Page 13 of Magic Blooms

twelve

A ritual.

Dark magic.

Here.

The drunk man’s words kept echoing through my mind as Joshua took care of the bill and we then bid Art goodnight. I had a lot of time to think—to worry—because Joshua had insisted on driving the other, very inebriated, man to his home

Nothing about my magic felt dark or malevolent, but I had to admit that I was also a new arrival here. Had I led someone else through the portal into this world? Or was it at least possible that I was somehow connected to the bad fortune that had befallen Fox’s End and one very unlucky guest?

Unfortunately, until I knew why I was here, I couldn’t rule anything out.

But maybe this was a good thing. Not for poor Karen obviously, but the fact that something suspicious was going on this side of my homeland.

Maybe, as Lorraine had conjectured, someone was playing with magic here, and that had pulled me through.

My accidental arrival may have had nothing to do with me—or my homeland—at all.

Add to that my dawning realization of just how small and inconsequential I was back in Vilea, and having someone from Elyria be responsible for my untimely travel made all the more sense.

No, there was no way it had been someone I’d known or trusted.

No way someone had intentionally tried to banish me to a foreign world.

Even though I was technically third in line to lead the earth elementals, I would likely never rule.

In reality, I was little more than a trained pet that did as I was told.

But since arriving in Peach Plains, I’d begun to find meaning in my actions, to see that what I did mattered. Could make a difference.

I really needed to stop liking that so much.

It wouldn’t be long until I’d have to go home and back to my normal passive life.

Yes, that life was my fate and nothing else. I couldn’t let myself forget.

After dropping Art off at home, Joshua stopped at a nearby refueling station and disappeared inside the small storefront. When he returned to the truck, he handed me a paper cup filled with something dark and steaming. I took the cup from him and could feel the warmth seeping through the container.

“Oh, what’s this?” I asked as I brought the cup closer to me and inhaled the wonderful smell. It was like nothing on Vilea. It was almost nutty and herby while being earthy at the same time. “It smells amazing.”

“I grabbed some cream and sugar for you if you want—” Joshua began, but I waved him off, eager for a taste of the earthy brew.

I took a slow, tentative sip despite my excitement, having at least in part learned my lesson at dinner, thanks to that awful whiskey and Coke. The heat washed over my tongue, warmed me in a way I liked.

And then the taste hit me. BLECH!

I coughed, then ran my tongue over the back of my hand in an effort to push that foul taste away.

“What is wrong with your drinks here?” I cried.

Joshua, however, had no sympathy for my plight. “Okay. I’ve had it. I know you’re not from New York. It’s one thing for the whiskey to catch you off guard, but you’ve never even had coffee? Who are you really, Polly?”

I handed the cup back to him and used both hands to rub at my temples.

Oh, I wanted to lie, but I just couldn’t think of anything that would sound believable.

Besides, part of me wanted to tell Joshua the truth—had wanted to from day one, even.

At this point, I’d spent more time with him than anyone else in Elyria.

Clearly, I could trust him with my safety, so why not my identity?

Then again…

“Lorraine told me not to tell people,” I mumbled, feeling very exposed as I sat beside him in the small truck cab with nowhere to turn or hide.

“Who cares what Lorraine said? If I’m stuck with you, then I have a right to know who you really are.”

He wasn’t wrong. In fact, that was the same argument I’d made to try to get Lorraine to reveal his magical secret. “I know you’re not a powerless mortal, either. So let’s make a deal. If I tell you my secrets will you tell me yours?”

He took a deep sip of the foul brew and hummed. “I barely know you.”

“And I barely know you,” I shot back.

We were both quiet for a few moments, having reached an impasse.

“Forget it then,” he murmured, jerking Old Sparky back into motion. Neither of us spoke until the truck stopped again. This time in the same place where we’d started our evening’s quest, right outside Dr. Art’s office.

“What are we doing here?” I asked. “We already talked to Art and left him at his home.”

“Stakeout,” Joshua responded, keeping his eyes glued to the one-story building. “The body is still here, and if our victim was killed as part of a black magic ritual, then the killer will be black to claim it.”

I shuddered. “Can we please not refer to her as ‘the body’ or ‘our victim?’ She was a real person. Her name was Karen.”

Joshua’s features softened as he studied me for a moment. “That drink that you somehow have never heard of before, it’s coffee. It has caffeine in it and will keep you awake.”

He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of something and handed it to me.

“Dump all of that in to make it taste better. We could be here for a while. It’s not even dark yet, and I can just about guarantee that whatever’s going to happen is going to happen in the dead of night. ”

I shivered again at the thought of coming face-to-face with Karen’s killer. While I was reluctant to try the coffee again, I also knew things could be far, far worse.

I couldn’t let Joshua—or Karen—down by falling asleep during the heat of our investigation.

At that precise moment I wasn’t yet tired, but I knew after a few hours of sitting motionless that could easily change.

So one by one, I opened the tiny containers of white liquid and even whiter grains and started to mix it all together.

“If this way is better, why not just serve it like this in the first place?”

“You can get them all fancy and sugared up, but since I was buying, I got you the cheap stuff.” He smiled to himself. “Hope you don’t mind that I’m a cheap date.”

I could hardly expect him to spend all of his money on me.

“What’s a date?” I could comprehend the actual meaning of the word.

A specific day. But I couldn’t understand what it meant in this context.

I was grateful for the magic that allowed me to understand and speak any language, but there were definitely some flaws in the system.

I only knew enough to get by on my travels, not to assimilate to the culture here.

For the first time since I’d know him, crimson rose to Joshua’s cheeks. “Date… you know. When a couple sees if they’re, uh, romantically compatible, before they do anything they can’t take back.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

Date. Testing out a relationship. The concept seemed to make so much sense, and yet it was entirely alien to me.

The plan had always been for me to marry the person my family picked for me.

After all, they were far wiser than I and also had my best interests at heart.

“Date, hmm. Do you date?” I asked, taking a small sip from the heavily modified coffee. Better.

Joshua snorted and rolled his eyes. “Who am I gonna ask out in this tiny place? Besides, the girls here are either crazy or succubi.” He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment. “And sometimes both.”

“What’s a—?”

“Don’t ask. There’s only so much I can teach you in one day. I think introducing you to both whiskey and coffee, all in the course of a couple hours, is more than enough.”

I winced at both unpleasant memories yet again. How could the water here taste so good while everything else was terrible? So far I’d loved the food. There had to be better tasting drinks out there somewhere. Right?

Well, at least with the additives the coffee was now bearable. Hopefully it would do its job and keep me awake, too.

“How much of the white stuff do you add to your coffee?”

“I drink it black.” Before I could ask, he clarified, “I don’t add anything. I like the caffeine as concentrated as possible.”

“So if I didn’t add anything, I’d stay awake longer?”

“Nah. I’m just tricking myself into thinking that. I’d practically worked a full day already before any of this murder stuff began. It’s going to take a lot to keep me awake tonight.”

“Maybe I can entertain you?” I suggested innocently and then flushed at how such a suggestion might have come across. We’d just been talking about dates and testing relationships. I didn’t want Joshua to think I was offering myself in that way.

He seemed to take it all in stride, though. “Yeah? Like telling me what portal you came through?”

The heat drained from my face. “Maybe we should stop talking and focus more on our stakeout.”

Joshua grunted and took a slow swig of his black coffee. “Fine by me.”

I don’t know what he was complaining about. I’d offered to come clean if he told me what he was, and he was the one who’d shut me down.

Yeesh. What a hard-to-please man.

We sat in tense silence for a long while, so long that the sun set and a smattering of twinkling stars appeared overhead. My eyelids grew heavy, but I forced them to stay open. I hadn’t yet fallen asleep. I wouldn’t be, either.

For some reason, I felt an overwhelming need to prove myself around Joshua. To prove I was strong enough to help. Capable enough. I knew his opinion didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things and yet… it did to me.

Every once in a while, one of us would check in on the other, making sure we were both still awake. But for the most part, nothing happened. As much as I enjoyed the calming stillness of the night, I couldn’t help but grow bored as the hours stretched indeterminably into the future.

Despite the stakeout being his idea, Joshua seemed to be having more trouble with it than simple boredom. Every few minutes, he adjusted himself on the seat bench and groaned.

“Are you okay?” I asked, not sure whether I was more irritated or worried by it.

“I’m fine,” he said sharply. Then he took a deep breath and added, “I get antsy when I spend too long away from home.”

Huh. Maybe we had more in common than I thought. “I feel that way all the time since coming to Fox’s End.”

“I thought you liked it there.”

“Oh, I do love it. But it’s not home, you know?”

I glanced over to Joshua and saw him staring at me with so much intensity. I couldn’t read his face at all. Had I upset him? Had I said something wrong? But then he just gave a little nod of affirmation. “Polly, if you ever—”

I shot up in my seat and pointed at the windshield. “There’s movement!”

It was too dark to get a good look at whoever had appeared outside, but not too dark to make out the general figure of a person wearing a black-hooded cloak that was so long it dragged on the ground.

Dark. Secret. Concealed.

Just like a murderer—or a black magic practitioner.

I reached for the door handle, ready to confront this suspicious arrival, but Joshua grabbed my arm. “What are you doing?” he whisper-yelled.

“Well, we have to go find out who that is. Don’t we?”

“We don’t do anything. I’ll go check it out. You stay here.”

If I weren’t in such a hurry, I would’ve slapped him. Where that level of passionate anger came from, I didn’t know, but I felt it. “I haven’t been here all this time just to let you do all the hard work now!”

“It’s not just hard work, it’s dangerous work. What do you think you’re going to do if you come face to face with a dark witch?”

I opened my mouth but couldn’t find the words I needed to defend himself. I really hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“That’s what I figured. You stay here. If I have to worry about your safety, it will just distract me.” And then he climbed out of the truck and snuck toward the office.

The figure had already disappeared into the building, and soon Joshua disappeared after it.

I let out a deep sigh as I waited, hating that my role in this had been relegated to a simple bystander. So much for proving myself to Joshua. He’d only wanted me here as an elaborate alarm clock. And I couldn’t blame him. What was I going to do?

But then I remembered that I wasn’t exactly powerless. I had discovered what killed Karen. I had helped get Art to speak to us. I’d proven myself so far, and I would do it yet again. Time to find out the who of this equation.