“I’m late. I’m late,” I chanted as I jogged down the path to the festival. My power nap had been heavy on the nap and short on the power. When I’d finally woken up, it was to find a note from Tricks telling me everyone had gone ahead.
Which was why I was getting looks as I darted down the torchlit turnip lane. Hopefully, the main events hadn’t started yet. I’d promised Elron I wouldn’t miss the pumpkin lighting.
Most of the students had come in costume. A centaur in high court dress from the Elizabethan era started as I ran by. The elf in a pirate costume next to her raised a fake sword at me. “Ar, watch yerself!”
“Sorry!” I called back.
Two guys in trailing bandages hurried after me. “Braiiins.”
Grinning, I slowed to a walk. The entrance was even more impressive tonight, with bright yellow ears of corn hanging down like giant Christmas lights. Through the giant-corn-lined entrance, the ears cast enough light to give the event a warm glow. The sound slowly increased until I stepped out into a transformed field. Little booths dotted the open space, with all variety of festival activities and foods.
Students milled about with glowing piles of cotton candy, bags of popcorn, giant corn on the cob, and meat on a stick. Groups went into the maze, laughing as they passed the grim reaper guarding the entrance. Others lobbed baseballs at the dunking booth target. From the line, the current teacher wasn’t popular.
Shouts came from the inflatable obstacle course where a carrot and a T. rex. raced to the finish. The carrot won by a nose. The T. rex. tackled it and pretended to eat the carrot while the carrot shrieked. A brownie levitated them off the course.
In the distance, tiered platforms held two of Elron’s giant pumpkins and three turnips. They’d been carved into different scary faces. Right now, they were dark. I hadn’t missed the pumpkin weighing or the lighting.
Thank the earth I’d made it here for the important part. The last thing I needed was to disappoint Elron or give his family any more reason to dislike me.
A vampire wearing cat ears laughed with his friends. Everyone sported ears from different species, long hound ears, spotted cow ears, fuzzy bear ears, and large elephant ears. The caricature artist made the ears even more prominent, giving them all the look of shifters.
The food stalls were close to the pumpkins, which made sense. The largest stall was mobbed by people wanting pumpkin pie. I worked my way through the crowd and found Elron by the pumpkins. They were even more impressive up close, having grown from last time I was here. Now they were closer to seven feet tall. A person could walk around inside them.
The largest of the bunch was sitting on a scale with an orange cloth covering the readout. Next to it was a smaller scale with an enormous turnip. It was well over twenty inches across. Like the pumpkin, it was a perfect specimen. Darker colored at the top, round, with a single root tapering down. Neither plant had a single blemish.
“You made it.” Elron scooped me up into a tight hug.
I squeezed him as tightly as he squeezed me. The day’s emergencies were over. It was my time off, and I got to spend it with him. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I wish I could’ve been here earlier.”
“You needed to rest.” He set me back on my feet. He glanced behind me, and the corner of his mouth turned up. “And I have students watching.”
“You’re not teaching class.” I tugged him down for a quick kiss. “So, when does the main event start?”
Elron checked his watch. “Ten minutes.”
I tucked myself against his side, watching the laughing and smiling students. “You did good.”
“There is more.”
“Oh?”
He pivoted us so we had a clear view of the pumpkin booth.
“No. How?”
Enor and Erwin were smiling and handing out mini-pies to students. They even had quick conversations with the occasional laugh. This was the first time they’d looked happy. With smiles and everything. They weren’t yelling at me or angry about the wedding.
“Did one of my parents spell them?”
He leaned down, his breath warm against my skin. “They volunteered.”
“If I hadn’t seen it, I would’ve have believed it.” Because who would after the past few weeks? They’d been monsters. Monsters didn’t make young adults laugh and hand them pie. “Tricks?”
Elron pointed to a whack-a-mole booth.
It took me a minute to realize the petite gladiator with a wooden sword strapped to her hip was Tricks.
My mouth hung opened. “They agreed?”
“Good practice for wearing a real sword.” He said it without laughing, so it must’ve been the actual reason.
“You worked the real magic today.”
He squeezed me. “I think the day did it to them. They’re looking forward to Tricks’s party and a quiet Samhain when we get home. Landa promised to have the bonfire ready.”
“I’m still impressed.” I’d take the peace while it lasted. Considering how things had been going, we’d be back to the usual discord by morning.
We watched his parents until Elron had to get ready for the pumpkin weighing. I melted back into the crowd to enjoy the show.
A cackle echoed across the festival. “Welcome one and all to the night of magic and death. Gather round the pumpkins and see how large they grow! At the stroke of nine, we’ll light the pumpkins for all to see!”
Students from across the festival grounds headed toward the pumpkins. Some came out of the maze. A few went in. It seemed most of the people were curious about Elron’s giant pumpkins.
“Hi!” Tricks bounced over, grinning from ear to ear. “Elron said you might not make it.”
“I’m here.” Tired, late, low on magic, but here.
Tomorrow I’d wake up, and unless a miracle had happened, there’d be another body. With or without the hell cat, I was going to try every spell I could to track down the killer. Drain myself to the dregs, whatever it took. But that was tomorrow’s problem. “I thought you were going to dress up as Freyja?”
She shrugged. “Couldn’t find the right costume, and this way I get a sword!”
“I like it, and I like the sword.”
She was quiet for a few seconds. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” I asked absently.
A woman in a toga climbed up next to the pumpkin and turnip on the highest tier. “Welcome! We hope all of you are enjoying the Halloween Festival and taking a turn through the maze.”
“That there’s a killer on the loose,” Tricks hissed.
I ignored the woman and locked eyes with Tricks. “You are safe. The Lodge is safe.”
She shook her head. “That’s not why I’m asking.”
“Okay?”
“What about the spirits?”
I blinked. “You lost me.”
“Of the dead people.” Tricks huffed. “It is Samhain. They could help.”
She was right. This was the one night of the year it was easier to communicate with spirits, or for them to cross over. Problem was, spirits weren’t docile, weeping things. They had every bit the force they’d had in life, and a lot less to lose.
I yanked her to the side. “You want to summon murder victims? Earth only knows what they would do. I wouldn’t be able to track them. I doubt I could cast a spell to hold them. They’d never be considered good witnesses. How does that help?”
“You need evidence. They have it.” She stared at me. “Does it really matter how you catch the killer as long as you stop him?”
“Tricks, it’s not that simple. I wish it was, but it isn’t. There are consequences. I’d bear the responsibility for what those spirits did. That’s a heavy weight.” One I’d chosen before, and I didn’t know if I could carry it again. Those dark spaces in my mind where regret and guilt lurked haunted me. I suspected they always would, echoing the names of the people I couldn’t save. Reminding me of how I’d survived. The burden never seemed to get any lighter.
She shook her head. “It would work.”
“You don’t know that.”
Tricks bit her lip. “Maybe I do.”
A hard knot of dread formed in my gut. “Tricks, what did you do?”