Upside Down Magic (Good Bad Magic #6)

Chapter 6

SIX

When I got to the cemetery I heard two sets of howling in the distance. For a second, I thought Alex had gotten stuck in wolf form too, and I almost fell off Bee - Bee in my hurry to dismount the Vespa and get to the main house. However , once I arrived, I realized it was Rufus howling in sympathy with Shane . They sat together in the workshop, howling at the cloudy sky like it was a full moon. By their side, Fluffy added tiny barks every time the howling started.

“ Hope ,” Key exclaimed, coming to give me a fast hug. “ You’re here.” Her face was filled with worry, and the moment the hug was over, she began wringing her hands. “ Shane’s stuck.”

“ Temporarily ,” I assured her, because that was the only way this was happening. “ Forever ” was not currently in my dictionary unless it applied to Ian's and my relationship.

The thought gave me pause.

When had I started thinking that way? A few months ago, the thought of “forever” with Ian had given me a small anxiety attack, but now it felt so natural as to be unremarkable.

Shane howled again, and I shook myself mentally. Something to ponder later.

“ Okay , stop that,” I ordered sternly to Shane and Rufus . “ People can hear you from the street.”

Shane barked in disgruntlement. Fluffy yipped and trotted over to paw at my legs in a decidedly worried manner. I gathered her in my arms and buried my face in her warm, wonderful fur. “ It’s okay, Fluffy . You won’t have to share your food with an extra dog for long. We’re going to figure out how to fix it.”

Shane barked in outrage, and Alex burst out laughing. He had come in behind me with a couple of sodas. He passed me one, and I drank from it greedily. The energy drink had done wonders, but I was still wobbly.

“ Is Ian here yet?”

As I asked, the sound of his SUV coming up the path reached our ears. Rufus began barking in greeting, and Fluffy squirmed in my arms, so I put her down. They both waited at the opening of the workshop as Ian parked his SUV next to the white van. The moment he stepped out, they rushed him.

He took a few moments to greet them, then came to us in fast strides.

Oh , but I would never grow tired of looking at him. Tall , broad-shouldered, dark brown hair gathered at the nape, piercing green eyes currently almost hidden by his deep frown, and the most kissable lips ever. All wrapped in his usual all-black package: black winter jacket, black pullover, black jeans, and black boots.

He put a hand on my arm and gave me a reassuring squeeze before dipping down and kissing me lightly. Then he crouched on one knee in front of Shane and focused all his attention on him. “ What happened?”

Alex crossed his arms, shifting from foot to foot in agitation. “ We were moving the sofa into the living room at the shop when he suddenly shifted. No warning, no nothing. He was human one second, and the next…” He waved at Shane . “ Poof .”

Ian held Shane’s massive wolf head between his hands and looked straight into his golden eye. Magic filled the space as Ian’s alpha aura clogged the air, making my spine tingle and raising the hairs on my nape.

“ Shift ,” Ian commanded in a deep, growly voice that resonated all the way to my bones.

Alphas couldn’t force other wolves to do anything, but their commands carried a level of authority members of the pack were instinctively tuned to. It could be used to cut through spells put on shifters, as they had somewhat of a built-in protection against magic.

We held our breaths, but Shane shook his head and whined.

Muttering a curse, Ian stood. Shane howled and pawed the floor of the workshop.

Ian rubbed the top of his head. “ We’ll figure it out, Shane .”

Shane lowered his head to rest on his front paws and let out another sad whine. Key sat by his side, throwing her arms around his neck. “ It’s going to be okay, Shane ,” she whispered. Shane nudged her with his head, and Key sniffled a little.

I sniffled too.

No , I reminded myself. No sniffling. “ Figure out how this happened and then make a potion to fix it.”

“ Good idea, boss,” Alex said.

“ Were you and Shane together all morning? Or did you meet to bring me the sofa?” I asked.

Shane shook his head while Alex spoke. “ We were together all morning. Woke up at the same time, then had leftover pizza for breakfast and came here to get the van.”

“ What about the sofa?”

“ We picked that up yesterday evening.”

“ Together ?”

“ Boss and I went.”

“ Where were you, Shane ?” I asked of the wolf.

Key’s cheeks pinked up. “ We went to hang out at Bolton Square .”

Daww . “ Anything strange happen? Tried any new food or drinks? Were you approached by anyone you didn’t know?”

They shook their heads.

Again , the disturbing thought that it might be related to the shop intruded into my head. But if that were true, wouldn’t everyone’s magic be messed up? Especially my own?

“ You can’t tell anyone,” I said, “but Brimstone is having some magical issues too.”

Key scrambled to her feet, as did Shane . “ Uncle Jeremy ?”

“ Yes . His fire magic is not working correctly.” I stepped forward. “ Is yours working fine?”

“ Mine ? Yeah . I think so?” She studied her hands for a moment, then went outside the workshop and made a clump of earth flip over. “ Working as usual.”

“ That’s great,” I said with relief.

“ How do we fix this, boss?” Alex asked.

I studied Shane , who studied me back with a forlorn expression. Without knowing how the original spell had been made, the intention or composition, it would be harder to neutralize. Making a potion to target something in general rather than something in particular made it less powerful. However , there were ways around that.

“ I’m going to need a sample of your blood, Shane . Then I’m going to make a potion.”

Shane whined and nodded. Key ran to a cupboard and brought out a first aid kit.

“ We don’t have vials,” she said worriedly.

“ Some stained gauze will do.” I looked around. “ Do you have a small knife we can use?”

Ian jerked his chin toward the house, and Alex shot off. He came back a couple of minutes later with a small kitchen knife.

“ Washed it real good,” he said, handing it over.

“ Perfect .” But to be really sure, I used an alcohol wipe on it before making a small cut on one of Shane’s front legs. “ Sorry ,” I whispered.

Shane whined but stood still. Fluffy made an attempt to barrel toward us, but Ian caught her deftly.

“ Sorry , little lady. No interrupting the witch.”

Fluffy barked in disappointment, then settled in to enjoy the spectacle from Ian’s arms.

Smiling to myself, I turned my attention to the cut. I soaked some of Shane’s blood, then used another gauze pad to press on the wound for a few moments. “ This should be enough.”

Key took over keeping the gauze pressed against his leg as Alex jingled the van’s keys. “ I’ll drive.”

I glanced at Ian , and he said, “ I’ll stay with Shane .”

It made sense. Their shifter connection was strong, and no matter how much Ian denied it, he was Shane’s alpha leader. Shane appeared calm now, but he had to still be panicking inside and would feel much better if Ian stuck around.

I gave him a thumbs up and got into the van with Alex . He started the vehicle down the path to the gate before I got my seatbelt on, and soon we were out in the streets, hurrying back to the Tea Cauldron .

“ Shane will be okay, right, boss?” he asked, an uncharacteristic note of worry in his tone. His focus was on the street, and I had never seen him this serious before.

“ He’ll be fine,” I said for both of us. Because , “ If you don’t believe in your spell, how can you expect it to work?”

“ That’s right,” Alex agreed with determination.

We arrived at the Tea Cauldron in no time. Alex let me out in front, then went around to park in the alleyway. I burst into the shop, full fake smile on, and said a breezy, “ Good morning, everyone, I’ll be in the back” before hastening to the hallway. Mark had already arrived, and he and Natalia watched with curiosity as I half ran past them and through the bead curtain.

“ Crisis averted?” Mark asked, following me into the back.

“ Yup . I need to make a big potion. Can you make sure nobody comes into the back?”

He studied my face for a second, seemed to read past my forced cheer, then said in a grave tone, “ You got it.”

I hated to admit it, but Mark was turning out to be a decent guy.

Even if he still refused to let me into the Crawler .

I opened the back gate for Alex , and we crowded into the kitchen. Happy pipe gurgling sounds greeted us, and I patted the wall in response. “ Yes , I’m back, Tiny Kraken , but mommy needs some silence so she can focus, okay?”

There was an answering thump, and the pipes grew silent.

Alex chuckled behind me, and I welcomed the burst of genuine humor. It lessened the tight bands constricting my chest.

“ What do you need me to do, boss?”

I instructed him to get out the bowl and vials while I gathered herbs and crystals. I made a circle with clear quartz, amethyst, and some of the herbs, then ground the rest with the pestle. After drawing the curtains closed, I filled the bowl with my extra-extra moon water, kept away from the sun at all times.

I cut off the bloodied part of Shane’s gauze and submerged it into the moon water, holding it down with a small Citrine , then used more moon water to dissolve Brimstone’s blood in its small vial. Using a glass pipette, I transferred a few drops to the bowl. After that, I poured the ground up herbs. They drifted down the water, avoiding the pink tendrils from both Shane and Brimstone’s blood. Lastly , I put my hands firmly around the bowl.

“ Here goes nothing.”

“ You got this, boss.”

I nodded once and concentrated hard. This better work because I really didn’t want to have to ask Bagley or the blood witch for help.

Magic comes from the soul .

Where it’s been forced against ,

may it flow natural again.

Magic poured down my arms and into the bowl as I spoke the incantation in my head, forcing the blood and the herbs to interact with each other in a delicate, swirling dance. I fed more power into it, holding my intention, emptying my reserves, imprinting my will into the potion with all the magic I was capable of.

“ Done ,” I gushed once the last tingling of magic left my body.

Then I promptly passed out.