Thorn to Die

Raven looked up at us through the window. Her eyes widened in terror, the letter held tight in her fist. I reached for her arms, pulling her halfway through the window. Blythe joined in the tug-o-war, but Raven’s hips got stuck. She squirmed and kicked, but couldn’t free herself.

“Take the letter.” She shoved it into my hands. “Go! They’ll only catch me.”

Raven had never been in trouble with the law. She didn’t have life-altering secrets that could’ve ruined her future if anyone in the magical law enforcement world found out. Still, I couldn’t leave her behind. Not when this had been my idea in the first place.

“You’re. Coming. With. Us.” I pulled harder on her hand.

“We’re not leaving you,” Blythe added. “I’ve got this. Hang on.”

Blythe suddenly disappeared from my side. I blinked hard, sure that I was going crazy. In the next instant, she reappeared next to the window, using an iron rod to loosen the window frame. Satisfied with the results, she dropped the rod and ran back to my side, grabbing Raven’s other hand. “On the count of three!”

We pulled with all our might and the wooden frame cracked. Raven’s hips slid through the opening, her jeans ripping open on her thighs. There was no time to assess the damage. We sprinted off down the street, to the sound of sirens wailing in the distance.

Chapter 10

Adrenaline pumped through my veins. We were still coursing through the town like jackrabbits and my shop had just come into view. I hadn’t felt this alive since the first time magic coursed through my body and out through the paintbrush. Maniacal laughter burst from my mouth as I opened the door to Hazel’s Paintings and let the three of us in. Kat grunted a lazy greeting from his little cushion.

“We nearly got caught there.” My words came out in little huffs, my lungs straining for more air. “She nearly got us.”

Raven looked down at her ripped jeans and groaned. “No kidding. These were my favorite pair. I’m pretty sure I left a strip of my flesh on that window sill.”

“Good thinking with the crow bar, Blythe. That time freezing skill really does come in handy.”

Blythe smiled shyly and sat at my chair. “It’s too bad I can’t do it more than a few seconds. Imagine what I could’ve done with a whole hour.”

If Blythe could’ve frozen time for an hour, we wouldn’t have had to go in that basement. It really was too bad that she couldn’t hold it longer.

“Where have you been?” Butch sprung through my door, a metal clipboard clutched in his bony grasp. At this distance, I could see the giant red pimple that had freshly sprouted on the tip of his pointed nose. “This is the second day in a row you’ve left your post before the park closed.” He sniffed and raised his chin. “It’s simply unacceptable.”

Nothing would’ve pleased me more than to tell Butch Hall where he could stuff that metal clipboard, but I held myself back. I was already walking a fine line between gainfully employed and just another parasite living off of Grammy Jo’s generosity.

“I’m sorry, Butch. Family business.”

He sniffed again and glanced over at Raven and Blythe. I couldn’t help but notice the way his face went slack when he took in Blythe’s little skirt and sweater. She tended to have that effect on men.

“Don’t let it happen again, Brunick,” Butch said, turning toward the door. “The park is priority number one. Remember your employee handbook.”

He left and I was finally free to roll my eyes. This kid must’ve forgotten he was nearly six years younger than me. I wasn’t sure why he thought he could boss me around. Someday, I’d love to bring him down a notch or two. Remind him what’s what.

“What’s the letter say?” Raven bounced in her five inch black heels. I wasn’t sure how she’d sprinted all this way in them, but somehow she’d managed to keep up with the rest of us. Must’ve been her massively long legs. “Tell me it’s something good.”

I had forgotten the balled up piece of paper in my fist. Smoothing it out on the table, I squinted at the writing. “It’s definitely addressed to Angie.”

The letter started out with Dear Ms. Pine and got measurably messy from there. Allen White sure didn’t have the best handwriting. As an artist, I’d prided myself on my flowing and delicate script. Handwriting was just another expression of creation. And judging by Allen’s opinion of my career path, he hadn’t cared much about art.

>

Holding the letter up closer to my electric kerosene lamp, I read it aloud, “I regret to inform you that your attempt at extortion means nothing to me. Your idle threats would not hold up water in a court of law. You may think that you have the upper hand, but I assure you, I will fight you until death.”

I looked at my cousins. The shock I saw in their faces mirrored my own. Until death? This was serious.

“You have no stake in my Hartford Bella Roses. I realized that long ago, when you mistakenly thought you were assisting in the grafting and perfecting of the species, you decided that you had a claim in the final product. I assure you, you do not now nor ever will have a claim to my plants. You and every other piece of riffraff from off the streets can threaten me all you’d like. My flowers are the only family I have left and that will never change. Signed, Allen P. White.”

Raven and Blythe sat in silence while I read the letter over again. None of it made sense to me. They were fighting over flowers? Why would anyone fight over flowers? Why would someone kill for them? It seemed so petty.

I looked up at my cousins and shook my head. “I’d heard of Mr. White’s prized roses, but until now I didn’t know how serious he was about them.”

Raven nodded, pressing her dark lips into thin lines. “Last year, he won some competition to present his roses to the Queen of England. I’m pretty sure it was a big deal.”