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  “I don’t doubt it. She came in screaming in the middle of the afternoon, shouting that you had cursed her, and that she was going to make you pay.”

  “Fair enough. From what I heard, she said the same thing as she left the bar.”

  “Anyway, she said she was going to kill you, and one of the students got a bit panicked and ended up calling Chief Enforcer Loeb, who came over and had a stern chat with Danielle. She calmed down a lot after that, but I still heard her muttering curses at you as she left the hospital later. What did she do to deserve the boils?”

  I recounted the story, which had Willow shaking her head in disbelief. “Wow. I know Danielle’s mother, and she’s actually quite nice. I wouldn’t have imagined she would have raised a daughter who was a bully, but it just goes to show, I guess.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe she’ll grow out of it. I’m hoping she learned her lesson today.”

  “Me too,” Willow said, taking a big bite of pizza. “Bullies are the worst.”

  “Agreed,” I said, the two of us settling down into a comfortable silence as we ate our dinner together.

  When we were finished, Willow looked at me carefully.

  “So why were you at the bar just after noon today?” she asked casually, but I knew her too well.

  “You’re trying to figure out if I’m turning into an alcoholic,” I accused her, and she opened her hands.

  “I am not! I’m just worried about you, that’s all. You seem like you’re drifting.”

  “Well, I’m waiting for the six-month clock to run out before I can ask Keith to do the test again to be allowed to train as a magical fixer.”

  “Sure, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend your whole life up until that point sitting around the bar drinking.”

  “That was a one-time thing, I promise. After you hear about the morning I had, you’ll understand.” I recounted the story to Willow, who looked at me, incredulous.

  “I’m just curious as to how your sister ended up being the only sane person in your family.”

  “Hey, I resemble that remark,” I replied. “But I’ve asked myself the same thing many times. So far, the top two contenders are that she was actually switched at birth, and that she’s a secret serial killer and none of us realize she leads a double life.”

  Willow nodded sagely. “Yes, I think those are both reasonable options. Anyway, even if you actually did have a reason to be drinking in the middle of the day, I still think you need to find something to do for those six months.”

  I let out a big sigh, even though deep down I knew Willow was right. I was bored. I just didn’t know what to do.

  “I know. You’re right. You’re always right. Why do you have to be so smart all the time? Do you know how infuriating it is to try and make bad life choices when you’re always there giving amazing advice?”

  “I do,” Willow grinned. “I spent many a night at the Academy lying in bed like a good girl getting my eight hours of sleep while you were out doing things that sounded far more fun to sixteen-year-old me.”

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t want you there on the beach when I kissed Anthony Norgate under the full moon, anyway.”

  Willow laughed as the two of us reminisced on times gone past, and she left a little while later, with me feeling glad she stopped by, but also a little bit hesitant. I knew Willow was right. I had to find something to do to occupy my time, but I just didn’t know what it was. Being a magical fixer was my goal, and I still had almost five months to go before I could try to do it again.

  Well, whatever. I would get there. That much I knew.

  I woke up the next day feeling refreshed, and grateful that I hadn’t had nightmares about that stupid squirrel. Throwing on some clothes, I quickly made my way past Mom’s cottage, careful to check and make sure Grandma Rosie wasn’t out and about and looking to invite me on yet another adventure. I’d had enough of those for a while.

  The Magic Brewmstick was bustling with energy when I got there, with all the tables inside already packed with paranormals. I was hoping there would be a spot outside on the patio, but I couldn’t help but realize that as soon as I stepped into the café, everyone stopped what they were doing and all eyes were turned on me.

  Ok, something was wrong.

  “I’m wearing pants, right?” I asked loudly, trying to bring some levity to the situation. Just to be sure, I also looked down, just in case. I was wearing pants. Thank Rhea; that would have been embarrassing.

  Pyxis, the fairy working the counter and keeper of the best rumors in town—both true and false—motioned me over. I made my way toward her, trying to avoid the stares of everyone in the café. As I walked past, people began talking in hushed whispers, probably trading crazy theories about me.

  Had people heard about the giant squirrel? Was Danielle Dashwood going around telling everyone I had cursed her? Or maybe she was making stuff up. Maybe she was telling people I’d been arrested for public urination. Only one way to find out.

  “Hey, Pyxis,” I greeted the fairy as I made my way to the counter. “What’s going on?”

  She leaned in close, her eyes wide. “You haven’t heard?”

  “Haven’t heard what? Why is everyone acting like I’m a Sasquatch that’s just wandered into town?”

  “Danielle Dashwood was murdered last night.”

  “What?” I said, my eyes widening.

  Pyxis nodded fervently, obviously excited that she got to be the one to break the news to me. “That’s right. Her body was found in the forest by a couple of wolf shifters on a morning run. From what I heard, she’d been strangled.”

  “Wow. Well, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Well, that’s the thing, a lot of people think you did,” Pyxis said slowly, and my brow furrowed as I tried to figure out what she meant. Suddenly, it came to me, and I gasped.

  “No. You’re joking. People can’t think I did it.”

  Pyxis gave me a you-should-know-better-than-that sort of look. “Well, think about it. Everyone in town knows you cursed Danielle yesterday, and she spent the whole afternoon telling anyone who’d listen that she was going to get revenge. I’m not saying I believe it, but there are a lot of people out here who think you have a good reason to have wanted to shut her up.”

  I threw up my hands. “That’s ridiculous. Yeah, I cursed her, but it’s a pretty big leap from a relatively harmless curse to murder.”

  Pyxis held her hands up in front of her. “Hey, I’m not saying it. I’m just saying, that’s what some other people think.”

  I puffed up my cheeks and let out a sigh. “And here I thought this was going to be a totally normal day.”

  Pyxis gave me a sympathetic look. “Sorry, honey. Looks like it’s not meant to be. Now, what can I get for you?”

  “Something strong,” I replied. “I think I’m going to need it.”

  Pyxis nodded. “You just go take a seat and I’ll take care of you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, managing a weak smile. I handed over some cash, but Pyxis shook her head.

  “Not today. Consider it my good deed for the day.”

  “You’re the best,” I said, and Pyxis winked at me as I walked off and made my way toward the patio. I really hoped it was empty; I wasn’t looking forward to being the subject of stares and whispers while I tried to enjoy a morning coffee.

  Luckily, there were only two groups on the patio. One was a couple of older witches poring over a crossword puzzle together, and the other was a teenage shifter whose eyes widened as soon as he saw me. He immediately stood up and rushed past me back into the café. Great. My mere presence was literally scaring people away now.

  The two witches were so absorbed by their crossword puzzle that I wasn’t even sure they realized I was there. I sank down onto one of the benches at a picnic table, as far from the door as possible, and did my best to blend into the wall.

  The morning really was gorgeous. A few clouds dotted the blue sky, made crisp by the cold ai
r. It wouldn’t be long now before the first snow arrived, and one of the local witches would create a magical dome for the patio to protect it from the elements. A small squirrel ran along the edge of the fence to my right, happily carrying a pinecone in his little mouth. The lake was still and serene, and I forced myself to stare at it and calm myself. Someone was on the other side of the lake, using a stand-up paddleboard. I always admired people who did that this late in the year. I loved a good paddle, but my coordination skills—or lack thereof—meant I ended up in the water as often as not, so as soon as it got too cold for a surprise plunge into the lake, my paddleboard went into storage for the winter.

  The view was relaxing, and I felt the stress from the news I’d just heard easing away a little bit as I looked out over the lake, and a moment later Pyxis came by with my coffee.

  “Oh, you really are the best,” I said gratefully as she placed not only a large coffee in front of me, but also a plate laden with a cookie and a muffin.

  Pyxis waved away my thanks. “Extra strong coffee, and I figured you could use a perk-me-up pumpkin spice muffin and a slick-tongue snickerdoodle. Eat it quickly,” she said, giving me a pointed look before rushing off. I did as she suggested, and about thirty seconds later understood why: Chief Enforcer Lea Loeb stepped out onto the patio, looked around, spotted me, and strode over to where I was sitting.

  Well, there was a decent chance I was going to leave this coffee shop in cuffs. I hoped the slick-tongue snickerdoodle managed to keep me out of too much trouble.

  Chapter 5

  Chief Enforcer Loeb smiled at me. “Hi, Ali. How are you doing?”

  “Well, I’m not going to lie, I’ve had better mornings. But then, from what I hear, so has Danielle Dashwood.”

  The chief enforcer’s lips pressed into a thin line. “That’s right. So you’ve heard.”

  “Just now. I walked in there and everyone started staring at me like I had four heads.”

  “So you understand that I need to talk to you.”

  “As long as you understand that I had absolutely nothing to do with this,” I replied. “I’m not about to take the fall for this. Sure, I cursed her yesterday. She deserved it, though. She was bullying another student. But there’s cursing someone, and then there’s murder.”

  “Well, I heard it took the healers four hours to figure out a salve that got rid of the boils on her face. And she still had pockmarks from them afterward.”

  “Four hours is nothing compared to an eternity of being dead.” I crossed my arms. There was absolutely no way I was going to take the fall for this. I probably should have been more apologetic, or nicer to Chief Enforcer Loeb, but that just wasn’t in my nature. If Chief Enforcer Loeb thought I was the killer, I was going to do whatever was necessary to rid her of the notion. At least the slick-tongue snickerdoodle meant I wasn’t going around swearing and making a general fool of myself.

  “That’s true. Now, can you tell me what you were doing at around five this morning?”

  “Sleeping, like a normal person.”

  “Can anyone verify that?”

  “I sure hope not.” If anybody had been watching me sleep, that would have been beyond creepy.

  Chief Enforcer Loeb gave me a hard look. “You’re sure? You have no one who can back up your story?”

  “My love life isn’t exactly a roaring success at the moment,” I said with a shrug. “If I’d known I was going to need an alibi, I would have gone out last night, but since whoever killed Danielle decided not to give me a heads up ahead of time, I wasn’t aware I was going to need someone to confirm I was asleep at five in the morning.”

  Chief Enforcer Loeb nodded. “Did you know Danielle Dashwood before yesterday?”

  I shook my head. “No. I think I’ve seen her around here and there, but I didn’t know her.”

  “Do you have any idea who might have wanted her dead?”

  “Not a clue. Trust me, if I had any idea, I’d tell you. I’m willing to point fingers at anybody that’s not me right now.”

  “Well, it’s good to see your self-preservation instinct is doing well,” Chief Enforcer Loeb replied. “I’m going to have to ask you to minimize your travel to other paranormal towns for a while, until this is resolved.”

  “Great, so you still think I killed her.”

  “I don’t think anything at this point in the investigation. I’m currently collecting as much evidence as I can. But as you do have a motive and no alibi, I do have to keep you on the list of suspects.”

  “Alright. Well, I’m telling you, I didn’t do it.”

  “I hear you,” Chief Enforcer Loeb said, standing. “Thank you for having this chat with me.”

  She left, and I sighed. I was officially a murder suspect. And, unofficially, it seemed everyone else in town thought I was a murderer, too. This was not an ideal situation.

  I started walking back toward home, thinking the best place to decide what to do next was going to be in the privacy of the shed, when Grandma Rosie and her friend Connie walked past.

  “Morning, murderer,” my grandmother greeted me.

  “I didn’t do it,” I protested. “If I was going to kill anyone right now, it would be you.”

  “Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say to a kindly old grandmother.”

  “I’d roll my eyes at you, but I think they’d get stuck in the back of my head,” I replied. “You literally just called your granddaughter a murderer. How did you find out, anyway?”

  “I have my sources,” Grandma Rosie replied, tapping her nose. I sighed as I realized.

  “The squirrel on the fence.” He had to have been one of the squirrels we had put microphones on the day prior.

  “I’m thrilled to say my new plan has been working wonders already. We’re on our way down to the hair salon so I can announce to everyone that my granddaughter is the prime suspect in the murder.”

  “Well, don’t go out of your way to defend me, or anything like that.”

  “It’s a good thing,” Grandma Rosie said sagely. “People will be scared of you now, and so, by association, they’ll be in awe of me, too.”

  “I’m thrilled for you,” I said sarcastically. “I’m going home and hoping that by this afternoon, Chief Enforcer Loeb has found the real killer so I can show my face in public again.”

  By the time I got back to the cottage, Mom was in the front yard, casting a spell on the leaves that had fallen onto the path leading to the road and magically sending them flying into paper bags by the road, ready for pickup.

  I figured acting as if nothing had happened was the way to go.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said cheerily, making my way toward her. The look she gave me when she looked up told me everything I needed to know. She knew.

  “Don’t you ‘hi Mom’ me, young lady. Do you know six people have already called me this morning to let me know my daughter—my eldest daughter—is a suspect in a murder investigation? A murder investigation! I don’t have any illusions—I know you walk to the beat of your own drum—but this is a new low, even for you.”

  “Would it help if I told you I’m not actually the murderer?” I offered. “It’s not my fault. It’s a coincidence.”

  “So how come these coincidences never happen to your sister?”

  “Because Leda is perfect?” I offered.

  “It’s because Leda never gets into situations that lead to her being considered a murder suspect. I heard you hexed that poor girl yesterday.”

  “Yeah, but she deserved it.”

  “Could you not have hexed her weeks or even months before she got murdered? How on earth did I end up with a daughter who ends up being a murder suspect?”

  “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Chief Enforcer Loeb,” I replied. “If I’d known she was going to get murdered a few hours after I ran into her, I might have done things a bit differently. But no one gave me the heads up ahead of time that she had a target on her back.”

  “In the name of
Rhea, I don’t even know what I’m going to do with you. I’m going to be the laughingstock of the whole town, now.”

  “Well, Grandma Rosie is happy. She thinks having a suspected murderer in the family will only make people fear her more.”

  “Yes, that does sound about right. She gleefully told me she was going into town with Connie to, and I quote, make the most of the attention.”

  I couldn’t help but crack a smile. I was fairly certain Grandma Rosie was certifiably insane, but at least sometimes it took the brunt of my mother’s attention off me.

  “Right. Well, I’m going to go hide in the shed until this all blows over,” I replied. My mother pressed her lips together.

  “That’s not going to stop me getting phone call after phone call from people asking me if my daughter killed Danielle Dashwood.”

  I shrugged. “Take a leaf from Grandma’s book, then, and embrace it. I don’t think it’s going to go away on its own.”

  Unfortunately, I was right.

  Chapter 6

  I decided to venture out from my self-imposed exile around six o’clock that night. I’d gotten a few text messages, and eventually I turned off my phone and spent the day lying on the couch, wondering what on earth I could do.

  By that evening, I was tired of being stuck indoors. I liked the fresh air, I enjoyed being outside, and I wasn’t about to let the judgmental looks of half the town stop me from enjoying my life. So I got up, got dressed, and went out to see what was going on. I really hoped Chief Enforcer Loeb had arrested someone, though. It wasn’t fun being even more of a pariah than usual.

  I threw on a jacket, decided I was going to go for a walk, texted Willow, ignored all of my other messages, and made my way out into the world. Luckily, since the sun was just setting, the light was fading fast, and paranormals were making their way indoors. Well, except for the vampires, for whom the day was just getting started.

  I met Willow at the front of the hospital, where her shift had just ended.