Redd was a surprisingly good sport about the whole situation, all things considered. He complained under his breath the whole time, but he stayed and helped, and that was what mattered. I developed a crumb or two of respect for the vampire. Not quite admiration, but definitely respect.
“So, Kiz, did it work?” I finally asked. I was so tired and overwhelmed with magic that I could barely keep track of my own two feet. The shop was filled with hazy smoke, and I had to resist the urge to cough.
“Of course it worked! It’s me!” Kizzi responded, cocky as always. “Can’t you smell the difference?”
“Honestly, I think my nose hairs are singed off. I won’t be able to smell anything for weeks.” I responded. Redd grunted in agreement.
“Well, take my word for it then. It smellsmuchbetter. And look, those pesky beasts are already dropping.”
Sure enough, she was right. Glancing around, mixed in with the mess, the beetles were no longer moving. There werehundredsof them. Yuck. They must’ve come out from their hiding spots during the ritual. I was glad I didn’t realize the vast number of them before, because that surely would have given me a panic attack.
“My savior!” I proclaimed dramatically, throwing my arms around Kizzi’s shoulders. She shoved me off immediately.
“Yeah yeah, I’m the best, I already know it. You owe me one, bitch!”
“I owe you more than one,” I stated, feeling more serious than before. I didn’t try to hug her again, but I did place my hand on her shoulder. “I owe you everything. You know how much this shop means to me. I mean it–thank you. I’m lucky to have a friend like you in my life.”
“Oh, come on, don’t get sappy on me now!” She patted my hand that was on her shoulder but returned my seriousness. “I know. And you know I always have your back. We’re in this together. To the moons.”
“To the suns.” I smiled.
“Now let’s get out of here! It’s going to take forever for the fumes to dissipate and we’ve done enough work for one day.”
“Cheers to that!”
We linked elbows and walked out of the shop.
“Redd, you coming?” Kizzi asked.
I’d almost forgotten he was there. “No, you guys go ahead, I’ve had enough excitement for one day.” He stated.
I shrugged, moving on. Like I said, he was lame. Kizzi and I headed to the diner.
CHAPTER 15
Fiella
“Shut up!” Kizzi exclaimed. “Those old dusty mailboxes that are all over the place? No way.”
Over bowls of veggie soup and rice, I had explained to Kizzi what had happened with the mailboxes and my new mysterious penpal.
“I know it sounds crazy but it’s true! I don’t have the letters here to prove it but I swear!” I had the letters tucked away under my counter in my shop, along with the fancy new stack of paper I had purchased from the market.
“I had always sensed some remnants of magic around those things, but I figured it was just residual crumbs from back in the day. You know those things used to instantly transport anything inside of them to any other mailbox in the realm?Anywhere. Instantly.” She had a dreamy look on her face, clearly swooning over the idea of that vast amount of magic.
I snapped my fingers in front of her face. “Snap out of it, you’re drooling.”
“Sorry, sorry, but can youimaginethat much magic?” She shoved a bite of carrot into her mouth and chewed distractedly.
“I’ve read about it in a few books, it seemed like they took it for granted back then. Did you know every single building inthe realm had enchanted lighting? And it wasn’t outrageously expensive? They had these lines that ran between every place that carried the magical currents. Must’ve been nice.” I was only a bit jealous. That was a lie–I was seething with jealousy. I couldn’t even afford one enchanted sconce for my cottage right now.
“Right! Ugh. If they ever develop a way to travel back in time, we should go back and knock some sense into those fools,” she mused. “So, about this mysterious letter writer–do you know who it is?”
I sighed. “No! I don’t have a clue. I hardly know anything about them. We sort of skipped over all the introductory stuff and dove straight into soul searching. It feels like it’s too late now to ask any of those questions–it would ruin everything.”
She seemed to contemplate this. “I see where you’re coming from. So, you don’t even know if they’re here in Moonvale? It seems like the letters are from here in town, but I suppose they could technically be coming from anywhere.”
I took a sip of mint water. “Nope! Not a clue. I don’t really know any identifying information about them, now that I think about it. They’ve moved away from their family, so they’re feeling a bit lonely. They didn’t mention where they moved to. Or from.”
