Page 16 of Big Witch Energy

Caroline snorted. “How’s Riley holding up?”

“Miss Riley is tired,” he said. “She’s overextending herself. Miss Alice is trying to help, but Miss Riley has the typical Denton stubbornness. She doesn’t want to burden the two of you with the search for the remaining Welling locks.”

Caroline frowned. The locks were ritual items that a rival magical family, the Wellings, had hidden in the footprint of Shaddow House after befriending the Dentons centuries before. The palm-sized copper pieces looked like industrial on-trend objets d’art —three loops attached together around empty space.

The Wellings claimed they wanted to help the Dentons in planning a “ghostly communication center” to assist people in contacting departed loved ones. But the Wellings secretly planned to use these locks combined with the location’s energy to steal ghosts’ wills, allowing the magic user to control them—most likely to murderous ends. The Dentons eventually uncovered the plot and drove the Wellings away, but the locks still remained hidden in the house like supernatural time bombs.

The Dentons had spent generations trying to find and remove the locks hidden throughout the house, to prevent the Wellings from taking them back. They’d only managed to find one before Riley arrived. Kyle had found two more with the help of information from the Wellings, which the coven promptly reclaimed after his death, along with another they found behind the fireplace—giving them a total of four locks. So, most winter nights were either spent reading the previous Dentons’ journals or exploring the secret basement level that Plover had shown them—only accessible with a coin key Riley wore around her neck. So far, that had only revealed a spiraling cavern full of red metal doors and the increasingly scary-sounding spirits contained within. There was no secret drawer anywhere in the house labeled there’s totally not an evil object hidden here.

Which would have been super helpful.

Plover was staring into the kitchen, where another ghost, Natalie, was chatting with Riley as she heated up Caroline’s favorite cider with cinnamon sticks. In life, the smartly dressed brunette had been employed by a dating app designer, where she’d become so attached to the dry-erase board she’d used for team meetings that she’d stayed with it, even after she was struck by a food truck. Natalie was still an introvert who preferred to stay in the kitchen near her board, but it made Caroline feel better, knowing that Riley had someone her own age, living—so to speak—so close.

“Well, that’s just stupid,” Caroline murmured. “That’s what we’re here for, to share the burden.”

“I told her so as well,” Plover replied quietly. “Without calling her stupid, of course. I would never do that.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Caroline snorted, prompting Plover to quirk his lips. Plover was fervent in his devotion to the Dentons, though none of them knew whether that was the root cause or the result of his logic-defying romance with Riley’s Aunt Nora. Riley still wasn’t ready to ask questions about that, and Caroline didn’t blame her. The mental images alone…

“So, on that note, Riley says you’re not thrilled with the renovations she has planned. Is it because you’re worried about Cole? Do I need to worry about Cole? Because he’s tall enough that I’m going to have to recruit some people if we’re going to take him out,” Caroline said.

Plover held up his hands in a sort of calming gesture. “No, Mr. Bishop seems like a perfectly reasonable choice for the construction. It’s just the project she has planned. I’m sure there are more worthy projects she could devote the Denton resources to—a memorial to her aunt, perhaps, or bolstering the Gothic folly her great-great-grandfather had in mind. This library renovation… It seems unnecessary.”

“Because it’s going to benefit Edison?” Caroline guessed.

“It just seems so indulgent,” Plover sniffed. “He’s only just ‘moved in,’ and we don’t know whether that’s going to be a long-term situation. After all, he hasn’t bothered to propose marriage to the lady of the house.”

Caroline wished she could pat Plover on the shoulder, but he didn’t really have one. Clearly, Plover was still adjusting to the idea of another man living in Shaddow House after so many years, sharing his territory, sharing Riley’s attention. It would be sort of cute, if there weren’t such high stakes involved.

“Engagement is a bit of a touchy subject for Edison, given what happened to his late fiancée,” Caroline reminded Plover gently. “Right in front of him.”

“In my time, it wouldn’t have been acceptable for a man to simply move into a woman’s home and make himself comfortable,” Plover griped. “And for all his earlier helpfulness, I don’t know if he’s a fit partner for a Denton. I find him…wanting.”

For Plover, there was no harsher criticism he was willing to voice. Ultimately, Caroline doubted it had anything to do with Edison himself. Ghosts just hated change. That was part of the reason for the constant, somewhat ill-planned construction projects. Stairways leading into the ceiling. Bricked-over closets. Windows opening onto solid walls. Ghosts were used to moving about the human world as they’d known it. Time moved differently for them, and when walls or even furniture were changed, they tended to focus on that rather than aiming their energy at nearby humans. Caroline had never heard of a ghost being so fully invested in human relationships, but Plover was sort of singular.

“What does Riley have to say to your objections?” Caroline asked.

“She says that if I quote ‘keep it up,’ she’ll ‘put in a Pilates studio, complete with a water feature and aerial-silks hanging from the ceiling.’”

“And you…don’t want that?” Caroline guessed.

“No, I do not,” Plover said, shaking his head. “A library is much preferred.”

“Riley does have a way of ending an argument,” Caroline replied.

Plover looked wistful for a moment. “Much like her aunt.”

Having been trapped on Starfall Point for her entire life, Aunt Nora had chosen to move on to the afterlife immediately after her death. Plover, however, had unfinished business, wishing to see Shaddow House well-maintained and protected, so he stayed. The choices of both had always struck Caroline as particularly sad, but given her own situation, she couldn’t say she would choose differently.

These maudlin thoughts were interrupted by Riley bustling into the parlor, steaming mug in hand. She bussed Caroline’s cheek, casual affection Caroline was still adjusting to, but appreciated. Riley turned and made a rather grand gesture toward the three framed pieces she’d arranged on the mantel, next to Lilah’s match cloche.

“I bought the etching, just like I promised,” Riley said proudly. “And two more, just in case there was some sort of karmic imbalance for stealing the cake stands.”

Alice frowned, adjusting her reading glasses on her nose. “Is this the ‘cool thing’ you brought us over to see? Multiple pieces of bad art?”

Riley nodded. “I don’t know if it’s bad. I kind of like it. And when I asked Willard what was new, he didn’t even bring up the pilfered glassware. I’m kind of wondering if he noticed it was gone. Isn’t that great? We’re off the hook.”

“I’m just not sure this qualifies as a ‘fun surprise,’” Alice said.

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