by Paula Lester
Cas nodded, but inside, she was thinking about how Primo had felt the same way about mud. A woman appeared next to them, breaking her train of thought. Kopper smiled up at a brunette waitress, who was tall enough to be a model. “I’ll have some water please, Sage.”
Sage nodded and raised her eyebrows at Cas.
“Um. Do you have cherry soda?” At the waitress’s nod, Cas said, “I’ll take that please. I’ll have to run back out and get my purse.”
But Kopper’s voice stopped Cas as she rose from the chair. “Consider it to be on us. It’s a joy to have a new witch here, eager to start training.”
“Thanks! I appreciate it. I really want to settle in with a mentor and start working on getting my power under control. I guess it’s pretty considerable, and the effects are starting to take their toll on me.”
The fairy nodded as if she understood Cas’ plight. “Do you have a feeling about what your element could be?”
Cas shook her head. “Not really. I was tested for earth already, and, boy, that was a big no,” she said, remembering how horrifying the green goop tasted and smelled.
A small line appeared between Kopper’s eyebrows. “Who tested you?”
“A man named Primo over in Mudtown. He asked me to touch the mud in his pit, and it sort of . . . exploded . . . into a bunch of green slime and what I hope was water. Do you think that could mean I’m a water elemental? Since my power separated it out of the pit?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. But human witches do need to know their element before they can truly get to work learning to hone their craft. I’ll help you discover yours. Let’s start with testing you for water.”
Sage returned, placing their drinks on the table and then leaving again.
Kopper picked up her water cup. “Hold out your hand, please.”
Cas complied, willing her fingers not to shake. She was a little nervous after what had happened at the mud pit. But Kopper’s energy was so warm and friendly that she told herself everything would be fine. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax.
The lovely fairy tipped her cup a tiny bit and waved the other hand. A single drop of water floated out of the glass and landed in the center of Cas’ palm. Setting her cup back down, Kopper met Cas’ gaze and said, “Make one drop into two.”
Cas lifted her eyebrows at the Fae. Do what now? How on earth could she do that? Kopper lifted her eyebrows right back but stayed silent.
Cas focused on the drop of water in her hand, which was somehow retaining its shape. It glistened and jiggled, a bit like a tiny round drop of jelly. Blocking out everything around her, including the hand beneath the droplet, Cas pictured the drop of water dividing in her mind’s eye.
This time, it wasn’t heat that generated against her skin. It felt like . . . sand. Like tiny abrasive particles scratching against her palm. It started around the droplet but then spread. After a few seconds, the feeling began to radiate out in a circle until it engulfed her whole hand. It was as if an army of ants wearing sandpaper shoes marched over her fingers.
Was magic supposed to be uncomfortable? Unsure, she continued to focus on splitting the water drop in two. The drop shivered and then bounded upward, as if it had been flung away. It held air for a second before landing in the cherry soda with a small plop.
“Oops!” Cas could feel heat rushing up her neck as she glanced at Kopper. “I made it move, I guess, but not divide. What does that mean?”
But the fairy didn’t answer. Her eyes remained on the glass of soda. And for good reason. Every glass of pop has bubbles. But the ones in Cas’ glass were doubling, then tripling, then rolling up from the bottom of the cup to the top with increasing speed. It was like e water in a pan the moment before it began to boil.
The bubbles rolled and popped like firecrackers. It boiled higher and faster, and bowled over the rim of the glass.
“Oh dear!” Kopper jumped off her stool. Cas followed suit, and her stomach pitched with the motion.
The soda multiplied and grew like a frothy living thing. It spilled onto the bar’s counter and spread like a flash flood.
Kopper thrust out a single hand and hollered, “Sraith dos na!”
Whatever Kopper had intended, the opposite happened. The flow became a wave, bellowing up and out to swamp the room.
Cas beat a slow retreat even as Kopper stepped forward, screaming incoherent commands.
The overflow splashed around Cas’ ankles and then her knees. She turned around in a circle. “Oh, no, no. Not again!”
Sage ran into the bar area. She raised her hands as if to cast a spell but slipped in the soda water. The waitress went down in a tangle of long legs.
Cas could feel something coursing through her limbs. It was just underneath her skin, like a pulsing rush of tingling electricity. It pumped like a heart and with every beat, the sticky stuff multiplied.
She was causing it!
Cas thrust out a trembling arm. “Stop! Go away!” She pushed at the energy and shoved it out at the room.
A wave of cherry soda shoved back. It slapped Cas smack in the chest, bowling her over. She surfaced, sputtering and treading carbonated water.
Cas spotted three other heads bobbing in the syrupy gook. But she was only allowed a quick glance. A current tugged at her feet. And in the next moment, she was pulled under, swept along in sweeping tide.
Glasses, bottles of booze, and chairs floated past. Cas did everything she could to find purchase or snag a table, but her fingers couldn’t latch onto anything. She was being pushed along. In what direction, she couldn’t tell.
Her back slammed into a wall. For a moment, Cas was thrust upward. She sucked in breath before being yanked under again. With new life in her lungs, Cas did what came naturally. She kicked.
Looking through a haze of pink, Cas spotted the front door. She pumped her limbs, fighting against the tacky, sticky ocean. Her fingers grazed the round, brass knob.
The flow of the carbonation tide changed. Cas was jerked back and carried off in another direction. She wanted to cry out, but her lungs burned as they clutched to the last dregs of air.
But what flows also ebbs. On the reverse tide, Cas was ready. The current drove her body back the way it had come. She slammed into the front door so hard, it knocked the last bit of breath from her lungs. But her hand found the doorknob. She twisted. The door gave.
After Cas’ fingers turned the knob but before she rode a five-foot-high wave of soda out the door, she spotted something. A man sat at a corner table, untouched by the chaos. A transparent circle surrounded him, his chair, and the table. He sipped from a glass of brown booze, casual and unperturbed by the sodapocalypse.
Cas landed on her backside in the middle of the parking lot. Soda bubbles popped like mad in the sunlight. Sage hit the ground nearby, and the drunk man’s bubble floated past her and down the street. Several other people emerged from the Mermaid Bar, soaking wet and bewildered.
Cas could relate. She looked down at herself, covered in sticky, pink goo, and wondered what in the world had happened.
Kopper appeared above her, liquid dripping from the green peasant skirt. She pushed sticky wet blond hair out of her face. “I’ve never seen anyone pervert an element like that.” She panted a little. “I don’t know what you are, but I know I can’t help you. I hope you find someone who can, though, and soon. You’re a danger.” Her eyes moved over Cas’s head to gaze at the bar. “And their property.” As Kopper stomped off, her feet made squishing sounds on the parking lot’s asphalt.
Cas couldn’t bring herself to get up. The air smelled like candy. And in ordinary circumstances, that would be delightful. But now, it only signaled failure. She slapped the ground and resisted the urge to scream. It was beyond unfair. What did she do to deserve such humiliation?
Cas swallowed a huge gulp of air. Throwing a tantrum in the parking lot wasn’t going to help. She closed her eyes and started a slow count to ten. t.
Somewhere around t
he count of six, a shadow fell over her. “I’m going to need to ask you some questions.”
She recognized the voice and kept her eyes shut. She really didn’t want to see Sheriff Lloyd’s sneering face. Instead, she shook her arms, brushed hair out of her face, and fought back a sneeze.
Maybe if she stalled long enough, he’d leave.
To her disappointment, by the time she dragged herself to her feet, the sheriff was still there. He stared at her with a hard gaze and jerked his head. “Come on. Let’s go to my office.”
Already feeling a chill, Cas followed, hunched over and dreading the upcoming conversation. She padded after Lloyd, feet squishing in her sneakers.
They walked in silence. Cas wished she could stop in the middle of the street and strip off the wet, heavy, sticky clothes.
Their trip to the sheriff’s station included a jaunt past the Courthouse. People streamed in and out of the doors. Despite not knowing many people in town, Cas knew plenty of people knew her. If she could’ve disappeared into the sidewalk or transformed into a gnat, she would’ve .
Instead she settled for not meeting anyone’s eye. Busy avoiding the gazes of busy-body passersby, she noticed a 70s, burgundy Mustang parked in a spot in front of the building. It was a sexy little car she’d always admired.
It was a pleasant distraction to her current plight. She realized there were people inside and felt a flash of envy. When she passed the bit of sidewalk in front of the Mustang, she recognized the people inside. It was Graham’s friends Ray and Lumen. They didn’t glance in her direction and appeared to be consumed with an intense conversation. Neither of them looked happy.
***
Sheriff Lloyd didn’t waste any time. “So, after Dewman drowned in a dry room, you told me you aren’t a water elemental. But today, I find you riding a huge pink wave out of a bar, leaving the establishment soaked and dripping. How do you explain that?”
Lloyd had led her into the station, past an army of staring police officers, and into a small, dingy room with a rectangular desk and a few flimsy-looking chairs. One wall was covered with a mirror, and a light fixture hung over the desk. Cas frowned. The sheriff had marched her into an interrogation room. So much for a no-pressure chit-chat. She wondered if anyone was on the other side of the mirror watching them.
Cas shrugged. “I can’t, really. Except that Kopper said that water sure isn’t my element.”
He raised his good eyebrow. The one above the milky eye didn’t appear to work anymore.
“Siren Shiloh sent me over there to see if Kopper, the Fae who owns the Mermaid Bar, might be able to mentor me.” Cas tugged on her jeans. They tried to stay stuck to her leg, making a sucking noise when she released the fabric. Cas had an instant of guilt for the mess she was making. Though she wasn’t dripping anymore, sticky footprints would need to be scrubbed off the floor. But when she glanced at Sheriff Lloyd and thought about how he’d dragged her to the station with no thought about her comfort, the guilt evaporated. She hoped he’d have to scrub the floor himself. “As you know, I received my magical power only recently, and it’s pretty strong. I never had the benefit of learning how to control it over time from my family, and it’s not behaving all that well.”
The eyebrow shot up again, and Cas sighed.
“I’m having magical hot flashes, and I need to find someone willing and able to teach me to use channel my abilities safely. The council has been looking for someone. But when Kopper was testing whether I’m a water elemental, my power got goofy and caused the cherry soda wave you saw.” Cas didn’t add that she hadn’t even gotten to have the drink. She licked her lips and banished thoughts about still being thirsty.
Lloyd’s eyebrow was so high it looked like it might rise right off his face. Next to the other brow, which was frozen, it made him look even more menacing. “So, your powers are wonky, huh? Did you do any magic at the Fall Fling? Something that got away from you like it did today? Maybe something accidentally lethal?”
“No. I didn’t. I was walking down the hallway when I stepped in a puddle of water. I noticed a trickle coming out from under a doorway and went in to see if the toilet was overflowing or something. I didn’t do any magic that night, purposely or by accident.” Irritated that she’d been dragged into the station just to repeat what she’d already told the lawman, Cas stood and moved toward the door. “You can’t keep me captive here without a reason. If you want to know more about what happened at the Mermaid Bar, I suggest you go ask Kopper. In the meantime, I need to get home and change.”
Her hand was on the doorknob when his voice stopped her.
“Little lady, I think you’re a menace. And you’re most definitely a suspect in Dewman’s murder.” He stood and crossed to tower over her. “If the sirens don’t take care of you soon—and they seem to have difficulty dealing with their own messes—then I’m going to have to. And make no mistake about it: I will.”
Feeling the need to create some extra space between them, Cas opened the door, moved into the hallway, and then spun around. Fuming, she felt like she could just spit. As if she wasn’t having an annoying enough day, Lloyd felt the need to give her a hard time. She pointed a finger at his chest. “You’re a bully, and I am not afraid of you. I haven’t done a single thing wrong. I’ve cooperated fully and answered all your dang questions more than once. Even while I’m d -d - dripping cherry soda of all nutso things.” Her teeth chattered, and she hugged herself, irritated that the stuttering softened her tirade.
Lloyd rolled his eye and stalked down the hallway toward the lobby. Cas followed.
As they arrived at the front r of the station, Auburn Moss walked in. She sported dark sunglasses and a sour look. When she saw Lloyd, she whipped off the glasses. She waved a black spiral-bound notebook in the air before tossing it onto the closest desk. “There,” she said. “I found Desi’s appointment book. I don’t think you’ll find any suspects in it to hunt but have at it.”
Her gaze slid to Cas, and she moved her eyes up and down. “Ms. Lorne,” she said. “You’re soaking wet.”
Lloyd paged through the book. “You’re lucky you brought this in today,” he growled. “I was getting ready to ask a judge for a warrant to search your offices and seize it.”
Auburn’s hands moved to her hips. “You know, I don’t know why you’re so nasty, but you should bring it down a notch. I’m grieving, you know. Hunting through all Desi’s things wasn’t that easy for me.” A small hitch in her voice caught the last few words, and she swallowed hard.
Lloyd closed the book and tucked it under his arm. His good eye moved to look at Auburn and then Cas. “One of you water witches did this,” he hissed. “I know it. And I’m going to figure out who and put them away before they can do more damage.”
Auburn countered, “I hope you do find out who did it. But torturing the wrong people isn’t going to get you there.” Gesturing toward Cas, she said, “What are you doing to poor Ms. Lorne? Just look at her—she’s soaked and freezing. You can’t give her a blanket or some old police clothes or something?” She opened the door to head back out but spat over her shoulder, “Monster.”
A hush had fallen over the police station. The Sheriff raised a hand against the door until it slammed back shut. He leaned against it. It was close enough to invade Auburn’s personal space, just on the border of being threatening. He scratched his five o’clock shadow with a fingernail. As Cas watched, the nail darkened and elongated into a single claw.
Lloyd cocked his head to one side. It showed off the too-long incisors in his mouth. “This ain’t the old days. You witches need to learn respect before someone takes a bite out of ya.”
Auburn didn’t move, but Cas could see her shoulders drop and body deflate. To her credit, the other woman stood her ground until Lloyd saw fit to move out of the way.
Cas followed Auburn out, and as soon as the door clicked shut behind her, the real estate agent burst into tears. She put the sunglasses back on and twisted her purs
e handle. She didn’t seem to know what to do next.
Stepping closer, Cas said, “I’d offer a hug, but I’m a little . . . sticky.”
Auburn sniffed, the tears rolling out from under the big glasses.
“I can walk you to your office, though. How about I do that?” Cas felt sorry for the woman. It seemed Auburn was having a hard time with the loss of her employer.
Auburn nodded and began to move away from the station. Cas followed, scooching over so she could walk in the sun.
“I wish I had a spare set of clothes for you, but at least I can dry you off when we get to my office,” Auburn offered.
“That would be great. And if you have any coffee, I’d kill for some right now.”
A small smile brightened the other lady’s face. “I always have coffee.”
Chapter 10
Dewman Real Estate’s offices were in the center of a strip of downtown businesses. Sheets listing properties for sale were hung in the window. Auburn led Cas inside, pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head.
She glanced around. “Desi used to scold me all the time about not checking for non-magical folk before casting. Now, I do it all the time. Ok, looks like the coast is clear.” Auburn sighed and encircled one hand around the other four times.
It was if someone had turn on a hairy dryer. A big one. Dry hot air enveloped Cas. It made her feel better at once. Of course, looking down, she could see that her clothes were sort of hard from the dried sugar of the soda.
And she smelled like stale candy.
“Thanks,” she said, and Auburn smiled, crossing to a big coffee pot and pouring two cups. She handed one to Cas and sipped the other. Auburn gestured to a sitting area with overstuffed loveseats and an armchair, and they both sat down. Cas chose a sunny spot and felt a little like Echo must feel when he came home dirty and tired after a night out doing who knew what.