Page 34 of Of Poison & Pumpkins (Of Witches & Men #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Rynn

E lias looks like a purple nuclear bomb seconds away from igniting everything ablaze. Somehow, he’s resisting Brooke’s commands, but it is tearing him apart from the inside out. I have to help, but how can I when Noah’s magic spell has me stuck floating here without the inability to talk?

The wish.

What exactly should I ask for? I can’t only wish for Elias to be safe, because all the innocent Dazed people will vanish.

No one deserves that fate, even Nergs. This all started with me wanting revenge against bullies, but just because some people hurt me doesn’t mean everyone will.

Everyone has some goodness in their heart.

My chest immediately loosens, and my breath comes a little easier.

Heal. I wish to heal those affected by my need for revenge.

Will it work if I can’t say it aloud?

Immediately, I flop to the floor with a thud. A wave of color washes over everything in the office, erasing the gray. Elias’s knees buckle and he collapses to the floor, then slowly crawls to me, no longer purple or glowing. Thank the fuck.

Brookes gasps. “Noooo!” She starts to stomp out of the room, but Noah blocks her path.

“You okay?” Elias asks me in a shaky voice.

Tears well behind my eyelids and I reach out to him for comfort. He cradles me in his lap, both of us shaking. I sag against Elias’s chest, fully exhausted.

“Talk to me, Sunflower. Tell me you’re okay.”

“I … I need a minute.” I struggle to speak, to find the right words.

He tightens his hold around me and lets his head fall back against the wall. He utters something that sounds like ‘thank you,’ then bows his head. With trembling hands, I pat his chest. His stomach. His face, needing to make sure he’s whole.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

We both choke on a shaky half-laugh, then meet each other’s eyes. I think I might be crying since wet droplets splatter on my knees.

“You’re okay,” he says, followed by a slow smile. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“We’re okay.”

“Shit! I’m NOT okay,” Hudson says from the corner, patting himself down. “What happened?”

“Officer, put her in cuffs!” Elias says, pointing to Brooke. “Hurry!”

Hudson staggers to his feet, unbalanced, sways, then nods. “What’d she do?”

Brooke’s shoulders go limp, and she stares at the floor while being arrested.

“Everything,” Elias says, lifting us from the ground. “Theft, bribery, extortion, and disturbing the peace, to name a few.”

“I won’t have Oakmar’s peace disturbed, that’s for sure.” Hudson leads her out, peeks down the hallway, then turns back towards us. “Uh, Rynn, you have a whole lot of customers, so I’ll take her out the back. I’ll call you later to get this all sorted out.”

“Hold on.” I join them in the purple-again hallway. “She didn’t do everything. I abused my magic to ask for paint to fulfill my business needs.”

“Don’t see anything wrong with that, Rynn. Everyone loves Palooza.”

“There’s more,” I admit. “Part of my business needs included an operation selling cursed items to Fuzers to get revenge on Nergs who had hurt them.”

“Minor revenge,” Elias says, stepping in. Usually, he’d be all smiles and charms, but I guess this adventure finally tore off his mask.

Hudson looks Elias up and down, then faces me. “Well, you better come with me too, then, Rynn. I’ll figure everything out at the station.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, avoid eye contact with my sister, and drop Elias’s hand. “Okay.”

“No, Rynnlee, you’re the one who fixed this disaster.” Elias’s expression could break my heart.

I rise onto my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “It’ll be okay.”

Every part of me longs to kiss him, but if I start, I’ll never stop. Instead, I allow Hudson to cuff me and lead me outside to the back alley.

“Rynnlee, please don’t do this,” Elias begs. “Don’t leave. I just got you.”

“You’ve always had me.”

A soft autumn breeze caresses my face in a most delicate promise. I must trust that everything will be okay. If I’m going to move on with my life and heal, then this is the only way.

Groups of people are clustered at the end of the street, gesturing in confusion with hushed murmurs. None of them have a vacant manner or are covered in gray anymore. Hopefully the town will rebuild from my mistake, even if I’m not beside them to restore what was broken.

In my periphery, Elias’s hand presses against the officer’s window.

He’s speaking to me, but I stare forward, trying not to cry again.

It’ll be okay. This is the right thing to do.

Hudson’s car rumbles to life and joggles along the cobblestone.

As the last sunlight of evening diminishes, lanterns flicker behind the shops.

Life will go on, with or without me managing Palooza.

Next to me, Brooke scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Typical,” she says. “You can’t even let me keep the spotlight when I’m arrested.”

I stay quiet, processing the events before saying a word to my sister.

* * *

In Oakmar’s downtown police station, I rub the red lines around my wrists from the handcuffs. Brooke sits silently on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed, staring down at her empty hands. Her makeup, smudged over splotchy skin, can no longer disguise her defeat.

“Well, I guess you win again, congrats,” she says, in a flat, monotone voice.

I never wanted this for us. My older brother and I were never close, but Orion was at least decent.

Now, I rarely hear from him, but can’t believe he’d ever pull a stunt like Brooke’s grand scheme.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought she was capable of such drastic measures either.

Something must have happened recently to tip her over the edge.

Maybe if we had been closer growing up, I’d have seen the signs of her decline and been able to prevent all this. But there’s no use wondering about all the ‘what ifs.’ These crimes were her choice, and she needs face the consequences.

When Brooke draws her limbs close to her body and lays her head on her arms in resignation, anger forms in my blood that she’s throwing a pity party for herself.

“You hurt people,” I try to keep my voice steady, calm.

“Just leave me alone.”

“No, your actions could’ve caused a catastrophe, and deaths, Brooke, do you understand that? What were you thinking!?”

“Oh, you’re one to judge!” Brooke spits out. “If it weren’t for your paint, none of this would’ve been possible. Those people out there technically have you to thank.”

“Why? Why would you plan something so destructive? Sure, you hated me, and I can deal with losing out on the sister I’d hope to have, but?—”

“Exactly! I was never the sister you wanted, not then and not now!” She throws her hands in the air. “Every time you looked at me, you wished I was a Fuzer too.”

“What?” Time feels like it slows down and I have no idea where this conversation is going anymore. “All I wanted was to feel accepted by you. Instead, you made my life miserable because I was different from you and Orion and Mom and Dad.”

Brooke shakes her head wildly. “No, no, don’t turn this around.

When I was five, you asked me to make our lemonade magic, and I said, ‘only you can do that.’ Remember that day?

You said you didn’t want to play with me anymore …

” Her voice breaks. “What kind of big sister shuns her sibling for not being as perfect as she is? You. That was the day everything changed.”

“Brooke…”

“Don’t,” she says, waving a hand. “It’s too late for apologies.”

I spring to my feet. “I wasn’t going to apologize. Clearly, we misunderstood each other’s intentions, but we both made our choices of how to deal with it. I left home in order to?—”

“You abandoned us the second you could and never looked back! Never tried to fix what was broken or give us a second chance!”

“You pushed me away!” I scream, fists balled tight.

A knock comes at the door. “Hey, settle down, you two, or we’ll split you up.”

“Just give us five more minutes, please,” I say through the wall and exhale deeply.

We turn away from each other and my mind whirls with what she’s revealed.

It feels like I’m in another dimension, hearing a confession from an alternate Brooke.

I want to forgive her, but how? She stole my paint, broke all the rules, used Elias’s dad, and Goddess-knows who else to take away the passion and soul of my entire town. Why?

“I still need to know why. You could’ve targeted me instead of hurting everyone I care about.”

She clutches her knees, her knuckles turning white. “That’s not how heartbreak works, is it? I wanted you to feel how I did and then take your magic, so I’d never have to feel that way again.”

“Brooke, what happened? If this were just about us, you would’ve done this ten years ago. Why now?”

Her throat bobs, then she bites her lip and sniffs.

My body resists, but I force myself to sit next to her. “Tell me.”

So much time passes that I start counting the seconds by the ticking of the clock on the wall.

“If I had magic, I never would’ve lost her,” Brooke says.

“Who?”

“My girlfriend.” She wipes her nose. “Not that you care.”

My arms turn heavy. Part of me wants to scramble to reverse what’s been said but a knot forms in my belly and I know that’s not possible. I tuck a loose braid behind my ear.

“What happened to her?” I ask tentatively.

Brooke finally looks my way with red-rimmed eyes.

“You want to know?” When I nod, she continues, “It was two years ago. We were hunting in West Virginia. Perfect day, blue skies, easy trail. One second Bailey was talking to me about what video game we’ll play when we get home and the next second an explosion knocked me off my feet.

A bomb, Rynn. Some idiot left a stupid bomb in the middle of the woods.

She lost both her legs and hasn’t been the same since. ” She pauses.

I’ve known nothing about my sister’s life. I didn’t know she was in a relationship, or loved to hunt, or had ever visited West Virginia. She’s right. For too long, I’ve hidden from the past, hoping to avoid my family, that I never considered healing as an option. But maybe it’s not too late.

“Bailey has been in a wheelchair for two years,” she continues. “If I had magic, I could’ve saved her legs that day, or summoned medics to us faster, or turned back time, or been able to smell the bomb and detect it before she stepped on it.”

“That’s not how it works, Brooke, we have to choose?—”

“I KNOW HOW IT WORKS!” She pushes my hand away and crosses her arms again.

“Please go,” Brooke whispers, squeezing her eyes shut, but I don’t move.

“I never hated you growing up, Rynn. But I do now; I hate you. Because you have a chance at happiness. Mine has been taken away. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.

We won’t be having any sister bonding time, or hug it out one day.

This is over. You win. My plan failed, and I never want to see you again. ”

She carries a pale, haunted expression; her words void of remorse or regret.

I may puke if I stay next to her any longer.

Shifting through my memories as fast as possible, I try to find evidence that I once showed love towards her.

I want to challenge her accusations, defend myself, offer a truce, but maybe she’s right. Maybe it’s too late.

Slowly, I give her distance while averting my attention to the door.

“Okay, Brooke. Take care,” I say, and half of me wants to end it at that. Instead, I turn towards her one last time. “I do love you. I always have and I always will.”

I rap on the door, and the officer lets me out to usher me into an independent room.

Inside, I sink to the chair and fumble with the braids in my hair.

The slight headache that formed earlier increases to a painful pounding.

I replay Brooke’s words. She never hated me growing up.

I search for anything from my memories that would help me believe that statement.

Either way, she does hate me now, and I can understand why.

I still have a chance at happiness. Apparently not with her, though.

I can’t force my sister to reconcile. Maybe over time her opinion will change, but I won’t delay my life by building a wall to hide myself.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that holding onto bitterness and pain from the past, or trying to get revenge, is not the way.

Brooke was right about one thing. I have a chance of happiness with Elias. That is, if I’m ever set free.