Upside Down Magic (Good Bad Magic #6)

Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

They all shook their heads.

That was a bit of a bummer, especially since Key’s magic wasn’t working. “ Not even you, Wyatt ?”

“ Why would I know how to break and enter?” he asked, offended.

“ The girl has a point,” Dorsey agreed. “ You sure you don’t?”

“ What kind of business do you think I run?”

Dru let out a fake cough. “ Delinquency .”

“ I might know someone,” Alex said, bringing out his phone. “ Hey , Susy ,” he said into it a moment later. “ You free?” A pause. “ Yeah , need to borrow you and the kit for a few—do you mind?” Another pause. “ Great , perfect. You know the Tea Cauldron ? Yeah , that one. Meet me in the back alley? Awesome .” He ended the call and grinned. “ Susy will be right over.”

“ Does she, ah, know why she’s coming over?” I asked.

“ Oh yeah, don’t worry. She knows.”

“ Great . Cookies ?”

“ Sure ,” Wyatt said, sneaking a hand into the display and grabbing a handful.

Dorsey stuck her nose up in the air and declined. Hutton grumbled and grabbed a banana muffin. Mei was totally going to faint when I told her he was eating her goodies again.

“ Alex ? April ?”

April approached the display and took a chocolate one. “ Sure , Hope . Thanks .”

“ We’re going to try savory items after the holiday rush,” I told them proudly. “ And we’ll be having choco-mint cookies shaped like trees starting next week.”

“ If you still have a shop,” Dorsey muttered.

“ Well , Ms . Dorsey , if I don’t have a shop then there’s no Christmas event, is there? So , you better hope I still have one.”

Her left eye twitched. “ Whatever .”

“ About the event,” Wyatt began. “ What if?—”

“ Let’s go wait in the alley,” I said loudly.

Wyatt gave me the evil eye but allowed himself to be herded toward the back along with everyone else.

“ I’m impressed at the evolution of your managerial skills,” Dru whispered as I dipped into the kitchen to grab the supplies I’d need to make the potion. “ You might be a community leader after all.”

“ There is no might, only become,” I told her, stuffing herbs and crystals into a tote with the Tea Cauldron logo on it. I’d recently stocked those and sold three already. One of my best business decisions.

“ That’s the spirit.”

The pipes gurgled, and Dru all but jumped out of the kitchen. “ That thing is still there?”

“ Of course. I don’t know what I’d do without Tiny Kraken .” Tote hanging from my shoulder, I turned to Dru . “ Let’s go before they eat each other and we have to find new paranormals.”

Rufus rushed me when I came out into the yard.

“ I’m sorry Rufus ,” I said, scratching him behind his ears. “ You can’t come with us this time.”

“ Why not?” Dru asked. “ Maybe he can sniff out the spell.”

“ Yeah , boss,” Alex said.

Rufus seemed to understand Dru and Alex’s tones and attempted to do a Fluffy puppy-eyed impression, low pleading whine included.

“ If he barks and wakes someone up, we’re toast,” I said.

Alex crouched next to him. “ He won’t do that, will you, Rufus ?” He gave the dog’s neck and head a vigorous petting. “ Will you, boy?”

Rufus let out a low yip of agreement.

“ Dogs can’t smell magic,” Hutton said.

“ Speaking from personal experience?” Dorsey asked.

Hutton glared at her. “ Be silent, crone.”

Dorsey pursed her lips but didn’t say another word.

For some reason I felt the need to defend her. This was truly an upside-down world. “ Leave her alone, Hutton . Just because you can’t detect magic doesn’t mean Rufus can’t.”

“ Whatever .”

Decision to bring Rufus along made, we huddled into a group outside the Corner Rose’s back gate, looking not at all like a band of criminals about to conduct an art heist.

Luckily , the back alley was seldomly used.

“ We could jump over,” Hutton said. He hefted himself up onto the waist-level brick part of the fence with the help of the iron spikes.

“ Speak for yourself, Hutton ,” Dorsey barked.

He eyed her, as if measuring how hard it’d be to toss her over.

“ No throwing old ladies around,” I warned.

“ Now , now, depends on the kind of throwing,” she said with a raspy giggle.

Hutton shuddered and jumped back down.

A single weak headlight illuminated the alleyway, and a bicycle came to a screeching halt next to us.

“ Yo ,” a young woman said. “ Alex here?”

“ Hey , dude,” Alex said, stepping forward and doing a handshake-shoulder-bump greeting with her. “ Thanks for coming.”

“ Yes , thanks,” I added.

“ No problem, no problem,” she chirped with clear excitement. “ What do you need me to open?”

“ Can you do the back gate?” I pointed at the lock. The Corner Rose’s backyard was twice the size of mine, but the back gate had a similar iron lock.

“ Sure thing, sweetgums.” She twisted a small backpack to her front and dug inside. Not a minute later, she and her set of picklocks had gotten the gate open.

April clapped softly. “ Amazing .”

Susy beamed. “ Thanks , dude. I usually can do it faster, but I’m a little rusty.” She blinked, then glanced at the rest of us. “ Just a hobby, of course.”

Hutton snorted. “ Of course.”

Susy’s eyes widened, as if she’d only now taken a good look at Hutton . The alleyway was drenched in semi-darkness, so it was definitely possible. “ Oh , man. You’re the alpha.”

Hutton’s aura swarmed us, and I elbowed his side. “ She gets it.”

He sent me a disgruntled glower, but the aura abated. “ I am.”

“ Don’t worry,” Alex said cheerfully. “ We’re good.”

Susy shrugged and opened the gate fully.

“ Remember ,” I told everyone in a low voice. “ Keep your voices down. Whispers only.”

I saw a few eye-rolls. April nodded enthusiastically, and Alex gave me a thumbs up.

“ Can you open the back door too?” I asked Susy , pointing across the backyard. Norman had turned the space into an extension of his gallery, with neat tiled paths snaking around empty plots reserved for statues and other outside art. In the low light, the few works on display created strange, unsettling shapes.

“ Jesus , even the statues are creepy,” Dru whispered with a shiver.

Rufus agreed with a low whine.

“ Maybe one of these is the culprit?” Hutton asked, going to the closest creation—knots of metal mounted in a zig-zag shape.

“ Good idea,” I said with surprise.

Hutton arched an eyebrow. “ I’m known to have those from time to time.”

That was such an Ian -like thing to say, my chest constricted painfully. I missed Ian so much. I missed his solid, warm presence by my side, the way he made me face reality with his unrelenting “oh?”s, and the way he made me want to hug him and stay in his arms forever.

Dru nudged me. “ We got this,” she whispered reassuringly because she was the bestest best friend ever and had known where my thoughts had gone.

I swallowed the stone lodged in my throat. “ Let me test.” I brought out my moon water spray bottle and began testing the different artworks, the others following me like a flock of grumpy sheep.

Detect .

I made sure to keep my power as low as possible—just enough to make the moon water react and nothing more.

All the statues were magic-free.

“ We gotta get inside,” I told the others.

They all nodded in unison. Hutton caught himself mid-nod and began glowering at the rest of the group instead.

Susy went to the back door, which had been replaced by a more modern metal version of mine, and dug into her backpack for another lockpicking kit.

“ Wait ,” I said. “ Do you know how to deactivate alarms?” In normal circumstances, I’d assume the shop, like almost every other shop in Olmeda , wouldn’t be alarmed. But Norman wasn’t from here, so he probably had higher security standards.

“ No clue,” Susy said.

“ Do you know anyone?” I asked Alex .

His forehead scrunched as he thought about it. “ Don’t think so.”

“ Wyatt ? Any of your regulars?”

“ Why are you asking me again?” he demanded.

“ Shh . Be quiet.”

“ Why are you asking me again?” he repeated in an outraged whisper.

“ Oh , stop it,” Dorsey said. “ We all know the kind of person who goes to your bar.”

“ No , you don’t.”

I shushed him again. “ If you can’t speak in whispers, then you need to stand outside.” I pointed toward the alleyway.

If looks could kill, I’d be a new ghost addition to the Corner Rose .

“ Focus ,” Hutton said in a harsh hiss. “ Does anyone know someone who can bypass the alarm system?”

We fell into a thoughtful silence.

A noise outside the gate had us all snap to attention. Susy and Alex froze. April dove behind the closest statue. Dorsey hid behind Wyatt . Hutton went so straight he grew two inches, and Dru slunk into the shadows covering the nearby corner.

The weight of their gazes fell on me.

And it actually felt good. That’s what I was here for, after all—to help the paranormal community when they got into a mess.

I strode purposefully toward the back gate, Rufus trotting silently by my side. A familiar metal clang echoed in the distance, and when I peeked into the alleyway, I saw a figure standing by my back gate.

“ Over here,” I said, waving my hand.

The figure turned my way and I recognized them instantly— Lilian Valenti .

She closed the distance and tilted her head to peek inside the Corner Rose’s backyard. “ Having a party?”

“ We came up with a new plan. I thought you were sick?” Hope rose suddenly. “ Are your powers back?”

“ Nope . Just high on painkillers. I wanted to check on your progress. What’s the new plan?”

I explained my new theory about the harming spell being in the Corner Rose in as few words as possible while she listened intently.

“ That’s not a bad thought. Have you talked with the owner?”

I winced. “ Not exactly. He’s not a paranormal.”

“ I see. Do you have a key?”

“ We have a lock picker, but…”

“ But ?”

“ We’re not sure how to disable the alarm.”

Lilian gave me a wide smile. “ I know how.”