9. Chapter 9
N eil was holding back a lecture. He grimaced, running a hand through that wild auburn hair. His sister stood motionless next to him, her face stretched with an uneasy smile. She grabbed her daughter’s shoulders, scanning her for injuries, before kissing Levina on the forehead.
Her voice was tight but high-pitched as she said, “The important thing is that everyone is safe.”
“ Karah ,” Neil protested. “At least ground her. Do something . You told her not to fly alone.”
Levina sniffed. “It won’t make a difference.
There’s nothing to do in this stupid town, anyway.
And I need to practice. I need a challenge.
” Levina wiggled out of her mother’s hold and crossed her arms. Her attitude suddenly died.
“I need my dad. I’m the only witch on the team that doesn’t have anyone to help them. ”
Karah paled. Zephyr froze. Family squabbles were beyond her depth. Luckily, Neil nudged her shoulder, and she followed him away from the mother-daughter drama.
“Thank you for that rescue,” she said once they were out of earshot. Karah and Levina remained inside the workshop office, their voices barely audible as their emotions took hold of their argument.
Neil did a double-take as they ambled down Pumpkin Hollow’s main street. “You’re thanking me for rescuing you ? You just caught my niece as she was falling out of the sky. I should make a statue of you and plant it in the town square. Something marble. How am I going to afford that?”
“I can lend you the money,” she joked. She reached back and made sure Dale was still sleeping in the hood of her jacket. “The interest rate will be terrible, though.”
“Don’t lessen what you did for us,” Neil said seriously.
“I was just in the right place at the right time. It’s coincidence.
” She shrugged. “If you keep focusing on it, you’re going to freak yourself out.
” You’re going to freak me out , she thought.
Neil frowned, so she tried another tactic.
“But I was super impressive. It was incredible. I knew I was good, but damn, no one should be that good.”
“Now you sound like yourself.” Neil shook his head, looking up at the sky. “Ridiculous.”
Zephyr stopped them before they crossed in front of the post office. She didn’t want to fuel Tawny’s imagination. If the shifter saw them together, the matchmaking would intensify.
Neil misread her decision to stop them. He relaxed, hands in his pockets as he asked, “Last night, I was actually at the town meeting for a purpose,” he admitted.
“Karah filled me in after we left. The town decided how they’re going to choose the witch who will light the pumpkin the last night of the festival. ”
She just shrugged. The Pumpkin Festival lasted all week and included so many events that, even though she had grown up here, she couldn’t name them all.
Neil finished, “The honor will go to the winner of the Pumpkin Festival Air Race.”
The decision was a surprise. Lighting the festival pumpkin always went to one of the nature-inclined witches. Whoever grew the largest squash or something like that. An air witch hadn’t lit the giant pumpkin that crowded the town square in decades.
Neil explained, “Levina hasn’t sat still since the announcement.
It’s given her something to look forward to.
She wants to win, wants to prove herself to her team.
Maybe even prove herself to you . After what happened today, she’s clearly taken it too far.
” He sighed. “Being the new kid in a small town…it can’t be easy.
Winning this race, though, isn’t worth getting hurt. ”
Lighting the pumpkin wasn’t all for bragging rights.
Whoever lit the candle within, it strengthened their magic for an entire year.
For a teenage witch feeling inadequate, Zephyr wasn’t surprised that Levina was acting so drastically.
She hated to imagine what crazy stunts she would have pulled at that age, just for a chance to light the pumpkin.
“You’re not going to race, are you?” Neil asked.
Zephyr rolled her eyes. “No, Neil. I’m not so attention-seeking that I’d race a bunch of kids.”
“Just want a realistic idea of Levina’s chances,” he replied. “She’s going to ask me if you’re racing as soon as you leave.”
“A girl needs to know her competition. Smart.” The itchy, out-of-place feeling returned. “Look, Neil, I should go. Family stuff freaks me out.”
Now he paid her the wrong kind of attention.
He was analyzing her as if he pitied her.
There was no reason for it. Her parents weren’t bad people.
Just…flighty. They traveled in a camper van now, chasing summit after summit.
Flying was enough of an adrenaline rush for Zephyr.
She had never shared her parents’ love for climbing.
They each had their own things, and that was fine.
It just made situations like this awkward to navigate.
Finally, she blurted, “Hope everything works out!” Zephyr raised her hand to give him a high five, which Neil did not expect and simply stared at.
Trying to save face, she used her open palm to push his shoulder.
The act was supposed to be playful. It ended up too aggressive, and she won another strange look from Neil.
Great.
HER MORNING ROUTINE CHANGED. After the incident with Levina, Zephyr took on a leisurely pace, drifting along as she delivered Pumpkin Hollow’s mail.
She wanted to show Levina that caution wasn’t a weakness.
Though a part of her missed the tiny thrill she received when she improved her delivery time.
Pumpkin Hollow didn’t mind waiting a few more hours for their packages.
Zephyr reintroduced herself and engaged in the chitchat she’d been avoiding.
No one brought up her crash, not directly.
She had a few concerned questions about her health, but no one asked for the gruesome details as if they didn’t realize a real person had been hurt and she was standing right in front of them.
Her favorite stop was the Finnegans, and not just because of Neil.
Levina was often at the shop, working on homework in the side office.
The oddities that crowded Hattie’s workbench brought some of Zephyr’s favorite moments with the Finnegans.
Though Hattie was no-nonsense, a rare type of witch, she never hesitated to explain each magical item thoroughly and its diagnosis.
Neil tinkered, too, but he mostly worked on vehicles.
As Hattie had said herself, she was too old to crawl under them.
Hattie walked her through a repair of a cursed camera, and Zephyr unexpectedly thought of her splintered broomstick. Her lips parted, just about to ask Hattie if she had time for an impossible project, before fear sealed her lips.
Hattie noticed her hesitation, and her cunning eyes narrowed until Neil unknowingly rescued Zephyr with a pair of steaming coffee mugs in his hand.
He passed a mug to her, fingers brushing hers. Unintentionally , Zephyr reminded herself sharply.
Neil cleared his throat. “Got time for a walk?”
“You’re my last stop.”
He blinked. “Your route makes no sense. Why would you end here when it’s more efficient to—”
“I said I have time for a walk,” she interrupted loudly.
Neil swallowed his advice and nodded. With their cups in hand, they walked through Pumpkin Hollow’s downtown area, lingering by the bookshop’s window and sampling the free smells from the local bakery, the Wicked Whisk.
As they passed by, Neil lifted a hand to greet the magenta-haired man working inside.
She hoped pastries were in her future, but Neil kept them moving.
He didn’t seem the type to stroll. Zephyr decided Neil was building up his courage for something, but for what, she couldn’t guess.
“I know you overheard more than you wanted to. The day you caught Levina.”
Well, Neil was clearly not asking her out on a date. Zephyr didn’t know how she felt about that, and she paused for too long. Neil looked even more reluctant as he added, “Levina needs more. Guidance. Confidence. A mentor.”
“Uh oh,” Zephyr whispered. This wasn’t the first time she’d gone down this route. Usually, a sponsor would ask her for a “favor” like this. Or someone with a lot of cash. But she wasn’t ready for anything like this. No matter who was asking.
It felt like a closed door.
“Neil,” she said slowly, “I’m not a coach.”
His mouth pressed into a thin line. “I know.”
“I’m sorry Levina is having a hard time, and I’m so, so glad I was there to help the other day…”
“But?” he prompted.
The excuses came quickly, a flood of doubt and fear.
But they weren’t without a damning hint of truth.
“I’ve never been a team player. I didn’t even have a good relationship with my own pit chief.
Levina doesn’t need another whirlwind—she needs a rock.
And you’ve said it yourself. No one expects me to stay.
” She crossed her arms, cowardly glancing down so she couldn’t see his disappointment.
It was enough that she was about to hear it.
Zephyr said finally, “I’m not the witch you’re looking for. ”
Her last statement probably hit her harder than it did Neil. Zephyr didn’t even know where she’d be in another month. Neil knew where he’d be buried, might have a plot already purchased. Might have two plots to his name, and with someone already in mind for the second spot.
What a morbid train of thought. Like a good air witch, Zephyr evened out her breathing until her thoughts cleared. After such an exercise, she normally felt light on her toes. Instead, she felt burdened.
She heard Neil swallow, and she made the grave mistake of meeting his eyes. He muttered, “Yeah, if you think that’s best. I just had to ask.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” she replied, but it felt like a lie. It definitely hurt to say no. The urge to run from everything reappeared, like a ghost Zephyr had thought she’d banished the day she’d returned to Pumpkin Hollow.