Spell or High Water Read online

  “This way.” Alissa took the lead. “If someone found the harp by accident, the shop is the first place they’d have returned it to.”

  The Enchantment Emporium was decorated in shimmering gold lights, like fairy lights. I stared, mesmerised, then jumped when a pale man walked out of the shop, too fast for a normal human. The town’s oldest resident, Vincent the vampire, gave me one of his penetrating looks. The fact that he looked like a walking waxwork model had freaked me out to begin with, but he was the vampire responsible for ensuring none of the other vamps strayed out of line and bit anyone without permission.

  “Hey, Vincent,” I said. “Did you by any chance see a harp in there?”

  “Harp?” he echoed. “Any reason?”

  “It belonged to someone who wants it back. Ever met a pirate ghost?”

  As the oldest residents of town, there was little the elder vampires didn’t know about, in theory. Most of the time, they suffered from memory problems, and the apparent abundance of pirate ghosts on the lake didn’t help matters. But it was worth asking him.

  The vampire tilted his head. “I’ve met a number of ghosts.”

  “But none were pirates? We met him on the lake. Have you ever been there?”

  “Don’t be absurd. Vampires can’t swim. There’s nothing I know less about, except perhaps gardening.”

  I supposed being the living dead did not foster a connection to nature. “Okay, I didn’t know that,” I said. “Thanks for your time.”

  He looked at me. Or more specifically, at my exposed neck. “I may have to start charging you for our consultations.”

  He didn’t sound like he meant money, either. I really hoped he was joking, but before I could ask him to clarify, he’d disappeared in a blur. I swiftly ducked into the shop before he changed his mind. It was technically illegal for him to snack on my blood without permission, but knowing that didn’t quell my instinctive fear of the unnaturally fast creatures with their waxy skin and intense stares.

  “Creepy,” Alissa commented from behind me. “I’d be careful not to keep treating him like a walking history book.”

  “I didn’t know he was here. He surprised me.” I peered ahead into the shop, which looked surprisingly gloomy considering its flashy exterior. Maybe that’s why the vampire had been lurking in here. “I wouldn’t have thought vampires would need anything enchanting.”

  “I don’t think I want to know,” Alissa said.

  Lights flashed along the shelves, causing both of us to jump when a man appeared behind the counter in a shower of glitter and a clap of thunder. I stepped backwards into the nearest shelf, which gave an alarming rattle. Steadying it with my hand, I looked at the man who’d just materialised at the desk. Tall and rail-thin, he was covered in an outfit made entirely of glittering mirrors. This must be Gus. Apparently, today was the sort of day where everyone wanted to unleash the dramatics.

  “Hi,” I said. “We were wondering, have you ever sold an enchanted harp?”

  “Enchanted harp?” he repeated. “In what way?”

  “To keep sirens away from a boat.” I looked around, but everything in the room appeared to be bright gold and glittering, and finding a golden harp in here would be like tracking down a needle in a room full of needles.

  “Oh, that.” He paused. “I believe I sold one to a witch a few months ago… a special favour. Bella Landis. That was her name.”

  “Oh, I know who she is,” Alissa said. “Thank you for your time.”

  Glitter rained down as the man vanished, and we left the shop in a twinkle of lights. At least we have a name now.

  Chapter Six

  Bella Landis lived at the top of a small hill in the heart of the witches’ main area of town. Once Alissa had removed the glitter from both of us with a wave of her wand—I didn’t trust myself not to accidentally make something else vanish when I used my own—I took the lead and knocked on the door of the house.

  “Hello,” I said to the young blond woman who opened the door. “You’re Bella?”

  “Yes.” She looked me over. “You’re the newbie. Can I help you with something?”

  I’d lived here for weeks, but thanks to the relative lack of newcomers to the small town, I’d forever be known as the ‘newbie’. There were worse nicknames.

  “This is going to sound absurd, but Alissa and I ran into a wizard’s ghost down by the lake,” I said. “Anyway, this ghost claims that a harp that belonged to him went missing. I heard that you were the one who commissioned it.”

  “Ghost?” she echoed.

  “A wizard,” I said. “You knew him?”

  “Oh.” She nodded. “Yes. I was asked to order the harp as a present for him, as a surprise.”

  I blinked. “On whose behalf?”

  “His beloved. She didn’t want it to be traced back to her. But I suppose if its owner is dead, she might want it back. Her name’s Freya, and she lives in a cottage on edge of the woods just up the hill from the lake. It’s difficult to miss, since she’s the only person living in that area. Likes her privacy, I guess.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and turned to Alissa once she’d closed the door. “I suppose that’s worth checking out. I’m assuming this Freya is a witch.”

  “I would guess so,” said Alissa. “That part of the forest is on the other side of the waterfall. It’s not exactly inaccessible, but I wouldn’t say it’s safe to go there at night.”

  “Then we’d better hurry.”

  “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?” She rolled her eyes at me. “Honestly. I think you like running into tricky situations.”

  “There’s never a dull moment,” I said. “But it’s weird that this Freya had someone else commission a present for her beloved.”

  “Maybe they were friends.” She shook her head. “Luckily, I know the way past the waterfall which doesn’t involve walking through a colony of elves.”

  “Always helpful.”

  We walked down the country lane until we reached one of the many roads that led into the woods. The forest wasn’t that far from the lake on this side, and luckily, there was a clear path up a gentle slope between trees that avoided elf and shifter territory. The sound of the waterfall grew louder, a background noise like a heartbeat under our feet.

  I glimpsed the lake glittering through the trees as we came to a dilapidated cottage. “She never said it was this run-down,” I remarked. “It doesn’t look like anyone lives here.”

  “What do you want?” said a sullen voice.

  I spun around as a young woman came out from behind a tree.

  “Sorry to disturb you,” I said. “I assume you’re Freya. We—came here to ask you something. Did you ever date a pirate?”

  “Is that a joke?” The words snapped out, and her hands curled into fists.

  “There’s a ghost—a wizard, dressed as a pirate—haunting the lake,” I explained. “He claims that his treasure—a harp you gave him—was stolen, and he can’t be put to rest until it’s returned to him.”

  Her eyes brimmed over. “Idiotic wizard,” she said. “He was obsessed with pirates—obsessed. Of course he would ask me to buy him a harp—to keep sirens away from his boat—and then he lost it.”

  The tears spilled. Her hands remained curled into fists, and though she didn’t have a visible wand, something about her exuded danger in such a way that made me edgy. Maybe it was the fact that we were alone in one of the more remote areas of the forest. I was grateful for Alissa’s presence at my side.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, pulling the map out. “Was this yours? This map led us to his ghost. My cat found it by accident.” Or not. That menace of a feline was probably amusing himself imagining us running around in circles all day.

  “That’s ours,” she whispered. “We were supposed to meet up beside the waterfall. He marked the map so I’d know where to find him.”

  I looked at Alissa, then back at Freya. “So he drew the map before he died?”
r />   “Yes,” she said. “It’s illegible, isn’t it? His drawing skills were never spectacular.”

  “So you don’t know who might have stolen the harp?”

  “No,” she said quietly. “Anyone might have stolen it. I warned him it was too conspicuous.”

  I was more inclined to believe it’d gone down with the sinking ship. But there wasn’t anything more to say. My inner lie detector hadn’t gone off, so I assumed she’d spoken the truth. “Thanks for speaking to us,” I said to her. “If you think of any other ideas about where the harp might be, let me know, okay?”

  Alissa and I walked back down the path, leaving the forlorn witch behind. This part of the forest was on a slight rise, offering a nice view of the banks north of the waterfall.

  “So one of them ran into the forest and the other became a pirate. Witches really do things oddly, don’t they?”

  “Was she a witch?” asked Alissa. “I really couldn’t tell.”

  “You don’t know her?” I frowned. I’d been so used to ignoring my ability to sense people’s paranormal types, I’d forgotten to even check this time around.

  “No, I don’t usually come to this part of the forest. Do you want to tell the pirate his treasure’s still missing?”

  “Not really, but it isn’t like we can drain the lake. Maybe he’ll understand.”

  “What was that?” he said.

  I jumped violently. The pirate ghost had materialised above the bank, so suddenly that I wondered if he’d been following us the whole time. It was definitely him—pointy hat, ridiculous costume, and all.

  “You’re not stuck on the, er, ship?” I asked warily.

  “No. What gave you that idea?”

  “Ghosts are usually stuck in one place,” Alissa said. “Generally, it’s where they died.”

  “I died in the lake,” he said, in a self-important voice. “That means it’s all mine.”

  Lucky for the people living in it, then. “Okay…” I looked through him, at the lake on the other side of the trees. “Why not mention you drew the map yourself so you could meet your girlfriend, and that it’s not a treasure map at all?’

  “I didn’t? I thought I did.”

  I groaned inwardly. I supposed I could ask one of the merpeople to check if the treasure really was in the water, but really, I just wanted this bizarre case off my hands.

  “I had to draw it,” he said. “I can’t swim, so I needed to make a note of safe places to meet.”

  I blinked. “You ran away to be a pirate, but you can’t swim?”

  “Why would that stop true love?” he asked.

  Right. A wizard pirate who can’t swim. Makes total sense.

  “What about a life jacket?” I asked. “Er, if you do those…” As safety-obsessed as the paranormal world was, they used magic for so many things that human methods were probably redundant. Still. “Are you sure the treasure wasn’t on the boat? Because I asked your girlfriend, and she doesn’t have a clue where it is.”

  “You spoke with her?” he asked. “Why hasn’t she come to see me?”

  “I don’t know.” I glanced sideways at Alissa, whose expression mirrored the wariness creeping through me. Something was off, and not just the ghost. “The harp—are you sure you didn’t just misplace it on the boat?”

  “Certainly not,” he said. “If I’d had it, I wouldn’t have drowned. The harp repels sirens, and it was they who killed me. Where is she hiding from me?”

  “Hiding from you?” Ah. “I don’t know, I just ran into her—”

  “She owes me an explanation.” Lightning sparked from his hands. Oh no. He still had his wizarding powers in death?

  “Don’t do anything too hasty!” I said. “We can look for the harp, but neither of us want to drown either. So—”

  A wailing noise kicked up, loud and strident. The wizard raised his voice, his hands splayed out. “She wouldn’t listen to the harp—maybe she’ll listen to this.”

  The wailing intensified. Ow. Note to self: apparently, wizard ghosts didn’t need wands to use magic. And it was loud.

  The ghost vanished, leaving Alissa and me surrounded by strident wailing noises. “You can’t use a spell like that indefinitely, right?” I asked, hands pressed to my ears.

  “It depends how powerful his magic was.” Alissa shouted over the noise. “Problem is, he won’t get tired or anything, because he’s a ghost. He could technically stay here forever. The whole lake is his.”

  “Brilliant.” Nothing to do but keep up the search for the missing harp before the lake’s residents figured out we’d accidentally angered their ghostly intruder.

  When the trees thinned out and the ground flattened, heads began to pop up out of the water, their faces screwed up against the racket. The spell must have reached them even underwater. As we reached the foot of the slope, the merman we’d spoken to earlier swam up to us, his hands pressed to his ears.

  “What is that noise?” he bellowed.

  “The pirate ghost,” I said. “He’s angry because his treasure went missing. I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything under the water near his boat? He lost a golden harp somewhere, and if we don’t find it, he’s going to keep on doing that.”

  The merman screwed up his face. “No. I’ll ask the others.”

  He swam away. The wailing continued, insistently, like the world’s worst alarm clock. Nothing drowned it out. The wizard apparently had unlimited patience.

  “Where’s an earplug charm when you need one?” I yelled into Alissa’s ear.

  “They block all sound,” she yelled back. “You wouldn’t be able to interact with anyone.”

  “That’s no use,” I said. “Surely someone has a clue about how to put his Highness’s spirit to rest and stop him from being such a drama queen.”

  “I suppose it might be worth asking the nereids,” Alissa shouted in my ear.

  “Yes, but they won’t be able to hear us from here.” I scanned the water and spotted some of them frolicking away from the shore.

  I took a deep breath and turned on the levitating boots, hoping my balance didn’t fail me. Then I waved at them, feeling like a fool. Eventually, despite the noise, one of them spotted the floating human and started pointing. I was past caring about losing my dignity—I just wanted that absolute racket to switch off.

  I floated up to the lake’s edge, waving frantically. I spotted Alissa doubled over with laughter and gave her a stern look. “Come on, how else am I supposed to draw them over here? You’re the one with a functioning wand.”

  “They don’t like witch magic,” she yelled at me. “Do a dance or something.”

  “They’re coming,” I said, with relief.

  A younger nereid swam away from their group, looking up at me with curious eyes. Her long silvery hair floated on the water’s surface, shimmering with iridescent light.

  “Hey,” I called. “Have any of you seen a harp?”

  “A what?” the nereid asked.

  “A harp,” I repeated, indicating the air in general, then my ears. “There’s a ghost, making that noise, who won’t stop until we find a golden harp lost in the water.”

  The pretty silver-haired woman frowned. “What racket?”

  “That,” I half shouted over the noise. “It’s a wizard spell.”

  “We’re immune to sound magic,” said the nereid. “Otherwise the sirens would slaughter us.”

  “Sirens?” I repeated. “Is that what… wait a moment. The sirens caused his ship to sink. Whereabouts do they live?”

  “All over the place,” said the nereid. “In the water, outside of it. They don’t get along with one another. Crafty little menaces.”

  “They—fairies. So are you.”

  “Yes…” She looked puzzled. “Wait. Why are you glowing?”

  I opened my mouth, unsure how to respond, but her eyes were on the map. “That’s glamoured,” I explained. “Did one of you enchant it? The wizard used it to meet up with his girlfriend.”
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  “No,” said the nereid. “We did not enchant it. That magic carries the taint of a siren.”

  Sirens. I frowned. Wait a moment. Glamour had hidden the boat, too. And for all his claims that the sirens had drowned him, he’d willingly gone into the water anyway.

  And he used a siren-proof harp?

  His ex-girlfriend. I hadn’t paid attention to her paranormal type, but I’d bet any amount of treasure that she was a siren.

  Chapter Seven

  “We have to speak to her again,” I muttered to Alissa, as we climbed the slope into the forest once more.

  “Be careful,” Alissa warned. “There’s something we don’t know. The two of them were in a relationship, for sure, but sirens don’t typically pick humans. No wonder they worked so hard to hide everything. And no wonder she didn’t go and buy the harp in person.”

  “She lied to us,” I said. “But—I should have been able to tell. My lie-sensing ability… my lie-sensing ability should have told me.”

  Not to mention my ability to sense paranormal types. I might not have been paying close attention—but had she used magic on me? Had she blocked my power, without my even noticing?

  The wailing noise of the wizard’s spell pursued us uphill. “Well, the pirate ghost isn’t going to go away until he’s got what he wants,’ I said. “Let’s find her, then we can get to the bottom of this.”

  Soon enough, we reached the cottage. As before, the girl waited outside, hovering between the trees.

  Freya looked at me, and the map in my hands. “I did wonder if you were intelligent enough to work it out.”

  “You lied to us,” I said. “How?”

  “I heard a rumour about a new witch who can sense lies, so I took some precautions.” Her smile broadened, a contrast to her former despondent expression. “I was humming the whole time we were talking. It muddles the senses and will have switched off your magical power. Don’t worry, you weren’t harmed. You can still use it.”

  “But—why would you do that?” I had to raise my voice to hear myself, but if she was like the nereids, she was entirely immune to the noise.