Chapter Thirty-Seven
The two of us whipped around, Orion standing behind me, to see something terrifying coming towards us.
Inspector Vale.
His wings erupted on his back as he flew towards me and Orion, his grey hair flying wildly and his gold eyes blazing. The crowd of townspeople that we had blocked out started to come into focus and the reality of what had just happened finally hit me.
‘Under arrest?’ I echoed, shocked. ‘Why would we be under arrest?’
‘Not we, lass,’ Inspector Vale said, his tone full of rage. ‘You! You are under arrest.’
‘What for?’ I squeaked out, horrified. Seriously, how long was his wingspan? His wings looked like they could envelop me in one go and crush me.
‘For cursing this town,’ Inspector Vale said, and his gold eyes flashed. ‘For cursing me.’
OK, so I hadn’t accounted for possibly getting arrested for all of this.
I thought I’d get another point on my licence and a grounding.
But arrested? I couldn’t go to jail. Could you bake in jail?
Who was even in the Maple Falls jail? Wasn’t it just people who drank too much faerie punch and people Granny Fable found annoying – seriously, that woman had too much influence on the town. Maybe she could get me out of jail.
Jail.
My panic was mounting, my chest rapidly rising and falling.
The day’s events were catching up to me, and I could feel myself veering into a panic attack.
Behind me, Orion made a sound of concern, but when he moved, Inspector Vale let out a low growl.
He wasn’t letting me leave here without cuffs on, and no one could save me. Not even Orion.
‘Inspector Vale.’
Mum’s voice was cool, like a droplet of condensation going down a glass of water on a hot day. She strode up our front pathway with Ivy right behind her. And behind both of them was …
‘Is that my father?’ Orion said, confused.
‘Walking with my mother?’ I added.
The two of us must have looked like spooked animals, because we definitely felt like it.
‘I understand you’d like to arrest my daughter,’ Mum said, when she’d stopped right before our little unlikely trio.
Inspector Vale drew himself up to his full height, his wings curling behind his back in a sign of respect. Whether it was for my mother or his boss, I didn’t know.
‘Yes, Madam Mayor,’ he said, and then he inclined his head to Orion’s father. ‘Chief Inspector Hawthorne.’
‘Vale,’ Chief Inspector Hawthorne greeted him, looking amused. ‘Glad to see you’re done spouting poetry.’
I felt a smile twitch at the edge of my mouth, but I stamped it down because it really didn’t feel like the right time to give in.
‘I understand that Maya is being accused of cursing the town,’ Mum said, and I felt my face flush.
I waited for Mum to agree with Inspector Vale.
I waited for the Coven letter to arrive right before me.
‘But it appears that my daughter had no intention of cursing anyone. In fact, the cookies she’d made were distributed, incorrectly, by –’
‘Me.’ Ivy Blackthorn stepped in. ‘I’m the one who distributed the cookies on the day of the fall bake sale.
I was flustered, and I didn’t check my inventory before I put the cookies out.
If I had, I would’ve noticed that I wasn’t the one who baked them.
I would’ve checked with Maya.’ Her gaze found mine and her eyes were full of an apology I wasn’t even sure I deserved.
‘So, if the fault lies with Maya, it also lies with me. Here, arrest me.’
Dramatically, Ivy raised both her hands in front of a very flushed looking Inspector Vale. I imagine it was probably hard for him to forget just how he’d spent the last few weeks lovesick for Ivy.
‘On top of that,’ Mum said, casting a side-eye at Ivy. ‘We’d need to consider the whole picture.’
I stared dumbfounded at my mother. The whole picture? When had that ever happened?
‘Maya cast an incorrect spell, which many, many young witches do,’ Mum said, her tone conversational because she knew the whole town was listening with eager ears. ‘Ivy accidentally spread those cookies. Once Maya found out about that spell, she worked with Orion to fix it.’
‘Exactly,’ Orion cut in, his voice pitching louder. ‘If you want to arrest Maya, you’ll have to arrest me too, because I didn’t alert any authorities about a still provisional-licenced witch casting the spell.’
Orion raised his hands too. Inspector Vale looked like he would rather give himself dental surgery than actually cuff the chief inspector’s son.
‘Instead, the two of them worked together to save the town,’ Mum said, capturing our attention again.
‘They studied the spell, and Orion’s conclusion was correct: the only way to break the curse was for Maya to find her soulmate.
’ Then her eyes dropped to where Orion and I were linked together by the silver thread.
‘Albeit I’m not sure it needed to be done right outside our house. On the street, for that matter.’
Twin flushes burned mine and Orion’s faces as we realized that we were, in fact, gaining some attention. Most people were still on Main Street, celebrating the festival. But I could see Granny Fable on the opposite pavement, sitting on a bench, looking like she was enjoying the show.
Great. By tomorrow morning, the whole town would know what transpired.
‘Still, in return for Orion’s generous help, Maya agreed to save a small business,’ Mum said, turning to look at me.
‘I just went to speak to the owner of the Treasure Trove, where I was informed, quite enthusiastically, that Maya single-handedly saved the Treasure Trove. I was then accosted by her charms teacher, who was pleased to say Maya had finally gained that confidence she was lacking.’
My chest was beginning to ache again with that feeling of finally doing something right. It felt like a victory unlike anything else.
‘I was wrong, Maya,’ Mum said, uncaring of the people around us.
‘The last person I spoke to before coming here was Chief Inspector Hawthorne, who was telling me all about how he was supporting Orion with his ventures of becoming a teacher. And it hit me that I didn’t support you the way that you needed.
I didn’t build your confidence; I tried to make you smaller because I thought it would be easier for you.
But you pushed yourself. You’ve become a phenomenal witch, and I’m sorry that I didn’t see that until others told me.
But I promise I won’t make that same mistake again. ’
I had no words to give – this was everything I wanted to hear. And sure, I wished she’d believed me before she’d left the house. I wished Mum hadn’t needed to find evidence to prove what I was saying was the truth. But she had, and she was strong enough to admit that she was wrong.
‘I’m sorry for lying to you,’ I said, finally.
Mum smiled. ‘This one isn’t on you, sweetheart. It’s my job to make sure you feel safe enough to come to me. It’s something I’m going to work on.’
Orion’s hand squeezed mine when he saw my eyes turn suspiciously wet. Mum’s eyes were a little watery too, but she steadied herself.
She turned back to Inspector Vale.
‘So, to recap,’ Mum added, with a note of finality in her tone. ‘My daughter’s only crime was casting a spell wrong.’
Inspector Vale looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. ‘Yes, well, the Coven would need to be notified.’
‘They have been.’ This came from Chief Inspector Hawthorne. Behind me, Orion sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Madam Mayor approached me about this situation, and it appeared that we both had a lot to discuss about our children.’
I saw the way he looked at Orion, and I wasn’t sure if there was an apology in his eyes, but there was an understanding.
‘As I was saying,’ he said, sternly, to the crowd that was growing rowdy.
‘Upon hearing Madam Mayor’s explanation, I felt it was only fair to request leniency from the Coven.
Maya’s shown herself to be a capable witch, and if her only desire was to find her true love in all of this, then who were we to fault her? ’
‘It was decided that Maya Reverie would not get a third point on her licence,’ Mum said.
Relief made my knees feel wobbly, like they were made of custard. The only thing keeping me upright was the tether that joined Orion and me together.
‘Her punishment will involve community service,’ Mum added, eyeing me. ‘She will be working on beach clean-ups for thirty-six hours over the winter break.’
I kept an almost-comical frown on my face to not betray just how much I would enjoy a beach clean-up. I turned to the left, my gaze catching Raven’s – who still stood in my doorway, with Sofia at her side; thinking about our shell collection that we would get a head start on.
‘So,’ Mum said, cheerfully. ‘I think this has been enough excitement for one night. If you have a problem with any of this, you can reach me at my office, Inspector Vale. Tomorrow.’
There was a hard edge to her voice that made it clear she wasn’t going to entertain anything else tonight. Vale looked disgruntled, but he understood when he wasn’t going to win a fight. With a dramatic huff, he spread his wings out wide and shot up into the air.
When he was finally gone, there was an eerie silence that pervaded over us. I didn’t notice as Ivy slipped away, or as Raven and Sofia went back inside. The only people I was focused on were Chief Inspector Hawthorne and my mother. The two of them shared a look that I refused to decipher.
‘Ten minutes,’ Chief Inspector Hawthorne declared. ‘I’m going to wait in the car, and I think ten minutes is fair.’
‘Ten minutes,’ Mum agreed, shooting me a look. ‘Probably enough time to untie that knot, wouldn’t you say?’
My face was bright red, and I didn’t dare look at Orion.
But I felt him behind me; the way his body was all languid confidence, I could tell he was smiling.
The kind of smug smile that I wanted to wipe off with a remark and trace with my fingertips all at the same time.
That was the infuriating paradox of being in love with Orion Hawthorne.
‘I suppose I could survive with a dragon shifter for a son-in-law,’ Mum finally settled on, and I felt my eyes go wide. Chief Inspector Hawthorne laughed so loudly that I was officially ready for the ground to swallow me up whole.
‘Mum,’ I hissed.
But then I felt Orion’s hand squeeze mine. I looked up at him and found his half-moon smile. Chief Inspector Hawthorne took that as his cue to go to his car, and Mum slipped around us.
When we were finally alone, the reality of what had just happened dawned on us.
‘We did it,’ I said, a disbelieving laugh leaving my lips. ‘We did it, and the town isn’t cursed, and you’re not going to become a chief detective, and it doesn’t look like Ivy hates me. My mum apologized, and I actually feel hopeful about our relationship. We actually did it.’
‘And with ten minutes to spare,’ Orion teased. ‘That must be a record somewhere.’
A laugh escaped from me again, and my hand squeezed his. I was bursting with affection, and every part of the feeling swarmed my body. I tilted my head to look up at him, and I finally gave him the words he deserved.
‘I like you too, Orion Hawthorne. In case it wasn’t blindingly clear,’ I declared, entirely unafraid of confessing my feelings for the first – and last – time to someone.
Orion’s silver gaze softened. ‘And I can’t wait, Maya Reverie, for all the dreams we’re going to make come true together.’