“You absolute fucking monster! You piece of dirt! You garbage mole! You–”
Kizzi stopped me before I could inflict any more damage, saving me from a night in the dungeons while I vibrated in fury.
“You sent the fucking beetles.”
“They were supposed to spell out a message! Did you get it?Josten luvs Fiella?”
“Spell out a message?! Those things ate my shop! Destroyed it! Everything I’ve worked for!” I had to stop myself from tearing free from Kizzi’s grasp.
He visibly paled. “Woahhhhhh. They weren’t supposed to do all that.”
“What did you expect, dealing with dark magic? That stuff is uncontrollable!!” Kizzi shouted.
“But the other messages…” I didn’t think it was possible, but his pasty complexion became even more ghost-like.
“They’ve all gone wrong, you idiot! You’ve been terrorizing the entire town! Making an absolute mess!!” I thundered.
Kizzi chimed in. “Dark magic spirals, you gods damned idiot. Once you send it off, it never does what you wanted it to do. You’ve even been screwing with other towns!”
“I mean, those Moonvale losers probably deserved it,” he grumbled.
“And the other towns? Sunhaven? Did you send anymessagesthere as well?”
“Well… You spent some time there, during the freeze season, I thought you might have moved there. I may have convinced the coven to help me out, we’ve been tracking you for seasons. You’ve been to many towns, so we’ve sent many… messages.”
“And the snowstorm? Was that you too?”
“I was hoping a little bit of a chill would encourage you to come here to Willowvalley…”
“Alright, I’ve had enough of this dirtball. Let’s get him taken care of,” I declared.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Kizzi responded with a mischievous smile.
“Wait! Wait, stop! What are you doing! No!” He struggled violently, but the alcohol was still slowing his reflexes down even though Kizzi’s concoction had cleared his mind. He was an easy target.
His kicking and screaming and begging for mercy was even sweeter than I thought it would be.
As soon as we got him outside, I spit in his face, right on his forehead, like I promised myself that I would.
It was spectacular.
Kizzi and I dragged Josten to the Willowvalley dungeon while he screamed and cried like a baby.
CHAPTER 36
Redd
The crisp air of Moonvale greeted me like an old friend, wrapping around my face and slipping under my flowing cloak with cold, but comforting tendrils. I felt lighter than I had in days. This wasright.
Before I even dropped my bags off at my rental cottage, I went straight to Fiella’s Finds. I was regretting not speaking to Fiella before I had left, and I was afraid of what I would encounter.
Would she turn me away? Would she have someone new here? Would she be happy to see me? Would she even care?
The questions rattled around in my brain as I walked briskly to the trinket shop, dodging the attempts at conversation from the folk I passed. I was excited to see Fiella’s lovely face when I gave her the sculptures my Pa had made for her.
When I reached my destination, I was disappointed to find the front door locked. A glance in the windows told me the lamps were dark. The place was empty.
A bump against my ankle startled me into jumping. My heartbeat spiked.
