit more rough around the edges than she looked. It wasn’t as redneck as Em’s, but it was darned close.
“Bad elements?” I said.
She swept a loose strand of hair from her eyes. “Yeah. My pop was in witch prison for a while. So was my mom.”
I nodded in understanding. “Oh, well, the sins of your relatives shouldn’t make you guilty by association.”
The technician nodded. “Yeah, I know. But you can’t ever tell how it’s going to be someplace. But after I found out there were other people here in the same situation, it made it easier to deal with. I became more comfortable.”
A thought occurred to me. “Do they hire people who’ve had run-ins with the law?”
She shook her head. “No, not as far as I know. Too much security clearance needed for the job.”
Sure, that made sense. It’s not as if criminals could run around next to the queen. That would cause some real issues.
She screwed the cap on the nail polish. “All done. What do you think?”
I wiggled my toes. “They look perfect. Thanks so much. Now, can we dry them by magic so that I can put my shoes on?”
She laughed. “They’re already dry. You’re all set to go.”
I toed on my shoes, which happened to be more practical than stylish, but what the heck? I was trying to solve a murder, not win a contest.
I slipped from the spa, thanking the technician again. I reached the main hall and realized everyone was gathering for supper. So much had happened in only a couple of days that my last meal of a sandwich with Dr. Spell had seemed like a lifetime ago.
I saw Sera in the hall heading toward the dining room. Our gazes met, and she shimmied through the crowd and found me.
“Hey, I think we may have an idea about that code in the book.”
I arched a brow. “That’s awesome. What do you know?”
An alarm sliced through the air, screeching in a way that paralyzed me. I folded in half and sank to the floor, covering my ears. I managed to peel my eyes from the floor and glance at Sera. She was doing the same thing.
The blaring sound didn’t simply ring my ears, it shook me to the core, shocking me to the point that I felt like I was made of stone. Every cell in my body felt like it would crack open. The smallest movement, even rolling my eyes, was like trying to push granite up a mountain.
Bodies of people vibrated until they blurred. I closed my eyes, knowing I couldn’t take much more—then it stopped.
Without warning, the sound vanished.
I inhaled a deep breath. From far down the corridor someone shouted.
I recognized the voice instantly as Pearbottom’s.
“Nobody move,” he screamed. “The prisoners have escaped.”
CHAPTER 19
Eliza had said she was going to do it. She said she would break Roman out. Had she succeeded?
There was one way to find out.
I rose on wobbly legs. The sonic boom alarm was still wreaking havoc on my body. I opened my hand for Sera, who rose as shakily as I had.
“Do you think they’re gone?” she sai
d.
“I don’t know, but let’s go find out.”
She tucked a strand of sleek chocolate hair behind her ear. “How?”
I smiled. “Let’s go to the dungeon.”
Apparently the rest of the castle had the same idea, because we all showed up at the entrance. The officers pushed us back.
“Nothing to see here,” one said.
“That’s what we heard,” someone else said. “We want to know if it’s true.”
Pearbottom whirled around. Fury blazed in his eyes. He pointed into the crowd. “If you don’t disperse this moment, I’ll have all of you arrested.”
There were some grumbles in the crowd, but what could we do? Get arrested?
I suppose I could.
The throng of people slowly milled from the area. The officers pushed them back, creating a larger secured perimeter.
As the officers approached me, I saw a ring of small terriers running from the dungeon. Em appeared a moment later with Pearbottom guiding her by the arm.
One of the dogs nipped the cuff of the detective’s pants. He jerked his leg.
“Jonathan, I like you, but if you hurt my dogs, I will go Queen Witch so far up your behind you won’t even know what to do.”
Pearbottom paused. An amused smile curled on his lips. “Interesting, but what the heck were your mutts doing in there?”
Em yanked her arm from his grasp. “It ain’t my fault if my dogs like to explore. They’re dogs, Pearbottom. Dogs. They sniff and go places they shouldn’t.”
He ran a hand through his thinning hair. “How the heck did they get down there, anyway?”
Em scooped one of the dogs into her arms and let it lick her chin. “I was doin’ my queenly duty and visiting the prisoners. He set off the alarm by mistake. I take full responsibility.”
Pearbottom sighed. “Don’t let it happen again.”
“I won’t.”
“Thank you.”
Sera flashed me a look. “So that’s all it was. Em getting into trouble.”