11. Ava

The automatic doorsslid open with a whoosh, and I stepped into the grocery store, a list in my hand that was more of a formality than anything else. The air conditioning hit me, a welcome wave of coolness. It was a scorching day, and for a moment, I just stood there, savoring the fact that I was alone.

”Need a cart, ma”am?” A young guy at the entrance snapped me out of my brief reverie.

”Sure, thanks,” I replied, nudging the cart ahead of me with one hand as I headed for the produce section. The wheels squeaked slightly, in sync with my thoughts on what to make for dinner. Something tangy, maybe lemon chicken? Or Alfred”s favorite roast?

”Hey, Ava,” Mrs. Henderson from the hair salon called out, waving a bunch of bananas like a flag.

”Hi, Mrs. Henderson,” I said, offering a smile. ”How”s the salon?”

”Back to normal. Can”t keep up with the demand. Everyone wants to hear the story of the zoo animals.” She laughed, a hearty sound that made a few heads turn.

”Sounds like a good problem to have.” I winked at her.

”Oh, it is, dear. Say, aren”t you usually with your husband or that handsome friend of yours? Alfred, was it?” She leaned closer and whispered.

”Alfred has been staying out of town with Winnie,” I explained briefly, not wanting to delve into the whole ”my aunt is now in the body of a powerful fae” story. ”And Drew”s gearing up for work. It”s just me today.”

”Enjoy the peace while it lasts, then,” she said with another chuckle, pushing her cart past mine.

I nodded, turning to eye the bell peppers. As I reached for a particularly plump red one, I realized how much I had taken Alfred for granted. His cooking, his knack for keeping the pantry stocked. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until he was gone. I meandered through the aisles, grabbing food here and there without a ton of purpose.

”Excuse me, could you grab that box of cereal for me?” A rather vertically-challenged woman pointed upward to the top shelf I was passing by in the cereal aisle.

”Sure thing.” I snagged the colorful box and handed it over. ”There you go.”

”Thanks so much, dear. My grandkids eat this stuff up like it”s going out of style,” she said, the corner of her eyes crinkling with a smile.

”Happy to help,” I replied, moving along to the next aisle.

The rest of the shopping trip was uneventful, meditative almost. I wandered, picked out ingredients, and contemplated new recipes. A break from the usual chaos. But as I headed to the checkout, I couldn”t shake the feeling of how strange it felt to be doing something so normal.

”Find everything okay?” the cashier asked, a teenager with a smattering of acne and a hesitant smile.

”Yep, all good here,” I said, loading my items onto the belt.

”Great. You”re cooking tonight?”

”Looks like it. Any suggestions?”

”Can”t go wrong with spaghetti,” he offered with a shrug.

”Spaghetti it is, then.” I chuckled, thinking that might just be the easiest route.

”Have a great day, ma’am,” he said, handing over the receipt.

”Thanks, you too.” So wonderfully mundane.

I grabbed the bags, the plastic handles cutting slightly into my palms.

”See you next time!” he called after me as I headed for the exit.

Stepping out into the bright daylight, I balanced the grocery bags in my arms, planning tonight”s spaghetti in my head. The parking lot was full of people heading to and from their cars.

”Oof.” The air whooshed out of me as a body slammed into mine, sending apples and bread sprawling across the asphalt as my bags went flying. ”What on earth—” My annoyance vaporized when I saw a man”s face contorted in agony.

”Help me... I can”t stop it,” he gasped, clutching at my shirt with trembling hands.

”Stop what?” But before the question fully left my lips, his body convulsed, bones popping and clothes tearing. Within moments, where a man once stood, now crouched a massive gorilla, letting out a guttural roar.

”Back up, everyone!” I shouted. People scattered in all directions, carts abandoned, children crying. And through the chaos, one thought hammered in my brain: What about the tourists?

”Hey, stay calm, please!” I tried again, but the pandemonium had its own momentum. ”It”s just—” But there was no use; the sight of a gorilla where a man used to be was too much, even for Shipton folks who now knew about magic.

”Okay, buddy, let”s tone it down a notch,” I muttered, reaching out to the gorilla with both hands. My fingers tingled as I pulled at the wild magic swirling around him like a tornado. With a few sharp tugs, the magic snapped back, and so did the man, now stark naked in the middle of the parking lot.

”Ah.” He widened his eyes in horror for a moment before he clamped a hand over his privates and sprinted toward a beat-up sedan. He fumbled with the door handle, threw himself inside, and took off with tires screeching, leaving nothing but a cloud of exhaust and bewildered onlookers.

I couldn”t help it. Laughter bubbled up from my chest, loud and uncontrollable. ”Did you guys see that?” I gasped between fits of giggles, waving everyone closer. ”Wasn”t that a great PR stunt? There”s a new costume shop going to open on Main Street.”

”Ha, yeah, that was fantastic!” A familiar face joined in, winking at me. She’d been at the house when we had explained all about magic. ”Man, was my freak-out believable?”

”You totally sold it,” I said, still chuckling.

The crowd began to murmur, their tension easing into curiosity and amusement. ”I can”t believe how real that looked.” one tourist exclaimed, shaking her head in amazement.

”That”s Shipton for you,” I said with a grin, shrugging nonchalantly. ”You never know what”ll happen around here. Its why people love vacationing in this town.”

”Best vacation ever!” another tourist called out, and the crowd laughed, their earlier fear forgotten in the wake of a good story to tell back home.

”Here, let me help you with those,” a kind voice offered as I knelt to gather my scattered groceries. Hands reached out from several directions, passing me cans and boxes until everything was back in the bags.

”Thanks,” I muttered, my smile tight. As they nodded and moved on, relief washed over me. At least the immediate crisis was handled without too much fuss, but the frustration simmered beneath the surface like a storm brewing.

This had been the fourth, no, maybe the fifth incident in a few days. This was getting old, fast.

I stalked back to my car, Dia, bags swinging heavily at my sides. My anger grew as I drove home. The front door slammed behind me louder than I intended as I stepped into the kitchen.

”Whoa,” Drew said, looking up from strapping his gun belt on. ”Everything okay?”

”Call Mayor Brown. Tell him we’re having a meeting at the police station in one hour.” My words were clipped, my tone brooking no argument.

”Okay...” Drew pulled out his phone, concern etched on his face. ”What happened?”

”Another magic outburst at the store. A shifter this time.”

”Damn. Did anyone get hurt?”

”No, just scared. But that”s not the point,” I said, slamming the last of the groceries onto the counter. ”We can”t keep doing this. Tell the mayor he doesn”t have a choice. We need to figure this out now.”

”Got it,” Drew said, already dialing. He paused, giving me a long look. ”Hey, we”ll handle this. Don”t worry.”

”Thanks,” I sighed, the anger deflating just a bit at his steady presence. ”I know. I”m just... it’s ridiculous, you know?”

He nodded, pressing the phone to his ear. ”Mayor Brown? Drew here. We”ve got a situation. You”re needed at the station in one hour. No, sir, it can”t wait.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my head then went out the front door.

I shoved the last can into the pantry and grabbed my phone. Thumbs flying, I shot off a message to Olivia and Melody.

Police station. Meeting in 1 hour. Be there.

Olivia”s text buzzed back almost instantly.

Need a lift?

Please.

Melody’s text came up next.

Driving. Mai”s with me. We”ll make it.

With another sigh, I tossed my phone on the counter.

A shimmer in the air, and Olivia was there in my kitchen, a slight pop marking her arrival. ”That was quick,” I said, grabbing bread and deli meat from the fridge.

”Them’s the perks of being half-fae,” she grinned. ”So, what”s got your witchy panties in a twist?”

”A shifter went full gorilla in front of the grocery store. Had to siphon his magic on the fly. Then I played it off as a costume shop PR stunt.” I slapped together sandwiches, one after another, piling them high on a plate.

”Seriously? That”s bananas.” Olivia leaned against the counter.

“Bar-Har.” My laugh was dry. ”Help me wrap these.”

”Sure thing.” She grabbed the plastic wrap as I scribbled a note and slapped it on the stove: ”Sandwiches in fridge.”

I grabbed a sandwich, shoved some chips onto a napkin, and popped the top on a soda. ”Well, this is dinner,” I said, plopping down at the kitchen table.

”Highbrow,” Olivia joked, doing the same. She bit into her sandwich, a look of satisfaction crossing her face.

”Ugh, these chips are just dust.” I scowled, sifting through the bag for a piece that resembled an actual chip. ”Gorilla guy, or whoever caused his shift, owes me a bag of Ruffles.” I took a swig of my drink, trying not to be too irritated about it.

”Could have been worse. Could”ve been the eggs.” Olivia raised an eyebrow.

”True. Then I”d be really mad.”

We ate in silence for a minute, just the sound of crunching and the fizz of our sodas. The quiet didn”t last long; we had things to do.

”Ready?” Olivia asked, wiping her hands on a napkin.

”Let”s do it.” I stood up, the urgency and frustration creeping back in.

With a wave of her hand, Olivia opened a portal. The edges shimmered like heat on pavement. We stepped through together, leaving my kitchen for Drew”s office at the station.

Drew looked up as we stepped into his office, a barely noticeable nod acknowledging our arrival. Mayor Brown was pacing near the window, hands behind his back, his forehead wrinkled with concern.

”Where”s Melody?” I asked, scanning the room.

”Should be here any—” Drew began, but he was cut off by a knock. He swung the door open to reveal Melody and Mai.

”Let”s get to it,” I said, unable to keep the edge out of my voice. ”A shifter was forced to shift in public at the grocery store today. I turned it into some act for a costume shop,” I threw my hands up in frustration, ”but enough is enough. Forcing a shifter to shift in public is dangerous. Most predator breeds don’t always have full control over their animals, especially when they are forced to shift. We can”t keep doing damage control every time something like this happens.”

”Agreed,” Drew said.

”Any ideas on how to stop these incidents?” Mayor Brown asked, turning towards us with a hopeful look.

Olivia held up one finger. ”What about a ward?”

”Ingenuous.” The Mayor”s eyes brightened.

Drew nodded. ”I”ve never set one up, but I”ve seen them work.”

I frowned. ”What kind of ward?”

”It”s like... a magical bubble,” Olivia explained. ”My dad mentioned it. It makes people who don”t know about magic either not see it or forget it right away.”

”Then why haven”t we done this before?” I asked.

”I didn”t know about it until recently,” Olivia shrugged. ”And it wasn”t an issue before.”

”Looks like we have a plan then,” I said with a glimmer of hope.

I leaned against Drew”s desk, thinking back to the chaos at the graveyard. The night I couldn”t control my necromancer powers and raised a whole army of skeletons. Someone must”ve seen that who shouldn”t have, but it was too late for regrets now. ”So how do we do it?” I asked, looking around the room.

Olivia bit her lip, her eyes losing a bit of their usual spark. ”I”ll have to find out,” she admitted, slumping just a touch.

Melody shook her head. ”I don”t know how to do that one.”

Mayor Brown crossed his arms, frowning. ”That”s outside of my abilities,” he said, clearly wishing he could offer more.

”Don”t worry about it,” Olivia reassured us with a wave of her hand. ”I”ll get with my father and figure out how to set up the ward.”

”Great, that”s settled,” I nodded, a small weightlifting off of me, only to be replaced by another pressing concern. ”But what do we do to figure out who is causing these things to happen?”

”Could you do a tracking spell?” Drew asked.

I nodded. ”Yeah, it shouldn”t be too hard. It”s just tweaking a locator spell.”

”Next time we get an incident like today,” he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, ”we track the magic instead of dissolving it.”

I shot him a sly wink. ”That”s why you”re so sexy. Your brain.”

Olivia couldn”t hold back her snort. ”Yeah, and that bod.”

Drew just rolled his eyes, but she was not wrong.