by Amy Boyles
I followed the line of her finger until I noticed a partially squashed tomato on the ground. One of the lions walked over, sniffed it, and gobbled it in one swallow.
I leaned back. “Since when did lions start liking tomatoes?”
“Maybe they’re vegetarians,” Amelia said.
“Never heard of such a thing.”
“Everyone knows lions eat people,” Licky said.
Cordelia placed a hand on my arm. “Zach said that. He said they might eat fruit and to try it. Tomatoes are technically a fruit since they have seeds.”
I glanced at my family. “Mint, Licky—you got this?”
Mint cracked her knuckles. “We ain’t chaos witches for nothing.”
I grimaced. This could go wrong in so many ways. Actually, anything involving my aunts could. “Just don’t get killed.”
Licky smacked her lips. “Promise.”
Mint clapped her hands, and a basket of tomatoes instantly appeared in her arms. “Hey, boys, we’ve got your tomatoes right here.”
The lions glanced over, not appearing interested.
Licky grabbed one of the tomatoes and threw it at one of the animals’ feet. The fruit smashed, creating a red streak on the concrete. The lion leaned over, sniffed and gobbled it up.
The second lion padded over and growled. My aunts took that as an invitation to start throwing tomatoes at the beasts’ feet. As fast as the fruit smashed to the ground, the lions ate them up.
“Lead them away from the entrance,” I said.
My aunts did, throwing the tomatoes over to the side. The lions followed, eating the trail of ruined fruit.
I glanced at my cousins. “The coast is clear. Come on.”
With the lions’ backs completely to us, I led Amelia and Cordelia past them and up the steps to the Vault.
The door opened easily and closed quietly behind us. We stood in the outer chamber. The circular room was eerily quiet.
“Something’s very wrong,” Amelia said.
“You’ve got that right.”
My head swung right. Tacked to the wall and secured with some kind of molten metal bars, stood Erasmus.
I rushed over. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I am fine. Nothing a little Jack Daniels can’t fix.”
I grabbed one of the metal bars and pulled, but nothing happened. “You’re stuck. I don’t know if I can get you out.”
He shook his head. “If you can defeat Rufus, this will go away. It will vanish along with the sorcerer’s spell that has me trapped.”
“But you’re not hurt?” Amelia said.
Erasmus shook his head. “I am not hurt. Now go. Stop Rufus before he finds what it is he wants.”
“What does he want?” I said.
“The bottomless bag. I believe he wants to use it to put Magnolia Cove inside and swallow us all.”
I frowned. “Is that even possible?”
Erasmus shrugged. “It is bottomless.”
“But the neck of it isn’t that big. It can’t swallow a city.”
He stared at me with eyes full of fear. “The neck is adjustable.”
“Oh dear Lord,” I said to my cousins. “Come on, let’s get Rufus.”
We turned to head into the Vault’s inner sanctum but stopped dead in our tracks.
Rufus stood at the entrance, a burlap sack in one hand. The other hand held his signature blue flame.
He smiled wickedly. “Hey, ladies. Thank you for joining me. So glad you’re here. Now let’s have some fun.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Rufus kicked aside a piece of twisted metal that must’ve been left over from his tussle with Erasmus.
“You’ve come just in time,” he said.
“In time for what?”
His lips curled into a serpentine grin. “In time to watch the fall of Magnolia Cove, the bane of my existence.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. Aren’t you getting carried away? I mean, isn’t it the other way around? Aren’t you the bane of Magnolia Cove’s existence? You’re like a spider that won’t die no matter how hard you swat it with a newspaper.”
“Magazines are better,” Amelia said. “More weight to them.”
Cordelia nodded. “Or even a hardback book. Not one of your own, you don’t want to ruin it. But the ones from the library have that nice protective cover that wipes clean. That’s a much better choice for spider killing.”
“Will the three of you shut up?” he shouted, red-faced.
“We were only discussing the finer points of spider killing,” I said. “One day, you might need our tips and tricks.”
“I don’t need your help with anything,” he said. “I have everything I need right here. Behold, the sack of doom!”
I yawned. “All this talk has been great, but I’ve got a werewolf to help catch after this, so do you mind surrendering now?”
Rufus gave a belly laugh so deep it nearly shook the walls. “Surrender? Me? Don’t you have that the other way around? You should be surrendering, because once this is over, you’re coming with me. This time, no one will break the spell I place on you because there won’t be anyone to save you.”
“That sounds very scary,” I said. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Rufus cackled. “What are you going to do about it? You don’t even know how to touch the power at your fingertips.”
I opened my purse and pulled out the labradorite, presenting it to him. “I don’t need to. I have this.”
His eyes flared. “That still won’t help you.”
I smirked and reached into my bag again. This time, I lifted out the hat that Sylvia had loaned me. “And I also have this.” I placed it atop my head and said, “Time for all of this to end, Rufus.”
“Good luck,” he said, raising the hand holding the blue orb.
“She won’t need luck,” shot out another voice from behind us.
I didn’t have to look to know it was Betty. But it did help that out of the corner of my eye, I saw her and Sylvia Spirits come into view.
I handed Betty the labradorite. “I assume you know how to use this?”
She took it. “I’ve got an idea.”
“This has been a nice party, but I’m afraid I’m beginning to feel a bit like a rooster in a henhouse.”
“I’m still here,” Erasmus said. “You’re not the only man in the room.”
Rufus smirked. “I’m the only one potent enough to do anything.”
“That stings,” Erasmus said.
“Enough,” Betty said. “Rufus, it’s time for you to go away and not come back.”
He threw the orb right at me. I sure as heck didn’t know how the hat worked, but I wanted the ball to stop. I focused on that.
The blue light’s path halted about three inches from my face. I stared at it. The magic was a swirl of white and robin’s-egg blue. It was so pretty. I decided that it couldn’t hurt me if I didn’t let it, so I snatched it from the air. It was cold to the touch, and a mist wafted off it. I stared at the orb for a moment before throwing it back to Rufus.
The orb struck his feet. Apparently I needed to work out more because I was aiming for his chest and threw short.
An explosion filled the Vault. Rufus staggered back. He lifted the bag. The burlap mouth yawned open. Erasmus had not been kidding when he said it was adjustable.
As the mouth opened to swallow the Vault and all of us, Betty and Sylvia placed their hands on the labradorite. A yellow beam shot out as they chanted.
The light flared toward Rufus. He placed the bag in front of him as if creating a shield, but the magic inside the labradorite was too strong. It blasted right through the bag and surrounded him.
Rufus struggled. He fought the light, kicking and punching. “This won’t be the last you see of me,” he shouted.
Just then the light blipped off and Rufus disappeared. The bag dropped to the floor, its mouth shrinking back to normal size.
I exhaled a deep shot o
f air. I glanced at my family. “Everyone okay?”
They all nodded. “We were lucky he only threw that one light. I’m surprised he didn’t strike earlier,” I said.
Betty spit on the labradorite and polished it with her sleeve. “Guy likes to talk. Thinks he’s so superior. I believe he thought he’d get that bag to swallow us before we could successfully use the stone against him. Shows what he knew.”
I smiled. “Thank goodness.”
“Where is he?” Amelia said.
Betty handed the labradorite back to me. “We sent him out of town and used the labradorite to add an extra layer of security against him entering. I don’t know how long it’ll hold, but should be long enough for us to work out a new spell, one that’s hopefully Rufus-proof.”
Amelia pressed a finger to her cheek. “It’s too bad you couldn’t send him into something like they did in that old Superman II movie. You know, where the bad guys are in that other dimension and then a rocket or something shatters the glass and they’re set free?”
Cordelia flicked dirt out from under her fingernails. “Then a rocket would free Rufus, so he’d show up again.”
“Oh, right,” Amelia said, clearly depressed her idea wasn’t snatched up as fool-proof.
I glanced at the Sylvia. “But where’s Barnaby?”
Sylvia shook her head. “I called, but there wasn’t an answer.”
I cracked my knuckles. “I need to find him. He can tell me how to use the stone to free Axel. I’ve got to get out of here.”
Erasmus called out from his metal prison. “I’m still stuck here. Anytime one of y’all wants to get me out, I’d be happy to be free of these confines. In fact, I may take my leave from the Vault for a while. Too much drama.”
I bit back a laugh. “You have this covered?” I said to Betty.
Her answer was to snort magical sparkles from her nose. They wrapped around the twisted metal, bending it away from Erasmus. The sound was worse than a thousand fingernails grating down an old-fashioned chalkboard.
Ignoring the sound, I rushed from the building, shouting as I went, “Y’all wish me luck.”
There would be plenty for them to do. Rufus had wrecked the inside of the Vault in his search for the bag. There would be cleanup and then some. Besides, I could perform the next part of my duty by myself. I knew I could communicate with Axel. All I had to do was find him, and for that I needed Barnaby.
As I headed out the door, I prayed the wizard was safe.
TWENTY-SIX
I left everyone behind, even Hugo. The dragon was still too young to face off against a werewolf, and even though he wanted to come, I handed him to Licky and made her promise to keep him safe.
My aunts, by the way, had the lions eating out of their palms—literally. The magical creatures were gorging on tomatoes handed to them straight from my aunts.
Gross.
Now I know plenty of y’all can eat a tomato like an apple, but the thought of that makes me want to retch. I like ketchup. I like salsa. I do not like raw tomatoes.
Ew.
I jumped on my skillet and flew to Barnaby’s house. Lockdown or no lockdown, I was not about to let the police take down a werewolf without me at least trying to return him to his true form. Besides, the sooner I saved Axel, the less likely it would be that someone would get hurt.
If Axel attacked anyone in his wolf form, he’d never forgive himself—I was absolutely certain of that. So I needed to get to Barnaby’s and quick.
After all, Sylvia had told me that when I had the labradorite, Barnaby could help free Axel.
Which was why when I arrived at Barnaby’s house, I didn’t wait for an invitation to enter. I threw open the door and rushed inside.
“Barnaby,” I yelled.
I careened into the pocket doors the led to the sitting room. I shoved them aside and gasped.
Barnaby lay on the chaise lounge, his head lolled back. Rubber tubing had been roped around his arm. Delilah leaned over him, a syringe in her hand.
A bottle labeled MORPHINE lay on the table. Delilah glanced up at me, a look of panic scrolling across her features.
Luckily her needle hadn’t been emptied into Barnaby’s vein yet.
“He asked me to do it,” she said quickly.
“Like heck he did,” I said. “You must think I was born this morning.”
Her face twisted into a strangely sick smile.
“You killed Argus,” I said, “and that other woman whose name escapes me because I didn’t know her.”
“Ingrid Gale,” she said.
“Thank you. But, why?”
Delilah shivered with what appeared to be some sort of sick pleasure. “I love the look on their faces when they pass. Argus didn’t have that peaceful appearance since I used the deadly nightshade on him, but my father will.”
I shook my head. Of course I’d heard of caretakers and nurses killing patients, but I never expected to meet one—let alone walk in on her when she was about to murder.
It was sick and creepy.
“But why?”
“I love to kill. It’s simply within me. I delight in death, Pepper. What can I say? I have a problem.”
“I would say you definitely have a problem.”
She pricked her finger on the tip of the needle. “Too bad you won’t live to tell anyone.”
Delilah flew at me, the needle aimed to plunge into my neck. Feeling a surge of power similar to what I’d felt when I faced off against Rufus, I raised my hand.
Delilah paused in midair.
At that moment Barnaby awoke. “Huh? What’s going on in here? Pepper, why are you working magic against my daughter?”
I nodded toward the morphine and the needle. “Because your daughter was about to take your life, Mr. Battle.”
“It wasn’t me,” Delilah said. “It’s her, Daddy. She’s the one holding me hostage.”
For the briefest of seconds panic flared in my chest. “It wasn’t me. Barnaby, I promise you. I’m not the one holding the needle. Delilah admitted to me that she killed Argus and was going to kill you.”
Barnaby glanced from me to his daughter. He raised his hands, and like a conductor leading an orchestra, the wizard completed a series of movements.
Barnaby spoke. “Delilah, you forget that I see what happened a few minutes ago if I’m in the room—conscious or unconscious.”
I watched as time moved backward. I saw what I can only describe as an astral projection or ghost of myself talking to Delilah.
The projection, which is the best description I can give of the scene that unfolded before me, showed me barging into the room, finding Delilah over Barnaby’s unconscious body and admitting everyone.
The panic I had felt dissolved.
Barnaby watched in silence and then continued to remain quiet for another minute. All the while I was thinking we really needed to get this show on the road because, you know, man-killing werewolf on the loose, cops ready to kill him at any moment.
Yeah, all that stuff.
Barnaby stared at the bottle for a long time. “How could you do that, Delilah?”
Delilah couldn’t move her limbs, but she could manipulate her mouth. “I’m sorry, Father, but I can’t help it.”
Barnaby rose, yanked the rubber tubing from his arm and tossed it across the floor. He straightened his collar and crossed to face his daughter. “I will have you arrested shortly. I do not pretend to understand any of this. I do not understand why you would take advantage of me while I was sleeping, and I will mourn this, but not now.”
Delilah, I suppose realizing she was caught and there was no way out of the situation, gritted her teeth. “I can’t help it. I’m a monster. Lock me up, throw away the key and all that; otherwise, I’ll only strike again.”
I locked gazes with Barnaby. “Mayor Battle, Magnolia Cove needs you. I have the labradorite. Rufus is gone. Betty and Sylvia removed him from town, and not a minute too soon. Axel’s a werewolf. Sylvia said
you might be able to help change him back.”
Barnaby grabbed his keys. “I do believe I can.” He led me toward the front door. “Get me up to speed.”
I smiled. “The entire police force is after Axel. I don’t know if they’ve caught him or not, because I was busy trying to save this town from Rufus while they were all out chasing him.”
Barnaby opened the door. I stepped through. He took a long look at Delilah before pointing a finger at her. A stream of magic flowed from the digit, encasing her already frozen form.
“That should keep you until we get back,” he said.
With that, the two of us left the house. The sun was setting and night was only minutes away from completely swallowing the sky.
Barnaby led me to his garage, which held an antique convertible Aston Martin.
“Whoa,” I said. “We’re going in this?”
“Sure are,” Barnaby said, sliding in. “We’ve got some werewolf hunting to do.”
“But isn’t this, like, the most unsafe car ever?”
Barnaby laughed. “Just watch.”
He fired up the engine and reversed the vehicle from the garage. Once we were clear of the ceiling, he shifted into F.
“F? What’s that?”
Barnaby smirked. “Fly.”
And so we did. We rose into the air and headed through the city. Now I loved riding my cast-iron skillet, but this was something different entirely. This was like being in Back to the Future or an even cooler movie that I hadn’t seen yet.
“It’s getting dark. I can’t see below us,” I said.
Barnaby flipped a switch, and floodlights lit the world below. I could see a good two hundred feet in front of us.
“Where do you think he is?” I said.
Barnaby tapped the steering wheel. “We’re all creatures of habit, no matter who we are. As one of those, what place do you think the wolf knows best?”
I thought a moment. “The Cobweb Forest?”
Barnaby nodded. “That’s what I think, too. Come on. Let’s see if our hunch is correct.”
“And you know how to use the stone to turn him back?”
Barnaby nodded. “That, I can do. What worries me is stopping him from killing us before I have a clean shot.”