by Blythe Baker
“That won’t be necessary,” Bliss said with a nervous smile. She looked at me. “Well, thank you, Cain, I think that was everything. Thank you very much for your time.”
His charm returned, and he looked over at me. “Well, thank you for stopping by. It has been a long time since I’ve met anyone quite so…charming. And with such lovely eyes…”
Bliss reached over and grabbed my arm, pulling me toward her. “Thanks again, Cain. See you around.”
“Indeed you will,” he said, his eyes following after us as we descended the steps. “I look forward to it.”
15
On the way back, Bliss didn’t say anything. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her face completely void of color as she stared wide-eyed out the windshield. Her lips were turning bright pink as she continued to gnaw on them.
“Well, that was interesting,” I said.
“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Bliss said as we pulled out onto the road, the high tech gate sliding closed behind us. She turned and looked at me, her green eyes huge. “Weren’t you freaking out up there?”
“Um…kind of, I guess,” I said. “I thought he was nice enough, considering he didn’t have to talk to us at all.”
She suppressed a shiver. “It looked like he was going to eat you or something. I was starting to worry about how I was going to get you out of there.”
“I don’t think he’d do that,” I said.
“How would you know?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You thought he was cute, didn’t you?”
I blushed. “No, I did not.”
“You do realize that vampires are, by nature, really good looking to humans to basically draw them in so they can more easily hunt and kill them, right?” she asked.
Another chill ran down my spine, making goosebumps appear on my legs. “All right, then you must have thought he was good looking, too.”
“I was too busy reminding myself of the fact that I could have been a vampire’s third course tonight if I wasn’t careful,” Bliss said.
“Well, regardless, we’re still at square one,” I said with a heavy sigh. “We aren’t any closer to finding out who actually did it. There’s no way to know whether it was one of the vampires or if Cain was telling the truth when he said whoever is guilty was trying to pin it on his kin.”
“That does make sense, in a way,” Bliss said. “The factions all despise each other, so of course they’d try to blame someone else. One thing we can be sure of, though. Cain wouldn’t have offered to show us his security footage unless he was sure it wouldn’t incriminate any of his own. Whether that’s because he doctored the footage or because there’s just nothing to see I don’t know.”
I groaned. “Is it possible we’re barking up the wrong tree altogether?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Bliss asked.
“What if this is nothing more than some kind of animal after all?” I asked. “Weren’t you and your mom talking recently about some hunters who had been killed in the forest? What if it’s just like a rabid animal? A wolf or a bear or something?”
“I don’t know,” Bliss said. “That’s what all the non-Gifted people in town seem to think, but Mom and I have never been convinced of that. And neither was Cain, either, at least in this case. If he thought it was just an animal, I think he would have said as much.”
“You’re probably right,” I said. “So, then who else could have done it? Made this look like an animal attack?”
“Well, I mean, the shape shifters literally transform into animals,” Bliss said. “It is possible that the poor fisherman was bit while one of them was in their animal state.”
“Werewolves,” I said.
“Among other things, yes,” Bliss said. “The leader of their faction is a man named Dr. Lucan Valerio, and he – ”
“Wait,” I said, my heart skipping a beat. “Is he this really good looking man with reddish hair and a beard? Really tall? Really well dressed? Italian?”
“Yeah,” Bliss said. “How’d you know?”
“Your mom and I met him outside of Abe’s antique store,” I said. “He’s the owner of the bank in town?”
“And of the small historical center and museum,” Bliss said with a nod. “And you thought he was attractive, too?”
I shrugged. “He was, what’s wrong with that?”
“You’ve now admitted that two of the most powerful men in Faerywood Falls were attractive,” she said.
I gave her a small smile. “You should be surprised. It’s been awhile since I was attracted to anyone. It sort of makes you less inclined to want to date when your fiancé tries to poison you…” I pushed those old fears away. “So, that guy I met turns into a werewolf, huh?”
“Yeah,” Bliss said. “I haven’t seen it, but one of the other spell weavers I know said she saw it happen once. He’s apparently a silver wolf with gold eyes.”
My heart skipped, and my jaw fell open. “I’ve seen him, too…”
“What?” Bliss asked, shooting anxious glances at me while still trying to keep her eyes on the dark, winding road. “When? Where?”
“On the way to meet you and your mom for the first time,” I said. “I almost hit a wolf that looked just like that.”
We were quiet for a moment. I was remembering the golden eyes that had watched me out of the trees the night I found Athena. Had that been Dr. Valerio too? It seemed likely.
“You guys did say that they would all be watching me, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Yeah, we did…” Bliss said.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Well, we aren’t going to get any answers driving around like this. We should go see Dr. Valerio.”
“No,” Bliss said, maybe too quickly.
I looked over at her. “Why not?”
“Look, it’s the middle of the night. I’m sure you’re exhausted. I sure as anything am. I’m still creeped out about the vampires, and honestly, it’s almost the full moon and those shape shifters are not exactly going to be in a state of mind where they’re able to communicate.”
“Oh,” I said.
“It would really be better if we just went tomorrow when you get off work,” Bliss said with a heavy sigh. “Besides, Dr. Valerio is probably having one of his swanky soirees tonight, and we would want to be around all those shape shifters like we’d want a hole in the head.”
“Got it,” I said. “We’ll just go tomorrow, then.”
I really was tired. I’d slept a little that afternoon, but it wasn’t enough. The events of the last day were still rolling around in my head, and it was probably best if I just gave myself some time to process it all.
I said goodbye to Bliss and Aunt Candace when we got back to the lodge, and made my way back to the cabin in the dark. I kept my eyes on the surrounding forest as I drove, hoping not to run into any more pairs of yellow eyes staring out at me in the darkness. I hoped Bliss was right about Dr. Valerio having a party that night so I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him.
It was strange to think that the man I’d met that night was a vampire, and the man I’d met outside Abe’s place was a shape shifter. But then, Bliss was a spell weaver, so it wasn’t all that weird, I guessed.
Maybe I still hadn’t come to terms with her or her powers yet, either.
When I arrived at the cabin, I walked inside and found Athena curled up on the foot of my bed. She lifted her head when I walked inside.
I was worried about you, she said. Why did you take so long to come home?
I told her about my conversation with Sheriff Garland, the visit to the Blackburn castle, and my intention to visit Dr. Valerio the next day.
I lay down on the bed, yawning as Athena seemed to settle down. I’m glad you’re home.
“Yeah, me too,” I said.
For as crazy as my day had been, I was elated to slide between my covers and lay my head down on the pillow.
Vampires.
Shape shifters. Faeries.
As weird as it all sounded, to me, it made sense. As if I had waited my whole life to hear that there was something more to this world than the day in and day out existence I’d been living. Everything had been pointing me to this.
I wasn’t alone anymore.
16
Ma…rianne…
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. There were fireflies all around, dancing above my head, swaying back and forth in the evening breeze. A mesmerizing melody played somewhere far away, and I was content. Completely content.
Ma…rianne…
No. The nightmares were gone. The curse had been broken. I was free.
Marianne!
I opened my eyes, my heart racing.
Athena was standing on my chest, her little black nose almost touching mine. Marianne, your tiny talking box is making sounds.
She was right. My cell phone was ringing away on the dining table in the kitchen.
I rubbed at my eyes as Athena climbed down off me. The sky outside the windows was pink as dawn was coming. I dragged myself out of the comfort and sanctuary of my bed to pull myself over to the phone.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Marianne, hello, it’s Abe,” said the voice on the other end.
I sank down into the chair beside the table, rubbing at my eyes. “Oh, good morning, Mr. Cromwell.”
“I’m sorry to call so early, but there’s a bit of a problem,” Abe said.
My heart skipped a beat. “A problem? What sort of problem?” I asked.
The old man sighed on the other end of the phone. “Well, there’s been a robbery at the store,” he said, his voice heavy. I wondered if he’d slept at all the night before.
“A robbery?” I asked. “When did this happen?”
“It was after you locked up on Saturday,” Mr. Cromwell said.
My stomach was twisting into knots, and my brain was waking up quickly. “Was there a lot of damage?”
“No, actually, that’s the strange part,” he said. “The person must have gotten in through the door some way, and then locked everything back up before they left to avoid suspicion. They somehow got in here without me ever hearing it.”
“Was anything stolen?” I asked.
“Yes, several things,” Mr. Cromwell said heavily. “A few mirrors, some glass jars, a very expensive jade statuette, and a red leather-bound book.”
My stomach did another summersault. “Was it that strange book with all the letters inside?” I asked.
“Yes, how’d you know?” he asked.
My cheeks colored. “I’ve been looking at that book, trying to figure out what it was, exactly.”
“Yes, I tried to do the same many times,” he said. “I gave up eventually. I think it’s nothing more than a glorified word finding game.”
I wondered if he was able to see the glowing and shifting words. Something told me that wasn’t the case.
Suddenly, it was as if I was struck in the face. I sat up straight, staring around my tiny cabin, my heart racing. I hadn’t been the only one who had been interested in that book… “Mr. Cromwell, do you know who broke into the shop?” I asked.
“No idea,” he said. “I’ve had the police here already this morning. Seems they’ve got their hands full with a potential murder case. Faerywood Falls is keeping those boys busy right now.”
“Um…” I said, and decided against telling him that I’d been the one to find the murder victim’s body. The poor man had enough to deal with. “Well, I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I think I may have some idea of a person who might have gone to great lengths to get their hands on that book that was stolen,” I said.
“Go on,” Abe said quietly.
My knee was bouncing as I tried to find the best words. “Well, there was this woman who came into the shop on Saturday, not long before I closed up for the day. She’d found that book on a table that I’d set it down on. Honestly, I’d been meaning to ask you if I could just buy the book from you for a while, and I’d forgotten to set it aside. Well, when she asked if she could purchase it, I told her it wasn’t for sale, and she became very angry with me, telling me that you would regret ever not selling her something.”
Mr. Cromwell sighed. “Oh, I’m not mad at you, Marianne. If you wanted that book, then I have no problem with you telling her it wasn’t for sale. But, do you by any chance remember what this woman looked like?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She was shorter than I was, with blonde hair with blue ends, and purple eyes. And she was wearing these brightly colored striped stockings – ”
“That’s Silvia Griffin,” Mr. Cromwell said with another heavy sigh. “Oh, boy…”
“What?” I asked. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Mr. Cromwell said. “But if this is Silvia’s doing…”
“Well, if we suspect her, couldn’t we just call the police and tell them what happened that day?” I asked.
“No, unfortunately we couldn’t,” Mr. Cromwell said. “She works on the city council and has a great deal of influence. If I were to challenge her about anything, she wouldn’t hesitate to close my shop up for good.”
“How terrible,” I said.
He sighed. “Well…I don’t know how she did it, or even if she did it. We have no proof either way. Maybe Marie was right…we should have gotten those security cameras installed a few years ago.”
My heart saddened at the sorrow in his voice when he spoke about his late wife. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cromwell. What can I do?”
“Not much, I guess,” he said. “Would you be willing to come in today still? Help me do inventory, make sure nothing else was taken?”
“Of course,” I said. “Just give me a little while to shower and I’ll be right over.”
“Take your time,” he said with an attempt at his usual enthusiasm. “I’ll be here.”
I hung up the phone, and anger seeped into my bones. That awful woman who’d stormed out of the shop the other day…she had to be the one responsible. But how? We couldn’t prove it, but that had to be it. It had to be her.
And she had the book. That book was dangerous. I didn’t know if she was aware of its power or not, but that didn’t matter. If she messed around with the book like I did and she had any sort of Gifted abilities, who knew what might happen?
Worse yet, what if she knew what the book was when she saw it, and that was why she was so angry about it?
I showered and ate something quickly for breakfast, Athena keeping her beady black eyes on me the whole time.
You’re quite restless, she said.
“Yeah, I am,” I said, shrugging on my jacket, and untucking my hair from inside of the collar. “I have a bad feeling about all this.”
Athena’s ears twitched. Yes, I do too, I must admit. I’m coming with you today.
I didn’t have the heart to say no. In a way, I was happy to know she was going to be there with me.
We decided to take my car to the shop this time. After my little accident in the woods, I didn’t feel up to riding the bike. The muscles were still slightly sore in my ankle, although thankfully I hadn’t done too much damage.
Mr. Cromwell seemed all right when I got to the shop, but I noticed that he disappeared rather quickly after I unlocked the front door. I didn’t think he wanted to answer any questions from patrons that might come in. I didn’t really blame him.
What I hadn’t accounted for was the fact that all the customers walking through the door directed their questions, many of which were incredibly invasive into Mr. Cromwell’s privacy, at me. It wasn’t even noon before I was almost ready to lock up and join him upstairs.
I was sweeping near the back counter, trying to keep my head down and look busy so nosy customers wouldn’t bother me when someone approached me. “Um, I’m sorry, but do you work here?”
I rolled my eyes and looked up at the man. He was maybe ten years younger than Mr. Cromwell, with thick, greying hair that he kept
cleanly trimmed. He had bright blue eyes that were heavy with sadness, and it sapped all the frustration from me. “Oh…yes, I do. How can I help you?” I asked, leaning the broom against the counter.
“My name is Lenny, and I own the diner next door. Abe and I have been friends for a long time. I wanted to see how he was doing after the break in,” he said.
“It seems like everyone in town knew about it before I did,” I said.
“Don’t feel too bad,” Lenny said with a small smile. “News always travels quickly in small towns like this. And you must be Marianne?” he asked, holding his hand out to me.
I smiled and shook it. “Yes, I am.”
“I’m sorry I’m so late in introducing myself. I was out of town when you moved into the area. I’d meant to come over and introduce myself on Saturday, but that’s our busiest day, and I couldn’t find the chance to get away,” he said.
“That’s all right,” I said, walking back around behind the counter. My eyes darted to a group of old women who had stepped inside. Hopefully they weren’t another party of town gossips. “And to answer your earlier question, Mr. Cromwell is doing all right, just a bit shaken I guess. There were some valuable things taken, and it’s unsettling that the robber didn’t leave any evidence behind.”
Lenny slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers and shook his head with a sigh. “That’s really too bad. It was very strange, because the night it happened, I was chatting with one of our regulars while he was eating his dinner. Out of the window, we saw some suspicious movement over here. We knew it couldn’t have been Abe, he never drives himself, and there’s no way anyone would come at night unless it was an emergency. Well, the gentleman that I was talking with was a security guard for many years, and so he offered to go and investigate. I was nervous as I stood at the window and watched. The gentleman, Burt Cassidy was his name, walked around the whole building, and a few minutes later, he hurried over and told me that he thought someone may have broken in. He told me he was going to call the police, and then he left. Sure enough, the police showed up a short while later, but they didn’t find anything that suggested there had been a break in.”