by Amy Boyles
“It might be,” he said, smiling. “We’ll simply have to try and see. If it’s not, we go back to square one.” He fixed his oval glasses on his nose. “Oh, and there’s one more thing you need to know about the bat.”
“What is it?”
The doorbell rang. Both of us turned our heads toward the inside of the house.
I glanced at my watch. “It’s too early for Axel to be here.”
Curious, we entered the main part of the house. Cordelia stood at the front door and held it open for Garrick Young. My shoulders slackened. He was probably here to take Cordelia on a date.
Only Garrick wore his police uniform. He wouldn’t be wearing that on a night off. His gaze flickered from hers to Donovan and me.
There was something dark in Garrick’s eyes. Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t a social call.
His boots hit the wooden floor hard. Garrick thumbed his belt, glanced at Donovan. “Mr. Craple, I’m afraid you need to come with me.”
“Why’s that, Sheriff?” Betty said, boobing herself into his path.
Garrick shuffled his feet as if embarrassed. “I’m afraid I need to discuss that with Donovan.”
My uncle opened his hands. “Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of my family.”
Garrick pinched the brim of his hat and slipped his fingers down one side. “I’m afraid I need you to come down to the station for questioning in the death of Carl Carlsburg.”
Donovan shook his head. “I don’t understand. Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet,” Garrick said, “but the way things are looking, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
FOURTEEN
“Apparently they found a chunk of cobalt in Donovan’s house,” Betty said at dinner.
I quirked a brow. “You mean the house that he hasn’t been staying at?”
Cordelia rolled her eyes. “I know Garrick feels badly about taking Donovan to the station.”
“Because you’re dating?” Amelia quipped.
Cordelia shot her a look full of fire-burning daggers. “Yes, that would be why.”
“So what’s the big deal about cobalt?” I said.
Betty poured gravy on a piece of country fried steak. “Cobalt was used to kill Carl. It wasn’t the lightning that did it, though that’s how it first appeared. Carl was shot with a charge of cobalt. Apparently it was a small incision from a custom gun. Took ’em a while to figure it out, but now the police know. Smart coppers for once.”
“And why does Donovan have it?” I said.
“He sometimes used it in spells,” Betty said.
“The problem is that it’s not a common element,” Cordelia said. “It’s used in technology, but very rarely by us magical folks.”
I studied my cousin. Her pinched face didn’t reveal much in the way of hints as to what was going on, but I had a sneaking suspicion she knew more than she was saying.
“And what else has Garrick told you?” I said.
“Nothing.” Cordelia tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. “He hasn’t said anything. I just know it’s not common to own the stuff. I don’t know of any witches who have it, do you?” she said to Betty.
“Only Donovan,” my grandmother answered.
“But why?” I said.
“Because Donovan said it helped him communicate with animals better.”
I poked my mashed potatoes and stared at the plate of food. I didn’t know why I’d even made a plate, because I didn’t have an appetite.
“But why would Donovan need help communicating with animals?” I said. “He’s the master, right? Even you said that when we were voting who would communicate with Princess.”
Betty didn’t say anything.
Amelia pointed a butter knife at her. “You’re keeping secrets.”
“Some secrets are supposed to stay secrets,” Betty grumbled.
“And some secrets are supposed to be broken,” Amelia said.
“That’s promises,” Cordelia said, rolling her eyes. “Promises are made to be broken. Secrets are meant to be kept.”
“Where?” Amelia said.
“Locked in your heart, away from prying eyes.”
“But people can’t see secrets,” Amelia said.
Cordelia shook her head. “I give up.”
“Betty,” I said, pulling the conversation back. “What secret are you keeping of Donovan’s?”
Her gaze darted to her plate. “I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” Cordelia said.
Amelia flared her arms. “I know! I’ve got it. Donovan can’t communicate with animals because of a freak accident that involved toxic waste—like in all those superhero movies.”
Betty rose, took her plate to the fire and pitched the uneaten food into the blaze. Hugo’s ears perked up, and he whined at seeing a potential meal burn up.
“I’ve already said more than I should,” Betty said.
I sank back in the chair and drummed my fingers on the armrests. “But he does have a problem communicating with animals, doesn’t he?”
Betty sighed and sat in her rocking chair. “I suppose since y’all nosy rosies guessed it, I can go ahead and tell you.”
“Yes, please do,” I said, leaving the table to join her in the living room.
When the four of us were seated comfortably, Betty lit her pipe and took a long puff.
“The trouble started not long before Donovan faked his own death. His powers started flickering, waning. I’d never seen anything like it before and told Donovan so when he came to me about it. He’d try to work a spell, and the magic would fizzle and dissolve like bubbles bursting. His spells simply wouldn’t hold.”
She paused, and I took a moment to butt in. “What about his ability to communicate with animals? Was that the main power affected?”
Betty sucked hard on the pipe, releasing a plume of smoke in the air that transformed into the image of a cat. “It was the first thing to go. He said he couldn’t match as well as he used to be able to. I’d read that cobalt could enhance certain traits and recommended he buy some, keep it with him. He did, but he also kept a chunk in his house.”
“That’s the piece they found,” Amelia said.
“Obviously. We’ve already established that,” Cordelia said.
“You don’t have to say it so snotty.”
Cordelia looked at her. “If just once you would think before you spoke, you wouldn’t ask questions that have obvious answers.”
“It wasn’t obvious to me until I said it.”
Cordelia threw up her hands. “Case in point.”
I cleared my throat to stop my cousins before they killed each other. “Okay, so the cops found cobalt in Donovan’s house, but there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it. It’s not rare, is it?”
“Very,” Betty said.
“Oh, well that’s a problem,” I said. I glanced from my cousins to Betty. “I guess this just means we’ve got to do a bang-up job of freeing Princess to hopefully solve this thing and somehow find a way to get Uncle Donovan off the hook.”
“Whew,” Amelia said. “I’m exhausted just listening to you.”
I rose and stretched. “Axel should be here soon. Let’s get dressed. We’ve got a Princess to snare.”
By the time Axel arrived, we were all decked out in black. Even Betty, who wore a black cap to cover her silver curls.
“Are we breaking and entering?” Axel said, eyeing us like we were a bunch of crazy women, which we were.
“No,” I said, “but I thought the black might make us less scary to the bats that hopefully don’t carry rabies.”
He smirked; then his gaze dragged to Betty. “I heard about Donovan. I don’t think Garrick is going to hold him long. Just enough to question him and find out about the cobalt.”
“You know about it, too?” I said.
“It’s a small town,” he said, knocking his fists together. “Now. Who’s ready to hunt a bat?”
My stomach churned as I said it, but I gritted my teeth and grinned. “We are.”
A few minutes later we stood in the park with a large metal birdcage, several handheld nets along with a wing and prayer that this plan would work.
Axel’s hand slid over my shoulder. “Okay, Pepper, you ready?”
I bristled. “This all lands on me, doesn’t it?”
“You are the one who communicates with animals.”
“Don’t remind me. I’d feel better if Donovan were here.”
His hand squeezed, filling me with comfort. “He would if he could. Listen, you’re as good as Donovan ever was at matching, and you’ve only been in Magnolia Cove a short while. You can do it. I know you can.”
I nodded and glanced at my family. “Ready?”
They nodded.
I closed my eyes and slipped inside my mind, calling telepathically or whatever to Princess and the rest of the bat kingdom.
At first all I heard was silence; then her voice filled my head.
I’m hungry. I need food. Y’all got anything to eat over there? All these other stupid bats keep taking the best mosquitos so all I get are the leftovers.
My heart sang. It was her. I mean, who else could it be?
Don’t answer that. It could’ve been anybody, I know.
Yes, I answered. Princess, is that you?
A pause. Then, How do you know my name?
We’ve been looking for you. We want to help free you from the curse, but we need you.
She paused again. I’m ashamed.
Why?
I let my family down. I wanted a stupid bat as a pet, but I ended up being suckered by him, seduced into believing that it needed help and I was the only one who could save him.
It’s not your fault, Princess. Believe me, it wasn’t at all. Like I said, we want to help you. But you have to come to us.
A flutter of wings filled my vision. Bathed in moonlight, the tiny bat was only about the size of an apple.
“Princess?” I said.
That’s me. Though I don’t look like a princess anymore. Now I’m a rat with wings.
“Those are pigeons,” I said.
“That’s not a pigeon,” Amelia added.
“I’m not talking to you,” I whispered.
“Princess, we want to help break the curse put on you, but we need your help. We need you to identify the vampire who did this. Can you do that?”
Will I get three meals a day?
Strange request, but whatever. “Sure. You can have whatever you want.”
The small brown bat fluttered up and down for a second. How do I know you won’t harm me?
I shrugged. “We’re here to help. Obviously we’re a bunch of strangers, but my Uncle Donovan, do you remember him?”
The one who sold the bat to Johnny.
“Right. He’s here. He’s the one who told us about you. He wants to free you. We all do. You never should’ve been cursed like this.”
Princess bobbed one more time and then fluttered down until she was only inches from my face. Her brown eyes sparkled with intelligence, and her small body looked so fragile I was amazed that she was unharmed.
“We’ve got a cage. Just so we can keep you safe.”
I pointed to it, and Axel opened the door. Princess floated right on in. He snapped the door shut, and we all exhaled a deep sigh of relief.
“All right, Princess,” I said. “Let’s get you home and start finding out what we need to about the vampire.”
A crash sounded from behind us. I gasped. Amelia screamed, and Betty held up her dukes, ready to punch out the lights of the first person who showed.
A shriek came from the bushes.
“Everybody back,” Axel said. With his chest puffed up and his head down, he looked like he was about to launch into the foliage. Turned out, he didn’t have to.
A moment later a body fell from the hedge. It was a woman with a torn dress, smeared lipstick and twigs stuck in her hair.
I immediately recognized Eva. I threw myself past Axel and grabbed her by the arms. Her eyes opened wide with fright. She clawed at me.
“Eva! Eva, calm down. We’re here to help.”
She blinked a few more times and then settled back. “Oh my goodness. I’m so scared, y’all.”
“What happened?” I said.
Betty pushed me aside. “She was obviously attacked.”
Eva nodded. Tears swelled in her eyes. She clutched my arms. “A man I’d never seen before attacked me. I fought him off, but he kept reaching for me. He kept trying to get at one specific place on my body.”
“What was that?” Amelia said.
Eva dragged her gaze over all of us. “My neck.”
FIFTEEN
Axel and I escorted a visibly shaken Eva back to the inn where she was staying with Johnny Utah. Axel tried to get her to go to the police, but Eva refused. She said she’d feel better if Johnny dealt with the situation. Well, he was mafia. What else can I say?
We knocked on the door, and Johnny opened it. He wore a silk smoking jacket, velvet slippers and sipped brown liquid from a rocks glass.
“Eva, what in the name of God happened to you?” he said, opening his arms.
“Oh, Johnny, I was so scared,” she said, falling into him. “It was horrible.”
He shot us an accusing look. “What happened?”
“Sit down and we’ll tell you everything,” Axel said.
Johnny motioned for his werewolf bodyguards to leave the room. They rose and exited.
Eva sniffled a few times. “I’m going to wash up, okay?”
He pressed his nose to hers and gave Eva a solid Eskimo kiss before saying, “You go right ahead.” He nodded to me. “You want company?”
She shook her head. “No, I just need a shower.”
As soon as she was gone, Axel spoke. “We weren’t sure if you wanted us to go to the police. Eva convinced us you wouldn’t want that, so we came here.”
He chewed a piece of ice. “No cops. I got enough trouble being stuck here while they investigate this Carl Yahoo’s murder. I don’t need no more grief.” He shot a worried glance to the door Eva had disappeared behind. “What happened?”
“She was attacked.”
Johnny swung a punch into his open palm. “I’ll kill whatever son of a tramp did that to her. I’ll kill him. Who was it? Did you see? Did she see?”
“She didn’t get a good look at him,” I chimed. “That much we know for sure.”
“There’s something else,” Axel said.
Johnny dragged his gaze from his meaty fist to Axel. “What’s that?”
“The attacker tried to get to her neck.”
“Her neck? What the heck for?”
“To bite it, I assume,” Axel said.
It took a moment, but when Johnny’s mouth sagged and his eyes peeled wide, I knew he’d figured out what Axel was saying.
“You telling me that creature is here? The one who got my Princess?”
Axel folded his massive arms and spoke carefully. “We can’t say one hundred percent, but it seems likely.”
“Oh, just wait till I get my hands on that creature. I will ring his neck so hard you won’t believe. I will crush him.”
I grimaced. “We need him alive.”
“He won’t be alive when I’m through with him.”
Axel and I exchanged a glance. “We need you to help us find him. Use your men, but you’ve got to keep the vampire alive if you do spot him.”
Johnny stared at Axel as if hearing him for the first time. “Why?”
Axel raked his fingers through his silky dark hair. “Because we’ve got Princess.”
“What?” Johnny bellowed. “What’re you saying, you got Princess?”
Axel crossed his arms. “I’m saying we’ve got the bat. The vampire bat you purchased transferred the curse and put it onto Princess.”
Johnny’s mouth hung open so far he would’ve caught a world of flies if we’d be
en outside. “You mean Princess became a bat?”
“That’s right. And to return your niece to her true form, we need to find that vampire and we need him alive.”
“Is she okay?” Johnny said, his face shining with hope.
“She’s fine,” I said. “She’s at my house, but I need her to remain there. Axel knows the magic that will free her and I can communicate with animals, so she needs to stay with me so that Princess can point out the vampire.”
“I’m just so glad she’s okay.” Johnny opened his arms. “Come here, give us a hug.”
Wait. What?
Before I had a chance to argue, the mobster had wrapped Axel and me in a monstrous embrace that lifted me off my feet.
When he settled us down, I rocked back. Axel’s arms steadied me. “Gotcha,” he whispered huskily in my ear.
I shivered as his breath washed over my skin. I cleared my throat to push aside thoughts about Axel and glanced at Johnny. “We need you, Mr. Utah.”
“Right,” Axel said. “We need your men to help us look for the vampire. Princess gave a description of him. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, beard, husky build. The main thing—if you see anyone suspicious hanging around, call me. I have reason to think that the vampire will stay near Princess until the transformation is complete. Until then, the vampire is at risk of turning back into a bat.”
Johnny nodded. “Okay. I’ll send my boys to your house tomorrow, and you can catch them up to speed. Now, I want to make sure that Eva is all right. She was attacked by that creature, you say?”
“We believe so,” I said. “He’s nearby. We only need to catch him.”
Johnny led us to the door. “I’ll keep an eye out. And thank you, once again. I owe you both for helping Eva and Princess.”
We left the inn and walked back toward the car in silence. Axel opened my door for me and then crossed around the nose of the Mustang and slid inside.
“At least he didn’t kill us,” he said, threading his fingers through his hair.
I laughed. “Did you really think that was a possibility?”
Axel tipped his head toward me. “He is werewolf mafia.”