Chapter 7

SEVEN

Fluffy in tow, I returned downstairs. The building’s setup was perfect for a witch—having an extra kitchen on the first floor gave me a much-needed separation between potion making and preparing dinners. Mixing both spaces could end with serious contamination of tomato sauce in your focus potions and dandelions in your ham-and-cheese sandwich.

This , however, was perfect.

“ Hello , Ms . Bagley ,” I said as I entered the kitchen. I had brought the locket in from the backyard locker and left it hanging from the faucet to give her some “out” time overnight.

The arrangement was simple: if she was nice, she got a daily out time. If she was mean, she went back into the metal box.

“ Hello , unfortunate mix of witchy genes,” she answered in her caring grandmotherly voice.

“ You know what they say,” I told her in my chirpiest tone, “one person’s misfortune is another person’s treasure.”

“ Did you bring that audiobook you promised?”

“ No audiobook unless you can spend two whole days being nice. Oh , oops, I guess we’re back to zero, huh?”

She let out an unnerving cackle. “ You make it too easy, child.”

“ I’m glad my existence amuses you. We must all take what comforts we have in life, I suppose.”

“ Wise words. Now what about you give me some life back, huh?”

“ No can do, and thank you.” I began taking out the ingredients for the magic-detecting potion and a couple of glass vials. Spray bottles would’ve been better, but all I had at hand was too big to carry around unnoticed. “ Grandma taught me well.”

“ Not well enough to put common sense in that head of yours.”

“ On the contrary. She was everything practical and nice.”

“ If she had been practical, she’d have kept your magic a secret and saved the witch world from your presence.”

Maybe two days being nice was too impossible a task. Should I cut it back to one audiobook chapter every three hours of nice?

“ What are you preparing?” she asked as I arranged the herbs in a circle on the counter.

“ A potion.”

“ Don’t be a smartass.”

It was my time to cackle. A much more soothing and uplifting sound than the evil hag’s, if you ask me.

“ I’m making a magic-detecting potion.”

Bagley made a disgruntled noise. “ Boring .”

“ It is the duty of a witch to help the community, no matter how boring the task.” Besides , I didn’t find it boring at all. Every new potion, whether I did them for the first time or the hundredth, gave me the chance to use my power for good. Feeling the rush of magic tingle down my arms and conform to my will would never get boring. It was the greatest thing in the universe next to Ian’s kisses and Fluffy hugs.

“ You’re awesome, Fluffy ,” I told her.

Fluffy yipped and lolled her tongue expectantly.

“ Cuddles after potion.”

“ Why is the shedding mammal here?” Bagley asked. “ You’re going to get dog hairs in the potion.”

“ A little dog hair never hurt anyone.” Besides , I was careful to keep Fluffy away from the potion supplies and the countertops. “ Say , Ms . Bagley , do any of your cronies work in the film industry?”

“ Oh , interested in my friends, are you?”

I smiled brilliantly at the hanging locket. “ I would if you had any.”

“ Tsk , tsk. That is no way to teach me how to be nice, child.”

“ Change must come from within, Ms . Bagley , or it won’t stick at all.” I mixed the herbs in my mortar and began pressing them into powder. “ So , do you know anyone evil who works in the movies?”

Bagley snorted. “ You’re willing to ask questions now?”

I was, yes. Until five days ago, Bagley had had most of the power in our dynamic. I’d had no control over which item she haunted in the shop and who she could talk to. Getting any help out of her would’ve meant agreeing to very unfavorable deals, including her obsession with gaining a new body.

Now that I had full control of where she was and who she could talk to, though, I felt a lot more comfortable asking her about magic-related things. Which was somewhat messed up in retrospect, but, as Grandma used to say, use all tools at your disposal, even if you have to wash them later.

She might’ve been talking about dinner.

“ Out with it, Bagley . What do you know about evil paranormals working in the film industry?”

“ Oh , that’s going to cost you a—hey!”

A small ink-black tentacle had slid out of the faucet and was poking at the locket, forcing it to swing back and forth.

“ No !” Bagley exclaimed in outrage as the tentacle poked harder. “ Bad squid! Stop that right now!”

I patted the wall. “ Good kraken.”

Fluffy jumped and let out a bark of curiosity.

“ It’s a squid,” Bagley grumbled, apparently resigned to her fate as a temporary toy.

I pointed at her with the pestle. “ Be nice to Tiny Kraken or you’re going back to the tool shed right away.”

“‘ Tool shed.’ More like a rust bucket.”

“ Would you rather I bury you in the backyard?”

“ With those beasts fertilizing my garden? No , thank you.”

I frowned. “ Hey , I clean after them.”

“ Why not look after my garden while you’re at it?”

“ I pulled a lot of the weeds.” I had meant to consult a gardening expert witch as to what would be the best herbs to grow, but it kept slipping my mind.

“ My garden needs more than that. It needs magic and care.”

My hands froze in the process of spooning up some of the powdered herbs. “ Magic ?”

“ Well , of course, child. How do you think that ivy stays so healthy and dense all year long?”

I closed my eyes and groaned. “ You used dark magic, didn’t you?”

She chuckled.

Great . I lived in a murder house with vampire plants. “ Fluffy , don’t eat the ivy.” I warned sternly.

Fluffy yipped and pawed at my leg.

“ Yes , yes, cuddles soon.”

“ Focus on your potion,” Bagley chided. “ You’re using too much clove.”

Perhaps it had been a mistake to prepare this in front of her. “ Tell me about evil paranormals and the curse on Olmeda , and I’ll play a chapter for you during breakfast.”

“ Which book?” she asked sharply.

“ A paranormal mystery one.” With a special branch of the government that hunted down evil witches, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. It’d be a delicious surprise.

“ What about that fiction book I asked for?”

“ We’re not listening to a recounting of the cholera epidemic in Victorian London while we eat breakfast.”

“ Hmph . Fine .” Her put-upon voice coming from the wildly swaying locket made it hard not to laugh.

“ Good .” I poured the herbs into the first vial and used a glass stirrer to mix them. In more complex potions, it was advisable to allow the herbs to mix with the moon water through the effects of the magic’s intention, but for something this straightforward, premixing would save me some power and wouldn’t dilute the intention enough to lessen the effect of the potion. “ Now talk.”

“ Unfortunately , I have no contacts in the movie business.”

I should’ve known she was giving in too easily. “ Seriously ?”

“ What use would I have of them? Nobody ever comes to film in Olmeda .”

Ah , well. There was still something to be learned here. “ The curse has been going that long?”

“ Oh , no. That thing is new.”

Interesting . “ So even before then, nobody came to film here?” I’d have to confirm that later, but I couldn’t recall any show or movie set here off the top of my head. “ Why ?”

“ How should I know?”

“ What about the curse itself? Do you know what it is?”

“ Hogwash is what it is. You can’t put curses on things.” And from her tone of voice, she found that fact very vexing.

“ I suppose if someone would know, it would be you. Now , shush. I need to finish these potions.”

“ Don’t you dare shush me. No ! Stop !”

Tiny Kraken had taken the locket from the faucet and was now rolling it around the sink.

“ You know, Ms . Bagley , I appreciate your candor, but I think I need some peace and quiet to do the spell. Sorry , Tiny Kraken .” I picked up the locket and put it into its plastic container.

“ Don’t forget the book tomorrow,” Bagley said before I put the lid in place.

“ A promise is a promise.” So far, the scorpion had proven to be a scorpion and unable to stop stabbing while being carried across the water to the land of good, but that was on me. I wouldn’t give up, though. Bagley might be stuck in a locket, but that didn’t mean she had to stay a heartless spawn of the devil for the rest of her undead life.

After putting her back in the toolshed, I returned to the kitchen and concentrated on the potion.

The incantation wouldn’t be much different from the one used to detect magic on items—the trick was to contain the intention in the potion rather than allowing it loose.

Grabbing the glass vial with both hands, I awakened my magic.

Magic can be detected ,

no matter how old or faint ,

and shown in all hues of color .

Magic infused the moon water, interacting with the herbs and turning the liquid almost transparent. Good .

I filled a second vial with moon water and the same ratio of herbs and repeated the spell.

A profound tiredness swept through me as soon as the second potion was done. I used the last of my energy to make a simple test on the napkin from the movie set that told me nothing new. I dragged myself upstairs, took care of the dogs for the night, and landed on my bed with a last thought on my mind before I fell asleep:

No matter the rumors of a curse, I wouldn’t allow my town to be blamed for someone trying to sabotage a movie set.