Page 31 of Curses & Cold Brew (Maple Hollow #2)

IRIS

N othing epitomized Maple Hollow quite like the night of the Halloween Festival. It was the crowning jewel of our spooky little town. Harlow, Jordyn, and I walked together through the labyrinth of stalls and lines to the middle of the candlelit square.

I felt like a giddy child. It was basically like Christmas for us witches, and I’d been delighted when the coven elders had offered to man the bookshop and apothecary tables so that Jordyn and I could explore and enjoy ourselves.

Booths had been set up in the town square throughout the week.

There were stalls where you could bob for apples or participate in a pie-eating contest. There were fortunetellers and booths for cauldron elixirs.

There were crafting stations where tourists could decorate their own witch hats and dip their own candles.

There was even a carousel. All the youngest witches and werewolves were in line for it.

Instead of horses, they would ride magically floating skeletons, pumpkins, and witches’ brooms.

My favorite area was the Snack-o’-Lantern Strip that featured far more than just bowls of candy for trick-or-treaters. It had the most sinfully decadent fare the festival had to offer: candy apple bars, monster macarons, and pumpkin-spice funnel cakes.

“Willow and Wyatt’s booth looks so cute.” I pointed down the row to where Willow was pre-pouring cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate into cups and setting them next to the green and purple monster macarons that Wyatt had made especially for the festival.

When we got closer, Eloise spotted us. “There you are! I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.

” She looked over her shoulder then down the row as if she were about to open her jacket and reveal a bunch of counterfeit watches.

But what she took out and slid across the table was far more coveted in these parts—a white pastry box.

“This is the last box. You didn’t get them from me. ”

Lightning fast, Harlow snatched it and opened the lid. “The last three apple cider donuts!” She held a hand to her chest as if deeply moved. “Thank you for saving them for us.”

Jordyn plucked out a donut. “These are harder to get than drugs in this town.” She made a delicious hmm sound when she bit into it.

I laughed as Jordyn stuffed her entire donut into her mouth. “Considering we are the only drugstore,” I said, “that doesn’t mean much.”

“Nothing illegal in our shop!” she loudly assured everyone around us. “Only medicine.”

“Thanks, Eloise.” I removed a small baggie from my purse and slid it back across the table toward her. “For you. A sample of our very legal drugs.”

I had put together a tea blend for uplifting and luck and was passing it around to our closest friends. A little magic for the locals after the long—and sometimes grueling—tourist season. After tomorrow, the town would return to its normal pace, and we’d all have a chance to recover over winter.

Eloise closed her eyes and sniffed the bag. “Hmm . . . lemon balm, valerian root, and something sweet . . .”

“They’re special dried blackberries that the coven propagated,” Jordyn added. “Very warming. Good for the soul.”

“I can’t wait to try it. Thanks.” Eloise tucked away her little sachet and returned to her customers.

Wyatt and Willow stood next to each other, separated only by the small gap between their tables.

Though they weren’t outwardly affectionate, something had clearly changed between them.

Willow had explained a few bruises and scrapes the other day to Harlow, but we still felt like there was more to it than a misunderstanding with the wolf pack. A story for another time, for sure.

“Harlow, could you take these over to the vampire booth, please?” Willow held up two trays of hot chocolate, each lid balancing a crescent pastry on top. “A little thank-you to Agnes and the knitting club for making those cute tea cozies for the pots in the café.”

“That’s a lot for a cup of cocoa to say,” Harlow jested but took the trays anyway.

“It’s not just hot chocolate,” Wyatt added as he filled to-go boxes with four different pastries. “I also made new macarons—vanilla with maple cream—to go with them. See?”

He held up the nearest plate for me. They were painted to look like the moon with a small willow tree in the middle.

Nice touch .

I popped one into my mouth and let out an indecent sound at the taste. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Rich and creamy. They were perfect.

He’d also made the oversized burnt maple marshmallows that topped the luscious hot chocolate.

I gave him an approving thumbs-up. “You’re right. They say a lot for small cookies.”

A rush of sightseers came from behind us, and we knew it was time to move on. Jordyn linked her arm with mine and we made our way through the crowd.

I panned the rest of the aisle, and my gaze finally landed on the person I’d been waiting to see.

I couldn’t stop the butterflies in my stomach just from seeing her.

Ramona stood with Naphula on the outer edge of the square as they watched the mortals enjoy the Halloween Festival that they had likely seen a hundred times before.

The two of us had agreed we’d enjoy the festivities with our best friends, each of us celebrating in kind—me with wide-eyed exuberance and Ramona with aloof wickedness.

“Are you meeting up with Ramona later?” Jordyn asked, catching my wandering eye.

“Maybe.” I nudged her playfully with my elbow. “But tonight, I want to spend time with you and our friends.”

She squeezed my arm, emotions cascading across her face. “Have I told you that I’m sorry for disappearing so much in the last year?”

“Yes, but you don’t need to. You know I love seeing you happy.” I pulled her tight to my side to avoid a group of passing teens. “I also love seeing you . And I know I’ll be getting plenty more of that when Harlow moves in.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised, but we both knew Harlow’s move was long overdue.

There was only so long the human could live in Willow’s kitchen-stock-room-slash-guest-bedroom.

And while I knew Jordyn wasn’t ready for the conversation, I had a feeling a certain demon was determined that I’d never leave her bedroom again.

Drawers had been cleared, favorite snacks acquired.

Logically, I knew it was far too soon for any sane couple to be moving in together, but where was the sanity between witches and demons?

“So you’re willing to share the bathroom with one more person?” Jordyn asked incredulously.

“If she promises to help cook every once in a while, I don’t mind at all.”

“Deal.”

We passed the Stars and Stones booth to find Citrine directing customers toward the people helping bag orders.

At first glance, I could only see my little sister, Sabine, and her girlfriend, Gwen, who’d returned from the big city this morning for the festival, but then a tall figure stood to their full height.

There was only one person who could claim such a towering stature: Dean.

“Is that the new Midnight Market clerk?” Jordyn murmured, leading us closer.

The monster looked up and waved in greeting. “Iris, right?”

“Hello again, Dean.” I gave an awkward half wave then turned to Citrine. “Well, you have quite the gaggle of helpers this year.”

Jordyn subtly toed me with her boot, already knowing my matchmaking plans before they had even hatched.

Citrine’s gaze pinged from me to Dean, her cheeks flushing.

“I’m just here for fun.” Dean’s chest puffed up like the giant green Boy Scout he was. “Randy should be riding through soon, too. We have a big production to put on, you know.”

Jordyn balked. “Oh yeah, we know.”

The new performance had been thrown together within a couple of hours.

It would be a shoddy production, but having a headless horseman in town was enough to send all the tourists into fits of applause.

The trial run yesterday had people raving, which was probably why the festival was hosting its biggest crowd in decades.

“He’s going to kidnap Citrine,” Dean whispered conspiratorially to us.

Citrine’s face turned beet red. “It’s just for fun,” she clarified as if it needed to be.

“Who wouldn’t want to be kidnapped by Randy?” I asked, and Jordyn kicked me again. “Ouch.”

“Well, we can’t wait to see it!” Jordyn said, steering me away. “Have fun, all.”

We linked arms and we made our way toward the vampires’ game booth, where they were playing bloody beer pong.

Not their tidiest idea, but they were certainly drawing a crowd.

There, we found Harlow, who was splattered with red food coloring—I hoped. Avery stood close by, handing her sticky red ping-pong ball every time one hit the rim of a cup and bounced off.

“This is harder with thick liquid,” Harlow protested. “It changes the spin on the ball.”

“That’s the point,” Agnes griped. “If it were easy, then everyone would win a stuffed headless animal.”

“All of them are handmade,” Avery added. She pointed to the knitted animals hanging above our heads—bats, cats, a raccoon even—all of them without heads.

“We had to make it hard or we’d be out before the ghoulish choir even sang.”

Harlow aimed her last ball, her tongue sticking out in concentration. She launched it, but the throw was too hard and the ball went flying over the last cup. But right before it hit the ground, I gave it a little flick of my magic and guided it into one of the cups with the gelatinous mixture.

“Cheating witches,” Agnes grumbled but handed Harlow a headless black moth with red and grey markings. “You better tell people where you got this.”

Harlow laughed and handed the stuffed animal to Jordyn. “For you, my love.”

“Aww, be still my heart.” Jordyn hugged it tight and gave Harlow a sweet kiss before we continued on through the festival.

I was enjoying every bit of the magic, both real and orchestrated, but despite promising myself that I wouldn’t, my eyes kept searching the darkened corners of the fair for someone, wondering if she was breaking her own promises and searching for me too.