Chapter 24
It took a little while to sort everything out. For one thing, as soon as Willow reversed the paralysis spell on Titus – waiting until Jack had put him in magical handcuffs, first – he began complaining that everything we said was a lie, and that he had gotten an intruder alert on his phone, telling him someone was breaking into the blood bank. He came only with the intention of stopping a robbery, and claimed that as soon as he arrived Willow and I attacked him.
Of course, he didn’t exactly get far with that theory.
Andy pulled Willow and me aside while Jack worked on getting Titus to the Enforcers office without anyone seeing what was going on. They didn’t want the rumor mill in town going nuts, which meant using magic.
“So,” Andy said to me. “Do you want to walk me through what happened? How did you know that Titus was the killer?”
I explained everything to him, from the meeting with Eldromir, to meeting Willow, to realizing it was Titus.
“We didn’t really break in,” Willow said. “We got here, and we thought we heard someone in trouble, so we came in.”
Andy raised an eyebrow and Willow shrugged. “That way it’s not illegal. We were trying to help someone.”
“Sure, what Willow said,” I replied. “I definitely heard someone calling for help.”
“Of course you did. Alright, so Titus came at you with a gun?”
“Yeah,” I replied, recounting the end of the story. “I have his phone. It should have the video that shows him admitting to killing Luca in the office.”
“Well, that seems open and shut, then. Are you sure you’re alright?” The concern on his face made me think he was more worried about me than he would have been any other crime victim.
I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t need to go to the hospital. My nose is just going to be sore for a few days.”
Andy moved his hand to my face, and I stopped breathing as his fingers touched my nose gingerly. I winced with pain.
“Sorry,” I said.
“No, it’s fine.”
“I can give you something for that,” Willow said.
“Thanks,” I said.
“In that case, I’ll let you both go for now. I know where to find you.”
“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
Andy grinned. “I’ve never seen Jack move so quickly as when he got that phone call. I know there’s a history between the two of you, but he really does still care for you, you know.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I kind of wish he hated me, too. Thanks.”
Willow and I made our way back out into the afternoon.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Willow asked.
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to pretend there’s nothing going on between you and Andy?”
I stopped and looked at her. “Seriously?”
“Please. Everyone can see it.”
“Yeah, well, everyone is seeing a whole bunch of nothing.”
“Right. Because your last relationship went badly you don’t want to get involved with anyone else ever again.”
“It didn’t just go badly, Sean broke my heart completely. And now he’s dating Jack, and every time I see him I get reminded of that.”
“And it’s high time you got over it. Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s true. It’s been almost a year. Sean broke your heart, and I get that. But you can’t stay away from wizards forever because you’re afraid of committing to someone again.”
“You don’t get it,” I said to Willow, walking away while trying to fight back tears. “I don’t want to get hurt again.”
“Of course I get it! Do you think you’re the only person to ever go through a bad breakup? We’ve all had our hearts broken. But you’ve already been done badly by Sean. He should have told you the truth about his sexuality before you had to find out in the worst possible way. But are you really going to give up the possibility of ever finding love because of one bad experience?”
“Yes!” I shouted. “And that’s fine. I’m better off alone anyway.”
Willow caught up to me no matter how fast I tried to walk away. She was taller than I was, with longer legs, after all.
“Come on, Ali,” Willow said. “Give it a shot. You never know.”
We walked in silence up until the intersection where I had to take a right and Willow a left.
The next day, Leda came to see me.
“Are you ok? I heard what happened.”
“I am, thanks, Leda,” I said to her. “It was scary, but I got through it. And Willow did, too.”
“I’m glad you’re both alright. I wanted to see for myself.”
“You know it’ll take more than a crooked vampire to take me down,” I joked. After being faced with the evidence against him, Titus had admitted to everything. He was going to be spending at least a few hundred years behind bars at Spellcatraz, so he was officially no longer our problem.
It turned out he had been skimming money off the top of all the cash donations and grants the blood bank received. So on top of the time he was facing for murder, Titus was also facing time for fraud.
And the next day the Sadoveanus showed up on my doorstep with a check and some tearful thanks.
“Well, all the same, I don’t think Mom would have taken it well if anything had happened to you,” Leda said. “She called me eight times yesterday, just to make sure I was alright.”
I laughed. “That sounds like her. If it helps, she stopped by here at least a dozen times, and I saw her peeking her head through the window to make sure I was home at one point, too. Now, did you get a chance to speak with Portia?”
“That’s one of the reasons why I came by, actually,” Leda said. “I saw her yesterday afternoon. I told her that I noticed she was having trouble coming in on time, and asked if everything was alright, or if there was something going on.”
“And?”
“She broke down. She told me she was so embarrassed; her husband left her a few weeks ago, and she’s been trying to juggle work and the kids without it affecting anything, but she hasn’t been able to manage it. She felt so bad.”
“Oh, that’s sad,” I said.
“Exactly. She felt awful about it, and she wanted to tell me, but she didn’t dare. So we discussed it, and we’ve come up with a plan. For a few weeks she’s going to work one extra day, but shorter hours, so that she can get her kids off to the Academy before coming in to work, and leave in time to pick them up.”
“And Sandromira is on board with that?”
“Yeah,” Leda nodded. “I explained to her what was going on. She commended me for finding out what the problem was and coming up with a solution that worked for everyone. Can you imagine if I’d had to fire Portia? Just after her husband left her?”
“Good job,” I said, smiling at my sister. “I’m proud of you.”
“No, I don’t deserve any of the credit. This was all you. You’re the one who told me what to do.”
“And you’re the one who actually did it. You found out what the problem was, and you came up with a solution.”
“You have no idea how helpful you were,” Leda said. “I wanted you to know that.”
“Thanks,” I said to her with a smile. “It’s good to see that even though it took over two decades I’ve finally helped you out with something instead of the other way around.”
Leda laughed. “Are you going to the pie competition tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Do you know what Grandma Rosie has planned?”
“As in, how is she going to win? I don’t have a clue, but I’m sure it’ll be entertaining if nothing else.”
Leda grinned. “Good. I’ll see you there.”
Chapter 25
The next day was the big day – the pie baking competition. It seemed all of Mt. Rheanier came out to watch. Personally, I was mobbed almost as much as the competitors by people trying to get some inside information
on what had happened with Titus, but after I’d made it extremely clear that I wasn’t going to be giving anything away, I was mostly left alone.
“Are you being mobbed as much as I am?” Willow asked when I found her. We were in the biggest park in town. The whole space had been magically heated up, so even though it was absolutely freezing outside the competition area, it was actually nice and comfortable in here.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug. “But they’re mostly leaving me alone now.”
“Same. Yesterday at the hospital I had four paranormals come in with injuries I’m pretty sure they gave themselves just so they could come in and ask me about what had happened.”
I shook my head, incredulous. “Paranormals are crazy.”
“And speaking of crazy, any idea what your grandma is up to?”
I shrugged. “Nope. I guess we’ll find out together.”
“I can’t wait.”
As if right on cue, a voice boomed from the makeshift stage at the front of the park.
“Paranormals one and all, come forward to see the judging of pies to declare the Mt. Rheanier Baking Champion. We have seven competitors this year, including the reigning champion, Rosie Everwood!”
The wizard announcing paused as cheers rang out for my grandmother, as Willow and I hollered along with them. I looked over at Gloria, who looked like she’d just eaten a salt-covered lemon.
“Now,” the wizard continued. “Let me introduce our judges. First of all, we have a witch trained in France, from the famous Le Cauldron Bleu, please give a warm welcome to Marianne Bucheron!”
Another warm round of applause erupted from the crowd while the witch at the far end of the judge’s table stood up. She had perfectly coiffed curly brown hair, and her suit was obviously tailored. Exactly what I would have expected for someone from France.
“Our second judge is the host of a number of popular cooking shows and owns his own restaurant in England, please say hello to Gordon Rushmore.”
This time there were a few hoots and hollers from fans of the show as a short, kindly-looking man dressed in a chef’s uniform stood and waved at the crowd for a second.
“Finally, our last judge has been baking since she was a little girl, was recently named one of the top 30 witches under 30 by Witchtrepreneur Magazine, and since her bakery opened less than a year ago has won no fewer than four national awards. Please give a warm welcome to Western Woods’ own Ellie Graham!”
Another round of applause rang out as the witch on the other end of the table stood up. She had wavy brown hair and a friendly, round face which beamed at the crowd with a mixture of excitement and embarrassment. I had a feeling with her business just getting off the ground that she wasn’t used to this kind of attention.
“Now, will the first baker please bring her pie to the front? There will be samples made available for the spectators after the winners have been announced, as always.”
That was why competitors had to submit two pies: one was for the judges, and the other was for spectators. The second pie was always magically duplicated so that everyone could try a slice, so that the bakers didn’t have to make twenty pies each just to feed everyone.
The first competitor was Elaine Redwood, a kindly old grandmother who must have been almost in her eighties by now. Her son and daughter-in-law ran one of the convenience stores in town, and whenever Elaine was there she used to sneak us all candy and tell her son she’d pay for it, which I was sure she never did.
She brought her pie up to the judges, cut a small slice for each of them, and then had a private conversation with each for a moment. The judges looked satisfied as they ate the pie, and Elaine eventually went back to stand in line.
Next up was Grandma Rosie.
“Do you think something weird is going to happen now?” Willow whispered into my ear, but I shook my head.
“No, I don’t think so. Grandma Rosie actually takes pride in her pie. Whatever happens is going to happen with Gloria’s pie.”
Sure enough, Grandma Rosie’s pie was happily gobbled down by the judges without any untoward activity.
A few more witches and two wizards offered up their pies, and then it was Gloria’s turn. She was the last one to be tasted – if I remembered correctly the tasting order was done by random draw – and I realized as she walked up to the judges’ table, proudly holding her pie, that I was holding my breath. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Maybe Grandma Rosie hadn’t managed to do anything, and Gloria’s pie was going to win. After all, she had the potion inside the batter. I had seen it measured out and poured into it myself.
As Gloria stepped up to the judges with her pie, she looked over at Grandma Rosie with the smuggest expression I had ever seen on a witch’s face. The look was full of loathing, and I was half expecting her to flip off my grandma, or something like that.
“Alright, now it’s time to serve the pie by Gloria Melrose,” the announcer said. “She’s promised us something delicious.”
Gloria reached with the knife and cut a slice of the pie, but as soon as the knife touched the pastry, a wisp of purple smoke escaped from the dough. It quickly turned into the form of a jack-in-the-box, the kind every little witch and wizard has as a kid, complete with creepy eyes and a body that dangled weirdly from the springs.
“I’m afraid this pie was made by a cheater,” the jack-in-the-box announced in a high-pitched voice. “Sorry, Gloria. You can’t use a potion to make everyone like your pie and get away with it. I’m afraid this is all about to blow up in your face.”
There was dead silence in the park for about three seconds, then a minute later the entire pie really did explode. Bits of eggnog, pie crust, and cranberries flew all over the judging area. The witches and wizards in the front row ducked to avoid being hit by the flying pastry.
Gloria was completely covered in it. Her face was the pasty white color of eggnog, a piece of orange zest was stuck in her eyebrow, and a piece of cranberry on her cheek looked like an enormous zit.
Marianne Bucheron looked horrified, pulling out her wand to return her suit to its pristine condition once more. Gordon simply looked stunned, like he hadn’t realized what had actually happened yet, and Ellie Graham laughed, picked a piece of pie that had landed on her cheek, and placed it in her mouth.
“Well, I’m not sure about the delivery, but the taste is alright,” she said into the microphone, earning a nervous laugh in reply from the crowd, who hadn’t quite understood what was going on yet.
“This was you,” Gloria screamed at Grandma Rosie, and the crowd went silent once more. “You did this! I know you did this to me! How dare you? How dare you, you stupid witch!”
Gloria whipped out her wand and pointed it at Grandma Rosie, but my grandmother was too quick. Gloria’s wand flew out of her hand and landed harmlessly behind the stage. Gloria roared with outrage, annoyed that her plan to hex my grandmother had failed, and rushed toward her.
Before Grandma Rosie had a chance to do anything, Elaine had pulled out her wand and cast a spell. It was like Gloria had been caught in a trap; her ankle immediately flew up into the air as she hung upside down. The bottom of her dress fell in front of her face, revealing her pink spotted underwear to the crowd.
“Let me down, let me down!” Gloria shrieked, her arms flailing around.
“Are you going to keep trying to hex Rosie?”
“No, I’ll stop! I promise, I’ll stop!” Gloria shouted. Satisfied, Elaine reversed the spell and Gloria dropped to the ground, quickly covering herself as she glowered at Elaine.
“You’re going to pay for this,” she snarled at the older witch. “How dare you embarrass me like this in front of everyone?”
“You’re the one embarrassing yourself,” Elaine snapped back at her. “How dare you cheat at a pie-making competition, for goodness’ sake? Then attacking one of your fellow competitors?”
“I didn’t cheat!” Gloria screeched. “Rosemary did this to me! I swear it was you, Rosie.
I know it was!”
Jack was making his way toward the stage now; I could see him pushing his way through the crowd to get to the front before anything even crazier happened.
The judges were all huddled together, Ellie pointed her wand at the remains of the pie and it glowed red. The three of them all looked disappointed, then huddled together, closely enough that I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“Come on, now,” Jack was telling Gloria. “You’ve caused enough commotion for one day.”
“I will not come along, young wizard,” Gloria snapped. “As a competitor I have the right to be up here on this stage along with everyone else.”
“Actually,” Ellie Graham said, “we’ve just tested your pie for the addition of magical potions, which is strictly forbidden in this competition, and have decided to disqualify you. You are officially no longer a competitor.”
“What?” Gloria screeched. “You can’t do that! You’re cheating! Rosie put you up to it, didn’t she?”
“Come on, now, Gloria,” Jack said, leading her gently but firmly by the elbow toward the edge of the stage. “It’s time to go.”
“You’ll pay for this,” Gloria said, pointing a finger at Grandma Rosie. “I know you did this!”
Jack escorted Gloria off the stage and out of the park while the announcer took over once more.
“Well, paranormals of Mt. Rheanier, I don’t quite know what to say. This has been a very unexpected turn of events. I’m afraid I need to announce a disqualification – Gloria Melrose has been found to have used a potion to trick the judges into choosing her pie as the winner, which goes against the rules. As such, she has been disqualified.”
A murmur rose through the crowd as everyone digested the words. No one had ever been disqualified from the pie baking competition before. At least, not as far as I knew. It was like no one knew quite how to react.
Then, Elaine began to clap, and the entire crowd burst out into cheers.
“No cheaters!” someone called out from the crowd.
Potion Sickness Page 14