‘He’ll be happy here,’ I said, taking in a deep breath of salty air.
‘Yes,’ my mother agreed. ‘They both will.’
I might have cried just a little bit at that. My mother even shed a tear or two herself. It’s funny how a stinking, toothless rat can have that effect on you.
≈
The rest of the night was one big, exhausting blur. When we returned to Westerly Crescent, my party was already in full swing. I mean, who says the guest of honour even has to be there?
‘Your empowerment ceremony will have to wait for a few days,’ my mother told me as we walked in together. ‘It has to be a private ceremony. Just the coven. It’s better with a full moon, too. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy my chances at sending any of this lot back to their own homes just yet.’
She was right. The party guests were merry, to say the least. And seeing as the table was laden with drinks, cakes and snacks it’d probably be quite some time before they were ready to call it a night.
So I did the only thing I could. I let the guests cry out, ‘Happy birthday, Wanda!’ And then I tucked into cake, drank fizzy wine and orange juice, and thanked the stars that it was all over.
Max and Lassie were there, as well as Rover and a few other weredogs. Melissa brought some friends from Crooked College, and my mother and Christine had filled the house with family friends. Adeline couldn’t make the party, unfortunately. She had told Christine that she had to go home and feed her cat. I almost wished I could be there to watch. Could a cat eat and sleep at the same time? If there was a way, no doubt Julian would find it.
I might have glanced at my phone once or twice (or a hundred times) during the party. But there was no message from Will. Had I really expected there to be? More to the point, had I really wanted there to be?
21.Dizzy
The next morning I woke to find Lassie’s door open, and her room cleared out. I made my way downstairs and found Max sitting dejectedly on the bottom step.
‘You okay?’ I nudged him gently.
‘Will be,’ he croaked. ‘She got a lift to Riddler’s Cove on the back of some witch’s broom last night. Told me she needed a break from Dublin. Too many memories of Connor.’
‘I can understand that.’ I really could. After my visit to the graveyard at Riddler’s Cove the night before, I had come to realise that my long absence from my coven’s life had just as much to do with grief over my father as it had to do with sour grapes.
He stood up, reaching out a hand to help me up. ‘Anyway, I’ll stop being depressed now. We have to go and do our maintenance minutes.’ He hesitated. ‘Although … you don’t really look like you’re up to it. Do you wanna go back to bed?’
‘Good Gretel, yes,’ I admitted. ‘But I’m not going to.’
‘Too much to drink?’
I shook my head. ‘Too much to study. ‘
After the party was over, and Max, Lassie and I stumbled back to our own house, I’d felt far too wired for sleep. At four in the morning, I’d clicked my fingers into Melissa’s room, nabbed one of her Magical Law textbooks, and travelled back to my own room again to read it. I’d scoured through the chapters, learning everything I could about Wayfairs, Peacemakers and the Wyrd Court. When my alarm clock went off at seven, I hadn’t even been to bed.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s get this over with – and then I’ll take you to the Water Bowl for a breakfast burrito.’
‘With extra tofu scramble?’ His mouth watered.
I withheld my laughter. ‘Extra anything you like, you wonderful vegan weredog.’
≈
Max took the clippers from my hands. ‘I’ll finish off this hedge,’ he said. ‘You look like you need a break.’
I sat back on the grass for a moment, watching him cut into the hedge. I’d made a bit of a mess of it, to be honest. It was almost bald in more than one spot. We’d been at our maintenance minutes for – I glanced at my watch – fifty-three minutes now. Already I was tiring. The wizards who normally let Max borrow their gadgets were all working that morning, so we’d had to wrench open the door of the garden shed, and pull out Max’s rusty lawnmower and clippers.
Still, I thought, now that Max was evening out the hedge for me, my morning’s work didn’t look too bad. And Luna Park was lovely at this hour. Green and gorgeous and quiet. There were only a few people out – some witches doing a yoga class on the east side, and some dayturners sitting on a bench closer to us, sharing a bottle of something that looked a little too viscous to be red wine. I wasn’t sure which should disturb me more – drinking alcohol this early in the morning, or drinking … something else.
‘So when do you think you’ll move on?’ Max’s voice startled me out of my reverie.
‘Move on? Who says I’m moving?’ I pointed to a cloud that was hovering above. ‘Doesn’t that one look a bit like Rover?’
Max laid the clippers aside and sat down next to me, peering up at the sky. ‘Oh yeah,’ he agreed. ‘It’s got his ears. But seriously, when are you leaving?’
I turned over to look at him. ‘You trying to get rid of me so soon? You know, you could give a girl a complex.’
‘Give over,’ he grunted. ‘I just thought … isn’t that what Wayfairs do? Wander around, fighting wayward witches and supernaturals and putting the world to rights.’
‘Oh.’ I plucked a daisy from the grass. ‘I guess. Except it’s only witches these days, thanks to the Minister for Magical Law. Seriously, though – do you want me to move?’
‘No!’ He said it a little more vehemently than he intended, I imagine, because his face grew pink and he suddenly became interested in a nearby elder tree. ‘I mean … I’m getting used to you. And Lassie won’t be back for a while. So … the house’ll be kind of big and lonely.’
I felt sad for him. In the short time I’d seen him interact with his cousin, it had been obvious that they were close. I was sure that, once she’d grieved for Connor, she’d come back to Westerly Crescent again. But as for me …?
‘Well …’ I began cautiously. How could I tell Max I loved living with him without inflating his ego too much? ‘Westerly Crescent’s not so bad, I suppose. I have kind of grown fond of plant milk. So there’s that.’
He shot me a tentative grin. ‘And there’s the pens, too. Don’t forget about the pens. You’ll never run out of pens as long as you live with me.’
I was just about to quip back, when I noticed Max’s grin had faded. He’d shifted himself from his comfortable cloud-gazing position, and was sitting up, shielding his eyes and looking at the east side of the park.
I sat up, too. When I saw what he was looking at, my throat went dry and my hands grew clammy. Good Gretel, why couldn’t bodily fluids just make a decision and stick to it?
‘Here comes Will,’ Max said tonelessly. ‘Yay. Do you want me to stay?’
My mind struggled to reach so much as a gentle walk. I told you, without food my thought process is next to useless. I glanced from Will to Max, shrugging. ‘Do what you like. I doubt it’s going to be a romantic conversation.’
Max sighed, stood up and said, ‘I’ll be a few feet away. I think I missed a bit of grass when I cut it earlier.’
I resisted the urge to grab onto him for dear life, and let him go. He left the clippers next to me, and pushed the lawnmower a few feet away. I stood up, brushing grass off my jeans, watching Will’s progress. Maybe he wasn’t even coming to see me. Maybe he was just out for a nice Saturday morning stroll.
‘Hi!’ shouted Will. Shouting was necessary, because Max had just started the engine on the mower. Good goddess, that thing was in need of a tune up. Next time I saw the wizards, I’d ask them to give it a check. Actually, next time I saw the wizards I’d ask them where I could buy some of their gadgets.
‘Hi!’ I shouted back, wishing I didn’t feel so sick. The three slices of birthday cake I’d eaten last night suddenly seemed like overindulgence. I wasn’t so sure I could handle a
breakfast burrito anymore.
‘Do you want to go somewhere quieter?’ shouted Will.
‘Sure!’ I shouted back.
We looked around. The dayturners had finished their bottle of red fluid and were sauntering out of the park. We took a seat on the bench they had vacated.
And then we sat there … and sat there … and sat there …
Finally, Will broke the silence. ‘Is it true then? What Auntie Alice said? Were you just using me? Spying on me?’
‘Oh.’ I stared down at my hands. I was still clutching the daisy I’d picked earlier, and by now I’d squashed the poor thing. ‘So we’re just going to get straight to the point. Well, no. And yes.’
He clenched his jaw. ‘Which is it, Wanda?’
‘Both. Look, Will … I was investigating the murders. And I did want to find out what the Berry Good Go Juice had to do with it all. Turns out, a lot. But I wasn’t investigating the whole time. When I got the job, I had no idea about the murders, or even that you and Alice were witches. I swear.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘And when did you know, exactly? When did you start investigating me, Wanda? Was it before we had dinner together, or after?’
‘Before,’ I admitted. ‘But Will, that doesn’t mean–’ I stopped midsentence, with no idea how to finish.
‘Oh.’ He blinked. ‘So … when I gave you that broom, and told you my deepest, darkest secret, you were already investigating my coven?’
I looked away from him. I had to. His gorgeous sea-green eyes were shining. He looked beyond upset with me. ‘I can give you back the broom if you want.’
‘Keep it,’ he said. ‘When I said I wanted you to have it, I meant it. I’m not a two-faced Wayfair like you.’
‘Will.’ I tried to reach out a hand, but he shifted along the bench. ‘Will, please. I know what I did was hurtful, but you must be able to see that I had my reasons. Your aunt was a murderer. She hypno-potioned those poor humans into murdering innocent witches. Oh, yeah – and she tried to murder me and some of my family and friends, too.’
He met my eyes. ‘I know, and I’m sorry. I told her that was wrong. No matter what was at stake she should never have hurt you. And I do want you to know something.’ He kept his gaze steady on mine. There they were – those darned fluttery feelings, all over again. ‘I had no part in it. In any of it. I had no idea. Do you believe me?’
‘I’m pretty sure your aunt would have taken great delight in telling me if you were,’ I said. ‘Y’know, when she was getting ready to murder me.’
‘Yeah, she probably would have.’ He sighed. ‘But Wanda, this isn’t about my aunt. This is about you and me. I liked you. I mean … proper liked you. Big deal liked you. It hit me like a brick, the second I met you at that job interview. And I thought you liked me back. I thought you were the most honest girl I’d ever met. But now … I don’t think I’ll ever be able to believe a word you say, ever again.’
For a brief moment I considered doing exactly what my feelings wanted me to do – I wanted to grab him and kiss him. Kiss him until he kissed me back. Kiss him until he knew that, no matter what might have happened in the past few days, the way I felt about him had been real.
And it had. It had been big, and bright, and almost impossible to resist. But only almost. Because no matter how gorgeous he was, no matter how he made my skin tingle and my heart flutter … he was a Berry, and I was a Wayfair. He didn’t see the world in the same way I did, and I wasn’t sure if he ever would.
So when he stood up from the bench and began to walk away … I just let him.
‘Oh, and also,’ he called back over his shoulder as he stalked towards the east side of the park, ‘you probably don’t need me to tell you this, but you’re fired.’
‘Well,’ I muttered to myself. ‘That went well.’
I didn’t watch Will’s form disappear. Because let’s face it, a girl can only have so much self-restraint, and the back of Will was at least as gorgeous as the front.
So after a couple of minutes of gazing at the ground, I left the bench and walked towards Max. Sure, going home and licking my wounds would have been preferable, but Max had already done more than enough by himself.
‘You have a rest,’ I told him as I approached. ‘I’ll finish off here and then we’ll go to the Water Bowl.’
‘You sure? Because if you’d rather just be by yourself …’ He was looking way too closely at me.
‘I’m sure,’ I said, prising the lawnmower from his grip.
He let go of the handle, and the motor cut out. Just as I was about to start the motor up again, something hit me square on the head.
I looked up, rubbing my head. Then I looked down.
‘It’s a bat,’ said Max, pointing at the small brownish-black creature on the ground. ‘Wow, it’s a good thing the motor wasn’t running. This little guy could have been a gonner.’
I shuddered at the thought.
‘Bit early in the day for a bat to be out,’ Max went on. His eyes suddenly filled with panic. ‘What if it’s a vampire, Wanda? What if it’s Basil or some crony of his, come for revenge?’
I bent down to the bat, reaching out. It was warm, but it wasn’t moving. ‘Well if it is, he’s not doing a very good job of it, is he? Maybe we should take it to a vet.’
‘No thanks,’ said a faint, squeaky voice. ‘I’ll be okay in a minute.’
Max and I gaped as one at the bat. By now, we shouldn’t have been surprised when an animal decided to speak, but apparently we were a little slow on the uptake today.
The bat sat up. ‘I’m Dizzy.’
‘Of course you are, you poor thing,’ I said soothingly. ‘Can we get you anything? A drink? Something to eat?’
‘No.’ The bat shook its head. ‘I mean, my name is Dizzy. And I’m really not up to flying anymore, so please tell me I’ve found you. Please tell me you’re Wanda Wayfair?’
I groaned. ‘I am. Why?’
Dizzy extended a … a something. ‘Oh, thank the blessed Lord of mangoes. You’re the one. The Wayfarer. You’re going to help me solve my witch’s murder. But first … I think I need to go and have a lie upside down.’
≈
You’ve reached the end of Bottling It. I hope you enjoyed this read. If so, join my mailing list to keep up with the very latest releases: http://www.subscribepage.com/z4n0f4
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Bricking It, the second Wayfair Witches’ Mystery is available to download or buy now. And if you’d like to find out a little more about the inhabitants of Wanda’s world, turn or swipe the page to find An Extract From the Compendium of Supernatural Beings.
Extract from the Compendium of Supernatural Beings
Edition 5001.
Year of Publication: the Year of the Lotus (otherwise known as 2017 AD).
Chronicler: Adeline A. Albright (Senior Chronicler and Librarian, Crooked College, Warren Street, Dublin 2)
Major Supernatural Beings
Witches:
Witches, both male and female, are considered the most magical of supernatural beings. Their power is innate and (almost always) inherited. It would not be possible to list all witch abilities in this compendium, however many witches choose to specialize in one particular area. In the Year of the Lizard (2016 AD), the most popular subject at Crooked College was Materialization. The Society for Senior Witches stated that this was ‘indicative of an unfortunate downward decline in morality.’
Most witches belong to covens. Whilst each family may legally form a coven of its own, it is more usual for the smaller, newer witch families to join the covens of the larger, more established families.
There has been criticism from other supernatural factions in recent years, driven by what many refer to as the ‘elitist attitude of witches’. Whilst all supernatural enclaves (sub-dimensional regions) are accessible by witches, the witches keep their own enclaves strictly private. Mildred Valentine, currently running for the presidenc
y of the Irish vampire enclaves, has stated that, if she gets into power, she will do her ‘utmost to uncover the secrecy surrounding witch enclaves, and ensure that all enclaves are accessible to all supernatural communities.’
Warlocks:
The warlock movement has been around for centuries. It began in the Year of the Snout (2001 B.C), when a small group of male witches formed the Warlock Society. Their original manifesto has been lost to the ages, but it is widely accepted that their modern manifesto is representative of the society’s early beliefs: that men are unfairly represented within the matriarchal structure of witch society, and recognition of their unique male capabilities is important to society as a whole.
Because warlocks are, genetically speaking, witches, they are free to access all witch enclaves.
Wizards:
(Note: This edition of the Compendium is the first to include wizards in the Major Supernatural Beings section. To find references to wizards in previous compendia, the chronicler suggests you begin looking under the section labelled: Others)
Wizards can be male, female, or anything else they like. They are also known as mages, shamans and wiccans, and are often overlooked. This is due to the fact that wizards are almost always of human origin. Their power is neither innate, nor inherited. A wizard’s power is hard won and, because of that, this chronicler feels they should be treated with respect instead of derision.
With no access to any of the major magical enclaves, tomes or educational facilities, wizards have nevertheless managed to study and (in many cases) perfect the art of magic. They have become expert at harnessing and directing the elements, and utilising OUPs (objects of unusual power), OAPs (objects of awesome power), AUPs (areas of unusual power) and AAPs (areas of awesome power).
Bottling It (A Wayfair Witches' Cozy Mystery #1) Page 15