Alchemy and Arson

by Lily Webb

  I pounded on the door, much more forcefully than was necessary, and waited. She couldn’t ignore me forever, and I’d knock all day if she forced me. Who knew, if I annoyed her enough, she might let slip something she would never have said otherwise.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Lorelei shouted as she flung the door open again. “I should have you arrested for harassment.”

  “Harassment is probably somewhere in my job description, Councilwoman,” I said. “If we journalists didn’t pester our representatives, they’d never tell us anything.”

  “This is no time for your humor, Ms. Clarke,” Lorelei said. “Now leave before I call the police. If you want to talk to me, do it through the proper channels and contact my staff.”

  She made to slam the door again, but I wedged my foot in between it and the doorframe. The heavy wood smashed my foot so hard I thought it was going to explode and it took everything I had not to shriek, but I refused to let her see me in pain so I bit it back.

  “You really are out of your mind,” Lorelei laughed, but she seemed impressed more than anything else.

  “No, just determined. Don’t forget, Councilwoman, you’re an elected representative and you’re supposed to serve me,” I said. Lorelei fixed me with a look that said she would gladly have cursed me to hex and back if she could have but thought better of it.

  “What in Lilith’s name is going on out there?” the male voice called again and I heard footsteps coming down the hall toward the door. Lorelei sighed, looking defeated.

  “Fine. Five minutes, no more,” she said and flung the door open. Cautiously, I stepped around her inside and came face-to-face with a handsome man her age whose hands were covered in soil. If he was the one responsible for the plants it would’ve explained why they hadn’t all withered and died already under Lorelei’s care.

  “Oh, hello,” the man said. “I’m Devon, Lorelei’s husband. I’d offer you a hand, but well,” he said, raising his dirty hands.

  “Zoe Clarke, and no worries,” I said, barely acknowledging him. Once he realized who I was, I had a feeling all his hospitality would run out of his ears. He looked me up and down like he recognized my name but couldn’t figure out where from until at last it dawned on him.

  “Oh, you were one of Aurelia’s classmates, weren’t you?” Devon asked with much more grace than I deserved.

  “Yeah, something like that,” I said.

  “We were just on our way out,” Lorelei said.

  “I won’t keep you. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about Councilwoman Woods,” I said and Lorelei’s face darkened.

  “I don’t think that’s appropriate, Ms. Clarke,” Lorelei said.

  “She’s just doing her job, Lorelei,” Devon muttered. He wasn’t wrong. The sooner she answered my questions, the sooner I would leave. And if she refused to answer, I’d just keep asking until she did — today or four days from now.

  “Make it quick, we have people waiting on us,” Lorelei snapped.

  “Please, come in, sit down,” Devon said, waving me into the living room from the hall. Lorelei looked like her head was going to shoot off of her shoulders like a burst berry. The last thing I wanted to do was get comfortable in Lorelei Riddle’s home, but it wasn’t like I could say no.

  “It’s okay, don’t be afraid,” Devon said, clearly unfazed. Reluctantly, I followed him down the hall and into the living room, which was cozy but not unbearably so. The walls were painted a powder blue — and were lined with photos of Aurelia and her grandmother, Claudette, the previous head witch of Moon Grove.

  Mr. Riddle gestured for me to sit on the plush white leather sofa and I couldn’t refuse his hospitality, so I sat. He washed his hands in the kitchen sink and Lorelei sat directly across from me in one of the two matching chairs.

  Everywhere I looked, Aurelia’s too-perfect blue eyes and beautiful blonde hair stared back, taunting me. It was a surreal experience to look at photos of someone I’d sent to jail less than two weeks prior while having a casual conversation with her parents, yet there I was.

  But the strangest thing was that Lorelei herself wasn’t in any of the pictures. Devon appeared here and there, but Lorelei was nowhere to be found. I made a mental note of that, not sure if it meant anything.

  “Look, I know this is awkward, but I swear I’m not trying to make it that way,” I said, unable to bear the silence that had fallen between us after I sat. “I’m only here because I don’t know who else to ask.”

  “It’s okay, we had a feeling you might be dropping by at some point,” Devon said as he joined us. Oh, really? Why was that? As much as I wanted to know, I decided not to ask.

  “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll just get right to it then,” I said, shrugging. “I heard through the grapevine that both you and Councilwoman Woods were involved in some sort of negotiations with the werewolves. Is that true?”

  Though Lorelei gulped, she nodded to confirm.

  “It is,” she said, refusing to look me in the eye.

  “What sort of negotiations were they?” I asked.

  “Standard negotiations, nothing out of the ordinary. Since the vampires got a stake in their heart to gain some influence with the Council, the werewolves decided they didn’t want to be left out. We were just trying to contain the situation,” Lorelei said.

  “What situation?” I asked. Lorelei sighed and brought her hand to her forehead.

  “You’re digging for something that isn’t there, Ms. Clarke. This is a non-starter of a story,” she said.

  “Maybe it is, but one of your colleagues just died in a house fire, so I don’t think you can blame me for asking,” I said. It was probably too forceful, but I had already taken enough off of Lorelei in the last few days — I couldn’t do it anymore.

  “And you think I had something to do with it, is that what you’re saying?” Lorelei asked. “That’s absurd. You can ask Devon, I was home that night, just like everyone else should have been,” she continued. It was an obvious dig about me breaking the curfew, but I ignored it.

  “It’s true, she was here cooking dinner when the fire broke out. We didn’t know about it until much later that night when Heath called,” Devon said.

  “Thank you, dear. Look, Ms. Clarke, I know you probably think Aurelia must’ve learned to murder from me, but let me be clear: I would never dream of harming another witch,” Lorelei said. “What Aurelia did to Professor Frost, it’s… it’s unspeakable. She’s far too ambitious for her own good, always has been. Ambition may run in the Riddle family, but not like that.”

  Ambitious probably wasn’t the word I would’ve chosen to describe Lorelei’s daughter, but it still wasn’t inaccurate. Cutthroat might’ve been better, though — literally and figuratively.

  “And what about you, Mrs. Riddle? Are you ambitious?” I asked. She narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Implying what, exactly?”

  “Nothing, it was a straightforward question. You’re the newest witch on Moon Grove’s Council and I’m sure you didn’t get there by resting on your laurels,” I said.

  “I didn’t murder anyone for the job and I certainly wouldn’t kill a colleague to boost my profile if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Lorelei said.

  “I wasn’t suggesting anything, but okay. Anyway, one last question and I’ll get out of your hair,” I said.

  “Right on time. Your five minutes are almost over,” Lorelei said, smiling.

  “I spoke to Hilda Blackwood yesterday,” I said and Lorelei’s smile fell from her face like rain from the sky. “She told me that you more than anyone else on the Council gave her and her shop quite a bit of trouble when she was trying to get approval to open it. Why’s that?”

  “Lilith, what a PR disaster this has become,” Lorelei said under breath. “I’m only going to say this one more time for the record: I don’t and have never had any interest in using my position to antagonize Hilda or anyone else.”

  “Not even if they’re dirty hip
pies?” I asked and Lorelei’s face twisted. Zing!

  “Every day I regret saying that more,” she sighed, but I wasn’t buying it. Lorelei probably didn’t regret saying it so much as she regretted it being spread. “Despite that, I assure you I don’t have any bias against Hilda or her shop. I only wanted to make sure we weren’t introducing unforeseen dangers into the community via unregulated substances.”

  Yeah, right.

  “That’s not what Sage Snow told me,” I said. Lorelei’s frown deepened.

  “Somehow, I’m not surprised to hear that,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “I’m not in the business of gossiping so I’ll leave it at this: if I were you, I’d be paying close attention to Ms. Snow,” Lorelei said. “As, erm, eccentric as Hilda is, not even she can hold a tie-dyed candle to Sage’s brand of quirky.”

  “Being quirky doesn’t make you a criminal,” I said. If that were true, everyone in Moon Grove would be behind bars.

  “You’re right, it doesn’t. But I swear to you, Ms. Clarke, there’s something not quite trustworthy about her,” Lorelei said.

  As a member of the Council, Lorelei probably knew more about every citizen in town than I ever would, but I wasn’t sure I believed her about Sage. She seemed pretty normal to me; maybe a little peeved about the way the Council had treated her and Hilda, but I would’ve been too if it were me.

  “Don’t forget, she’s Hilda’s apprentice. She has access to everything inside that shop: the tonics, the ingredients, the formulas, everything. And thanks to Hilda’s instruction, Sage knows how to use them too,” Lorelei continued.

  A chill swept over me. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d been so fixated on Hilda at the time that I didn’t even consider Sage as a culprit. She had access to the weapons, and she definitely had a motive, though I would’ve guessed she’d go after Lorelei before Circe. Still, maybe anyone on the Council was good enough...

  “Between you and me, I’ve heard she has a certain proclivity for fire in her studies,” Lorelei said, snapping me out of my thoughts. So much for avoiding gossip, but I wasn’t complaining. It was good information to have, as frightening as it was.

  “I see. Well, thanks for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Riddle,” I said as I stood from the sofa, careful not to look at any of the photos of Aurelia on the walls.

  “It was our pleasure,” Mr. Riddle said, standing to offer me a hand to shake. What was his deal? I put his daughter in jail and more or less accused his wife of murder too, so why was he being so nice to me? It was almost like he was grateful to be rid of Aurelia.

  I placed my hand in his, shook it twice, and quickly withdrew. Lorelei stood but crossed her arms over her chest. Clearly, she didn’t echo her husband’s sentiment.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Lorelei said, gesturing toward the front door for me to lead and I didn’t dare argue. As we walked, I felt her eyes laser-focused on my back and didn’t stop thinking about all the ways she could curse me into oblivion until my hand met the cold metal of the doorknob.

  I flung it open and stepped outside never more grateful for fresh air. When I turned around, Lorelei stared at me flat faced.

  “I’m sorry I interrupted your plans,” I lied. She scoffed.

  “So am I. Don’t ever come here unannounced again, Ms. Clarke. I won’t be so nice about it next time,” Lorelei said and slammed the door shut in my face.

  As far as I was concerned, there wouldn’t be another.

  Chapter Nine

  My phone vibrated on the couch beside me, making me jump up from the notes I’d been taking. Grateful for the distraction, I picked up the phone and smiled when I saw I had a message from Mallory.

  >>Mallory: Hey, what are you up to today?

  Though I had a ton on my mind and even more work to do making sense of all the info I’d gathered, I didn’t know where to go with any of it. Mallory could be a good person to bounce my ideas off in the meantime.

  >>Me: Not much, trying to make sense of everything I’ve learned in the last couple days. What about you? Anything new on the picture I sent you?

  >> Mallory: Actually, that’s why I’m writing. Can I come over?

  >>Me: Yeah, sure. I’m just sitting around pretending like I’m working anyway.

  >>Mallory: Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Brace yourself.

  >>Me: I always do when you’re around.

  Mallory didn’t answer, which I assumed meant she didn’t find my joke very funny, but she was difficult to offend so I wasn’t worried. True to her word, she knocked on the door just a few minutes later and I wondered if she flew there — or if she was already on my street when she texted.

  I climbed off the couch and let Mallory inside. Without a word, she strode past me in a blur of emerald robes and brown hair to flop on the couch, her nest of hair bouncing along with her.

  “Nice to see you again too,” I laughed, closing the door behind her.

  “Sorry, I ran here in a hurry, I’m exhausted,” she said.

  “It must’ve been important then. What did you find out? I only ask because I might already have an answer, but I’m curious what you learned,” I said.

  “That symbol you sent me seems to have a couple of different meanings, depending on who you ask,” Mallory said through her heaving breaths.

  “Really? As far as I knew, it only had one meeting. Both Raina and Hilda told me it’s what’s known as the All-Seeing Eye, which I guess is some sort of alchemical thing,” I said.

  “That’s true, but like I said, there are other meanings,” Mallory said.

  “I don’t like the sound of this. The last time you did research on a symbol for me, you stirred up all kinds of things I could’ve gone the rest of my life without knowing,” I said, remembering with dread that I had distant familial links to the founder of one of Moon Grove’s oldest cults, the Black Brotherhood.

  “Well, don’t drop your broom just yet, it’s not that serious,” Mallory said.

  “Okay, then what is it?”

  “That eye is also associated with, erm, hippies,” Mallory said and I laughed. That definitely lined up with my impression of Hilda and Sage and explained why they’d taken the symbol as their shop’s logo.

  “That fits based on what I know now,” I said.

  “Yeah, but that’s the weird thing. No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t figure out why they picked that symbol in particular,” Mallory said.

  “Maybe they just liked the way it looked. Not everything has to be some grand conspiracy, you know?” I asked.

  “Heresy!” Mallory said and I laughed. “In the world of research, there’s no such thing as coincidences.”

  “Well in the real world where the rest of us live, there is,” I said as I sat down beside her.

  “Were you taking some sort of notes?” Mallory asked, nodding at the notebook I’d left open on the couch.

  “I was writing down some thoughts and observations I had about the people I’ve talked to in the last couple of days,” I said.

  “Let me guess: you’re chasing after whoever killed Councilwoman Woods, aren’t you?” Mallory asked.

  “How can you know me so well in such a short amount of time?”

  “You’re not exactly subtle,” Mallory said. “I swear, murder seems to follow you. You’re cursed or something,”

  “I hope you aren’t right about that,” I sighed.

  “Probably not. Where’s Flora?”

  “Good question, I haven’t seen her all morning. When I woke up she wasn’t here. I know she went on a date with her boyfriend last night, so maybe she never came home,” I said.

  “Oh, how scandalous! I love it,” Mallory said, rubbing her hands together like some sort of diabolical mastermind. “Speaking of scandals, who all have you talked to already?”

  “I started with Hilda Blackwood, the owner of that new alchemical store, Hypnotic Tonics,” I said and Mallory raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Why?”

/>   “Well, I didn’t send you that picture of the symbol for no reason. I’m sure you’ve already heard by now, but I made the mistake of trying to sneak my grandmother into Moon Grove and it didn’t work out in my favor,” I said.

  “Seriously, girl, what were you thinking?” Mallory asked.

  “I wasn’t,” I said.

  “Fair enough. So, what’s the connection then? Why go talk to Hilda?”

  “I found a vial stopper outside Circe’s house during the fire. Well, more accurately, I tripped on it. Anyway, I don’t think it was a coincidence that it was there, which is why I sent you the picture to help figure out where it might’ve come from,” I said. Mallory nodded.

  “But I didn’t put two and two together until I showed the stopper to Mitch, my boss over at the Messenger, and he tipped me off about Hypnotic Tonics. It made sense because the flames that burned Circe’s house to the ground were definitely magical.”

  “Yeah, I read about that in the paper,” Mallory said.

  “Actually, I’m glad you’re here because I’ve been meaning to ask you what you think about it. I’ve never heard of any sort of fire that burns green, have you?” I asked. Of course I hadn’t, I hadn’t grown up in Moon Grove where up was down and down was up.

  “I mean, of course I had to go digging as soon as I read about it,” Mallory said.

  “Yeah, I suspected,” I said. Mallory smirked at me. “What did you find?”

  “Well, it’s a bit of a mystery how it’s made according to what I read, but still, the only thing that fits the description is this stuff I found in an old Alchemy textbook of mine called Wild Fyre. That’s fire with a Y,” Mallory said.

  “Wait, why do they spell it with a Y? And how can they know what it is without knowing how to make it? That doesn’t make any sense,” I said.

  “I dunno. Maybe the stodgy old warlocks who created it thought it looked cooler spelled that way. Anyway, the textbook said the Council banned the creation of it something like four hundred years ago and the formula has been lost ever since,” Mallory said.

  “Wow, so that’s what Hilda meant when she said the right witch or warlock could extract ingredients from the Mean Green,” I said — and why Lorelei told me about Sage’s fascination with fire and her access to all of Hilda’s things in the shop.