She frowns, so I add, “A lot of witches here do, though, so you wouldn’t be alone.”
She puts on the fluffy white robe I hand her, then plops down onto my bed. “Are you happy here?” she asks me.
I think about that. “Yes, mostly. I hated it at first - I had to leave everything behind - my apartment, my career, you. But now I can say that I’m happy. I have a great job, a gorgeous house. New friends, too.”
“And a hunk of hotness for a boyfriend, too,” she says. “No matter what you say, I saw how you looked at him.”
My face goes red. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“And just how is true lust complicated?”
I don’t know how to answer that, so I’m grateful when I hear the front door open and close downstairs. “Angelo is home,” I say. “Let’s go see what he found out.”
She purses her lips, but doesn’t push the issue. Instead, she gets up and follows me downstairs.
Angelo is by the fire, warming his hands, but he’s not alone. I groan, and Jones grins at me for half a millisecond before he spots Tawny and his eyes light up. “Well, hello,” he purrs at her.
I roll my eyes so hard that I get a slight headache.
“Meet our resident playboy,” I say to Tawny, gesturing in his direction.
She grins, but she doesn’t take her eyes off him, either.
Angelo looks back and forth between the two with a grin of his own, then his gaze travels to me. He’s beaming with amusement. I bite my lip.
“Tawny is visiting,” I say, turning to Jones, “But I still don’t know how she got here. Do you?”
“Angelo was just telling me,” he says with a shrug, “But I don’t have a clue. Maybe, I should take Tawny into the other room and interrogate her thoroughly.”
Tawny giggles. I groan. Angelo laughs out loud. I say, “Jones, be serious. This is important.”
Tawny pipes up. “What if I told you where the portal is? Would that help?”
We all look at her, and I want to slap my forehead for not thinking of it. Tawny’s appearance here - in the one place I’d never expected to see here - has really screwed up my thinking.
“That’s be great,” Angelo says.
She goes and sits down on the hearth, near the fire. Pulling the robe around her more tightly and looking directly at Angelo, she says, “It was almost like a cave, except that there was a garage or something attached to it. You know - lots of tools and bottles and other stuff. It was all jumbled, and I was too excited to pay much attention. Anyway, when we came through, we always had to drink this nasty stuff that made me all fuzzy-headed, and when my head cleared we were always in the cave space. Guthrie led us through the -.”
“Wait.” Angelo holds up a hand. “Guthrie was your, uh, guide?”
She nods. “Yeah, until this last time. Anyway, he always led us through the garage or whatever to another door, and that door led us out onto a path in the woods. Then we’d follow the path to where you found us.” She looked at me, as if for confirmation. “It didn’t take very long. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes?”
I looked at Angelo for any sign that he recognized the places she mentioned, and was surprised to see him looking back at me with the same questions in his eyes. “Does any of this sound familiar?” I ask.
When Tawny described the garage area, my mind immediately went to Guthrie’s workshop, but for all I know there could be a bunch of places in Jagged Grove just like that. Besides, Guthrie’s workshop doesn’t have another door, as far as I can remember.
Angelo comes over to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. Annoyed at the way my body instantly flushes hot, I suppress it and force my mind to concentrate.
“Rain’s iPod,” I say, “Was in Guthrie’s workshop. Do you think...?”
“Considering the circumstances, I do. Could you and Tawny walk out to the trail that leads to the Colony? Maybe she’ll recognize something.”
I nod, then check if that’s OK with Tawny. She’s still smiling coyly at Jones, who says, “I think you should give the poor woman a little while to at least get warm. It’s freezing outside, and her clothes are still wet.”
Tawny nods absently. “I don’t want to go anywhere just yet.” To Jones she says, “Are you a witch, too?”
“Jones likes to play with the magic, but he’s a werewolf,” I answer for him. It doesn’t bother me - much - that she’s flirting so openly with Jones, except for the fact that he’s such a heartbreaker. Thankfully, the Tawny I remember is savvy enough that she’ll see through him...eventually.
I’m not that surprised when she steps closer. “Really? That’s so exciting,” she breathes. “Can you tell me more about it?”
“I’ll just...leave...you two, uh, to get acquainted, I guess,” I say, even though I might as well be talking to myself. I tug on Angelo’s hand so that he’ll follow me into the kitchen.
He looks amused, and crosses his arms to lean against the countertop. “Well, they hit it off, didn’t they?” he asks, grinning.
“I’m somehow not surprised,” I mutter, and he shoots me a sharp look.
“Are you jealous?” he asks.
I check his expression for teasing, but he’s completely serious. “No! I’m a little bit...concerned, I guess.”
“Why? Jones is a flirt, but Tawny doesn’t strike me as a poor helpless damsel, either.”
I shake my head. “She isn’t, and otherwise I’d think it was funny, too. But she can’t stay here, Angelo, and if Jones gets his claws into her, she’ll know more about this island than is good for her.”
He blinks at me, not understanding.
“Can you imagine her going home and ranting about the cool place she visited, a new dimension inhabited by magical beings and protected by the United States government?”
“Oh.”
“Exactly - they’ll either lock her up or start checking out her story, and that could easily lead to people finding out about this place. A media circus, and that’s just for starters.” I’m pacing now. “I know you do a good job of keeping this place under wraps, but as sweet as Tawny is, she won’t understand the consequences.”
“But she’s just one person...”
“No she isn’t. Penley is involved. So is Rain, somehow. And who knows who else? They’re kids, basically. This is a game to them, and I could see them having a lot of fun bringing people here. People who have no understanding of what this place is.”
He’s nodding, but it still doesn’t feel like he’s taking me seriously. “I mean it, Angelo. How long before Penley sells access to somebody who believes that people like us need to be eradicated for the greater good?”
He frowns at me. “OK, isn’t that a little bit paranoid?”
“Yes...until it happens.” I sigh. “I just don’t think it’s a great idea to treat Tawny’s arrival here so casually. And I don’t trust her boyfriend at all.”
“What was his name? Carl?”
I nod.
“OK.” He rubs the back of his neck, something he does a lot when he’s trying to think. “I’ll go find Carl, first, and then keep trying to locate Penley. You and Tawny try to find the portal. Take Jones along, just in case.”
I stop pacing and look up at him. “In case what?”
“I don’t know, Trinket.” He puts his hands on my shoulders. “But Guthrie is dead, remember? And I’m starting to piece together why that might be so. I just want you to be careful.”
I hesitate, then ask, “Care to share?”
“Penley. If Guthrie was playing tour guide - for a price - then it’s entirely possible that Penley wanted to take over their little enterprise.”
“Really? You think?” My heartbeat picks up. I know that Penley has a pretty bad reputation around here, but would he kill someone? Until this moment, I’d really just thought of him as a bad kid - not a murderer. “That makes me even more scared for Rain.”
“I just hope she’s all right, and I hope she isn’t involved.”
“In
volved?” How could he think that? “Rain didn’t kill anyone, Angelo.”
He doesn’t answer, except to offer a small smile as he leaves the room.
I stare after him for a moment. Rain couldn’t kill someone. She’s just a kid, and a good kid. She’s learning to practice the healing arts, for crying out loud - taking a life would go directly against the person I’ve come to know and love.
I know, with every fiber of my being, that Rain had nothing to do with Guthrie’s death. Penley, on the other hand, could easily be the bad guy here.
And he’s the only person who knows where Rain might be.
Chapter 14
The afternoon has gotten warmer, but not much. The snow is starting to drip from the trees, making everything seem soggy. On the plus side, we’ve stomped down enough of the snow that the trail isn’t hard to walk anymore. When we get there, Jones and Tawny lag behind a little, talking. I can’t make out their words, but Tawny’s giggles worry me.
What if she decides that she wants to stay here? Could that happen? If so, what does it mean for the future of Jagged Grove?
I hadn’t realized how much I’ve come to enjoy the safety we have here, or the amount of freedom we have to practice our magic unharmed.
Even worse, Rain was born here - she knows nothing about the dangers of the outside world, or how vicious people can be when confronted. She’s probably never even heard of the Salem witch trials.
I try to imagine something like that happening here, but I can’t. The fear, the danger, the way emotions run high and tear communities apart - Jagged Grove would be destroyed in no time. And then what? Would we all go back to the mainland and try to fit into our old lives? I shudder, thinking about it.
And realize why I hate that thought so much.
I would never see my new friends again. Imala, Jones, Flux.
Angelo.
The thought hurts so bad that I suck in a quiet breath.
Angelo and I have plenty of differences, but we also make a good team. The very best, in fact - mutual respect, gentle teasing, and loyalty to our relationship. When something needs done, we do it, usually together. Even when we bicker, there is affection underneath.
What does that say about my plan to break our bond?
I push the thoughts away and focus on the path ahead. Calling over my shoulder, I ask Tawny if anything looks familiar. She jogs to catch up.
“Sorry - what?” she asks. Her cheeks are pink.
“Does any of this look familiar?” I ask.
She looks around, shaking her head a little. “Not really...”
“Are you sure?” We’re walking more slowly, giving her the opportunity to really think about it.
“Don’t push her, Trinket.”
I turn. Jones is right behind us. “This is sort of important.” I pause, irritated with him. “Why are you even here?”
“I have no idea.” He grins, and his eyes follow Tawny on down the path. She’s moved ahead of us.
“She can’t stay here, and you can’t leave,” I remind him.
He doesn’t answer. He just grins harder.
“I think this is it!” Tawny calls. I walk ahead of Jones to meet her. We’re standing at the oddly-shaped outcropping of rocks that I use as a landmark. “Are you sure? It’s just a rock?”
She nods, then takes my hand and pulls me off the path and up the small incline to the rock face. “Bend down a little,” she says.
I do. At first I see nothing - the rock is about as tall as me, partly covered from above by a bushy tree of some sort. Its branches flow over the edge, covering even more of the stone’s face.
I look closer, but I don’t see anything until Jones comes up beside us and pulls back some of the leaves.
“Oh.” I stare at the small opening, wondering how I’d missed it before.
It’s barely tall enough for someone Jones’s size to fit through if they hunched over, but Tawny or I could fit through it easily. Rain, too, because she is slimmer and shorter than me. I glance at Jones. “How did I miss this?”
He shrugs. “Apparently I did, too.” Looking closer, he rubs a thumb along the edge of the opening. “Someone has built this - and not too long ago.”
“How can you tell?” I ask.
“See?” He points to the sharp edge of stone. “This isn’t worn down by exposure at all, and it’s a different color, so it’s only been here...what? A few weeks?”
I shrug, still staring at the rock. I see what he means, but I’ll have to take his word for it. Tawny seems completely confused.
“So,” I say to her, “Guthrie - and Penley - led you guys through this, down the path, to the Colony?”
“Sort of. We didn’t actually appear in this place from inside there.” She points. “We were more...” She climbs a little, and I see that the base of the stone is a little flatter than I’d thought. “Here,” she says, making a box with her hands pointed toward the ground. “We just sort of stepped through, from dark to light. It was easy.”
“Oh,” I say.
“It wasn’t like we walked through a tunnel. We just...took a step.” Her gaze meets mine, and I can see that she’s trying hard to explain.
“And then he took you directly to the mansion?”
She nods. “Yes. I asked a couple of times if we could look around, but he never let us. He said it was dangerous.” Her eyes shifted to Jones. “Werewolves, I guess.”
Jones grinned. “I’m dangerous, babe, but not because I’m a wolf.”
I roll my eyes. “Please pay no attention to him. He’s a moron.”
“Hey - I am not.”
I smile at Tawny. “OK, he’s not. He’s just...” I wave a hand and let the sentence trail off.
“Insufferable? Crazy? Frustrating?” Jones pokes my arm as he teases. “Gorgeous? Unbearable? Fascinating?”
“Shut up,” I say, laughing.
“Virile? Dazzling? Unforgettable?”
“Jones, stop.”
He leans close and wiggles his eyebrows. “Am I fabulous and irresistible, Trinket?”
Tawny laughs, watching us. I smack his arm. “Only when you aren’t being an idiot.”
We start walking back toward town, and Jones goes on ahead, saying that he had something to do. We watch him go, them Tawny turns to me, her red hair fiery in the late sun. “What’s his story?” she asks.
“Jones? He’s the resident bad boy. You know - too cute for his own good? Honestly, we spoil him around here, if you want to know the truth.”
She smiles. “I can see why.”
“You really can’t. He’s a player, really. He’s dated every single woman on the island, I think. Almost, anyway.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Shoot. Are you sure?”
I nod. “Except maybe Imala, and I say maybe because she was at his house a few mornings ago.”
“What about you? Did he date you, Trinket?” The mischief in her eyes is so funny, and so Tawny, that I have to laugh.
“I’m guilty, too, more or less.” We step out into the little park and turn toward town, but I can see her casting curious glances in the direction of the docks behind us. I would offer to take her there, but I’m not sure what Angelo would say about that.
“More or less?” Her gaze comes back to me.
“We came close, but then...uh...some things happened, and well...” I sigh. “Let’s just say it all worked out for the best.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“I was bound to Angelo. It’s like getting married.”
She stops walking and stares at me. “You’re married to the ASS man?”
“I told you before - it’s complicated.”
“Married is not complicated. Married is simple, either you are or you aren’t.”
“We were bound by a spell in order to combine and strengthen our power against a very bad man.”
“So...married, then.” Her expression is daring me to contradict her, but I can’t. Not really.
“Like I said, it’s a difficult situation to explain.”
“I think you’re lucky.”
That stops me. We’re near the Crystal Cup, but I stop in the street. “Lucky?”
She nods. “Oh, yeah. Hottie husband. Fantastic place to live. Super powers, for crying out loud. How does this add up to anything but the most perfect, coolest life ever?”
I want to argue with her, but when she puts it like that it’s kind of impossible. “Mom still gets on my nerves,” I say lamely.
She laughs. “Poor baby.”
“Stop it. I was kidnapped, basically, and brought to a strange world.”
She looks at me, sighs, and shakes her head. “Lucky.”
I lead her around the corner to the front door of the restaurant, then catch sight of Hex Squared, just a little farther on. “Can we make another stop before we eat?” I ask her.
She nods. I can tell she’s curious, but content to follow along with whatever I’m doing.
Hex Squared looks even older and more abandoned than the last time I saw it. A quiet, almost depressing atmosphere envelops the place, and the crime scene tape fluttering halfheartedly along the perimeter only adds to that. I step over it, but Tawny hesitates.
“Are we going to get into trouble?” she asks.
I shake my head and motion for her to follow me. “Nope. I’m married to the guy in charge, remember?”
Her eyes twinkle. “Oh, yeah... How’s that going, anyway?”
I don’t know how to answer. How is it going? I just shrug and say, “It obviously has its perks. Come on.”
The front door is locked when I turn the knob, but since the glass is broken I just gingerly stick my hand through and unlock it, then step inside. Tawny follows, and looks around while I close it behind us.
The place looks like it’s been ransacked. The candles and other odds and ends on the shelves are haphazard, like they’ve been shoved aside in a hurry, and now there is even more stuff on the floor than when I was here before. The stale odor is worse, too. “Sheesh,” I mutter.
“I know.” Tawny goes to a pile of half-hearted looking poppets and picks one up. “Is this a voodoo doll” she asks.
I nod. She drops it and stares at the pile. Then, walking farther down one aisle, she picks up a red candle shaped like two lovers embracing.
Addicted Witch: A Jagged Grove Mystery Page 10