by Blythe Baker
The spell was already forming as she stretched out her hand toward me. A brilliant ball of yellow light grew from the size of a golf ball to a softball in a matter of seconds. She smiled at me, her face bathed in the glow of the spell.
“See you on the other side…” she said, and the spell left her hand.
A surge of…something raced through my veins. It was almost the same feeling I’d gotten when I’d touched the woman at the gas station. But it was much, much stronger. Like a hurricane of magic through my body. I worried that I might burst.
I held my hand up directly at her, my eyes locked on hers. “Lisonshyren,” I said calmly, steadily, and another ball of light appeared in my hand as hers hurtled toward me.
Mine swelled from a softball to the size of a watermelon, and turned blue like the hottest of flames.
I blinked, and released the spell.
It tore across the space between us at twice the speed as Silvia’s spell. It collided with hers in midair, engulfing it, and continuing on as if nothing had happened.
Silvia’s purple eyes grew wide as she gaped at me. “No… How did you – ”
But her words were lost as the spell hit her square in the chest and sent her flying…straight off the cliff behind her and into the open air below.
18
Well…I can’t say that I’m sorry to see her go.
I wheeled around, a new voice I didn’t recognize filling my mind. From the path back down the mountain, I saw a silvery wolf approaching, his golden eyes locked on mine.
My heart, already pounding so hard I worried I might pass out, skipped another beat.
Before my eyes, the wolf disappeared in a sudden, hazy mist and transformed into Lucan Valerio a moment later. He adjusted the navy blue tie he now wore, his golden eyes watching me closely. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah…” I said, staring up at him dumbfounded. “How did you – ”
“I suppose you might say I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” he said, a small, handsome smile appearing behind his beard. It disappeared quickly, though. “I heard everything that Silvia said. I must admit, I’m not surprised that she is the culprit. It’s terrible what happened to Mr. Cassidy, and I’m glad, in a small sense, that he’s been given the justice he deserved. I know it won’t bring him back, but perhaps his spirit can rest easier.”
I swallowed hard. “What do we do now?”
“Well, we will have to call the sheriff and inform him of Silvia’s confession. He will have two testimonies, both yours and mine,” Dr. Valerio said gently. He sighed. “I…think it would be best if we were to keep the magical aspects of this case a secret. The sheriff and many others in Faerywood Falls know nothing about us Gifted folks and the powers we possess, and it truly is best that it stay that way, as much as I dislike agreeing with the late spell weaver.”
“So, what, we are going to lie?” I asked.
Dr. Valerio scratched at his beard. “There are times in which it is necessary.”
I frowned. “I’m not sure that’s true…”
“We will simply tell the sheriff that she admitted to killing the man over an unspecified personal grudge, and that she was so overcome with remorse that she threw herself from the cliff,” he said.
“Why can’t we tell him that she was the one who broke into the shop?” I asked.
“Oh, we certainly will tell him that,” Dr. Valerio said. “But that will be for Mr. Cromwell’s closure more than anything.”
I made the emergency phone call on my cell. Then, we waited up there for the sheriff to arrive, as this area was now a crime scene and we would doubtless be wanted for questioning. All the while, I wasn’t sure I was going to do as Dr. Valerio asked and keep the magical aspects of the case secret. They were the whole reason everything had happened in the first place.
Guilt racked me as I saw Sheriff Garland’s car pull up on the mountainside. There must have been some back trails I was unfamiliar with. I watched the sheriff slam his car door and labor the rest of the way uphill to where Lucan and I waited. Other cop cars pulled up and more police officers followed behind the sheriff.
“Marianne Huffler,” Sheriff Garland said, panting a little as he reached the crest. “Why am I not surprised to find you in the middle of this? It seems you have the bad luck to stumble into violent situations quite a lot.” His tone said he was wondering how much could be blamed on “bad luck” and how much might be credited to a meddlesome nature.
I bit my tongue while Lucan Valerio gave an explanation for what had happened here. His story sounded genuine, although I knew he must have carefully rehearsed it in his head during the long minutes while we had waited for the arrival of the police. He claimed I had come up here, suspecting Silvia Griffon of murder and theft, and confronted her. Knowing my plans and fearing for my safety, Dr. Valerio had followed me and arrived in time to witness Silvia’s confession and sudden suicide.
To my great surprise, I found myself backing up Lucan Valerio’s testimony. The whole truth was on the tip of my tongue but at the very last second, I decided that it was better to keep the magical aspects secret, as they involved me now, too.
Sheriff Garland questioned me briefly, while his men swarmed down a steep trail to retrieve the lifeless body of Silvia lying far below. I tried not to watch. Despite all that the spell weaver had done, it was a terrible way for anyone to die. Perhaps fearing I was too distressed to talk further, the sheriff allowed me to leave, saying we could finish our interview later.
“I can have someone drive you back to your cabin or to your aunt’s lodge,” he said, not unkindly. A different cop might have resented my meddling in a murder case and my confrontation of a killer that had led to the murderer’s death. But I got the sense Joe Garland was almost impressed by my courage.
“It’s all right,” I told him. “I need to walk off some nervous energy. I’ll follow the trail down to where I parked.”
“I’ll walk with her,” Lucan Valerio put in quickly. I sensed he was eager to hustle me away from the police before I said anything he wouldn’t like.
But I didn’t say anything more, even though as we walked away from the scene, I felt a stirring of guilt. I hated doing exactly what Silvia had done. She claimed she killed Burt to keep our secret. Was I no better than her for lying?
“You made the wise decision,” Dr. Valerio told me as we started back toward the trail down the mountain with Athena following.
I stared back at him, setting aside my girlish attraction for a moment. “Honestly, I’m not sure what I am going to do about all this. The magical elements in Faerywood Falls, I mean. I’ve been dragged in without wanting to be, and look where it’s gotten me.”
Dr. Valerio nodded. “I understand. But how can you deny the calling in your soul, Marianne? Surely that would be too hard to ignore?”
My eyes narrowed. “I’m not entirely seduced by it, no. And I’m not entirely convinced that you or some other shifter aren’t responsible for what’s been happening to those hunters in the woods. Silvia insisted she wasn’t responsible for that and I believe her. She had no motive for those deaths.”
Dr. Valerio’s gaze sharpened. “My faction has no involvement in that.”
I pursed my lips. This wasn’t the time to argue with him. “The fact that I told the sheriff the story you devised about the spell weaver’s death doesn’t mean that I’m on your side, Dr. Valerio. It doesn’t mean that I’ll permanently be keeping your secret and that of the other Gifted people in Faerywood Falls.” Even though we were now out of sight of the police, I kept my voice low.
He smirked, and as the wind rustled his coppery hair, I found my heart skipping another beat. “Yes, well…after what I’ve seen of your own powerful abilities, it looks like the magic isn’t just our secret anymore. It’s yours, too.”
And with that, Dr. Valerio inclined his head toward me with a warm smile on his face before dissolving into a cloud of hazy mist once more. A wolf appeared in his place, gol
den eyes gazing in my direction briefly before taking off into the darkening forest.
I watched him leave, my heart troubled.
Are you all right? Athena asked, nudging her nose against my calf muscles.
I blinked, clearing my mind. “Yeah, I think so…” I rubbed at my eyes, staring off through the trees at the now setting sun.
A breeze rushed through the trees, making my hair flutter out behind me.
We are always here…when you are ready to accept…who you are.
I inhaled deeply, the scent of the sweet pine and the coming rain. The rich earth beneath my feet was coating my shoes as I trekked down the trail.
The secret was mine, too…wasn’t it? Mine to keep, mine to tell…mine to do with as I wanted.
Gifted. Magic. Faery.
These words had been fiction to me, and now they were my life. And what a life it was likely to be.
“Come on, Athena…” I said with a small smile down at my friend. “Let’s go home.”
Continue following the Mountain Magic Mysteries in Book 2: The Curious Curse of Faerywood Falls.
Excerpt
From “The Curious Curse of Faerywood Falls”
The air was growing warmer as the days passed. Spring was slowly giving way to summer. The days were longer, and the heat lingered longer in the air. The grass was thick on the ground, and the leaves were brilliant shades of brightest green.
I’d been in Faerywood Falls for some weeks now. Almost six, if my calendar was right. I was settled into my cabin. I knew I was settled because my sink was often filled with dishes and a layer of dust was starting to accumulate on my picture frames and the top of the small bookshelf I’d brought home from the antique shop one afternoon. It was a good reminder to get back on a cleaning routine.
I found myself longing to sit out on the tiny front porch of the lakeside cabin I’d taken residence in. I never thought I’d like living in such a small space, but the reality was it was perfect for one person. And since I spent a lot of time working at the antique shop or hanging out up at the lodge with my aunt and cousin, I didn’t need a ton of space.
My fox companion. Athena, on the other hand, would beg to differ. What she wanted more than anything were more windows to let the sunlight in. On my days off, she’d stretch out, making herself as long as she could, exposing her belly to the warm light. I’d asked if she wanted me to get her a bed that was just her size to sleep in, but she refused. She’d much rather curl up at the foot of my bed with me. She said it was because human beds were more comfortable, and I would just smile, knowing that what she really liked was being near me and sharing in some body heat.
She was good at staying out of sight. People might question why I kept a fox as a pet, especially those who had no idea about the magical gifts that gave me the ability to actually speak with her. The gift wasn’t mine, originally. I’d accidentally stolen it from some kind-faced woman working at a gas station on the outskirts of town. That was what I could do as a faery: borrow the powers of others.
It was another thing not a lot of people knew about me. Until I moved to Faerywood Falls, I’d had no idea, either. I was the first faery born in these parts in a long, long time. Those who were Gifted, or possessed some kind of magical or mystical powers, would likely vie for my support if they were to find out. That, or they’d try to take advantage of my abilities, most of which I hardly understood how to use yet. In a lot of ways, I was still trying to come to terms with the truth of my existence. All I knew was that my adopted mother found me just outside the forest when I was an infant. Nothing was known about me or my biological family aside from a letter left with me in my basket; it warned anyone who found me not to take me away from Faerywood Falls, or a curse would befall me.
And it had. Until I had finally returned to this place again, where the magic in my blood called me.
There were a lot of people who didn’t know that magic even existed in Faerywood Falls. People like Abe Cromwell, the man I worked for. His little antique shop was of great interest to many Gifted in the area, as sometimes magical items would pass through without his detection. The longer I worked there, the more I became convinced that they were the sole reason why his business hadn’t gone under. Those customers paid handsomely, telling old Abe that the pieces they sought were incredibly valuable. He never questioned it, and lived blissfully unaware of the magical abilities of those who passed in and out of his shop.
Dr. Valerio was one such patron. As handsome as he was mysterious, he would come to the shop looking for various items twice a week, at least. His golden eyes were hard to look away from, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of my subtle attraction to him, or the fact that I knew he was, in fact, a werewolf, and the leader of all the lycanthropes in Faerywood Falls.
Another frequent shopper was Cain Blackburn. He’d only ever been able to come on days when the shop was open past dark. The town believed the Blackburns to be a very wealthy family, whose riches were passed from one generation to the next. The truth was, however, that Cain Blackburn and the rest of his “family” were vampires and had been living in the same castle since arriving in the valley several centuries before.
Faerywood Falls never failed to enchant me, and the more I learned about it, the more I’d grown to love it.
It was one evening in early June that Dr. Valerio came in for yet another visit that week. He’d purchased a set of crystal decanters from Mr. Cromwell, three of them, and was waiting on a delivery of a fourth. He’d told me in private that they were almost four hundred years old and had been made with liquid moonlight. I wasn’t sure if he was being completely honest with me, but after everything I’d seen in my short time there, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
After he was gone, the last two customers of the day also left the store, carrying their bags of very non-magical wooden bookends. They waved to me as the little bell over the door chimed at their departure.
“Another day done, eh, Marianne?”
I turned and saw Mr. Cromwell standing in the doorway up to his apartment above the store. He smiled at me, the wrinkles near his eyes prominent in the golden light of the setting sun.
I returned his smile easily as I wiped down the back counter. “Yes, it is,” I said. “You’ll be pleased to hear that the Robinson’s came and purchased that 19th century table.”
“They decided they wanted it after all?” Mr. Cromwell asked, hobbling into the store. It hurt my heart to see his limp getting worse. Aunt Candace had offered to take him to the doctor, but he refused every time. He knew it was age, and there was nothing to be done about that.
Not for the first time, I wondered if the magical book that Silvia Griffin had stolen would have a spell in it to help him. If only I knew where the book actually was…
“They also purchased the chairs with it, and that nice credenza we put out yesterday,” I said, checking the cash register.
“Very good,” he said. “Are they coming by tomorrow to pick it up?”
“That’s the plan,” I said.
“I feel terrible that Dr. Valerio’s decanter hasn’t come in yet,” Mr. Cromwell said.
“He said he understood and that he’d just swing by tomorrow after work to check again.”
“He’s such a patient man,” Mr. Cromwell said. “We’re fortunate to have men like him and Mr. Blackburn residing in our small town.”
“I think you’re right,” I said.
Some of the hairs on my arms stood on end, but all in all, I did agree with him. They were interesting men, both in the human world and in the magical one. They had great influence. And while they didn’t always get along, I wanted to believe that they both had the best interests at heart for Faerywood Falls as a whole.
“Well, you’ve been here a long time today,” Mr. Cromwell said. “I appreciate you coming in early to help me take inventory. With the summer upon us, we should expect more customers, and I just want to make sure we’re ready for them.”
&n
bsp; “Oh, don’t worry, we will be,” I said.
“Very good,” he said with a smile. “Now, off you go. I’m sure you want to enjoy what little of today you have left.”
“And you should get some rest, too, Mr. Cromwell,” I said. “Like you said, summer’s coming, and you should give yourself time to enjoy all that warm sun.”
He grinned. “I do enjoy a good lie down in the sun…”
I bid him goodbye from the back of my bike as I headed off into the darkening street. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and the sky above was painted in bright pinks and oranges and grays. I wanted to look up at the clouds more than the road ahead of me, but I promised myself a nice cup of tea while I sat on my porch, hoping that I’d get a chance to catch the last of the light as the day gave way to the starry night.
My backpack rustled on my back, and as soon as we were out of sight of the shop, Athena appeared, shaking her tiny, copper head, her black nose sniffing the air frantically. Her lips parted and she began to pant in the warm evening air.
I think we need to invest in a mesh backpack, she informed me. It’s starting to get a little warm in here.
“I bet it is,” I said. “Alright, I’ll see if I can find anything online tonight. But we’ve gotta be smart. I don’t want Mr. Cromwell finding you.”
Don’t worry so much, she said. I always hear him coming before he’s anywhere near us.
We rode along for a while, cars passing by us on the road, their headlights banishing the shadows in their paths. The streetlights were flickering to life, their warm glow preparing for night’s long embrace.
Downtown was quiet, which wasn’t a huge surprise in the middle of the week. The shops had all closed up for the night already and the only place that still had their lights on was the restaurant on the corner.
“I think Mr. Cromwell’s right,” I said. “There are definitely more people around now.”