Chapter 4 #2
Riley leaned against the counter next to me, putting his chin in one palm and studying my face the same way I studied the page. It was like with one look, he’d figured out all the most efficient ways to unravel me. “What are you going to make?”
“It’s called infinite whimsy,” I said. “It goes inside our cauldron cakes.”
“I’ve heard of those, which is impressive since I rarely come here.” He stepped closer and watched as I measured ingredients into the cauldron. “So how do you do it?”
“Do what?” The fire crackled and snapped as I lifted my favorite cast-iron cauldron over it. I rubbed my hand over the familiar pot, letting the smooth grain of the cool metal ground me, then I poured a bottle of fresh spring water into it.
“How do you give everyone different powers?” he said. “I heard people can buy the cauldron cakes at the same time, yet their effects range from talking to animals, sensing emotions, and a bunch of other things.” His grin turned lopsided. “I suppose that explains the name infinite whimsy.”
“Exactly. The fact that the customers never know which power they’re going to get is part of the appeal.
Depending on their biochemistry, a different ingredient would react more strongly—lavender to provide clairvoyance, pixie dust for levitation, star fruit for illusions, and—” I cut myself off, realizing I was overexplaining.
“Anyway, the trick with this potion is the timing since the effects depend on how long it cooks and how long it cools.”
“Timing, huh?” Riley murmured, his attention on my face again. His gaze dropped lazily to my lips, then back up to my eyes. “I’ve heard that’s pretty important with a lot of things.”
I knocked over the pestle I was reaching for, and Riley handed it back to me with a slow grin. If he kept looking at me like that, this week was going to be a lot more difficult than I’d planned on—and it would have nothing to do with solving the murder.
Unsure what to say to him, I crushed lavender in a mortar and pestle until it was a fine powder, then I combined it with the pixie dust. “The potion needs to sit for at least eight hours, and after that, we put it in the different batches of the cauldron cakes.”
“That’s—”
“Shh.” I held up a hand to shush Riley and listened intently as the floor creaked overhead. Was someone going to the kitchen for a late-night snack or could they—
The basement door opened with a soft whine.
Oh no. If that was Mom, there was no way I could let her catch me down here with a man. I’d never hear the end of it. But where could I put him?
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
My attention fell on the wooden cabinet against the wall. It would be tight, but maybe it’d work. I grabbed Riley’s hand and dragged him toward it, not bothering with an explanation.
“Is it time for Seven Minutes in Heaven?” he said as I pushed him into the cabinet.
I pressed a finger against his smirking lips, trying not to think about how soft they felt. For one charged moment, our gazes met, and I lost myself in his dark eyes.
The third stair groaned as it always did, snapping me back to the present. What was it about Riley that made me so attracted to him? It was like I was the one who’d taken the love potion. I closed the door and picked up a random bottle of herbs nearby and made my way back to the bubbling cauldron.
Mary appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey.” My heart thumped in my chest, but I tried to look as casual as possible. I picked up my wooden spoon again and stirred in a counter-clockwise motion.
“Are you okay?” Mary sat on the last step and settled her book across her knees, then rested her elbows on it and put her chin in her hands.
“As good as I can be.” Doing my best not to glance toward the cabinet, I watched the potion closely for the moment it changed color, then added a few drops of starflower essence from a glass vial.
The basement filled with the scent of wildflowers on a summer afternoon.
A few bubbles disturbed the water’s surface, so I added the powders, and the potion gurgled like it was whispering secrets.
The wind howled outside, rustling against the house. Mary watched me work for a minute, the silence settling between us like rising dough, before she asked, “Do you want to talk?”
“I’m not even sure where to start.” After my conversations with Riley and Elaine, I might’ve been happy never to talk about Graham’s death again.
Plus, with Riley in the cabinet, this wasn’t the time for lengthy conversations.
But there was at least one thing I could tell her.
“I think I’m going to work with Riley to solve Graham’s murder. ”
“Riley… Lizzy’s friend?” Mary’s eyes widened. “Wait, Graham was murdered?”
I gave her an abbreviated version of what happened before ending with, “I’m worried what the police will think, so we’re going to figure out the killer’s identity.” I glanced at the cabinet where Riley hid and shifted my weight from foot to foot.
“Be careful, Kitty.” Mary bit her lip as if she wanted to say more, but then she stood. “I better get to bed. Early morning tomorrow with my internship.”
“Thanks for checking on me.” The potion hissed, and I jolted back to attention and dropped in a sprig of mint and three ounces of honeycomb. They fell into the liquid with quiet plops, making the basement smell like spring.
The door clicked shut behind Mary, and I hurried to the cabinet and threw open the cabinet to free Riley. In the darkness, his eyes almost seemed to have an amber glow.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He rubbed his neck and stretched. “Things are never boring when you’re around. That’s for sure.”
I flushed. “Sorry about that.” Steam billowed from the potion, reminding me it was almost done brewing. I gathered a handful of glass vials and hurried back to it.
“So what now?” He sidled over until he was standing too close again, making my heart thump.
“Now I ladle out some of the potion every fifteen minutes.” I filled the first set of glass bottles with a liquid the color of an eggplant. “By pulling it off the heat at different times, it changes the potion’s effects.”
“Not with the potion, with the case.” His hand grazed mine as he passed me another glass bottle, and I almost dropped it.
I seriously needed to get it together. This was pathetic. I wasn’t some love-struck teen who let the simplest touch from a man undo her. I wasn’t Lydia.
“Let’s just see if you live through the night.” I tried to match his lighthearted tone, but while Riley didn’t seem to believe in the efficacy of potions, I knew full well how dangerous they could be.
“Fair enough.” He watched my steady movements as I ladled the potion into glass bottles. “How much longer do you think you should monitor me?”
I bit my lip, trying to keep my hands steady. Mary said Graham’s mother got the call around 8:00, and he’d texted me a little before 6:00 saying he’d eaten the cookie. “Three hours to be safe.”
“Is that all?” He shook his head as if he were disappointed.
“Were you wanting it to take all night?”
“There are worse things than hanging out with a beautiful woman all night.”
I bit my lip, hoping my cheeks weren’t flushed again. “You might regret being so flirty later.”
“I never regret complimenting a woman.” He ran a hand over his buzzed head, the move somehow highlighting his effortless confidence.
He found a pen on the counter and spun it around his fingers, watching me silently for a moment before questions poured out of him like a potion bubbling over.
What was it like having four sisters? What did it feel like having fae magic and witch magic?
How long had my dad had Moonrot? His questions continued as I ladled out more of the potion.
The second batch of infinite whimsy was a sapphire blue, the third a shimmering emerald, and finally crimson for the fourth batch.
When Riley asked if I was dating someone, I turned the questions on him, and he shared stories of his life.
Even when he was talking about normal things, he had a way of making the stories come alive.
Once when explaining how he’d accidentally set fire to his cat’s tail, he startled a laugh out of me, and I had to pay extra attention to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes while brewing.
When I finished the infinite whimsy and we still had time to kill—poor choice of words—I started another potion.
Hours blurred like the steam rising from my cauldron, each moment folding into the next like the dough for croissants.
When the clock on the wall chimed midnight, I jumped, spilling some of the next concoction.
“Are you okay?” Riley grabbed my hand and studied it as if looking for burns.
“I’m fine.” I jerked my hand back, but the heat from his touch seared through me. Being with him made me feel like a potion about to boil over.
I forced myself to exhale slowly. There was something about the way his fingers lingered, about how he studied me with that quiet intensity that made it impossible not to feel like I was teetering on the edge of something I didn’t know how to handle.
“I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten,” I said when the silence dragged on a beat too long. “It just startled me, is all.”
“You know what they say about time flying.”
“That would be assuming I had fun with you.”
He laughed, the sound as smooth as melted chocolate.
Wait, if all that time had passed and Riley was fine, did that mean I hadn’t killed Graham? Relief billowed through me, lifting me up like yeast in a loaf of bread.
“You’re alive.”
His fingers skimmed my cheek. “You know, it might be worth eating another cookie to see you looking at me that way.”
My stomach flipped, and I brushed his hands away from my flaming cheeks. Riley’s flirting was nothing more than the potion at work, and I couldn’t forget that, especially now that it was going to last for the next week. “I’m just relieved I didn’t kill you or Graham.”
“Which brings us back to the question of who did.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “I need to figure it out before the police come poking around, because I doubt the police will be as easy to convince of my innocence.”
Riley rubbed his chin. “I guess there’s no way to prove that the cookie I ate had the same potion as the one you gave Graham.”
“Especially since you ate the wrong cookie the first time,” I muttered, then sighed. “If we don’t find the answers soon, people will start suspecting my family again.”
“We?” He flashed me a smile. “So, does this mean you’re going to help me crack this case?”
I bit my lip. Working with Riley probably would increase my odds compared to trying to solve the mystery on my own, though that still didn’t mean it was a good idea.
He had just eaten a love potion, after all.
But it was better than attempting it alone.
As a reporter, he probably had connections that would come in handy.
Plus, my magic felt more settled around him.
As if being with Riley helped me feel more balanced.
Finally, I nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I look forward to working with you.” He started to stick out his hand, then pulled it back. “Should we seal the deal with a kiss?”
My cheeks couldn’t possibly get any hotter. “Be serious.”
“I’m always serious about my feelings.” His dark gaze smoldered in a way that made my knees weak.
The problem was that his feelings weren’t exactly his own at the moment, but there was no point telling him that. He knew what he was doing when he ate that love potion and the truth potion, and people under the influence of a love potion were always convinced their feelings were genuine.
He held out his hand again. “I think we’re going to get along really well.”
I stared at it for a moment, then shook it. “Thanks.”
He laughed, then kissed the back of my hand. “My pleasure.”
My stomach twisted at his amused reaction.
That had probably been the wrong thing to say, but I wasn’t like Lydia.
I didn’t know how to flirt with guys. I couldn’t banter with them like Lizzy, charm them with my good looks and even better personality like Jane, or wow them with random facts like Mary. All I could do was be me.
Once we finished cleaning up, we trekked upstairs and I cracked the door open to survey the area.
Thankfully, the house was quiet, and Dad’s door was shut.
Mom must’ve gone to bed since I couldn’t hear her muttering as she moved around the main floor.
After all, one of Mom’s favorite sayings was, “Those who never complain never get pitied.”
“You should be good to go,” I whispered to Riley.
“I’m not so sure I want to go.”
My cheeks heated. They did that far too easily with Riley around. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes, I do.” He studied my face intently. “There’s something about being around you… I can’t put my finger on it, but I like it.”
“I—”
“You don’t have to say anything.” He gave me another half-grin. “I’m sure you’ll just shoot me down anyway, but I enjoy a good challenge.” He handed me the pen he’d been fiddling with—now missing its cap—and slipped outside.
I closed the door behind him, then rested my back against it.
Even though Riley had proven to me that I wasn’t guilty, that wouldn’t mean anything to the police. I needed to clear my name before my family was caught up in the gossip that would travel through town faster than a spilled potion. One way or another, I’d find the killer and prove my innocence.