Upside Down Magic (Good Bad Magic #6)

Chapter 32

THIRTY-TWO

Two weeks later.

My hand reached out to change the music channel as we drove to Montel in Ian’s SUV .

“ No channel changes,” Ian said with mock severity. “ It hasn’t been twenty minutes.”

Pouting , I returned my hand to my lap as the latest pop sensation’s song filled the SUV . Fluffy barked in unison with the chorus, and I couldn’t help but sing along with her. I’d have reached over to pet her, but she was in one of those dog carriers attached to the back seat. By her side, Rufus looked out of the window, almost as tired of my constant changing of music stations as Ian was.

He had put the twenty minute limit in place five minutes after we’d left the cemetery.

To say I was fidgety was an understatement.

But what was a witch to do when the Council requested a meeting out of the blue?

Ian reached over, squeezed my leg, encased in my best dark green suit pants to go with my white shirt and only blazer, then returned his hand to the steering wheel. “ It’s going to be okay, Hope .”

I gurgled a sort of agreement, even though inside I was shaking in my boots. Doyle’s crisp, professional voice over the phone had been hard to interpret, and I hadn’t had the foresight to record the call so I could play it for Ian or Dru to help me guess what the problem was.

Ian had insisted there was no problem. Dru had asked if I’d forgotten to turn in paperwork.

Of course I hadn’t.

At least, I didn’t think I had. I had e-mailed Doyle my report on the vase and how we had nullified the spell, and she had e-mailed back that everything appeared to be in order now and to go ahead and open the shop again. But what if Tammy had complained? What if she was affronted my potion had worked where hers had failed? Tammy was at the top of the witch hierarchy—one word from her and my tenure as a witch shop owner would be over.

Cold sweat formed on my lower back. Grandma’s and my dream couldn’t end this easily, right? Surely fixing things and saving the day had to trump ego-driven complaints, right?

“ Focus on what you can do, not what’s out of your hands.”

For once, the advice had come from Ian rather than my bottomless collection of Grandma’s wise words and affirmations. I was thankful—he was right. I needed to focus on the good things, not the what-ifs.

After the police’s arrival at the art gallery, Norman had been able to convince them that everything was all right while Hutton and Dru sneaked me back to my shop through the back alley. Her powers restored, Lilian had used one of my witch-detecting kits to test Norman , and he had turned out to have some power, as we’d guessed. Being a spirit witch, he wouldn’t have known it without someone telling him—unlike elemental mages, it was rare to accidentally use spirit magic. A person could spend their whole lives without knowing they were a witch, as I would have if Grandma hadn’t left me her spellbook and letter.

After talking with Norman and getting a better background on the vase, Lilian had surmised that the original coven member in Norman’s family had meant to do a spell that siphoned other people’s magic but it had backfired, as dark magic tended to do. Her theory was that the intent had been to use it on the other coven members, but the coven had been busted before they could use it, and the family had taken the vase away. Once the vase had been returned to Olmeda , the spell had activated on its own, causing all the issues with people’s magic.

It was scary to think spells that powerful and damaging were possible.

But it was also a great relief to know that good magic could always defeat evil. Even if it took a couple of tries.

As for the rest of those involved in the break-in and the second potion, rumors had spread fast and everyone had reached minor celebrity status within the paranormal community. Dorsey’s bed and breakfast was booked solid for the next six months, Alex had been offered a new remodel job, April had landed a new position at a prestigious law office, Wyatt’s bar was apparently the place to be (much to his irritation), and the Tea Cauldron’s clientele of local paranormals had doubled in size, not to mention my potions being the new hot commodity in town.

Even Sonia had dropped in to praise my actions and thank me.

Thank me!

And she was alone, too, no Brimstone hovering nearby forcing her to say nice things to me.

To top it all off, the Christmas event was running smoother than honey. The cards and stickers had been printed in time, the treasure hunt aspect was a hit among families—even counting Wyatt’s last-minute lemonade and chicken wings stand in front of his bar—and Mei’s Christmas tree cookies were perennially sold out.

It would’ve been the perfect Christmas season but for the Council’s meeting request.

I checked my phone. Twenty minutes to the second.

Hard rock blasted through the speakers. Not that I minded, since Ian’s mouth curved upward, and he accompanied the rhythm by drumming on the steering wheel.

Adorable .

Fluffy yipped in agreement from the back seat, while Rufus deigned to give us a bark of approval.

My heart swelled.

When Ian had insisted they all accompany me to Montel , I hadn’t been sure it was a good idea—if there was bad news waiting for me at the Council building, I wanted some time to process it alone before I brought everyone’s mood down. But now I was ecstatic they were here with me. This was my family, after all, and their support would carry me through no matter what awaited me in Doyle’s office.

All too soon we arrived in Montel and found a parking spot by the Council building. Ian agreed to wait with the dogs at a nearby park, and after hugging Fluffy and Rufus and drawing in from their strength, I marched purposefully into the building, ready to meet my fate.

“ Welcome , Hope ,” Doyle said warmly when I entered her office.

“ Hello , Ms . Doyle ,” I replied while trying to dissect her tone. Warm was good. Very good. Unless it was pity warm. Had it been pity warm?

“ Please have a seat.”

Definitely not pity warm. I’d done pity warm plenty of times in the past—you wouldn’t believe how many people get dumped at coffee shops—and Doyle’s voice lacked the correct undertones.

Still , I could be mistaken.

Sitting nervously on the edge of the visitors’ chair, I licked my extremely dry lips.

Doyle sat as well and turned to her monitor, which was angled away from me. “ I was delighted to receive your positive report on the strange magic happenings in Olmeda .”

“ I’m glad.” I barely got the words out, and I cleared my throat.

She tapped on the keyboard. “ We also got two letters of recommendation, praising your actions.”

My back went ramrod straight. “ You did?”

Doyle’s smile widened. “ Indeed . From Lilian Valenti and Tammy Summers .”

My jaw hit the floor. “ From Tammy ?”

“ Yes . They both highlighted your quick thinking and willingness to help those affected by the spell. Ms . Valenti was very impressed with the alacrity with which you closed the shop so other paranormals wouldn’t be affected.”

My cheeks burned. “ Ms . Valenti is very kind.”

“ I happen to agree with her.”

“ You … You do?”

Doyle pushed the keyboard aside and linked her hands on the desk. “ I do. It’s common for establishment owners to put their businesses first in order to avoid gaining a bad reputation or appear as being the problem. Your actions during this crisis as well as past situations show that you put the paranormal community members above your ego. I’m proud of you, Hope .”

The burning in my cheeks intensified. Sure , I’d had my share of “don’t tell anyone for now” situations in the past, but I liked to think common sense had always prevailed with my decisions. “ Thank you, Ms . Doyle . That means a lot.”

“ Because of the severity of the spell, I had to escalate the incident to my superiors.”

I deflated like a sad balloon. Her voice might still be warm, but the words were ominous enough. Nothing good ever came from escalating and superiors in the same sentence.

“ They agreed with my recommendation.”

“ I see.” Here it came. On probation for another six months, if I was lucky.

“ Congratulations , Hope . The Tea Cauldron is officially yours. I have some forms I need you to sign and?—”

“ What ?”

Doyle’s eyes crinkled at the corners, she was smiling so wide. “ The shop is officially yours. The Council has determined that your actions in the past few months show that you’re more than qualified to take ownership of the Tea Cauldron and have brought your probation to an end.”

I jumped up from the chair and punched the air with both fists. “ Yes !”

Doyle chuckled. “ Now , about these forms…”

Thirty minutes later, after a lot of signing, another round of congratulations, and a lot of internal thank you, universe , I left the Council building in a cloud. I all but ran to the park and launched myself straight into Ian’s arms

He caught me effortlessly and held me close. “ What is it, angel?”

I was almost too excited to be able to speak. “ The Tea Cauldron is mine!”

His answering grin was wide and immediate. “ Is it now?”

“ Yes !” I squealed and hugged him hard. “ They gave it to me!”

Fluffy and Rufus crowded us, barking and yipping in concern. I disentangled myself from Ian’s arms and bent to hug them.

“ Fluffy ! Rufus ! The Council thinks I’m a good witch!”

Fluffy happily slobbered all over my face, which I didn’t even mind, and Rufus let out a woof that sounded very much like a duh . Getting back to my feet, I accepted a tissue from Ian and wiped my cheek.

“ Tell me everything,” he said, still smiling.

So I told him, and hugged him again, and kissed him right on the lips, and then he kissed me back, and a few long minutes later we parted, breathless.

“ I can’t believe it,” I said. I was pretty sure stars were still shooting out of my eyes.

“ Believe it.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear, his smile a little too smug.

“ Did you know?” I asked with sudden suspicion.

“ No . But I thought it likely.”

“ You did not!” Fluffy pawed at my leg, seeking more attention, so I gathered her in my arms and rubbed my face against her fur. “ I was so worried about this meeting. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“ Sometimes I’m wrong.”

I huffed. “ Sure .” But it was impossible to remain peeved at anything. My smile grew bright again. “ Ian , the Tea Cauldron is mine.”

He cradled my cheek tenderly, and I leaned into his hand, peering deeply into his eyes, seeing my joy reflected there. Best mate in the world.

“ Let’s go home,” he said.

We piled into the SUV and began the long drive home, which I spent brainstorming aloud all my plans for improving the shop. To Ian , Rufus , and Fluffy’s credit, none of them seemed to mind the explosion of ideas. Fluffy yipped in approval every time I stopped to catch my breath, and Rufus let out wise woofs from time to time.

Ian drove, lips curved in amusement, responding agreeably every single time I asked, “ What do you think?”

It hit me then—how wonderful my new family was.

How had I gotten this lucky?

Darkness was falling by the time we got to Olmeda . I hummed in happiness at the beautiful sight of the streets and colorful Christmas lights draped everywhere. Maybe I’d get an extra bright string of lights to hang from the upstairs windows to celebrate they were now my windows.

Something caught my attention. “ This is not the way home.” Either of our homes.

“ Of course not,” he said.

“ Where are we going?”

He arched his brows, as if the answer was obvious. “ Celebrating , of course.”

My excitement bubbled even higher. Of course we had to celebrate. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do more than to celebrate with Ian and Dru and Key and the strays and Brimstone and, well, everyone else. But that could wait for tomorrow. Right now, I just wanted to celebrate with Ian .

Ian found a parking spot near Guiles and Romary and shooed me out of the SUV .

“ We’re celebrating here?” I asked, confused. We had gone out on dates here a couple of times, but nothing worth a celebration of this nature.

“ Sure are,” he said, letting Fluffy and Rufus out of the car.

He took my hand and led us through the throng of people. It was still too early in the night for the big crowds, but the web of streets was busy enough.

“ Are we going to Rita’s ?”

“ Nope .”

“ The Cheese Beers ?” It was a pub that paired cheeses with beers on the opposite side of Guiles and Romary . Luckily for me, they also served other alcohol.

“ Nope .”

“ Where then?”

He smiled but didn’t answer, and then I realized where he was taking me.

No . No way.

The Crawler came into view: two wide shuttered windows and a brightly lit door, with Mark standing guard in front of it like a giant pitbull with his arms crossed.

He grinned wide when he saw me. “ I hear congratulations are in order.”

My mouth fell open. “ You know? How ?”

Mark snorted. “ Gosh , wonder how?”

I spun toward Ian . “ You told him? When ?”

“ Texted Dru before we left Montel .”

And I had been so focused on my plans for the shop I hadn’t noticed! But wait, did that mean…

“ Why are we here?” I asked suspiciously, looking from one to the other.

Mark stepped aside, allowing me free passage to the Crawler’s door.

“ No ,” I said, inhaling sharply. “ Am I dreaming?”

“ One -night exception to the rule,” Mark said, and he didn’t even sound irked about it.

I stepped over the ward on the floor, which lit up in “witch colors,” and tentatively pushed the door open.