When I rounded the corner and Bluff House came into view, I stopped dead. Lights sparkled all around, including a canopy of fairy lights. Under the canopy was a table for two covered in a white linen cloth. On the table was a set of candles.
The table was tucked into a corner, out of the way of the wind. Given that it was a cold night, there was a fire bubbling and crackling next to the table. Whoever sat there would be warm.
I started forward into this strange scene. Just as I was reaching the front of the cottage, the door swung open to reveal Grant.
I stopped again. Mostly when I saw Grant he was in uniform; I almost never saw him dressed casually. Tonight was a rare exception.
He was wearing dark jeans with a white shirt tucked into them. His collar was open. He had a day’s worth of stubble that made his jaw stand out more than it usually did. His black hair was perfectly tousled and his blue eyes blazed, reflecting the lights he’d set up all around. My new job was still in the forefront of my mind, but that didn’t stop me from noticing all over again how good-looking Grant was.
I found myself smiling at him like a fool. He smiled back. It might just have been my imagination, but I thought he looked slightly nervous.
“Hi there. I see you got my message,” he said.
I frowned. “Lark and Pep wanted me to tell you something about the case.”
Grant chuckled. He was definitely nervous, which made two of us. “I told them to tell you I needed help with something. I guess they thought it was a dumb reason for you to come down, so they made up something else. In any event, I don’t want to hear anything about the case tonight. That’s not what tonight is about.”
“Don’t you have investigating to do?” I asked. I was incredulous. This couldn’t actually be happening. But a nicely set dinner table said it was.
“I worked a long day today. That’s enough. The investigation can wait until tomorrow. I don’t think anyone is in imminent danger of getting murdered,” he said.
“Except for Cookie,” I pointed out.
“Isn’t she always in imminent danger of getting murdered?” he asked.
He had a point.
“Have a seat,” he said. “Let’s enjoy a meal together.” He led me to the table and pulled out the chair.
I sat down and was delighted to see a charcuterie plate ready to be sampled.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” I asked him.
“No, I’ve got it. I’ll be right back,” he said with a smile.
I picked up my napkin, put it in my lap, and smoothed it until there were no wrinkles. Then I folded it. Then I looked at the charcuterie board and tried to pick three cheeses. Then I straightened my knife. Then I thought about the wind coming off the ocean. It still wasn’t cold, and the fire next to me was warm and gurgling. Next time I saw Lark and Pep I was going to throttle them. That thought gave me comfort.
I took a bite of cheese and bread. Unlike Audrey’s sometimes weird pairings, this cheese was amazing.
The cottage door opened again and Grant appeared, bending over a cart. There was no path for the cart across the lawn, so I started to get up to help him. He waved to me to sit down again. As he moved toward me, a pathway appeared.
The chair was surprisingly comfortable. I had never been so nervous in my life. This little corner was completely secluded, yet you could see the ocean stretching for miles. That calmed me down a bit. The water and the sky disappeared down a long road, side by side.
“This is amazing. I had no idea,” I said. I knew my cheeks were bright red. I told myself it was the fire. I hoped Grant was telling himself the same thing.
Grant’s tray filled with food had fancy silver covers over platters.
“Do you cook?” I asked, forgetting that I had cheese in my mouth.
My words came out as something of a mumble, and I blushed.
Grant smiled. “I don’t cook much, but that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I got home from work today. Instead of taking you out somewhere, I wanted to do something personal. Besides, I couldn’t find a restaurant near here that served my favorite dish.”
He pulled away the cover of the biggest tray to reveal pasta covered in cheese. I gasped in delight and looked at him with a grin.
“I’ll take some of that,” I said.
“I’m getting the idea that you like cheese,” he said.
Without further ado, he filled my plate with steaming pasta with cheese and broccoli. He uncovered another dish to reveal a salad. He was about to sit down when he snapped his fingers and said, “I forgot the drinks.”
He disappeared back into the house. When he returned he had bubbly apple cider.
“I don’t drink. I work too much to ever risk not being in top form if I’m called. I thought this was a good substitute for our first date,” he explained, finally sitting down.
“Perfect,” I said.
Instead of getting calmer the longer I’d been sitting there, I was getting less, probably because we were now actually going to talk and spend time together. At least, I was pretty sure that’s what this date was for. With the stunning view and the delicious food, I couldn’t really be sure anymore. After a while my doubts just melted away with the food and the loveliness of the night.
We dug in. For a few minutes we just tasted the food. Then Grant said, “How is it? What do you think of the cheese to broccoli to pasta ratio?”
I smiled. “Delicious.”
“Sorry if I’m being picky,” he expelled a breath. “I’m so nervous.”
For a guy to admit his feelings was big. It was so rare, in fact, that I didn’t really believe him.
“Haven’t you faced monsters? Powerful warlocks? Criminals of all kinds?” I asked.
He nodded. “Dangerous characters I can handle. A date is an entirely different story.”
Most people appreciated talking about themselves. I knew that. But Grant proceeded to ask me all the right questions. We talked about what it was like to grow up here. We talked about how close I was with my family. I told him stories of when I’d lived in New York. A witch in the city was a strange thing. I wasn’t required to find other witches, and I hadn’t tried. I had very much preferred to just exist quietly. I’d had a couple of friends move there after college, and between them and the coworkers I picked up at various jobs, I had made something like a social life.
It was very late in the evening when Grant finally escorted me back to the mansion. I couldn’t even remember what I’d gone out there to tell him.
As we walked up to the house, I saw a shadow move across the window upstairs.
“Thanks for walking me home,” I said, turning to face him as we reached the back door.
I held the flowers he’d given me in my hands. I’d have to find a vase in the attic. Maybe I could enchant one.
“Of course. It’s a dangerous world out here. I had to make sure you were safe,” he said.
“There was something I was supposed to tell you about the case. I don’t remember what it was,” I fretted.
I could barely remember who had been murdered, I was so preoccupied with Grant. Really, what kind of an investigator was I?
“I said no work tonight. The case will keep until tomorrow. If you remember you can tell me then. It’s just as likely that Lark and Pep made it up,” he said.
“Those liars,” I chuckled.
We said goodnight one more time, then Grant stepped forward. My breath caught. He was going to kiss me again.
Then I heard footsteps and the rasp of the heavy old door scraping open. Grant didn’t step back, but the moment when he could have kissed me was definitely past.
Cookie appeared in the doorway, looking as formidable as usual. She gave Grant a curt nod. “Surprised to find you two here,” she commented. “Beautiful night.”
“Are you really surprised?” I asked her.
“No, I was spying on you from the upstairs window,” she said.
“Good thing you picked a
spot at your place that couldn’t be seen from the mansion,” I told Grant.
“I did it intentionally,” he said.
“Go on! Go away. You two have had a long enough first date,” Cookie said to Grant with a glare.
Grant only grinned at her. This annoyed Cookie all the more.
“You’re totally head over heels, aren’t you? Perfect.”
Grant’s smile got wider as he said goodnight and turned around to stroll away.
I followed my grandmother into the foyer. Lark and Pep were waiting on the steps. I should have known that was who I’d seen in the window.
“Spying on me?” I asked.
“Just waiting for you to come home,” said Pep with a grin. “How was your date?”
“Awesome. I’m going to bed,” I said.
“Fine, but we want details tomorrow. You are surprisingly not mad about the fact that we didn’t tell you he wanted to go on a date,” Lark commented.
“Oh, I’m mad. I would have worn a different outfit,” I scoffed.
“It isn’t about your outfit,” Cookie broke in. “It’s about being comfortable. When a young man sees that you’re comfortable, it’s very attractive. You dressed in something you felt good in tonight. You looked confident. That’s what’s important. Besides, when you try to dress up more you just look like a turkey on Thanksgiving.”
“Goodnight,” I said and left the three of them to gossip.
Chapter Twenty-Two
In the middle of the night I woke up in a cold sweat. Rose yowled in irritation when my sudden movement dislodged her. Then she felt it too.
Something was off.
The attic was completely dark. I shook myself awake and made enchanted fairy lights appear near my head, creating a warm glow around my bed.
“Did you hear something?” I asked the cat.
“No, but something is wrong. Something smells off,” she said.
“Maybe the new ghosts are confused and wandering around,” I said.
A new group of ghosts had come in, and the guys had been busy getting them settled all day. I hadn’t taken much notice because I’d been so busy with my research, and then I’d disappeared for the evening.
But the arrival of new ghosts had in fact been a bit surprising, since not many had wanted to come lately. The hunters were so happy at having some luck for once that they hadn’t questioned it. Even the ghosts already on the property were pleased.
We had set the new arrivals up in the stable with the other ghosts. Maybe they had started to wander, and that’s what I was sensing. I threw off the covers, raced to the window, and peered out. I didn’t see anything unusual.
Rose had already moved toward the door. “Looking out the window isn’t going to help. We have to make sure the estate is safe. Right now,” she said urgently.
She had a point.
I stuck my feet in my slippers and raced to the door. We tiptoed downstairs as quietly as possible so as not to wake the family, and also so that I would hear everything going on around me. If someone was walking around the mansion, I wanted to know. Of course, if it was a ghost, there would be no noise.
The haunted house was spooky at all times. The same could be said for the rest of the mansion in the middle of the night. My mom usually left a couple of fireplaces blazing, and sometimes there were sconces with guttering flames. But those just served to make strange crackling noises and cast long shadows. Neither effect was comforting. It was very easy to imagine an assassin slipping along the corridor in my shadow, and my not hearing a thing.
“Where are we going?” Rose asked.
“I want to make sure all the doors are locked. Then I want to check on Cookie,” I said.
“Don’t you think we should check on Cookie first?” Rose asked.
“I think if there was someone attacking Cookie, we would hear something. The mansion falling down would also be a clue,” I said. “I had a strange feeling that someone was breaking into the mansion. I just want to check.”
I slipped downstairs, trying to ignore the cold draft rushing over my feet. I checked the front door first and found nothing amiss. Then I went to the kitchen. Both doors were locked and there was no sign of a break-in.
I still felt that draft, though.
There was only one other way in or out of the mansion that wasn’t a window.
I crept into the mailroom, but that door was also locked, the many bolts Mom had applied firmly in place. But the draft was worse in the mailroom, so with a puzzled frown I went to the next room over, a little-used sitting room.
Now I knew where the draft was coming from.
One of the sitting rooms windows was open. The white curtain blew gently in the breeze.
I swallowed hard. Someone had just snuck into the mansion.
“That’s not good,” said Rose.
“We have to get to Cookie. Now,” I said.
I turned on my heel and ran headlong into somebody. The two of us grappled for a split second, then tumbled to the floor.
Fear spilled through me as I was momentarily disoriented. I should have been more careful.
“Ouch. What did you do that for?” Lark’s voice asked.
Instantly I let go of my cousin. From my position on the floor I could see a pair of slippered feet standing next to me. “Hi, Pep,” I said lamely.
“What are you in such a rush for? Why did you open that window? Could you close it now?” Pep asked her questions rapid-fire without giving me a chance to reply.
Shadows fell across both my cousins’ faces when I told them the situation. “I didn’t open that window. Someone else did.”
No one needed to say where we were going next. As we ran, I wondered if anyone else in my family had had the bad feeling. But we saw no one on the way to Cookie’s apartment.
“What woke you up?” I asked as we ran.
“I thought I heard someone on the stairs. We went up to the attic and saw that you weren’t there. I was terrified,” said Lark.
We reached the second floor and made for Cookie’s wing, taking the stone steps up to Cookies apartment two at a time. Even before we reached the top of the stairs I heard swearing. Cookie was grappling with something.
“Grandma,” I yelled.
There was just more swearing.
We crowded through the doorway to Cookie’s apartment, which was wide open, and found her grappling with a ghost in the middle of her small living room. The swearing was one of a number of special enchantments she had created to lay booby-traps for anyone who tried to sneak into her apartment. Another had covered the ghost with red dye.
The red-dyed supernatural was very large, probably three times the size of Cookie. The paint only covered some of his shoulder.
He turned to glare at us as we came in.
“Get away from my grandmother,” I yelled.
I tried to put an enchantment behind my words, but the ghost merely batted it away. Ghosts could make themselves more or less visible at their convenience, most of all when it was raining. This ghost tried to make itself really invisible, invisibility being one of the most dangerous tricks they could use.
“Red is not your color,” said Pep. She snapped her fingers and some of the red on the ghost started to spark. She was trying to set it on fire, but the sparks merely fizzled and went out.
I swallowed. This was getting nasty.
In the split second while Pep’s sparks distracted the ghost, Cookie spun around and grabbed a book. It sparkled in her hand, then turned into a teal-colored enchantment.
With both hands she swung the book at the ghost’s head like a baseball bat being swung at a ball.
The ghost staggered and shook itself, momentarily caught off guard by the suddenness of Cookie’s movement.
Lark closed in, lifting her hand and glaring at the ghost. He was outnumbered now and he knew it, so he tried to flee back the way he had come: down the steep steps.
I wasn’t prepared for the speed with which this lat
est assassin came barreling into me. As he flew past he scraped against my arm, smearing it with red paint.
“After him!” Cookie cried. She looked more alive than I’d seen her in weeks. Having driven an attacker away, most grandmothers would have wanted to sit down, take a breath, and have a nice cup of tea.
Not Cookie.
I hurried after the ghost, who was shooting down the stone steps. Lark and Pep pounded along behind me.
The ghost was faster than I was, so I was barely able to keep him in view. To make up for it I started yelling.
“Kip!! Corey!! Caaaam!” I yelled as loudly as I could. If the guys heard me, I knew they could chase him down.
The ghost had a good head start, and for a while there was no sign of anyone else coming to help. It reached the foyer, heading for the front door, while I was still at the top of the stairs.
Then my brother appeared next to me. Bleary-eyed, he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and his hair was tousled. For a moment he didn’t understand what was going on, so I pointed at the ghost. “You have to catch it,” I told him.
About most things he would have argued with me and asked for an explanation. Something must have told him that this was too serious for that, that he couldn’t waste a moment.
Without a word he dashed after the ghost, almost flying down the stairs. Given that his legs were about twice as long as mine, I wasn’t surprised. The ghost reached the door and managed to open it while I was still making my way down the stairs, slowing down to catch my breath since I hoped Cam would catch the ghost before it escaped.
When I heard more footsteps behind me, all I could feel was relief. I didn’t have to turn around to see that it was Corey and Kip. Then they flew past me as well.
By the time I reached the front door, all three of them had dashed outside. The ghost had been trying to make itself invisible again, but couldn’t get rid of the red paint. The guys had sent red flares into the sky that were now zooming around and dancing, creating bright sparks of light and shadow.
Spooky Spider Page 16