by Nova Nelson
Not even Liberty was immune to the humor, and the genie was doubled over and could hardly call it when time ran out.
Tanner, still behind me with his arms around my waist, pressed his face into the crook of my shoulder as he howled his laughter.
Even Donovan and Landon couldn’t fight it, and their general vibes of paranoia were taking a smoke break somewhere.
Eva looked about as astonished as I felt. Maybe she was coming to the same conclusion that I was: whoever came up with the Blind Draw on Halloween was a genius.
Not only did it bring together the living and the dead, but it brought together factions of the living who had, as of late, not wanted to be within spitting distance of each other.
I wasn’t sure that I believed in miracles (although, why not since I was surrounded by unbelievable things daily?), but if I did, this moment qualified.
Though I supposed there was always some miraculous quality to laughter.
Once Ansel had removed his blindfold and glimpsed his masterpiece, he also joined in on the joke. Jane stepped forward from the crowd, and he put a large arm around her shoulder as she pointed out the most ridiculous parts of his drawing until he was wiping tears from his eyes.
Count Malavic appeared next to Liberty wearing an uncharacteristically genuine smile that made the vampire almost likable. If only he looked like that all the time, I might find myself able to stand him after a while.
For a brief and shameful moment, I thought, Yeah, I could see why Bloom and Ruby went for him. Then, with a strong, sobering shudder, I shook it from my head and indulged in the last bite of my sausage.
The judges, who were comprised of Count Malavic, Kelley Sullivan, and oddly enough, Echo Chambers, each inspected the drawings, though what qualities they were looking for was beyond me. None of the final products resembled anything like the ghosts they were supposed to depict.
“I wonder who’s in the next heat?” Tanner asked as the crowd collected itself before round two.
“I’m not until the sixth heat,” Landon said.
I whipped my head around to look at him. “You’re competing?”
He bounced his shoulders. “Of course. Might as well.”
“Yeah, good point.” This event seemed to be the best part of the entire faire.
The anxiety levels began to rise around me—I could practically feel it on my skin and taste it in the air.
Before they could become too stifling, Liberty announced that the scores were tallied and would be announced at the end of the initial heats, right before the quarterfinals. As the next three competitors moved to the center of the circle, my eyes found the one woman I needed to speak with, pulling me from the blissful high of hilarity back to the urgent task at hand.
Springsong worked her way through the outer edges of the gathered crowd and before I could think of an excuse to split off from the group and catch up with her, Liberty said the word, and the next round of blind draw was off.
“Grim, you need to come with me.”
I looked down to where he had been standing just a minute before, but he was gone.
“Grim?”
The wheezing cackles around me drowned out my voice. Where had he gone?
When I looked back toward the center of the circle, I spotted him. He was hard to miss.
Grim had a big dopey smile on his face as he backed up into one of the ghostly subjects right in front of the blindfolded Darius Pine.
Liberty was laughing so hard he looked like his knees were about to go out from under him, and when Darius finally groped a big handful of Grim’s furry butt and stumbled back, yelping, the genie’s left leg buckled, and he fell into a pile on the ground.
The crowd didn’t fare much better from Grim’s prank, and the fact that everyone was packed in so tightly to get a view of the action might have been the only reason more knees didn’t buckle.
I laughed along with the rest and Grim waved a big paw at me before trotting out of the circle (not before giving Darius a sloppy lick on the cheek) and returning to my side.
“You done?” I asked, unable to keep the amusement out of my telepathic voice.
“Sorry, I had to.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You’re right. But I really wanted to.”
“Understandable. I just saw Springsong. I need you to come with me to track her down.”
“And miss more of the action? No thanks.”
“Grim.”
“What?”
I sighed. “There’s another sausage on a stick in it for you.”
To my surprise, he said, “So what? You think after that stunt I just pulled people aren’t going to be feeding me like a king all day? I could live for months on ground scraps alone.”
Well, swirls. If food wasn’t enough motivation, what would be? “I’ll take you to the Deadwoods with me later.”
I could feel him thinking hard on it before he replied, “Scale of one to ten, how likely is it we won’t return?”
“Eight.”
“Fine. I’m in.”
When the second round concluded and I could be heard, I turned to the rest of my circle and said, “I’m gonna hit the ladies room. I’ll be back in a second.”
“Perfect,” said Eva. “I need to go too.”
Really? Ugh. I should have known. While normally I didn’t mind this social convention, now was not the time.
I tried to think of a reason why I would need to go to the bathroom without her and came up short. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go.” And we broke off from the men.
“Where’s Zola?” I asked, noticing Eva’s familiar was nowhere within view.
“I told her to go ahead and prowl outside the faire. She’s not great around a lot of people.”
We reached the line for the portable restrooms, and I scanned the crowd in the direction I’d last seen Springsong.
“Who are you looking for?” Eva asked.
“Huh? Oh, no one.”
If her pouted lips were any indication, she wasn’t buying it. “You’re on one of your little missions, aren’t you?”
Knowing I was a terrible liar when it came to people I actually liked, I said, “Yeah, I am.”
“And you didn’t actually have to use the restroom, did you?”
“No. Although now that I’m in line, I kind of do.”
“Then while we’re waiting, why don’t you tell me what’s going on so I can help you?”
I looked over her shoulder and then behind me. No one close to us seemed at all interested in our conversation, so I leaned toward her and dove into it. At least the parts that were immediately relevant to why I needed to speak to Springsong. I decided to leave out some of the details about why Tanner’s parents were going through the portal, only mentioning that it was in an attempt to restore balance.
When we got to the front of the line, I paused, and we reconvened a moment later with much happier bladders.
The alone time had clearly been what she needed to get her thoughts together, and the first thing she asked was, “There’s a portal to our world that’s open in the Deadwoods?”
“At least that’s what I’m guessing. I need to find Springsong and ask her what she knows, though. Ruby says she would know more about it and what we need to do to avert whatever crisis Dean and Aria came to warn me about.”
To Eva’s credit, she took it in stride. It was a lot of information that fit together here and there only tenuously at best.
But I had a hunch Springsong held the missing pieces to put it all together.
“Okay,” she said, finally, “let’s track down the High Priestess and get some real answers.”
Chapter Sixteen
As much as bringing Eva along hadn’t been part of the plan, I was surprised by how nice it was to have someone else with me for this part of my investigation. But it was like Ted said, wasn’t it? If you knew you had to do something unpleasant and there was no getting around it, it was better with company. I jus
t hoped I wasn’t putting Eva in danger by bringing her along.
I spotted Springsong in silky hunter green robes over by the Necro Coffee booth. Only when I was right next to her did I realize who she was conversing with.
Swirls. That was the last person I needed involved in this already complicated mess.
Mayor Cordelia Esperia smiled at me, but the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “Nora Ashcroft and Evangeline Moody! Why, this must be your first Halloween in Eastwind! How are you enjoying it?”
“Not sure enjoying is the right word,” I said.
“But the Blind Draw is pretty amazing,” Eva added, showing a smarter bit of politeness than I could muster.
At that, the mayor’s grin did reach her eyes. “It is, isn’t it? Not to brag, but I won the whole thing eleven years ago.”
“Can we help you with something?” the High Priestess said coolly, addressing me directly.
“Yes, actually. I’m wondering if I could have a word with you alone.”
Her eyebrow inched its way up her forehead. “About?”
“It’s private. I’ll tell you when we’re alone.”
Her eyes traveled to Eva. “And I suppose she’s allowed to hear it then?”
“Yes.”
Springsong nodded. “Very well. Then I’m sure you don’t mind if the mayor hears it as well.”
“I—”
“After all,” she continued, “I’d just turn around and tell her anyway in the spirit of transparency between the Coven and the High Council.”
Oh, come on.
This one-on-one conversation sure was getting crowded. But what did I have to lose anyway?
Well, obviously they could have me killed and I was now facing two powerful witches rather than one.
But if Springsong wanted me to air her dirty laundry in front of the mayor, then so be it.
“Fine. Where can we talk?”
Springsong said, “Follow me,” and we did, snaking through the fringes of the crowd to the clock tower in the center of the Emporium.
Ah. Right.
It was such a plain landmark, and I’d passed it so many times that I’d forgotten it was also a gateway into the private meeting chambers of the High Council.
I’d visited only once before, back when I got to be the bearer of bad news that Quinn Shaw’s own son, Seamus, was among those who’d stolen the city’s cache of gold coins from beneath Rainbow Falls.
To my knowledge, Eva had never visited the High Council’s cathedral (for lack of a better word), and she looked terribly confused as we stood in front of the tower and Mayor Esperia took out her wand.
A moment later, we were no longer at the Hallow’s Faire.
The silence of the space rang in my ears, but it wasn’t the same place I’d been to before. It was much, much smaller—a simple room with a large, roaring fireplace taking up most of the far wall. At the center were four armchairs positioned around a coffee table that appeared to be a cross section of an ancient oak tree.
“This should do,” said Esperia, and with another flick of her wand, a tea tray appeared on the table, steam rising from each of the four orange cups positioned around a kettle in the middle.
As we each took a seat, with Grim flopping heavily on the floor next to my chair, the mayor nodded toward the drinks and said, “Chamomile and lavender. Good for the nerves on Halloween.”
There wasn’t a ghost of a chance that I was going to drink what Esperia had magicked up out of nowhere. It probably wasn’t ideal to think of her as an enemy, but I could sense the cold hostility flowing off of her in waves.
Nevertheless, I took the warm mug in my hand and acted as if I had every intention in the world of downing the liquid once it was cool enough.
Eva did the same, but not before sending me an almost imperceptible nod that I took to mean she knew not to drink it either.
“So?” The High Priestess said, taking a leisurely sip and pausing to inhale the scent.
It did smell delicious. Assuming there was nothing in the steam itself to knock me out or poison me, I didn’t see the harm in enjoying that calming effect at least.
Her one-word question left me wondering how in the world to start. And where to start.
So I went with whatever I thought might rattle her the most. “I’ve been speaking with Dean and Aria Culpepper.”
I tried not to appear too smug when her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She swallowed, lowered her teacup to her saucer and quickly regained her usual composure. “Their spirits, I assume. Whatever could they have to say?”
“Quite a bit, actually.” I struggled to keep from smirking at Mayor Esperia, whose spine was ramrod straight as she hung on every word. Likely, she knew at least enough about their murders to know it was still unsolved and there was probably a reason I was pulling the High Priestess aside to talk about it. But possibly the mayor knew more.
Maybe it would turn out that having her here was beneficial.
“They told me all about their mission.”
I searched for an added layer of curiosity from the mayor at the mention and was surprised to find none. Did she already know what the Culpeppers had been sent to do?
“I suppose,” Springsong said, “they also told you that they failed to carry it out. And that I was disappointed in them.”
“In so many words.”
“I wasn’t disappointed.” She let the words linger for a moment, then explained, “I was terrified. For them. For their safety.”
“How about we clear the air, then,” I suggested. “Did you murder them?”
She shook her head sadly. “Of course not, though I suspect you already knew that somewhere deep inside. Part of your gift of Insight, is it not? I’m sure you would have loved to find out I murdered them, as you and I have never quite seen eye-to-eye.”
Understatement of the year.
But her denial was, unfortunately, believable. “Do you know who did it?”
“Might I ask why there’s such a sudden interest in the case again?”
“I already said, they showed up and started talking about it.”
“About their murder or about something else?”
Did she know? “About something else. About the balance of nature. They say it’s in peril.”
Esperia broke her silence with a rushed, “I told you, Serenity. I’ve said from the moment she arrived that this was the beginning of the end. You didn’t want to hear it, but this is exactly what the High Priest—”
Springsong raised a hand and Esperia swallowed the rest of her words.
“If that’s true,” the High Priestess said, addressing me rather than the mayor, “then for once, you and I might be playing on the same team.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means many things. But first things first. I know who murdered the Culpeppers.”
“Serenity,” Esperia warned, but the High Priestess just set her jaw and continued.
“I never told Manchester because I was worried the truth of their death would lead to my own crime coming to light. And I knew no one would understand, that the town would assume I had done it out of greed and ambition rather than what it was: revenge.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. I could feel myself teetering on the edge of a precipice. All the answers I needed were on the other side of the deep hole in the earth, but did I dare jump?
“The High Priest Clearbrook personally murdered the Culpeppers when he found out they had failed to complete the required task. It’s quite obvious, actually. I believe Bloom had her suspicions, but she couldn’t find the evidence for it, and no one was talking. And then it became irrelevant once he was found dead shortly afterward.”
“And how did he—”
Her voice cut like a knife. “I killed him. He was already on death’s door, and his mind was starting to go. You can’t have that with someone so powerful as him, and his sloppy handling of the Culpeppers was evidence enough. Besides, I was a
ngry. I knew Dean and Aria would never tell a soul about what he’d sent them to do if they were simply asked not to. I had planned to plead their case to him the following morning. But I was foolish and sent him an owl with the outcome and thought he would hold off until the next day to do anything rash.” She scowled. “My appearance at the Elk’s Lodge could have waited. I should have gone straight to the High Priest and simply arrived at the gathering late. No one would have thought much of it. But I was stupid. And it cost the Culpeppers their lives and it cost their son his parents.”
I’d never heard a murder confession quite like it. Rather than making me want to see her behind bars, I found myself in the mood to buy her a drink.
Obviously, it wasn’t the time or place for that.
I turned to Esperia. “You knew about all of this?”
For a moment, I thought I was going to hit a brick wall of silence, but then she relented and said, “Yes. I was with the High Priest when he received word. He headed straight out of his estate and I followed. I had no idea what he was doing until we were already outside the Culpeppers’ home. He entered without knocking, and that’s when it occurred to me what he intended to do. I grabbed him, tried to stop him, quietly pleaded for him to think it through. But his magic was vastly superior to mine, and he bound me so I couldn’t move or speak and went upstairs. He only undid the restraining spell once the deed was done.” Her eyes fell to the floor. “I— I don’t think I’ve ever shouted at someone so much in my life. He ended up having to drag me away before the row alerted Manchester or Bloom. I realized then that my own life was in danger from what I knew. So, I collected myself once we returned to his estate and assured him that I was loyal only to him and the Coven, and if he needed me to, I would take up the Culpeppers’ mission and complete it myself.”
The mayor paused and sipped her tea. “Well, of course I had no plans of doing that. By then my mind was already set. I spoke with Serenity, told her what had happened…”