Chapter Fifteen

“So, that was a bust, Chasers.”

Kenzie Chase picked her way through a cemetery, dry grass rustling against the legs of her jeans. She approached a particular headstone that was listing forward badly, the soil around it buckled with erosion and time.

She pivoted to pose in front of a black iron fence that completely enclosed a single grave. The headstone was streaked white and gray from exposure to the elements, the engraving so worn away that the letters were illegible. It made for a cool backdrop, I could give her that. There was also the kind of unsettling feeling of wondering why a grave needed a five-foot fence strung around it.

She raised the camera so that it felt like she was addressing the viewer personally, bringing it close to her face.

“Haven Hollow, Oregon, might have just been the most boring town I’ve ever seen in my life. There was absolutely nothing here. All the rumors are probably just stories created by the people who live here in order to bring tourists, because seriously? Yawnsville.”

I turned to Wanda, who was sitting in the chair next to me in front of the fireplace of the coven house while we watched the latest episode of Chasing the Paranormal, and raised an eyebrow at her.

She rolled her eyes, unrepentant. “So, I might have overdone it a little, sue me.”

Well, overdoing it was better than underdoing it, I supposed. As to the rest of the town and their memories which had sporadically been returned to them, we’d taken a lesson from Kenzie on that one. The coven had come together to further enchant a potion that I’d created— Ignorance is Bliss . This particular potion, as the name implied, returned someone to a state of ignorance when it came to the more supernatural things going on around them. Once the enchantment was complete, we returned to the water treatment plant and then we did exactly what we were so afraid Kenzie was going to do—we tipped the potion into the water. Everyone in the know (that is, all monsters) were instructed to avoid the water in Haven Hollow for the next two days unless they wanted their memories tampered with. That mean no drinking, no washing dishes, no brushing teeth, and no bathing—the potion worked internally and externally. So, the more supernatural of Haven Hollow were stocking up on bottled water while the human population of Haven Hollow had any would-be memories blocked once more. And just like that, any damage from Memento Mori was nipped in the bud.

“Seriously, the scariest thing about the place was the toxic levels of kitsch. Everything was themed. If you want to go somewhere twee, hit them up, I guess. But that’s not what I’m looking for.”

She swept her camera out, panning across the landscape, showing off a huge cemetery. Sun browned grass whispered quietly in the gentle breeze, and the sky was painted scarlet, gold, and brilliant orange as the disc of the sun slowly sank towards the horizon. In front of it, the clouds looked almost indigo.

“Which is why I’m headed north, to check out the Black Diamond Cemetery. Legend has it that this place is full of whispered voices, glowing orbs, and it might even be visited by a ghostly horse at night.” The camera switched back to Kenzie’s face, and her super nova bright eyes, and too sharp smile. “Thanks for coming along with me, y’all. I’m Kenzie Chase, and this is Chasing the Paranormal. Don’t forget to like and subscribe!”

“Do we have to watch the whole thing?” Wanda asked, and from anyone else I would have called the tone ‘pouty’, but since I valued my un-hexed self, I decided it was bored.

“Well. What are the odds that she suddenly remembers everything in front of a live streaming show?”

I saw Wanda roll her eyes and start to say something snide back. Then she paused, thought about it for a second, and sank back in her chair with a groan. “Damn it. Now I can’t get that out of my head.”

“Turn that wretched contraption off!” Hellcat yelled as he entered the room, his tail twitching like he was ready to attack someone. “It’s quite bad enough that I’m forced to endure the lot of you and your incessant prattling day in and day out. But I refuse to listen to any more witless fools who chatter endlessly.”

Wanda shot a poisonous smile over her shoulder to where Hellcat was now sitting on the couch, his tail lashing angrily in the air. Then she reached over and took my phone out of my hands. Without breaking eye contact, she steadily turned the volume up until it was loud enough that it made me wince back in my chair.

Hellcat’s ears flattened to his skull. With a hiss, he leapt down off the couch and took off up the stairs.

“I know how to make the evening better,” Imani chirped as she strode into the room. There were three glasses of smoking, purple liquid in her hands, and she offered one to Wanda and me.

“Ooh, you are a wise woman, Imani.” Wanda eagerly took a sip and let out a contented sigh. “Everything is better with a Hex on the Beach.”

I took my own glass, enjoying the sweetness of the fruit juices, and the hearty punch of the rum. Something told me I was going to need it to get through this episode.

Wanda lifted her glass, holding it out in a toast to the both of us. “Ladies. To a job well done.”

I’d definitely drink to that.

###

It had been one heck of a week.

Honestly, it felt more like an entire month of shenanigans, and I had to count the days twice before I could believe it.

Niamh was still thrilled with her potion, when I gave her a call to check in. She was still working away at her family history, and she was scandalized when I delicately asked her how her supply was doing, and then explained how I knew she’d ‘misplaced’ one of the bottles. She rambled to herself a little in a lilting language, and then promised me there wouldn’t be any more funny business when it came to her potions. Considering how much vehemence she said the words with, I was inclined to believe her.

Though, I made a private decision that she would be the only one I made Memento Mori for. It was a useful potion, and without the wild magic surge in the graveyard, probably a safe one, but I wasn’t taking that chance again. I’d made the decision to never make it again for anyone, but listening to Niamh talk excitedly about all the things she could now remember from her long-ago childhood, I just didn’t have the heart to refuse her. As long as she kept it out of her granddaughter’s hands, it would probably be fine.

Wanda was still calling me up and ambushing me at random times to ask me questions about my magic surge, more than half of which I didn’t even understand, or why they might be relevant. What did it matter if I’d had a cup of mint tea that morning or not? Still, I tried to answer every one of them, knowing better than to keep anything from Wanda, not with the memory of how upset she’d been when she realized I hadn’t come to her about it.

I hadn’t wanted to be a bother. Sometimes it was hard to remember that my friends actively wanted to help me, as much as I wanted to help them. I was doing my best to learn it, though.

Kenzie Chase and her notorious channel had seemingly moved on from Haven Hollow, if her channel was anything to go by. After heading up to Washington to investigate places there, she was now southward bound, towards Nevada. In spite of Wanda hoping that Kenzie got lost in the corridors of some casino somewhere, I was just glad she was far away and occupied, but I didn’t hope her any harm, because at the end of it, the danger to Haven Hollow had been taken care of. And when I’d checked with Finn, he said Alicia was doing just fine and all her talk about the Magicless had stopped. Apparently, she believed she was in the hospital due to hitting her head during cheerleading practice.

But back to Kenzie—she might have not been a very nice person, but she was still young. That could change. Life and life experiences had a way of softening a person sometimes.

Besides, the coven had decided to mix some drinks and binge watch Kenzie’s channel while the witches called out all the fake theories, and loudly debated how she’d managed to get some of them right, but in the wrong way. It had been so much fun that we’d called up Fifi, Bailey, and Darla, and made a proper Black Cat Cocktail Club evening of it.

I was just happy the whole situation was over, and the danger had passed, for now, and I finally had a moment to breathe. So, of course I immediately started overthinking everything, because that was just what I did.

Thinking about Kenzie in Nevada just made me think about the casinos there, which made me think of the offer Andre had gotten and how he hadn’t even mentioned it to me, and then I started stressing about the idea of him leaving town when we were finally settling into something that was feeling really good.

Honestly, the whole thing was exhausting.

It was Finn who managed to jerk me out of it with an innocent suggestion.

“Hey, Mom. Can Andre come over for dinner tomorrow? I told him about those cheesy potatoes you make, and he said he’d really like to try them.” He paused. “Plus, he said he really hasn’t seen or heard from you much lately and he was wondering if maybe you were mad at him.” He paused again. “So, are you mad at him?”

I shook my head and decided it was time to tell Finn what I’d found out about Andre’s job offer. Finn listened attentively and then told me I needed to talk to Andre and find out if he actually intended to up and move. It was the only answer there was, really, even if I’d been trying to avoid it all this time.

I still didn’t know how to bring anything up, but I was grown up enough to call Andre and invite him over for dinner. I did still shiver at the sound of his voice over the line, which made my heart twinge, so it was still a bit of a mixed bag overall.

Andre showed up promptly the next night, and he even brought a nice bottle of wine for us, and a bottle of sparkling pomegranate juice for Finn so he could ‘have something fizzy too’. In spite of everything, heat pooled in my belly when Andre leaned forward to press a kiss to my temple.

The smell of his skin, that slightly woodsy scent of his cologne, took me right back to the other night when I’d slid my hands down his chest for the first time and heard him make that little hitch of a sound in the back of his throat.

And that was enough of that, with Finn in the room. Luckily no one noticed my blush as Finn dragged Andre into the house, chattering away the way they always did. Truly, the two of them had become inseparable and it meant so much to me to see it. I was worried that Finn would never be able to bond with someone the way he had with Marty, but I was so happy to find that such wasn’t the case at all. In fact, his relationship with Andre might have been even a touch closer, since he looked up to Andre so much and Andre had so much to teach him. Truly, Andre was like the father Finn had missed out on.

And that thought caused tears to start in my eyes. I forced them back though and started to shut the door, only to have an old, leather-bound book come bounding through the door after Andre. Ouire’s long red satin bookmark ribbon was waving merrily behind him like a happy dog’s tail.

Andre paused, turning back slightly in the doorway to the kitchen. “Sorry about that. I hope it’s okay that I brought him. He missed Finn.”

My smile was probably too soft, and gave too much away, but I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried. “Of course. Ouire is always welcome to come over. Finn loves seeing him.”

Andre smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up with happiness, and he started to say something before Finn came darting up to take him by the arm again.

“I learned a new trick, too. Do you want to see it?”

“Always,” Andre said in a deep, quiet voice. But he was looking at me when he said it.

A flock of butterflies took wing in my stomach, sending little fissions of silver dust through my blood stream as Finn dragged Andre towards the table and I followed after.