Chapter 12 Ginger
Ginger
Ihugged Brambleby to my chest, certain that if I squeezed him any tighter, I would crack one of our ribs.
He didn’t seem to mind.
I had interrogated the small dragon already, insisting that if I found out he was the one causing all this mischief, there would be severe consequences—like a limit of only one bowl of stew at dinner time.
As far as I could tell, he was innocent.
I banged on the door of Tandor’s cottage like my life depended on it.
“Are you playing a prank on me, you idiot?” I asked Tandor as he pulled the door open.
The orc yawned and scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Did you find the rearranged goblets already? Damn! I thought it would take you longer to notice.”
“I’m serious, Tandor. Give it up. I’m onto you.”
He chuckled for a moment before he noticed the expression on my face, the white-knuckled grip I had on my dragon.
He sobered. “What’s going on?”
“Be honest. Soul-to-the-fates honest. Have you been messing with me?”
“How so?” he asked, growing concerned.
I signed in exasperation. “Following me around. Breaking into my cottage. Putting things in my bag. Flowers on my porch. Leaving a cinnamon bun on my bedside table just this morning. Is any of this ringing a bell?”
His heavy brow furrowed. “No. I wouldn’t terrorize you like that, boss. Those aren’t my kind of pranks.”
“You swear?”
He slapped a hand over his chest. “On my precious mate—I swear. I haven’t done any of those things.”
My heart sank. I had placed all my hope in this solution, and now that hope crumbled to dust. “This is not good.”
“Are those real things that are happening? Why didn’t you mention it sooner?”
I shrugged. “At first, it was just a feeling. I didn’t notice how creepy it all was until I woke up to that cinnamon bun.”
“Should we tell Mayor Tommins?”
“Do you think we need to? He might laugh in my face. I think I’m being haunted by my own shadow. It’s not like anything especially bad has happened…”
“You should at least mention it. Let him know, in case anything else comes up.”
I remembered what Kizzi and Fiella said about how they had a weird feeling before monumental changes happened. I shivered. “I will.”
“I can’t believe you thought it was me.”
I huffed. “You’re always making my life a living Hell’s Realm.”
“I do not! I keep your pub running and you know it.”
I took a step back. “Fine. You do. Just don’t mention it to anyone else, okay? In case I really am crazy. I don’t want that gossip spreading.”
“Sure, boss. I’ll watch out for you, too.”
“Thanks, kid.”
“Was it good, at least?” Tandor called as I retreated.
I paused and glanced over my shoulder. “What?”
“The cinnamon roll. You didn’t bring it with you, so I’m going to assume you ate it. How was it?”
I cracked an embarrassed smile. Perhaps I shouldn’t have eaten it, but it smelled so yummy, and I was so hungry, and I was sure Brambleby would get to it if I didn’t. “It wasn’t bad at all. No poison, in case you were wondering.”
He barked out a laugh. “Thank the fates for that.”
Glitter spread over my eyelids in a shimmering veil. I blinked to clear the stray bits from my eyeballs.
Velline’s voice was gentle. “There. Perfect.”
I turned to face the mirror. It was elegantly framed, one of the antiques Fiella had found and tucked away to be sold in her trinket shop. My own dolled up face stared back at me.
My eyes were bright and round, rimmed with brown shadows and expertly placed glitter. My cheeks and lips were flushed a pretty red shade. My auburn hair rested beside my antlers in a twisted updo. And my dragon leaned on my shoulder, trying to peek in the mirror, too.
Fiella had invited the ladies over to get ready for the first day of Miss and Mister Moonvale at Fiella’s Finds, her charmingly cluttered trinket shop full of strange odds and ends.
I had shown up. As had Kizzi, Lunette, Velline, and a few of the witches, Hyacinth and Rayna. The trinket shop was full to the point of bursting.
Glitter drifted on the air like dust motes, settling onto our shoulders, our hair. The floor.
Fiella would have to handle that later. Or convince Kizzi to create an enchantment for the purpose.
That was a future problem. For now, I wanted every inch of my skin to glitter, shimmer, gleam, or glow to some degree. I wanted to absolutely glisten.
I splashed my throat with some of Fiella’s sweet berry perfume. I coughed once. Twice. Before I composed myself and stepped back to admire the final product.
I was ready.
I tried not to let any lingering stress from my morning cinnamon bun surprise seep in and ruin my mood.
“What do you think the three trials will be this year? I hope there’s one for knitting, even if I’m not competing. I’m great at that now,” Fiella said.
Kizzi rolled her eyes. “That’s because your dragon helps you. I still don’t know how you trained him to do that, by the way.”
The vampire ran her hands over her blue hair, adjusting the smooth curls. “I don’t know either. It just happened.”
“You accidentally trained your dragon to knit for you?” Hyacinth asked, voice drenched with skepticism.
Fiella simply nodded.
“Unbelievable,” the black-haired witch murmured. “Absolutely unbelievable. You bitches are crazy.”
“Thanks!” Kizzi said brightly, a wide grin stretched across her face. “You aren’t so normal yourself, miss collects animal bones.”
Hyacinth flicked her fingers dismissively. “That’s different.”
“Mhm,” Kizzi said. “Sure, it is.”
“I think animal bones are great,” Lunette squeaked. I glanced at her to find her cheeks flushed, eyes a little too bright. How odd.
“See!” Hyacinth declared. “I knew I wasn’t the weird one. Even Lunette agrees.”
A fist pounded on the door.
“Fiella!” Redd’s voice called, deep and clear. “Are you almost ready?”
“Why the fuck are you only asking me?” she asked, offended.
Redd was silent for a moment. “Because you are slow, my love. You get distracted.”
“That really isn’t a secret,” Kizzi added. She looked around at the group.
The rest of us were ready—corsets laced, hair styled, faces adorned and shimmering.
And Fiella was still trying to figure out how to pin gems into her hair.
She grumbled good-naturedly. “Fine. Can someone help me with this?” Louder, she shouted, “Just a minute!”
Outside, Redd retreated.
Velline picked up a gem from the counter. “Here. Let me.”
“Thank the Old Gods,” Fiella sighed. She slouched to give the short angel more room to work with.
After a few minutes and only a couple of muttered curses later, we were ready.
“Let’s do this, bitches,” Kizzi said.