by Amy Boyles
Hugo slowed to a stop, and I pulled up beside him. The dragon’s tongue lolled from his mouth, and he gave me a sort of proud, sloppy smile.
I patted his head. “Good boy, Hugo. Good boy.”
Betty glanced back at Paige. “We owe you, kid. You did good.”
“Thank you, Paige. You saved our lives.”
“You’re welcome,” she said shyly.
Flames licked the trees. I nodded toward them. “That’s not going to start a forest fire, is it?”
Betty shook her head. “No. I cast a spell that makes the leaves flame-retardant.”
“Convenient and brilliant,” I said, forcing a feeble smile. I dragged my gaze to the trees and up to the mountain. “Think he’ll be okay?”
Betty pulled out her pipe and shoved it between her teeth. “Your boyfriend will be fine. Don’t worry about him. The town should be safe, too.”
“Cordelia and Amelia are telling Garrick, just in case.”
“Guy’s got enough to worry about.”
We floated in the air a moment. “You ready to get back?” I said.
Betty blew a smoke ring. “First we’re going back to the forest to investigate that chain.”
We turned to face the direction we’d come from. “Why?”
“Because I checked every link yesterday. They were all fine.”
“You must’ve missed one, because it started with one link. It split in half and was stretching.”
“Like I said, I checked every link.”
A cool breeze lifted my hair. I pushed a strand from my face. “What are you saying?”
“Isn’t it obvious, kid? I’m saying after I checked it, someone went and tampered with it.”
My heart fell to my feet. “It was intentional?”
Betty nodded. “Someone released the werewolf. My guess is, it’s the same person that killed Sylvia Spirits and Mayor Barnaby Battle.”
SIXTEEN
The spider crawled from the bushes when we arrived at the house.
I screamed.
Betty patted its body. “Rufus still inside?”
Yes.
“It said ‘yes,’” I said. “You asked that thing to watch Rufus?”
She scratched her head. “Just to make sure he didn’t escape. He can’t be trusted.”
I scoffed. “I’m beginning to think he’s the most trustworthy person in town. Aside from us, that is.”
We went inside, and sure enough, Rufus was where I’d last seen him, tied to an incredibly uncomfortable looking wooden chair.
Hugo bounded in. I think the dragon was proud of himself. I glanced at Betty. “Did you teach him how to ride?”
“It wasn’t me.” She pointed at Paige. “She did it. Convinced the dragon it would be fun.”
Hugo was about the size of a wooden chest, so he was perfect for Paige to ride, but he still needed to grow before I could climb aboard.
“Thank you, Paige. That was amazing.”
Paige gave me that shy smile of hers. “You’re welcome.”
Betty gripped her shoulders. “Paige, there’s a pecan pie in the kitchen. Why don’t you and Hugo go eat half of it?”
Paige's eyes shone brightly. “Yes!”
She led the dragon into the kitchen. I turned to Betty. “There’s a pie? I didn’t remember seeing one.”
“There is now,” she said.
That left the three of us alone. “How’s the potion going?”
Betty stirred what looked like tar in the cauldron. “It’s getting there. Rufus says when it’s ready, it’ll be clear.”
“Well at least it’ll be better looking.” I sniffed and got a nose full of sulfur. “Hopefully it’ll smell better, too.”
Betty inhaled. “I like this smell. Reminds me of hell and all the things you shouldn’t do in life.”
“Sure.” My gaze darted over to Rufus. “Okay, Rufus, we need information.”
Rufus perked up. “What sort of information?”
“Someone tampered with Axel’s chain. They knew he was a werewolf and expected him to break loose. You were gone for a full day before we met to do the handover with Mythica.”
“Yes,” Rufus said.
“Did you do it?”
“Do what?”
I wanted to punch him. He knew what I was asking. “Did you sabotage the chain, Rufus? The chain. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“No.”
“But someone did.”
“The entire town knows about Axel. Why are you asking me?”
Betty shoved a pipe in her mouth. She lit it with a flame from the tip of her finger. “Because you’re the extra ingredient in the soup here, Rufus. Everyone else in town accepts what Axel is. They wouldn’t have tampered with the chain. But you’re a wild card.”
Rufus leaned forward and stared straight into Betty’s eyes. “It wasn’t me. You’ve got the wrong man.”
“Then who was it?” I said.
His gaze swiveled to me. “Probably the other gorgon. You know, the one who turned your friends to stone.”
“Why would the other gorgon have done that, Rufus? Wasn’t killing Mythica enough?”
His arms strained against the ropes. “Obviously not if the gorgon killed Sylvia Spirits and Barnaby Battle, too. Think. A gorgon appeared to kill Mythica, probably some sort of revenge murder. Two other people wound up dead. Those two people happen to be the ones you need to fix the shields. So the gorgon doesn’t want the shields put back in place. You have to assume that, or at least follow it as a trail. Next your town werewolf is loose. That creates a lot of mayhem. A lot. If no one gets hurt, it still places everyone on high alert.”
“We’re already on high alert,” I snapped. “Haven’t you noticed?”
“Yes, but the werewolf is different. There are two possible outcomes—no one is hurt and everything returns to normal. Or, someone is hurt and Axel winds up out of town for good.”
A chill grazed down my spine. “But how would that help a gorgon?”
Rufus paused. “I could think better with a glass of milk.”
“Are you serious?”
“Protein and fat help me think. Milk has sugars in it too, good for my brain.”
“I’ll grab you a glass.”
I crossed to the kitchen, mumbling the entire time about how it was ridiculous that I was serving Rufus, the most annoying person in the world. I swung open the door and found Paige face-deep in the pie. Hugo sat on the floor, licking his mouth as he waited for what I assumed would be his next scrap of food.
“How’s the pie?”
“Delicious,” she said.
I grabbed a glass, paused. To heck with Rufus, he could wait. “Paige.”
Her eyebrows cocked.
“Had you always known Mythica?”
She swallowed a mouthful and tapped a spoon against the foil pie plate. “Yes.”
“Do you know who your mother is?”
“No.”
I needed more than no from her. I wished Axel were here. He could’ve helped.
“You know Axel will be himself tomorrow, right?”
She nodded. “I know. Betty said he would be fine.”
“He will be, so don’t you worry your britches about him.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Mythica said my mother died.”
“Did she?”
Paige nodded. “Mythica said she saved me from dying, too, but I never believed her. I could tell she was lying.”
“Of course you could. You’re very smart and very brave.” I licked my lips. “Do you want to find your mother?”
She nodded eagerly.
“We’ll help you, okay? However we can.” I rose and fixed two glasses of milk. I placed one in front of her.
“I have something from my mother.”
I stopped, turned around. “What?”
She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to me. It was worn with deep creases from being folded and unfolded. Inside was a pictur
e of a woman. She was holding something dark. A crease ran right through the middle so it was hard to tell what the object was. The woman had a warm smile and the same eyes as Paige.
“She’s beautiful.” I handed it back to her.
“I found it once. Mythica didn’t know or she wouldn’t have let me have it.”
There was deep sadness in her words. Sadness that a little girl shouldn’t have to experience.
My heart lurched. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
She slipped the paper back in her pocket.
“In the meantime you can ride Hugo whenever you want.”
Her face instantly brightened. It was like switching on a light. My heart ballooned. It wasn’t fair that this little girl had been held captive by an evil gorgon. I was glad Mythica was dead.
What an awful thing to think. It was horrible. Did it make me a bad person to be glad that someone wasn’t around?
I nibbled my bottom lip. No, I didn’t think so. Some people spent their lives dishing out destruction like they were passing candy around a classroom. Mythica seemed to be one of those people. I mean, who keeps a child captive and barely feeds them?
Only a horrible, horrible person.
I walked over and hugged Paige. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
I grabbed Rufus’s glass of milk and entered the living room. I reached out to give him the glass, but then realized his hands were tied.
“You’ll have to put it to my mouth,” he said.
My stomach convulsed. Betty hummed quietly as she stirred the stinking potion. She didn’t make one move to help.
Traitor.
I sighed and lifted the edge to his lips. Rufus drank the entire thing in one long gulp.
“Ah. Thank you. That helps.”
“Now. What were you going to say?”
He scrunched up his face. “We were talking about why a gorgon might want Axel out of the way. Is that right?”
“Yes. We were theorizing who, other than yourself, would’ve tampered with his chain and why.”
“A gorgon who wanted him out of the way tonight,” Betty said. “Isn’t it obvious? They wanted all attention focused somewhere else so they could do whatever it is they want.”
“But what?” I said. “I don’t understand what they want and why? They’ve already killed Mythica. If that’s what the gorgon came for, that’s done. It’s finished. Why wreak more havoc?”
They were both quiet for a moment.
“The gorgon can’t escape,” Betty said. “We’re all trapped here now because of the time watch.”
I frowned. “So wouldn’t the gorgon want the watch fixed?”
“Perhaps,” Rufus said. “That would be one way to mend things. There might be another way, though.”
“What’s that?” I said, sitting on the edge of my seat. So many possibilities we hadn’t considered. Of course, I was the newbie in this town. I didn’t know about the first possibility, much less any others.
“He means brute force,” Betty said. “Someone actually ripping the shields away.”
I frowned. “Who could do that? Who could actually rip shields?”
“You’d need very large hands,” Rufus said.
I shook my head. “Okay. I don’t understand.”
Betty scratched her head with the pipe. “Giant hands. You’d need giant hands.”
The realization struck me like a bucket of ice dumped down my back. “Oh no. Giants? As in the ones we sent Axel straight toward?”
“Tell me you didn’t.” Rufus’s face crumpled.
Betty cringed. “Yep. We sent Axel right into the giants. Giants that, though they don’t exactly hate us, they don’t love us, either. Giants that just might, if they had reason to think bad thoughts about us witches, might come down from their mountain and rip our town apart.”
I raised my hand. “Only witches can get into Magnolia Cove, and no one can enter.”
Betty’s face darkened. “The giants aren’t outside our borders. They live within them. That’s how it works.”
My voice rose several decibels. “And why am I only now finding out about this?”
Betty hitched a shoulder. “This town has a lot of secrets. You can’t learn them all in one day.”
I’d been here several months, but whatever.
I raked my fingers through my hair. “Grab your stuff, Betty. Let’s go visit some giants.”
SEVENTEEN
“But wait,” I said. “Betty, you promised the giants wouldn’t bother Axel.”
“That was before I knew that was possibly part of the gorgon’s plan.”
I rubbed my temples. This whole thing was giving me a serious headache. “What do you mean?”
Rufus shot me a smug smile. “What she means is, the giants wouldn’t normally be bothered by a werewolf, but if the gorgon needs them to rip a hole so that she or he can escape Magnolia Cove, there might be other factors.”
“Like what?”
Betty slung her purse over her shoulder. “Like the giants might already be ticked off about something. Who the heck knows? Either way, we need to get our rear ends in gear. Text your cousins and let them know where we’re going. Paige! Get in here! We’ve got someplace to be.”
I texted like she’d said.
Betty opened the door. “Spider, come on in.”
I jumped on the couch. “Oh my God, you are not letting that creature in here, are you?”
Betty fisted her hands to her hips with authority. “I most certainly am. We might need his eight legs.”
The spider, a thousand eyes and all, waddled into the house. I did my best not to retch.
Betty clapped her hands. “Now. Do we have everyone?”
“Everyone but me,” Rufus said.
“Oh, you’re not going,” I said.
He fought against his restraints. “I beg to differ. You need me.”
“Like I need a boil.”
“Do you need one of those?” His brows pinched together in all seriousness.
“No, of course I don’t. But you’re not going.” I nodded to Betty. “Let’s go.”
“I have an in with the giants.”
I stopped. Of course he did. Of course Rufus Mayes, the person who caused this entire mess—no, I’m not forgetting about my own involvement with the time watch—would have a freaking in with the one creature we needed not to tick off.
I met Betty’s gaze. She gave a slight nod. “He’s with us. If the giants are as ornery as I remember, we’ll need Rufus. In fact, we’ll need every bit of help we can get.”
I shot Rufus the meanest look I could muster. “Fine.”
“I’ll have to be untied,” he said in a voice so cocky it made me want to slap the smirk right off his face and into tomorrow, when hopefully this entire mess would be over.
“Pepper, untie him,” Betty ordered.
I opened my mouth to protest but instead walked over.
“Yes, Pepper. Why don’t you untie me?” he said.
I yanked a strand of his hair.
“Ouch.”
“Stop talking,” I commanded.
“As you wish, my lady.”
“I am not your lady and don’t you dare quote The Princess Bride to me. You don’t deserve to be able to do that.”
He shrugged.
I worked his bonds until they were free. He flicked his hands and stretched his legs. “Ah. I feel like a new man. Amazing what getting out of a little bondage will do for a person.”
Betty pointed her pipe at his chest. In her sternest voice, with her face twisted into a hideous scowl, she said, “Make one wrong move and I will vaporize you. Do you understand?”
He swallowed. “Yes, ma’am. I do.”
“Now. Is everyone ready?”
The spider hopped up and down. I groaned. Well, at least the creature was excited. Maybe I could handle hanging out with it for a little while.
The arachnid scooted over until i
ts bulbous body brushed against me.
“Oh Lord, I think I’m going to faint.”
“Wait until we get there,” Betty said. “We can use your good looks and charm with the giants. They love redheads.”
“But dislike witches,” I said.
She winked. “We won’t tell them the truth.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Betty pressed a finger to one side of her nose. A line of magic shot from her open nostril. Sparkling tendrils of power whirled around us, wrapping our crazy group in a cloud.
I blinked to clear the dust from my eyes. The house melted away. A few seconds later we’d been plunged into darkness.
The first thing I noticed was the scent of pine. Then a cool breeze flicked my hair off my shoulders. I shivered.
“Where are we?” I said.
Betty raised her hand. A lit torch appeared, the flames licking the air. She held the light high. It illuminated at least fifty yards away. That was no ordinary torch, folks.
My gaze washed up. I stared at a mountain. A trail had been cut into it. It started at our feet and wound its way up and up until it disappeared. It reminded me of a deep, angry scar.
“Welcome to Hillbilly Hill,” Rufus said in a quiet, ominous voice, “home of the giants.”
My stomach knotted with fear. What was I doing? Seriously, what was I doing? I was standing at the base of a hill that housed giants. Giants, for goodness’ sake. What if they were cannibals? Betty hadn’t said they were, but that didn’t mean that deep down these giants didn’t harbor some sort of flesh fetish.
I almost vomited at the thought, but instead I bit down the bile scrambling up my throat.
“Well, what are we standing around here waiting for?” I said. “Let’s go meet some giants.”
Betty glanced at Paige. “You ride Hugo. Stay above us. Out of sight if you have to. Okay?”
Paige climbed onto Hugo and lifted into the sky. Betty turned to the rest of us. “Let’s get climbing.”
The trail was cut neatly and at a gentle slope that didn’t make it as hard to walk as I’d originally thought. Let’s face it, I wasn’t worried about myself as much as I was about Betty. She was old, y’all. Like so old I was afraid to ask her age. Which in Southern slang means you are old.
After a few minutes my calves started burning. Even though the slope didn’t look steep, it was. A few more minutes in and my breathing became labored. Probably due to the altitude. Definitely not the fact that I hadn’t run in a couple of weeks. I’d been too busy with work stuff.