Upside Down Magic (Good Bad Magic #6)

Chapter 33

THIRTY-THREE

Country rock blasted out of the room along with the noise of a dozen conversations. The moment I stepped in, though, all noise ceased abruptly.

The room was larger than I’d anticipated, brightly lit with cozy yellow lights. Framed photographs, slogans, and local sports team banners hung from the red brick walls and dark wooden accents. A bar eked out a corner of the room, with booths and tall tables filling the rest and leaving a small space for a tiny stage for live bands.

And , filling the tables close to the entrance, was the rest of my Olmeda family.

“ Congratulations !” Alex shouted. To my shock, everyone else in the pub—most of whom I didn’t know—joined in the loud congratulating, including Dru .

Key rushed over and gave me a huge hug. “ I’m so happy for you, Hope !”

I hugged her back, still somewhat thunderstruck. “ Thank you.” I glanced at Ian over her shoulder. “ You planned all this?”

“ Please ,” Dru said, walking up to us. “ It was a team effort.”

And then, in an aberration of all the universe’s laws, she also hugged me.

Very fast, mind, but it happened.

“ Proud of you,” she said, then leaned in. “ They have karaoke set up.”

“ I’m not getting drunk and putting on a show for the internet,” I said primly, even though the views of my last attempt had gotten us some brisk business. “ Don’t even think about it.”

Dru gave me a knowing look, then stepped back so Shane and Alex could claim my attention. I hugged them without a second thought. It was still so good to see Shane fully recovered from the spell. At first, he’d refused to shift back into wolf at all, but after a long talk with Ian , they’d both gone into the shifter forest and come back with an expression of utter relief on Shane’s face.

Ian might not want to shift, but he knew how important it was for other shifters. He truly was the best alpha.

“ Good job, boss,” Alex said with his usual good humor.

“ More than deserved,” Shane agreed.

Someone grunted by my side, and I turned to find Hutton standing next to us. Lilian hadn’t mentioned anything about Hutton’s blood having dark magic in it again, and I had assured him she sounded like a witch who knew how to keep secrets. Hutton was unconvinced, of course, and had walked around snarlier than usual for the first week after the incident. Luckily , he was relaxing back into his usual grumpy self, but I had a feeling Lilian knowing his secret would bother him for a long time to come.

Who knew—perhaps it was the impetus he needed to come clean to his pack.

In another surprising twist, Hutton actually shook my hand. A firm, peer-to-peer shake and not an attempt to pull rank over my poor fingers. “ Congratulations . The pack looks forward to doing business with you.”

“ And I with the pack,” I responded.

Hutton stepped aside to make space for Keith , who shook my hand a lot more effusively. “ Good to have you be official, Hope . Love those muffins of yours.”

“ Thanks , Keith . I’ll tell Mei to make more of your favorite.”

He grinned wide, then Hutton dragged him to a booth where two other shifters lifted their beer mugs in salute.

I waved back, then accepted congratulations from a few of the usuals, who had come up to me.

Then it was Sonia and Brimstone who stood in front of me. Sonia nodded curtly in greeting. “ Avery .”

“ Hello … Sonia .”

I braced myself for her ire, as I still didn’t know how she liked to be addressed, but she didn’t glare, and I figured I had a free pass due to the celebration.

“ Congratulations on becoming the official owner of the Tea Cauldron ,” she said.

By her side, Brimstone nodded in that theatrical way of his. A small rumble echoed over the music.

My smile reached epic proportions. Some things, I never wanted changed.

“ Congratulations on the shop, witch,” he said in his deep, ominous voice. And he meant it, too, since I was still more than willing to let him pick up shifts if he needed.

“ Thanks , Brim — Jeremy .”

“ I expect you to submit the forms registering your official ownership by Monday ,” Sonia said.

“ Of course, Sonia .”

Her eye twitched, but she gave me a curt goodbye and returned to their booth, which was still miraculously empty. Everyone in this room was probably as scared of her as I was.

“ Let’s get something to drink,” Ian suggested. He put a hand on my lower back and prodded me forward until we were sitting on stools at one of the tall tables. A few more people came by to congratulate me as we waited for our orders—beer for Ian , Hurricane for me, and shepherd pies. The drive and excitement had left me absolutely starving.

My phone dinged with several notifications: A heartfelt congratulations by April , Natalia asking if my new ownership meant I was giving her a raise, and Bosko showing me a receipt of someone who had bought twenty of his badges.

“ So ,” Dorsey said, appearing out of nowhere and giving me a fright. She clambered onto the stool on the other side of the table and slammed her pink drink on top. “ How much did you have to pay them?”

“ Pay who?” I looked at Ian for help, but he simply smiled and sipped on his beer.

“ The Council , duh.”

“ I didn’t pay the Council , Ms . Dorsey .”

“ That’s not what my sources say.”

“ Your sources are wrong.” Besides , I doubted she had any sources. She was just trying to irritate me. Hah . The joke was on her. “ Beware of one’s inner inability to be happy for others, for it likely means one will never find happiness in one’s own life.”

“ I’d like to inability your own life,” she grumbled, then left with her pink drink.

“ I think she likes me,” I told Dru .

Dru laughed. “ You know what? I think she does.”

Fluffy nudged me for attention, and I gathered her in my arms. “ I know you like me too, Fluffbutt .”

Fluffy lolled her tongue, eyes bright with excitement. She truly enjoyed being around so many people. Probably because they all aww -ed and oooh -ed at her and took photos of her cuteness.

Rufus sat silently by Ian’s side, keeping watch for any dangers to our table. The waiter had brought out bowls of water for them, as well as some snacks from the kitchen. I was surprised they were allowed inside, but I supposed if you let the witches and shifters in, you might as well let the dogs too.

Happy times.

Dru’s expression turned downright malevolent as she focused on something above my shoulder. I didn’t have to look to know Preston had entered the pub.

“ You know,” I said, “for someone who doesn’t care about her ex, you really spend a lot of energy reacting to his presence.”

She lifted her chin, staring at me down her nose. “ I don’t comment about your ghost pet zoo, and you don’t comment about my hobbies.”

“ It’s just one little octopus ghost!”

“ And an evil crone.”

Okay , she had a point. I giggled at the thought of putting Bagley’s locket out for people to feed and pet. This was followed by a slight burp. I peered at my glass. “ How strong are these drinks?”

“ I hear congratulations are in order.”

I turned to face Preston and beamed. “ Yes , thank you.”

He was dressed in his usual tailored suit, today in blue pinstripes and a bright white shirt.

I gestured toward the table. “ Wanna join us?”

Something bumped the central column of the table, and I was pretty sure Dru had just tried to kick me.

Preston looked at Dru pointedly, then at me, then smiled coolly. “ No , thank you. I have other plans tonight. Just wanted to drop by the party and congratulate you in person. About the Christmas event too.”

“ It’s a big hit. I’m thinking of doing another in spring.”

“ I’m looking forward to hearing more about that.” He made a show of checking his expensive wristwatch. “ Now if you’ll excuse me. Cavalier , Druscilla .”

Then he was gone in the blink of an eye.

“ Ass ,” Dru said, clearly irritated he’d gone too fast for her to throw her drink at his suit.

“ We all have one,” I said in commiseration.

Dru grinned. “ You’re so drunk.”

“ Nope .” I took another sip of my drink. “ But this is really good. I think I’ll have another.”

As I looked around the room for the waiter, I noticed Veva walk in. I waved enthusiastically, and she approached with a smile.

“ Hello , Hope ,” she said in her lovely warm voice. “ Congratulations .”

“ Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

She wrinkled her nose. “ I’m afraid I wasn’t of much help this time.”

“ On the contrary. Your support is the reason I was able to reach as many paranormals to help as I did. As Grandma used to say, it’s not about the barista making the one single perfect coffee, but also the employee who stocked the boxes, the driver who drove them, and the people at the plant and the farms.”

It might’ve been one of my old bosses who said that. Or social media.

Veva laughed. “ Wise words.”

I gestured toward the empty seat. “ Join us?”

She also consulted her wristwatch—much more stylish than Preston’s —then sat down. “ Thank you. I have some readings later, but I can spend a few.”

Some action by the small stage called my attention and I nudged Ian . “ Look , they’re setting up the karaoke equipment.”

“ And ?”

I waggled my eyebrows suggestively. “ You should go up there and show off your singing chops.” I had it on good authority Ian did karaoke to relax, but I’d yet to convince him to sing in front of me.

He made a slow study of my person, which left me tingling from the tip of my curled toes to the ends of my hair. “ If you join me.”

A huff escaped me, and I took a sip of my drink. “ Not gonna happen.”

Ten minutes later I was on the tiny stage, arm in arm with Ian , singing More than Words together. Dru was holding her phone, filming and laughing, Dorsey was throwing peanuts at me every time I failed to hit the high notes, and Key , Shane , and Alex were stopping Fluffy and Rufus from rushing the stage.

Life was good.