by K. J. Emrick
This was a problem. Their scarecrow, Herman Bledsoe, was suddenly becoming very aware of things. He was very close to discovering the greatest secret in Shadow Lake.
How?
The crazy thing about it was that he was right. There was an ancient system of caves here in Shadow Lake. They were pretty famous, actually, but they were closed to tourists except at three specific times out of the year. New Year’s was one of the three, and people booked a reservation for the guided tour months and sometimes years in advance to be one of the lucky few on the tour. The cold of winter didn’t keep people away. Not when there were hot springs down below the surface keeping things warm. The tour was actually better in the winter, in Addie’s opinion.
That wasn’t the part that bothered her. There were only certain parts of the caves that tourists were allowed to visit. The rest of the system was barricaded with iron gates installed at no small cost to the town. Those gates were overlaid with magic spells that Addie and Kiera and Willow had put there. If the metal bars didn’t keep people out, the magic would. They had to, because when you knew the correct turns, those tunnels led under the lake itself. They led to places no one but strong magic users should ever go.
They led to places older than humanity itself. To monsters and to demons and to places of intense beauty.
And, to the Well of Essence the Kilorian sisters had sworn to protect.
There was no way that Herman Bledsoe could know about that. It was impossible, but to look at him standing in their doorway so cocksure of himself, Addie knew without a doubt that he did.
“So,” he said, when he could see that he had their attention, “I should be there, right? I’m the town’s constable. I should be there. I’ll keep everyone where they’re supposed to be, and that way you can keep your secrets. Might have to show me what’s what down there first but that’s fine with me. When do we start?”
“We can keep our secrets just fine,” Kiera told him, “and we can do it without help. I believe that is enough for tonight, Herman. You should leave now.”
He normally would have cowed at the tone in her voice and took off like his shoes were on fire. Instead he shook his head, the snow that had collected on his shaggy hair flying off in all directions. “No, I think we need to talk about this more.”
Addie couldn’t believe this. He had stepped way past the line of being creepy. Now he was making himself a problem. She drew a little of her Life Essence down into her fingertips, preparing to use magic on him if he tried to force his way into Stonecrest. The house defenses would probably repel him if he tried, but not before she got off a few shots of her own.
Kiera got there first, and she didn’t need her magic to corral him back in line. All she needed was her presence.
“You will turn yourself around,” she directed Herman, moving around Addie to stand toe to toe with him. “You will leave our home, and our property, this instant. You will not come here again unless you are invited. You will not speak to us in town unless spoken to first. If you need us, either to discuss things such as the tunnels or to tell us there is trouble in town, you will phone our residence and not use our cellphones. Is this clear?”
“Hey, you listen here,” Herman said. He started to lift a hand, either to stick a finger in Kiera’s face or to push her back. “You can’t speak to me like that.”
Kiera swatted his arm away.
“Is that clear, I asked you?”
He blinked at her, a snarl tugging at his lip. “You better show me some respect, Kiera Kilorian.”
She huffed and took a single step closer to him. Before Addie’s eyes, Kiera seemed to grow taller. Bigger. Larger than her body. Larger than life. This wasn’t magic. It was Kiera asserting herself. She was fearsome when she chose to be.
“Leave,” she repeated. “Now.”
Herman took a step back. Then another. His hands went deep into his pockets and didn’t come out again as he turned around without another word and walked stiffly to his car. His boots crunched on the newly fallen show with each step. The black two-door hatchback was old and rundown, and it wasn’t even his. It had been purchased for him by the town to use as a work vehicle.
He slammed the door as he got in and spun the tires as he drove away.
“What has gotten into him?” Kiera asked when he was gone. He’s always been so…”
“Mousy?” Addie asked as she leaned against the open door.
“I was going to say quiet, but I suppose your description is just as accurate. Whatever could have happened to change him so?”
“That question’s been bothering me for a few days now.” Addie shook her head. She couldn’t figure it out. “It’s like he’s a totally different person. Like something has literally gotten into him.”
“Hmm. Did you notice he was wearing his duty belt? As if he was still working. It’s nearly seven in the evening now. He is only paid to work in the day.”
“Right, and he said he was coming to take me to dinner, but he had his gun belt on. His whole uniform. Is that how he dresses to take a woman out to dinner?”
“Perhaps it’s the best set of clothes he has.” Kiera stared down the driveway, where Herman’s car had already disappeared. “Or perhaps something else is going on. We should discuss it when you get back from dinner. Your young man is here.”
Headlights came around the corner from the road, and into the driveway. It was Lucian’s car, sure enough. As it got closer she could feel his presence. It started as a gentle tingle along her skin and then became a very pleasant pressure inside, a warmth that spread until she could give it a name.
Love.
It was always this way between them. She could feel him when he was around. He could feel her, too, although he didn’t like to talk about it. This was a special kind of magic, even stronger than her witch powers. It was like a premonition of things to come for her. Someday, maybe soon, they would do something important. Together.
For now, they were just going to dinner.
“I’ll be back before midnight,” she promised Kiera, but then added, “maybe.”
Her sister gave a knowing smile. “I will be here when you return. Wake me, no matter the hour, and we can talk about Herman Bledsoe. About the tunnels under the lake too, apparently. We may need to be extra vigilant for this year’s cave tour. We must protect Shadow Lake. We hold its secrets and shield the people who live here from the dark things. Even when the danger is coming from the very people we have sworn to protect.”
“We protect Shadow Lake,” Addie responded. It was the mantra that the Kilorian sisters lived their lives by. It was their truth. “I could stay here now, and we could look into this together. I mean, you and Alan are already trying to find Belladonna. The fires we need to put out are mounting. This is much more important that an awards dinner. I’ll just tell Lucian I can’t go…”
“Nonsense,” her sister said with a smile. “There’s nothing to be done about any of it tonight, and you could use a night to relax. It’s fine, Sister Addie. You aren’t going to miss anything here while you’re gone. Besides. You should ask Lucian if any of his law enforcement contacts have had a response to the arrest warrant for Belladonna. It’s been a couple of weeks now and he hasn’t said anything about it. We need to find her, and stop her, before anyone else gets hurt.”
“You’re right, as usual.”
“With age comes wisdom,” Kiera quipped. It was almost a joke, and Addie marveled again at the changes Alan had brought about in her, just by being here at Stonecrest.
Lucian parked right by the front steps and came around to open the door for her on her side. “Come on,” he said. “It’s cold out here.”
He was a handsome man, tall and blonde, with deep blue eyes and the kind of body that male models starved themselves to get. His own winter coat was open to the weather, even as he worried about her keeping warm. His nice button up shirt was a shade of blue that complimented his eyes, and his black tie with its blue pinstripes was
a good choice, but neither of those looked like they were much help against the cold. Not that it mattered to him. Lucian liked the cold. She liked that he had little quirks like that. It made him more human, somehow. Much more interesting than if he had just been a pretty face and a sculpted body. Addie had fallen for him for his mind, and his heart, not all that other stuff.
That didn’t mean she didn’t like the other stuff. Lucian was the whole package. She couldn’t imagine her life without him.
CHAPTER 2
“I ’m proud of you, by the way.” Addie undid her seatbelt as they parked the car in the side lot of the Museum of Natural History and Wonder. “This is a really big honor.”
“Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
He played it down, but she could tell that he was thrilled to have been selected for this award. There were other people receiving different accolades tonight as well, but her man was the guest of honor. His award was the highlight of the night. Addie couldn’t be prouder.
The museum building was just off Main Street in Birch Hollow. It was two stories tall, with an upstairs and a downstairs, full of exhibits and items of historical interest. Addie thought that adding “and wonder” to the end of its name was a bit pretentious, but then again this was the biggest museum in this corner of the state and well known across the country. So, they could be a little ostentatious if they wanted to be. She’d been here before, a few times, mostly to see the exhibits on the Salem witch trials. She had a personal interest in such things, naturally.
“Why the museum?” she wondered out loud. “Why not have the reception at the Town Hall, or wherever?”
“The museum has a multipurpose room,” he explained. “Birch Hollow does most of our important events there. It’s large enough to hold a crowd and there’s a kitchen right there so the food is always served fresh. The last event I attended at the Town Hall only had stale, day old donuts.”
“I thought cops liked donuts,” she teased.
“We do. We just like a good steak better.”
Tonight there was a long fabric sign hanging over the double glass doors at the front of the museum that read “Closed For Private Party.” People had already started to arrive, everyone dressed in suits and ties or dresses under their winter coats. On the way in, Addie noticed several of the selectmen from Shadow Lake, and a couple of other people who she knew. There was Martha Nguyen, who was being given an award for best new business for her Vietnamese restaurant here in Birch Hollow. Over there was Jeremy Greensmith, and Addie thought she remembered he was getting a public service award for some beautifying project he had organized for the public parks.
Some people waved to either her or Lucian. Most were just interested in getting in out of the worsening snow. Addie looked at every face.
“I don’t see your chief,” she said.
“You won’t, either. He was unavailable tonight. The mayor, too.”
He didn’t sound bitter, exactly, but she had the feeling that her agreeing to come with him meant more than she had realized. At least he had her by his side, even if no one else showed up to celebrate his accomplishment with him.
There was someone else in the crowd she recognized, though. As they were taking off their coats to hand them to the attendant in the museum’s round foyer, she saw a face from her past. It had been many years since she had seen Abierta Tesoro. She’d changed quite a bit, if the heavy makeup she was wearing to hide her condition was any indication. Not that anyone would notice if they weren’t looking for it. Her dark skin and shaved head looked natural. So did her beautiful brown eyes, for that matter. No one would ever know she was a creature of paranormal looks and strength. Which was just how Abierta had always wanted it.
The man on her arm certainly didn’t seem to suspect she was anything other than gorgeous, and friendly, and his for the night. Addie promised herself to catch up with her old friend later. Right now, they needed to get to the dining room and find their seats. It was almost time for the dinner to start. The awards would come afterward, during the dessert course. Lucian slipped his arm around her with his hand at her back, and she felt so very comfortable as they walked down the hall to the museum’s multipurpose room together. The room had been converted for the night into a dining hall, and Addie could smell the delicious aromas of the food from here. Tonight was going to be wonderful.
“I love you,” Lucian whispered to her.
“Mmm, tell me that again.”
“I will,” he promised. “Tonight. I have a little surprise for you after things wind down here. I’ll tell you when we get back to my place.”
“Oh?” she purred. That was just what she wanted to hear.
“Yes. Uh, that is, unless you have to get back home for… you know. Family business?”
Addie rolled her eyes. It was nice having someone in her life who knew what she and her sisters really were. This might not be the end of the seventeenth century when the Salem witch trials were in full swing, but, telling people you could wield magic and fraternized with fairies, trolls, and incubi on a daily basis would certainly get you sent to the insane asylum. It had been a risk telling Lucian what she was. A risk that was well worth it, as it turned out.
Still, it sometimes bothered her how Lucian was afraid to use the ‘w’ word, even at a whisper. “The family business, as you call it, can keep for a night. Especially if you’ve got a surprise for me. What is it?”
“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise. You’ll just have to wait and trust me.”
Addie’s mind went in a hundred different directions, trying to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. Now she was more excited for what would come after the reception than she was about his award. No way was she missing out on whatever it was he had planned! Kiera could wait until tomorrow to talk about Herman Bledsoe and this sudden crush he had on her. Or the upcoming cave tour at Shadow Lake. Or where Belladonna Nightshade might be hiding herself. All of it could wait.
What was his surprise?
Tonight was looking better and better all the time.
“Lucian!” a voice boomed out through the small crowd sauntering down the hallway toward dinner. “Oh, mon Dieu! It is so good to see you, my friend! You have stayed away far too long. What must I do to get you to visit our poor little museum more often?”
They came to a stop as a tall and thin and overdressed man in a black tuxedo came over to them with his hands stretched out wide. He had a thin black mustache outlining his upper lip and hair that was slicked down from a central part. The flower in his lapel was a pink carnation and Addie could only imagine what he had paid for that in the dead of winter.
When he got to them he took Lucian by both shoulders and kissed him once on each cheek. “Ah, tonight is a good night, yes? We will recognize this good man for the good things that he has done. Yes?”
His accent was very French. His enthusiasm was contagious. He obviously knew Lucian, and Addie had the tickling feeling that she had seen him before and just couldn’t place him. Regardless, she was starting to like him already.
“Hello, Marcelle,” Lucian greeted him, not returning the kisses. “I always enjoy coming to the museum, you know that, but I’ve been just a little bit busy recently.”
“Oh, mais oui, but of course. Oh, and I see why!” He turned to Addie but thankfully, didn’t try to give her the same warm greeting he had given Lucian. “Not only are you keeping our streets safe, but you have found time for l’amour in your life. I am right, yes? This beautiful lady is your, shall we say, girlfriend? Hmm?”
“Yes,” she told him, holding her hand out to him, fingertips first. “That’s what you would say. Enchanté, mon gar. Je m'appelle Addie.”
Marcelle’s eyes lit up, and in a rush, he hastened to give Addie the kisses he’d skipped before. “Ah! C’est bon! Pis, une femme belle. Ch’t’icitte pour toujours pour Lucian pour trouver ‘a la!”
Lucian was watching them with an eyebrow cocked. He’d n
ever heard her talk in another language before. She knew more than a dozen fluently, both from around the world and from magical species like tree sprites, and several others she knew well enough to get by in. Of course, up here in New England, with Quebec right across the Canadian border, it paid to be able to speak French. Or their version of French, to be more precise. Quebec French was as far removed from the French they spoke in France as English was removed from Klingon. Marcelle was going on and on about how nice it was to find a pretty woman gracing his museum who could speak the language of his home country. She traded small talk with him, to his great enjoyment, for a minute or so. Then he hugged her and kissed her cheeks again.
“You have a good woman here, Lucian, I can tell that myself! I am so happy that you have brought her to my museum tonight.”
“This is your museum?” Addie asked, switching back to English with him.
“Well,” he hedged, drawing out the vowel sound. “I am the curator of this wonderful place. Perhaps not the owner, but the man responsible for all of its glory, oui. I know every part of this amazing museum of wonders. No one, how do you say, does it better. They can not do without Marcelle LeBlanc, you see!”
Addie laughed softly and snuggled back into Lucian’s side. “I like your friend. We should have dinner with him sometime.”
“Oh, tres bon!” Marcelle agreed. “I have been trying to get our friend here to come have a meal at my home for some time, and now he can not say no. Not when you have asked for him! Mercis, Addie. Ah, now. You must go in for the dinner. You do not want to be late for your own award ceremony, no, no, no. We can not have that!”
Lucian shook his hand, and promised they would get together soon, and then they mixed in with the last of the crowd. The doorway on their left opened into a large room set up with several round tables ringed with chairs. Place cards sat in front of each setting. Most everyone had already taken their seat. There was a smaller square table to the right of the doors, draped in a heavy white cloth like the rest, where a woman with bifocal glasses sat handing out nametags and directing people to their seats. Lucian and Addie found themselves at a table not that far away at the back, sitting with people they didn’t know. That was fine with her. She wanted to give her full attention to Lucian during the ceremony.