Chapter 6

Rane fiddled nervously with a piece of gardening string. "I called Storm and asked him to meet us here. He should arrive any minute now."

"Before he does, tell me about him."

Rane's gaze lifted to the greenhouse's glass dome. "He has the prettiest turquoise eyes. It's like staring into a tropical ocean." She sighed. "And he's really strong. He can toss a big, full bag of animal feed without any trouble at all."

"I meant, does he have a temper or anything like that?" I told her.

"Oh." Her eyes dipped from the ceiling, and when they met mine, she blushed. "No, nothing like that. Storm is a gentle soul. He wouldn't hurt anyone."

Good. Because I still hadn't learned any self-defense moves—or any self-defense spells.

"Rane!"

Storm stood in the greenhouse's side entrance. He swung the door shut, then rushed forward, swooping Rane up into his arms.

"Have you thought about what I said?"

Rane stared into his eyes, completely mesmerized. I sighed. So much for our plan to question him together.

"Hi." I tapped Storm on the shoulder. "I'm Savannah, a friend of Rane's."

He set Rane down gently, wrapping his arm around her as he turned to face me. "And yet she's never mentioned you." His tone was amused, but not hostile.

"We're new friends," I told him. "I've been helping Rane investigate the death of the Emerald Elm."

"If you're helping Rane, then you're good by me." He squeezed her closer to him, kissing her deeply.

And Rane practically melted into a puddle at his feet. Yep, I was definitely on my own here. She was far too lovestruck. Why would a strong, capable individual like Rane voluntarily surrender her free will like that? It was just baffling.

"So you wouldn't mind helping us out then?" I asked Storm.

"With what?" He stopped smooching with Rane just long enough to blink at me in confusion.

Ok, so it wasn't just Rane. He was just as lovestruck as she was. And a lovestruck person was capable of terrible things.

"We're trying to figure out who killed the tree," I reminded him—actually, reminded both of them.

"Right." At least Rane had the decency to stop giggling into Storm's ear.

Storm gave her one last kiss, then turned to me with a smile. "So, how can I help Rane?"

"You can help Rane by telling the truth," I told him.

"The truth about what?"

"About what you did to that tree."

His smile faded. "I had nothing to do with that. Rane loves that tree. I'd never hurt anything or anyone she loves."

"Not even if killing that tree meant her parents would disown her? And then you could finally run away with her?"

"No." His shoulders tensed. "Not even then."

"Rane's mother saw you stalking around outside the shop last night. She chased you away with a shovel."

His eyes narrowed with suspicion. "You know an awful lot. How long did you say you and Rane have been friends?"

"I didn't say, but actually, I just met her today."

Storm's scowl deepened.

"And I know so much because I have a nasty habit of not minding my own business."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see that."

But I wasn't embarrassed. This was just who I was. And Rane had asked me to figure out who'd killed her tree. Maybe she wouldn't have done that if she'd known the trail led to Storm.

"So, care to explain what you were doing here last night?" I asked him.

"Surveillance."

"Surveillance?" I repeated. "What kind of surveillance?"

"On Rane's creepy Alchemist neighbors." He glanced at her. "Sorry, I didn't tell you, baby. But I wanted to have proof first."

"Proof of what?" I asked him.

He kept his eyes on Rane. "That your neighbors killed the tree."

"We've been down this road already," I told him. "I already tested the bark and the soil around the tree. I didn't find any signs of poison."

Surprise flashed in his eyes, like he was looking at me for the first time. "You can do that?"

"Of course."

"Well, then you're much smarter than you look."

I tried not to be offended by that.

Apparently, I didn't do a very good job because he quickly added, "I only meant, you're kind of cute and small."

Rane hit him with a granite stare. "Are you flirting with my friend?" She pushed back a step. "In front of me?"

"No, of course not, baby! I meant she's cute like a teddybear."

Rane snickered. "I was just kidding." She punched him lightly on the arm.

Storm wrapped his arms around her. "You drive me crazy, you know."

They were both driving me crazy. Especially when they started kissing again. Very, very loudly. Where was a total sensory blackout spell when I needed one?

"Ok." I used one of my hands to cover my eyes. The other I used to pry the two of them apart. "Storm, you stay here. And Rane…" I dragged her to the other side of the table. "…you stay here. Or we'll never get through this." I bravely opened my eyes.

I almost shut them again when I saw they were still giving each other googly eyes. If this was love, I was totally going to stay single for life.

"So, back to the dead tree." I looked at Storm. "You mentioned you had proof that the neighbors killed the tree?"

He nodded. "I do. I knew they were killing the tree, so I've been watching them, waiting to catch them in the act. And I did!" He reached into his jacket, pulled out a bundle of photographs, and slapped them down on the table.

Rane squinted at the top picture. "Those are my neighbors, all right." She tilted her head to the side. "But what are they doing?"

I leaned in for a closer look.

"They're in their garden." Rane slid the photograph aside, revealing the one underneath. "Putting cables in the ground?"

"Oh!" I gasped. "I know what they're doing!"

Rane stared at the photo for a few more seconds before looking away. "Ok, I give up. What are they doing with those cables?"

"They're running power toward the tree," I told her. "Slowly killing it with electricity."

Rane coughed. "I didn't know people could do that."

"It's an old trick," I said. "A sneaky way to kill a tree."

"I suspected they were doing this," Storm said quietly. "An unusual amount of electricity is running through the ground near the tree."

"You can feel that?" I asked in surprise.

"I'm a lightning elemental. Sensing electricity is one of my abilities."

"But if you could feel all that electricity around the tree, why didn't you tell Rane? Why stalk around and act so suspicious?"

He sighed. "Her parents never would have trusted me if I didn't have evidence." He tapped his finger against the pile of photographs. "And now I do. I just picked these up from the photo shop down the street."

Rane grabbed the pile of photographs with one hand. Then she linked her other hand in Storm's. "We're going to show these to my parents. We're going to tell them what you did for us. Then they'll see you for the person you truly are!"

Storm didn't look convinced of that, but he followed Rane anyway.

"Thanks, Savannah," she called out to me before they ducked into the shop. "You've made a friend today. If you ever need anything, I'll be there for you."

And with that sorted, I hurried over to the conference center. Bronte arrived just as I did.

"Where's Kylie?" she asked me.

"Taking care of a few final things back at the florist," I lied.

Bronte didn't seem to notice. She only nodded.

"How did it go with the caterer?" I asked.

"All sorted. He went on at length about how his way was the only way, but he sang a different tune as soon as I mentioned the General, who is a very regular customer of his. He can't afford to lose all those expensive Government catering contracts."

"Well-played," I said, thoroughly impressed.

She smiled. "It's all in the research, Savannah."

"Yikes, remind me never to get on your bad side."

Bronte's sweet demeanor was in stark contrast with her icy words. "That goes without saying."