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Something soft and sandpapery was licking my face. It smelled like fish. I opened one eye and saw a white fur ball staring at me with pretty green eyes.
"Mama is awake," Snowball announced.
A half dozen faces were suddenly at my side. My tiny hospital room didn't seem big enough to hold everyone.
There were cries of "Ava!" and "She's all right!" and "Thank the witches!"
Snowball purred loudly as she curled up next to me. "Snowball loves Mama."
"Snowball saved your life," a woman's voice said. I looked to see Lucy trying to squeeze between my aunts.
"Lucy!" I cried, happy to see her.
"First of all, your new familiar is a genius. While these ghouls were all panicking because of a little boxie quill, Snowball got the cacti airium and solved the problem."
My eyes widened. Snowball purred even more loudly. I stroked her under her chin.
"Cacti airium works against boxie quill?" I asked.
"Only if you use it fast enough," Eleanor said.
"And only if there's only a very small amount of boxie in your system."
"Which there was," Eleanor said.
My father stood beside me, squeezing the hand I wasn't using to pet Snowy.
"I only know that because that's what your aunts told me," Lucy said. "Which brings me to my second point. I wasn't there. Why wasn't I there? Because someone stole my car and left me stranded.
"Oh, Luce, I'm sorry," I said. "Detective Hudson was chasing me and—"
I gasped, remembering what had happened. "Detective Hudson! What happened to him?"
"He's fine. A little gruffer than usual," Aunt Trixie said, "which is saying a lot actually. Since he was always rather gruff."
"So he doesn't think he's a teapot anymore?"
"No. Just a lackluster detective. He was summoned back to the Council on Magic and Human Affairs. Which he wasn't too happy about."
It sounded like I'd missed a lot, which made me wonder, "How long have I been in here?"
"Three days," Trixie and Lucy said together.
Three days? I'd been in Sweetland Hospital for three days? Wow.
"How do you feel?" Eleanor asked.
I shrugged. Snowball rolled onto his tummy, looking exceptionally cute, and I scratched his belly for him.
"Okay, I think. My head feels a little foggy, but I guess that's probably normal, right?"
"After a dose of boxie quill poisoning?" Eleanor asked. "Absolutely."
"Oh, my roses. Sheriff Knoxx! Is he..." The last time I'd seen the sheriff, he'd jumped in front of my Aunt Eleanor, saving her life. He hadn't moved once since Slater hit him with his wand.
The door to my room opened as if on cue and Sheriff Knoxx stepped inside. He was wearing a tan fedora—the kind Humphrey Bogart would have worn in some old-timey detective movie. I thought that it looked quite nice on him, actually. It somehow seemed to fit his face.
"Well, hey there," he said, looking at me. "Look who's awake." He removed his hat and made his way to my bedside. "Just thought I'd check in on our patient."
"You're wearing the hat," Eleanor said, sounding pleased. Her cheeks were red.
"Of course I am," Sheriff Knoxx said. "It was only the nicest gift anyone's ever given me. Why wouldn't I wear it?"
Eleanor's blush deepened, and I got the feeling the hat was from her.
"Sheriff Knoxx," I said. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you okay?"
"I'm just fine," he said. "Thanks to Dr. Dunne."
"I was worried Slater killed you."
The sheriff was shaking his head. "Nope. No such luck for that boy. He may have been better off if he had killed me, though. I've already told the Council on Magic and Human Affairs that I'd do whatever it takes to keep Slater locked up for life. He's due for a transfer there this afternoon. And just so you know, Detective Hudson will not be handling the case."
"So Slater won't be tried in human court?" I inquired.
"No. Only because he used magic to kill. That wand of his—"
"You mean the wand I lost," I said sullenly.
"Yes, but that's irrelevant now. Slater could have gotten a wand at any time from Polly. He specifically wanted your wand because he thought he could use it to frame you. That when I finally got my hands on it and ran my wandistics reports, it would prove you as the murderer."
"Slater was crazy," I said.
"Slater was right, I'm afraid.”
My jaw dropped so far down it almost smacked Snowball on the head.
"I'm ashamed to admit it, Ava, but I really thought you were the killer for a while." His cheeks reddened. I'd never seen him look so... embarrassed.
"Well, if it helps, I rather thought you might be the killer for a while too," I said.
He looked up, his eyes wide and curious. Eleanor and Trixie laughed. Lucy just stood there, playing with Snowy. Lucy was using her hand to try and capture Snowball's nose. Snowy playfully attacked her hand, only for Lucy to try again.
"You thought I was the killer?" Sheriff Knoxx asked stunned.
"I wasn't sure."
"What on Heavenly Haven would make you think that?"
"It was that chocolate cake. The one my secret admirer sent. I saw you with it that day at the sheriff's station and when I asked Dr. Dunne about it, he said he'd never tested it."
Sheriff Knoxx's face was turning a bright pink. I hated to embarrass him after he'd saved Eleanor's life, but I had to know what was up with that cake.
"Why didn't you ever have that cake tested?" I asked him.
"Because," he mumbled. He let out a heavy sigh and stared at the floor. "I already knew that cake hadn't been poisoned."
"How could you know that?" I asked.
"Because I sent it."
I couldn't hide my shock. "You?!"
"I didn't mean for you to get it. I just forgot to put a name on it, is all. It was supposed to be..." the blush in his cheeks spread out, making his whole head look like a cherry "...for your Aunt Eleanor."
I turned to Eleanor, stunned. She looked just as equally stunned so I imagined this was the first time she was hearing about this. Trixie was grinning ear to ear.
"Sorry," Sheriff Knoxx said. He couldn't unstick his eyes from the floor.
"There's nothing to be sorry for," I told him.
"That's right," Eleanor said, finding her voice. The color in her own cheeks had deepened. "It... it was a very lovely thought."
Sheriff Knoxx dared a glance at her.
The door opened again and Dr. Dunne came walking in. "I see our patient is awake. Okay, out of the room. You've seen that she's alive and well, now she needs her rest."
"But she only just woke up," Lucy complained. "I have so much more to tell her. Like how that toad bottom Polly has been stripped of her powers forever."
"You can do that?" my eyes widened.
"It's a very complicated process," Eleanor told me. "Only COMHA can approve it and the Witches Council can carry it out."
"Anastasia Peacock is also locked up in my jail cell at the moment. She'll be leaving with Detective Hudson this afternoon. He's accompanying her back to COMHA."
"Where's my father?" I asked, realizing for the first time he wasn't here.
"Please, everyone out!" Dr. Dunne said, trying to shoo my visitors from the room.
He was pushing Sheriff Knoxx toward the door. And probably the only one who could get away with it. I watched as he snuck another look at Eleanor and realized that if she wanted to, she could probably get away with a lot more than just pushing the sheriff out of a room.
"Your father's fine," Eleanor said. "He's already with Magic and Human Affairs."
"He said he didn't want to wait to face his inquisition on Jon Pratt," Trixie piped in.
"That he'd waited long enough already," Eleanor finished.
"Magic and Human Affairs?" I muttered.
"Don't worry," Sheriff Knoxx said as Dr. Dunne successfully got everyone to exit my room. "He'll be fine."
I just wished I knew what was going on with The Council right now. What if I never got to see my father again?
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