Flames crackled in the brazier centered in the foyer, and I held my hands out over them, never more grateful to be alive and able to feel warmth. After Blair and Kiki found Thorn and me cackling like lunatics in the basement, they’d escorted us upstairs to meet three officers from the Starfall Valley Police Department. Over the course of an hour, Thorn, Miranda, and I told them everything we knew about what Venus and Poppy had done.
Across the room, the two perps sat back-to-back with their hands and feet bound by golden, magical ropes while one of the officers questioned them. Unsurprisingly, neither of them had been cooperative, but they didn’t need to be. Between Venus’ confession to me about Edna in the basement and to Miranda about what she’d done to Declan, there wasn’t any way either of them were going to get away with what they’d done, no matter how often or loudly they denied responsibility.
Blair and Kiki had corralled the remaining guests and were talking with them all, no doubt trying to assure them that this was all finally over. Though everyone was still welcome to stay through the rest of the weekend, I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for wanting to leave, though it didn’t seem like any of them would.
Thorn sidled up next to me, held his hands over the fire, and leaned over to bump my shoulder with his. “Earth to Selena. Where did you go? Seeing things in the flames?”
I shrugged. “No. Just thinking about how crazy all this has been.”
“No kidding. I expected this weekend to be stressful, but I never could’ve guessed it would be this bad.”
“That makes two of us,” I laughed. Looking after ten or more guests was something I could handle, though I knew it would’ve stretched us thin. But solving the mystery of a zombification and subsequent murder? Nothing could’ve prepared me for that.
“How did you come up with that idea, anyway? With the imps, I mean?”
“Lox and Keez are full of surprises. I’ve seen them warping around before, and they’ve even used it on me, so it just seemed perfect.”
“I knew there was something about you,” Thorn said, and I glanced over to find him blushing slightly. “I couldn’t put my finger on it, but as soon as I saw you, I knew there was something, just, well, special there. Guess I was right.”
Embarrassment flamed on my face as I waved him away. “Oh, please.”
“I’m serious! I mean, you’re still using a training wand, for Lilith’s sake, and yet you still brought down two really powerful witches. That takes wit.”
“Selena and Thorn, sittin’ in a tree,” Jadis sang as she crossed the room toward us, and the fire on my face turned into a blaze. “K-I-S-S-I—”
“Who knew you could actually sing?” I interrupted, and Jadis smiled devilishly at me.
“I guess all those years screaming about the patriarchy in punk bands were good for something, huh?” she asked. “Anyway, sorry to bother you. Should I leave you two alone, or…?”
A bright ringtone chirped from somewhere inside Thorn’s robes. With his face as red as the fire in front of us, he yanked his phone out, glanced at the caller ID, and smiled up at me awkwardly. “Erm, it’s the headmaster from the Institute calling. I’m sure it’s not good news, but I’d better take this,” he said, wiggling the phone at me and Jadis.
“Yeah, sure,” I said just as awkwardly, and Thorn headed down the hall for some privacy. I watched until he disappeared, and Jadis laughed.
“Is there something going on here?” she asked deviously.
“What? No. No, not at all. We just survived a run-in with murderers together, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh, suuuure,” Jadis teased, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, come on. I think the cops are about to haul those two off, and I’m sure you don’t want to miss that,” she said and took me by the hand to drag me over to where the three officers surrounded Venus and Poppy.
Blair and Kiki joined us, and Blair wrapped an arm around my shoulder as the police helped Venus and Poppy to their feet. “I’m so sorry about all this,” Blair sighed.
I looked up at her, confused. “What? Why? It’s not your fault.”
Blair chuckled. “No, it isn’t, but I brought you here. If I’d known it’d be putting your life in danger, I would’ve thought twice about it.”
“I wouldn’t. I’d much rather be here than back in Denver living the same depressing day repeatedly.”
Blair squeezed me against her chest and kissed the top of my head. “Well, that’s good. I don’t want you to take what I said the wrong way. We’re both thrilled to have you and Jadis, obviously.”
“What would you have done without us?” Jadis chimed in, and Kiki laughed.
“She’s got a point there, Blair. Without Selena’s visions and quick thinking, I’m not sure we ever would’ve figured this out.”
Blair glanced at Venus and Poppy and suppressed a shudder. “I don’t really want to think about what might’ve happened in that case.” One of the officers, a buzz-headed thirty-something witch who was short but no less intimidating, approached and rested her hands on her hips, drawing my attention to the wand she wore in a leather holster attached to her waist. She nodded at Blair.
“I apologize again for not being able to get here sooner, Mrs. Williams,” the officer said.
“We’re just happy you managed to before anything further happened, Officer Aimes,” Blair said.
The officer nodded. “So are we.”
“What’s going to become of Declan?” I asked the officer who smiled at me.
“I’m glad you asked. We’ve already transported him to Spellfield Memorial, and the magical medics there administered a dose of antidote for the Permafrost Poppy not too long ago. It’s not guaranteed to save him since he’s so far gone, but with further doses and a bit of magic, time will tell. We’ll keep an eye on him.”
Though I couldn’t believe it, I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know there was a “cure” for zombification, but hearing there was made me feel a lot better, even though I still wasn’t sure that Declan deserved a second — or would it be a third? — chance at a new life.
Officer Aimes lowered her voice and leaned closer to me. “You know, we could really use someone with your abilities on the force. When you get more magical experience under your belt, you should think about applying,” she said and reached into her back pocket and pulled out a thick wallet. She flipped it open and tugged out a dog-eared card, which she handed to me. “Officer Astrid Aimes, Starfall Valley Police Department,” it read, and included her work phone number and p-mail address. When I glanced back up at her, she smiled brightly at me. “Gimme a call if you do. I’d be happy to put in a kind word for you.”
“Wow, thanks. That’s not something I’d ever thought about, but I’ll keep it in mind,” I said, and pocketed Officer Aimes’ card. Jadis raised her eyebrows at me, and I could only imagine what she was thinking.
“Please do. Anyway, we’d better get these two out of your hair,” Officer Aimes said and turned to her colleagues. “Show ‘em the door, Kane,” she ordered the more muscular of the two of them, then headed for the front door herself.
Jadis and I followed her, curious how they’d even gotten to the inn. The officer named Kane waved his wand at Venus and Poppy’s feet to remove the magical binds around them so they could walk, then he and his colleague ushered them out by their arms. To my disappointment, I found a pair of generic cop cars parked down the drive next to Blair’s old VW station wagon.
I half hoped they’d fly away on broomsticks or something — how funny would that be? — but Kane and his colleague showed Venus and Poppy to the backseat of the nearest squad car instead. The only thing that distinguished the car from a regular one was the magical force field separating the driver and passenger seats from the back.
Officer Aimes waved at us and climbed into the driver’s seat. Kane joined her in the passenger side, and I watched the two cars pull away, unable to stop thinking about Officer Aime’s offer. Could I really be a magical cop? The idea sounded so crazy to me — I barely knew how to use magic at all — but then again, so had the idea of coming to Kindred Spirits in the first place, and I’d handled that transition just fine.
“Well, I don’t know about you all, but I’m glad that’s over,” Blair said after they left, pulling me back to reality. I followed Jadis back into the foyer and shivered as Blair closed the doors after me. Though the snowstorm had passed, it was still freezing outside.
“Me too,” I said as I hurried back to the brazier and its warmth. Jadis joined me and rubbed her hands together over the flame.
“Officer Smith, huh? I have to admit, it has a ring to it,” Jadis teased. “But I think I like Paranormal Investigator Smith better.”
I had trouble imagining myself in either role, though they did sound intriguing. With my visions, I could definitely help solve some cold cases, but with all the action happening at Kindred Spirits lately, maybe they needed my abilities more than the SVPD did. Besides, there’d be plenty of time for that later.
“I think Officer Aimes liked you, Selena,” Blair said, joining us on the opposite side of the fire.
“Yeah, I liked her too. She seems tough,” I said.
“She takes nothing from no one, that’s for sure,” Blair agreed. “In a lot of ways, you remind me of her, actually.”
“Do you know her?”
“Since she was a girl,” Blair said, smiling. “It didn’t surprise me in the slightest when she became a cop. She was always keeping everyone else in their place as a kid.”
“Is that why I remind you of her?”
Blair chuckled and shook her head. “No, it’s your will. But Officer Aimes is right, if you’re going to join her ranks someday, you’re gonna need to know how to do more with your wand than clean up oil stains.”
“Does that mean what I think it does?” Jadis asked with a thrill in her voice.
“I think it’s time we showed you girls how to use some real magic. You’re probably too old to enroll at the Institute — and you’d be too far behind the others your age anyway, even if they allowed you to — so Kiki and I have been talking about it, and we think we can homeschool you both, assuming the Institute will grant us a permit, though I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that,” Blair said, and I could barely believe my ears.
“What? Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. If nothing else, this weekend has proven that you can handle it and that we can trust you with magic. Besides, we need to know where your talents and capabilities are, and we can’t do that if you aren’t actively using your magic.”
“Can we start, like, right now?” Jadis asked, pulling out her wand, making Blair laugh.
“Why don’t we rest up first? It’s been a hectic weekend, and we’ve still got some guests to attend to, remember?” she asked, and though Jadis looked disappointed, she glanced over at Miranda, who was talking with Fallon, and nodded.
“Right, yeah. Of course.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to work on it together,” Blair comforted her as Kiki joined us around the fire. She wrapped her arm around Blair and rested her head against Blair’s.
“Blair’s right, and it’s going to take a long time for you to learn anyway, so there’s no point in rushing things,” Kiki said.
Miranda and Fallon approached us, and though her eyes were dry, the surrounding puffiness told me that Miranda had been crying — who could blame her? She waved at us half-heartedly, and Fallon massaged her shoulder.
“How are you doing, Miranda?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine all the thoughts and feelings that must’ve been coursing through her. Declan had almost died for good, Edna was dead, and someone Miranda had thought was one of her best friends was behind it all. It hadn’t turned out to be a pleasant reunion for her or any of the Starcrest Institute’s class of 2000.
“I’m surviving,” she laughed. “It’ll take time, but I’ll be okay.”
“It sounds like Declan will be too, according to Officer Aimes.”
Miranda smiled somberly and glanced at Fallon, who smiled back at her. “Good, I hope he does. He and I have a lot to talk about,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive him and truly start over — as friends — but I think I’d like to try. He deserves that after all Venus put him through, and I more than anyone else owe it to him since I…” she trailed.
Fallon squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Miranda. You couldn’t have known what Venus was going to do.”
“I know, but I still should’ve told someone what she said and how she’d given me the Permafrost Poppy. If I had, she might never have gotten to Declan and none of this would’ve ever happened.”
“Maybe, but you also might never have gotten a second chance with Declan and the rest of your friends either,” Blair chimed in, trying to find a silver lining. “I know it came at a terrible cost, but there’s still some good there.”
Miranda and Fallon exchanged another look, and I didn’t miss the spark in it, nor the comforting way that Fallon continued massaging her shoulder. She looked away from Fallon and blushed. “That’s true. This has definitely brought some of us, uh, closer together,” she said, and I smiled. I hadn’t realized there were any feelings between Miranda and Fallon before, but I was happy for them. “But poor Edna…”
Everyone fell quiet at the mention of Edna. What could any of us say? What happened to her was terrible, and she didn’t deserve it. I stared into the fire, thinking of her family, and hoping that they’d all be okay.
Thorn joined us silently, standing to my right. I glanced over at him and concern gripped me when I spotted redness in his eyes like he’d been crying. I reached over to grip his forearm. “What’s wrong?” I whispered, but he only shook his head. “Thorn?” I pressed.
“It’s nothing,” he muttered.
“I don’t believe that for a second. What happened?”
Thorn looked at everyone standing around the fire before he finally faced me. “The headmaster fired me. It’s not a surprise, but it still hurts.”
“Oh, no… Thorn, I’m so sorry,” I said and hugged him without a second thought.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said flatly while he stood still and stiff as a board. “This was my first job, and they fired me for getting someone hurt. How am I ever going to get hired somewhere else again?”
“By working here,” Blair said plainly, and I whirled to look at her.
“What? Really?” Thorn asked, and Blair shrugged.
“Sure, why not? Kiki and I could definitely use someone to help manage our PR and events, especially as business continues to pick up around here. This class reunion surely won’t be the last big get together that gets booked, even after all that happened during it,” Blair said.
“Right, and I bet you could help us attract business, too, Thorn,” Kiki added.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” Thorn muttered, smiling despite himself.
“Say yes,” Blair encouraged him, and his smile widened.
“Okay, then yes. Yes! I accept your offer,” he said, practically giddy.
“See? Like I said, there’s good in this for all of us,” Blair said and winked at me. I blushed, and she beamed, realizing she’d hit the nail on the head.
Jadis leaned over to me. “Selena and Thorn sittin’ in a tree,” she sang in a teasing whisper, and everyone burst out laughing at my and Thorn’s uncomfortable reaction.
“Well, I don’t know about you all, but I could use some hot chocolate. Let’s go pester Emile to make us some, shall we?” Kiki asked, mercifully sparing us from the awkward moment, and led the way toward the kitchen. Everyone followed except for Thorn and me. When he was sure they were alone, he spoke up.
“Selena, I… I dunno. Is there… Well, you know? Something going on here?”
“We took down a murderous pair of witches together. If that doesn’t bond two people, then I don’t know what will,” I said and slipped my hand in his. “So why don’t we talk it out over a cup of hot chocolate?”
“I-I’d like that a lot,” Thorn stammered.
“Me too,” I laughed and led him by the hand to the kitchen.
Book 3: When the new gardener at Kindred Spirits unexpectedly wakes up as a vampire, will Selena’s paranormal palette reveal the attacker, or will she be their next midnight snack?