Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Tammy finished the spell, and the magic in the atmosphere disappeared abruptly. Everyone jumped slightly, as if jerking out of a dream.
“ It’s done,” Lilian announced, stepping forward to help Tammy up. “ You good, Tam ?”
“ Perfectly fine,” Tammy answered. She looked a little pale but not any worse for the wear.
Now that I was a little envious of. Had it been me, I’d probably be unable to walk for days.
“ Faith ,” Tammy barked.
I straightened into attention. “ Yes , Tammy ?”
“ Fill the spray bottle and the vials. Hurry up.”
“ Yes , Tammy .” I gathered the funnel and bottles and knelt by the bowl. Very , very , carefully, I set everything up and filled the containers with the potion one by one.
If I dropped the bowl and spilled any of the potion, I think my soul would’ve straight given up and joined Tiny Kraken in the kitchen wall.
And don’t worry, Tiny Kraken would be fine even when sprayed with the potion—this kind of potion was made to dispel evil magic, not ghosts.
Once the bottle and vials were filled to the brim and plugged, I began distributing them: one for Sonia , who snatched it out of my hand and walked purposefully out of the shop on her way to Brimstone ; one for Ian to be given to Shane ; one for Lilian , who drank it right away; and, lastly, three for backup, in case there had been more cases we didn’t yet know about.
Lilian put the empty vial down on the counter. We all held our breaths as the shop fell deadly quiet. Then she touched the top of the counter with one fingertip and drew a circle.
“ Protect .”
Of course you couldn’t see magic happening, but when she smiled in satisfaction, we all knew the potion had worked.
“ Working as intended,” she said.
A loud woosh filled the room as we all exhaled in unison.
“ Of course it is,” Tammy said smugly. She took the filled spray bottle from me and began spraying the potion over the surfaces of the shop. “ Clean the mess, now,” she ordered.
For once, I was glad to.
The potion had worked, thank Green Mother Earth . Shane and Brimstone would return to normal, and my shop would no longer be a magic-interfering hot spot.
Key and Dru helped me clean up the potion stuff, since they knew where all the cleaning supplies were, and Ian was gentleman enough to carry the used bowl to the kitchen to be washed and cleansed later.
“ Everyone who doesn’t have to be here needs to leave,” Tammy said.
Key hesitated.
“ You can stay,” I said. “ We’ll drive over to Shane as soon as this is done.”
She nodded with relief and went to stand behind the bead curtain to not be in the way of Tammy’s extensive spraying. After she was done with a wide surface, she put her hand on it and murmured an incantation, activating the magic she’d just sprayed.
Lilian joined Key , as did Ian .
Bosko grabbed his coat and gave me a meaningful glance that pretty much spelled don’t forget the Christmas stuff .
Which I kind of had with the whole potion-making process. Bosko might be a rude, arrogant, busybody shop owner, but he had come to help, and so I supposed he deserved a spot in my event, even if he was only joining because Dorsey had.
I took out my phone and added him to my spreadsheet.
“ You too,” Tammy said in an irritated tone. “ The demon and berzerker.”
Preston and Mark were engaged in a staring contest on either side of Dru . Or , well, Preston was. Mark simply stood there, grinning like he had no cares in the world.
Dru was clearly enjoying the showdown, her gaze flicking from one to the other, a mischievous smile on her lips. Not because of the fact that two men were fighting for her attention, of course— Dru couldn’t care less about that kind of macho idiocy—but because she knew it was probably giving Preston indigestion.
We really needed to have a talk about letting old grudges go, because at this rate she was going to end up haunting people like the ghosts in a horror movie. Not a good look at all.
“ I’ll talk to you later, Dru ,” I said pointedly.
She pouted, as if I was ruining all her fun, then grabbed her winter coat and strode out of the shop, turning a sharp left to get to hers.
Mark winked at me and left after her, ambling in the opposite direction.
Preston watched until Mark was out of sight, then centered his tie, put on his jacket and coat, muttered his goodbye, and also left the shop, walking straight across the street.
“ I didn’t know small-town drama would be so interesting,” Lilian commented.
A best-hits medley of all the magical drama I had witnessed since moving to Olmeda replayed in my head. If only she knew. “ It can be entertaining sometimes. Is your power fully back? Nothing feels weird?”
“ Like it was never wrong.”
The confidence in her voice helped but didn’t completely erase the hole in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t think anything would until I saw Shane in his two-legged form.
“ I’m done,” Tammy announced, then slumped into one of the chairs.
“ Are you okay?” I asked immediately.
“ I’m spent,” Tammy said. She let out a long sigh. “ I could use a hot bath. Do you have any sea salts in here? No , never mind. I brought my own. Shipped directly from a witch in Thailand . They are the best at bringing your aura back into alignment. I recommend you try them.”
The special Thailand witch-powered sea salt probably cost more than Ian’s SUV . “ Sure thing, Tammy .”
“ We’ll catch a ride to the bed and breakfast,” Lilian said, taking out her phone. “ We’ll do a check-in later tonight or tomorrow morning to make sure things are still fine.”
I agreed to that, and the two witches made their exit. They had just reached the edge of the sidewalk when a car came to a screeching halt in front of them. They got inside without a second glance.
When I booked a ride share, I always had to wait five to ten minutes at least. Powerful witches really had it all.
“ Ready to go?” Ian asked.
I gave my empty, newly cleansed, faintly blood-and-herb smelling shop a last look-over.
It no longer felt sad and empty but full of promise and eager to return to normal.
It felt perfect.
“ Yes ,” I said. “ Let’s get Shane back to normal.”
Excitement filled Ian’s SUV as he drove me and Key to the cemetery, Shane’s potion secure in Key’s tight grasp. We had called Alex before making the trip, so he opened the door as soon as he heard the SUV drive up the path to the house.
A white ball of fur zoomed right past him.
“ Fluffy ,” I exclaimed, jumping out of the SUV and bending to grab her in my arms. I buried my face in her fur. “ I’ve missed you so much.”
“ Where’s Shane ?” Key asked, running up to Alex .
Alex thumbed toward the inside of the house. “ Kitchen . We were waiting for you.”
Without another word, Key rushed inside the house.
A second, larger ball of fluff ambled out after she disappeared inside.
“ Hello , Rufus ,” I said, depositing Fluffy back on the ground. She leaped out of my hands and ran to Ian , barking and jumping around him. Ian patted her obligingly, and Fluffy panted in bliss.
Ah , to be as happy as a dog.
Rufus bumped my hip, and I gave him a good scratch under his head. “ Hello to you too, big boy.”
“ The shop is good now?” Alex asked.
“ As good as new,” I told him happily. “ Just in time for the weekend.” While we had a good number of regulars during weekdays, the weekend was when we truly shone with tourists.
“ Hope .” Key’s shrill voice came from inside the house. “ Hope !”
My blood ran instantly cold. We all exchanged a fast look, then ran inside.
I was the first to arrive to the kitchen. “ What is it?”
Key was kneeling next to Shane , who was still in his wolf form. She turned to us in panic. “ The potion—it’s not working!”
“ But …” No , I wouldn’t doubt her. It was obvious it wasn’t working. The vial was empty and so was the drinking bowl Key had set in front of Shane . “ Maybe it takes a bit to work?”
“ But it worked right away for that witch.”
“ Maybe it’s different for shifters. Let’s give it a few minutes.”
Shane whined and pawed at the hardwood floor in distress. Key ran a hand down his back, and that calmed him somewhat. Fluffy and Rufus appeared in the doorway, watching Shane but staying well away. They probably recognized the danger he represented in his anxiety.
“ Maybe the potion only works on witches?” Alex suggested, taking a seat at the large kitchen table.
“ We used blood from different paranormals, it should be a universal remedy.”
“ Maybe shifters need more potion than witches?” Ian suggested.
What a very good question. “ It shouldn’t, but you might be right. I’ll go get more.” I extended a hand for Ian’s keys.
He hesitated for a moment, and I knew he wanted to drive me, but another low whine from Shane convinced him. He was Shane’s alpha. He needed to stay and support his stray. He fished the keys out of his pocket and dropped them in my hand.
“ I’ll hurry,” I told him with a reassuring smile. I didn’t wait to hear his response but hurried out of the kitchen and back to the SUV . A minute later I was on the way back to the shop. Shortly after, I was on my way back to the cemetery, two vials of potion secured in one of the Tea Cauldron’s delivery boxes.
I parked in front of the house and ran inside with the potions. “ Any difference?”
Shane’s howl answered before anyone else could.
Nope , no difference.
“ Here .” I knelt by his and Key’s side and emptied one of the vials into the drinking bowl. “ Drink all that.”
Along what he had already ingested, it should be more than enough.
“ Hope ,” Key said tightly.
“ It’s going to be okay,” I soothed.
“ The boss…” She glanced toward the kitchen table. I followed to find Ian sitting on one of the chairs, his skin pale and sweaty, and Alex hovering a couple of paces away, arms crossed and shifting from foot to foot in obvious distress.
Ian frowned. “ I’m fine.” Then he blinked hard and rubbed his face.
A bolt of panic hit me in the chest. “ Ian ?” Scrambling across the floor, I knelt by his side. “ What’s happening? Are you sick?”
“ Just a little nauseated. It’s nothing.”
“ It’s not nothing,” I said, feeling his forehead. It was hot to the touch. Ian leaned into my hand, as if it brought him some comfort.
Oh , but this was so bad. Shifters didn’t get sick unless they were poisoned. Was he being affected by the same spell Shane was? Had he been infected before we cleansed the shop? I’d known it had been a bad idea to do the potion there!
I grabbed the second vial of potion and pressed it into Ian’s hands. “ Drink up, mister.”
He smiled faintly, then uncorked the vial and chugged down the contents.
My hands curled against his thigh as I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. If something happened to Ian …
No , I wouldn’t go there.
He finished drinking the potion and put the vial down, his piercing green eyes holding my concerned stare.
“ Better ?” I whispered.
He waited a few moments, then shook his head slightly.
Shane howled behind me.
Alex dug his hands into his long blond hair. “ What are we going to do, boss?”
“ Give it a few more minutes. It might have a delayed reaction.”
Alex pointed at Shane , who was howling again. “ He drank it earlier and nothing’s happened yet.”
“ I don’t get it,” Key said. “ Why did it work on that witch but not Shane ?”
And why wasn’t Ian transforming into a wolf like Shane had?
Ian picked up on my thoughts. “ I’m affected differently. Why ?”
“ I don’t know. Maybe because you don’t shift as much as Shane does?”
He rubbed his face again and blinked fast. “ I think I need to lie down.”
I blinked myself, trying to stop tears from forming. I had to figure out why the potion wasn’t working and how to make it work.
Ian stood, wobbled, and accepted Alex’s help. They moved into the living room, and settled Ian on the couch. He lay down immediately and closed his eyes. He was turning a little green around the corners of his mouth.
Shane followed and lay down by his side, whining softly. Ian reached down and gave Shane’s neck a reassuring squeeze.
Rufus and Fluffy , getting over their fear of Shane , approached the sofa cautiously.
“ It’s okay,” Ian managed in a deep, gravelly voice. “ Shane won’t hurt you.”
Rufus made it to the arm of the sofa and head bumped Ian . Fluffy huffed anxiously by his side, too short to reach over.
I picked her up and put her within petting distance. Ian took her from me and settled her against his chest. Fluffy licked him once, then settled down, peering up at him with her huge black eyes.
They were picture perfect except for the fact that Ian was sick. Getting sicker by the moment.
And the potion wasn’t working.
I swallowed the giant knot of panic in my throat and called Lilian .