She grabbed a towel and tossed it my way. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Declan’s been gone a while. I should check on him.” I left without looking back.
Up the street, the festival was already in full swing. Vendors shouted over one another, hawking trinkets and sweet treats. The air was heavy with kettle corn and caramel apples, but beneath all that cheer, my wolf was pacing beneath my skin like he knew something was wrong.
The Witch’s Brew sat across the street, lights low behind the glass. A raven was screaming at the door, pecking at the handle. I jogged over and tugged the handle.Locked. That made no sense; Lily’s shop was always open by now.
Then I caught it—the sharp, acrid scent curling under the sweetness of chocolate and coffee. My chest tightened. I looked through the window and froze.
Declan sat at a table with Paula leaning against him, her skin gray and damp. In his hand was a steaming cup topped with green leaves and whipped cream, halfway to his lips.
My heart stopped.
I threw my shoulder into the door. Wood splintered, the bell overhead giving a pitiful jangle as it crashed open.
“Declan!”
He startled, but I was already there. I slapped the cup from his hand; porcelain shattered, dark liquid spreading like ink across the tile.
“Don’t drink that.” My growl shook the air. “It’s moonbane.”
Lily stood frozen behind the counter, eyes wide. The bitter-metal stench clawed at the back of my throat—blood on hot iron. No mistaking it.
“Moonbane’s a healer’s herb. Your grandfather grows it in his garden. It makes an effective sleeping potion that people use for insomnia, but only in the tiniest of amounts,” I said, low and deadly, my gaze locking on Lily. “But that amount?” I tipped my head towards the broken cup and liquid on the floor. “It’s poison.”
“Poison?” Declan’s voice cracked. “Lily? Did Paula drink this?”
Paula tried to lift her head, words slurring. “In the clouds… crystals in the clouds…”
Hallucinations. My stomach sank. That meant she was pretty far gone.
“Lily,” I said sharply, “answer him.”
She licked her lips. “I didn’t know it was poison. I was just trying a new coffee flavor.”
“Sit down.” My tone left no room for argument. I watched as she weighed her options, glancing at the back door, then at the front. I guess she wasn’t as dumb as she acted because her shoulders drooped, and she followed my command.
I pulled out my phone. “Elwood, we need you at The Witch’s Brew. Moonbane poisoning.”
Declan turned to her, face pale. “You didn’t call for help, did you?”
She blinked. “I—no. I thought?—”
Declan’s eyes narrowed as he put it all together. “You weren’t helping her back there at all, were you? You were trying to hide the body. You were going to let her die.” He looked down at the mess on the floor again and then at Lily. “You tried to kill me. Why?”
“Why?” she screeched. “Because you won’t stop meddling! If you’d just stayed out of it, everyone would think Leon’s fancy knife was the murder weapon, and that’d be the end of it. But no, you had to ask questions!”
Her voice rose to a hysterical pitch. “This is your fault! And you—” she shrieked at Paula, “why didn’t you just die!”
At that, Lily jumped up and ran for the back of the shop. So much for her being smarter than I thought. I rolled my eyes and looked at Declan. “I’ll be right back.”
I caught up with her before she reached the door and dragged her back to her seat just as Elwood was coming in the front door, his worn leather satchel on his hip.
His eyes flew first to Declan. “Did you drink any?”
“No, Gideon smelled it and kept me from drinking any.”
Elwood met my eyes and gave a single, calm nod before kneeling beside Paula. “Paula, can you hear me?”
