The morning of the bonfire celebration, Ellie's stomach was in knots. It felt like half the town was already awake at dawn to start cleaning the bonfire area and set up for the celebration, and to Ellie, that just meant they were one step closer to solving Ben's case.

The weather was warmer than it had been, the snowstorm from last week gone like the final LF frigid gasp of winter's dying breath before the arrival of spring. It wasn't warm enough to go out without extra layers, but it was consistently above freezing temperatures, and Ellie was grateful for that. It was one less thing for her to worry about.

"I'm nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs," she muttered, voice low enough that only Kaz could hear.

"Calm down," he whispered back, gently moving his arm around her shoulders.

"Right. Tellin' somebody to calm down has always helped with that," Ellie snorted.

"If you're annoyed, at least you're not nervous," Kaz said with a grin, bending to kiss her forehead.

"Mmm. Sure," Ellie sighed. "Maybe I'll walk down to where Harper's stayin' and see the puppies. I need a distraction."

"I could distract you, I'm sure," Kaz crooned, pressing close as his hand moved from her shoulder to her waist.

"You ruined that chance by just now attempting to annoy me as a distraction," Ellie muttered, but her cheeks flushed all the same and she didn't pull away from him.

Kaz sighed dramatically. "Well, in that case, I think you have another option for a distraction. He just walked through the gate."

Hartley, dressed in a light coat for the warmer weather, steadily moved up the path and through the gates, making a beeline for Kaz and Ellie as soon as he spotted them. He had a dark blue scarf around his neck and a messenger bag slung across his chest, which he flipped open and began to dig around in as he came closer.

"I didn't know if your friend would want to register for classes at the main college or in the program for Others starting soon, so I brought papers for both," he said, fishing in his messenger bag.

"Thank you," Ellie said, smiling as she took the papers. "We'll probably pass her today, but if not I'll drop 'em off later."

"Seems like everyone is out today," Hartley said, glancing around at the crowds of people splitting wood, toting food back and forth, and otherwise setting up for the celebration that night.

"Spring bonfire," Ellie explained. "There's gonna be a big crowd here tonight. And moonshine, if you're a party person."

Hartley scrunched up his nose. "I... can't say that I am."

"Homebody," Kaz sighed, but he was smiling.

"Roisterer," Hart shot back, calm as a cucumber.

Kaz just rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his white hair. "Between Ellie's southern-isms and your grandpa vocabulary, I'm never going to know what anyone is saying about me, am I?"

"S'okay," Ellie said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "We love you anyway."

Hartley sighed. "Leave me out of this one, please," he said with a chuckle.

"Do you, now?" Kaz teased, pulling her in close with one arm and tipping her chin up with his free hand.

Ellie blushed, eyes wide as she realized what she'd said.

"Maybe we should go do that reading," she mumbled, taking Kaz by the hand and hauling him back toward her house. She could hear him laughing behind her as he beckoned Hartley along after them, and thus she promptly chose to ignore it.

The village was small, but they drew plenty of stares walking about towards Ellie's home. A newcomer was unusual, and the same one twice in a matter of a week even more so. Hartley took it in stride, though, waving hello to anyone who even looked at him a little oddly. He was much more gracious than Ellie would have thought to be among the stares, and she admired that. She usually just keep her head down and keep walking, going about her business as peacefully as possible.

Once they were tucked safely inside the house with the door closed, Ellie pulled a box of well-loved cards from her bookshelf, along with a two neatly folded cloths. She gestured for Hartley to take a seat at the kitchen table and pulled the chair around to the other side to sit across from him, gently pulling the cards from their box.

"Okay. What am I readin' on?" she asked, gently running her fingers over the deck. It felt like an old friend to her at this point, and the familiar feeling of the worn surface of the cards under her hands brought comfort and clarity.

"I just... I need to know if someone is alive," he said softly, leaning forward slightly with his elbows on the table.

"You got somethin' I can use as a tag lock?" Ellie asked.

Hartley nodded as he removed the pendant from around his neck, placing the compass in Ellie's hand. "Will this work?"

Ellie closed her eyes and tried to focus on the energy left in the object. Tag locks were tricky. If they were too old or another person besides the original owner had them for too long, the energy could rub off, die out, or just plain be overwritten with time. This compass, though...

"Yes," she said with a quick nod. "This is good."

It was impossible to tell exactly how old the compass was, but the energy signature coming from it was strong. Almost... fresh? From the signal alone, she would guess that whoever this was attuned to was alive, but it was always best to be sure.

Ellie laid a clean cloth out on the table and placed the watch on it, then laid out a second cloth big enough to work with her cards on. They always shuffled better on cloth, she thought, and she liked to keep them clean.

As she shuffled, she did her best to clear her mind of everything except her question. She needed to know if the person whose energy was on that compass was alive. It wasn't Hart's energy— Ellie knew that for a fact. It was... similar, but different. Close, but very far away.

After dealing the cards, Ellie flipped them over in a line of three.

Death. Ace of Swords. The Lovers.

"Alive, yeah," Ellie said, nodding. "I can tell you that much."

"I'm sorry, isn't that card Death?" asked Kaz.

"Not literal death, dingbat. Don't scare the man like that!" Ellie said, swatting his arm gently as she chuckled. "It's one of my favorite cards. It means cycles, rebirth. I might be a little concerned if it wasn't upright, but it still doesn't mean death death."

"It fits," Hartley rasped, eyes wide and breath shallow. "What are the others?"

"The Lovers," Ellie said, pointing, "and the Ace of Swords."

"The Lovers..." he murmured.

"It can be about love and balanced matches between people, platonic or romantic, but it can also be about choices. It's encouraging you to make the choices that are in your best interest, and tellin' you to be careful with your choices. Could be a delicate situation moving forward, but it has good odds to work out for ya."

The front door opened without a knock as Ellie spoke, and besides Kaz, there was only one other person who would enter her home like that.

"Hi, Granny," Ellie and Kaz said in unison, neither looking up from the cards.

"Well, ain't this a merry welcome," she said with a chuckle, walking inside like it was her own house. "Did you put on tea or should I?"

"You can if you want. I haven't put on any yet," Ellie said, gathering up her cards. The shuffling sound drew her grandmother's attention, and she looked over at the spread on the table with wide eyes, toddling over to peek at the spread herself.

"You're reading?" Granny asked. "He must'a done somethin' good for ya."

"You don't do this often?" Hart asked, eyebrow raised.

"I ain't seen her pick up a card deck for a living person in... years," Granny said, shaking her head. "She'll read for spirits, but not humans."

"Got tired of answerin' the same damn questions," Ellie muttered. "At least spirits have original ones."

"Then thank you sincerely for picking them up for me," Hartley said, inclining his head in a way that seemed almost like a renaissance-style bow.

The more Ellie interacted with him, the more she could understand why Kaz jokingly referred to him as a grandpa. Though he dressed in modern clothes and didn't speak in a particularly antiquated way, there was something about his mannerisms that felt just a little out of time, something about his speech patterns that was just a little too formal.

"You want me to try scrying for her?" Granny asked slowly, eyebrows raised.

"Seriously?" Ellie asked, taken aback, then turn to Hartley. "Don't turn this down. She don't offer to do this much, and I'm shit at scrying."

"How...?" Hartley began, trailing off helplessly, but Ellie knew what he was asking: How did you know I'm looking for a "she?"

"Call it a gut feeling," Granny said with a small smile. "I can read the energy on that compass from here. It's strong. "

"I'm afraid I didn't bring anything to pay you with—" Hartley said slowly, but Granny waved him off.

"Consider it a favor," she said simply. "I'm curious, so you'll owe me one in the future."

Rather than reply, Hartley looked to Kaz. He seemed tense, sitting ramrod straight in his chair with his eyes narrowed, like he was looking for the answer to a trick or a trap.

"I'd trust her not to abuse it," Kaz said with a slight shrug. "I know we've seen our fair share of bullshit, but I'll vouch for her."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Granny said pleasantly, gently swatting at Kaz's arm.

"When did you start likin' Kaz?" Ellie said with a laugh.

"'Bout the time you started lookin' less like a ghost," she countered, patting Kaz's arm gently. "Now, let Granny read."

Granny didn't read with cards. She could, but Ellie had never known her to pick up cards when she could work with a scrying source instead. It only took a moment togather supplies— a bottle of ink, a bowl of water, and a fallen twig.

Taking a slow, centering breath, Granny held the twig between her hands and closed her eyes, muttering to herself for a long moment. It could have been a chant or an incantation, but Ellie knew it was a prayer. Once she opened her eyes again, she dropped a tiny bit of the oily, black ink into the bowl and began to stir with the twig. She made seven slow circles clockwise, starting small and becoming bigger until the twig touched the edge of the bowl on the last circle.

Then she stopped, gazing down at the bowl as the ink swirled in strange shapes.

"She's..." Granny said softly. Hartley's breath caught. "Long hair. Short stature. Accompanied by a dog, looks like."

"Is she... safe?" he asked.

"Yes," Granny said without hesitation. "For now."

"Where is she?" His knuckles went white as he clenched his fists, leaning forward slightly in his chair. Granny took a deep breath, eyes still closed, head tilting like she was looking around at something behind her eyes.

"Doesn't matter. You should stay where you are," Granny said, eyes snapping open. "She'll come to you."

"I..." Hartley trailed off, swallowing hard. "Are you certain?"

"It's hard to see the surroundings too clearly when you scry— everything gets a little murky outside the subject— but it felt like looking at a one star in a dark night sky. The only Other in a whole swath of humans. My guess is that it would be bad for both of you to go lookin' right now." Granny settled back in her chair, hands folded neatly on her lap.

"I see," he whispered. "Thank you. I appreciate your time and the honesty."

"Polite boy," Granny said approvingly. "I like this one, he can come back."

"I'm honored," Hartley said with a slight chuckle.

"You seem like a nice boy," Granny sighed, patting his arm. "You should really know that this is bigger than you. I wish it wasn't, if it's what I'm thinkin' it is, but it's bigger than you think. You two got a lot more to do than you know."

"How do ya know all that from scrying?" Ellie asked, nose scrunching.

"I've been gettin' weird pictures for a while. This one matched some of the others I've been seein', and not in a small way." She turned to Hart. "She got wings?"

Hartley paled as he nodded slowly.

"Yeah, those have been showin' up for me here and there," Granny muttered. "We might not know the whole of it for a while yet, but you stay in touch, y'hear?"

"Of course." Hartley sighed, rising from the chair. "I'm glad to know she's safe."

He picked up the compass from the table and slipped it back around his neck, gaze lingering on the slightly wavering needle for a long moment. He held it like a treasure, like it was the most precious object in the world, and Ellie's heart ached for him as she wondered exactly who he'd lost...

... and where she was now.

"We'll walk you to the gates," Ellie said, patting his shoulder gently. "Should help keep people from askin' too many questions about why you're all the way up here."

The group left Ellie's house together, Granny included, and slowly wound their way through the chaos of festival preparation towards the gates. None of them spoke. The moment felt delicate and Hartley seemed... somewhere else. He hadn't let go of the compass once, glancing down at the needle now and then as if to make sure it was still there.

As expected, they did pass Alice on the way out. Luckily, Ellie had the presence of mind to grab the school papers before they left, and she very promptly and pleasantly shoved them in front of Alice without preamble. She skidded to a stop with a squeak, glancing down at the sheaf of papers.

"What... are these?" Alice asked, taking them gently from Ellie so she could scan over the text.

"Registration papers for the college. Thought you could take some science courses if you wanted," Ellie said with a smile.

"H— how did you get these?" Alice gasped, green eyes wide.

"Help from a friend," Kaz said with a shrug, one hand on Hart's shoulder.

"This is Hartley," Ellie said. "He's a professor down at the college, and I asked him to grab some registration forms for ya. You should look into those science classes." She passed Alice the set of papers, but Alice wasn't looking at her at all.

"H— hi," Alice said, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. "Good to meet ya."

Good lord, Ellie thought, but managed not to roll her eyes. Hartley, for his part, seemed distant, detached, and a little bit dazed from Granny's advice, though he managed a polite handshake and a half smile.

"I'd best be on my way," Hartley said with a polite nod. "I hope you all have a lovely celebration tonight."

"You could stay for it?" Alice squeaked, cheeks positively flaming red.

"Thank you, but I have prior plans," he said, keeping his tone even and pleasant, though Ellie suspected his prior plans involved a large cup of tea and a book rather than other people.

"We'll see ya later!" Ellie said with a smile and a wave. "Safe travels."

As Hartley waved goodbye and walked towards the gates, leading back towards town and the college, Alice kept staring after him. She looked almost starstruck, different than she had when she tried to overtly flirt with Kaz.

"I know I ain't your granny," the old woman said, gently patting Alice's shoulder, "but that's one you should let go."

Alice's brow furrowed as she looked over at Granny, who only shrugged.

"Just trust me on this one. Old ladies know things."

"You ain't old yet," Alice said with a giggle. "Kickin' like a spring chicken."

Granny gave a loud laugh in response, looping her arm through the younger girl's as Kaz and Ellie watched Hartley slowly make his way out of the village, compass clutched tightly in his hand.

Kaz crept around the back of the gray house belonging to the Littles, dark jacket zipped and hat covering his white hair as he worked his way through the shadows. Harper followed behind, lock picks in hand.

"I know Ellie said we probably wouldn't need the picks, but if somebody's hidin' something, best to be safe," she whispered.

In the village center, a large bonfire raged. Though the air was a little chilly, there was enough dancing and moonshine to keep the witches warm as they celebrated the oncoming spring. The sounds of shouting, talking, and merry making filtered through the night air, along with the faint strains of music. Night fell hours ago, but no one was asleep yet.

Ellie and her grandmother were at the celebration, generally trying to stay sober and keep an eye on anyone who might catch Kaz and Harper searching around the village. Rather than splitting up, they'd opted to check one house at a time and work as a team. That way, if either of them found something, they'd know to stop searching.

They'd already searched two houses on the outskirts, but neither of them yielded anything fruitful. Kaz expected as much, though. He wanted to test their snooping in places that would provide a little more cover, and they still managed to find and riffle through the family grimoires for those houses. Nothing even resembling the symbol on the end of the bullet showed up in either book, but the night was young. In the best case, they'd be able to check all the houses, but that depended on how quickly they could find the grimoires.

Before checking anywhere else, though, he wanted to check the Littles' home, as well as snoop around Jeannie's house. Both Mrs. Little and Jeannie were at the top of their suspect list, and he didn't want to risk missing the opportunity to investigate them while they were distracted. It was lucky neither he nor Harper needed light to see details in the dark. They could sneak around much more easily since there wasn't a need for a lantern.

"Hmm. Unlocked," Kaz muttered as the doorknob turned without trouble. The hinges creaked softly as he carefully opened the back door and peered inside.

One of the larger homes in the village, the Little residence housed all women. Mrs. Little and the younger four of her six daughters all resided in one building. In the darkness, Kaz could see a familiar iron stove, a basic kitchen, and a living area. The shadow of a set of stairs off to his left led to the second floor, presumably where the bedrooms were.

"Living area first," he whispered.

"You check that. I'll look in the closets and the kitchen," Harper said.

Ellie warned them that any smart witch family would keep their grimoire either hidden, disguised, or both. However... the hiding places in the first two homes they'd searched hadn't exactly been excellent. One was on a kitchen shelf among the cookbooks, easily identifiable by the gold symbols on the spine. The other was simply laying out. Open. On the bedside table.

Kaz was embarrassed for whoever lived in that one.

"So... Ellie's real pretty," Harper said with a wicked grin, searching through kitchen cabinets. "Better be careful, I might try and steal her."

Kaz just glared, not quite seeing the situation in the same humorous light as she did.

"More searching, less talking," he grumbled as he stared at the living area bookshelf.

"You won't let me have any fun," Harper sighed. "I think she's good for you, though. You seem less... sad. Less jaded."

"I do not seem sad and jaded," he scoffed.

"I mean, not any more y'don't. And it's been what? Almost a month? Imagine being with her for a year. Or more."

Kaz froze in place.

Could he imagine staying with Ellie for that long?

He wondered what it would be like to simply... not leave. Take up residence here. After all, he'd told her he planned to stay, but something about Harper's phrasing struck a chord with him.

Years with Ellie. Years. Besides his blood relations, it had been a very long time since he spent years with anyone. Romantic relationships in the past had been relatively quick, with a few serious ones here and there. Romantic relationships on this plane were... either purely sexual or nonexistent. Ellie was an anomaly— a beautiful, sassy one that made him feel more alive than he had for a long time, but an anomaly, nonetheless. It unnerved him a little that his life had changed so quickly, that his perspective had changed so quickly... but he supposed that was just the way Ellie was. She was someone who couldn't help but shake things up a little, he supposed.

"Found it," Harper whispered triumphantly, interrupting his thoughts. "I'll give it to 'em, it's creative to put a book in a fake book box. Thought it was a weird decoration at first."

Kaz watched as she flipped through the book, surprised when a few loose pages fell to the ground. They seemed to be tucked in between random spells, inserted wherever they would fit, but he was most shocked that he'd seen the diagrams on these pages before.

"That's not the sigil," Harper said, peering over his shoulder.

"No... but it is a page of notes on the same ritual Ellie was investigating," he murmured. "I wonder if Mrs. Little is slated to be one of the casters."

Ellie said the spell called for a primary caster plus four others... all of whom had died in the only known casting attempt. Mrs. Little was power-hungry, according to Alice. He wasn't surprised she would be willing to take the risk.

"Isn't that... bad? Like, for momma Little?" Harper blinked owlishly down at the page.

"Yes, most definitely," Kaz said absently. He tucked the pages back into the book and continued looking for anything that even vaguely resembled the sigil from the bullet.

Something in his gut told him that this would be a very long night.

The bonfire celebration had been going for hours.

Ellie was cold, annoyed, sick of all the loud shouting, and most annoyingly... she missed Kaz. She wanted to curl into his warmth and hide away, not sit out here among the ashes and chaos of the celebration.

And the alcohol.

So, so much alcohol.

She didn't mind alcohol, but the level of inebriation among the general crowd was a bit high for her personal comfort. Ellie preferred to stay sober at celebrations like this, so it certainly wasn't suspicious for her to take a warm cup of perfectly non-alcoholic cider and sit by the fire on a large log.

"Hi Jeannie," Ellie sighed, holding her cup of cider close.

"You feelin' okay, punkin'?" Jeannie asked, wrapping her arm around Ellie's shoulder. Judging by the smell wafting from her mug, she'd chosen to indulge in some of the warmed homemade wine that one of the residents brought to share.

"Yeah. Just thinkin' about a lot, I guess," she sighed. "I get in my head on nights like this."

"Mmm, you should be draggin' your man back to bed, not thinking," Jeannie said, rolling her eyes.

Ellie barked out a laugh. "Maybe slow down on that one," she said, nudging her aunt.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Jeannie huffed as she gazed into the blazing bonfire. "Ya never know which way the wind is gonna blow..."

"Jeannie..." Ellie said slowly, leaning her head on her aunt's shoulder. "Have you thought about... maybe dating again? Looking for someone?"

"No point," Jeannie said with a huff. "Council won't match me since I can't have kids."

"Doesn't have to be a Council match. You could maybe find someone in town?" she suggested gently, but Jeannie looked nothing short of repulsed.

"A human?" she scoffed. "Nah. No sooner I start to love him, he'll be dead and I'm still stuck here."

The grief Jeannie felt was palpable. It was understandable that she didn't want to be alone. In fact, Ellie understood the ache of loneliness on a level she wished that she didn't. Jeannie's divorce had taken a toll, changed her, and taking on the role of leading the village had emphasized that change even more. Ellie opened her mouth to respond, but she felt a nudge against her foot.

Looking down, she saw a little ball of brown and black fluff gazing up at her with sweet puppy eyes, tail wagging.

"Well, hey, sweet pea!" Ellie smiled as she bent down to pet the little hound, noticing a scrap of folded, crumpled paper in her mouth. She reached out to the pup and the dog practically leapt into her arms, snuggling against Ellie's chest like she was always meant to be there.

It wasn't too surprising. Charlie and Luna were around with their pups, helping to monitor the celebration as subtly as possible. However, Ellie hadn't seen them most of the evening. This little one must have slipped away, and she knew exactly which pup this was.

"Looks like you got a friend," Jeannie said with a laugh. "Lemme go grab another log for the fire. Looks like it needs one— I'll be right back."

Ellie waved to her aunt as she gently scratched behind the puppy's ears, cradling her gently.

"What'cha got there, hmm?" Ellie murmured, carefully tugging the paper out of the little one's mouth. It was a little damp from puppy drool and evening dew, and part of the page was charred away, but as Ellie unfolded the paper, her eyes went wide.

It was a rough sketch of the same sigil they'd found on the back of the bullet.

Before anyone could question her, Ellie rolled her eyes and shoved the paper in her pocket, faking a little laugh in case anyone had seen. Ellie's heart pounded in her chest as she fought to keep her expression calm.

"Silly goose, picking' up trash," she said, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "Gotta keep you outta trouble, huh? Let's get you home before you nose up anything else."

Petting the pup's ears gently, Ellie held her against her chest and made her way back to her small house on shaking legs. She didn't dare let that piece of paper out of her sight for a moment, not till they could check it thoroughly with Harper and Kaz present, but taking the pup back to her house to rest was a good excuse to go ahead and examine it.

Then, as they neared the edge of the crowd, Ellie whispered to the little pup.

"You did so good, little baby. So, so good."