Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
“ I found us a mage, boss,” Alex said, all smiles.
“ You ?” I pointed at Wyatt .
“ What of it?” he snapped.
Rufus growled and pushed forward but I held him in place. “ Is this something to do with the Christmas event?” I asked, immediately suspicious. “ Because I told you I can’t have bars in it. It’s family friendly.”
“ I told you I can be family friendly!”
“ No , you can’t.”
“ I’ll give away candy at the door.”
“ It’s not Halloween !”
Wyatt crossed his arms and looked away. “ Bah .”
“ Are you sure he’s a mage?” I asked Alex . Rufus switched his attention to Alex , as if wondering too.
“ Born and bred, lady,” Wyatt answered.
“ Oh , yeah? What type?”
He smirked. “ None of your business.”
“ Then you’re out.”
“ Yes , Wyatt , go back to your hole,” Dorsey said. “ Where’s the car? Is it this?” She walked to the SUV and stood by the passenger door. “ Hurry up. I want to be back before the bars close.”
“ Are you sure?” I whispered to Alex .
“ Yeah , boss. Dude’s family are all water mages. That’s why they’re in the watering business, supposedly.”
I eyed Wyatt again. He glared back. It’d have to do. “ All right.”
After forcing Dorsey and Wyatt to sit in the back with Rufus squeezed between them, I started the SUV and drove toward the Tea Cauldron .
“ How did you find him?” I asked, jerking my head toward the back seats. Alex didn’t seem the kind to spend his Friday evenings at Wyatt’s dump of a bar.
“ He found me, boss.”
“ I was running an errand,” Wyatt said loudly.
Rufus growled in warning, and Wyatt and Dorsey shrank against their respective doors.
Ian had been right—bringing Rufus had been the correct move.
“ How do you know each other?” I asked.
“ Oh , let the boy live his depraved life,” Dorsey piped in.
“ My buddy Fiona bartended there for a couple of months last year,” Alex said, undeterred. “ She really needed the money and couldn’t be picky,” he added gleefully.
“ Hey now,” Wyatt said. “ I run a good establishment.”
We all snorted.
“ Like your places are any better,” he muttered. “ A cursed teashop and the motel from Hell .”
“ Bed and breakfast,” Dorsey said. “ Motels don’t serve food.”
“ And my shop isn’t cursed,” I said. “ It’s currently running through some slight problems, as most starting businesses do. It’ll smooth out.”
“ You keep telling yourself that, lady.”
“ Thank you, I will.”
Something that sounded like goddamn goody-two-shoes came from Dorsey’s direction.
“ You’re sure his magic is weak enough?” I asked Alex .
Wyatt made a sound of protest from the back seat.
“ Yeah . Fionna told me he got drunk one night and tried to show off but couldn’t make more than some ripples on a glass of water.”
“ I wasn’t in top form that day,” Wyatt protested. “ I can make water jump.”
We all chose to remain silent, even Rufus .
I decided to park in the back alley rather than the front, and when I turned into it, the SUV’s headlights shone on two figures waiting by the gate to my backyard: Dru and Hutton .
“ Oh , man,” Alex said, unhooking his seatbelt.
“ Is that the alpha man?” Dorsey asked, squinting again. Either she had forgotten her contacts at home, or she needed to get a pair of glasses.
“ Everyone out,” I ordered.
For once, they all obeyed without smart-ass remarks.
The night was truly looking up.
“ What are they doing here?” Hutton demanded in a growl as soon as I jumped out of the SUV and locked the doors.
Rufus snarled in automatic response, and I stroked his head to calm him down. “ I need them for a spell. What are you doing here?”
“ You didn’t answer your texts and your phone went to voice mail.”
“ So , you decided to visit?”
“ I heard the spell didn’t work.” He glared at Wyatt and Dorsey , who were standing a small distance away.
My heart melted. “ Aww . Did you try to call Ian and got worried when he didn’t answer?”
His focus snapped back to me. “ No . I’m just worried it’ll affect my pack.”
“ I thought you were sick too,” Dru said dryly.
“ That is so cute,” I said. “ Look at you, all growly because your big brother is not feeling well.”
“ That’s not why I called!”
I patted his arm. “ Sure , sure. Let’s go in.”
“ What the hell are you planning?”
I unlocked the back iron gate. “ We’re going to do a new potion.”
“ If the other witch’s didn’t work, what makes you think yours will?” Hutton asked, following me into the backyard.
“ I’ve got a new theory.”
“ Oh , yeah? Let’s hear it,” he demanded sarcastically.
“ When everyone’s here,” I told him, unlocking the back door and disabling the alarm. They all filed inside, and I told Rufus to stay in the backyard. He whined in betrayal, but remained put because he was the best boy ever.
“ You mean there are more coming?” Hutton asked. “ Who else, the ghost of the witch who tried to kill you during summer?”
Dorsey made a sound of delight. “ Ooh , which witch? Was it someone I know?”
“ Don’t mind Hutton , Ms . Dorsey . He’s feeling delicate because he’s worried about his big brother.”
“ Am not!”
“ This your back kitchen?” Wyatt asked, peeking into the kitchen. “ Doesn’t seem well stocked. You hire a cook?”
“ It’s a tea shop, not a restaurant.”
He grunted. “ People get hungry when they’re drinking. You should have at least some peanuts. Maybe wings or something.”
“ We have muffins and cookies,” I informed him. “ Way better than peanuts and wings.” Especially any peanuts or wings Wyatt could ever serve.
“ Ain’t that the truth,” Dru murmured.
“ We offer pancakes and waffles,” Dorsey said proudly.
“ Hey , I remember you,” Wyatt said, pointing at Dru . “ You came into the bar with her, didn’t you?”
“ Unfortunately .”
“ You should come back. Thursdays are ladies’ night.”
Dru cocked her head and gave him a dismissive glance. “ Not my scene.”
“ We’re here for a spell,” I exclaimed, clapping my hands. “ Please concentrate.”
They grumbled but kept silent. A knock on the front door had me hurrying through the hallway and the shop. April stood outside, bundled in a hot-pink parka, grinning like she’d won the lottery.
I guessed people didn’t often ask her for magic help, and the thought made my heart ache for her. I’d make sure to include low-power people in my events a lot more often from now on. Us losers— underdogs had to stick together.
“ Okay , now that we’re all together,” I began once everyone was sitting or standing in a semicircle around me, “ I’ll explain the plan.”
“ About time,” Dorsey grumbled.
“ Go , go, boss,” Alex cheered helpfully.
Hutton rolled his eyes.
I cleared my throat. “ As I was saying?—”
“ Yes , yes,” Wyatt said. “ What’s the plan?”
“ I’m so excited,” April whispered. “ I’ve never done a potion before.”
“ It’s kind of cool,” Alex told her.
Dru grabbed a chocolate muffin from the display and took a bite.
“ The plan,” I said loudly, “is to do the same spell we did before but with our blood.”
“ You did a spell before and it didn't work?” Wyatt asked. “ Why would this one work?”
“ I believe it didn’t work because the blood we used was too powerful.”
“ That makes no sense.”
“ I think the spell we’re dealing with feeds off power. That’s why the most powerful paranormals are being affected while those like us are fine.”
Dorsey pointed a gnarled finger at Hutton . “ He seems fine.”
Hutton tensed and glowered at me like it was my fault he was here being doubted when he’d invited here himself.
“ He’s a special case,” I said. “ Either way, I’m hoping that if we make the potion with our blood, it’ll be strong enough to kill the spell but not strong enough to feed it.”
“ I’m so excited,” April whispered again, bouncing on her feet.
“ You really think that will work?” Hutton asked.
“ Yes ,” I said firmly, meeting each of their gazes. “ You don’t need to be the most powerful paranormal to save the day.”
They all blinked at me for a few seconds.
“ Hell yeah, boss,” Alex said.
Dorsey humphed, but I could tell she was pleased by my pronouncement.
Wyatt scratched the back of his head, a look of confusion on his face, while Hutton sighed and stared at the ceiling.
Dru took another bite of her muffin.
“ What do we have to do?” April asked eagerly.
“ I’ll prepare the potion, then we’ll all give some blood.”
“ Do we have to?” Wyatt asked, rubbing his arm. “ That’s nasty.”
“ Have you seen your own bar?” Dorsey asked.
Wyatt glared at her. “ The hell do you mean?”
Dorsey snickered.
“ Hey , no fighting,” I said. “ We’re the power of good, remember?”
“ Speak for yourself, lady.”
“ Do as she says,” Hutton warned menacingly, his alpha aura suddenly clogging the room.
They all shrank back and nodded in silence.
Honestly , it shouldn’t make me feel all choked up, but it was so sweet of him to back me up like that. Next thing you knew, we’d be having Sunday dinners together with Ian and the strays.
“ Thank you, Hutton ,” I said.
The aura lessened; the silence remained.
I studied them again. Would this be enough paranormal blood? It had to be. And even if it wasn’t, what did we have to lose?
My shop was making people sick. I had to try anything and everything to fix things. It wasn’t just my customers who were in harm’s way—what if it started to affect Dru’s shop and the Corner Rose ?
The Corner Rose .
My gaze fell on the connecting wall with the art gallery next door, and for the second time that day, a huge realization punched me in the solar plexus.
“ Oh , Good Mother Earth .”
“ Boss ?” Alex asked, concern in his voice.
My mouth opened and closed a couple of times before I could formulate my thoughts.
What if we’d not only gotten the nature of the spell wrong, but also the location?
What if the reason we hadn’t been able to sense the spell in the shop wasn’t because it was a very crafty spell but because it wasn’t in the Tea Cauldron at all?
“ What if it’s something in the Corner Rose that’s spelled?” I asked.
Everyone turned toward the connecting wall.
“ The art gallery?” Hutton asked. “ Why ?”
“ I told you those things were cursed,” Dru said with a shudder.
“ Explain , Avery ,” Dorsey demanded. “ I thought your shop was making people sick.”
“ That’s what we thought because all affected had been around the shop,” I explained, “but we couldn’t find the exact source.”
“ But everyone who was here was also next to the Corner Rose ,” Alex remarked thoughtfully.
“ Exactly . What if it’s not my shop that’s spelled but something in the Corner Rose ?”
“ I thought some witch cursed your shop,” Wyatt said.
“ If the spell is not in the shop,” I said, “even if our potion works to cure the paranormals currently affected, it won’t stop the spell itself. The place will need to be shut down for sure.” I swallowed hard at the idea. “ And people will keep getting sick until they start leaving Olmeda .”
“ Eh . We’ve got plenty of paranormals here,” Wyatt said. “ Half of them don’t even know about your shop.”
“ Dude , that’s rude,” Alex said, peeved.
“ Thank you, Alex ,” I said, my heart squeezing with affection. “ There won’t be any more paranormals if word gets out the city is cursed. Who will go to your bar then?”
Wyatt scowled, then cursed.
“ Maybe it’s a new arrival at the gallery,” Dru said. “ That’s why it hasn’t affected anyone until now.”
“ Oh , this is awesome,” April said. “ A cursed object—right out of a movie!”
“ That makes sense.” It actually made perfect sense. “ I think you’re totally correct.”
Dru shrugged one shoulder. “ Of course I am.”
“ So now what?” Hutton asked.
I glanced at the wall then at all six paranormals surrounding me. “ Anyone know how to break into a building?”