A Sinister Spell in Faerywood Falls Read online

  “How strange,” I said.

  Lenny nodded, and I saw a tightness in his eyes. “Yes…it’s terrible enough that poor Abe had this happen to him, but worse than that, Burt was found dead the next morning.”

  My stomach lurched. Calm down, Marianne. It’s not impossible that there would be two dead bodies found the same day that you found the fisherman.

  “That’s awful,” I said.

  Lenny wiped at his eyes with his fingers. “Yeah, I guess after he’d spoken with the police, he’d set out to do some fishing. It was his favorite thing to do since he’d retired just a few years ago. He and his wife moved back to the area; she grew up here. I saw Liza yesterday… It broke my heart.”

  My own heart was beating quickly in my ears. “What happened?”

  “Well, they don’t really know,” Lenny said, folding his arms across his chest. “They found him in his fishing boat. The police are saying that it looks like something attacked him, just like those hunters that have turned up dead lately.” He sighed heavily, and looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “It’s just terrible, so many deaths. I know all of us are getting real tired of going to these funerals and having to watch the families suffer.”

  So it wasn’t a coincidence after all. That man was the same one I had found in the fishing boat down on the lake. Lenny was the last person to see him alive. This Burt Cassidy was the one who had noticed the break in…and then he turned up dead right after…

  “Lenny, do you mind if I ask you a question?” I asked, my blood turning cold. “Burt was the person who reported the break in, right?”

  Lenny nodded. “Yeah. He claimed he saw someone moving around inside, and it wasn’t Abe.”

  I sighed.

  “If it’s all right, I’m just going to sneak up the back stairs and go see Abe,” Lenny said, moving to step around me.

  “Sure, no problem,” I mumbled, but my mind was elsewhere.

  I was figuring out who had killed Burt Cassidy.

  17

  “Bliss? Hey, it’s me,” I said, snapping my seat belt into place, my fingers trembling.

  “Hey, what’s up, Marianne?” Bliss asked. “Out of work already?”

  “No,” I said, glancing over my shoulder as I backed my SUV up out of its spot. “I’m leaving early.”

  Athena was sitting in the front seat like a cat, all curled up with her tail wrapped around her, but one eye was opened wide and staring at me.

  “Why?” Bliss asked.

  “Do you know who Silvia Griffin is?” I asked, and with every fiber of my being, I hoped that she would say no.

  “Yeah, why?” she asked.

  My stomach sank. “She’s not a spell weaver, is she?” I asked, the last of my hope hinging on her answer.

  “Yeah, she’s one of the seats on the council of eleven – our sort of leadership board – and has been for a long, long time. Why?” Bliss asked.

  “Is she…a nice person?” I asked, hoping still yet again for another out.

  “Oh, no way,” Bliss said, her tone totally changing. “She’s the definition of what a cliché spell weaver is. She’s nasty, selfish, uses any opportunity to toe the line of what the council of eleven has agreed on as right and wrong…she even wears these hideous striped stockings. She probably has a million pairs, all different colors.”

  “Oh, boy…” I said.

  “What is it?” Bliss asked.

  “I think…” I couldn’t believe I was about to say this out loud. “I think she killed the fisherman, who I found out today was named Burt Cassidy.”

  “What?” Bliss asked.

  “Someone broke into the antiques store, and I think it was her, because she came into the shop on Saturday and tried to buy that magic book from me. When I wouldn’t give it to her, she threatened me and stormed out. Then that book along with some other items that are probably magical in some way turned up missing after a strange break in. The weirdest part is that the man who reported the break in is the one who ended up dead.” I said.

  “You think she killed him to keep her secret?” Bliss asked.

  “I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the only lead we have. And that book is dangerous, Bliss. We have to get it back from her, and I think I’m the only one who knows what it really is.”

  I heard Bliss click her tongue in annoyance. “This is so like Silvia to do something as terrible as that.”

  “We have to find her,” I said. “Do you have any idea how I might locate her?”

  “Oh, definitely,” Bliss said. “We spell weavers have ways of finding one another. Meet me here at the lodge. I’ll get the rest of the council on the phone and hopefully by the time you get here, they’ll have called back to say they’ve found her.”

  Find her they did. It turned out that Bliss was right. The members of the council of eleven evidently knew some handy spells that were able to locate Silvia Griffin – and they were shocked enough at her behavior that they were willing to use their knowledge to help us.

  “She’s tried to conceal herself,” Bliss informed me when I arrived at the lodge just as she got off the phone with a council member. “And she almost succeeded, too, if she’d only remembered that it is much easier to locate her when we have a piece of her hair.”

  “How did the other spell weavers get that?” I asked.

  Bliss shrugged. “Simple. They went to her house and found it on her pillow.”

  Magic really was strange, but I wanted to find Silvia, so I just went with it.

  “She’s somewhere up on a mountain trail,” Bliss said. “There aren’t any houses or cabins or anything there. She’s probably using a weaver hut or something.”

  “Weaver hut?” I asked.

  “Transportable spell weaver accommodations,” Bliss said nonchalantly. “Also easy to hide from non-Gifted people.”

  “So she’s in hiding…” I said.

  Bliss nodded. “The council tried to contact her, and she severed communication. She might not be up there all that much longer.”

  “Then we need to catch her,” I said, my brow furrowing. “She needs to pay for what she’s done.”

  “I agree, but are you sure you really want to be the one to confront her?” Bliss asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Because if I’m a faery like you say, maybe there’s something I can do to stop her. At least, I’ll have more chance than anyone who’s not Gifted. Best to leave the police out of this until we know exactly what we’re up against.”

  “I can’t go along and help you,” Bliss said apologetically. “The council have forbidden me as an apprentice to involve myself in a fight with a spell weaver as powerful as Silvia. I’ve taken oaths and I’m bound to obey them.”

  “I understand,” I said.

  “I don’t think the council will help you further in this either,” she said. “They’re too busy debating with one another how best to handle the matter internally without spilling our secrets to the Ungifted. It could take them ages to reach a decision.”

  “Time we don’t have,” I said. “Silvia could be planning anything right now. I’ve got to get at her before she’s had a chance to prepare.”

  Bliss agreed. She gave me the directions and sent me on my way before Aunt Candace figured out what we were up to. My aunt would never have let me leave if she knew what was happening.

  I followed my GPS up the long, winding roads to the mountains overlooking the lake, my heart in my throat the whole time. What was going to happen when I got up there? What was I going to do? Or say? I didn’t have any knowledge of these powers I supposedly possessed as a faery. Maybe I could reveal what I was to Silvia, and that would be enough to make her back down.

  But what if she turned around and told everyone my secret? No…that wasn’t going to work.

  The mountaintop came into sight, and my heart was pumping so fast I was certain it was going to beat right out of my chest. The road was definitely more like a hiking trail. My S
UV barely made it through some of the narrow walkways, and it wasn’t until I found a walking bridge over a gorge that I knew I had to make it the rest of the way on foot.

  I was hoping against all hope that she was still going to be there when I reached the summit. Sweat trickled down my back as I walked up the steep, rocky trails, the shoes I’d thrown on that morning less than suitable for hiking.

  Athena, who’d come with me, hurried along beside me, her nose pointed in the air for any hint of Silvia’s scent. Her coat gleamed in the sun, but I didn’t have time to appreciate her or any of the other beauty around us.

  The sun beat down on me, and it wasn’t long before the back of my neck started to feel raw and swollen. I kept wiping sweat out of my eyes, and my breath was coming in sharp pants.

  Almost there. I could make it. I had to make it. Something deep down told me that bad things were going to happen if I didn’t reach Silvia.

  The wind rushing through the trees picked up, pushing against my back as if to urge me onwards. The branches clapped against one another, almost as if in applause.

  It was like a light glowing within me, dim at first. I reached out toward it with my very soul. It was like a sweet voice, calling me back home.

  Keep…going…

  I felt like the leaves were singing to me.

  It’s as if the forest is awakening at your presence…Athena said, her eyes shifting from tree to tree.

  Courage flooded through me as I continued to climb.

  We reached the summit, and the line of trees gave way to a wide expanse of sky and valley below, visible over a cliff face. It stretched across the horizon like a scroll being unrolled, in all manner of greens and blues and grays. The lake that I saw out of my windows every morning, and gazed at every night as Athena and I enjoyed dinner together, was like a disc of glass far below, perfectly flat, reflecting the puffy white clouds in the brilliantly blue sky above.

  A pair of hawks flew overhead, screeching to each other.

  The hilltop was deserted as I looked around, the wind whipping my face, tossing my hair against my eyelashes. It was a good thing that I wasn’t afraid of heights. The path was narrow up here, and as I stared down the cliff, I could see the sheer drop back down the side of the mountain, even from where I stood.

  I took a shuddering glance. I was safe as long as I didn’t move too close to the edge.

  I glanced at the GPS on my phone again. This was where Bliss had directed me. I also remembered that Bliss had said Silvia had been trying to hide from the spell weaver’s council.

  I balled my hands into fists, anger fueling my courage. “Silvia!” I shouted, staring around. “I know you’re here. Show yourself.”

  Nothing happened for a moment, but just as quickly as I had blinked, a woman was standing there a short distance away, her violet eyes flashing dangerously. She was twirling some of her blue dyed hair around the end of her finger, smirking at me.

  “Well, well,” she said, taking a few slow, exaggerated steps toward me. “If it isn’t the little shopkeeper. What brings you here?”

  A ripple of fear passed over the pond of relative calmness I was trying to hold onto. “I know that you broke into Mr. Cromwell’s store on Saturday night.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah? So what?”

  “So what?” I asked, indignant. “You’re kidding, right? That’s a crime.”

  “It was a crime for him to keep this book all hidden away like he was,” she said, snapping her fingers. The book appeared in a puff of purple smoke and landed in her outstretched hand. “Or rather, it was you who was to blame, I guess. You’re the one who refused to sell it to me in the first place.”

  “Because it’s mine,” I said.

  She looked up at me, tilting her head to the side. She let out a shrill laugh. “My, my. Have some propensity for magic yourself, huh? What are you, a spell weaver? A beast talker?” Her eyes fell on Athena, who was standing loyally at my side. “No wonder you wanted it. But too bad, so sad. I have it now. Finders keepers, and all that…”

  She snapped her fingers, and the book disappeared again.

  “It wasn’t just the book,” I said. “You also killed Burt Cassidy because he was the one who reported the robbery in the first place.”

  A malicious smile spread across Silvia’s pretty face. “Yes, I did. My, aren’t you just the little detective? The sheriff should hire you; he might actually get something done for once.” She let out a sharp laugh at her own joke. Then her face darkened. “That fool Burt Cassidy saw me leave, and after calling the police, he tailed me for a while. I was able to lose him, but I knew he was onto me. For all I knew, he only held back my identity from the police in hopes of blackmailing me later. So, I followed him and killed him to make sure he didn’t talk.” She kicked at a rock with the tip of her heeled boot. “It was easy, really. I just used a handy spell from that book to freeze his heart.”

  I remembered how I had stumbled across a freezing spell inside the book myself, when I’d accidentally broken the clock in the shop. Possibly it was the same spell Silvia had used, although she had obviously known better than me how to target the spell in the direction she wanted.

  She continued, “Then, as he was dying, all it took was using a sharp object to puncture his neck to look like teeth marks. Couldn’t have the police suspecting someone instead of some creature, right? Especially with all those hunters getting killed recently. Not that I had anything to do with their deaths, mind you. Small loss, though, I’m sure.”

  I gaped at her, my blood running cold. “You talk about murdering a man like it was no more trouble than taking out the trash.”

  “Yes, well, I didn’t do it just for myself, you know. We spell weavers have to do anything and everything we can to ensure that the secret of our existence is never discovered by the Ungifted,” Silvia said, examining her black fingernails.

  I could only stare at her. She’d admitted she’d done it without batting an eye. Bliss had said that she was less than pleasant, but to be so open to murder…there was something truly wrong with this woman.

  “Oh, yes, I know that I’ll catch it from the council of eleven for killing him, but they’ll come around when they see what a threat he posed to us overall,” Silvia said, pacing back and forth across the walking path. My eyes followed her as she walked right up to the edge of the cliff and stared down into the gorge’s depths.

  “He wouldn’t have posed a threat at all if you hadn’t gone in and stolen that book,” I said.

  “And I wouldn’t have had to steal it if you had just given it to me in the first place!” she snapped, wheeling around and pointing a finger in my direction. There was a deranged look in her purple eyes, and her teeth were gritted. “This was your fault! That man’s blood is on your hands!”

  My eyes widened as I stared at her. “I wouldn’t sell you that book because it is so dangerous,” I said.

  “Of course it is,” Silvia said. “That’s why it belongs in spell weaver hands, and not just sitting around for some Ungifted to come and pick it up.”

  I glared at her across the mountaintop, and another gust of wind rushed around us, nearly knocking me off my feet.

  “I’m sorry, new sister or whatever you might be, but I can’t let you leave to go back and tell the police everything I just told you. It would sort of ruin the whole thing, wouldn’t it? I just need to wait for things to calm down, go speak with the council, and I’ll be home free – ”

  “Yeah, I don’t think so,” I said with a hollow laugh. “That’s not happening. You aren’t going anywhere unless you’re in handcuffs.”

  Silvia snickered. “I’ll give you credit for being brave, even if it’s foolish. Do you really think you could take me on in a duel, young one? I have more years of experience using magic than you’ve been walking this earth. Do you know what that means? I will win.”

  My heart skipped a beat, and I swallowed nervously. She was right, but I couldn’t let her know that.<
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  Silvia, her eyes locked on mine, snapped her fingers. Another puff of purple smoke returned the red leather-bound book to her waiting arms.

  “Now…” she said, flipping it open and paging through it. Even from this distance, I could see the pages glowing. The hum that I’d first heard when I opened the book filled my mind, as if calling me to read its secrets. “What spell would be best? A memory charm… Oh, what about a wind spell? No…” She flipped a few more pages.

  My heart raced. If she actually managed to cast a spell, what chance did I have of surviving it?

  Use your power…Athena said beside me.

  I looked down at her, and she nodded her head up at me.

  Use it.

  “I could always use the same spell I used to kill poor old Burt, but that would be too obvious and we don’t need two killings done the same way,” Silvia said with a little chuckle. “Ah…here we are. This looks perfect.”

  My heartbeat thundered in my ears. I had to cross the distance between us. In order for my power to work, I had to touch her. And even then, I didn’t know if it would work. Did I have to will my power into existence?

  I took a deep breath and focused all of my thoughts on one thing: taking Silvia’s power away. Survival was paramount, as was the safety of Faerywood Falls as a whole. If she was able to get away with murder, than things were only going to get worse from here.

  “Yes, I like this,” Silvia said, her eyes glued to the page.

  Now was my chance.

  In the same breath, the same heartbeat, Silvia opened her mouth to utter a spell at the very same second that I dashed across the distance between us, my hand outstretched to touch her. Even with just the very tips of my fingers. I knew that would be enough.

  “Li….son…shy….ren”

  The word had passed from her lips at the same second that my fingers just grazed the forearm that cradled the red tome.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, stepping away from me in disgust, as if I were some sort of vile creature.