A Witch's Halloween, page 7
The pumpkins had passed huge a month ago. Elron swore up and down he hadn’t done much elven persuasion to get them to this size, but I had doubts. The largest, and it was only because I’d seen a tape measure next to it that I knew it was the largest, was a solid six feet tall. That was to the top curve of the pumpkin, no stem included since it was still on the vine. It was equally wide. Most surprising, it was perfectly pumpkin-shaped. None of that flat, misshapen stuff I’d seen in some other giant pumpkins.
If there ever was a pumpkin Cinderella could ride in, this was the pumpkin. All it needed was to be hollowed out and put on wheels.
I’d asked Elron how heavy it was. He’d gleefully told me they wouldn’t be sure until they cut it off the vine, but he was hoping it would top 8,000 pounds. He’d also said the three of them would make enough pie to feed the campus, seven schools, and three food banks.
Tricks took another picture and then ran back to me. “Can you take a picture of me with them?”
“Sure.” I then took twelve pictures of her with the pumpkins, including one of her laying across the top. The pumpkin didn’t notice the extra weight.
“How did he do it?” Tricks asked. She pressed one hand to the pumpkin and closed her eyes.
She’d get better information from the pumpkin than she would from me. I could enlarge a pumpkin to this size, but I couldn’t grow one.
“Oh. Cool.” Her eyes were still closed.
I sat in the shade, using a different pumpkin for a back support. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing back at the entrance. Elron had designed it well, and I couldn’t see them. It would be easier to deal with the future in-laws if my wedding wasn’t an event.
That was the crux of the problem. The wedding wasn’t about what I wanted or what Elron wanted. It was about the clans and appearances.
Even if Elron and I were making all of the decisions, we wouldn’t want to do things his parent’s way, but it would be easier to compromise. Though, a mental image of that wedding eluded me.
I’d so often been told weddings were the happiest day of a person’s life. They’d left out the stress of planning the Narzel-blasted event.
Tricks plopped down next to me and propped her chin on her hand. “Are they arguing?”
“It’s my fault.” I handed the phone back to her. “Not entirely, but I didn’t help the situation.”
She swiped through the pictures I’d taken. “These look good.”
“Any you want to redo?”
“Nope.” She stared at the arched corn. “They didn’t come to welcome you to the family. They came to stop the wedding.”
Clearly, but it wouldn’t do to say such things about her parents. “It doesn’t matter if we get married. We’re together, and it would take more than them to break us.”
“They argued about it this morning.” She scooted closer to me. “They don’t think witches and elves should marry.”
“A good many people share that view. I try not to let it bother me.” It wasn’t like I was going to change their mind, and when it came down to it, the main reason people objected was biological reproduction. Elron and I weren’t worried about being genetically compatible. Why that was anyone else’s concern was beyond me.
“Why?”
I shrugged. “It hardly matters. They think one thing. Elron and I think another.”
Tricks edged closer until her arm was touching mine.
I settled my arm across her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “No matter what happens between us and them, Elron and I love you. You’re always welcome, day or night, with or without warning, for whatever reason.”
“I don’t want to live alone in the woods my whole life.”
“You don’t have to.” Enor and Erwin could hate me for telling the truth if they wished, but I wouldn’t be party to their idea that isolation was best.
She relaxed into me.
Together we watched the tops of the corn sway in the breeze.
“It isn’t just you.”
“Hmm?”
Tricks sat up so she could look at me. “They’re always talking about how elves and fey have abandoned the old ways. They aren’t happy with dwarves either. Maybe because they’re dwarves, maybe because they like technology.”
Not much I could say about that without saying something mean about her parents. I redirected the conversation. “I once met a fey who worked at an aquarium. She helped house a mermaid who’d been taken from the ocean.”
“Really?”
“Yup. I helped save the mermaid’s life. The police raided a human trafficking ring and accidentally shattered her tank. I got her back under water and moved her to the transportation truck.” It wasn’t a fun memory. She’d been so scared.
Tricks leaned forward. “Did you talk to her?”
“I did.” I hesitated just long enough for Tricks to start drumming her fingers on her leg. “She said if I was ever in the ocean and needed aid, her tribe would help me.”
Tricks lowered her eyes. “You made the giant spider sound funny. I didn’t think about what else you would see.”
“I chose this. Even with the bad, it’s the life I want.” I swallowed, pushing back the memories, the bodies, the parts that I couldn’t quiet forget. “You get to choose so much about your life. You can pick what you see every day. You can pick how your days are patterned.”
She ran a finger down the side of the pumpkin. “I’ve been reading. People my age are getting ready for a trade school, university, maybe an apprenticeship. I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know what I want to do.”
“You don’t have to. There’s no magic age by which you have to have everything figured out. You can do one job for a while and then switch to something completely different. It’s your life. You get to do it your way.”
I loved my parents with everything in me, but I wish I’d heard a bit more of that growing up. It was a luxury, of a sort, but it would’ve been nice to try a few things before picking a path.
Which said more about me than about my parents.
Tricks looked at me with wide eyes. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
She picked up the phone. “Do you mind if I look up a few jobs?”
“Go for it.”
She grinned and started tapping at the screen.
In the distance, Elron came out of the entrance and waved me over. I told Tricks I’d be back and crossed the field. With each step, my heart pounded faster and faster.
Elron gave a slight smile. “They have come around.”
“Oh?”
He offered his arm. “I believe we have reached a truce, of sorts.”
I rested my hand in the crook of his elbow. “I’m all ears.”
And skepticism. No matter what they said, their actions would be what mattered. Given how they’d behaved so far, I didn’t hold out a lot of hope that they’d suddenly decide to welcome me into the family. Or give up on a traditional elven wedding.
Elron escorted me over to Enor and Erwin. Both of them stood with squared shoulders and unreadable expressions. Maybe it was an elven trait; maybe they’d perfected the blank-face look over a few millennia.
For a moment, we all stood there staring at one another. Then Enor’s expression softened. “We had not intended to create difficulties, though we have.”
“We would be...” Erwin hesitated, “honored to have you as part of the family.”
Enor’s eyes darted over to her husband, and she quickly said, “We can prioritize the elven traditions that should be included in the ceremony.”
“That would be lovely.” I forced a smile.
It didn’t escape my attention that they never apologized. Given how the past two weeks had gone, I should take this olive branch and run.
How did one outrun an elf?
Chapter Nine
“This list is still insane. The tree and vine we can accomplish, though it’ll take an elf to get a large enough tree to grow in time.” Dorthea flipped a page in her planner. “But I’ve never heard of moon linen, or virgin silver.”
I’d been right. Yesterday’s supposed accord hadn’t even lasted a full day. Enor and Erwin still seemed determined to dredge up forgotten traditions out of antiquity.
Dorthea’s eyes locked on to my apartment door as she leaned closer and whispered, “It can only be intentional at this point. I’ve spoken with them several times, to no avail.”
“Agreed.” I’d had my differences with Dorthea, but to her credit, she’d stepped up her efforts after our last conversation. The flowers were back to rhododendron and sunflowers. She’d found outdoor venues and had vetted the previous list of demands. Traditions. Whatever.
She sat back and folder her hand in her lap. “I simply don’t know what to do. I’ve never worked with anyone so unwilling to be flexible. I’m at a loss for how to incorporate their traditions.”
“I went over it again with Elron.” Thank the earth his desires were far simpler than his parents.
“We agreed an outdoor ceremony would be best. It’s the most important elven tradition. We talked through the reasons different fabrics have been worn by elves and decided the dress should be linen. It would be best if we could use natural dyes, but I do want to get the colors of the dress correct.” My eyes glazed over as I recited the rest. The overall effect was light touches of both traditions and simple solutions.
Dorthea took notes, mostly circling previous decisions that Enor and Erwin had deemed inappropriate. “And what do I tell them?”
“Just appease them and take the list. Don’t tell them anything.” With any luck at all, they would think we were taking their desires into consideration. Meanwhile, we could get this event planned.
“I can do that.” She smiled a bit too broadly.
I didn’t question it.
“Did you have a chance to pick the venue from the new list?”
My phone rang. I tried not to grab it too quickly. It wasn’t her fault I hated this. I apologized to Dorthea and answered the call.
“It’s Rodriguez. Can you come over to River Depot? I have twenty drunk people. I have witnesses saying these folks were fine one minute and wobbling the next.”
“I need to finish up a meeting. Give me about twenty minutes.” It shouldn’t take that long, but I didn’t want Dorthea to feel slighted by my escape.
“Thanks.” Rodriguez hung up.
Dorthea was in an accommodating mood, likely because I no longer seemed difficult after Enor and Erwin. She agreed to give me a new list, including any venues that had been removed previously. That was enough for today, and she left while I was putting on shoes.
Five minutes after the call, I was out the door and on my way to River Depot. It was an oddly named spot, which matched its history. Long ago, it was a train depot. Train travel had died down, and the station went through a few different identities until five years ago, when it was turned into a shopping and dining center.
Easy enough to see how a magical emergency could go down, but I’d yet to find any evidence magic was causing the drunken behavior. That was assuming this incident was related to the previous ones.
I didn’t know what I’d find more concerning, a magical or mundane explanation. Since unexplained groups of drunk people were a new phenomenon, it could be either. If Rodriguez hadn’t been so sure this was strange enough to be magical, I would’ve assumed no one wanted to admit how they had ended up drunk—moonshine, a spell, or some new thing.
Traffic slowed as I approached River Depot. When I got to the entrance, even I was impressed by the number of emergency vehicles. The three ambulances, two fire trucks, and six police cars took up most of the road. I drove past them and found a spot in the back of the parking lot.
On the way to the building, I summoned my watch and looked for magic. A few spells showed up, but they were readily identifiable. Anti-pest, anti-theft, and fire suppression spells were common in commercial buildings. The decoration spells were less common, but it was October.
Four people in black pants and white shirts sat on the curb under the watchful eye of an officer. A firefighter walked out of the building escorting a man who swayed with every step.
I held up my ID to the cop. “Where?”
“Back terrace.”
“Thanks.”
The outside of the depot had been freshened up, with flower boxes under the windows and new windows. The double glass doors weren’t historical, but they gave a lovely view of the interior. With the shops and restaurants around the perimeter, the center was a big, open space. A cauldron bubbled and frothed from its position in the middle of the room.
I’d been here before when it was so crowded it was hard to walk from one side to the other without colliding with someone. Today, people looked out from the shops, but few were in the common area. Judging from the cars outside, there were plenty of people in here, but they weren’t sure what was going on.
Shrugging, I headed out the doors to the terrace. Once upon a time, it had been the platform, but when the depot took on new life, its purpose had adjusted too. The terrace itself was an outdoor dining area. Flower boxes perched on the railing and stairs led down to a decorative garden. They’d gone all out and turned the garden into a spooky yard. Fake bats and glowing orange eyes hung from the trees. A zombie stood on the path, and a fake body leaned against the fountain.
Rodriguez stood over a group of seven sitting around two tables. A few first responders took blood pressure and other vitals. From the clothing, they were restaurant staff. About half the group had stains on their aprons, wrinkled shirts, and a dazed expression.
I joined Rodriguez. “Are all of them acting drunk?”
“Not exactly.” He ushered me a few steps away. “I overheard the call for a lot of drunk people and brought you in. As best I can figure, most of these people were here closing the restaurant last night. Then this morning, the first few employees arrived and found them drunk. Some were asleep on the floor, others draped on chairs and booths. The night cleaning wasn’t done, so it’s hard to tell what the employees did or didn’t do before passing out.”
“And I’m here because you want me to check for magic? Did you find magic?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“I looked last time. There wasn’t anything to find.” I already knew there was nothing to see. I adjusted my shields to make it easier to feel magic and extended tendrils of power that should attach to any magic I hadn’t seen. They found the spells I’d already noticed, but nothing that matched the problem.
“It isn’t logical, but I have a feeling, okay? There’s something behind this, and we have to find it.” He stared at me.
“I can try a few more pointed spells, but no promises.”
“Thanks.”
I nodded. “Which restaurant?”
“Double R. The officer knows to let you in.”
A soft meow drew my eyes over to the stairs. A black cat washed its paw. It didn’t have a collar, but it had the lean lines of a well-cared-for cat.
“I’ll check it out,” I said.
He went back to interviewing drunk people.
I hoped I found something, because if I didn’t, I could end up talking to the drunks. A dubious pleasure, that.
Back inside, Double R’s entrance was right next to the terrace. The officer glanced at my ID and held open the door.
They’d taken the railroad theme a bit far for my taste, with pieces of track running along each wall, antique lanterns above the tables, and deep brown strips of wood laid into the floor. Bits of food, including half of a burger, littered the ground. Cups dotted the tables, and three chairs were overturned.
Surprisingly, the bar was clear of cups or spilled drink. The trash was empty, and there were no signs of post-cleaning use.
Odd.
I gave the place a good look, searching for magic, not mayhem. The threshold had an anti-pest spell, a few plates had hot or cold spells, and an assortment of cooking spells shone through the wall to the kitchen. Nothing in the building was unexpected for a restaurant.
Probing inside a building with known spells wasn’t going to be useful, so I summoned my wand and started on a spell to find magic. Since I knew some of the effects, I crafted the spell to find anything that could affect humanoids, create alcohol, or touch the mind. I finished the spell and waited as it spread across the building.
Nothing.
I tried a different spell, one that would reveal any hidden magic. It swirled through the restaurant, touching every corner, exploring every cabinet and every room before fading away.
Nothing. Again.
Rodriguez could believe all he wanted, but I had to find evidence. As of yet, there wasn’t a single mote of magic to support his theory, which left me in an awkward spot. While I worked the most with Rodriguez, I answered to more senior officers. I had to be able to explain to them why I was coming out on these calls. Eventually, Rodriguez would have to justify my presence as well.
I lingered in Double R, with the disarray around me. This was weird, but there could be a very normal explanation. Water bottles of vodka, a gas leak, or drugs. It could take days or weeks to get the drug test results back. Until then, Rodriguez couldn’t get his answers, not unless we found something else.
With a muttered curse, I went back out to the terrace. The cat had moved to the railing, facing the garden, tail twitching. A few Double R employees were sitting at two tables, but all the medial personal were gone.
Rodriguez hurried over to me. “Anything?”
“No.”
“Narzel blast it.” He shook his head. “There has to be something.”
“If there is, it’s damn good at hiding.”
He glanced back at the employees, all of whom were watching us. “I talked to the hospital yesterday. They did quick tests on the wolves and partiers. No alcohol or common drugs. The samples are going out for more analysis. Right now, we have no idea what addled the minds of a pack of werewolves.”
“I’ve looked. If you want me to keep looking, I need something specific to look for.”
