Upside Down Magic (Good Bad Magic #6)

Chapter 31

THIRTY-ONE

We all jumped, startled, and turned toward the hallway.

Norman stood behind us, dressed in red plaid flannel pajamas and holding a small cast-iron pan in his hands.

“ What’s going on?” he repeated, his wild eyes going from face to face. “ Dru ?”

“ Hello , Norman ,” Dru said as if it was our usual morning meeting at the Tea Cauldron .

I scrambled to my feet and managed not to face plant—although it was a close one.

“ Norman ! I’m so glad to see you!”

His gaze went to the potion bowl and the circle of herbs and crystals. “ What …what are you doing?”

“ No time for explanations,” I said in my best no-nonsense, confident voice. “ Which of these two artifacts has come in the last week?” I pointed at the two suspect art pieces.

His confused gaze followed my finger. “ Uh . Neither ? They’ve been here for two weeks now.”

“ Is there anything that arrived within the last few days?” Lilian asked sharply.

“ Y -yes? I got a new item on Sunday … Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“ Later , I promise.” Along with a memory potion. Boy , I hoped Lilian had one because they were way above my power range. “ Can you take us to the item? It’s very important, Norman .”

He blinked, studied my face for a few moments, then nodded slowly. “ O -okay. I’ll bring it. Give me a second.” He turned and disappeared into the door marked as office.

“ Twenty says he’s calling the police,” Susy whispered.

“ Should we stop him, boss?” Alex asked.

Should we? “ Hey you,” I exclaimed as Wyatt inched toward the back door. “ No leaving the rest of us in a lurch.”

Rufus growled in assent.

Wyatt glared but stayed put.

“ Boss ?” Alex urged.

I opened my mouth to tell him that since we’d been caught we might as well wait and see if Norman would actually help but closed it when Norman returned, sans cast-iron pan.

Instead , he held a vase.

Or , should I say, the essence of all evil.

Lilian inhaled sharply, Alex’s and Susy’s eyes widened into plates, Dru winced and took a step backward, Hutton let out a low growl, Dorsey crossed her chest, and even Rufus snarled.

Wyatt picked his nose.

He was probably used to being in the presence of everything foul and dark, thanks to his bar.

The vase in itself was a beautiful, polished creation painted white with green leafy decorations outlined in gold paint. It was about the size of a football and perfect for sacrificing flowers into speedy wilting.

The bad vibes emanating from the thing were nearly overwhelming.

“ It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Norman said full of innocent pride, clearly misunderstanding everyone’s reaction to it. “ Family heirloom. I recently came into possession of it, but I can’t wait to put it on display! This one won’t be for sale, of course,” he confessed with a soft chuckle.

“ Family heirloom?” I ventured.

“ Oh , yes. From my mother’s side of the family! I don’t have much contact with them, but from time to time I get lovely surprises like this.”

“ What was the name of the family, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“ Boucher . They were originally from here, you know, but they moved away a long way back.”

Probably right after their coven leader got busted by the Council .

“ I need to, uh, do something with the vase,” I said. “ Do you mind?”

For the first time since he’d moved in, Norman frowned in my presence. “ What kind of thing? This vase is priceless.”

How to explain the world of paranormals, magic spells, and how this vase was almost a hundred percent causing people’s magic to go haywire in a sentence or two?

“ Dude , that thing is cursed,” Alex blurted.

Norman blinked at the vase. “ Cursed ?”

“ The bad juju can be felt from the other side of the city,” April chirped. “ Can I touch it? I’ve never touched something so evil.”

“ E -evil?” Norman sputtered. He held the vase away from his body. “ I did think it seemed a little…off.”

“ Just the vase, not everything else here?” Dorsey snapped. “ What is wrong with you, boy?”

Norman opened his mouth but no words came out.

“ Don’t mind Dorsey ,” I said. “ Cranky old women gotta get their thrills by demeaning others.”

“ Hey !”

Wyatt laughed.

“ Oh , shut up, Wyatt . You’re only here because they couldn’t find anyone else,” Dorsey said.

He sneered. “ I volunteered, old hag. Bet you had to buy your way in.”

“ That’s enough, children.” I clapped my hands to make my point. Everyone turned to me, and I pointed at the floor in front of me. “ Norman , place the vase here, please. I’m going to do a spell to cleanse the vase. Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to it.”

Norman hesitated. “ A spell?”

“ Yup . You know I’m a witch, right?” I thumbed toward the wall connecting our shops. There was more than one way to peel an apple, and he didn’t need to know I was talking about spirit mages rather than human practitioners. Someone would have to clue him in at some point about the paranormal world, though—if his family had been part of the coven, he probably had some paranormal blood in him. For now, it was better to keep things simple.

“ I … I guess so.”

“ I know people think witches are all burning sage and sleeping with crystals, but there is real power in what we do. You said it yourself—the vase gives you bad vibes.”

His gaze flicked from me to the vase. “ It does feel uncomfortable being around it.”

I beamed. “ So let’s cleanse it so you can put it on display and not make visitors uncomfortable, okay?”

He blinked again, then seemed to come to a decision. “ O -okay. Yes . Yes , okay.” He put the vase on the floor and stepped back, wringing his hands. “ You won’t break it or anything, right?”

“ Of course not.” Having to de-spell a hundred broken pottery pieces would be an absolute nightmare.

I scooted forward until I was sitting by the vase, the waves of evil, dark magic almost too much to bear. I hadn’t brought a second spray bottle with me, and I didn’t want to waste any more time and have Norman change his mind about allowing the spell, so I dipped my hands in the potion then wrapped my fingers around the vase.

A hiss escaped me.

This thing was Evil with a capital E . It tried to pull at my power, the layer of paint all but shifting under my skin like white ooze.

Lilian crouched on the other side of the vase.

“ Just one small spell,” she said softly but sternly.

Alex gave me two thumbs up. “ You got this, boss.”

“ Do it, do it!” April chanted encouragingly.

Hutton crossed his arms and scowled. “ Do your job, witch.”

“ Yeah , hurry up, Avery ,” Dorsey barked. “ I’m peckish.”

Rufus growled at her and came to sit by my side. I wished I could pet him, but I didn’t want to lose contact with the vase.

My gaze met Dru’s . She smiled at me in that sly way of hers. “ Gotta make Grandma proud, right?”

Yes . She was so right.

I would do this, and Grandma would be proud, wherever she was.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my intention.

Let magic’s nature prevail over disruptive spells.

There was an inaudible click in the atmosphere, and the air in the room suddenly felt a hundred times lighter.

“ Wow ,” someone whispered in awe.

“ Good job,” Lilian said.

Rufus nudged my shoulder.

I opened my eyes and smiled at Dru . “ We should invite Norman to the Christmas event.”

“ Christmas event?” Norman asked.

“ What about me?” Wyatt demanded. “ I asked first!”

Hutton took a menacing step forward. “ Her event, her choice.”

Aww . I tried to say something but a sudden lethargy took over my muscles.

“ Yo , is that the police?”

Blue and red lights flashed against the ceiling and the top of the walls.

“ Oh , oh,” Norman exclaimed. “ I forgot to call them off!”

“ Hah . You all owe me twenty,” Susy said.

Dorsey booked it for the back door.

“ Sheesh , the old lady is fast,” Alex whispered in awe.

“ Yup ,” I said, then passed out.

When I next opened my eyes, I found myself in my room, on my bed, with someone caressing my hair.

Ian’s face came into focus, his strong features and sharp green eyes showing no trace of illness. The potion had worked. The spell was broken. He was sitting next to me.

Life was good.

I smiled up at him. “ I love you.”

He smiled back and traced my cheek. “ I love you too, angel.”

Then I passed out again.