Witchy Sour (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 2) (14 page)

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and it took a moment for the meaning to sink in.

“Oh,” I said finally. “They’re not friendly toward women.”

Liam nodded, a slightly sad expression on his face. “It’s not just women, it’s anyone who doesn’t fit in with their belief system.”

“That sounds cult-ish to me.”

Liam didn’t bother to disagree. “Still, nobody can deny that Cretan churns out great, great magic users. Mostly wizards, with one or two other paranormal creatures who have exceptional abilities. They’ve gone on to invent many of the spells that allow our culture to exist the way it does today.”

“There’s still that catch,” I said. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I’m telling you everything, but I need to clarify. The school creates great and powerful wizards. However, great and powerful is not synonymous with good.”

“It’s evil?”

Liam shook his head and spoke sharply. “The school itself is not inherently good or evil. I don’t believe things or places have the power to be good or evil, but the people who inhabit them do.”

“And the people who inhabit Cretan...”

“Have a complicated track record.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I won’t share any details.”

Liam glanced to his left. The two cloaked figures had only ordered water. They sat deep in conversation, their heads leaned close together, seemingly oblivious to everything else going on around them. “It’s rumored that half the barrel of apples is good, and half is bad when they leave that school.”

“That is a lot of bad.”

“It’s also a lot of good,” Liam said. “As one might imagine, it is a very touchy subject.”

“Understandably.”

“There has been talk on more than one occasion about completely shutting the school down.”

“In order to prevent the bad?”

Liam nodded. “But it’s never gotten past the discussion stages. Without the good coming from that school, we’d be ages behind The Faction in terms of technology. You’ve heard of The Faction?”

I nodded.

“The argument is that it’d be easier to maintain balance in our universe if the school was shut down completely. The less-than-honorable wizards would have to find other ways to receive an education—”

“—but they’d do it anyway,” I said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“That’s exactly what the Board agreed upon.” Liam smiled. “You might be new, but you catch on quickly. The Board members agreed that in the end, it’s better to keep an eye on the students than have them running wild, completely off of our radar.”

“Do the less-than-honorable wizards leaving the school join up with The Faction?”

“Some of them, but not all. The Faction certainly tries to recruit hard there, but Cretan is a bit different that way. It’s...the Ivy League. You know the Ivy League?”

“Harvard, you mean? Yale, all of those schools?”

“Yes. Cretan is more along those lines. It takes money to get in. A lot of money. Our coins that is, not human dollars. Many of the wizards who graduate from the school—both good and bad—consider themselves to be ‘above’ the rest of us. They waltz around in their cloaks, their heads freshly full of knowledge. They have big plans. Big dreams. Bigger than The Faction— at least to them.”

“Bigger than The Faction? I thought The Faction was the biggest dream of all. The largest threat.”

“Oh, they are the largest threat, but you must remember that fighting for The Faction means fighting for a cause. Those Faction wizards believe in something, even if it’s an evil something. Most Cretan wizards aren’t interested in causes. The overwhelming majority are, hmm. How do I put this?”

“Selfish?”

“That’s a good word to describe it.” Liam gave a tight smile. “Let’s just say most of the wizards would rather be famous for coming up with a new potion or a cure. They want the fame and the glory. Fighting for a cause is not always about fame and glory, now, is it?”

“I suppose not.”

“To fight for a cause—good or evil—is still to fight for something. It is not, by nature, a selfish act.”

I considered all of this for a moment. “How do you tell a good wizard from a bad one?”

“How do you tell a good person from a bad one?” Liam shrugged. “Difficult, isn’t it?”

I sighed.

“Now you see our dilemma.”

I glanced over at the two figures still deep in discussion, wondering if they were good or bad, or any number of places in between. “What do the colorful ribbons mean?”

“They signify the highest level of study achieved by a wizard at school.”

I turned my attention back to Liam. “Sort of like a bachelor’s degree versus a PhD?”

“In a sense. But this goes much further, much deeper than that. It’s not only a class they took or the level of achievement; it’s their mastery of skills.”

“Is red or orange more prestigious?”

Liam raised an eyebrow at me. “That is the wrong question, my dear.”

“Then what is the right one?”

“The answer you are looking for is Black,” he said with a low, almost reverent tone. “The guest you had at the bungalow today had obtained the highest level of mastery that a witch or wizard could ever hope to achieve.”

“Really?”

“Only five wizards in the past thousand years have achieved a Black Ribbon.”

“I had one of the five in my bar, and I didn’t even know?”

He shook his head. “You spoke with two of the five today.”

“Two?” I gaped, my mouth falling open. “Do you have a Black Ribbon?”

He shook his head. “Not me.”

“But—”

“Someone very close to you.” Liam leaned in, his gaze scanning the room. “Someone skilled, intelligent, and accomplished. It just might be the person you know best on this island.”

I blinked. “My cousins aren’t witches and wizards. I pretty sure it’s not Hettie…”

“Think. Who is the person closest to you?”

I looked up. “No.”

Liam flashed a tight smile. “Yes.”

“Gus?”

“I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you,” Liam said. “He likes to keep it a secret.”

I stood up, my head spinning. “I...I have to get going. Thanks for everything.”

I left the coins on the table, bid Liam a distracted goodbye, and turned for the door. My mind whirred with thoughts of Gus, the person I trusted most outside of my family. I hadn’t expected him to tell me everything about his history, but something this huge seemed important enough to share.

My blood ran cold even as Liam called after me to wait up. I couldn’t help but think that, even after all this time, I really didn’t know Gus at all.

Chapter 12

Midge waved as I walked out the door, my mind in another dimension. I think I told her goodbye, but I might’ve thought it instead. As I stumbled down the curvy path from the B&B, I let my thoughts float in the clouds and my feelings go numb.

Gus hadn’t lied to me. I’d never asked where he’d gone to school or how he’d learned every herb and potion in such detail. I’d always assumed that he’d learned it training with previous Mixologists as an apprentice, and he’d let me continue to believe that.

My feet carried me away from Main Street. The families mingling about were beginning to thin out at this hour, but I didn’t feel like being around anyone at all. I didn’t want to go home either. That left me with nowhere to go. My cousins were busy, and even my aunts had plans. Hettie had a date too, even if it was only with her weekly program. I was alone.

Kicking sand up from the ground, I debated joining Hettie and Poppy. It’d be better than sitting at home alone, letting my mind dwell on all of the events of the day. The Elixir, the news about Gus, the cloaked strangers...Gus had been right. I wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

I took a detour instead of heading straight to The Twist. I walked along the sandy beach up the northeastern side of The Isle, my gaze alternating between the glittering white sand sprinkled beneath my toes and the last, lingering fingers of sunlight on the horizon. Waves lapped at the shore, and a light spray misted against my ankles.

Slipping off my flip-flops, I carried my shoes in my hand and let the coolness of the ground soothe my aching feet. Working all day in the storeroom had gotten me in better shape than ever. I wouldn’t be running marathons anytime soon, but it was more movement than I’d gotten sitting in a cubicle and heating up Hot Pockets for lunch.

At the bungalow, I had an endless supply of fruits, eggs, toast, and all sorts of tasty, fresh food. Plus, I had the luxury of going to Hettie’s house at least once a week for a home-cooked meal. In the few weeks I’d been living on The Isle, my body was already adjusting. My skin darkened, my hair lightened, and my body slimmed down, while still building muscle. Island life was growing on me.

By the time I looked up, I had almost reached the northernmost point on the East side of The Isle. Just in front of me sat an all-glass building that jutted out over the lake. A sign sticking a bit crooked out of the ground read Sea Salt.

I stood still for a moment, trying to remember if I’d come here on purpose, or if it’d been my subconscious guiding the way. Even as I failed to convince myself that it’d all been one big accident, my gaze landed on the one man I desperately wanted to see.

High above the water sat Ranger X. He was perched in the loft-style restaurant at a table in the corner closest to me. From the looks of it, he was alone. I made my way over to the base of the building, never once taking my eyes off him. All four walls were clear glass while the floor was made of a frosted panel so that wandering eyes couldn’t peek under a lady’s skirt. I watched as Ranger X placed his order with a cute blond waitress.

His eyes didn’t follow the waitress as she bobbed away. Instead, his gaze turned toward the lake. Resting against the back of his chair, he simply sat still and watched as the waves jumped and leaped in the distance, both calming and excited all at once. I was used to people playing with their phones, sending texts, and scrolling Facebook during wait times, but not X. He just sat and watched as if waiting for something to appear on the horizon.

“Hold on a second, I’ll be right with you.” The same blonde who’d taken Ranger X’s order passed by me, turning to look over her shoulder as she waltzed down the path. She shouted to someone else I couldn’t see. “Benny, get back in here. Your break’s over, and we’ve got customers waiting.”

I stood off to the side as she turned around and waltzed back.

“Sorry,” she said with another smile. “It’s not a busy night, but Ben likes to ‘vanish’ and take a few sips of the Kool-Aid from our extra supplies if you know what I mean. Can I help you?”

I laughed. “Oh, no thanks—I’m okay. I was just out for an evening stroll.”

“You hungry? We have extra seats.” She thumbed upstairs. “Tacos are on special tonight. Really tasty and pretty inexpensive.”

I hesitated. It wasn’t like I was hankering to go home and cook a meal for one. Ranger X and I were allowed to eat at the same restaurant, even if he didn’t want my company. “Sure. I’d love to try the tacos.”

“Great! Follow me.” She grabbed a menu and flounced up the stairs. I hurried to keep up as she twirled into the main room. “Where would you like to sit?”

I planned to tell her I’d take a seat at the bar. Somehow, it felt rude to intrude on X’s dinner, even if he had invited me. What did I know? Maybe he’d handed my invitation off to someone else. That’d be awkward. However, as I glanced past the server and began to request the bar, my gaze landed once more on Ranger X. The expression on his face, peaceful, but maybe a bit lonely, did the trick. “Actually, I see one of my friends. May I go say hi first?”

The server’s face fell a bit, and this time her smile wasn’t as friendly. “Oh, the table in the corner? Sure. I just took his order. Have a seat and I’ll be right over.”

I suspected her fallen expression had something to do with the fact that Ranger X was not only the most handsome man in the bar by tenfold, but he was also the only man under retirement age.

Hesitantly, I made my way across the restaurant as if the floor might crack and shatter at any given moment. It wasn’t until I was a few steps away that Ranger X noticed my presence. He did a double take as I neared his table, and I gave a shy wave which he returned with a lopsided smile.

“Fancy running into you here,” I said. “How’s it going?”

“You mean, since I last saw you an hour ago?”

“Only an hour? Time flies.”

He smiled, but didn’t offer for me to sit down. “What brings you around here?”

I coughed, a sound that rang false to my own ears, and tried to ignore the prickling sense of embarrassment creeping down my neck. “Just out for a stroll.”

“Nice night for a stroll.”

“Yeah, it is.” I paused. “Well, have a good dinner, X. It was nice to see you. Thanks again for the tour today.”

Feeling overwhelmed with stupidity, I wished that I could sink into the glass floor and dissolve until I was transparent underfoot. What had I been thinking? He’d probably already made a date with someone else. Likely he’d only asked me earlier since I’d been the convenient option.

“Do you want to sit down?” he called after I’d taken a few steps away. “There’s an open seat here.”

“For me?”

He grinned. “Come eat. The menu is great here.”

I walked back to the table and slid into the seat, lowering my voice. “Are you sure you’re not expecting someone else?”

“The only reason I didn’t ask you to sit right away is because I thought that
you
were here with your friend.”

I did a mental facepalm. “Even after I told you I didn’t have a date, you thought I had a date?”

“You said you had plans with someone else.” He shrugged. “How did I know? I’m sure you have men around The Isle clambering to take you out. This is the best restaurant in town, so it’s not an unlikely scenario.”

“Me? What about you?”

“We’re not talking about me. Even if we were, I’m not exactly into men.”

I laughed. “Women. The rumors say there’s a line halfway around The Isle for a date with you.”