He stuck his hands in his apron pockets and rocked on his heels. “Here. He came in, lured by the scent of my brownie bites in the oven, and we got to talking. He eventually asked if I knew where Stef Millet lived.”
“Don’t tell me you told him,” I said, thinking that Feif hadn’t come in for brownies at all, but for information. Joelle hadn’t told him where Stef lived, and the Gingerbread Shack was the closest shop open at that time of the morning.
Evan’s cheeks colored. “I might have told him—”
I groaned.
“—if,” he added loudly, “I hadn’t just seen Stef pull into the gym parking lot a half hour before that. So I told him he wouldn’t find her at home, and he mumbled something about catching her at the Stove later on.”
I wondered if Feif had abandoned the idea of speaking to Stef altogether when he realized it was possible he wouldn’t get to her before she was warned against him—and instead cut his losses and skipped town. Maybe he had left some belongings behind on purpose, as Harper had suspected.
“Can you use the Lost and Found spell to find him?” Starla asked, referring to a spell that found lost objects—and sometimes people.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “That spell can only find people who’re truly lost. If Feif is on the run, he doesn’t want to be found.”
“No man has a right to be that pretty,” Evan said on a sigh. “I probably would have given him all my passwords if he’d asked.”
That was most likely how Feif made such a good living as a psychic—he had an innate ability to get people to tell him things.
I patted Evan’s cheek. “You’re far prettier.”
He grinned. “I was hoping you would say that. And just because you did, those cupcakes are on the house.”
I stared longingly at the coffee but didn’t pick it up. I was nervous enough today without adding caffeinated jitters to the mix. “The cupcakes look amazing,” I said, “but my appetite is iffy. Can I get a to-go box?”
“Are you feeling okay?” Starla asked. “Don’t tell me you’re coming down with something a week before your wedding.”
“It’s just a case of the Dorothys,” I said. I wanted to tell them both what was going on with the Renewal, but I couldn’t. Elder’s orders.
“Understandable,” Evan said. “Black magic. What is she thinking?”
I wasn’t sure she was thinking. More likely, she was reacting. “I don’t know, but even though we now know she’s sick, when she gets released, we need to keep in mind that she’s extremely dangerous.”
An influx of customers came into the shop, and Evan excused himself to go take orders.
“Are Dorothy’s lab results back yet?” Starla asked.
“Not yet. A few more hours,” I said.
We talked a little bit about the poisonings and how there weren’t many leads, except for Sylar.
“But why would he want to poison you?” Starla asked.
“All we can think of is that he is the one who’s also poisoning Dorothy. Maybe he believed I was close to figuring out his secret? He knows what a snoop I am.” After all, I’d once helped clear his name when he’d been falsely accused of murder.
My phone buzzed, and I checked the text message that had come in.
“What’s wrong?” Starla asked. “All the color just drained out of your face.”
“It’s from Glinda.” I glanced up, held Starla’s gaze. “Dorothy just tried to escape from the psych ward.”
* * *
Fortunately, Dorothy’s escape attempt had failed.
She’d set a fire in a trash can and tried to sneak out in the chaos. She’d been caught—but I couldn’t help but wonder how soon it would be until she tried again. An hour? Two?
After all, the Renewal began a little after sundown. Dorothy was running out of time, too.
I was doing my best to ignore a stomachache as I walked side by side with Amanda Goodwin along the Enchanted Trail, the paved path that looped around the village.
Glinda and Vince were on the way to the hospital, hoping they’d be able to talk to Dorothy, get her to calm down, and to see reason. It was a long shot they’d be able to talk to her, but they felt they had to try.
The news of the escape attempt had pushed me from being nervous to being a nervous wreck. I’d thought about canceling with Amanda but ultimately had decided to keep the meeting. I couldn’t sit still, however, and had been grateful when she agreed to take a walk with me.
“I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality,” Amanda said. The breeze blew blonde hairs across her face. “It’s surreal. Between Leyna’s death, Dorothy, and the poisonings—it’s like a bad dream.”
I could easily picture Nick passed out on the hallway floor.
This was no dream. It was a nightmare.
“We’re so appreciative of your help, Darcy,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I know you didn’t know Leyna well.”
“I know your family well. I’m losing track of how many times Dennis and Cherise have come to my rescue or Nick’s or Harper’s …”
She took my hand and squeezed it. “Family.”
I nodded. “Family.”
Wild roses bloomed along the path, surrounding us in their sweet scent as we walked. I said, “I wish I had more leads on Leyna’s death. I don’t think Dorothy is guilty of killing her, and I can’t find a link between her death and the poisonings, so I don’t think they’re related.”
“What about Sylar?” she asked.
“Nick questioned Sylar at length about the poisonings, but he has no connection to Leyna.”
She stopped walking and faced me. “But he does, Darcy.” She set her hand on my arm. “He was at Divinitea on Saturday.”
My jaw dropped. “He was? He wasn’t on the list you gave Nick.”
Her cheeks infused with redness. “I am so sorry. I wasn’t thinking of him as a guest, because he didn’t stay. He stopped in, trying to get an appointment for a reading with Leyna.”
“Did he get one?” I asked.
“She agreed to squeeze him in, but he was with her for maybe five minutes, tops. That’s barely enough time to pour the tea, so I’m not sure what he was after.”
It didn’t make sense that he’d want a reading. Not after the way he’d doused Glinda and me with holy water. I would have thought he’d avoid any kind of metaphysical happenings.
“How did he seem when he was there?” I asked.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as though trying to remember every detail. A moment later, she blinked. “He was … uncomfortable. Fidgety.” Her eyes widened. “When he arrived, he asked me if I really believed Leyna could read people’s health. He was troubled when I said she absolutely could. I remember worrying about him being ill. That’s when Leyna called him back. Like I said, he couldn’t have been with her for more than five minutes. And this was early in the day—she was alive after he left.”
I didn’t doubt the surety of her characterizations. As a Vitacrafter, she could easily read his demeanor.
Amanda went on, saying, “I’ve never had issue with Sylar and knew he’d filed for divorce from Dorothy, so I didn’t connect him to what happened. Is it possible he had something to do with Leyna’s death?”
My mind spun with what she’d told me, trying to find the connections I’d been missing. “We know Leyna read Dorothy on Thursday. We know Dorothy saw Sylar on Friday and that she accused him of poisoning her—and that she knew so because of Leyna. Now imagine if you’re Sylar—and he had been the one who’d been poisoning her?”
Amanda’s hand flew up to cover her mouth.
I said, “If all that is true, I don’t think it’s out of the question to assume that Sylar went to Divinitea on Saturday trying to find out exactly what Leyna knew about the poisoning. Do you know, when she saw him, if she would’ve been able to tell if he was guilty of the poisoning?”
“Since Leyna could read thoughts and feelings, she’d know if he had
murder on his mind. And since she’d read Dorothy so recently, she might have been able to link the two, especially if he’d been thinking about poisons …” Tears filled her eyes. “Could he really be responsible? He just seems so … tame. He can be a loudmouth, sure, but violent? I don’t usually misread people.”
Carolyn Honeycutt’s voice went through my head.
Even the most docile people might get pushed to their limits if their deepest, darkest secrets were going to be exposed.
“Did you see Sylar leave that day?” I asked.
“No,” Amanda said. “I saw Leyna walk him out of the reading room, but I didn’t see him leave the shop.”
He could have easily hidden somewhere in the building, waiting …
I let that thought sink in, and with it came a deep sense of sadness. Sylar had once been a decent man. Flawed but decent. If he had done this, what had happened?
Then I realized Dorothy had happened. She’d declared war on him.
If he was guilty, I was convinced it was because he’d been fighting back.
Unfortunately for Leyna—and all who loved her—it looked like she had been caught in their crossfire.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Let me go with you,” Nick said as I came down the hallway into the family room, my Craft cloak draped over my arm.
It was a little after eight PM, and pink streaked the sky as the sun sank on the horizon. “Mimi,” I said, reminding him why he needed to stay. Right now she was upstairs working on homework, not completely oblivious to the danger in the air, but unaware exactly what was at stake if Dorothy proved successful in another escape attempt.
To everyone’s relief, Glinda and Vince had been able to speak to her, but to everyone’s dismay, Dorothy had sent them away almost immediately. Glinda had reported back that she’d seen nothing but hatred in her mother’s eyes the whole time, even after explaining that Sylar had become the prime suspect in Leyna’s death.
Rage and hatred.
There hadn’t, however, been another escape attempt since they left the hospital.
I had the feeling Dorothy was biding her time.
Higgins was hogging most of the couch, giving Nick about one square foot of cushion space. Annie was upstairs with Mimi. Missy, too—the little dog seemed extra protective of Mimi this afternoon. It was possible she sensed the danger in the air, too.
I raised my arm, showed him the chill bumps. “Do you feel it? In the air? There’s evil blowing around.” It had come in earlier on the sea breeze, salty sea air mixed with doom and gloom. I took hold of his hands. “I want you to stay home with Mimi. Protect her.”
The pink sky faded to purple. I needed to get to the Elder’s meadow.
“I don’t want you to go to the meadow alone,” he said.
Nick was still in his uniform, having arrived home only fifteen minutes ago. He’d been questioning Sylar most of the afternoon, pressing him for answers. Sylar hadn’t had anything to say for himself other than to proclaim his innocence. He’d claimed that he’d spoken to Leyna only briefly on Saturday—that being around her energy had freaked him out enough that he had chickened out of asking her if she really thought Dorothy was being poisoned.
According to him, he’d sought Leyna out in concern for Dorothy’s well-being. Nothing less, nothing more, and he certainly hadn’t harmed the woman.
Nick had been forced to let him go, as he hadn’t had enough evidence yet to arrest him.
I sat on the edge of the coffee table and petted Higgins’s head. “My mother will be there. Harper, too. The Coven of Seven. I have the magic stone Vince gave me and about eighteen other protection charms. I’ll be fine.”
I didn’t particularly want to go alone, either, but I had to be there. I had the power to put an end to Dorothy’s coup attempt, once and for all.
Nick rested his forehead against mine and squeezed my hands.
I said, “I’m not sure how long I’ll be. An hour. Two at—” I was cut off by the sound of rapid-fire knocking on the front door.
I looked down the hallway and saw an anxious-looking Vince peering in the sidelight. Higgins started barking, and Nick shushed him. Remarkably, the dog quieted as he galloped down the hallway beside me as I hurried to open the door.
Before I could get a word out, Vince’s voice shook as he blurted, “Archie’s nowhere to be found, Darcy. You need to show me how to get to the Elder.” There was no disguising the naked terror on his face. “I need to talk to her right away.”
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, coming up behind me.
“It’s Dorothy,” he said, breathing hard. “I just got word that she’s escaped the psych ward.”
“When?” I asked, throwing my cape over my shoulders.
“No one’s quite sure. There was another fire. It was chaos. Maybe a half hour, maybe an hour.”
Nick’s phone rang. He quickly answered, then covered the mouthpiece and said to us, “Sylar and Dorothy’s house is on fire. Sylar’s injured. Glinda’s going with him to the hospital.”
Vince said, “We need to go, Darcy. We have to warn the Elder.”
I faced Nick, and almost crumpled at the look on his face. The naked terror for all he could lose. All we could lose.
“Be very careful,” he said, his voice thick. “Please.”
With tears in my eyes, I gave him a quick kiss. I took a look up the stairs and fought the overwhelming urge to go tell Mimi how much I loved her.
I didn’t have the time.
Because as chill bumps rose all over my body, I knew without a doubt that Dorothy was already at the Elder’s meadow.
* * *
Vince and I ran through the woods, along a trail I knew by heart. Dusk turned into full darkness. We didn’t talk as we ran, but I had the feeling we were thinking the same thought.
We had to stop Dorothy before she hurt someone else.
As we approached a large cake-shaped rock, I held out my hand and slowed to a walk as I heard Harper say, “This is ridiculous. Of course I’ll take the oath. I’m ready to take the oath. Someone give me the oath already.”
“Do not take us for fools,” a woman said. “We all know you do not want to be Elder.”
Vince sucked in a breath. “That’s Dorothy. She’s already here.”
I’d suspected she would be, so I had braced myself for this moment. But Dorothy’s calm, even, controlled voice scared me more than if she’d been screaming.
“What should we do?” Vince asked.
“I think we should lay low for a minute or two before we barge in there. Get a feel for the situation.”
“I’m telling you right now,” he said, “this situation is going to go to hell real fast. Dorothy isn’t here to make nice.”
I knew—I just didn’t know what to do about it quite yet.
My gaze swept over the meadow, noting immediately that it wasn’t bright and sunny as usual. Instead, floating lanterns glowed like fireflies, circling a group of nine people, all dressed in Crafting cloaks, except my mother, who wore a gauzy golden gown, and Dorothy, who was wearing the same white dress I’d seen her in on Saturday. They were all gathered around what looked like a small floating campfire. The cunning fire. The Elder’s tree, with its weeping branches, loomed large in the shadows.
I tried to make out the identities of those in the Coven, but they had their hoods pulled low, shading their faces. I noted with interest that there were only six of them. Apparently Dorothy’s replacement hadn’t been appointed yet.
My mother said, “You should not be here, Dorothy. None of this concerns you any longer.”
I easily recognized Godfrey’s voice as he said, “Harper has stated she’ll take the oath, and that is that.”
“Let’s sneak as close as we can,” I said, duck-walking along the edge of the forest.
“This doesn’t concern me?” Dorothy said, her tone flat. “I believe it does. This should all be mine.”
I winced as a twig cracked under my foo
t, but no one but me seemed to notice. I took cover behind a tree stump. Vince hid behind an oak tree.
“Don’t you mean Glinda’s?” Andreus said—I recognized his voice, too. “Be careful, Dorothy; your true motives are showing.”
I shivered, thinking about how he must look right now in this lighting—and because it seemed to me like he was provoking Dorothy.
Harper slid off her hood. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I’m ready to take the oath.”
My heart swelled at her insistence. I knew she preferred a position on the Coven to being the Elder, but she must have sensed the importance of this moment and made the decision with her heart instead of her brain.
Dorothy said, “You will not be taking the oath tonight. Or any night.”
My mother floated in front of Harper, shielding her. “You do not make the decisions, Dorothy. It is time for you to leave.”
I heard Vince utter a curse under his breath.
My pulse was pounding in my ears as I clapped my hands twice, softly. The Tilsam Stone appeared in my palm, and I closed my fist around it.
Dorothy laughed, a sound that chilled me to my soul.
“We can’t just stay here,” Vince whispered, sidestepping over to me.
“I know,” I said, “but we can’t rush in there, either. We need a plan.”
Dorothy swung her arm out, and with a flick of her finger, the Elder tree went up in flames. “It is not my time to leave. It’s yours, Deryn. Your reign is over, effective immediately.”
“Now!” my mother shouted.
Before I could even reconcile what was happening, the Coven members encircled Harper, and my mother, leaning down, touched the earth with her fingers, then arced her arm over her head.
A clear, glittery dome formed over them all. Inside the bubble, my mother joined hands with the others. Harper, too. I could see their mouths moving, speaking among each other, but no sound was coming through their protective sheath.
Dorothy fired lightning bolts at the bubble, which bounced off and ignited fires when they hit the ground.
“You cannot protect them forever, Deryn. As soon as your precious tree turns to ash, so will you.”
I gasped—my gaze flying to the tree. Flames had traveled up the bark, onto the branches. Leaves shriveled in the heat as smoke billowed.
A Witch to Remember (Wishcraft Mystery) Page 23