Witch Way Out by Cate Conte

Author:Cate Conte [Conte, Cate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2022-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I had to find Cali. I told myself it was because I wanted to see if she was okay. It was, mostly. But I also wanted to see if I could get a sense about what happened. As I made my way through the crowd, I saw a familiar face. Two, actually. Serenity and Alan from the Magickal Council. They were standing near one of the booths, but speaking to each other in low tones. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t see me. They didn’t appear to be shopping, either.

What were they doing here?

I tried to keep some heads between us so they wouldn’t notice me as I walked past. I didn’t know council members came to things like this. I made a mental note to ask Fiona.

There were a lot of whispers around me as I walked over to where some of the fair officials were gathered. Avilyn stood near the giant fake rainbow with the pot of gold where the raffle tickets were being collected. She was crying into her notebook. Two security guards—mortal ones—stood near her, looking solemn. I hadn’t seen any of the leprechauns yet. Maybe they’d wanted to stay out of the fray. Mortal murders probably weren’t their thing.

“Excuse me. Hi. Sorry to interrupt,” I said.

Avilyn looked up, her eyes watery and red-rimmed. Purple smears from her eyeshadow made her look like a punk rocker gone bad. “Violet. Hey,” she said in a choked voice. “I heard . . . I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t really want to get into this with an audience. I concentrated really hard on getting the security guards to go away. I’d intended for them to physically walk away; however, they suddenly vanished. Like, poof. Shoot. What had I done with them? I really needed to get the hang of this.

Avilyn stared at the spot where they’d been. She blinked, then rubbed her eyes. Hopefully she chalked it up to her emotional distress.

“I’m sorry too,” I said, trying to act like nothing had happened. “Are they going to close the fair down today?”

“I think we’re going to open but I’m not sure when. The police asked us to wait until they’ve talked to whoever was here this morning. So many people are depending on us to open. And I know Horatio would want it that way.” She started to cry again. “This fair was his pride and joy. He was so dedicated to it. He really wanted to make it better.”

That word again. “Better? What was wrong with it? Was he planning to change things up?”

Avilyn shrugged. “I know he thought we could make it bigger, get more sponsors, maybe do a couple more events for other occasions, like a Solstice fair or something. He was worried about it getting stale. He had some ideas that he’d brought to the board. He was already making such a difference.” She sniffled and pressed a tissue to her face. “I’m so . . . sad.”

“I’m sorry, Avilyn. I really am.

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