by Erin Johnson
Shaday parted her lips to speak, then promptly clamped her mouth shut again.
I rolled my eyes at myself. "Her father was murdered yesterday. Of course she's having a hard time right now." I set the squeeze bottle of henna down on the table next to us, beside our orange blossom lemonades. "All done. What do you think?"
She quirked her lips to the side and held up her hands. "Beautiful."
As she admired her hands, I thought about Shaday. She had a lot of secrets… though I supposed we all had some. Mine involved hanging out with a wanted inter-kingdom criminal who happened to be my brother, but I was sure she had some big ones, too.
13
Suspicion
Shaday walked me back to the bakery. She pointed out oil paintings and right and left turns so that I wouldn't get lost again. I nodded and smiled but knew, deep down, that I'd definitely get lost again. We said our goodbyes and she went to go sit for portraits with my boyfriend, or something, while I went to help make his wedding cake. Totally normal situation.
"Well, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence." Iggy peeked out of the recessed wall oven. "Was that your soon-to-be sister wife I spotted with you?"
I rolled my eyes. K'ree plucked my apron off the hook and handed it to me. I smiled my thanks and looped it over my head, then tied the strings behind me as I stood beside Maple at the work station.
"We missed you yesterday." Maple pouted and nudged my shoulder with her own. "I'd give you a hug, but—" She waved her frosting-stained hands at me, a piping bag in one. "Are you mad at me? For sending you out?"
I shook my head and grinned at her. "No. I mean, I missed being here with you guys." I sighed. "But it was probably a good call." I scanned the pile of purple frosting flowers scattered about on wax paper. "These for the wedding cake?"
Maple nodded and Sam blinked his milky baby blues at me. "Doesss that upssset you, Imogen?" His narrow shoulders sagged.
I winked and waved a hand. "Naw. I'm good, but thanks, Sam. That's very kind of you to ask."
He blushed from his collar to his forehead.
Maple leaned close and spoke in my ear. "I needed you yesterday."
I grimaced. "Was it bad?"
She gave a tight nod.
I winced. "Wiley and Wool?"
She nodded emphatically.
I threw my arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "I'll try to help diffuse the tension and keep them from going at each other's throats."
Maple's blue eyes widened. "You don't understand, they're—"
At that moment, Wiley and Wool strode toward us, coming from the direction of the wall of spices and dry ingredients. Wool said something and Wiley threw his head back and laughed, a deep belly laugh. My eyes slid to Maple, then right back to the guys. I swear, I could count all of Wiley's molars. He wiped tears from his eyes, then clapped Wool on the back and kept his arm around his shoulders the rest of the way to our work station.
"Oh man. The snake was in the basket! Ha!" Wiley shook his head. "You're killing me, man."
"You kidding?" Wool nudged Wiley with his elbow and turned to the rest of us bakers gathered around the worktable. "How do you work with this funny man? I'd have tears pouring into my batter. I'd have to constantly remake everything."
Annie gave him a flat look. "We somehow manage."
I shot a sideways glance at Maple. "What is this?"
She shrugged and wrung her hands in her apron, wiping off the frosting with quick, rough motions. "I have no idea."
K'ree giggled. "No one can figure it out. Annie thinks it’s some kind of act. Yann thinks Wiley's snapped and lost it."
I nodded. "Yeah. Could be both."
"Well, better get back to my batter." Wool jerked his curly-haired head toward the Fire Kingdom's station.
"Back to your batter." Wiley grinned and nodded. “I’m going to start saying that
Wool stuck his hand out, then Wiley smirked and did the same.
"Okay. Seriously, what is happening now?"
K'ree grabbed my arm. "This is the best part, they've made up their own handshake."
Iggy's hysterical, cackling laughter sounded from the oven.
My bottom lip quavered as I fought between bursting into laughter and sympathizing with Maple, who watched in wide-eyed horror. The two men slapped their hands back and forth, shook, gripped wrists, pulled each other into a chest bump, and grabbed each other by the back of the neck. They grinned and stared in each other's eyes.
I folded my arms across my chest. "Well, Maple, I think you've officially been kicked out of the love triangle."
Wool turned to go, then stopped and turned back to Maple. He flashed her a stunning white smile, and his dark eyes sparkled. "Before I forget… Maple, I've been meaning to ask you something. Would you like to get dinner with me tonight? There's this amazing bakery I want to show you. I thought we could go for dessert, after."
Her cheeks flushed bright pink. "Oh. Like a work thing? Scope out some baked goods?"
He pressed his full lips together. "I was hoping it'd be a date."
I looked between them… several times. Maple appeared to be frozen. I nudged her shoulder and muttered, "He's waiting for an answer."
Wiley frowned, then plastered on a smile. He clapped Wool on the back. "Of course she wants to go on a date. Right?" He lifted his brows at her. "I mean, look at the guy. Who wouldn't?"
It was true. Wool was tall, dark, and handsome. And he could bake, was mature, and gave Maple his grandma's top-secret recipe. He was a total dreamboat.
Maple swallowed. Her eyes darted to Wiley, then back to Wool. "Uh, sure. Yes. That sounds—" I lifted a brow as she searched for words. "It sounds really amazing."
Wool's smile had dropped slightly, but he nodded and his lips quirked to the side. "Great. I'll come by your room at seven thirty, then?"
Maple nodded.
Wool smiled. "I look forward to it." He turned and moved to the other side of the kitchen to work with the other Fire Kingdom bakers. Sam, K'ree, Annie, and Yann's faces all swung to Maple and she dipped her chin, her eyes glued to her work. Her pale cheeks burned bright red. Wiley kept his eyes down too. After a few moments, everyone gradually returned to what they were doing, but Annie moved past us a moment later and winked at Maple, then K'ree squeezed her arm and squealed, and Yann gave a thumbs-up. Sam tried a double thumbs-up but used his index fingers.
"This is so embarrassing," Maple hissed as I filled up my piping bag to make sugar flowers. We'd then enchant them to bloom and flutter their petals in an imaginary wind.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty awkward. But hey, at least they didn't start a fist fight over you."
"At least." She grinned.
"And you'll have a great time with Wool. He's such a gentleman, and easy to talk to, even for you."
"Hey!" She looked up, indignant. "I just get nervous around him."
I nodded. "A good sign. Just give him a chance."
She sighed. "Thanks, Imogen, I will." Her eyes darted to Wiley, then back down at the purple pansy she formed. "You think… everyone's okay with us going out?"
"Don't worry about everyone. Everyone seems to have a man crush on your date."
Maple lifted her big eyes up at me. "Imogen, I missed you so much yesterday. You always make me feel better."
"Aw, I missed you, too." I sighed. "A lot."
"Really, did you have a tough day, too? What did you do?"
I froze, not sure how much to tell her.
Maple rolled her eyes. "Duh. I'm so sorry, what a dumb question. Of course you had a rough day. Hank's getting married tomorrow."
I let out a little breath of relief. "No, don't be sorry, it's fine." I tilted my head to the side. "But that was only half of it." I lowered my voice and scooched closer. "Amelia took me back out to the camp where we had the feast and I decided, since I was bored and lonely, to investigate Bernhardt Beckham's death. I snuck into his tent."
Maple's jaw dropped and
she looked furtively around. "Imogen. You could get into big trouble." She scoffed. "One day out of the bakery and you're skulking around crime scenes."
I grinned. "You make me sound like a delinquent."
"Well."
My jaw dropped. "Hey!"
She shook her head. "No! I mean, well… what did you find out? Any prime suspects?"
I tried to give her a quick recap, about how at first I'd suspected Madeline L'Orange because I'd seen her and Bernhardt fighting. I explained how I'd traded her a secret for her own secret about Bernhardt blackmailing her with the photos.
Maple clapped her hands to her mouth. She'd forgotten about the frosting on her fingers and left a big blue streak across her cheek. "Oh no. So now this woman knows about you and Hank?"
I shook my head. "No. She just suspects Hank has someone, but she doesn't know who." I frowned. "I just keep hoping that she assumes she interpreted my reaction wrong and doesn't look into it." Wishful thinking, at best.
Maple bit her lip. "Then what?"
I filled her in on following Lilya to the underground (literally) meeting and getting chased out by the police. I left out the part about Horace—all the parts about Horace, actually. I couldn't tell her in the kitchen… and part of me wondered about telling her at all. She only knew Horace as a killer, number-one enemy of the state. She didn't know him like I did.
"So Lilya had an alibi then? She left the feast and got to the meeting and was there till late in the night?"
I nodded. "She could've gone back later to kill him, but…."
"It's pretty far and the way she was talking didn't seem like she was celebrating his death."
I nodded. "That's exactly what I thought."
"So who are you thinking now?" Maple looked around as if the killer might be in the room with us.
"I, uh, I think Urs Volker is likely."
Her blonde brows lifted and I caught K'ree leaning closer, though she kept her eyes down, pretending not to overhear. "Bernhardt's number two in command?"
I nodded. "He's number one now—took the position of warden when Bernhardt died. So he has a strong motive. And he's the one who cast all the security spells that conveniently had no effect on Bernhardt or him."
"Who's to say he cast security spells at all?" Maple shook her head and formed another blue petal. "He had Bernhardt's trust, he could've come in whenever he wanted to, to kill him."
I nodded. "And he was killed by a choke hold, a signature move from their style of hand-to-hand combat. It was someone they'd trained."
Maple's jaw dropped. "Or the trainer himself."
I grinned. She was getting really into this.
"How'd you find this out?" K'ree's eyes widened. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear."
"Even I couldn't help but overhear," Iggy called from the oven. "We're all like two feet away from each other."
Annie grinned and nodded at the other end of the table. Fair enough.
"Yeah, though." Maple blinked. "How did you find that out? You're becoming quite the detective."
I visualized flying through the air dodging bats and working with Horace on my magic. "Uh…I overheard it."
Once everyone had returned to their work, I dropped my voice to the quietest whisper I could and felt sure that no one else could hear me. "Maple. I'm starting to suspect someone else though."
She lifted her brows in question.
"Shaday, or really, Shaday and Elke."
Maple gasped. "No. I thought you liked Shaday?"
I nodded. "I do, a lot actually. But I accidentally saw her and Elke together in a storage room yesterday." I filled her in on the dancing and everything since. "Shaday's strong and Elke is trained in Bernhardt's style of fighting. She looked miserable the other night at the feast. Maybe Bernhardt was going to make her go back home to the Air Kingdom with him or something. Shaday and Elke are really close, even Madeline commented on it. Or maybe they just had a bad father-daughter relationship. From what I've seen, Bernhardt wasn't above blackmailing a woman he had a relationship with—doesn't seem like a great guy."
"Huh." Maple's brow wrinkled as she thought it over. "But really, Shaday? She's so tranquil and elegant."
"I know." I shook my head. "But you should've seen her move. I've never seen anything like it. She's hiding a lot."
"What are you going to do?" A wax paper square turned magically while Maple piped a flower on top of it.
"While I was doing her henna earlier, she mentioned seeing Elke tonight. I think they're going to be back in that storage room. I'm going to watch them from behind the hidden screen and see if they admit to killing him to each other."
Maple blinked and blew out a breath. "Wow. I mean, if it's true, Elke would have killed her own father in cold blood, and Shaday would have helped—a princess. This is a big deal, Imogen."
I nodded and my stomach twisted with nerves. It would have huge implications, and not just for Shaday and Elke, but for me, too. If Shaday was a killer and I exposed her, the wedding would be off, and Hank and I might have a chance to be together. I had to get this right.
"I'm coming with you." Maple nodded. "When should we go?"
I grinned. "No, you're not. You've got a date, remember?"
Her face fell. "Oh. Yeah."
"Try not to act too excited."
"I am excited. It's just…." She whimpered. "I'm afraid I'll do something dumb. He's just so…perfect."
Wiley muttered something and I turned, but he didn't look up. It'd sounded like he'd said, "You are, too."
14
Shaday and Elke
After I helped Maple curl her hair into loose waves and I put the last pat of powder on her nose, she left on her date with Wool. She'd had to spell her armpits dry twice before she answered the door. The girl was a bundle of nerves.
Annie leaned over on the bed to catch sight of Wool as the door swung shut. "If I were thirty years younger…."
I helped Iggy climb into a black lantern and waved goodbye to K'ree and Annie. "We're off for an evening stroll."
Annie looked up from the book she sat reading in bed. "We overheard you earlier. Good luck spying on Shaday."
I planted a hand on my hip. "There are no secrets around here, are there?"
K'ree shook her head. "I'd come with, but I want to hear all about Maple's date when she gets back."
I grinned. "We'll hopefully be back by then."
She nodded. "If you don't get arrested."
"Quite the votes of confidence." I shook my head.
K'ree and Annie muttered their goodbyes without looking up. Once the door had shut behind me, I held Iggy up and looked left, then right. Flames sprung to life in lanterns and wall sconces up and down the hallway as dusk deepened into night.
"Right. Where to, then?" Iggy rubbed his little flame hands together.
"That's a good question…."
Thirty minutes later we were still wandering the palace, hopelessly lost. I came to the end of a hallway.
"Now, this looks familiar."
"Erk!" Iggy shrieked. "Of course it does. We passed through here five minutes ago."
"We did?" I frowned as I stared at the vase that sat in the alcove up ahead. "I mean, yeah, we did."
Iggy narrowed his eyes at me. "You don't remember. Which way do we go then?"
"Uh." I stepped to the right.
"Nope! We just went right and it led us in a big circle right back here." He sighed. "If we get lost for days and starve, I will eat you."
"Wow." I headed left. "I can tell you really missed me yesterday."
"You're the one who left me behind."
I lifted my brows. "Would you have wanted to come with me? I mean, I did get banished from the bakery. Not like I left you behind to go on vacation."
"Imogen, you know how I feel. I'm a baking fire, it's what I do, but I don't really fit in with the other flames anymore." He sighed. "I've seen the world and it's changed me."
I bit my lip to hold in my chuc
kle. "Well, I'll keep that in mind next time I'm banished."
We passed an enormous potted fern and I hesitated. Now that looked familiar… but was it just because I'd already passed by it earlier tonight?
"Tell me everything you saw. I've been stuck in an oven while you were gallivanting about Calloon."
"Er…." I hesitated. I still hadn't told him or Maple or anyone about seeing Horace—not once, but twice yesterday. I was saved from having to answer when I pulled up short in front of an enormous hanging rug. "This is it!" I grinned at Iggy. "I found it."
He gave me flat look and slow clapped.
"Okay, shush." I held a finger to my lips. I shuttered his lamp so that only a sliver of his light peeked out. Then I lifted a side of the heavy rug and ducked into the dark room behind it. It took a few moments and a lot of blinking for my eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did I spotted Shaday and Elke on the other side of the carved wooden screen. I grinned. I'd been right that they were practicing tonight.
Several lit candles sat atop tables and bookshelves draped in tarps, and a large lantern burned beside Elke's feet. She stood, stopwatch in one hand and a notebook in her other, and watched Shaday dance. The princess leapt across the long room, a burning veil between her hands. She twirled and spun the veil around her waist, then overheard, then low again. The curtain of flame burned bright spots into my eyes, so that even when I blinked I saw an afterimage of it. Shaday twirled the roaring veil to one arm and held it like a matador. She marched the length of the room, the fire lighting up her dark eyes with a red glow. She did one final spin, threw the veil into the air, then let it float to the ground, where it lay smoldering.
Elke's stopwatch beeped. "That was good. Really good." She jotted down some notes in her book.
Shaday stalked over to her.
"I think those improvements I made to the fabric really—"
Shaday stopped in front of her, quite close and interrupted her. "You're a cracking genius." Shaday took Elke's face in her hands and roughly kissed her.