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“Please do,” I say. If this story lasts long enough, I might have time to make two s'mores.
Silas pierces the bottom of a marshmallow with a pointed stick and holds it over the fire, next to mine. He starts rotating it slowly, speaking while he works.
“I was living out in the Water Realm. That’s where I was born, you know. I loved it there. I still do, actually. I enjoy surfing.”
Hunh. Surfing? That’s not what I pictured when I imagined the Water Realm. Silas goes on before I can pester him for more details.
“One day,” he says, “I came back to the pack after a long day of surfing, and Raul called a meeting.”
Here I manage to squeeze in a question. “You were in the same pack as Raul?”
“Sure,” Silas says. “I was the Beta to his Alpha. Raul was our leader. He was good at it. That evening—it must have been about a week ago, now—he told the pack about an opportunity to move. He’d gotten wind that the Earth Realm portal was basically unguarded.”
“Basically unguarded?” I say, taking offense. “That’s not true! My coven and I are the guardians of the Earth Realm portal.”
Silas lifts his marshmallow out of the fire. It’s golden brown. “Yeah, but you’re all new witches. You don’t know how to properly guard a portal. So, it’s basically open.” He finishes studying his marshmallow and puts it back into the fire.
“Whatever,” I say. I’m going to have to let this one slide.
“Raul suggested to the pack that we try out earth. He said that there was lots of land open for the taking. In private, he promised me that if I helped with the move, he’d help me secure some land of my own, so that I could become an Alpha wolf and begin to sire offspring.”
Suddenly I’m curious about how the pack structure works. Do werewolves marry? Do Alpha wolves have one wife, or two, or several?
That would be totally off topic. I want to figure out who murdered Raul, so I keep my lips zipped and let Silas continue.
“Raul and I decided that we’d cross through the portal and start checking out the Earth Realm for a month or two. If it all looked good, we’d go back to the Water Realm and get the rest of our pack.”
“So you just waltzed into town?” I ask. “Through the portal?”
“It was easy,” Silas said. “Like I said, you’ve left it basically unguarded. No one even noticed us at first. We came off of Hillcrest Pass and booked it right into the woods. The first day we just explored—looking for land suitable for camping unnoticed.”
The fire crackles as burning logs settle into place.
Silas continues. “We needed an area with plenty of wild game, and clean, fresh water. We also wanted it to be public land—safe to live on for a while. We figured we’d camp out and start learning how to earn little paper squares—I mean, money. Once we were able to buy land, we could bring in the rest of the pack.”
“Okay,” I say. “That makes sense. Where did things go wrong?”
Obviously, seeing as Raul wound up dead in the Hillcrest Inn, their plan didn’t quite pan out.
“Well, we spent one night in the woods,” Silas says. “One. That’s it. And Raul decided that ‘camping wasn’t for him’. Can you believe that?” He rolls his eyes, and pulls his marshmallow out of the fire. It’s dark brown now, and puffy with bubbles. It looks perfectly roasted. This guy is good.
He’s already gotten his graham crackers lined up, with a square of chocolate on one of them. See? He’s a pro. He places the grahams on either side of his marshmallow and uses them to slide the sticky roasted marshmallow off of the stick.
I’ve become so mesmerized by his s'mores assembly technique that I’ve let my own marshmallow droop. I see a little flare up of flames form the corner of my eye, and look over just in time to see my marshmallow disintegrate into ash.
Oops.
Silas holds his perfectly assembled s’more up in front of him. “Who doesn’t like camping?” he says. “I mean, camping is awesome. Raul didn’t even give it a proper chance.”
“It’s cold out here, at night,” I say.
“Not when you’re covered in three inches of thick, insulating fur,” Silas says. “I’m a werewolf, remember? I can change form at will. Sure, it takes concentration, but with practice we can stay in our wolf form overnight.” He bites into his s’more.
I reach for the marshmallow bag and get a new, fresh marshmallow. Time for try number two.
Silas chews and swallows.
“Raul said that even in his wolf form he was uncomfortable on the rocky earth. It was hurting his back. He said that camping out would be fine once we found a nice cave, where we could set up some bedding, but until then he insisted on checking into the inn. I knew it was a bad idea. Out in the woods, we’re practically invisible. But in town, I knew that the locals would start to take notice—no matter how careful we were about staying under the radar. We’d heard about how suspicious humans were, but we had no idea how bad it could be.”
“We’re not so bad,” I say, defensive again.
“Oh, not you. I mean the human humans. The ones without a clue about magic. They totally reject anything they don’t understand.”
Silas’s words make me think of Chris again, and the way he reacted when I performed the Flamma spell.
Yep. The word ‘rejection’ seems to fit. ‘Move’ he said, in an ice cold tone.
If that’s not rejection, I don’t know what is.
What am I going to do about Chris?
What is going to happen to our relationship?
Silas’s voice pulls me from my musings. “When Raul booked a room at that little inn, I knew we were headed for trouble. The innkeepers were bound to wonder about him—where he was from, what he was doing in town... the whole bit. But Raul insisted.”
“And how did Raul get hurt?” I ask.
“Okay. So there we are—Raul in town at the hotel like a big baby, and me up in the woods like a cool, camper-guy. It’s no good being split up like that. Werewolves belong in packs. Alone, we’re weak. Vulnerable to attack. And that’s just what happened.”
I pull my marshmallow out and check on it. It’s pale tan. Getting there, but I’m being a bit too cautious. I return it to the fire, sticking it a little bit closer to the flame this time.
Silas continues. “On Wednesday morning, I went into town to get Raul. We explored together for a while, but then ended up splitting up so that we could cover more ground. After a few hours Raul was going to meet up with me. I’d told him I found a spot up on Never Summer Peak, and that I’d meet him there. He was all nervous about finding me—said he needed a map and all this, but I told him just to start climbing and he’d find me eventually. Well, he got turned around, and ended up wandering around by himself for much longer than we planned. And guess who he crossed paths with?”
“Zeke,” I say.
“Right!” Silas says. “Zeke is an Alpha wolf, also from the Water Realm. He heard about the opportunity for land on the Earth Realm around the same time that we did. He came through the portal, looking for property too.”
“Sounds like you guys could use real estate agents,” I say, half sarcastically.
“That would be great,” Silas says. “But we didn’t know of any and we were kind of in a rush.”
“Of course,” I say. Could this conversation get any stranger? I seriously feel like I’m dreaming or something. At least I’m getting answers!
“Zeke was out prowling in the woods,” Silas says, “Looking for land that might be suitable for his pack. He spotted Raul and started a fight. The Lux wolves are like that. Zeke tore into Raul. My leader defended himself well, but ended up getting a cut on his leg. He limped back to the hotel room just after dark.”
That explains the bloody paw print, I think.
“So that was Wednesday,” I say. “Did you see him later that night?”
Silas nods. “He called me, from his room at the inn, and said that his paw had been badly cut up by Zeke’s claws. He asked for help bandaging it up. I was far down in a wilderness area off of the other side of this mountain. I had to run up the mountain and then back down it, to get to town. I didn’t get there until about midnight. Raul came out and met me on the sidewalk. I think when he left the inn, one of the innkeepers woke up.”
“Yes,” I say. “Dawn heard the door slam. She woke Neville, and he went out to check on things.”
“Bummer,” Silas says. “Raul must have already changed into his wolf form when he left the inn. It’s hard to open and close doors with paws. Very awkward.”
“No opposable thumbs,” I say empathetically. “I know how that goes. My cat, Turkey, tells me all about it.”
Silas nods. It is truly so refreshing to have a conversation with a magical being! I don’t have to think twice before I speak, and censor my words. Silas gets it. My mention of communicating with my cat doesn’t even give him pause. He keeps on talking, as if I’ve said the most natural thing in the world.
“I packed Raul’s wound with yarrow, and he went back into the inn. I slept out in the woods and we met up early the next morning to keep looking for shelter. We tried to get out of town before the humans were awake, as usual.”
“That explains why no one saw you,” I say, thoughtfully.
“We like to stay under the radar,” Silas says. “We explored all day, climbing and digging, looking for shelter. While we worked, I had the feeling that Zeke was watching us.”
He frowns. “I knew that having Zeke in town was trouble,” he says. “His attack on Raul was only the beginning. Zeke was weakening my leader. I knew Zeke wanted to go in for the kill. That night, after Raul returned to the inn, I started trailing Zeke, so that I could protect my leader.”
“That didn’t work out so well, did it?”
Silas hangs his head. “No,” he said. “I trailed him into town. I saw him run into the inn. But my fear of being seen by humans caused me to hesitate. I tried to warn Raul that Zeke was coming in. I called him.”
“I saw,” I say, recalling the way Silas had stood outside of the inn, dialing his phone.
“I should have gone right in, immediately,” says Silas.
“Me too,” I say. “I knew something bad was happening in there. I feel terrible about standing right outside, while Raul was being killed.”
Silas and I sit in silence for a moment. My marshmallow is done. I’ve been holding it far from the flames, and it’s slowly turned the perfect color. But now doesn’t seem like the right time to eat it.
I sit still, dwelling in my guilt.
If I could do things over, I would have gone into the inn as soon as I saw Marty, picking that lock.
Thinking of Marty jolts me from my pity party.
“We can’t beat ourselves up about it, Silas,” I say. “What’s done is done. What we can do is make sure that justice is served. Do you think that Zeke killed Raul that night?”
Silas nods. His head is still hanging low. “Yes,” he says. “When I walked into the room, he was standing above Raul’s body. Raul was already on the floor; he was already dead. I watched Zeke plunge his knife into Raul’s already dead body.”
We fall silent again. This time I can’t help it. I’m hungry, and my marshmallow is so melty, it might fall off of the stick if I don’t take action.
I’ve copied Silas, and laid out my crackers and chocolate. I pick them up and squeeze them around my sticky marshmallow. When the marshmallow is off the stick, I have a perfectly squishy, sweet sandwich in my hands. Before biting in I ask, “Silas, have you ever heard of a guy named Marty Stevens? He works with Animal Control.”
Silas shakes his head.
I chew and swallow. Yum!
“He was there on the night that Zeke killed Raul,” I say. “He broke into the inn.”
“Strange,” says Silas thoughtfully.
“He picked the lock and went in. He came back out just a few minutes before you and Zeke arrived.”
“Seriously?” Silas asks.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” I ask, giving Silas a stony expression. “I’m a professional Private Investigator, Silas. I don’t joke about my cases.”
Silas studies me for a moment. His mouth twitches. Then, one corner of his mouth rises up. Next, the other. “You’ve got a little bit of—” He’s staring at me, and wiping his finger across his cheek. Then he points to my face.
I lift my finger, and wipe it across my cheek like Silas was doing. I feel slippery chocolate. A lot of it.
“Oh,” I say.
“There, you’ve almost got it,” Silas says. He’s chuckling now. “And there’s some... in your hair there. Yeah, some marshmallow I think.”
I finish wiping my cheek with my hand, and now I move my fingers to my hair. Oh, no! A sticky clump of marshmallow has found a home in my long, wavy locks.
Drat.
There’s nothing that can be done about it here, out in the woods. I smooth my hair, the best I can, over my shoulder and then pull up my hood in an attempt to hide the mess.
Trying to salvage my dignity, I say in the most professional tone that I can manage, “Silas, does the name Sarah Pelletier ring any bells?”
Silas shakes his head.
I take the last bite of my s’more, and then slurp down the last swig of cider in my cup. Then I stand.
The sun has set. It’s dark now, and I’m far from home.
“I should probably get going,” I say. “Thanks for talking with me.” I pick up my bag and loop the strap over one shoulder. “Silas, you seem like a really good guy. You should probably know that the Hillcrest P.D. are looking for both you and Zeke. They have fingerprints, from the knife, but they’re not a match for Sarah, Marty, or Dawson.”
“Because they’re Zeke’s,” says Silas.
“If they see you around town, they will want to take you in and ask you questions. They’re not going to understand your... background... like I do. You might scare them.”
Silas nods. “I know.” He says. He stands. “I won’t be staying... I can’t. By killing Raul, Zeke has claimed his rights to this territory. If the Lux clan controls land in Hillcrest, in effect it’s like they control all of the Earth Realm. Zeke’s dagger in Raul’s body is like a flag, stuck into the soil of a newly-discovered continent.”
“Is that some kind of ancient werewolf law?” I ask. I lower my voice so I sound official and put my pointer finger in the air. “The Alpha wolf who spills the blood of another alpha wolf shall forever more lay claim to the land on which the blood was spilt!”
Silas looks at me like I’m crazy. “No,” he says. “It’s just common sense. Would you want to set up your home in a place where a lawless murderer is on the loose?”
I shake my head.
Silas continues. “Now that Raul is dead, I’m the Alpha wolf for my pack. There’s no way I’m bringing them here. Not with Zeke roaming around, fighting to establish dominance on this land.”
“So you’re just going to leave?” I ask. “And Zeke will stay?”
Silas frowns. “There’s nothing else I can do. He’s strong. I’m alone.”
“You’re not alone,” I say. “We could work together.”
Silas thinks for a moment. “Zeke is dangerous, Penny. He’s killed once, and he’s going to kill again. He’ll attack leaders—the leader of the humans.”
“Mayor Haywater,” I murmur.
Silas nods. “And he’ll also go after the leader of your witch coven. Who started the coven, Penny?”
I gulp. “Me,” I say. “I was given a book, and I asked my friends if they wanted to read it with me.”
Silas’ frown deepens. “Bummer,” he says. “Well, good luck! You know your way back down the mountain?”
“Hang on a second!” I say. My feet are rooted to the spot. I’m not leaving on that note. “You can’t just tell me that a murderous lawless Lux wolf is on the prowl in Hillcrest, and then say ‘see ya!’. Please, Silas... help us.”
Silas takes a moment to think this over. The fire is dying down again, and it casts a warm glow on his chiseled features. I watch him think. Finally, he speaks.
“I’ll stay,” he says. “You’re right, it would be wrong of me to leave. Witches have always been allies to the Tenebris clan. I shouldn’t turn my back on you now.”
“Thank you!” I say. “Now, how are we going to catch this guy?”
“He’s going to make his attack public,” says Silas. “That’s how the Lux work. Violence is an act of dominance. He wants people to know that he is the most powerful. That’s why he made sure I was in the room when he plunged his knife into Raul’s back.”
I shudder at the thought of it. Then, my mind starts to kick into high gear. “There’s a bonfire dance, tomorrow night,” I say. “To celebrate the founding of Hillcrest. Mayor Haywater is going to give a speech.”
Silas snaps his fingers. “Bingo,” he says. “Zeke will be there. You can count on it.”
“We have to take him down,” I say. “Not kill him or anything... and I don’t think the police are going to be much help because the whole werewolf thing is a foreign concept to them. But at least we could run him out of town...and out of the Earth Realm entirely.”
“That would be best for you all,” Silas agrees.
“Hey!” I say, my eyes widening. “I just had an idea! My knitting circle—I mean, my coven and I are learning the Banishing Spell. We could use it on Zeke tomorrow night! It would be a perfect opportunity!”
“Whew...” Silas gives a low whistle. “The Banishing Spell. You really mean business, don’t you?”
“We’re serious about our studies.” I say gravely. “And my life might depend on it.”
I don’t want to end up with a knife in my back, like Raul.
I can see the almost-full moon, peeking bright through the trees. The night sky is a deep navy blue now. What time is it, anyways? Turkey must be worried sick.
“Silas, I really have to go. My cat is waiting on dinner. My coven is having an emergency meeting tomorrow, at the Death Cafe. Maybe you could stop by? If you’re going to be helping us out tomorrow night, I’d like to introduce you to everybody before the dance starts.”
Especially Cora, I think to myself.
This guy is totally handsome, nice, and noble. And single, by the sound of things. So is Cora! Yes, it’s an odd time to be playing matchmaker, but I have a feeling that now that I’m learning witchcraft, a lot of my life is going to be like this. Odd.
“I can do that,” he says. He reaches into his jacket, pulls out a card, and hands it to me. I read it. ‘Black Wolf Construction’ it says. There’s a picture of a hammer, and a wolf howling at the moon. Below the company name I see his phone number.
“Nice,” I say. “Subtle.”
He grins. “That was what Raul and I were going to do so that we could save up for some property,” he says.
I tuck the card in my back pocket. “I think my friends will be very honored to meet you, and grateful for your help. You don’t mind a trip into town, do you?”
“Not at all,” Silas says. He glances over to where his cooler is tucked into the trees. “I’m almost out of food, anyways. Raul and I packed our supplies when we journeyed from the Water Realm, but we’re starting to run out.”
“There’s a market in town,” I say. “You’ll be able to find everything you need there. It’s a little bit expensive, but, hey,” I shrug as if to say, ‘what can you do?’ “See you tomorrow?”
He nods. “Be safe on your hike down the hill,” he says. “You need to borrow a flashlight?”
I think for a moment. Light would be nice. Then, an idea strikes. I lift my palm, and say aloud, “Flamma!”
A ball of light emerges, six inches from my hand. Not only does it light the woods up around me, but it also casts a warming glow over my face, arms, and torso. Lovely! Sometimes being a witch totally rocks.
I say goodnight one last time to Silas, and promise that I’ll get in touch with him tomorrow to let him know when our coven meeting will be. Then start picking my way back towards the trail. I remember the direction it was in, and I know it wasn’t far. Sure enough, five minutes later, I’m back on the path that will lead me home.
By the time I reach the bottom of the mountain, I’m exhausted. The short bike ride home feels like pure torture to my burning leg muscles. I climb the flight of stairs to my apartment as if I’m eighty, not twenty-seven.
When I open my apartment door, Turkey leaps off of the stool he’s been sitting on and strides over to me.
“What happened to you?” he asks, telepathically as I hobble into the room. “You look like you just ran a marathon. Is that chocolate on your face?”
“I was working late,” I say, giving my cheek another rub to clean off the chocolate that I’ve apparently missed. I release my bag with a thud onto the floor. “Tracking down a werewolf. Just a day in the life of a witch PI.”
Turkey leaps up into my arms, and I catch him. He nuzzles my face, and I grin and start to pet him. I’m tired, but not too tired to give my precious kitty a little lovin’.
“Well, this is a nice greeting!” I say.
“I was worried about you,” Turkey says. “I tried to reach you, telepathically, but I wasn’t getting any responses. You smell like—” he sniffs the air. “Marshmallows. And smoke. And pine trees.”
With that, he leaps out of my arms.
I reach up and pull my hood off. I touch the marshmallow mess in my hair. It’s hardened now, into a dime sized clump of dried stickiness, matted with tangled hair.
“I was in the woods,” I say. “My mind was on a million other things. I must have been too distracted to hear you. You wouldn’t believe the day I just had.”
“I want to hear all about it,” Turkey says. “And then I’ll give you my own report. I’ve had quite a day, myself. And I wouldn’t mind some dinner.”
I move towards the pantry, where I store Turkey’s food. He weaves between my legs as I reach for his dry food and a can of Finicky Feline Feast.
“You’re going to have to give me some room!” I say, laughing.
“Of course,” Turkey says, backing off. “Sorry, sorry.”
I scoop dry food into his bowl, and then top it off with a dollop of the gourmet wet stuff.
It’s duck and pea flavor, and it smells icky. But Turkey loves it. As soon as I place it on the floor, he begins chowing down.
As he eats, I recount my day—from my run in with Chris all the way to my meeting with the coven, and then finishing up with my fireside chat with Silas.
“So,” I say, after summarizing my conversation with the kind werewolf. “I think that solves the case. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use the Banishing Spell so that we can get rid of this Zeke guy for good.”
Turkey polishes off the last of his late dinner, and then looks up at me. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” he says.
I’ve helped myself to a bowl of cereal, and I lift a spoon, dripping with chocolate-tinted milk up to my mouth. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do,” I say, my mouth full.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, if I were you,” Turkey says mysteriously.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Let me show you,” he says.
He leaps up onto the counter and then uses his paw to hit the power button on my laptop. The screen turns blue as it comes to life.
“You want to show me something on the computer?” I ask.
Turkey nods happily. “Yes. I’ve been doing some research. And I found something that I think you’re going to want to see.”