Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

Fluffy was ecstatic at my return, and even Rufus rubbed his massive head on my hip in greeting, almost sending me into the wall. I got them ready for their walk, and soon we were out and about in the beautiful streets of Old Olmeda . Between the sabotage and the Council witch, I’d forgotten all about the upcoming Christmas , and I was delighted anew by all the decorations already twinkling behind shop windows and on balconies. The sights also reminded me I needed to prepare a gift for Ian .

Sure , it was a bit over a month and a half away, but the sooner I started thinking about it, the more special it’d be. New black jeans? A new black jacket? Black socks? No , too mundane. Black socks with puppy paws printed on them? Now we might be talking.

I allowed Fluffy and Rufus to stop and sniff at will and texted Ian , asking if he was free.

His answering call told me he was.

“ Hello , Hope ,” he said in his usual deliciously smooth tone. Perhaps it’d been a mistake to call him on the street instead of waiting until I was home. I could already feel my cheeks heating and he’d only spoken two words.

“ Hi , Ian . How was your day? When are you coming back?”

He chuckled. “ I miss you too. My day was boring, and I should be coming home soon.”

“ Hah .”

“ I sense some doubt at my statement.”

“ Maybe because you’ve been saying ‘soon’ for days now.”

“ At one point it’ll have to be true, right? Isn’t that one of your affirmations?”

“ More of a way of life—believe in the words until they become true.”

“ Ah , yes.”

“ It’s worked so far,” I told him primly. All those mornings back home, staring at my lack of orders in my Etsy shop and repeating my favorite mantra— I am a witch shop owner —had worked like a charm.

“ I have no doubts,” he said with clear amusement.

“ Don’t make me start wishing you get stuck there for another week,” I warned.

“ Now , why would we want that?” he said in a deep voice that made my insides turn into molten liquid.

“ Sacrifices are sometimes needed to teach people a well-deserved lesson.”

“ Another affirmation?”

“ Came up with it all by myself.”

He laughed again, and Good Mother Earth but how I wished he was back already. We could take the dogs out for a walk together, then return home together, eat dinner together, cuddle on the sofa together, and have the best life together. So what if a week ago I’d been horrified of anything fully serious between us? I was a convert now and I couldn’t wait to begin this new side of life together. “ I heard you were told about Key’s case.”

“ Indeed .”

“ What do you think?”

“ That it’s not my case.”

I rolled my eyes. “ Ian !”

“ Do you trust Key and Shane ?”

“ Of course.”

“ Then they’ll be okay.”

“ But do you have any idea of who it could be? Wait , I need to put you away for a sec.” I dropped the phone in my jacket pocket and cleaned after Fluffy , who panted all proud of her offering. “ Yes , yes. You did good, Fluffbutt .”

Fluffy let out a yip and went on to join Rufus in sniffing a bed full of dead bushes.

“ Sorry ,” I told Ian , “ Fluffy had needs.”

“ Women , am I right?”

“ Har -har. Any thoughts on who could’ve done the sabotage?”

“ I don’t know much about movies.”

“ There are some people from Olmeda working on the set. If we send you the names, do you think you could, uh, check it with the list ?”

“ There is no secret bounty hunter database, Hope .”

“ Uh -huh. But maybe seeing the names will ring a bell?”

“ If Key wants to send a list, I’ll look it over,” he conceded.

“ Thank you, you’re the best!”

“ There is no database.”

“ Sure . Something else happened.” I told him about the Council witch’s visit and the test.

“ You can’t trust anything Bagley says,” he warned. “ She might be messing with you.”

“ She was right about the potion, though.”

“ It could be a set of potions often bought together, and Bagley’s trying to get into your head.”

“ What would be the point? She’s at my mercy.”

“ Have you heard of the tale about the toad and the scorpion?”

I laughed at that. “ I’ve been called a lot of things”—unhappy customers could get really creative—“but toad is a new one.”

“ You might even turn into a princess when kissed.”

I heard the smile in the words, and the reminder of our last kisses warmed me up inside. “ If only someone would get back so we could test it.”

“ Soon .”

“ One day it might even happen.” I forced myself to examine my memories of the Council witch. Ian was right that Bagley might be just trying to get some kicks out of my anxiety, but the cold gaze from the woman, her sharp questions about me not being in the shop, and the way she’d examined the vial told me that Bagley had been telling the truth. “ I think Bagley is right and she’s from the Council . She was all business, like Sonia when she comes for an official visit.”

“ Can you make the potion?” As usual, there was no judgment or expectation that I couldn’t.

“ Yes .”

“ Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“ I wasn’t worried.” Much .

“ Good . Now tell me about the rest of your day.”

I told him about talking to April , Natalia’s request, and discovering Brimstone’s possible past as a boy-band member. Way too soon we were saying our goodbyes, and I was taking Fluffy and Rufus home.

“ I need you two to be quiet for the next half hour or so, okay?” I told them sternly.

Rufus ambled toward the old folded blanket that made his bed, while Fluffy wagged her fluffy tail and yipped in what I hoped was agreement rather than play time now .

“ Good girl.” I scratched her behind the ears. “ I’ll be back soon.”

Closing the door into the stairs, I hardened my heart against her soft whine and the faint scratch of her paw against the wood and went downstairs.

Next , I turned off my phone and put it aside. This was a complex potion, and I couldn’t afford any interruptions.

Placing Grandma’s spellbook on the counter, I browsed through the pages. The spell I was about to make wasn’t on them, but I drew comfort from the familiar touch and sight of her handwriting. “ Just because you can do anything you truly want, it doesn’t mean you can’t accept assistance along the way.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, filling my being with the calm that came from holding Grandma’s spellbook in my hands. I hoped Grandma’s spirit was far away, enjoying her afterlife to the fullest, but I knew she had left a piece of her behind in her spellbook and inside of me, and the knowledge settled me.

She might be gone, but she was still with me. In the form of a spellbook. In the form of a dream. Inside my heart.

I took a few more deep breaths, then concentrated on gathering all the potion ingredients. Using different quartz crystals from earlier, so they’d be fully charged, I made a circle with elder and cedar leaves among others, added black tourmaline and amber, and brought out my special moon water. Moon water was moon water, with little difference, but I kept a special spelled bottle with water that had absorbed moonlight for several full moons in a row.

You should stack all the cards in your favor whenever possible.

I poured the moon water into a glass bowl and set it in the middle of the circle.

Now came the most important part of the spell aside from my intention, and the reason I couldn’t have any distraction:

A moon-charged black jade.

The stone by itself wasn’t rare, but I didn’t use it in many spells, so I only had one fully moon-charged for spell use at hand. It had one use in it before having to be recharged, so I needed to get this right on the first try, or I’d have to wait until I could recharge it again properly, and it was new moon.

I used the mortar and pestle on some of the herbs, then sprinkled the results on the moon water. I let them soak in for a few minutes while I prepared a potion vial and a piece of fabric to use as a filter for the potion afterward. Once I was happy with everything, I grasped the black jade and concentrated on the wonderful healing energy emanating from it, then put it inside the bowl.

“ Okay , Hope . Let’s do this.”

I flexed my fingers, then wrapped them carefully around the bowl. Awakening my magic, I focused on what the potion was meant to do: protect the user from magical harm, both physically and spiritually.

Magic thrummed inside my chest, then ran down my arms, setting my nerves on end with the thrill of it. Magic ! Inside of me! It’d never cease to amaze me.

Focus , Hope .

I allowed the magic to envelop my hands and seep through the glass into the moon water, interacting with the herbs and the black jade.

Magic can be harnessed,

harnessed into?—

Strident ringing made me jump in the air. The bowl tipped, moon water splashing over the edge. I stared at the mess, dumbfounded, as the shrill ringing came again, sending my heart right into my throat.

And inside the bowl, the jade’s energy dimmed and the stone lost all power.