The old Alba didn’t seem to like taking orders from her older self, but she seemed resigned to it. “Fine,” she grumbled. “So do we just go home?”
“Yup. Gather the troops and hit the road. We gotta head back first, we’re pressed for time, but then you guys go before anyone can see you.”
The old Mercy looked at me with a down-turned face. “And then everything goes back to normal?”
I nodded. “Yup. Let’s hope so.”
“But what about Jax and her mom?” asked the other Libby.
“We don’t know yet,” I admitted. “One thing at a time. We had to fix this huge mess we made first. When we get back, we’ll put our brains to work on that.”
“But it’s Friday, Mercy!” said Sweets. “Jax’s birthday and graduation are on Sunday! How are we supposed to figure something out by Sunday?”
I shook my head. “My brain can only handle one thing at a time, Sweets. Let’s get home and make sure we put everything back the way it should be and then we’ll talk.”
Alba nodded. “Then what are we waiting for? We have a lot to do when we get back. Let’s go!”
I held my breath as Sweets rounded the corner towards the B&B. Would the sign say Smith’s Room and Board or Habernackle’s Bed, Breakfast, and Beyond?
“I can’t look,” I whispered, closing my eyes as Sweets pulled into a parking spot. “What’s it say, Reign?”
“It says…” He paused and took a deep breath, making me wait to find out. Finally he exhaled as he said the words I’d hoped to hear. “It’s Habernackle’s!”
“Oh, thank God,” said Alba, crumpling against my shoulder.
I opened my eyes and looked around my brother to stare at the sign. It was just as it had been. I could only hope that everything else was as it had been as well. “Come on. I need to see Jax, and I need to see my mother!”
Inside, I found Mom pouring a cup of coffee at the bar.
“Mom!” I screeched the second I saw her.
She looked up at me. Her face looked pinched with worry. The second she made eye contact with me, she put the coffee down and rushed around the counter to throw her arms around me. “Mercy! Oh, thank God you’re alright!”
“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom, why?”
“Is your brother with you?” she asked, her eyes filled with tears.
I nodded and turned to see him coming through the doorway behind Sweets. “Yeah, he’s right there…”
But she was off and hugging him. “Oh, my kids are safe! I was so worried!”
“I was worried too,” agreed Detective Whitman. I hadn’t noticed him sitting at the bar when I’d come in, but now he had come over to join our group. “Where have you all been?”
“It’s a really long story,” said Alba. “Witch stuff.”
Sweets nodded. “Yeah, witch stuff.”
My mother clucked her tongue at us. “Witch stuff! You could have told someone that you were going to be gone for two days!”
I shrugged. “Sorry. We didn’t know it was going to take us so long.”
Reign threw his arms around my mother again. “I’m sorry, Mom. We shouldn’t have done that to you. Especially me. I know we’re in this business together and you need to be able to count on me. But Mercy was right, we had no idea we’d be gone so long.”
“Well, you could have called! I gave you all the benefit of the doubt the first night you didn’t come home, but when you were gone a second night, I had to tell Mark.”
“I understand,” I said quietly. “Mom, can I speak to you privately for just a moment?”
Mom’s face went from relieved to pensive. “Privately? Of course. Let’s go in the kitchen. Mark, will you excuse me for a minute?”
Detective Whitman shooed us away. “Yeah, of course, go, go! I have tons of questions to ask the rest of these guys. You go. Have a mother-daughter talk.”
When the double swinging doors shut behind us, Mom looked at me sternly. “Are you going to tell me what’s happened now?”
“Mom, I can’t.”
“Mercy! You were gone for two days!”
“I know, Mom. And like I said, I’m so sorry. I learned my lesson for sure. We all did. We were trying to fix something, and we made it worse and then we had to fix it again. It just got out of hand. But we’re back now and we’re still running against a really tight deadline.”
“Does this have anything to do with Jax’s eighteenth birthday?”
“Yes! It has everything to do with that.”
Mom nodded. “I figured as much. That’s why I didn’t call Mark right away. I assumed you and your brother were up to something. Well, is she a witch? Will she get her powers by her birthday?”
I let out a heavy sigh. I wished so much she would, but it wasn’t looking like that was going to happen now. “Unfortunately, she won’t. It’s a really long story, but we’re running out of time, and I need to go see Jax. But I wanted to ask you a question in private before we left.”
“Okay? Ask away.”
“Is Merrick Stone my father?”
My mom’s eyes widened with shock. “Is Merrick your father? Mercy! You know that your grandmother bound us apart. I wasn’t anywhere near Merrick when you were conceived!”
I let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh thank God!” My heart instantly felt a million times lighter.
“Why would you even think that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ve never told me who my father was, so I just thought maybe there was a chance and you were just scared to tell me.”
“I can’t believe that would even cross your mind.”
“I just had to ask.” I threw my arms around her and gave her a huge squeeze. “Mom, I’m really sorry for what we put you through, but I need to go find Jax. Where is she? Is she in our room?”
“No, she’s been helping Char all week. With Sweets gone, Char’s just been beside herself with worry. Jax has been too, but I think helping Char has taken her mind off of worrying about all of you.”
“So she’s at the bakery?”
Mom nodded. “She should be.”
I kissed my mother’s cheeks. “Thanks, Mom, I gotta go. Love you!”
“I love you too, Mercy Bear.”
35
Sweets wrung out her hands in front of her as we walked the few blocks to Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets. “Jax must have been worried sick. I feel so bad for everything we put her through.”
“We all feel bad about everything,” I agreed.
“So are we going to tell Jax about her mother? Or just that we weren’t able to get her powers for her?” asked Cinder.
“She’s definitely going to want to know what we’ve been up to for the last two days,” said Reign. “I don’t think we should lie to her.”
“But then she’s going to get all sad,” said Holly. “I hate seeing Jax sad.”
“We all hate seeing Shorty sad. She turns into this high-pitched, squeaky water fountain, but we have no choice. She has to know the truth.”
Opening the door to Bailey’s, my hand trembled. The thought of telling Jax that her mother was gone ate away at my insides. I wasn’t sure if I had the stomach to do it. The doorbell chimed, and Char’s muffled voice rang out from the kitchen. “Be right there!”
“Is anyone else nervous?” asked Holly.
Sweets nodded uncomfortably. “I feel like my insides may become my outsides.”
“Eww, Sweets.”
“Sorry.”
Then a puffy white head of hair came wheeling around the corner. “Well, hello, girls! Finally you’re back!” Char threw her arms out with emphasis. “You know, the group of you got Jax worked up in a tizzy. She had no idea where you’d gone!”
“Yeah, we assumed.” I nodded uneasily as I looked over her shoulder. “That’s why we’re here. We came to apologize. Can we talk to her?”
Char swatted a hand at us. “Oh, she’s not here. I got tired of her moaning and groaning about you not showing up again last nig
ht, so I sent her to the store.”
“Char, I am so, so sorry about not showing up for work for the last few days,” said Sweets. “I had no idea that it was going to take us so long to get Jax’s powers for her.”
Char lifted her brows is surprise. “You mean it worked? You actually reversed the curse on Jax?”
I frowned. “Nope. It didn’t work. That’s what we came to talk to Jax about.”
“Well, that and to tell her her mo—” began Holly.
“Cosmo!” shouted Alba, swatting Holly across the shoulder.
Holly grabbed her arm. “Alba! You didn’t have to hit me.”
“What’d you expect me to do? You were gonna tell her something you weren’t allowed to tell!”
“But we’re gonna tell Jax. Why can’t Char know?” asked Holly, her forehead wrinkled.
“Because Shorty should get to know first. It’s only right.”
Char leaned forward on the counter. Taking in each of our long faces, she shook our head. “Okay. What’s going on?” When no one volunteered any information, she looked directly at Sweets. “Sweets?”
Sweets swallowed hard. “Going on?”
“Yeah. It’s not like you not to show up for work with no phone call, no explanation, no nothing. Usually you tell me everything.”
Sweets’ eyes darted around the room from person to person. We all knew Sweets couldn’t lie. It wasn’t in her nature. “Well, Char, you see…”
I didn’t want Sweets to lie to her boss, and I’d had enough of beating around the bush. I turned to face my friends, holding my hands out on either side of me. “Listen, guys. Char’s a veteran witch.”
Char bobbed her head as she cut in, “Ooh, veteran witch. I like that. It’s got a much better ring to it than old witch.”
I stared over my shoulder at her.
She mashed her lips together. “Oh. Sorry. Proceed.”
I faced the group again. “She’s got connections. She knows things we don’t. Maybe if we tell her what’s going on, she can help us with our problem.”
Char shook her head. “I’ll stop you right there, Little Linda. I’m not reversing Phyllis’s curse. I told you. I’m staying out of it.”
“No, not help reversing the curse. We have another problem. A big problem, and when Jax finds out, it’s going to crush her.”
“Red! You really think we should be sharing this with Char? She’s one of the busiest busybodies in town. Word will spread like wildfire once we put this bug in her ear. No offense, Char.”
Char shot Alba an annoyed glance but grumbled at her, “None taken.” Then she looked at me with one eyebrow up. “This… problem you speak of. Is it going to crush Jax more than finding out that she still isn’t a witch?”
Biting the inside of my lip firmly, I nodded.
She sighed. “Oh, that’s just great. What did the lot of ya do now?”
“We didn’t do anything,” said Alba. “It was the Council.”
Char quirked a brow. “The Council? What Council?”
“The Great Witches Council. The one in charge of the Institute.”
“Oh. What did they do?”
Everyone was quiet for a really long time. No one had the nerve to say out loud what had happened.
Char’s eyes moved from person to person, waiting for someone to speak. “Well, don’t all speak at once.”
“It’s just that we’re all still in shock,” said Sweets.
“Still in shock?” She waved a hand in our direction dismissively. “You kids with your dramatics. Everything’s always gloom and doom with you people. It’s not like they killed someone or something.”
My eyes widened. I glanced over at Alba. She’d swished her lips to one side and her eyes concentrated on the wood floor.
Char frowned. “Alright, what’s with all the long faces?”
“Char, someone on the Council actually did kill someone,” my brother finally said.
Char’s frown lines deepened. “You can’t be serious.”
“We’re dead serious.”
“They actually killed someone? Why would they do that?”
I shrugged.
“Well, who was it?”
Reign glanced over at me and then back at Char. “They killed SaraLynn.”
Char’s eyes opened wide as she stood up straight. “Stone?”
We all nodded sadly.
She put a hand to her mouth. “Auggie’s SaraLynn?”
“Yup,” I said. “And Jax’s mom.”
Char’s mouth gaped. She cupped her forehead and turned around to face the kitchen, trying to make sense of what we’d told her. Finally, she turned around to face us again. “Which of the Council members killed her?”
“We don’t know,” I said. “That was part of the reason we were gone so long. We were trying to figure out who killed her so we could then figure out how to bring her back to life.”
“Girls, if she died on Wednesday—”
“Tuesday,” Sweets corrected.
“Fine. If she died on Tuesday, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not bringing her back to life now. It’s been far too long!”
“Actually, it’s not. We froze the body,” said Libby.
“Froze the… you froze SaraLynn?”
Libby nodded. “To preserve her. It’s my major at the Institute. When she’s unthawed, she will be just as she was when I froze her. Only an hour or so past her death.”
“Still, even then it’s going to be next to impossible to bring her back! I’m not sure it can be done.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding.
“But you’ve been trying anyway?”
“We had to,” said Sweets. “Jax won’t be able to handle it.”
Char shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why has this not made the town paper yet? I assume Detective Whitman is on the case?”
Alba shook her head. “Nah. We haven’t told him. We’re handling the case ourselves.”
“Yourselves?! Girls! This is a really big deal! I’m sorry, I know you’ve solved quite a few murders since you’ve been residents of Aspen Falls, but that hardly makes you professional detectives. Why would you not tell the authorities?!”
“Because it’s a paranormal death. He’s not going to be able to figure it out any more than we can. Plus, we wanted to tell Jax first.”
“Well, then, why haven’t you told her?”
“We thought we could fix it,” I said sadly, shaking my head. “And we thought we could figure out who did it.”
“So let me get this straight. You think it was a Council member that did it?” she asked.
All of our heads bobbed.
“How do you know?”
“Oh, we know alright,” said Alba. “We just don’t know which one of ’em did it.”
“Who’s on the Council?”
Alba held up a finger and began to recite the names from memory. “Poppy Ellabee, Daphne Fletcher, Stella Blackwood, Gemma Overbrook, and Elodie Goodwitch.”
Char curled her lip. “Well, I’ve heard of Poppy and Gemma. Poppy used to teach at the Institute, and Gemma runs an online witch school. But can’t say I’ve heard of any of the rest.”
“Yeah, they aren’t very well known,” I agreed.
Char shook her head. “Well, there’s a clue right there. That’s pretty strange. Who appointed them to the Council?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea, why?”
“Well, members of the previous Council appoint the new members, and it’s tradition to select members that are well known in the witch community or in the media.”
I hadn’t realized that. If I had, I would have asked each of the members who had appointed them.
“Well, Daphne Fletcher works for the Texas Army National Guard preventing natural disasters and helping with emergency situations,” said Holly. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Char nodded. “Well, it’s commendable and all, but hardly worthy of being put on the Council. You don’t understand.
Usually they appoint judges and governors or celebrities. Once they even had a vice-presidential nominee on the Council, but we won’t speak of her. She was a bit of a nut.” Char nodded. “So for example, this Elodie Goodwitch. You said she’s on the Council? What does she do?”
“She owns a magical apothecary in a small town in Iowa,” said Reign.
Char twirled a finger in the air. “Well, whoopty-do. My husband and I own a magical bakery. Does that make me worthy of being on the Council? What’s Stella’s claim to fame?”
I thought about it. “She researches plant-based potion ingredients, and she’s worked with some major pharmaceutical companies.”
“So essentially what you’re saying here is that you’ve got a botanist, a witch who runs a store, an Army witch, and two teaching witches? That’s hardly an impressive Council. In fact, that’s got to be the least impressive Council I’ve ever heard of.”
“Huh,” said Alba. “I didn’t know the Council had to be so well known. That piece of information might have been good to know when we questioned them.”
“So you have questioned them all?”
Cinder nodded. “Yes, and we’ve done our best to research their history with Sorceress Stone. Unfortunately, we could point fingers at each of them. They all seemed to have grudges against the headmistress.”
Char wagged her finger at us. “I’m telling you, there’s where you should be looking. Someone was responsible for assembling that cast of misfits. What you need to find out is who put a council together that all carried grudges against SaraLynn and why. I have a very strong feeling that will lead you to your killer.”
I shook my head. Why hadn’t we thought to ask Char for help sooner? I needed to start remembering that sometimes it was okay to ask for help. Without warning, the front door lurched open, setting off the door chime. I turned to face the door.
Jax stood in the doorway, carrying plastic grocery bags on each arm. Her eyes were wide as silver dollars, and her mouth gaped open. Dropping the bags to the ground, she sucked in her breath before launching herself at me while squealing like a stuck pig. “Omigosh, Mercy! I was so worried about you!”
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