Chapter 50
It turned out that Cas’s schedule was booked solid until the wedding, so his and Ingrid’s dinner date had to be indefinitely postponed.
Ingrid was disappointed, and part of her worried that Rill had gotten to Cas again, but she decided she wouldn’t jump to conclusions. And besides, maybe he really was just busy. She didn’t mind waiting. It would only make it sweeter when she and Cas finally got together.
In the meantime, she needed to figure out what she was going to do about Miles going to the wedding.
She couldn’t exactly wiggle out of inviting him—and it was as good a time as any to introduce him to the rest of the Loefflers—so one morning as they drank coffee in the kitchen, she plunged right in and asked him if he wanted to go with her.
He seemed genuinely excited about it. She did her best to seem upbeat as well. The fantasy of slow dancing with Cas would have to take a back seat to friendship and loyalty. It was a good thing, though. She really did want Miles to get to know the Loefflers. To love them as much as she did.
She offered to buy him a new suit, but he said that was a waste of money since he’d only wear it once, and the day before the wedding, he pranced through the living room, modeling her grandpa’s collection of sixties and seventies-era suits.
She tried to pay attention, to ignore the knot in her stomach, but she couldn’t help worrying.
Two days earlier, Scoot had been released from the rehab facility, and thus far, Ingrid hadn’t heard much from Sailor about how things were going.
Was Scoot drinking or making trouble? Had there been any discussion between them about what happened that night at Peregrin? Had Scoot told anybody about the guy she’d been drinking with? About who’d been in the car with her? Did she even remember?
“What about this one?”
Ingrid turned her attention back to Miles, who had struck a dramatic model’s pose by the fireplace.
He did look nice in her grandpa’s old deep burgundy suit with the light blue shirt, even if the lapels were a little too wide to be fashionable and the ruffle on the shirt was definitely over the top.
She considered once again asking him straight out if he’d been helping her spells along, but what good would that do?
If he said yes, they’d fight. If he denied it, she’d know he was lying to her, and they’d fight about that.
And did she really want to know? Maybe it was better she didn’t. It would only mess with her confidence.
She smiled up at him. “You look great.”
“You think?”
She headed to the stairs. “Of course.”
“Thanks, Budge,” Miles called after her.
She gritted her teeth. She would not pick at him, not now.
Tomorrow was the most important day of her life.
Sailor and Jude’s wedding was her chance to be there for Sailor.
To show her that, in the end, no matter what sort of obstacles had been thrown in their way, their friendship was a lasting one.
Back in Edie’s room—her room, Ingrid kept reminding herself—she studied the dress Sailor had helped her pick out for the wedding and, naturally, paid for.
A black, strapless, taffeta gown, its full skirt printed with one enormous white peony.
The expensive black stiletto sandals beside it made her sigh.
As did her bedraggled reflection in the full-length mirror.
All she wanted was to feel like she belonged.
But what she saw in the mirror was an imposter.
“Beautiful.” Miles stood in the doorway, nodding. He had taken off her grandpa’s suit and put his shorts back on. His chest was bare, the blond curls on his head sticking up all over.
“The dress is,” Ingrid said. “But I’ll still look like a poor, low-class psychic even when I’m wearing it. Because that’s exactly what I am.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Ingrid.” Miles had a serious look on his face. “Being a psychic. Being poor. They’re the ones who should be ashamed. The way they treat other people. The way they treat their own children.”
Her stomach twisted. Miles didn’t even know the worst of it.
What Rill had done to Tess and to her. But she couldn’t think about all that now.
The wedding took precedence over everything, and she wasn’t going to risk ruining Sailor’s day.
One thing at a time. After the wedding was over, when everything had calmed down, she would figure it out.
Miles fixed her with an unwavering look. “They’re lucky to be graced with your presence.”
She laughed. “Please.”
“I’m serious.” He took a step into the room. “But I don’t know why you’re acting like you can’t do something about those people. Because I know, and you know you can. You can do whatever you want.”
“No,” she protested. “No more magic with the Loefflers. It’s too risky. Something always goes wrong.” She studied him, searching for a sign, but his face looked like it always did. Like an innocent but wild young pirate.
“What about a spell that would bind Rill and Scoot … just at the wedding?” he suggested.
“I don’t think I can be that specific. I cast the spell, but it’s the universe and the Goddess who truly control it.”
“Then cast the spell,” Miles said in an even voice, “and trust whatever happens next. Ingrid, you know who these people are. They won’t be negotiated with. They have to be stopped. Especially Rill.”
He was looking at her now, intently, like he knew something. Something he wasn’t supposed to know.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean … because of what he did to Tess.”
The dress felt like it was squeezing her now. She sat on a chair, a hand on her chest. “Who told you?”
“Dean. At brunch, after you left. He heard it from Miss Paulette, a long time ago.”
Against her will, she felt tears threaten. “Yeah. That’s who told me.”
“Ah, Ingrid.” Miles sat on the bed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “It was just so awful.
“Rill Loeffler had no right to do what he did. To your mother. She was just a teenager. He needs to pay.” Miles looked angry. And he was right. Rill was a terrible person and should pay for what he did to Tess.
But …
But she’d really liked the attention he’d shown Ingrid. At Sailor’s party, at all the family dinners. All the times he would run into her in the house. He’d always looked at her like she was something out of his reach. No one had ever looked at her that way.
And part of her had liked it. Really liked it.
Miles spoke again. “Look, we have to go with what we know for sure. Scoot poisoning Edie was just a rumor. But we know for sure that Rill messed around with your mother when she was an underage girl. The last thing Edie asked you was to right the balance, right?”
Ingrid nodded.
“And that you should watch out for pirates. You can’t tell me that she didn’t know exactly what she was saying.
She knew you were the only one who could stand up to the Loefflers.
She knew that Rill Loeffler was a pirate, as mean and dirty as fucking Blackbeard himself, and she made you promise to make him pay. ”
Ingrid was quiet. He widened his eyes at her.
“You have to do it, Ingrid. She was counting on you to take care of him.”
She hesitated. “I mean, I guess I could do a protection spell or a warding thing—”
“It has to be a hex,” he said in a calm voice. “A death hex.”
Her eyes widened then she shook her head. “Miles. No …”
“Why not?” He had a belligerent look in his eye, and his jaw was clenched. “You take him out, you solve everyone’s problems. Sailor can be CEO. Cas can go live with his monks or whatever. And Scoot can inherit all his money and go work on her sobriety in peace.”
“I’ve never done anything like that.” She couldn’t even say the words out loud, death hex. “I don’t know if I can do it, to be honest.” She spoke carefully. “And if I did, I wouldn’t want anybody helping me.”
Miles folded his arms. “What do you mean by that?”
She felt a nervous thrum inside her. “Nothing. Just that I would want it to be left up to the universe to decide … whatever fate was right for him.” She swallowed with difficulty.
Miles stared at her. She stared back. The moment seemed to last forever, and then, at last, he lifted his chin and spoke in a low, fierce voice.
“If your spells needed help, Ingrid, you would not have the thriving business you have. You got Sailor because you are good at what you do. And Edie knew how good you were, too. You have the power to fix everything, Ingrid. Never believe anything different.”
She put the tips of her fingers to her mouth and let herself consider it, just for the briefest moment … Rill, six feet under at Bonaventure Cemetery. Sailor and Cas, free from their father’s manipulations.
Still, she didn’t want Rill dead, not really. There was good in him. Maybe he just needed a chance to be truly sorry for what he had done. Maybe all Rill Loeffler needed was a chance to see that Ingrid had come into the Loefflers’ lives to right the balance.
“Ingrid.” Miles squinted at her. “What’s your deal with this guy? Why are you protecting him?”
“I’m not protecting him.” She felt herself grow uncomfortably warm.
“Did he do something to you, too?”
“No. Miles. No.”
His eyes flashed. “I swear to God, if he—”
“Miles, stop! Rill Loeffler hasn’t done anything to me.” She cleared her throat. “Maybe I could do a spell that lifts the veil of protection.”
“What’s that?”
“It would leave him open to … anything really … whatever—”
“Like what?” Miles demanded. “Like sickness or something? A heart attack?”
“Sure … or just doubt. Lack of confidence.”
“Fuck that. What about a straight-up assault?” Miles’s eyes gleamed. “Or jail.”
Ingrid sent him a reproving look.
“I’m just kidding.”
But she could tell he wasn’t.
“We have to leave it up to the universe,” Ingrid said.
Miles nodded. “Fine.”
He hugged her and she clung to him tightly.
He smelled like his usual mix of sweet and sour, and she suddenly wished she was a more experienced witch.
That she could see more clearly into the future.
She didn’t know how she was going to balance her love for Miles with her need to be in the world of the Loefflers.
And there was a part of her—a small flashing light of warning buried deep in her gut that made her think they were all heading for a collision. A disaster of unexpected proportions.
Still, when she went to her old room, to the mantel where she found the red-and-gold fountain pen she’d stolen from Rill’s desk the night of Sailor’s party, she tried to believe this was the right thing to do.
She would lift the veil from Rill and let Edie and the Goddess decide his fate.
And, most importantly, she would not allow Miles to interfere in any way.
Gripping the pen tightly in her fist, she headed down to her altar room.