18. Killing a Unicorn
Killing a Unicorn
The building that housed the Double, Double Boil and Trouble pub had begun life as something else.
A warehouse, maybe, or a mill, back when Oak Haven was young.
The exposed beams overhead still bore the scars of their former purpose, and the wide-plank floors had been worn smooth by generations of feet.
Fairy lights wrapped around bottles behind the bar cast everything in a warm amber glow, turning even the most stressed-out witch into something softer.
Luna slid into the booth and felt about fifteen percent more human.
The town hall meeting had left her wrung out, nerves jangling, stomach knotted with anxiety.
Wedged between Elias, who rested his hand on the table, and Delilah, who offered a supportive smile, Luna found comfort in the gentle murmur of conversation.
She could almost pretend everything was fine.
Almost.
Across from her, Scarlett was scrolling through her phone with the manic energy of someone who’d had too much adrenaline and not enough food.
Nate sat beside her, one arm around her shoulder; whether he was anchoring or restraining her, Luna couldn’t tell.
At the head of the table, Kelly Melrose surveyed her assembled troops with the expression of an exhausted general.
Jasper, wedged in beside Delilah, was reviewing his letter to himself again, occasionally glancing up to check if the real world matched his notes. “So the elderly pirates are real,” he muttered. “Good to know.”
“Very real,” Delilah confirmed. “And very armed, as you saw.”
“Right. Noted.” He made a small mark on the letter.
Elias’s knee brushed against hers under the table. Possibly accidental. Or maybe not, given the way the corner of his mouth twitched when she looked at him.
Focus, Melrose. Remember what Mama always says. Crisis first, feelings later.
Except her feelings had terrible timing and no respect for priorities.
“All right,” Kelly said, her voice cutting through the ambient noise. “Let’s start with the basics. We need food, we need drinks, and we need a plan. In that order, because I’m not strategizing on an empty stomach.”
“Hear, hear,” Scarlett said without looking up from her phone.
Dayo appeared at their table. She was a tall woman with warm brown skin, her locks pulled back in an intricate wrap, and a grin that made newcomers feel like old friends. Pausing beside the group, she pulled out her notepad. “Evening, everybody. Heard you had quite the meeting. What can I get you?”
The beverage orders came rapid-fire: Earl Grey for Delilah, chamomile for Kelly, sparkling water for Nate, lemonade for Jasper. Luna asked for whatever was on tap, and Elias seconded that. Scarlett, still absorbed in her phone, waved a hand vaguely. “Same.”
Dayo was turning to go when a voice cut through the low chatter of the pub like a knife through butter.
“Singapore Sling. Double.”
Everyone froze. Jaws tightened, eyes darted. Jasper’s fingers stilled mid-scribble. For a breath, nobody moved—a collective flinch at the intrusion.
Luna turned to see Jerusha settling herself at the end of their table with all the ceremony of a queen claiming a throne. She was 125 if she was a day, but Time had given up trying to erode her.
“Um . . .” Dayo said carefully. “You want a what?”
“Did you not hear me? Singapore Sling, double the gin. Nah, triple.” Jerusha gazed at all the shocked faces. “What, did you think I made it past a century and a quarter on herbal tea?”
“Jerusha,” Kelly said. “What a . . . surprise.”
“Is it? You Melroses always try to fix everything on your own. I’m just here making sure you don’t cause more trouble.”
Scarlett’s head snapped up from her phone, defensive instinct kicking in. “Excuse me? We solve Oak Haven’s problems.”
“You also cause most of them, dear.”
Nate snorted, trying to cover it with a cough. Jasper studied his letter with sudden, intense interest. Even Delilah pressed her lips together, clearly fighting a smile.
“That’s not—” Scarlett started.
“Never mind,” Jerusha interrupted. “I’m here to provide an outside perspective. Whether you want it or not.”
“Well, madam,” Elias said gallantly, “I for one am delighted to have your wisdom.”
“Don’t encourage her,” warned Scarlett.
Dayo returned with a tray of drinks, distributing them with the efficiency of long practice. Luna wrapped her hands around her pint glass and took a long, grateful sip. Beside her, Elias did the same, and their eyes met over the rims of their glasses.
Scarlett set her phone down with a decisive click.
“Okay, we’re fortified and supervised. Let’s talk about destroying Ashton Vex.
” She settled back in her seat, and Luna recognized the change in her sister’s posture, the shift from scattered energy to laser focus.
“Here’s the thing you need to understand: the tech world runs on hype.
You’re not selling a product, you’re selling a story.
The story of how you’re going to change the world and make everyone rich in the process. ”
“So you start with a pitch deck—basically a PowerPoint presentation that makes your idea at least sound revolutionary. Then you do a seed round, where you convince a few investors to invest. Next, you do a Series A, where you convince more investors to give you more money, except now you have to show some actual traction. Users, revenue, growth metrics . . . anything to prove you’re not completely full of it. ”
“But presumably many are full of it?” Elias said.
“Oh yeah. I mean, there are plenty of legitimate companies that start this way. But there are also spectacular failures. Companies that were basically smoke and mirrors, burning through investor money. But that’s what they’re all after: a start-up so revolutionary its value soars over one billion. They call it a unicorn.”
“Sounds not entirely dissimilar to my old line of work,” Elias said slowly. “Find the angle, sell the dream, get the mark invested before they can think too hard about it.”
“That’s definitely part of it,” Scarlett agreed. “Of course, sometimes the dream comes true. Sometimes the janky prototype becomes a real product.”
“And sometimes,” Delilah added, “it doesn’t. Sometimes start-ups just keep raising money and raising money until the whole thing collapses.”
“Which is exactly what we want to happen to Vex,” Kelly said. “We need CastR to become one of those spectacular failures. The kind people write articles about for years.”
Scarlett leaned forward. “So here’s what I’m thinking. We help him. We inflate CastR’s valuation and generate massive hype. Make everyone believe this is going to be bigger than Facebook, bigger than Google, the next paradigm shift in human existence.”
“And then?” Nate asked.
“We make sure the product fails at the worst possible time. We interfere, so every spell he demonstrates goes sideways. Picture Vex at showing off CastR, all eyes on him, and nothing works. Whatever he does, we counter.”
Luna could see it. She could see the whole beautiful disaster unfolding. “He’d be ruined.”
“Completely. And CastR becomes the punchline of tech industry jokes for years.”
Kelly nodded slowly. “It’s a good plan. But there’s a significant problem.”
“What problem?” Scarlett asked.
“We’re assuming we can sabotage every spell Vex puts in that app.
But we don’t know what spells he’s planning.
We’ll be playing catch-up constantly, trying to counter magic we’ve never seen before.
” Kelly’s fingers drummed on the table. “We’d need help.
Other witches. A whole team dedicated to counterspelling whatever Vex comes up with. ”
“And magicians,” Luna said, then immediately regretted it when everyone turned to stare at her. “Myrna said we needed to work together. Witches and magicians. That was the whole point.”
Scarlett’s expression darkened. “Those three idiots from the inn heard Vex’s pitch for approximately thirty seconds and immediately converted to his cause. How is it going to be any different with other magicians?”
“Because not all magicians are desperate for legitimacy,” Kelly said. “Some of them might actually care about the consequences. Or—” she glanced at Elias “—they might have other reasons to want to see Vex fail.”
“Spite is an excellent motivator,” Elias offered. “Never underestimate the power of professional jealousy.”
Luna felt his hand find hers under the table, their fingers intertwining. The contact sent a little jolt through her nervous system, like touching a live wire, but in a good way.
“Even if we get help,” Nate was saying, “we’d need to coordinate. A lot of people, all working together, all focused on the same goal. That’s . . . complicated.”
“Everything about this is complicated,” Kelly said. She looked tired suddenly, and Luna felt a pang of guilt. “But we can’t do this alone. We need allies. Witches, magicians, anyone who understands what’s at stake.”
Luna took a breath. “Louise said she knows someone. An investor who might help.”
The temperature at the table dropped approximately fifteen degrees.
“Louise Demain,” Kelly said slowly, “is not someone whose help comes without strings attached.”
“I’m aware,” Luna said. “But she approached Elias at the town meeting. Said she had a friend who’d be interested in backing the plan.”
“A friend of Louise’s?” Scarlett made a face.
“I hear you, Scar. But I think dealing with Louise is worth the risk. She indicated that this friend could help with funding.”
“I don’t know, Louise is very—”
“No, Luna is right,” Kelly said.
“Now that’s not something you hear every day,” muttered Scarlett.
“If we’re going to pull this off,” their mother continued, “if we’re going to inflate Vex’s valuation enough to make his fall matter? We’ll need serious money. Investor money. If Louise’s friend has access, then we have to consider it.”
“So we take the meeting,” Delilah agreed. “See what this friend wants. If it’s too sketchy, we walk away.”