CHAPTER 15
Pete Santorini and his date, a woman named Tiffany who’d been coming into The Friendly Bean for the past couple of weeks and unabashedly flirting with him, happened to be walking by the North Harbor police station when two women appeared in a puff of purple smoke.
It hadn’t been a particularly fun night for Pete, until now. He’d only gone out with Tiffany because she’d asked. Really, he was interested in Sydney Santangelo, but just hadn’t found the nerve to ask her out yet. Which wasn’t like him. Pete usually had no problem asking for what he wanted. But this girl was . . . special. And he got the feeling she wouldn’t say yes to just anyone. So he kept putting it off, and instead he’d gone to the new martini and piano bar that had recently opened on Water Street, a stone’s throw from Violet’s store. Tiffany had indulged in one martini—or maybe two—too many. Pete had lost count. But when she’d become louder and more giggly, planting sloppy kisses on his cheek with bright-red lips, he knew it was time to go.
And since he hadn’t had too many martinis, he knew exactly what he was looking at when the purple smoke cleared, leaving a shower of glitter on the sidewalk.
Fiona Ravenstar. Witch of all witches. Which meant things were happening.
Tiffany, foggy from her martinis and feeling good, had to stop short so as not to bump into the two women who’d appeared in front of them, seemingly from out of nowhere. The older one had wine-colored hair tipped with blond and cut in an edgy, misshapen bob around her chin. She wore a floor-length green velvet dress with high-heeled boots. The other, younger woman had long black hair and wore something resembling a long tutu with a lacy tank top, despite the cold weather, and fire-engine-red Converse sneakers. She shivered, obviously regretting her poor choice of clothing.
Tiffany blinked and took a step back, looking over her shoulder uneasily at Pete. Probably trying to see if he could see them too.
But he wasn’t admitting to anything. “What’s up?” he asked.
Clearly unnerved, she glanced from him to the two women, who were arguing—something about Should we just pull her out of there—and who didn’t even acknowledge that anyone else was around.
“What the heck is that,” she said, way too loudly in the way drunk people did without realizing it. “Do these people not know Halloween was months ago?”
He frowned. “What’s what?” he asked and kept walking, pulling her along with him as if no one else was on the sidewalk. As he passed the women, the older one glanced at him. He gave her an imperceptible nod as he passed, which she returned.
Tiffany didn’t notice. She still looked alarmed, but bent her head and kept walking, stepping in that too-careful way one did when one was tipsy. “Nothing. Way too much to drink, I guess,” she muttered. “Those stupid drinks were strong.” Then she slowed, pulling her hand away. “Did you put something in my drink?”
Pete sighed. This was the problem with mortals. They couldn’t see what was right in front of them, and if they saw it, they convinced themselves it wasn’t really there. Of course, he was perpetuating that tonight, but it would be easier than trying to explain how two witches had suddenly appeared on the sidewalk.
“No,” he said. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”
She didn’t look convinced, but she allowed him to lead her to her building, where he made sure she could get inside safely, then gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her to get some sleep.
Then he walked away, glancing behind him only once to see her brushing glitter off her coat, still looking totally bewildered at what may or may not have transpired.
On his way home, Pete detoured down a small alleyway that led to the back door of Hubert’s, the local candy shop. It was way after hours, but there was always a group of them there on Monday nights. Most nights, actually. The fairy lights in the window glowed warm and comforting against the dark, cold night, a signal that they were his kind. He rapped three times on the door to be polite, then, with a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, snapped the leather bracelet around his wrist, vanishing from the sidewalk.
He reappeared in the basement room where Krista Carmichael, the candy shop owner, sat with a few others, including Josie Cook. They all looked up expectantly when he came in.
Pete looked solemnly around the table at each of them. Their faces were in turn worried, anxious, excited, and anticipatory. It was a tense time in their community right now, with the pending council election only one week away. Not to mention all the mortal-world drama that they couldn’t escape. Well, had chosen not to escape, to be exact. Some witches opted to stay in their own realm, while others ventured out into the mortal world to get a taste. Many of them stayed, an attempt to live in two worlds that didn’t always work out as planned.
“Well?” Jonas Friedman, a local fisherman, finally asked.
Pete sat down and put his feet up on the coffee table. “Something’s going on. Fiona’s here.”
“She’s here?” Krista asked anxiously. “With Violet?”
“Not yet. I saw her out on the street. She must not have found her yet.”
“Yes! She’s here!” Krista shot to her feet, fist pumping the air. In doing so, she startled the sleek black cat with the bright-yellow eyes who had been curled under her chair. He stalked over to sit near Pete instead. “That’s the important part. Now she’ll make it happen. Don’t underestimate Fiona.”
“I don’t know,” Pete warned. “Violet wasn’t expecting this. I’m sure she’ll be reeling. I wonder how she got past Abigail’s spell?”
No one knew.
He looked at Josie. “You’ll help her, right? You’ll explain how much this matters?”
Josie picked through a bowl of jelly beans on the table, methodically plucking out the pink ones. “I’ll do everything I can to help Violet, of course. But she has to come to me. I can’t just insert myself in this without her understanding who I am. Who she is. It will just push her away. And you’re right, Pete.” She nodded. “Violet will be reeling. She’s got a lot of anger toward her mother. She thinks Fiona abandoned her. Fiona will have to tread carefully.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ginny Reinhardt broke in, shaking her head vehemently. “Violet will totally be open to her. Especially once she knows what’s at stake.” Ginny was one of the younger members of the group that hung out here, and she still had an optimistic view of their world. Too optimistic, in Pete’s eyes, given the state of everything right now.
“Don’t be so sure,” Jonas warned. “We have to have a contingency plan in place. There’s too much at risk to let everything rest on a girl who hasn’t even been involved in our community. Who doesn’t know her rightful place in it.”
“Violet is a smart girl,” Frank Mercury, one of the town councilmen, broke in. “It’s Fiona I’m worried about. She’s got a tendency to come on too strong. She could scare the girl away.” With a sigh, he stood. Frank was a big man, and the ceilings were kind of low in here. Pete always expected him to hit his head, but he never did. He was a witch, after all. “I have to go. Have you all heard the news?”
Most of them nodded, murmuring their disbelief. Krista spoke up. “Sure did. Didn’t hear the details, though.”
“What news?” Jonas asked, looking from Krista to Frank. “What? I had to go see my daughter at school.” Jonas’s daughter, Ariella, was in training to become a teacher at the top witches’ school in his other world. Which meant he’d been away from North Harbor and the rest of the mortal universe all day.
“Carla Fernandez. Dead.”
Jonas’s mouth dropped open. “How?”
“Murdered.” Frank shook his head. “I actually have to go make a statement with the rest of the council. Keep me posted.” He clicked his ever-present Montblanc pen and vanished from the room.
Krista sighed. “Meeting adjourned, everyone. We should get some rest. I think things are going to get crazy around here.”