Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Lilian picked up on the second ring.
“ The potion isn’t working on the shifter, and now Ian is sick too,” I said without preamble.
There was a deep hmm . “ Are you sure?”
“ Yes .”
“ Did you give them more?”
“ Yes .”
“ One moment.” A pause followed, then a curse.
“ Your magic isn’t working anymore either,” I guessed.
“ It appears so.” She sounded irked. “ No change in the shifter at all?”
I lowered the phone and spoke to Key , who had followed into the living room along with Alex . “ Shane had no change whatsoever when drinking the potion, not even a small shift?”
Key shook her head. Shane let out a small growl to remind me that he was in the room.
“ Sorry ,” I whispered to him before talking into the phone again. “ No change whatsoever.”
“ Well , this sucks,” she said dryly.
“ It really does,” I agreed, briefly amused by her tone. The amusement didn’t last two seconds before being replaced by anxiety again. “ What do we do?”
“ I need to talk this over with Tammy . I’ll call you in a few.”
She ended the conversation, and I bit my lip, taking in Shane’s pitiful expression and Ian’s sorry state. Key and Alex were looking at me like I had all the answers in the world, and Ian’s gaze held an amount of confidence in me that humbled me at the same time that it boosted.
“ Lilian said she’ll consult Tammy again.”
Key’s shoulders slumped, and Alex made a face.
“ But ,” I continued, resolve filling me with the strength of a thousand grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches, “ I’m not going to wait.”
“ Oh ?” Ian said in a rough voice that would’ve usually sent shivers down my spine except for the fact that it was rough because he was sick and not in a sexy mood.
“ Lilian and Tammy know a lot more about spells and potions than I do.” I began pacing the empty space in front of the fireplace and the TV . “ But that’s not the only way we can figure out how to break the spell. If we go back to finding who did it, it might give us a clue on how to break it.”
“ How do we do that, boss?” Alex asked.
Shane yipped in agreement. Fluffy scooted away from Shane until she was practically alien-hugging Ian’s face. He didn’t seem to mind too much, even though his breathing was shallow and sweat had formed on his temples.
“ I’ll explain in a moment.” I took the stairs two steps at a time and returned with a hand towel. “ We have the family names from the dark coven spellbook.”
I pressed the towel to Ian’s forehead until he took it from me and wiped his sweat. Fluffy whined in distress and Ian winced, so I took her off his chest and neck and settled her on the rug. Rufus immediately bent to rub his head against hers.
“ Are you sure the dark coven are the ones who did the spell?” Key asked.
“ By all accounts the coven leader practiced very powerful magic, and she wouldn’t have accepted weak members into her group. If the spell is old and has somehow survived all these years, there is a high chance it was one of them who put it there. If the spell is new, it might be connected to the coven.”
“ And if it’s not?” Alex asked.
“ Then at least we’ll have crossed that off the list.”
Ian grunted in agreement. I wanted to fall to my knees by his side and throw my arms around him and bury my face in his chest and never let him go, but I had to help him and Shane first. Hugging later, investigation now.
I brought out my phone and called Dru .
“ The potion isn’t working anymore,” I told her as soon as she answered. “ And Ian is sick now.”
“ That’s not good,” she said after a moment.
“ You should close down the shop and go home, in case,” I said.
A few moments of silence followed as she pondered that. “ If I were in danger, wouldn’t I have been affected by now? You’re fine and you live there.”
“ We shouldn’t risk it.”
She let out a sigh. “ Okay . You got a plan to fix this, right?”
“ Of course! Kind of.”
“ Let’s hear it.”
I told her about tracking down the families in the coven’s spellbook.
“ Give them to me. I’ll see what I can find.”
I sent her the list of names, then forwarded it to Key and Alex as well. Key had taken a seat by Shane’s side; Alex , like me, was too wired to sit down. We all immediately began searching on our phones and the room fell silent but for the occasional doggy noise and whine.
After a few minutes, Alex looked up from his phone. “ Hey , I think I found something.”
" What ?” I asked eagerly.
“ This dude, Caswell , works at some insurance company. I found him on a jobs site.”
“ Which company?” I asked eagerly.
“ Olmeda Combined Insurance Group .” His thumbs flew over his phone. “ Their main office is downtown.”
I pocketed my phone. “ Perfect .” I hesitated, unable to tear my gaze off Ian and the dogs. There was nothing I wanted more than to stay with him, but that wouldn’t help any. I couldn’t just sit and do nothing and trust Lilian and Tammy would find another way to break the spell. It might take days, or they might never find a way.
Ian managed a small smile. “ It’ll be okay.”
“ I’ll stay here,” Key said firmly.
My tension abated somewhat. She could keep researching while watching out for our shifters.
“ Let’s go, boss,” Alex said from the front door.
I gave Ian a quick kiss, hating the way his skin was feverishly hot to the touch, then grabbed the SUV keys.
“ Wait ,” Ian said. “ Take Rufus .”
Excellent idea; we might need to intimidate someone. Alex and I didn’t exactly scream confess you put a dark magic spell on my shop or we’ll kick your ass . “ Rufus , come.” I patted my thigh.
Rufus eyed me dubiously but trotted over obediently. I put on his harness and grabbed his leash and the doggy bag by the entrance.
“ Hope Avery !” came a muffled shout from the coat closet. “ I want in on the action!”
“ Later , Ms . Bagley ,” I shouted back.
Rufus barked at the door, and Alex inched through the entrance as far from the closet as possible. While Bagley might’ve had some helpful insights, I didn’t have the time to deal with her blackmailing ways. If everything else failed, I knew where to find her.
Soon the three of us were in the SUV , making our way through the congested streets of Old Olmeda . It was Friday afternoon, and every tourist and local was out celebrating the weekend already.
I wanted to curse them all.
Alex did, loudly.
It was so out of character that I burst out laughing.
He gave me a sheepish smile. “ Sorry , boss.”
“ It’s allowed.”
Rufus barked from the back seat, then shoved his head between the seats. Alex scratched him behind the ears. “ Good boy.” He was solemn when he looked at me. “ You think we’ll figure out how to fix it, boss?”
“ Yes ,” I said, putting all my determination behind the word. Because what other option was there? For Shane to remain unable to shift back forever and for Ian to get worse and worse until…
I shook myself mentally. Nope . Not going there. Either Lilian and Tammy would come up with a better way to do the potion, or we’d figure out who had put the spell there and force them to tell us how to nullify it.
Easy peasy.
Now , if only people would get out of the way. I slammed my hand on the horn in a very un- Avery manner, and a couple who’d decided the middle of the street was a perfect spot to take selfies with the old restaurant in the background jumped back to the sidewalk.
Alex snorted, his thumbs back to flying on his phone.
“ Found anyone else?” I asked.
“ Just sending texts to my buddies, see if any of them know any of the names.”
Was that wise? “ If the culprit is here they might cut their losses when they learn someone’s searching for them.”
“ Boss , if they made the spell, they already know someone’s going to be searching for them.”
He made a good point.
“ Besides , I’m telling my friends to keep it low key. They’ll know what’s up. You can trust them.”
“ I trust you, so that’s okay.” And I meant it. Alex had yet to disappoint any of us.
“ Thanks , boss.”
I slid him a fast glance and found him grinning so wide I couldn’t help but grin back. Alex and I didn’t often team up together, but I had a feeling we were going to be an unstoppable force.
Whoever had done this to my boyfriend, my friends, and my shop better watch out.