Chapter Twenty-Four-Evie
“Shifters? Are they new to Castor’s Corner, Evie?” Grandpa Al tsked, floating in midair like he was judging our dinner menu and not the state of our supernatural security.
“You know what that means for our town,” he said, as if I didn’t freaking know.
“Shut up, you,” I snapped, shooting him a glare that would’ve withered a living man’s nethers—if he still had any.
“Evie!” Donny’s shout rang through the fog, followed by Maribella huffing like she’d just run a marathon in stilettos.
They skidded to a halt beside me, cheeks flushed, eyes wide.
“We’re here to help battle the—uh,” Donny trailed off mid-bravado, squinting up at the hovering, fashion-disaster ghost. “Wait. Isn’t that your Grandpa?”
“Oh my goddess,” Maribella wheezed. “He’s real. And pantsless. Oh my gods, why is he pantsless?”
“Oh my!” Grandpa Al blinked, wiping spectral mist from his giant square glasses.
“How you’ve grown! Turn around, ragazzi, let me look at you!”
“What are you talking about, Grandpa?” I asked, trying very hard to ignore the way my dress was still soggy with goo. “You’re acting like you know them.”
He beamed like someone had just handed him a tray of cannoli.
“You girls! My girls! You’ve grown up so well.”
Donny gave me a very suspicious side-eye. “Evie, the missing kids? It’s the Fox twins—Ginger and Nugget.”
My stomach dropped. “No. Not them.”
The Fox twins were second graders—little, giggly, fuzzy-eared fox Shifters who always gave me dandelion bouquets and licked icing off bakery counters. The idea of them in danger?
Not. On. My. Watch.
“Evelyn?” Grandpa Al’s voice turned cautious, but I wasn’t having it.
Aqua-colored flames danced along my fingertips. My magic wasn’t just awake—it was hungry.
I motioned for my friends to move behind me. Time to handle this.
“Look,” I said, stepping forward, “I don’t care what went down between you and Nonna. I’m not here to talk about your missing—bits—or magical midlife crises. I’m here because two children are missing.”
He blinked. “Children?”
“The Fox children,” I growled. “Where are they?”
A beat passed.
“The only missing children here are you three,” he said, all misty-eyed and sentimental.
Cue my stomach dropping again—this time from a completely different sort of horror.
“Wait, what?” I asked, barely above a whisper.
“You girls,” he said, arms spread wide in ghostly grandpa pride. “You’re all mine. My granddaughters.”
“What in the name of Gaia’s burned biscotti are you talking about?” I said, staggering.
My Wolf—my gorgeous, ever-loyal Wolf—pressed against my leg in a silent show of support.
On instinct, Donny and Bella stepped closer to me too.
The Bear hovered behind Donny like a grumpy guardian angel, and the Python curled protectively at Bella’s side like a living feather boa, sans actual feathers, with fangs.
“Evelyn, Maribella, Donatella,” Grandpa Al said, glowing with pride. “Three parts of a single magical bloodline. My bloodline.”
“Nope. Nope nope nope,” Maribella muttered, face pale.
“We’re related?” Donny gasped, eyes going wide.
“Yes,” he said proudly. “You are my legacy. The Trifecta. The most powerful magical bond Castor’s Corner has seen in generations. My girls.”
“But that doesn’t make sense!” I blurted. “Our moms—your daughters—weren’t even close growing up.”
“Well, yes, that’s because I was a very busy man. Handsome, charming, a little irresponsible.”
He shrugged. Freaking shrugged.
“Grandpa!” I screeched.
“What? It was the seventies. I made mistakes. I was also cursed by a very angry, very sexy Witch who banished me from the town and turned my boy parts into ghost confetti.”
“Gross,” Donny gagged.
“I’m gonna hurl,” Bella added, face green.
“You think you’re gonna hurl? He said he loved Nonna and then cheated on her with her best friends,” I growled, fire practically shooting out of my ears.
“I had needs,” Grandpa Al protested.
“Get a hobby!” I snapped. “Knitting! Jigsaw puzzles! Celibacy!”
He floated backwards, hands raised in surrender.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’ve had time to reflect. A lot of time. Turns out, getting magically neutered and exiled is a real perspective-shifter.”
I was about to unload another magical fireball of judgment when his voice softened.
“But that wasn’t the worst of it,” he said. “Being away from Castor’s Corner, from all of you? Now, that was the real punishment.”
The words hit like a spell straight to the chest.
My fingers uncurled. Slowly.
“So why now?” I asked.
“Because the wards fell,” he explained. “Just for a moment, a few days ago. And I slipped through. I’ve been haunting the cemetery, hoping one of you would show.”
“I saw you,” I whispered, realization dawning. “The night Jaxson and I met.”
He raised a bushy ghost brow.
“You and the Wolf, huh? I thought I sensed a claiming hovering in the air. Good instincts. Very primal. I like him.”
“Focus!” Donny barked.
“Right, right. So, you have the sight, Evelyn. You can do more than just see the past. You can walk it.”
I blinked. “You mean like time travel?”
“Kind of,” he said. “More like spirit projection. It’s not easy. But if you can tap into a powerful enough memory, you can visit it. Let it guide you.”
Maribella gasped. “You’re a true Seer Witch, Evie.”
I closed my eyes and searched for the warmest memory I could find.
It came instantly.
I was three years old. On the beach.
My Nonna’s kisses on my cheeks, my Grandpa lifting me onto his shoulders, sprinting along the waves while I shrieked in delight.
That memory flooded my senses—and for a moment, it was real.
The sea spray. The sun. The warmth.
When I opened my eyes, I was crying.
“That was incredible,” I whispered.
“You’re incredible,” Grandpa Al said gently. “Now do you believe?”
I did.
And I had work to do.
“Grandpa, um, not to sound ungrateful, but what do you want?” I asked, knowing there had to be something else.
“To come home,” he said. “My body was buried far away. Alone. Under fake names and shame. I want to be with family again. Please. Bring me back to the mausoleum.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said carefully.
“Thank you, my girl,” he said, already starting to fade.
“Wait!” I cried. “The kids—the Fox twins. Do you know where they are?”
He shook his head.
“I swear I don’t. But if I find anything on the other side, I’ll try to send you a sign.”
And then he was gone.
And I had a problem.
A few of them, actually.