Chapter 14

14

" I thought you said lesser-known texts, not illegal ones!" I clenched Noah's hand like it wasn't the very thing leading me into a dark oddities store on the decidedly wrong side of town. I knew exactly where we were, because I made policy my business. Meaning black-market sellers were my business, since they were illegal. This was the nook of the city where known potion dealers would make their best sales, where illegal trade of banned substances occurred.

I tugged on Noah's hand, terrified as I stared up at the dark building in front of us. We didn't belong here—well, I didn't. I wasn't sure what Noah did in his free time.

Noah stopped pulling me, turning to face me. Leaning in, he whispered, "Do you want to get the information we need or not? I'm certain what we need is forbidden, so unless we walk in here, you can kiss the anti-potion good riddance."

I bit my lip, eyes scanning our surroundings. There was a shorter person, a black hood completely blocking my view of their face. In the setting we were in, it made me super nervous. It could be a ruffian with illegal drugs ready to make a deal.

I supposed it could also just be a normal wizard, but I shouldn't take chances.

"Okay, let's go," I whispered, nearly pushing him toward the door to get out of the street.

Old vinyl music haunted my ears with its dark melody and scratchy projection as it projected around the dark room. Nestled in the front corner of the shop was an antique gramophone, the record spinning on its dock. Surrounding the gramophone were boxes of unorganized vinyls collecting dust, save for one box that seemed well-loved.

The wall next to it was covered in carvings of magical and mythical creatures, grotesque and evil-looking, jaws open, as if about to go in for a kill. It was a very specific artistry that I didn't find myself fond of.

Shelves lined other walls, filled with books or glass bottles with who-knew-what inside. There were display tables crammed in every open space in the shop, making for a treacherous walk through the store as Noah led me to the back. I held his hand tighter than I would have liked, but I was terrified that if I let him go, he would disappear and leave me all alone in this horror house. I was also concerned that one wrong move of my elbow would result in knocking over some forbidden potion that could rot my skin off.

After weaving through the front aisles and barely stepping over some furry thing in the middle of the floor, we stopped at a counter in the back. A dusty register sat on top of the counter, old and brittle pages scattered across the remaining counterspace.

"Noah, what are we—"

He cut me off with three raps against the wooden counter, pulling me even closer to him. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he was just as worried about being here with how tightly his thumb pressed into the back of my hand.

A gritty voice grumbled from behind another fully stocked bookshelf until its owner emerged, eyes zeroing in on Noah immediately. "What is it you need today, boy?"

I stopped breathing at those words, realizing that Noah indeed had been here before, at least enough for this old woman with yellowed teeth to recognize him. My gaze snapped back and forth, seeing Noah's uncomfortable glare at the sneering woman.

"I need books on a specific type of potionry and how to use potions in a widespread manner." His voice held the same arrogance as always, but I'd been around him long enough to feel the unease in his tone as well. If he'd been here before, why was he so uncomfortable? The easy-going nature he'd had before we walked in was nowhere to be found.

The witch smugly raised her eyebrows before hobbling around the counter and motioning with a crooked finger for us to follow. Dragging me behind him was the only way for Noah to get me to move.

"Everything you are searching for can be found here." The hag barely raised her hand to wave at the shelves around her. "If you find yourself in need of any particular ingredients, I most likely have them stashed away…somewhere." Her voice was suddenly almost angelic as she gave Noah an odd smirk before leaving us in the aisle. "Everything at a price, boy!"

I turned as she shouted that last part, but she was already gone. It didn't ease my nerves in the slightest.

"I suppose we can start looking." Noah dropped my hand and brushed his fingers over the spines on the highest shelf, since I could never get anything from up there. Starting with the shelf at my eye level, I followed suit but didn't touch a single book. An odd fear that there would be some kind of poison attached to the spine kept me far from the tomes.

After a few minutes of searching, I cataloged two in my mind that could be useful but still refused to touch them.

"You know her," I stated, moving past Noah to study another shelf. "You come here often?"

"Unfortunately, I have been here before, yes." His tone was more clipped than usual, and I knew I shouldn't press, but I couldn't help but be curious. What business did Noah have in a shop that harbored illegal magical items, other than the business we were tending to right this moment?

"What use of harmful magic have you had before now?" I whispered, a touch on the harsh side. My eyes caught onto a title, so I moved to get a closer look, brushing against Noah in the process.

Before I could even say excuse me, Noah grabbed my arm and spun me around, pushing me against the shelf. Nothing catastrophic happened, so I supposed the books were safe to touch.

More importantly, Noah's face was an inch from mine, and he held my wrists in his large hands against the shelving.

"Baker, this is not the time for you to be asking personal questions. I don't enjoy being here any more than you do, so if you would kindly stay quiet and find books that might be of use, we can get out of here." His green eyes darkened in his anger, but I couldn't help but admire how intricate they were this close. Golden flecks wove between threads of light and dark green in an almost fantastical way. They were so much more than standard green eyes, and they were beautiful—as were the lines from anger around his eyes and on his scrunched forehead.

He was beautiful, in truth, which was something I could never admit aloud.

Nevertheless, his words were still just as frustrating as always, so I bit back. "If you would get off me, I would be able to finish the job. Unhand me."

He glowered for a second longer before dropping my wrists and stepping to the side, perusing the shelves as though nothing had happened. My skin tingled from where his fingers had gripped.

We had to get out of there, so I swallowed the fear I had of touching the books and pulled the five I thought would be helpful, stacking them into a neat pile on the ground. When I decided to move down the aisle, I charmed them to float next to me.

"Find anything up there?" I asked in a much softer voice.

"Yes. Let's go. If we need ingredients, we can come back another time."

Noah grabbed four enormous books and tucked them under one arm before pulling my stack from the air and wrapping an arm underneath them. It ruined the spell, so he carried the full weight of the books with one arm. My mouth hung wide as I watched him effortlessly carry all nine like they were made of feathers. His muscles flexed underneath the fabric of his shirt, and I forced my eyes downward.

"We'll take these for now," Noah said with authority. The witch looked up from where she was sitting behind her table, white hair floating in every direction, quite a bored look on her face.

"Fifteen hundred pounds," she declared and then looked down at her hideous nails, her voice back to its original rasp.

"You've lost your bloody mind!"

"That's the price of those very rare, very illegal texts, and of course, my discretion." The sly smile on her face made my stomach turn.

Noah clenched his jaw as he shot daggers at the witch with his glare.

"What? Did your parents not give you enough allowance this month?" Her yellowing eyes drifted over to me momentarily, the corners of her lips turning up. "I'm sure we could work out another—"

"Fine." Noah set the stacks of books down before fishing his silver bank card from his wallet. "Not a dime more."

"Don't forget taxes, boy."

Noah took a slow, measured breath as she tallied up his order with the register that looked like it would only take coins. However, it seemed to be spelled, so she swiped his card with a devious glint in her eyes.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Noah."

"Let's go," Noah muttered to me as he picked up the books and strode for the exit.

I didn't look back as we left the shop, ready to get the hell out of there. The cackling of the witch as we left would haunt my dreams.