This was not my desire.
“Tanner,” I pleaded, bound in place, “help.”
He grabbed a wrist, wrenched me to my feet, and hurried us both to the path.
I bent over, dropped to my hands and knees, and retched. “What the hell just happened?”
Tanner kneeled in front of me, wiped my mouth, and cupped my face in his wide palms. “Everything you just felt was an extension of whatever inhabits this orchard, and I’m starting to think it’s connected to her.”
My knees almost buckled underneath the weight of that idea. I whispered, “Everything?”
“Almost,” he said, offering a slightly pained smile.
I plunked my forehead against his chest, inhaled the musk and mint scent of him brought to the surface by the heat. His hands slipped from my face as his arms circled my shoulders. “How are we going to run an investigation,” I asked, “if everything we feel or everything that happens is potentially influenced by her magic?” I lifted my head and looked into Tanner’s eyes. “It is the Apple Witch, isn’t it? Or is it something else?”
He shook his head and offered no answer.
I looked around. Sparrows flitted from branch to branch, their calls filling the air with avian banter. Sunshine warmed the apples’ skins, releasing sweet scents. It took a Herculean effort to extract myself from the soporific influence of our surroundings, slip from Tanner’s embrace, and gather my things into my backpack. My buttons were casualties of our encounter. I accepted his hand as he urged us away from that section of the orchard.
“Now I know how sailors feel when they hear the sirens singing,” I muttered.
Tanner glanced at me and grimaced. “Exactly. And I’ve known a few good men who’ve gone down.”
I swallowed. I was joking about sirens.
The porch was deserted when we came within hollering distance of the Pearmains’ house. Rose must have been alerted to our arrival. She exited the back door, closed it deliberately, and waited for us to get closer.
“Calliope,” she began, her voice softer than before, “we need to hurry. I heard from the other witches, and they want us to meet them tomorrow on the Blood Moon. Which seems a good omen considering your Blood Ceremony comes next after this ritual of initiation.”
My knees shook. This was getting real. I reached for Tanner’s wrist.
“I can drop the boys at the Fulford ferry,” he volunteered, “or they can take the one later tonight out of Long Harbor.”
“I don’t even know what I need,” I stuttered.
Ms. Petite and Formidable gave me the once-over. Her waist-length hair was absolutely striking, its dark silver and white strands patterned like a wild checkerboard starting at her roots. I couldn’t tell if the pattern was natural or dyed, and I wasn’t about to ask.
“Here.” Rose paused on the lowest step and handed over a book with a folded piece of paper tucked inside. “I made a list of supplies you’ll need to bring. Call me if there’s anything you can’t locate. And don’t forget to read the book. All of it.”
Lucky for me I was a fast reader.
Tanner’s steadying hand left my lower back when he stepped from behind and made his way to the stairs. “Rose, are Cliff and Abigail all right to be left alone?”
She nodded, turning to the screen door and leading us into the house. “Come say your goodbyes. They have plenty of food, and they don’t appear to have any residual physical discomfort. I had Clifford drive their truck to the road and back, and he did just fine.” Rose lowered her voice, leaned into Tanner, and whispered, “Him being cranky is a good sign.”
I crested the last hill before the center of town. Tanner spent the entire ride from the Pearmains’ staring out his open window. My insides were reeling from the effects of kissing him. Not knowing how much of his past had arrived to haunt, influence, or seduce him, I wasn’t sure I wanted more of his company. If I dropped him in town, he could figure out how to get to my house, maybe commandeer a hefty stick and fashion it into a mode of transport.
I didn’t realize I’d snorted out loud at the image of Tanner astride a makeshift witch’s broom until I realized he was looking at me oddly.
“Something funny?” he asked.
“Not really. Do you want me to leave you anywhere?”
“I’m fine going to your house, if you’re fine having me there.”
Fine. I focused on the road ahead and the ever-present clusters of gawping tourists. Tanner could have a time-out in the car while I shopped. Rose’s list included items stocked at the natural foods store, and I was in and out in a few minutes.
“I have to make one more stop before we head home.” After the incident at the orchard, I wanted to add another herbal ally to my garden, and there was a well-stocked nursery on the northern tip of the island. Tanner grunted, re-folded his arms across his chest, and returned to staring out his window.
I parked. He elected to stay in the car and paw through the bag of trinkets River had left on the back seat. Shrugging my bag over one shoulder, I ignored the feeling Tanner was tracking me through the rear-view mirror. Once I located the rows of potted herbs, I lifted one after the other to my nose. I crushed a few leaves and petals between my fingers until I decided two pots of motherwort would fit in nicely with my other herbs.
“Got what I needed.” I tucked the pots behind the passenger’s seat. Once I buckled myself in and started the engine, I gripped the steering wheel with both hands and turned to look at my passenger.
The air around him was cool, like he’d withdrawn every bit
