by Amy Boyles
He held up a hand to stop me. "Don't say another word." Pearbottom clutched a cane in one hand. He crossed over to the body of Smiley Martin and lifted the sheet. "If it hadn't been for you and your sisters, I wouldn't be here today."
Reid and Sera popped up behind him. They wore gazillion-watt smiles.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Sera tossed slick brown hair from her face. "We couldn't get back here because Smiley had blocked anyone from traveling to the house. So Reid and I went to Pearbottom's, and that's where we found him." She pointed to the inspector.
Pearbottom gave a curt nod. "I was unconscious. Martin had beaten me up pretty bad and then spelled me so that I wouldn't wake up. The spell was broken when you killed him."
"That was Adonis," I said. "We have the baby unicorn to thank for that. By the way, how'd he get back here? We sent him home."
Crimson dots bloomed on Reid's cheeks. "That's my fault. I asked Grandma if she could get him back for a few days. I really enjoyed his company."
Pearbottom ran a hand over his face in disbelief. "There was no point in ever trying to lock the three of you up, was there?"
I shook my head. "I hate to say it, but not really. We just found a way out."
He scowled. "You realize I could have you arrested for that?"
My heart fluttered into my throat. "But we saved you. That counts for something, right?"
Pearbottom's sour expression morphed into a smile. "I would say that counts for everything."
He patted me on the back in what I would call totally un-Pearbottom-like behavior. It kinda gave me the willies. I brushed my awkward feelings aside and returned his smile.
"I'm glad you're okay."
Pearbottom raised his hand. "I owe the three of you my life. From now on, if any of you get in trouble, I'll be looking the other way."
I beamed at my sisters. "Thanks, Pearbottom. You've just made my decade."
Eliza swept into the room, her iron-gray hair streaking behind her. She clamped Pearbottom's face and smooched him on the lips. "Jonathan! Thank goodness. I was so worried about you."
They started to kiss, and Roman coughed into his hand. Eliza's gaze flashed to him. "So now you know. I loved your uncle; you know that, Roman. But I love Jonathan, too."
Roman nodded. "I'm glad you found happiness. I'm just thankful that you weren't part of this whole magic-stealing ring."
She gaped at him. "Did you really think that? That I would have turned to darkness? Roman, I am a lifelong member of Responsible Magics." She whipped a white card from her purse. "A lifelong member. I take that very seriously."
"What's Responsible Magics?" I whispered.
"It's an organization for people dealing with magical addiction," Eliza said.
Roman frowned. "When I called, they said you hadn't been coming to meetings."
"Because I don't like the new president." She took Roman's hands in her own. "I would never return to the old ways. And I made up with your father. I believe everything that happened to him the night your mother and sisters were murdered. Roman, I'm thankful for the family I have. I would never jeopardize it."
Roman and his aunt hugged. He shook hands with Pearbottom and wished them happiness. It wasn't like they were sailing off into the sunset or anything, though his aunt did break one more bit of news.
"We're getting married," she said.
Yep. More like they were rocketing off to Jupiter. Roman hid the shock on his face well. Pretty sure my mouth dropped to the floor.
But oh well, we had a wedding to look forward to. That was at least some good news in all of this.
Grandma scurried into the room, grabbing at her hair as if it were on fire. "Dylan! Thank goodness you're okay. I was worried sick!" She clawed my shoulders with arthritic hands. "You got your magic back. Good for you!" She fisted the air in victory. "How'd you manage that?"
I smiled. "The fountain of death helped."
Grandma gasped. "You drank from the fountain of death? When?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, when we were at the banquet, I took a walk. I found Clothar and he led me to the sprites." I explained the rest of the story and about the fountain and my realization.
Grandma clapped me on the back. "Now you understand when I tell you my wild stories about my time undercover with the witch police. The sprites were the worst. Of course, there's also the kingdom under the earth." She stuck a finger in the air. "That queen makes the sprite queen look like your fairy godmother."
"Good thing I don't have one of those," I said.
She winked at me. "You never know."
Okay, I was not about to start hearing about some fairy godmother. Too much had happened in the past couple of hours for me to even consider it.
"I'm just glad everyone's okay."
Roman snaked his arm around my waist. "Me too."
I hugged him back as a thought flared in my brain. I tilted my face up to his. "There's one thing I don't get, though."
"What's that?" he said.
"Who took the controlling potion? It wasn't Smiley."
"It was me," Grandma said.
I rubbed my temples. "I should've known. Why?"
She shrugged in exasperation. "How else was I supposed to keep Jenny Butts from spilling your secret to the whole town?"
Pearbottom peered over at me with that comment. "What secret?"
I clamped a hand over Grandma's mouth and said, "That I keep more dresses in the back than I have out front. You know, I had to get someone to watch my shop while I was on house arrest."
Pearbottom's gaze cut from me to Grandma. She mumbled something under my hand that sounded like "That's the ticket," but I still didn't release her.
You couldn't trust what was going to come out of that woman's mouth. Y'all should know that by now.
Pearbottom broke into a smile and said, "Well all right, then."
Whew. That was a close one. I released my hand from Grandma. The witch police finished up their investigation of the crime scene. Roman brought me a hot chocolate that Sera had made, and we settled down on the swing on the front porch, me resting my head on his shoulder and his lips grazing my forehead.
Even for how crazy the day had been, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else on earth.
"Penny for your thoughts," Roman said.
"Price is a quarter."
"You're expensive."
I smacked my lips. "I never said I was cheap."
He chuckled. Pulled me closer into the curve of his side.
I sighed. "I was thinking there's no place else I'd rather be in this moment."
"You sure about that?"
I inhaled. The sweet scent of him filled my nose. "One hundred percent."
"What if we could go someplace else?"
I leaned back. His calloused hands slid over my bare arms. "Like Fairyland? No thanks. I'm taking a break from there."
"No. Someplace better." He cupped the back of my head and brought me in for a deep kiss. I felt him shift but didn't think anything about it until we parted. "Like here," he said.
I glanced down. In his hand were two plane tickets.
"Paris," I screeched. "Are you kidding?"
The smile on his lips matched the one dancing in his sea-green eyes. He pushed away a strand of hair stuck to my cheek. "I'm most certainly not kidding. Want to go?"
I narrowed my gaze. "So we're going the old-fashioned way? By plane, not by magic?"
He cocked his head. "Do you want to have your grandmother whisk us there?"
I thought about it a moment and said, "No, I'd rather go the old-fashioned way."
"So are you saying yes?"
I threw my arms around his neck. "Yes! Yes, I want to go."
The hug lasted as long as it lasted. It was like I said—there was no other place on earth I would rather have been in that moment.
Except maybe Paris.
***
I slept in the next day, stiff and sore from my tus
sle with Smiley Martin. When I finally forced myself from bed and ambled through the house, I found Sera in the kitchen, whipping up omelets and coffee.
"So'd you decide yet?"
She glanced over her shoulder at me. "Decide what?"
I poured a steaming cup of joe and cradled it in my hands. Warmth spread over my skin, bringing a smile to my face. "About whether or not you're going to stay. You going to run off and marry the monkey king? Or stay here with us?"
A ghost of a smile coiled on her lips. "There's nothing official, Dylan."
Bitter coffee spilled over my tongue when I took a sip. "Didn't stop you from implying you were going to elope to Monkey Town."
She grinned. "A girl can dream, can't she? I mean, there's a lot of fuss and stuff going on here. We grew a giant flower that almost ate our neighborhood, got placed under house arrest, you switched bodies with Milly—don't even get me started on how creepy that is—and we made a new friend, one who introduced us to helpful witches."
Sera plated up the omelet and garnished it with a handful of chopped scallions. "All in all, I wouldn't trade this life for anything."
I arched a brow. "Not even to be queen of the winged monkeys?"
Sera tucked a stray hair behind an ear. Her blue eyes shone brilliantly as she said, "Maybe eventually. But right now I couldn't be happier."
Milly came over, and we ate a big family breakfast. Adonis had gone back to Titus for good, at least I hoped, and the rest of us sat down and enjoyed each other's company.
When it was over and the dishes were washed and dried, I went to my room and found myself opening the trunk at the foot of my bed. I fished out the old book of photographs—its edges yellow, the plastic film over the pictures crackled, the lines of adhesive amber with age.
I stared at the pictures of my family and considered what I'd been told about my parents' car crash.
Someone knocked softly on the door. "Come in."
"Thought I'd find you in here," Milly said as she caned her way inside. "Got the old pictures, huh?"
I showed her the book. Tears misted her eyes. "Such a beautiful couple. Good people, too." She yanked a handkerchief from a pocket inside her cardigan and dabbed her eyes. "I heard you'd been asking about the crash."
"Yeah. So many people believe it wasn't an accident. I just want to know the truth."
Milly rubbed her hands together. A manila file folder appeared. She handed it to me. "This is the official report. Anything you want to know, you'll find here."
It was the same file from the second floor of the witch police. Fingerprints smudged the edges as if it had been peeled back numerous times. As if someone else had wanted to know the truth and read it over and over—searching for the same things I've been looking for.
"It's all here?" I asked her.
"Everything," she said.
"Thank you." I clutched the file to my chest. It was funny. Once my other grandmother had offered me something very similar—a file on Roman. I'd refused to read it, believing it to be his personal information. If Roman wanted me to know something, he'd tell me.
This was different. This held the truth about my parent's car crash. As soon as Milly left, I pulled back the cover and read the file from front to back.
I exited the room hours later, my head swimming with information.
Reid and Sera met me in the living room. "Well?" Reid asked.
Sera crossed her arms. "What'd you find out?"
I rubbed my forehead, my mind racing over all the information I'd consumed. "It was an accident. Pure and simple. Open and shut."
Reid glanced down at her feet. "At least we know."
Sera nodded. "Yeah. That counts for something, right?"
I reached out to my sisters, wrapping them in a huddle-like hug. "It counts for everything."
EPILOGUE
It was two weeks later. Things had settled down considerably. Chasity was gearing up to return to her house. We were all going to miss her and were thankful for what she'd taught us since she'd entered our lives.
In that time I'd returned to my shop and wiped Jenny Butts's memory of me telling her I was a witch. I can't correctly describe the look of terror on her face before I wiped her memory, but let me tell you, Jenny Butts had finally been rendered speechless.
And it only took her entire life for it to happen.
"Reid, get out of the bathroom. Roman's going to be here in five minutes."
"Jeez, what's the rush?" she called back.
"Paris! Paris is the rush. Hurry up or we'll miss the flight."
The door opened with a bang. "Okay, okay, Miss My Life Is More Important Than Yours. The bathroom's clear."
I rushed past my sister. Steam rolled on the ceiling. I swear, if it was Reid's fault that my hair frizzed, I'd curse her or something. Give her a zit.
On her butt.
Ha!
I finished up and went to the living room. Chasity crossed to me and took my hand. "Are you excited?"
"I can barely contain it," I said.
She smiled and pulled me off to the side. "Y'all have been so welcoming. Thank you for that."
I nodded. "Of course. Without you, my sisters and I wouldn't have met other witches that we like. You also taught us how to make our power stronger, better."
Chasity bit her bottom lip. "You've changed so much since I arrived."
I shrugged. "Accepted a few things, I guess."
"You accepted a lot."
"Yeah."
She studied me for a moment, her blue eyes seeming to seek something. "You remember when you asked if I knew anything about the night Roman's family was murdered?"
I froze. My heart raged against my ribs. I felt its beating claw up my throat. "Yes," I whispered.
"You weren't ready at the time for the truth. You thought you were, but you had to accept things about us—about witches—before I could tell you."
"Tell me what?"
She took my hand and dropped something in it. I looked into my palm. Inside lay a golden ring with a large clear stone. It wasn't as brilliant as a diamond; it looked more like a cut piece of quartz.
"This is a pact ring," Chasity explained. "It's traditionally used to seal an agreement between two or more people. This particular ring, as my mother told me, was used to distinguish the people who were there the night Queen Catherine and her daughters were killed."
"How does it work?"
"When the ring is slipped on the finger of a person who is in the pact, the stone turns red. It's how those in agreement recognize one another. Say someone is in disguise—slip the ring on them and you know if they're in on the pact."
"Okay," I said slowly.
"I'm giving this to you. This is how you will know when you've found the witch you seek. The stone will become the color of blood."
My breath hitched. "How many?"
"Two," Chasity said.
"Your mother?"
"And one other. The main witch—the one who killed them all."
A stone formed in my stomach. It grew to the size of a boulder, threatening to cut off the oxygen streaming into my lungs. "Do you know who it is?"
Chasity shook her head.
Of course not. That would be too easy. "But theoretically all I need to do is slip this on the right witch's finger, it'll glow like a ruby and we'll have the killer."
She nodded.
"Why didn't you give this to me before?"
Chasity smiled. "Because you needed to see that you're one of us. We're not all bad, we're not all good—we're like everyone else in the world, complicated."
The bell rang. Roman. Here to whisk me off to Paris. I palmed the ring, the gold cold on my skin. I slid it into my jean pocket and gave Chasity a swift hug.
"Thank you for everything," I said. "I'll see you when I get back?"
"I hope so," she said, a whimsical smile curling her lips.
Grandma answered the door. Roman wore a soft white shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbow
s. His dragon tattoo peeked out from under the collar. He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head and smiled.
"Ready to go to Paris?" he said.
"Bon voyage," Grandma shouted, throwing rose petals at me.
Why? Because she's my crazy grandma, and that's the sort of crazy thing she liked to do.
I nodded at Roman. A lump of anxiety twisted my stomach. "Yep. I'm ready."
I mean, come on, y'all, this was a big step—vacationing with the man I love in the city of romance. My gut cramped, but when I looked at Roman and saw all the love in his eyes, I knew I could trust him with my heart as well as my life.
I took his hand.
Everyone in the house shouted, "Good-bye," in unison.
A second later I was out the door and in his arms. He kissed me, his breath hot and tasting of coffee. "You ready?" he said.
"I think so?"
"I love you, you know."
I nodded. "I love you."
"Do you trust me?"
"With all my heart."
"Then let's go to Paris."
I followed him to his SUV. The engine roared to life, and as we rolled down the road, I turned back and waved to my family.
As much as I wanted to tell Roman about the ring, I knew if I mentioned it now, before we left, all his thoughts would be on it and not the trip. I wanted him to enjoy his time, to let go a little and forget about all the craziness in Silver Springs.
I pulled the ring from my pocket and shoved it deep into my purse, zippering it into a side pocket.
"Ready to take on Paris?" Roman said, smiling.
I grinned back. "As ready as I'll ever be."
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