Chapter 19
As she and Gunnar walked to the sheriff’s department, Mattie ate a truffle. It was dark chocolate raspberry, one of her favorites. She left the rest of the assortment in the bag, even if eating all of them might have made her feel better. “She wasn’t that mad.”
“She was mad,” Gunnar said.
He’d been in a mood since they left Delaney’s, which wasn’t that different from how he usually was. She understood, but at the same time, his current temperament wasn’t going to help them get anything done. At least that was how she saw it. “She let us get chocolate.”
“Still mad,” he muttered. “And she has a right to be. I may be responsible for destroying this town.”
They were nearly at the department’s front door, but she stopped all the same. “Look at me. You haven’t destroyed anything.”
“Yet.” But he had stopped walking.
She heaved out a breath, just about done with his grumpiness. “Stop being so negative. You’re putting bad vibes into the universe. You shouldn’t do that.”
He glared at her. “Do you understand that life as we know it is on the verge of collapsing? You think there’s a positive to that?”
“Wow, dramatic much? Life is not on the verge of collapsing.”
“Maybe not for you. You think I’m going to get a glowing recommendation after this? Where am I going to go if—when I get fired?”
He had a small point. But still. “Okay, I get that we’re in a delicate situation, but this mood of yours isn’t making it any better. We already know things aren’t good. Focusing on how bad it could be doesn’t help. We need to think positively and come up with a solution.”
He frowned. Or maybe he’d already been frowning. “Why, because being realistic might make things worse? That imp has been nothing but trouble. And this is about the most trouble he could cause. I could lose everything. My job, my home, my …”
She was pretty sure he’d been about to say friends but realized he really didn’t have any. She crossed her arms as best she could while still carrying the bag of chocolates. “Your what?”
“My truck,” he said, some of the heat already gone from his words.
She tipped her head. “Really? That’s what you were going to say?”
His jaw ticked to one side. “No. I was going to say friends, but I don’t have any, outside of my cousin Chet, and he’s family, so he doesn’t count. Happy?”
“No, I’m not happy, because you’re wrong.” She studied his face, the worry bracketing his mouth, the tenseness of his shoulders, the desperation in his eyes. “You have me.”
His mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared, like he was too confused to come up with anything. Finally, he shook his head and looked at the building. “We’re wasting time.”
She wasn’t sure why having her as a friend bothered him so much, but she couldn’t argue that time wasn’t important.
Reluctantly, she let the discussion go, breathing out her annoyance.
She wasn’t going to change his mind anyway, so she nodded in agreement.
“You’re right. Let’s go talk to Sheriff Merrow and Birdie. ”
Her sudden change of heart seemed to confuse him even more. He rubbed at the beard on his chin. “Yeah, okay.”
They went inside.
Birdie had her purse over her shoulder, her sunglasses on, and was standing in the doorway of the sheriff’s office. “I’ll see you tonight for the run.”
She turned when she heard them, smiling immediately. Like seeing them together was proof of a blossoming something.
Mattie almost snorted. Boy, was she wrong about that.
“Well, hello there.”
“Hi,” Mattie said quietly.
Birdie laughed. “You sound cheery. Who died?”
“No one yet,” Gunnar answered.
That got rid of Birdie’s smile.
Mattie sighed and got right to it. “There’s something going on. We need to talk to you and Sheriff Merrow.”
Birdie glanced toward her nephew’s office. “Hank? Small change of plans. We’re coming in.” She led the way.
Sheriff Merrow got to his feet as they came in. “Ranger Briggs.”
“Sir.” Gunnar nodded at the man.
Birdie touched Mattie’s arm. “This is Mattie Sharpe. She’s the beekeeper.”
“Nice to meet you, Mattie.”
“You, too, sir.” She glanced at Gunnar, wondering if he wanted her to explain.
But his attention was on the sheriff. “We’ve got trouble, sir.”
Sheriff Merrow tipped his chin at the two chairs across from his desk. “Have a seat and tell me.”
Gunnar moved to the side so Mattie could get by, then spoke to Birdie. “Take the chair. I’m fine standing.”
Birdie didn’t argue, just sat beside Mattie.
“Mind if I close the door?” Gunnar asked.
“No,” the sheriff answered.
Gunnar started talking as soon as the latch caught. “I got stuck with Mattie’s imp. You know about that? About the wishes?”
The sheriff looked less than happy. “Yes, I heard. Not much I don’t hear.” His gaze drifted to Birdie.
“You’re welcome,” she said, brows arched and lips pursed.
The sheriff looked at Gunnar. “What happened that I need to know about?”
“I made a bad wish, so this is on me, but the tourists can see the truth now.”
The sheriff said nothing for a moment. “That explains a few of the calls we’ve had this afternoon.” He glanced at Birdie, who nodded, then back at Gunnar. “Is this fixable?”
Mattie admired the man for taking the news in stride. Then again, he was the sheriff of Nocturne Falls. He’d probably had worse days.
“We don’t know yet,” Gunnar answered.
“Yes, it is,” Mattie said, shooting Gunnar a frown. “Gunnar just can’t make a new wish until Blueberry’s around to hear it, and he’s currently missing. Or hiding from us.”
Sheriff Merrow seemed to consider that. “Have you tried making the wish?”
Gunnar made a face. “No, actually.” He cleared his throat. “I wish my last wish to be undone.”
Mattie held her breath, but there was no shimmer of magic. She shook her head. “Didn’t work. Trust me. He’s not here.”
“She’s right,” Gunnar said. “There’s a wave of magic that goes over everything when a wish is granted. Didn’t happen.”
The sheriff sighed. “Can you make him reappear? You’re a witch, right?”
“I am. Not the most powerful one, however. I have to be honest here: I’m not sure how helpful magic would be in forcing him to show himself.
He’s very powerful in his own right. Even if a spell worked on him, I can guarantee it would make him pretty angry.
Which, in my experience, would make it more likely that any wish made to undo this current one would end up not working the way we’d want it to. ”
“So he’ll twist the next wish into something worse.” A muscle in the sheriff’s jaw twitched.
Mattie hugged the bag of chocolates on her lap. “There’s a good chance of that. I was going to ask the coven if there’s anything they can do, like some small spells to counteract the wish. The truth is, jinn magic is strong. Unfortunately.”
“I understand.” The sheriff looked at Birdie. “The pack isn’t going to be happy about canceling the run, but if there are tourists in those woods …”
“Yep,” Birdie said. “We don’t need TMZ coming to town, looking for a werewolf infestation.”
“We don’t need press of any kind suggesting the truth about Nocturne Falls.
” The sheriff took a deep breath, glancing from Mattie to Gunnar.
“We’ll get the word out to as many of the shifters in town as we can.
You two need to work on coaxing out that imp and getting a new wish made. One that won’t cause any trouble.”
Mattie kept her mouth shut. None of that was going to be easy.
He pushed his chair back. “I’ll go speak to Corette Williams about the coven helping out. “You two have more important things to do.”
“Yes, sir,” Gunnar said.
The sheriff hooked his thumbs on his belt. “Birdie, send a message out to all on duty officers. Let them know what’s going—”
A woman burst through the department’s front door, frantic and crying. “Help, help. There’s a real live vampire out there.”
The sheriff immediately stepped out from behind his desk and went to her. “Ma’am, I’m sure it seems that way, but I assure you, it’s just an actor playing a part.”
She seemed unconvinced. “I don’t know about that…”
“I’d like to point out it’s still daylight. Vampires can’t be out in sun—”
“I’ve seen Twilight. I know they can if they want to.” The woman shook her head. “Although he wasn’t sparkling. But his fangs looked real.”
The sheriff smiled. “We have a dentist here in town who specializes in those caps for all the vampire actors.” He made a show of looking at his watch. “He might still be in his office. Would you like me to call him and see if he can explain it to you?”
The woman hesitated, finally exhaling like she was trying to calm herself down. “No, sorry, I’m sure you’re right.” She glanced toward the street. “He just seemed so real.”
“Have you seen any ghosts or witches or werewolves?”
She sighed. “No. I get your point. I’m not sure what I was thinking.”
“It’s all right, ma’am. Maybe head back to your hotel and have a quiet night in. You’ll have a good laugh about this in the morning.”
“You’re probably right. Sorry for bothering you.”
As jovial as could be, he got the door for her. “No bother at all, ma’am. Enjoy the rest of your stay now.”
She left, and he turned to look at Mattie and Gunnar, all traces of amusement gone from his face. “Find that imp. Now.”