Chapter 21 Emergency Management

As the bookstore smoldered, Scarlett, Nate, and Polly convened awkwardly on the corner outside, awaiting the emergency team. None of the three spoke; none of the three so much as glanced at the others. Scarlett knew she ought to ask Polly if there was a copy of Myrmex Arcana in the store . . . But hell, she thought, I can't even look her in the eye. How can I ask for a favor after all this?

So the three just stood there together, silently waiting. It took the emergency services van about ten minutes to arrive, and it was the longest ten minutes of their lives.

Normally the fine ladies of the Oak Haven Emergency Magic Service (EMS) strode into any calamity with full confidence that there was no trouble so dire that magic couldn't fix it. But in the course of this very long day, they'd been run ragged on a seemingly endless number of confusing and intractable problems. The quartet of uniformed witches tumbled out of their van looking weary and very much in need of a few hours' rest. It hurt Scarlett's heart to know she was the one keeping them busy.

The EMS team leader was Priti Chatterjee, adult daughter of the angry gnome-owners from the town meeting. She greeted Polly and Nate with reassuring smiles. Scarlett, on the other hand, received a whoop and a big hug. "Scarlett, you're back! Look at you! Aw, man, so great to see you."

"You too, Priti! Sorry, it's under these circumstances."

"Oh bah." She waved off Scarlett's apology. "It's the job. Hey, Ellen," she said to one of the other women, "would you unload the gear, please?" Priti flung an arm around Scarlett's shoulder and guided her away from the others. "So, how are you doing these days, anyway?"

"I'm all right. Today has been a little hardcore, that's for sure."

"You can say that again. Been rough all over, due to that grove situation."

Oh, you mean, my complete and utter fuck-up that could destroy the whole town, Scarlett thought. That old thing?

To change the subject, she said, "Hey, congratulations on your wedding. Mama told me you had it at the Stargazer. Who's the lucky guy?"

"Thanks! His name is Raj. Handsome, funny, makes a bad-ass cheesecake—you know, all the important stuff. We started dating when I was working in Boston. When he proposed, I told him I'd only say yes if he gave up the city and moved back here."

"And how is he taking to his new life as a non-powered spouse in Oak Haven?"

"You kidding?" Priti laughed. "Fucking thrilled. Back in Boston, Raj worked fourteen-hour days at a law firm. Now he reads two books a week, builds model airplanes, and hangs out with the Earls over at the hardware store."

" Living the Life of Raj , sounds like."

"You know it. So Scar, listen . . ." Priti's tone turned serious as she directed her attention to the bookstore window. "This is quite a mess, huh? Can you tell me what happened?"

"Sure, I came into the store looking for a book, and instead, one attacked me. A couple, actually."

Priti nodded. "I think there was a Dracula situation recently, wasn't there?"

"That's what I heard, that a copy of Dracula bit someone. But this was different: a squid physically left the pages of a book to come after me. And we struggled, and then I realized it was made of paper, and then . . ." she gestured helplessly at the charred store "... that ."

"Gotcha. Well, we're going to head inside and check things out, and make sure they're safe." Priti strode back to her colleagues at the van. "Squad, let's gear up."

"Hang on, Priti? Can I ask you a favor?"

"Uh, sure? I've only been on duty for fifteen hours with no break, but yeah, please let me do you a favor."

"I know, I'm so sorry, it's just . . . I came here to pick up a book called Myrmex Arcana. Aphra says it might have information about the dragonflies infesting the grove. But then the squid happened, and everything got a bit crazy—" she forced herself not to glance at Nate "—and I never found the book. I can't ask Polly because . . . well, I can't."

"Right, too embarrassed to speak to the owner of the bookstore you've nearly burned down. Got it." Priti hoisted her pack over one shoulder. "You want me, EMS team leader and certified emergency response volunteer, to play librarian for you."

"I wouldn't ask if it weren't important. I mean, I could go in myself if you'd prefer that I—"

"All right, all right. Keep your shirt on, Melrose. I'll keep an eye out, and if I see it—that's if , mind you—I'll grab it."

Priti strode over to her team. "Everybody ready? Now, I want you all to keep your wits about you. Who knows if Polly had a copy of The Necronomicon in there."

"I didn't," Polly offered. "But I did have Silence of the Lambs , so . . ." She shrugged.

"Good tip," Nedra replied. "Polly, would you consult with us here? Let us know where the most dangerous sections are? No fava beans and chianti for us tonight."

Polly reluctantly joined the EMS team as they ventured into the store. Left alone on the dark street, Nate laid a gentle hand on Scarlett's elbow. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah of course. You?"

"I'm fine." He smiled shyly. "A little frustrated, maybe."

Scarlett felt herself blushing so intensely, she was certain it could be seen from space. "That was a little . . . uh . . ."

"Yeah." Nate chuckled. "It was a little uh ."

What do you think you're doing, Melrose? she chastised herself. You can't do this—you don't deserve a man like this. You can't do the things you've done and then have him.

"I think the situation just got away from us," she said suddenly. "I mean, don't you think? You know, with the inferno and the ink monsters and all . . ." A wave of shame swept over her, and the words spilled out in an unstoppable flood of awkwardness and guilt. "I mean . . . that's not what we want, right? I don't live here; I'm not sticking around. And you don't want to ever leave, apparently. So, you know, what is the point? We don't even make any sense; it was just a big mistake."

" Mistake ," he repeated dully. His expression was unreadable. " What was the point . Yeah. I guess there's no point."

"Well, no point sounds a bit harsh. I just meant that—"

"No," Nate interrupted. "No, of course you're right. There's no point to us at all. Anyway, glad you're okay, I should get going." He stalked across the street.

"Nate, no, hang on, that's not—"

He threw Williams' front door open, slammed it behind him, and disappeared inside.

"Oh goddammit," Scarlett said quietly. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

"Don't worry about it," said a sarcastic voice behind her. "Men suck anyway."

She turned. Violet was sitting on the sidewalk outside the bookstore, staring up at her. Scarlett stared back, waiting for the teenager to say something else.

A few moments passed, and it occurred to Scarlett that the teenager was not going to say a damned thing. Scarlett walked over and sat down beside her.

"Violet, I just want you to know . . . the fire was an accident caused by magic being in anarchy. But we're going to fix it. Between the EMS team and Nate's handyman skills and my . . . well . . . my overwhelming sense of guilt, I guess . . . we're going to restore every page to every book in your mom's wonderful store."

"Fuck that place," Violet muttered. "I'm only sorry you didn't burn the whole thing to the ground."

"Well, hang on, I didn't do it in the sense that you're suggesting."

"I don't care. Maybe if the store fails, my mother will finally leave this stupid town. Maybe then I could find a guy to like who can remember that I exist. Hey, maybe we can even find my dad. Not that he'd know he's my dad. But still, I'd know he was my dad, at least. That would be something."

Scarlett took a beat before responding, taken aback by Violet's honesty. Her first thought was that Handsome Bill's main contribution to Violet was his attractive DNA, and that, given his selfish behavior, good genes were about all the parenting she ought to expect from the guy. But she tried to think of something more positive to say. "I wouldn't be so quick to write off Oak Haven if I were you. It's pretty great."

"What are you talking about? You left. You're, like, famous for how hard you left."

"Yeah, well . . . I suppose that makes me pretty qualified to talk about life on the outside, now, doesn't it? Violet, the rest of the world is . . . well, it's got some good aspects, for sure. A lot of the food delivery guys are very handsome."

"Shut up. You're not funny."

"But it's not your home. In San Francisco, I'm always pretending witches aren't real. That might seem like no big thing, but it's trickier than you think. I basically have to lie about my entire life. I can't talk about the Turkey Trot we have downtown every Thanksgiving, which I adore. I can't tell the story about how my mother conjured an actual unicorn for my fifth birthday. Or about the time Luna and I tried to fly, and we ended up stuck on the church steeple."

"Well, lucky you to have so many adorable memories about your delightful childhood in Oak Haven. Some of us didn't get that."

"Violet, listen—"

"Whatever." She stood up. "Happy Panda closes at midnight. I'm gonna go order while I still can."

***

Scarlett sat alone outside the store, the smell of smoke in her hair, the sound of Violet's anger in her ears, and the memory of Nate's hands still warm on her skin. She looked over at the hardware store—everything was dark. If she was going to fix things with him, it would have to wait until tomorrow now.

But . . . do I even want to fix things? Maybe Nate being mad at me keeps everything simpler. After all, I should be focused on Oak Haven, not him. Plus, the more tangled up we get, the harder it will be to leave when all this is over.

Shouting and children's laughter emerged from inside the store. Suddenly, a gaggle of Victorian ruffians made of paper and text came barreling outside and took off down the street. Priti was right behind them, shouting, "Hey! Hey, get back here, you little bastards!"

But, the paper-children had the energy of fiction, while Priti was an actual human who'd been on the clock for fifteen hours. She gave up the chase and ambled back to the bookstore, defeated. Seeing Scarlett waiting by the building, Priti shrugged. "The Artful Dodger and his pals got away from us."

Ellen the EMS volunteer appeared in the doorway. "Those little shits took my wallet!"

"So . . ." Scarlett stood and joined them. "How's it going in there?"

"We're getting it done," Priti said tiredly. "But we have to shut the magic down one shelf at a time, so it's slow. Slower than a bunch of pickpockets, unfortunately."

"Can I help?" Scarlett offered.

"Nah. Thanks, but we have a system. Hey, Ellen—hand me that thing, would you?"

Ellen returned to the store and reemerged with a thick leather-bound book, which she handed to Scarlett. "Ta da," she said tiredly as she handed her the Myrmex Arcana .

"Ohh wonderful! This book is going to be so helpful. Thank you both so, so much!" Scarlett accepted the book eagerly and flicked through the pages. "Now we'll have everything fixed in—oh." She sighed. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

Priti frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, you know," Scarlett said resignedly. "Nothing is ever easy."