Page 30

Thirty

ELSPETH

T he market bustled with Thistlegrove residents as Mama, Adelaide, and I set up our stand.

Mama stood in front of her cauldron as Adelaide dropped dried rice, a whole chicken, thyme, rosemary, and carrots into the cast-iron pot.

Prue had managed to find a spell book for gardening in the little library in our cottage. Mama cast the spell, and now we had a garden full of tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkin, peas, carrots, and so many different herbs. That had cut down our spending, so now we only had to buy meat and a few other ingredients for soup recipes. Adelaide created all the recipes, which were brilliant. I’d always known my sister was a good cook, but this soup stand was really allowing her to shine.

Adelaide frowned into the cauldron.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I cut the bread she’d baked that morning into slices. She’d made a parmesan focaccia to go with the soup, and the salty scent of cheese made my stomach rumble.

“Something’s missing.”

“You tested this soup at least three times at home,” Mama said. “It tasted delicious, Adelaide. ”

She shook her head. “No, something is missing. It needs an extra oomph.”

Mama looked up and down the market road as more and more people arrived to shop. “Well, you better hurry. I need to get the spell started.”

Adelaide chewed at her bottom lip, then fished into her apron and pulled out the parchment where she’d written the recipe. “Onion and garlic!” she exclaimed and bent down to grab both from our basket of veggies.

“That’s it?” I wrinkled my nose. “That’s so basic.”

Mama pointed her wand at the onion and garlic, saying a spell that instantly peeled both. She kept speaking Ethorial, and a knife lifted, chopping the onion and garlic on a small wooden board.

Once the knife finished, Adelaide scooped up both and dropped them into the cauldron. “Sometimes it’s the simplest ingredients that make the biggest difference. Both add a subtle but important flavor to the soup.” She looked at Mama. “It’s ready.”

Mama huffed and pointed her wand at the cauldron and said the spell she’d created to meld the flavors and dissipate the bones and gristle. Golden magic glowed from inside the cauldron, brighter and brighter. All at once, the glow disappeared, and in its place was a bubbling pot of soup, ready to serve—as if it had been simmering for hours.

My stomach grumbled again. “That smells so good. Adelaide, you’re a genius.”

Her cheeks turned pink.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re feeling better.” Mama pinched her cheeks. “I was so worried about you two. First, you get sick, then Elspeth disappears and doesn’t return home.” She put her hand to her chest. “I was a wreck. The things you girls put me through.” She tsked.

Adelaide shot me a cheeky grin, and I looked away, cheeks heating. I hadn’t seen Draven since that night on the couch. I still couldn’t believe we’d done that. I’d done that. With him of all people. I was so confused right now, my emotions a mess, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. If I told my sisters or Mama, they’d make a huge deal out of it. They’d make it into more than it was. Plus, I didn’t want to ruin whatever was happening between Adelaide and Elm. They were growing closer and closer, and Adelaide was the happiest I’d ever seen her. She was making some of her best recipes. She was thriving. I couldn’t ruin that with my drama.

I could still feel his hand between my legs, a throbbing ache growing there.

“Are you alright?” Adelaide’s blue eyes crinkled. “You’re looking a little flushed.”

Mama gasped so dramatically it made me jump. “Are you getting sick?” She stepped back. “You keep your distance, missy. I don’t want any part of whatever Adelaide had.”

I sighed. “I’m not getting sick, Mama. I’m fine.”

Old man Veldar stalked up to our stand, his usual scowl on his face.

“What’ll it be today, Veldar?” I smiled sweetly at him.

His scowl deepened, his bushy eyebrows especially wild, the hair sticking out in all directions. “Your soup burnt my mouth yesterday!” He jabbed a finger at me.

“So one bowl?” I asked, nodding at Mama, who started ladling the soup into a bowl.

We’d learned Veldar complained about everything all the time. But I had a theory. I was almost certain the more the old man complained, the more it meant he liked something.

He shoved his hand into his pocket, then slammed three gold coins on the table. “If it burns my mouth again, I’m filing an official complaint!”

“That’s fair,” Adelaide said, placing a nice thick slice of bread on top of his soup bowl.

He grabbed the bowl, then stomped around our stand into the field behind us, where a long table sat with a bench on either side of it. It was big enough for ten people, at least.

I frowned. “Where did that come from?”

“Auggie’s idea,” Adelaide said. “She found the table sitting in our garden and asked some of the townspeople to bring it on their cart so that patrons could sit and eat their soup if they wanted to.”

We’d been using our leftover potion bottles to make to-go soups that people could take home and eat later. Mama had spelled the bottles to keep the soup warm—with Prue’s help. I figured the to-go option would be popular. And it was. But far more people than I expected opted for grabbing a bowl and sitting somewhere nearby to eat .

A few others appeared and bought their bowls of soup, then joined Veldar at the table.

“That man is so unpleasant.” I straightened the to-go bottles of soup.

“Elm said his husband died twenty years ago and he hasn’t been the same since,” Adelaide said. “Go easy on him. I think he’s lonely.”

I stared at Veldar. I hadn’t realized he’d been married. I supposed I’d never asked.

Mama hummed as she stirred the cauldron with her wand, murmuring a spell to keep the soup hot as a chilly gust of wind blew past us. “Nothing like a warm bowl of soup to bring people together, hmm?”

I turned my attention back to Adelaide. “Have you seen Auggie today?”

I hadn’t seen much of her since she’d stormed out on me a few days ago.

“No.” Adelaide shrugged helplessly. “She’s been spending more and more time out, but I can’t get her to tell me where she’s going or who she’s spending time with.”

Mama patted her curly gray hair, in its usual messy bun. “I think she’s found a suitor.”

I laughed. “Auggie? Auggie isn’t interested in a relationship.” She never had been. She liked flirting and kissing and having fun but not all the baggage that came with it.

“You never know. Being in Thistlegrove is changing a lot of things.” She gave me a meaningful look, and I wondered if she somehow knew about me and Draven. But that was impossible. No one knew.

I cleared my throat. “Well, we should find out what’s going on with her soon. I hope she’s alright.”

I thought about our fight, how upset she’d been, how convinced she was that none of us took her seriously.

Helena stepped up to our stand, the vampire wearing all pink today, her black hair in its usual slicked-back style. “I heard you’re serving wild rice and chicken soup today.”

“Word spreads fast,” Adelaide said.

“I’m surprised you’re still here.” I got a small plate and set her bowl of soup on it. “I figured you’d be gone by now.”

“I have some business I’m attending to.” She flashed her fangs.

“Did you find some new talent?” I asked.

“A vampire doesn’t reveal her secrets.” Helena took her bowl.

“Everyone is so secretive.” Mama threw out her arms. “How am I supposed to gossip when no one will tell me anything?”

Adelaide and I smiled.

“The only one I can get anything out of is my dear Adelaide.” Mama hugged my sister. “She’s very happy with Elm Kingsley, you know.”

“Mama,” Adelaide hissed, cheeks turning pink.

Mama leaned forward. “I think she might be in love.”

Adelaide groaned. “Helena doesn’t want to hear this,” she said with an edge to her voice.

Mama clapped her hands over my cheeks, smooshing them like I was a toddler. “Elspeth is next. And I think she may have already found someone.”

Oh no. I stiffened under Mama’s hold and took a step back, busying myself with straightening the pile of plates that didn’t actually need to be straightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mama looked at Helena, a glint in her eyes. “She might not think I know anything, but I have a mother’s intuition. I see the sparks between her and a certain Draven Darkstone.”

I shot a look at Helena, whose smile faded.

“Well,” Helena said, taking her bowl, “that is interesting gossip. If you’ll excuse me.” She walked over to the table behind us, taking a seat at the very edge, away from the others.

Guilt gnawed at me as I thought about Helena’s warning the day we’d gone dress shopping. “I’m going to go sit with Helena for a bit,” I said.

Mama waved me off, and Adelaide nodded.

I walked over to the table and sat across from the vampire.

“What Mama said ...” I trailed off. What could I say? If I denied it, I’d be lying. I couldn’t deny that there was something between me and Draven. I thought I hated him, but... something drew me to him. I recognized some of myself in him, but I also found myself wanting to know him better. Wanting to open up to him.

I still didn’t know why, and it was frustrating to no end .

“It’s okay.” Helena took a sip of her soup. “You’re a grown woman and can make your own choices.”

Her voice was clipped.

I chewed the inside of my cheek. I didn’t care what Helena thought about me. I didn’t care what anyone thought about me. I’d learned not to long ago. But Helena’s warning echoed in my mind.

“What happened between you and Draven?” I asked.

Her red eyes flashed, and she hesitated. “I’m only telling you this to protect you,” she said. “Like I said, you’re a grown woman and can make your own choices. But you should have all the information before you do.”

My heart pounded. That sounded ominous.

“Draven’s parents died over a year ago, which I assume you know.”

I nodded.

Helena took another sip of her soup, steam curling from the bowl. “After they died, I grew close with his sister. Became a mentor to her in many ways. She was staying with her grandmother, whom I’m good friends with. And the three of us spent a lot of time together.” Helena shrugged. “I can only assume Draven was jealous. He never got along well with his grandmother. He came to visit one day and decided to take his sister. Decided it was best if she stayed with him. He tore that poor girl away from her grandmother, from me.” Helena’s eyes watered. “I worry about Georgie, but Draven won’t even let me see her.”

My heart splintered, and I thought about everything I knew of Draven and Georgie. I couldn’t imagine Draven doing something so cruel. He didn’t strike me as someone that selfish, someone who would put his own jealousy above his sister’s needs.

“Draven will always do what’s best for Draven,” Helena said. “I just think you should know that before you pursue a relationship with him.”

I reared back. “I’m not pursuing any such thing.”

If Draven was capable of doing something like that to his own sister, then he was more than capable of revealing someone’s secret. My gaze flitted to Adelaide. Elm was visiting her. He held her in his arms, and she laughed as he whispered something in her ear. Had Adelaide told Elm our secret yet? Would Elm reveal something like that to his best friend?

I swallowed as my stomach turned to stone .

Helena reached over and patted my hand, her touch so cold. “You look like I’ve just delivered the news that your closest friend has died.”

I gave her a strained smile. “No, not at all. Thank you for telling me. For trusting me.”

Helena hesitated, eyes shifting back and forth. “And you will keep this between us?”

“Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t betray a secret.”

Not when my own had been betrayed so long ago, and I knew how devastating it could be.

I spent the rest of the day in a haze, Helena’s story rolling through my mind like an endless wave.