Celine had to remember not to forget it when she was in New Winslow tomorrow. She needed to just not forget it. As she was folding laundry at the Countess, listening to quiet pop music on her phone, she reminded herself over and over. When you’re there, make sure you don’t forget. Just don’t forget.

Forget what? Celine shook her head, thrown from her thoughts as she folded one of Abby’s worn out play t-shirts. She wasn’t going to the New Winslow at all tomorrow. She needed to rest up and recover for whatever was coming next. She was wiped, more from the physical labor at the restaurant than the magic. This time, the energy from opening the door in Noah’s energy wasn’t nearly as draining as it had been when she did it for Georgia’s brother so long ago. Or as bad as when she’d stitched Noah up in the first place. All she had really needed to do was undo a few of those stitches and pull. He’d done the rest. 

But between that and the damage and the overall stress of the past God knew how long, Celine needed a break. The infuriating hypocrite she’d married and adored beyond anything was concerned about her heart and stress levels now. And he had a fair point, so she listened. 

And she’d get some rest before going tomorrow. 

She wasn’t going anywhere tomorrow. Celine threw down the little pair of pants now in her hand in frustration. She was staying here, eating anything that didn’t come from a pizzeria, and enjoying some time with her family. 

The door opened and Roman came in, holding Aidan on his hip and Abby’s hand on his other side as she toddled along beside him. The two little ones were filthy with mud and stray grass and flower petals. “Hey babe,” Roman said, steering them straight toward the bathroom. “We’re going to get jammies on a little early.”

“MAMA!” Abby screeched with glee, joined by Aidan just screaming. 

“Hi babies!” Celine exclaimed, swooping in to kiss their muddy cheeks. She followed them into the bathroom, then started the tub as Roman got them undressed.

“There are some huge mud puddles out back,” he explained, tossing Abby’s soaked shirt into the corner of the bathroom. “I didn’t even bother trying.”

She laughed as she plugged the tub and snagged Aidan, who was escaping back into the bedroom. “I wouldn’t either, it’ll all wash off.”

Technically it did, even if the tub was left filthy after. “I’ll get that when I get back tomorrow,” Celine said, toweling off Abby’s hair as the toddler squirmed. 

“Where are you going?”

Shit, she’d done it again. “Nowhere,” she corrected herself. “I’m sorry, yeah I’m not… I keep thinking I’m going to New Winslow tomorrow. I’m losing it.”

“No you’re not,” Roman said with a laugh. “But you’re not actually going, right?”

“No, I have no intention of leaving here for at least twenty-four hours.”

They went through the motions of getting the babies in pajamas, even though it was late afternoon and they’d probably need changes before bed anyway. But once they were settled in with toys and Celine was resting against Roman on their bed, that weird feeling was nearly gone. It was just the stress of everything, that was all. She was spending so much time traveling between here and New Winslow that her sense of timing was jumbled.

Maybe forty minutes later, Jamie was walking in the door, holding a book from the Countess’s library. “Mom, Dad, are you going to be at the house when you’re in New Winslow tomorrow?” he asked, going straight over to the fridge and pulling out some leftover pizza. “If you are, can you grab some of the blank notebooks in my room? I’m finding some cool stuff here I don’t want to forget.”

Celine looked at Roman and saw her fear echoed on his face. 

——

It was cool in the living room, a departure from the muggy weather they’d been dealing with all day. Andrew had worked solo at the magic shop earlier, spent the afternoon mostly watching movies with Noah, and now he sat on the couch with his computer on his lap. Within the past three hours, he’d managed to power through nearly a chapter of the novel he’d been tinkering with the entire time he’d lived here in New Winslow. Which made two chapters completed. And now he was on to a third. Would wonders never cease?

But he was having fun with it. It was shocking how relaxing it had been to just sink back into this story, with spaceships and intergalactic treaties replacing the magic and fear of the real world. He’d spent a couple hours on it alone here in the living room earlier as everyone had done their own thing. But as they’d all filtered in, he’d seen no reason to stop working after a quick break to offer Liv help in the kitchen. Nobody seemed to need his attention.

Liv was cooking supper. Andrew had been allowed to help to a point, until she’d politely and happily asked if he and Cleo minded giving her the kitchen. She just wanted to relax and cook for a while, she didn’t need the help. Noah had already been long banished by that point to anywhere far away from food preparation or hot appliances. So Andrew had gone back to his book, starships still on his mind.

Noah was asleep beside him on the couch, stretched out with his legs dangling over the armrest. For the first time in a while, he actually seemed peaceful while he was sleeping. He’d been there about thirty minutes now, with no creepy muttering, while Andrew typed and occasionally paused to reach over and absently play with his hair as he considered what to write next.

Over on the other couch, Mia gazed at Cleo’s guitar in wonder. Cleo had it in her lap and had been noodling with some melodies while Mia watched her, rapt. Now Cleo held the strings of the guitar toward her and Mia reached out and touched one, causing a soft sound to reverberate through the room. She shrieked with excitement and pulled on the string, letting it go with a harsh THWANG and a startled gasp. Beside Andrew, Noah opened his eyes, looked at Mia, and laughed. 

“Beautiful,” he murmured with a soft smile, winking at Mia.

He’d been out of sorts all afternoon, ever since Andrew had walked in on his discussion with Roman. But right now he looked happy. Andrew knew it wouldn’t last, none of this would when there was still so much to resolve. Noah wasn’t the only one of them who had desperately needed a break.

Now Cleo was playing some little kids’ song on her guitar, singing softly along as Mia clapped and babbled in tune. In the doorway of the kitchen, Andrew could see Liv swaying to the quiet music she had playing in there. She was making pasta and it smelled heavenly. He still wanted to go help her, feeling slightly guilty about not working while she was. But she’d been so happy at the idea of having the kitchen to herself to cook whatever she wanted that he let that feeling go and went back to his story. He’d simply do the dishes after.

Cleo’s phone rang a little while later. By this point Mia had moved on to her board books, so Cleo took the call and ducked into Olivia’s bedroom with it. She came back shortly after with a little smile on her face that made Andrew immediately intrigued.

“Out with it,” he said as she sat back down.

“What?”

“Whatever’s got you so excited over there.”

He thought she’d deny it for a second, but then her smile grew. “Alright,” she said. “I’m going on tour again.”

“No kidding?” Noah said softly from somewhere by Andrew’s side. “That’s awesome.”

Mixed emotions unsurprisingly swirled up in Andrew, but he swallowed them back down. They’d already dealt with this whole mess, nearly a year ago. And it was one thing that didn’t need repeating in this sea of repetition. “Where are you going?”

Cleo couldn’t hold the smile back, then quickly tried to lower it. “Um,” she said, carefully looking at Noah rather than Andrew. “Scotland for a festival, then a few stops around England.”

He hadn’t been back there in over a decade, Andrew reminded himself. He’d had all the opportunity in the world to return to his home country and had always put it off. Boston was home, it felt so much more like home after twenty years, and he’d always figured if he wanted to go back, he had plenty of time. Because it wasn’t like he’d get stuck in New Winslow if he never went there again.

“I’m sorry,” Cleo said quickly. “I shouldn’t have-”

“No, God, no, we’ve been over this.”

“Yeah, but not with me literally going to England while you’re here.”

“We’re closer than we’ve been yet to solving it,” Andrew said. “Hell, maybe I’ll be out before you even leave. When’s that again?”

“This winter.”

“You’ll be out,” Noah said.

Of course he was so confident. That was because Noah would recklessly give his life for the slimmest chance of Andrew getting out. But, he reminded himself, they were having a nice night. Taking a break from all of that. And as Liv came in, wiping her hands on her apron, he forced himself to continue having that nice night.

“Maybe you can come with me,” Cleo said. 

“I suppose I’ll think about it. Depends on the price of airfare, of course,” Andrew said casually as she lobbed a pillow at him.

“Wait, how expensive are plane tickets?” Noah asked as he caught the pillow that bounced off of Andrew.

“A lot,” Andrew said. “But there’s sales and whatnot if you’re careful.”

“Ah,” Noah said. “Yeah, I’ve never been on a plane, so I wasn’t sure if it was similar to trains or whatever.”

He closed his eyes and settled back in as though he hadn’t said anything unusual. And maybe he hadn’t, maybe Andrew was just privileged with his ability to afford airfare. But Cleo looked curious too, even if Liv didn’t.

“You’ve never flown?” Andrew asked.

“Nah.”

“Why not?” Was that a rude question?

Noah shrugged. “I don’t really travel much.”

“We’ll go sometime,” Andrew said. “Maybe not to crash Cleo’s tour plans. But I’ll show you where I was born if you’d like.”

Noah’s smile was soft and real as he looked up at Andrew and Andrew was tempted to go online and buy those plane tickets right now.

———–

The pounding on the wooden boards reverberated through Iris’s shop, rattling the shelves and shaking the fluorescent lights above her. She was closed, she had to be closed this time. Otherwise someone was going to get hurt in here. Even with the protections up, the pounding was terrifying. 

She knew exactly what it was and honestly wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. Roland had snapped, hadn’t he? They found him, they contacted him, and now he was letting his rage run free. Just because they’d made that connection with him through Billy didn’t mean he was suddenly happy with her. An apology was only going to do so much.

She had thought he’d fully unleashed his anger before, but Iris had clearly had no idea. The damage throughout downtown had eased up, so it was obvious he was targeting her shop now. The walls shook, merchandise slid off the shelves, and she knew that the moment he could get back in here, things were going to get so much worse. 

This was all similar to what she’d been dealing with since she’d summoned him (And yes, that guilt was joining the rest of the guilt in her life, both for his sake and that of the entire downtown. And now she’d gotten Olivia’s car crushed as well). But now there was screaming too. Anguished wailing that Iris could hear perfectly through the walls of her building. Based on how there was no one out in the street, and the police were nowhere to be seen, she had to assume that no one else could hear it. But Iris had barely slept since the night they’d reached him, with the screaming echoing in and out of her head throughout the long hours alone upstairs. 

And then the few hours she’d managed to catch last night were interrupted by nightmares where Roland’s shimmering fury was replaced by Samuel Alderidge’s handsome face, but something was off. Like she was watching him under a rippling pool, his features distorted just a bit. And before she could ask the other person watching if they knew what was wrong, she was awake again and the screaming and pounding were rattling her shop.

The phone rang and she braced herself, praying it wasn’t Noah this time. While that particular part of this endless chain of ghosts and needs was over and done with, she didn’t know what was safe to do with him and what wasn’t. And right now Iris was so tired that she knew her judgment would be off, no matter what decisions she made. 

She wasn’t far off, it was Andrew. “Hi Iris, just checking in,” he said as she picked up. “Erm, Billy is gone. He left happily. Sorry, I should have called earlier.”

She was a little concerned that Andrew was calling with this instead of Noah, despite her apprehension just a few seconds earlier. “Good,” she said. “Noah’s alright?”

“Yeah, he’s fine.”

“Good.” 

Iris reeled for a second, like she’d been drinking wine all night and it all caught up at once. The room swam around her as she grasped for something to hold onto and she could feel a hand on her elbow, the glow of neon lights. A bar. 

And then she was sober again, back in her shop. Andrew didn’t need to tell her what happened, Iris already knew. But if he wasn’t going to mention it, then she certainly wouldn’t either.

“What’s going on there?” he asked.

“Samuel is still here. He’s livid.”

“Are you safe? Should I come over?”

“I am, so you stay there. He’s just loud and I kind of think that this is now entirely directed toward my shop. I’ve been trying to get him to talk to me, but he won’t. He just screams and throws things. I’m not sure what the best next step is. God, he’s screaming now too, it’s hard to hear you.”

“Maybe we should have asked Billy to stick around a bit longer.”

“No, he needed to go,” Iris said. “He’s been there for about a hundred years, he was already deteriorating too, even with Noah’s connection. You saw how clingy he was with Noah, that was only going to get worse.”

She caught a quick flash of concern and affection through the phone line and tried to ignore it, both because it wasn’t her business and because it brought up that same irritating longing she’d been trying to ignore for months.

“No, I know what Samuel wants,” she continued. “He just wants his mother. Rosalind isn’t going to talk to me without setting me on fire, so I need to get information on the curse somewhere else. Then they can be together again. But if it’s Rosalind that started it, then it’s Rosalind that needs to end it. I’m hoping if I can find out how it actually started, I can then safely contact Rosalind and communicate with her to solve it.”

“Iris, how are you going to get that information? Do you have a new lead on the pages that you forgot to tell me about?” Andrew asked, as though he didn’t already know. “Or do you have plans tonight that you’d like to share with me?”

That same instinct that was always there was screaming almost as loudly as Roland now, demanding that she not tell him. He wasn’t safe here and telling him she was going to Baxter would make him even less safe. But they were working together and he’d proven time and time again that the instinct that yelled this at her was never going to be correct. She was far better off sharing the burden.

“I’m going to talk to Baxter.”

Andrew sighed. “Will it be safe?”

The screaming outside stopped so abruptly that her ears rang. “I’m the one with magic, so I’ve got the advantage there.”

“Do you have anything else?”

“Like what?”

“Like a knife, for Christ’s sake.”

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.”

His irritation was obvious over the phone. “No, listen,” Iris continued. “If we both go, then he’s less likely to say anything. I should go in by myself. But can you be nearby? Just in case?”

“Of course,” he said quickly and she realized, despite everything he’d just said, she had expected him to say no. “Are you going in the morning?”

Shit, it was late now, wasn’t it? And going to Baxter’s house to confront him, even if she knew where it was, would be a terrible idea. So she reluctantly agreed. Tomorrow, she’d go to Town Hall and demand to know what he knew. If he loved this town as much as he claimed he did, then the only way to protect it now was to tell the truth.

———-

CONTINUE TO EPISODE 45

———-