Southern Dreams

by Amy Boyles

  My head jerked in the direction of the fire.

  Betty, atop Hugo, darted through the air.

  “Heard you needed some help,” she called.

  I cupped my hands over my mouth. “We do! They were doves. Think you can turn them back?”

  She fisted the air like a warrior. “Leave it to me!”

  Idie’s voice filled with wonder. “This was not in my dream.”

  “Let’s hope she can change them back.”

  Betty and Hugo launched a direct assault on the harpies. The birds had formed a tight V, ready for the attack. Hugo sprayed fire while Betty hurled magic.

  The birds dodged as best they could, but Betty knew more magic than me. Within ten minutes all the harpies had been changed back into doves.

  That was the good part.

  The bad part was that the doves flew away to freedom. I’d have to order more before the wedding.

  When she was finished, Betty directed Hugo to land. The dragon touched down feet away from us.

  I rushed up and hugged Hugo’s neck. “Good job, boy. Betty, how’d you know what happened?”

  “Heard about it in town.” She lit her pipe and stuck it between her teeth. “Figured you’d be smart enough to head here, so I called on Hugo and we came right over.”

  “What about Axel?” I said.

  She shook her head. “Didn’t have a chance to tell him.”

  Idie threw herself on Hugo. “Thank you. Both of you! We almost died.”

  Sort of, but I didn’t want to think about that part too much. It might spoil my day.

  Betty cocked an eye at me. I could feel her scrutiny all the way to my bones. “Do one of y’all want to explain how in tarnation those doves got transformed?”

  I explained what had happened and about Idie’s dream. “We didn’t work a specific magic spell,” I said. “It just sort of happened.”

  “As if it was supposed to.” Idie fingered her hair, plumping the flat spots. “It was just that way in my dream. It made no sense why those birds changed, but they did.”

  “I think something is going on with this town and people’s nightmares.” I rubbed my arms, trying to shove off the weird feeling creeping in. “I think it has something to do with Misery. It has to. It just doesn’t make sense that she would curse the town and then all of a sudden weird dream stuff starts to happen.”

  Betty considered that for a moment. “It’s only one occurrence.”

  “What about Cordelia and Garrick?”

  Betty sucked her pipe and blew a smoke ring shaped like a question mark. “Could be coincidence.”

  “Betty,” I warned, “I don’t think this is coincidence. We need to talk to Misery. See if this is her doing and see what needs to be done to change it. Someone could’ve been hurt from those birds. We’ve both had nightmares. I don’t want yours to come true any more than I want mine to.”

  She slowly nodded. “Come on. Where’s your skillet?”

  I grimaced. “Ugh. Yeah. It broke.”

  Her eyes bugged. Guess skillets didn’t break too often. “Well get it and come on. We’ll drop it off at Harry and Theodora’s. See if they can fix it.”

  “Okay, good.” I grabbed the skillet, and the three of us squeezed ourselves onto Hugo’s back. At first I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to fly with all the extra weight, but my boy had grown. He was a large dragon now. An adult.

  As the sun sank down the horizon, I peered off into the distance. I swore that I saw, sitting atop one of the tall pines, a crow.

  It cawed at us before flapping off and disappearing behind a taller row of trees.

  I shivered. Could it be the same crow that had been following me? Perhaps a spy for Misery?

  Something told me that my guess was correct. Or was it something more sinister? Was the crow somehow responsible for making the nightmares become reality?

  Could that be it?

  I wouldn’t know unless I pinned down the bird and forced it to talk. Even then there was no guarantee the crow would reveal anything. No guarantees at all.

  First things first—deal with Misery. If that didn’t work and I continued to see that bird, then I’d have to pin it down.

  I’m coming for you, I threw into the sky, aiming the thought straight at the creature. I’m coming for you.

  Chapter 11

  I told Betty that I wanted to wait for Axel before coming up with a game plan regarding Misery. We were back at the house. I’d closed up shop after my near-death experience with the harpies.

  I figured I deserved a little rest since, you know, I’d almost died and all.

  Betty stirred something in her cauldron that smelled like chicken, and I sat on the couch, scrolling through my phone.

  The door opened and Cordelia entered.

  She stared at the floor. Her blonde hair hung in greasy strands around her face. My cousin looked pretty bad, if you wanted my opinion.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey,” she said limply. Her eyelids fluttered as her eyes searched me out. When our gazes locked, Cordelia’s was drenched in sorrow.

  “How’re you holding up?”

  She hiked a shoulder to her ear before sinking onto a recliner. “I’m okay I guess.”

  “Have you talked to Garrick?”

  Anger quickly filled her eyes. “Why?”

  The heat of her anger hit me hard. For a moment I didn’t know how to answer. “Well, I suppose because you might want to hear what he has to say?”

  It seemed like a good enough suggestion. You couldn’t just be angry at someone because that’s what you wanted to be, after all.

  Well, I guess you could, but at some point you needed to hear them out. It was the mature thing to do.

  “Oh,” Cordelia answered. Her gaze shifted back to the floor. “No, I haven’t talked to him.”

  “In my experience,” Betty said while stirring the cauldron, “it’s always best to talk to someone, find out the real story before you decide you know what’s best.”

  “What real story?” Cordelia snapped. “He was with another woman. He wasn’t calling me back. I’m pretty sure one plus one equals two in this case.”

  “Maybe so,” Betty said. “Maybe so. But maybe it’s not what you think.”

  I cocked my head at our grandmother. “She might have something there. You’re not the only one who’s had a dream come true.”

  Cordelia hiked a brow. “I’m not?”

  So I told her the story of the doves. When I finished, she stared at me, wide-eyed.

  “Oh my gosh, Pepper. I’m so glad you’re okay. How horrible.”

  I nodded. “Maybe it means that you should hear Garrick out.”

  She immediately stiffened. “There is no way I’m going to listen to what he says. All he’s going to tell me is that the woman is a friend and that the whole thing’s a big misunderstanding.”

  Ew. Well, she might have a point there. That is probably what would happen. More than likely.

  My gaze cut to Betty, who scowled. “Listen, kid, every once in a while you’ve got to trust. Know what I mean?”

  Cordelia mumbled something inaudible as the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it.” As soon as I opened the door, Axel pulled me into a great big werewolf hug.

  I would say bear, but you know, him being a werewolf and all, it makes more sense.

  “How are you?” His fingers pushed back my hair as he searched me for cuts and bruises. “Are you okay? Safe?”

  I squeezed his solid shoulders. “I’m fine.”

  Concern filled his blue eyes. “Are you sure?”

  I pressed my forehead to his. “I promise I’m fine.”

  He pulled me to him one more time and sighed with relief. “When Betty told me what happened, I was so worried.”

  I slid from him and thumbed to my grandmother. “It’s because of her that Idie and me are alive.”

  “I owe you one, Betty.” Axel moved to hug her, but Betty stared at him as if
she didn’t understand anything about this whole hugging business.

  So instead of hugging her, Axel slicked a hand over his hair. You just never knew when Betty was in the touchy-feely mood. This apparently was one of the “nots.”

  “So what’s the plan?” Axel said. “You’re thinking this is part of Misery’s curse on the town?”

  Betty pointed the spoon at me. “She thinks so.”

  “It’s flimsy, but I don’t see what else could be happening. Cordelia and Idie both had these dreams that came true. It makes sense that’s what’s going on.”

  Axel scratched his chin. The sound of his fingers brushing over the stubble was like listening to home. I know you can’t actually listen to home. More like things smell like home, but everything about Axel was right, comfortable.

  “Well, it’s getting late. We should wait until tomorrow,” he suggested. “When we’ve had sleep and we’re not exhausted from fighting off harpies.”

  I eyed him skeptically. “You don’t truly believe it yet, do you?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not that. You’ve suffered a lot today. You need rest.”

  “I need to confront Misery.”

  His ocean-blue eyes turned turbulent. “I’m not trying to dictate your life. I’m only suggesting we wait one day.”

  Frustration mounted inside me. “For what? For another dream to come true?”

  “Pepper,” Cordelia said, “it’s only been two things. You can’t approach a witch, say you know how she’s cursed the town from only two occurrences.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because they could both be flukes,” Axel said.

  I visibly bristled. “You don’t believe me.”

  He closed his eyes and gave his head a shake. “I just want more proof. That’s all. I’ll call Garrick and tell him to be on watch in case anyone reports a dream coming true. It’s the best we can do.”

  They didn’t believe me. I wasn’t losing my mind. I wasn’t imagining things. These two incidents were related. I knew it.

  I looked to Betty for help. “And what about you?”

  She wiped her hands on her brown gingham apron. “I told you from the beginning that Misery’s bark was worse than her bite. We’ve all been having nightmares, but until more than one comes true, I say we wait.”

  I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration.

  Betty patted the air, motioning for me to calm down. “Now I believe you might be on to something, but we need more proof. I’ve already asked her to remove the curse. If there even is one. If we go storming in there and cause a ruckus or start a fight, someone may get hurt.”

  I moaned.

  “Pepper,” she said calmly, “let’s get our ducks in a row. Really get everything we need. If she has cursed the town and it becomes obvious, we’ll get Garrick involved. Drag him over there to knock some sense into Misery.”

  “Just don’t ask me to go along,” Cordelia grumbled.

  Betty shot her a hard look. “No one’s going to ask you anything where he’s concerned. How about that?”

  Cordelia crossed her arms. “Fine by me.”

  Axel rubbed my arm. “We’ve all been experiencing nightmares, but let’s give it another day.”

  My gaze darted from Axel to Betty. Their faces were drawn into tight, narrow lines.

  I wouldn’t win. There was no way. If I wanted to confront Misery, I was on my own and that wasn’t a good idea. The woman could sic her thousands of crows on me. After all, if she could invade our dreams and turn them into waking nightmares, what else was she capable of?

  So fine. I would play by Axel and Betty’s rule. I could wait this out for another day. Which in my opinion, was long enough to prove my theory.

  “Okay, I’ll wait. We’ll see what happens.”

  Axel placed an arm around me. “I’ve got the perfect thing to take your mind off this.”

  I cocked an eyebrow in skepticism. “What’s that?”

  “How about we head over to the new house and come up with some decorating ideas?”

  My heart lurched. That did sound good. Decorating my own house with Axel’s help? I mean, what more could a girl ask for?

  Even though I was still annoyed that we weren’t going to Misery’s, I melted. “Okay, that sounds like fun.”

  Axel glanced at Betty and Cordelia. “Ladies, you don’t mind if I steal Pepper away for a little bit, do you?”

  “We don’t,” Cordelia said.

  “Just have her back before midnight,” Betty said, “or else I’ll come looking for you.”

  Axel swallowed audibly. Even though he was a big tough werewolf, he still didn’t want Betty on his bad side. Who could blame him?

  Axel escorted me from the house. “Want to walk?”

  I nodded to his old Land Rover parked on the street. “You sure?”

  He wove his arm around my waist and tugged me to him. “It’s a nice afternoon. I’d enjoy taking a walk with my love.”

  My heart felt full. I smiled brightly at him, unable to hide the grin that broke through my face. “I would love to.”

  We reached the cottage a few minutes later. Axel had already planned this apparently, because a tray of crackers, smoked meats, cheese and fruit awaited us. There was also a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

  “You sure you don’t mind me buying this place?”

  I twirled around the living room, staring up at the winding staircase that led to the second floor. “Are you kidding? This place is great. You picked the perfect house for us. Though I have to admit I’m going to miss your old one. I always wanted to live there.”

  I stopped twirling and stared at him. “What about your cellar and the magic room?”

  He winked. “There’s a cellar here, too. Plenty of room for me to do what I need.” Axel took my hand and guided me toward the stairs. “There’s something else.”

  “What is it?”

  “Come and see.”

  Wondering why all the mystery, I followed Axel to the very top of the house, where a single door sat.

  “Wow, this place is bigger than it looks.”

  “Magic will do that.” He wiggled his brows. “You ready?”

  “Ready. For what, I don’t know, but I can’t wait to see.”

  Axel opened the door with a flourish. A sunny yellow room greeted me. The walls were lined with powders and elixirs, all colorful and vibrant.

  I didn’t stop wonder from filling my voice. “What is this?”

  “It’s yours. Your room for working magic. Or doing whatever you want. You want to practice more; this is where you can do it. You want to learn a spell or experiment, you’ve got this place.”

  I frowned. “What about you? I thought maybe we’d combine our rooms.”

  “We can, but some of my work is darker than what you do. As a head witch you may not even need any of the things here, but they’re here if you need them.”

  I opened my hand, and a bottle of blue liquid sailed over to me. “The ocean’s tears?” I said.

  “They’re from mermaids,” he explained. “Given freely. No one was hurt in the making of those tears.”

  I laughed. “Thank you. This is a wonderful present.”

  Axel pulled me into his arms and gave me a deep kiss. “You’re welcome. Anything for you.”

  As we stared at each other, my stomach rumbled.

  “Looks like someone’s hungry.”

  I cringed in embarrassment. “Guess I can’t fool you.”

  “Nope.” He threaded his fingers through mine. “Why don’t we grab a plate of food and eat in the backyard?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Axel took the plate while I grabbed the unopened bottle of champagne. We headed outside to a table on the patio. I settled the champagne, slick with ice sweat, atop the surface.

  I pointed at the cork. “Care to do the honors?”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  As Axel tugged at the cork, I took a moment to enjoy the
serene space. It was gorgeous. Little fairies were out, and they twinkled in the trees.

  I smiled at them. My gaze kept going until it landed on something I didn’t remember from my last visit.

  I stalked over to it. Tall grasses near the trees had been stomped flat and several branches were broken.

  I glanced over my shoulder back at Axel. “Do you remember this?”

  “What is it?”

  I pointed to the grass. “How this is all flattened?”

  He popped the cork and set the bottle on the table. He swiped his wet hands on his shirt and strode over. Axel took one look at the spot and shook his head.

  “No, I don’t remember that being here.”

  “It’s strange,” I murmured. “Almost as if a large creature had come and sat here.”

  “Hugo maybe?”

  “Hugo doesn’t know about this place yet. I haven’t shown him.”

  Axel rubbed his cheek. “I wonder what it could have been.”

  A chill washed down my arms and spine. I had a bad feeling I knew what had caused this—it was a thing made of dreams.

  I gripped Axel’s hand. “I know what it was.”

  “What?”

  I swallowed a knot in the back of my throat and met his gaze. “It was a nightmare.”

  Chapter 12

  By the time we arrived back at Betty’s I was rattled, to say the least. Axel, bless him, hadn’t disputed what I believed had created the mashed grass, but I wasn’t sure he believed me, either.

  We stood on the porch. Jenny the guard vine dipped down and stroked the side of my face. I patted her in return.

  “Axel,” I challenged, “you said yourself you’d had a bad dream. What was it?”

  He shook his head and sighed. “Do we have to talk about it?”

  “Yes, we do. We have to talk about it. I want to know what happened.”

  He averted my gaze. “It was more like a nightmare,” he murmured.

  I grabbed his shoulders. “See? I’m not making any of this up.”

  “I’m not saying you are,” he argued. “But it hasn’t come to pass. Let’s pray it doesn’t.”