Ignoring the discomfort of my feet, I followed the tumult of voices down the alley until I reached the sidewalk. With careful steps, I crept around the perimeter of the crowd engrossed in watching the two very clueless intruders and found a position close enough to hear the mortals talking to each other.
The guy held up his phone like a shield to protect him. “I don’t understand. Are you celebrating Halloween early? What’s with all the costumes?”
The young woman with him tugged his sleeve. “Brad, I don’t think this is fake. Look over there at those flying things.” She pointed at a group of pixies zipping over the heads of the crowd.
“It’s gotta be, Elise. I mean, we’re in the middle of Nowheresville.” He brushed off her grip and continued to pan his phone. “This looks like a town straight out of the past, so it’s not like they’ve got high-tech anything here. Those funny-looking bats are probably hooked onto some wire strung up between the buildings. Why isn’t my cell working?”
My brother pushed his way through the crowd, bringing Zeke and a couple of other wardens with him. After giving some quick instructions to his colleagues, he got them to corral the onlookers and push them back to give the man and woman some space.
Plastering a stressed smile on his face, he addressed the strangers. “Hey there. My name’s Matt, and I’m a warden…I mean, I’m a police officer here. Are the two of you lost? Maybe I can help.”
“We lost cell service when we drove past the gatehouse on the road.” The girl looked past my brother, and I followed her gaze to find Horatio looming within her line of sight.
“Is this some sort of private community?” Brad asked. “Or maybe it’s a movie set or something. Because I’ve gotta say, those costumes are really amazing. I mean, look at that guy. He actually looks like Bigfoot dressed like a cowboy.”
Big Willie stood off to the side at the ready but allowing Matt to take the lead. He narrowed his eyes at the man but said nothing.
My brother continued to try and keep the situation contained. “If you need directions back to wherever you’re staying, I’m sure I can help you with that. Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll get y’all sorted.”
“Just cast a sleeping spell on them and be done with it,” Aunt Nora screeched, elbowing her way to the front of the crowd.
“Let my warden do his job,” Willie insisted.
My aunt took in the full scene, her expression souring with discontent. “Then he should do it and get them out of here. Those two will put us all at risk.”
Her comments drew more outbursts of criticism and agreement from those standing around her, and she reveled in the attention.
“We’ve kept our community safe for hundreds of years, and yet I find it interesting that on the same night my nephew callously betrays his own grandmother, these two mortals breach our safety,” she yelled loud enough for everyone to hear her.
“Hear, hear!” someone from the back responded, not brave enough to let their identity be known.
“Maybe I should take charge and help make sure Honeysuckle remains the safe haven we want it to be,” Aunt Nora proposed, riling up her supporters.
Brad pulled Elise closer to him. “I think you were right. Something’s off about this place.”
Matt kept one hand out in front of him in the direction of the strangers but spoke to our aunt. “If you really want to help, you’ll get everyone back inside and let us handle this.”
“Spellcast those mortals!” another anonymous voice cried out.
“Keep us safe!” someone else added.
My stomach clenched at the rising tension. Distrust and discontent spread like a virus, and the wardens fought to keep everyone at bay as the crowd surged forward. Too distracted by the situation, I jumped when someone bumped my elbow.
“This town is changing too much,” the woman said.
She wore a T-shirt that didn’t fit and baggy shorts held up by a drawstring. Out of two holes cut through the back of the fabric fluttered a pair of smaller wings.
“Sassy?” I asked in awe.
The fairy’s sadness almost drowned out the chaos. “Hey, Charli.”
“What happened to you?”
She sniffled. “I found out what happens when you get what you always wanted. I’ve always dreamed of being big like you so people would take me seriously. So, now I am.” Her wings stirred the air around her but couldn’t lift her new body off the ground.
I wanted to offer her my sympathy and support, but a new commotion grabbed my attention. The three pixies from my house darted over the heads of the strangers. Bug dive-bombed the couple over and over again, getting closer with each pass.
Elise squealed. “What are they?” She waved her hands above her head and hit the little pixie by accident.
Bug stopped midair and shook her head. Yelling at the young woman, she hovered just out of reach, her wings beating fast. Mug and Nug pulled on her arms to get her to stop, but the little fae refused to give in. Power crackled over Bug’s diminutive frame.
“Oh, no,” I exhaled, frozen in place from indecision on what to do.
“That’s not good,” Sassy agreed. “None of you witches have any idea how strong the smallest of our kind really are.”
Aunt Nora took a few steps forward. “Enough of this. I’m taking control.” She spellcast over my brother’s shoulder, barely missing him.
At the same time, Bug released her power. The spell collided with the tiny pixie’s magic and exploded in a ball of bright energy strong enough to push us back. When my eyes adjusted, I gasped at the aftermath.
The body of the two mortals lay on the ground at the epicenter of the blast. The three pixies no longer floated in the air above.
I rushed forward, searching for them. “Where are they?”
Matt crouched over the contorted bodies while Big Willie stood behind him.
