“I won’t stop, and it is my most fervent hope that I ruin the fuck out of whatever this is. I want you, Lunette Selene. I want you as all of this and more.” I gripped her thighs, begging her with my body and words to stay.
To my dismay, she rolled over and off me, smoothing down her dress and fixing her braid. “Meet me out front in an hour if you still want to come to town with me.”
Taking the breakfast tray, she left, leaving me alone once more—in every way.
Surprise crinkled Lunette’s forehead when I descended the stairs.
“I didn’t think you’d come.”
“Well, here I am.” I offered her my arm. “Shall we?”
Don’t ask me where my resolve came from. When she left my room after my pathetic plea for her heart, all I wanted to do was crawl under the bed and hide with the several cats that were napping there. Damn cats were everywhere. Somehow, however, the thought of spending the day without her felt worse than her most recent rejection. What were my options? Fuck off forever… or pine for her and be here, helping her, offering my arm, my everything, until she realized her asshole fiancé wasn’t rising from the dead. Eventually, she’d accept that he was gone, and I was here waiting not-so-patiently for her love. So, I resolved to wait.
Hollows Grove was decked in Halloween everything. Scarecrows and hay bales lined the streets while plastic bats hung from streetlamps. I commented on the decor. “Well, if we can count on nothing else in the world, we know that the giant pumpkin will always grace the center of town every autumn.”
Lunette fixed her gloves around her wrist. “I like it. Don’t you enjoy Halloween?”
“Nah, I give trick-or-treaters boxes of raisins.”
The white witch let out a laugh that set my chest on fire with affection. “You’re a monster.”
“A fabric shop?” I asked as she pulled me into a frilly store.
The saleswoman looked up from her magazine. “Oh, Lunette, darling. It’s so good to see you. I am so sorry for your loss.”
Lunette cleared her throat and held her shoulders back. “Thank you, Gertrude. Is my order ready?”
The redheaded lady spared us a pitying glance before nodding and disappearing into the back. I twirled a bundle of yellow ribbon around my finger. “Another dress?”
“No.” She gazed out the shop window. “I think this may be the missing piece, why my spell isn’t working. The full ensemble is what I need.”
Before I could probe further, Gertrude returned with a blue velvet box. “Here you are, honey. And don’t worry about paying, it’s covered.”
“That won’t be necessary. The wedding will still be happening as planned.” She smiled. “You’ll see. We’re just a bit delayed, that’s all.”
Gertrude furrowed her brows and glanced at me. I shrugged and searched for a joke to lighten the mood when a shriek pierced my ears. Lunette spun and went to the window, Gertrude and I following behind. Another scream, and a man shouting for help. “It’s the jewelry store.” Gertrude put a hand to her mouth. “Something’s happened.”
The shop bells jingled behind us as I took Lune’s gloved hand, and we wove through the gathering crowd to discover the source of the commotion. “Someone call the doctor!” a man shouted. “Where is Dr. Jekal? He’s been missing for over a week,” a woman asked.
“Shit,” I breathed when we reached the front of Jilly’s jewelry store.
Lune gasped and rested her head on my shoulder, shielding herself from the shock. Jilly lay slain on the ground outside her store. Blood pooled from beneath her, expanding, as if the murder was still fresh. As if that weren’t enough for one terror, it was what was on top of her that presented the most macabre scene. From head to toe, Jilly was covered in sapphires. The blue stones shimmered, draped around her ankles, up her legs, covering her torso and neck, and scattered throughout her short, gray hair. Two large sapphires covered her eyes, like she was some bedazzled doll staring up at us.
“Who could have done such a thing?” Lunette asked on a hoarse whisper.
A man pointed. “It’s the White Witch! She can help!”
I gripped Lunette tightly, ready to whisk her away, but she pulled out of my hold and knelt by Jilly, careful to avoid the blood. “There’s no help for her… but if her spirit is still near, maybe I can ask her what happened.”
“What kind of witch are you? That’s not going to fix anything. The woman’s been brutally murdered, and you think some sort of psychic nonsense will catch the killer?” The man crossed his arms.
I stepped forward. “You have powers of your own to offer? No? Then how about you shut the fuck up before I make sure you join Jilly down here.”
Ignoring his indignation, I knelt next to Lunette, resting a hand on her back.
Hovering her hands over the body, Lunette’s eyes rolled back, and the air grew cold. “An ocean during a storm… a drawing of some sort of necklace… none of this makes sense.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I suggested as sirens rang in the distance. Scooping the blue velvet box from the ground, I pulled Lunette up and through the crowd. We found a grassy hill on the outskirts of town and sat on the dead grass to catch our breath.
