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Back at the bakery, I could hardly think. Damon? A witch hunter? At least that explained why he'd hated me from the moment he saw me. Lucy thought I was jumping to conclusions, though.
"There could be more than one Damon on the island, you know," she'd said.
But the pieces fit together too perfectly. It would definitely explain my dad's violent reaction to meeting Damon and learning he was my friend. He must have recognized him. Snowball bumped his head against my leg.
"Hi there," I said, petting him. "How's Snowy?"
"Snowball has found what Mama asked for," she purred.
"You mean the boxie quill?" I asked, excited.
Snowball nodded and walked toward a storage cabinet in the back of the room. It housed all of Trixie's frosting tips.
"Bottom drawer," Snowball said.
I opened a large drawer on the bottom, but all I found inside was fondant.
"Thanks, Snowy, but I don't think this is what I was looking for." I patted the kitten's head.
"Mama so silly," Snowball said. "Back of drawer. Fake back."
I looked at Snowball who arched her back then flopped onto the floor. She rolled around scratching herself.
I pulled the drawer out and looked behind it. There was a piece of wood standing vertically. It looked out of place. I tapped on it and the wood came loose. Behind it, I found what I'd been looking for. A hiding place. It contained extracts, plants, and herbs, most of which I wasn't familiar with. But amidst them all, I saw a large purple plant dripping with pearls.
Boxie quill.
My aunts didn't just have a stem or two. They had an entire plant.
I heard one of them coming and quickly closed up the cabinet. Maybe this explained where they'd disappeared to after Campbell's death. Maybe they had tried to make a boxie extract like my mother used to do, but it had failed. Maybe that's why Campbell had died. They'd disappeared trying to clean up the evidence.
"Good job, Snowball," I said, getting the drawer back in just before Eleanor stepped into the back.
"Ava, there's a phone call for you," she said, grabbing her tea off her desk and going back out front.
A phone call? Maybe it was Lucy. She'd told me she would see what else she could find out about my mother.
"Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone.
"Ava?"
I paused before answering. "Brendan?"
"Yeah."
I had no idea why he was calling. I wasn't exactly his favorite person.
"Listen, can you come by Coffee Cove later? I've got something for you."
"Something?" I asked. The vagueness of the word made my nerves jump.
"Just come by after closing," he said and hung up.
I debated about going. I didn't trust Brendan. I was certain he was involved in all this somehow. Even if Damon was the one murdering people, he would have needed help. Damon was S.H. and Brendan was his friend. It made sense that they might work together.
By the time nine o' clock rolled around, curiosity had gotten the better of me. I told Eleanor and Trixie I was going for a walk and headed to Coffee Cove. Lucy had left already, but Megan was still cleaning up. She glared at me as I came in.
"We're closed," she snapped.
Brendan popped his head out of the back. "It's okay, Megan. I asked her to come by."
Megan's mouth dropped open. She rounded her shoulders back, took off her apron, and threw it on the counter. "I'm done for tonight, anyway," she said, glaring at Brendan as she made her way toward the door. When she was gone, Brendan sighed.
"She's never gonna like me anyway. Not like that. So I guess it doesn't matter if she gets mad at me."
Brendan really had it bad for her. I couldn't help feeling sorry for him.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.
"Stay there," he said and went into the back room. The heriotza pendant began to burn my skin. Danger. A second later, I saw why.
Brendan came out of the back room holding a large, purple plant with pearls.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, stepping back toward the door, ready to make my escape.
"Is this what you keep asking me about?" he said, sounding irritated.
"Yes," I snapped back. "I knew you had boxie quill. Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because," he said. "This isn't boxie quill."
My mouth opened halfway, and I coughed on the air I tried to inhale. "But I read about it in Magical Herbs and Plants."
"Yeah. And what volume are you on?"
"Volume one," I said, my voice growing soft.
"When you get back to the bakery, look at volume five. Moxie satin." He held the plant out for me to examine. "Looks identical to boxie quill except for the light yellow threads running through the pearls. Look."
He forced the plant into my hand. I squinted at it and saw what he was talking about.
"Unlike boxie," Brendan continued. "Moxie is perfectly safe."
My eyes widened. Maybe what I'd seen at my aunts' bakery was moxie satin then, not boxie quill. That would make sense.
"Did you make the cakes that Damon and Campbell ate?" I asked him.
He shook his head. Much to my disappointment, I believed him.
"No. But I think I know who did. And I don't think it's what you're thinking." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "There's something else. I found this."
He handed me a horizontal box I hadn't realized he'd been holding. I set aside the moxie opened it. My heart stopped. "Oh my wizards!" I cried. "It's my wand!"
Despite his irritation with me, Brendan looked pleased that I was so happy. I pulled him into a giant hug.
"Where did you find it?" I asked.
"That's the thing," Brendan said, pulling away from me. "I found it somewhere... unexpected. The last place you'd think to look, really."
I was so excited, my head started to feel light. The room around me was spinning.
"Ava? Are you okay?".
Then I realized it wasn't excitement making me dizzy. My heriotza was burning. I could feel it making my skin blister. I pointed my wand around the room, trying to think of some spell that could save me from what was about to happen.
"Ava, what are you doing?" Brendan shouted when my wand stopped on him.
But I couldn't think. My head felt numb.
This time, the darkness took only seconds to consume me instead of minutes. I got dizzy. Foggy. Then I was gone.
When I opened my eyes again, my head was throbbing and my stomach hurt, though not as bad as last time. Maybe I was getting used to this.
I sat up, my back stiff. How long had I been lying here? I looked around the room. Coffee Cove. At least this time I was still in the place I'd started.
"Brendan?" I called, looking around for him. "Brendan?" I got shakily to my feet and took a step toward the counter.
That's when I saw him. Brendan's body laid face down on the floor.
"Brendan!" I cried, running to him. I turned him over. His face was blue. He wasn't breathing. I pinched his arm, hoping his eyes would pop open and he'd smile at me. Or yell at me. Or something. Anything other than lying here silently. Dead.
But it was no use.
"Oh no," I cried. "Not you, too."
Footsteps sounded from the back room. My heart thumped in my chest. I readied myself for whoever or whatever was approaching. It had to be Brendan's attacker. I searched the floor frantically for my wand, but it was gone. I'd lost it again.
The door opened and my father stepped out. He looked surprised to see me.
"Ava," he said. "You're awake."
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