A Little Bit Chilly, page 15
part #8 of A Riddler's Edge Cozy Mystery Series Series
After what seemed like forever, she shook her head and said, ‘I’m sorry. There’s nothing I could do.’
My stomach felt sick. Whatever else was going on with Dylan, there was no doubt that he’d been struck by the troll mirror too. Jared had been there. He’d seen it. And now that poor Perry was dead, how much longer before Dylan was too?
I was thinking such uplifting thoughts as this when I heard banging at the front door. Leaving the others to comfort Paula, I staggered out into the hallway to answer.
Greg was standing on the doorstep, knee-deep in snow and grinning from ear to ear. ‘Ash, I did it! I travelled with my wand. Your dad was right. I can still travel within Riddler’s Edge. Just not out of it. Sparkles wasn’t annoyed with me after all. I …’ He stopped his happy blabbering as he saw the expression on my face. ‘What’s wrong? You look like somebody’s died.’
I knew that the answer would make him feel bad, but it had to be said. ‘That’s because someone has. Perry Rua. The em … the shard from the mirror, I guess. His body just … froze up.’
‘Oh.’ Greg shook some of the snow from his legs. ‘Well it’s awful and all, but I’m going to have to save feeling like an absolute doofus for later on, I’m afraid. Because Ash, you’ve got to come with me right now. We have to get back to the lighthouse before Pru and that woman kill each other.’
22. Vampire, Thief, Mother
As soon as I entered the lighthouse, I baulked. It was all too clear a woman had been spending a lot of time here. I could smell her perfume in the air. I could see her coat on the stand by the door. It was a fashionable coat. Probably. It was definitely the sort of coat Chantelle would wear.
‘Up here!’ came Pru’s voice. ‘I have her in the bedroom.’
Swallowing down my bitterness, I led the way up the stairs and towards the room that used to be mine and Dylan’s. There was a short line of people behind me: Greg, my grandmother, Catriona and Jared. My mother and Nollaig would have come too, if it weren’t for the pesky fact that, if they left the Vander Inn, everyone there would freeze to death and panic a lot while they were doing it.
I knew that staying behind was the right thing for them to do, but it didn’t stop me wishing I had my mammy by my side. There’d not been much time to talk before parting – partly because we’d transported ourselves straight over here, and partly because I wasn’t in the right emotional place to hear much more about Pru finding (and fighting) Chantelle in the lighthouse.
It didn’t matter how many magical influences were doing a dance in Dylan’s body. The thought of him and someone else, here in our room, was heartbreaking. I mean, I wouldn’t blame him for it when this was all over. If it was ever over. I’d be glad he was alive, because he wouldn’t be doing any of this unless he was drugged, compelled, or troll-mirrored (possibly all of that and more). But I would, admittedly, be a bit of a soggy mess for quite some time to come.
The bedroom door was open. The first thing I noticed was my broom, leaning against the windowsill. The next thing I noticed was her: Chantelle, sitting on the dresser chair with her back to me and her hands tied with what looked like Pru’s scarf. She was struggling. Her perfect blonde hair shook as she said, ‘Let me go.’
Pru ignored her and looked up. ‘Phew, you’re here.’ She wiped her forehead. ‘This woman is one heck of a fighter. Luckily I had a bit of help.’
I soon realised what sort of help she meant: my broom shot across the room and glowered at the woman, who shuddered and said, ‘All right, all right, I’ll stop struggling.’
The woman turned around, and greeted us with a smile. ‘Nice to finally meet you, Aisling,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t entirely sure if the lollipop-loving wizard would bring you back or get frozen to death in the effort. But not only has he returned, he’s brought you, and Pru’s brother, and some badly-dressed woman. Oh, and he’s also brought the famous Queen of the Fae along for the ride. Lovely museum you have, Your Majesty. Even lovelier employees.’
I blinked, staring at her. ‘You’re not Chantelle.’
She blinked back. ‘Who the dickens is Chantelle?’
My broom flew into my hand with an impatient judder. When it came to the Daily Riddler’s ex-receptionist, my feelings had definitely rubbed off on it.
‘Calm down,’ I told the broom. ‘I know that the mere mention of Chantelle is enough to get you riled. But she’s not really important now. She … she wasn’t …’ I stared at the woman. ‘Chantelle was never visiting Dylan at the lighthouse, was she? You were.’
She let out an irritable groan. ‘Look, I’ve made it perfectly clear that I don’t know who Chantelle is, so the more you talk about her, the ruder you seem. But I have been staying here for a couple of weeks, for what it’s worth. Why shouldn’t a mother come and visit her son?’
Now that I was (almost) over my initial shock, I could see that this woman was a vampire. She wasn’t as powerful as Pru or Jared, but there was something deadlier about her nonetheless. I had no doubt that what she lacked in magic she could make up for with malice.
At that notion, I shook myself. If she was Dylan’s mother, as she said, then I shouldn’t be thinking thoughts like that. But was she really his mother? How could she be?
‘Dylan’s parents are dead,’ I stated. ‘Everyone knows that.’ My fiancé wasn’t one to dwell upon the sadder parts of his life, but I was sure of that much.
‘His dad is,’ Pru said. ‘I remember when he died. He fell down the basement steps on his way to set the wards in motion one day. And his mam did die a few weeks later in a drunken road accident. But … I think this is her. She looks exactly the same, anyway. The only thing is, when I knew Dylan’s mam she definitely wasn’t a vampire.’
‘Well now she’s the security guard who stole the Snow Queen’s belongings,’ said my grandmother.
The woman grinned. ‘I’m many things. Vampire, thief, mother.’
‘Unremorseful, selfish, cruel,’ Pru added with a growl.
‘Sorry,’ Greg said quietly. ‘I know this is a shock, Ash, but I had to get you here quick. It would have taken too long to explain a mindbender this big. Plus, you didn’t really seem like you wanted me to explain.’ Darn, he’d seen through that, had he? ‘But I think Pru’s right. It is Dylan’s mam. Pru’s more powerful, and she compelled her to tell the truth, and I’m pretty certain no one could lie while Pru’s pulling their strings.’
‘Abso-freaking-lutely. And she’s still compelled to tell the truth,’ Pru said proudly. ‘So tell it, Madeline.’
The woman gave Pru a vacant smile and said, ‘As you wish.’ She looked at us. ‘My name is Madeline Quinn. I was once married to Dylan’s father, Eoin. Eoin was very much in love with me. I was in love with this lighthouse.’
‘What is it with women and lighthouses?’ muttered Greg.
Pru gave him a flirtatious smile. ‘Oh, I dunno. Some women like men with sparkly wands and flying vans.’
Madeline rolled her eyes and continued. ‘I was unempowered, just like my husband, so for a long time he seemed like just about the best I could do. We lived in this lighthouse for years, Eoin happily enough, me rather bored and frustrated despite the pretty surroundings. When Dylan was born my frustration grew. Oh, he was a sweet little boy, don’t get me wrong. But I couldn’t help thinking: Is this all there is to life? Everywhere around me there were powerful people. Even immortal people.’ She smiled, momentarily lost in a memory. ‘There was one immortal person in particular that I was very attracted to. You know him, Pru.’ She grinned up at Pru. ‘Your father.’
Pru gritted her teeth and looked at us. ‘Yup. Yet another terrible thing my dad did. She’s not lying. I can tell it was my dad who sired her. It’s all in the scent. But do go on, Madeline. Tell them the rest of the terrible tale.’
‘As you wish.’ Madeline smiled sedately. ‘Where was I? Ah yes, Ronaldo and I were lovers, and he was very skilled. He–’
Pru glared at her. ‘Not that much of everything. I don’t want to hear about your hanky-panky with my dad. Only the important facts.’
‘Well, that’s rather subjective, isn’t it?’
Pru looked as though she was reaching the end of her tether. ‘Tell them the part from after my dad dumped you.’
‘Ah yes,’ Madeline relented with a sigh. ‘It was rather a shame, but everyone in Riddler’s Edge knew what Ron was like. He always went back to Nollaig no matter how much more fabulous his other women might have been. But I can’t say I much cared. He’d turned me by then, so I’d gotten what I needed. After he left me, I did what anyone in my situation would do. I told no one I was a vampire, killed my husband, faked my death in a car accident, and left Riddler’s Edge for good.’
I gawped at her, horrified. ‘You left your child behind? Let him believe you were dead? You killed your husband, too?’
‘Well, in a way. I’d actually weakened the steps down to the basement weeks before he died, but it took longer than I thought it would for the wood to give way. And it was, in my opinion, a wholly justified killing. Eoin was incredibly boring, and as for Dylan, he wasn’t a child when I left. He was almost twelve. And he was difficult at that age, too. So grumpy. So insistent on having fresh squeezed orange instead of the fizzy orange. I mean, what’s wrong with fizzy orange?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe the high sugar content.’ Criminy! I was sounding like Dylan now. Next thing I’d be advocating green juice and ice baths. ‘Look, kids can be hard work. But they can also be amazing. And you … you’re an idiot to have wanted to get away from yours. But luckily he grew up pretty great without you. Despite you, even.’
‘Whatever. Anyway, if Ronaldo had told the truth instead of trying to save his own behind and hide the affair, he could have told Dylan everything. He knew all about my plans to kill Eoin, and he certainly knew I couldn’t have died in that car accident. So blame him. Frankly, I was annoyed that Dylan didn’t figure out the truth and come to find me. But when a few years had passed I missed him ever so much and decided to come and visit him instead.’
‘You didn’t come to pay him a friendly visit,’ said my grandmother with venom in her voice. ‘You came because the lighthouse is somewhere you thought I couldn’t track you. You assumed that its magic, magic which hides the Riddler’s Cove enclave from human eyes, would hide you, too.’
‘Well, I don’t think I was that wrong, was I?’ She gave my grandmother an irritating smirk. ‘It took you two weeks to find me.’
‘I don’t understand how Dylan couldn’t have just told us this, though.’ I was clutching my broom, feeling like it was the only thing keeping me grounded (which was ironic, seeing as usually all it ever wanted to do was take me to terrifying heights).
‘Because his mother compelled him to keep schtum about her visit, that’s why,’ Pru said. ‘I would have been able to break it in under a second and get the truth from him – if I’d seen him for long enough to figure out he was compelled. But part of her orders were for him to stay away from my family.’
Madeline grinned. Now that I was looking at her face-on, the resemblance to Chantelle wasn’t so strong. She had the same haircut – but no doubt she, like Chantelle, kept up with the latest trends. She had a similar height and figure, too. But her facial expression was very, very different. Once again, the word I was thinking of was malice. She was a nasty, malicious woman, and the fact that Dylan had come from her was staggering.
What I couldn’t see, though, was any of the magic I’d come to know as the Snow Queen’s. Madeline’s magic was your standard vampire fare. Still, I knew very little about it; maybe Pru’s compulsion was keeping it at bay.
‘Yes, I did compel my son to stay away from the Montagues,’ Madeline told me with a satisfied smile. ‘And from you as well, Aisling. But he was much harder to control than I thought.’
‘Yeah, well Dylan is a stubborn sod,’ I replied.
Greg laughed. ‘Takes one to know one.’
‘Yes.’ Madeline eyed me carefully. ‘I think you’ve rubbed off on him a bit too much, Aisling. Every hour or two the compulsion seemed to wear off and he’d be at me and at me and at me. Asking me why was I here? What was I up to? Why had I run off and abandoned him?’ She let out a snorting laugh and said, ‘Boo blooming hoo. If I could have been anywhere but here I would have been.’
I wished I didn’t have to listen to her or even look at her anymore – I was having incredibly violent feelings towards this woman – but unfortunately I was going to have to put up with her a little longer, because there were still questions for her to answer.
‘We know you stole the Snow Queen’s stuff from the Museum of Never Again,’ I said. ‘But what happened next? How did Perry come to have it all, and where is it now?’
She smiled yet again. It seemed like she had very few expressions – her go-tos were smiles, grins and smirks, and all of them were annoying. ‘Perry came to have them because he was supposed to. You see, the second I had those beautiful things in my hands, I realised: I hated this town. And finally, I could make it a little bit better. People were awful to me when I was poor unempowered Maddie. Well, they wouldn’t be mean to me anymore. I was just devising a plan when Perry drove by. His eyes were drawn by my throne, and he and I had a little chat at the Crossroads.’
I frowned. ‘He didn’t tell us that bit.’
‘I might have told him to forget about it.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, I compelled him to write a musical and perform it in the church hall. It would have been hilarious, I thought – I could just picture all you idiots, finding similarities between the musical and what was happening all around you.’
‘But you let him take the real items into town,’ I pointed out. ‘Did you want him to break the mirror?’
She shook her head. ‘No. No, I planned to break the mirror. I gave Perry fakes to use as props, just like the fakes I left in the museum. But that’s when things went wrong.’
‘Wrong?’ I asked.
For the first time, her irritating smile fell away. ‘I’m not sure what happened, or how. I was absolutely meticulous with every step. I’ve been using Doppel in a Bottle for a while now, and carrying out heists for even longer, so I know I didn’t make a mistake. After I sent Perry off with the fakes, I went back inside and picked up the real mirror. I turned myself into a bat, flew above the town, and dropped it. Except … it didn’t break. It bounced off the ground.’ She looked troubled. ‘I couldn’t be sure, but … it seemed like I somehow had the fakes and Perry had the real things. I …’ Her face scrunched with anger. ‘I have no idea how any of it happened, and I certainly have no idea who has it all now. I’m so annoyed about it, because I know I gave him the copies. I know I did.’
My grandmother walked to the window, staring out at the snow. ‘I’m sure you certainly intended to. But perhaps instead of merely planning how you might steal those items, you should have researched their history a little better. Many have tried to steal them, but they always wind up in the hands they choose. They always find a way to play out their story.’
Madeline sneered. ‘You’re a very irritating woman. Do you ever stop speaking in riddles and just get to the point?’
‘But of course.’ My grandmother gave a little curtsy before straitening up with a smile. ‘It’s quite simple, Madeline. The Snow Queen was defeated many centuries ago, but her power and her personality lives on in her belongings. You don’t get to have power like hers if you’re found worthy – you get to have her actual power. And many of her other attributes, too. You, however, were not found worthy, and that’s why you have none of her power. She used you as a means to get her power into the hands of someone who was worthy. She looks for someone like her. Someone who longs to shake off the shackles, rule the world, and get the guy. Someone who yearns for control.’
‘I yearn for control!’ screeched Madeline, wriggling in her chair.
‘Control, yes, but not love,’ said my grandmother. ‘You’re too cold for that.’
‘Hah! I’m at least as cold as the Snow Queen.’
‘You don’t understand.’ There was a tinkle of bells as my grandmother shook her head. ‘The Snow Queen isn’t cold. She’s lonely. She loved a man once, a man who loved another, a man she could never have. She wanted him so much that she changed the world for him. She changed him. Tried to make him careless towards anything but her. But in the end, she couldn’t do it. Because he loved me too much. Since then she’s found her way into the hearts of women just like her. Women who love someone so much that they would change the world for that man. Rule the world for that man. Women who would do anything to make him theirs. That’s not you, Madeline. That could never be you, because you don’t have the passion. You don’t have the heart.’
Madeline shrieked. ‘So you’re telling me that some moon-eyed little missy has my things? Things I stole? Things I planned to use?’
‘No.’ My grandmother let out a harsh laugh. ‘I’m telling you that you were used.’
≈
Jared and Catriona had been quiet through the horrible exchange with Madeline, but now that we were downstairs (my grandmother had performed some impressive magic to make sure Madeline wasn’t going anywhere until we wanted her to) they finally piped up. Or Catriona did, anyway.
‘I do not like that woman. She’s mean. Detective Quinn might be a bit abrupt and unfriendly sometimes, but he’s not as bad as his mother.’
‘No one’s that bad,’ Pru said. She squeezed Jared’s arm. ‘You all right, bro?’
He gave her a weak smile. ‘Sure I am. There isn’t a day that ends in day when we don’t hear yet another dumb thing Dad’s done, is there? Anyway.’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘Time for action. We need to figure out where the props are, I know. But Dylan’s more important, seeing as … well, you know, he could die and stuff.’ He looked hopefully at Greg. ‘I seem to remember a conversation we had a couple of weeks ago where you said you were working on an aura tracker. Don’t suppose you’ve already invented it, but forgotten about it because you invent so many amazing things?’
