Sprinkles, Spelled, and Slayed Read online

  Sprinkles, Spelled, and Slayed

  by

  Sara Bourgeois

  Chapter One

  “No. No. No. This cannot be happening,” I said and kicked the ice cream case.

  We were just getting ready to open the shop when Lyn noticed that one of the ice cream cases felt too warm. It became apparent that she was right when the large tubs of ice cream began to melt around the edges.

  At first, I tried the only thing I could think of. I unplugged the case and plugged it back in. That did nothing.

  Lyn went into the back to call the repair guy. She emerged a few minutes later looking less than happy.

  “He said he’s in another town and can’t be here for at least three hours,” she said.

  “Crud.”

  Three hours and all of the ice cream in the case would be completely destroyed. It also meant that a huge portion of our stock would be completely unavailable.

  Then, I remembered that I was a witch.

  “Hey, Lyn. Why don’t you go into the back and see if you can find someone else to come fix it?”

  “Sure thing, boss,” she said with a mock salute.

  As soon as she was gone, I put my hand on the case. I didn’t really know a spell for broken ice cream display cases, but I just imagined that the thing was fixed.

  Amazingly, that actually worked.

  “Hey, Lyn, I think unplugging it and plugging it back in actually worked after all.”

  She emerged from the back. “Oh, cool. Should I still have the repair guy come look at it later?”

  “Couldn’t hurt,” I said.

  I knew we didn’t need it, but it was a good cover. It’s not like I could tell my store manager that I’d magically fixed the display cooler, and everything would be fine.

  Despite the stressful moments, being at the store helped. It had been a month since Alex had gone missing, and if I didn’t have the shop to keep me busy, I probably would have lost my mind.

  It wasn’t like the witches of Knox Hills were interested in helping me find him either. He was a hunter, and despite the fact that he didn’t hunt anything but evil paranormals, they still didn’t trust him.

  Before I could think on it further, a loud and annoying half-buzz, half-ring sound echoed through the store. It literally made me jump.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “It’s the buzzer at the back door,” Lyn said with a perplexed look on her face.

  “I didn’t know we had a buzzer on the back door,” I countered.

  “Probably because it’s been broken for a long time. I guess it suddenly works now,” she said with a shrug. “I’ll go see who it is. We don’t have any deliveries scheduled for today, but perhaps it’s someone who is lost.”

  “Great, I’ll go ahead and wipe down the tables and counters,” I said.

  “I can do that after I see who is at the door,” Lyn said.

  “It’s okay. I’ll just get it out of the way.”

  I was only wiping down tables for a couple of minutes when Lyn reappeared from the back. She didn’t say anything to me but instead set to work putting out the different cones and sundae toppings we’d need to serve customers. I looked at her expecting to find out who had been at the back door, but Lyn was turned away from me and didn’t see my expectant gaze.

  Finally, curiosity got the better of me, and I just asked. “So… who was that?”

  “Oh, it was someone looking for Alex. They tried to make a delivery next door, but no one answered. I didn’t say anything to you because I didn’t figure you’d want to deal with it given that he was your boyfriend and he ran off.”

  That was the story we’d spread around town. Trixie, Voodoo, and I figured that we had to say something. Alex’s bookstore was popular and it was easier to say he ran off in the night than to get people curious about his disappearance. Sure, it might have helped to have the whole town looking for him, but we knew that his disappearance had to do with magic. The last thing we needed was the humans of Knox Hills getting involved and possibly getting themselves killed. Or worse yet, exposing magic to the world.

  “I’m going to talk to them anyway,” I said and darted to the back door before Lyn could ask me anything.

  I held my breath and opened the back door, hoping that whoever had been out there a couple of minutes before was still there. I saw a man getting into a fully restored 1960s black Cadillac that was parked behind Alex’s book shop.

  To get his attention, I began waving my arms wildly in the air. He didn’t see me at first and started the car.

  That was when I started running towards the car with my arms still waving in the air. Unfortunately, some jerk had dumped trash bags in the alley and I tripped over them.

  If my running and waving didn’t get his attention, then my subsequent flying through the air over the trash bags and splatting onto the ground finally did.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” the man asked me in a thick Italian accent as he pulled himself out of the car. “Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine,” I said as I planted my palms on the ground and pushed myself to my knees. “Nothing injured but my pride.”

  “And your clothing, I’m afraid,” the man said as he shut his car door.

  I looked down, and I’d ripped huge holes in both knees of my jeans and destroyed the hem of my pink sweater. “At least the jeans took the brunt of it. Looks like my knees survived.”

  In truth, I probably had skinned my knees, but Voodoo was right there behind me. I could only guess that he’d either protected me or healed my scrapes.

  “Yeah, it looks like I’ve done a number on myself,” I said and dusted the dirt from the alley off the front of my clothes as best I could.

  “Were you trying to get my attention?” the man asked.

  “Yes,” I said and took a step toward him. “Were you the person who was just at the back door of my shop? My manager, Lyn, said someone was there looking for Alex Shore.”

  “You know Alex?” the man asked and took another step toward me.

  “I do. My name is Allegra Darling. I own Nuttie’s Sundae Shop. Alex and I were business neighbors and good friends,” I said.

  “I have a delivery for him,” the man said. “His store is supposed to be open right now. Do you know where I could find him?”

  “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name,” I said, suddenly wanting to slow things down.

  After all, the man was a stranger. I’d never seen him before, and I had to wonder why someone from so far away would be bringing a delivery to Alex and yet not know he was gone.

  “My name is Flavio Volta,” he said and crossed the rest of the distance between us.

  Flavio extended his hand to me, and I shook it. I didn’t feel any magic in him when our palms met, but something about his expression told me he was disappointed. He looked like he’d expected some type of reaction that he didn’t get. What that was, I had no idea.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Flavio,” I said and dropped his hand. “I get the feeling you already know that I have no idea where Alex is right now.”

  “Then you probably know that I don’t actually have a delivery for him too,” he said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

  “If that’s not why you’re here, then why don’t you tell me what you really want?” I said.

  “Alex and I represent mutual interests. I need to speak with him about something.”

  I was about to say something to Flavio about the order, but I stopped myself. Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to know about it, and I didn’t want to get Alex in any trouble. There might have been rules about letting your witch girlfriend in on the order’s business.

  “I’m
sorry,” I said. “I don’t know anything. If I did, I’d be out there tracking him down myself. He vanished.”

  I was lying. I knew that Alex had a lead on the black grimoire and that’s what he was working on when he disappeared. The problem was that if Flavio didn’t know about the grimoire, I didn’t want to tell him. I had no idea how much the order knew about it, and it was personal. The dark book of shadows had affected me, and I didn’t want the order to put a target on my back.

  Suddenly, it occurred to me that I’d put myself in a very precarious position coming out to talk to Flavio. I was hoping he could help me find Alex, but he couldn’t. On top of that, I’d probably made myself interesting to the order and to Flavio by being so desperate to speak with him.

  “I’m sure he will turn up,” Flavio said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Tell me something, Allegra. You said that you were his good friend. Do you know what has become of his store? Is all of his… stock still inside?”

  “You can look through the front window and see that his books are all still there,” I said, knowing full well that he was not talking about those books. “I haven’t been inside. No one has.”

  I hadn’t been inside. It was the first place I wanted to go. There had to be clues about what happened to Alex inside, but Trixie told me that I shouldn’t until I met with the council or the elders or whoever they were. I had magically sealed the doors so that no one else could go in either, though. That was probably why Flavio was knocking on my door instead of just going in himself.

  “Thank you for your time,” Flavio said.

  I watched as he retreated to his car. I was tempted to press him for more information, but I knew if I pushed, he would as well. It was better to just let him go.

  When his car turned out of the alley, Voodoo and I went back into the ice cream shop. At least I knew the order hadn’t had anything to do with Alex’s disappearance. That was one less stone to turn.

  Lyn was turning the open sign around when I walked back inside the shop. There were a couple of customers waiting out front already, so there was no time for me to dwell on Flavio’s visit.

  Oddly enough, the first two customers in line were Irma and Bavmorda Goode. I had seen the Goode witches before, but I hadn’t formally met them. Both sisters were dressed in ankle-length black cotton dresses. The collars on the dresses went all the way up to their chins, and the sleeves ended in little loops that went around their middle fingers. They had their gray hair tied up in sleek buns that rested on top of their heads.

  “How can I help you?” Lyn said cheerfully. “Do you either of you want to try a sample?”

  Lyn always asked that of new customers. We wanted everyone to be happy with their selections, so we let people try a taste before they chose.

  The Goode sisters didn’t look at Lyn. Instead, they kept their eyes on me. I wondered if they were going to order any ice cream at all, or if they’d just come in to size me up. I could only hope that their presence was a first step in getting an audience with the elder witches who could possibly help me solve the mystery of the black grimoire and find Alex.

  “Blueberry Bliss with extra sprinkles,” they said in unison, “in a cup.”

  I hadn’t even seen them look at the case with the flavor names, and they still weren’t looking at Lyn. But we carried Blueberry Bliss, of course. I thought that perhaps they’d been in before Uncle Leo died, and Lyn just didn’t remember it.

  “Coming right up,” Lyn said without missing a beat. Perhaps weirdness was just part of life for the regular humans who lived in Knox Hills.

  “I’ll get it, Lyn. You can take the next customer.”

  “Sure thing,” Lyn answered.

  “Do you ladies want the chocolate sprinkles or the rainbow?” I asked as I scooped their ice cream into paper bowls.

  “Both,” Irma and Bavmorda said in unison.

  “I can do that,” I said.

  They watched me closely as I put the sprinkles on their ice cream. I could tell they weren’t happy with the amount I put on their ice cream at first, so I kept going until one of them almost cracked a smile.

  I handed them both their cups, and Bavmorda exchanged hers for a ten-dollar bill. “I’ll get your change,” I said.

  I rang their order up and handed Bavmorda her change. I thought the sisters might sit down at one of the tables and eat, but they both hurried out the door.

  Lyn and I continued helping customers until around lunchtime when things slowed down. I thought we were going to be dead until the afternoon, but two young women came in before I had a chance to tell Lyn that I was going to take off for the day.

  Scarlet Lane and Rosaline Lewis were best friends. Scarlet worked at Lane Pharmacy for her father, and Rosaline worked part-time in the office at The Chop Shop. That was Knox Hills’ one and only garage. Her fiancé, Gareth Torres, worked there as a mechanic. From what I understood, she also did some sort of work online. What that was, I didn’t know.

  The young women were laughing about something as they approached the counter. They spent a couple of minutes looking over the ice cream choices, and Lyn and I stood back and waited.

  I ended up wandering into the back to check my desk and computer one last time before I left for the day. If Lyn had left anything for me, I could take care of it. When she was done waiting on Scarlet and Rosaline, I’d tell her Voodoo and I were taking off for the day.

  While I was checking my business email, I heard what sounded like Scarlet getting loud out front. I pushed away from the desk and stood up.

  When I got out front, Rosaline was holding a waffle cone with chocolate ice cream in it. Her eyes were wide as she watched her friend chew Lyn out.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong is that this… woman,” Scarlet hissed and waved her hands at Lyn, “says that you are out of sprinkles. She gave the last of them to Rosaline, and now she’s saying there aren’t anymore. How can that be? I think she’s just being lazy and doesn’t want to get more.”

  “Lyn?” I asked.

  “We are out. There was a problem with the distributer. I think they had a fire or something, so they are on back order. We’re supposed to have more next week. I would have gotten more, but we have a contract with the distributer, and your uncle didn’t like to get supplies from anyone else anyway. The kind we serve are the best quality.”

  “I’m very sorry that we’re out,” I said to Scarlet. “They’ve been a popular item lately, and we’ll have more next week. To make it up to you, your order is on the house.”

  “I don’t want free ice cream without sprinkles,” Scarlet said.

  For a moment, I thought she was going to throw the cup at Lyn, but she ended up slamming it down on the counter instead. Rosaline took a step forward and put a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder.

  “You can have mine,” she said with a soft smile.

  “No, it’s okay,” Scarlet said. “I’m sorry. My grandmother is sick, and I haven’t been sleeping well. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.” She turned her head to the side and wiped one eye with her fingertips.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “Yeah, it’s all right,” Lyn added. “I can understand being on edge when someone you love is sick.”

  “You forgive me?” Scarlet asked.

  “I do,” Lyn said. “Can I get you another kind of candy for your sundae?”

  “I suppose some walnuts and coconut would be good,” she said with a half-smile.

  “And it’s still on the house,” I said. “That way you can come back next week when we do have sprinkles and we’ll try again.”

  “Thank you, guys,” Scarlet said.

  Lyn took her cup and put what looked like a generous portion of toasted coconut and candied walnuts on Scarlet’s ice cream. Scarlet accepted the cup with a sheepish smile, and the incident was over.

  After they left, I asked Lyn if she needed me to hang around until the after
noon girls got there. “I can stay,” I said.

  “No, it’s going to be dead until they get here. Don’t worry about me. I’ve dealt with far worse than that,” she said with a chuckle. “I just hope her grandmother is okay.”

  “Me too. It must be bad if she’s that upset. I’ve never seen her act like that before.”

  “I haven’t either, and Scarlet has lived in Knox Hills her whole life. Even Rosaline looked shocked.”

  “Well, I’m going to take off then. I’ll see you in the morning, but you can call me if you need anything.”

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, I woke up standing at my front door with my hand on the knob. The deadbolt was halfway turned like I’d tried to unlock it but hadn’t gotten it all the way.

  I took a step back. I’d been trying to sleepwalk out of the house, but all of the protections in place had kept me safe. Still, that was farther than I’d made it in a long time.

  Trixie came out of the living room with half of her hair sticking up and still wearing her clothes from yesterday. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her fists and let out a huge yawn.

  “What are you doing, taking up running?” she asked with another big yawn. The she noticed I was not in workout clothes but still in my pajamas. “Oh, wow. You were trying to sleepwalk out the door.”

  “It seems that way.”

  “At least the magic stopped you,” she said. “I’m sorry, you didn’t wake me up. It’s weird that you didn’t.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “If you’d been asleep upstairs, you probably wouldn’t have heard me anyway.”

  “Yeah, I crashed out down here watching movies again,” Trixie said.

  “You don’t like your room? We can change it up.”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s just that I really like staying up way too late. I never have the energy to drag myself upstairs after one of my late-night movie binges,” she said. “It’s still so weird that I didn’t hear you.”

  “Voodoo didn’t either,” I offered.

  “Strange.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “This happened before when the book had more of a hold on me,” I said. “Voodoo wouldn’t wake up when I got out of bed. It was affecting him too.”