3. Magical Solutions
Magical Solutions
Kade
I ’d collapsed into bed after a slightly later finish without undressing or eating dinner. When I thought about it, I wasn’t even sure I’d eaten lunch. It was really no wonder that my clothes were hanging off my already narrow hips.
Realizing I couldn’t avoid the light streaming in from the window any longer, I checked my alarm clock and got up.
Pushing off the blanket that I must have pulled over myself in the night, I rose, stretching out the kinks, and then undressed, leaving a trail of clothes on the way to the bathroom.
Switching on the shower, I took a leak and stepped under the freezing water to wake myself up before turning the water to a pleasant warmth, allowing it to ?wash my cares away.
First on my list after some food, maybe, was a trip to The Spell Store that my friend Poppy ran.
It didn’t open until ten, so I had a couple of hours to waste.
After so many hours of sleep, I still yawned as I washed my hair.
I’d passed out around nine and woken just before eight, but felt bone-weary.
I could sleep for ten hours and still need a nap later recently.
Brushing the thought off, I put it down to not eating enough calories for what was a pretty active job.
The longer I worked for Mercury, the harder the job seemed to be physically.
As a wolf shifter, I was pretty fit. Sure, it’d been a while since I’d shifted and taken part in a moon run, but my shifter perks didn’t seem to help recently.
My wolf often felt far away, and I was just so tired all the damn time.
Even after I’d finished washing, I stayed under the spray, just enjoying the feel on my skin. Using it to keep me grounded in the moment until the water ran cold again and my skin erupted in goosebumps. Letting out a high-pitched, “yip!” I scrambled out of the shower and into a fluffy towel.
Grateful I’d done laundry the day before when I’d been feeling pretty good, I pulled on some clean black skinny jeans and a long-sleeved charcoal t-shirt. Running my fingers through my curls a little, I called it good and went into the kitchen in search of something I actually wanted to eat.
The nearly empty fridge didn’t inspire me and I needed something more than cereal after missing dinner and probably lunch, so I decided to eat out somewhere in Northarbor near Poppy’s shop.
I grabbed up my phone and car keys and locked up my house, checking the wards were still intact, out of habit.
My car was parked next to the company van in the driveway.
Honestly, I kind of hated the car. It was a boring silver-colored, mid-level manufacturer hatchback.
Designed to blend in with all the other similar cars out there.
I could afford something way better, the same way that I could have afforded to buy a better house.
I had the money, after all. The council had made sure of it.
Except, everything about my current identity was meant to help me blend in.
Even my job was unremarkable. Who paid attention to delivery drivers?
Not being stuck in an office made it easier for me to hide, since I wasn’t always in the same place.
The drive to Northarbor took about fifteen minutes since there was surprisingly little traffic on the roads.
I entered the name of Poppy’s shop into the GPS since I always got turned around on the side streets surrounding the store and wanted to avoid traffic if I could.
I knew there was a pretty decent diner nearby, and I wanted to be in and out of the store just after opening.
If I got home on time, I could nap before my afternoon shift.
The drive seemed to have sapped my energy, or it was the lack of food getting to me.
I parked down the street from The Spell Store and headed into the diner, grabbing a booth seat where I could see the door and the adjacent street.
The server approached within a couple of minutes to take my order; a large coffee and a stack of pancakes with bacon and eggs.
I really needed the protein and carbs. I received a quick smile from the guy and an up and down look, making it clear that he liked what he saw.
Human guys were cool and all. They loved it when they found out I was an omega, but usually, when I was on form, they didn’t have the stamina to keep up with me.
My food arrived quickly and was just as delicious as I remembered, yet my appetite vanished after just a few bites of the fluffy pancakes I’d smothered in syrup.
Forcing myself to finish up, I ordered another coffee to wash it down.
Bite after bite, I made myself eat everything on the plate.
The server probably knew I was a shifter, there were tells, like our vivid eyes, and he would think something was wrong if I didn’t eat everything on my plate.
It’d been drummed into me the last few years that standing out for any reason was a bad idea.
Feeling vaguely nauseous by the time that I’d cleared my plate, I sipped at my coffee and took breaths, pushing my gorge down. Worried I’d never be able to eat there again if I vomited at the table. I thought about going to the restrooms but pushed that idea aside. I needed the calories badly.
Observing the passersby, I noticed Poppy enter her store and begin switching on the lights.
The feeling of nausea passed, and I relaxed a little into that sleepy, full feeling after a good meal.
I caught the server’s eye again and asked for the check, which arrived quickly, along with a slip of paper containing his phone number.
I pocketed both, because why not? And exited the diner, crossing the street to Poppy’s store.
The bell rang as I entered and Poppy turned from her position at the counter where she was sorting the register to greet me. “Oh hey, Kade, what’s up?”
“Hey, Poppy, how’ve you been?”
“Not bad, busy. You know how it is.”
I did. The shop was quiet now, but I knew Poppy made up spell bags and tinctures for online orders that people either collected or were put out for delivery. She hired a couple of people, another witch and a human to help her with all the orders, but she was often rushed off her feet.
“I’m really sorry, but I have something that’s urgent.
Normally I wouldn’t ask for it, but I’ve heard on the grapevine that my dad might be in Sweetwater.
” I let Poppy see my unease, something that went against the grain.
She knew some of the history with my dad.
Just enough so that she would be helpful, but not too much to put her in danger, I hoped.
“Oh, shit! Really? Fuck!” she exclaimed. “What do you need? A glamor or another scent masking spell instead of the talisman, something stronger?”
Often on deliveries, I wore a scent masking talisman in an effort to leave no trace of my real self.
Shifters had a great scent memory so if anyone from my past was to come looking for me, my scent would give me away.
Remembering I still had it tied to my wrist because it needed skin contact to work, I took it off and rammed it into my pocket.
Hopefully, I’d be leaving with something better.
“I have to work in Sweetwater, so a masking spell will make me stand out to other shifters. I use that talisman you gave me to mask my scent everywhere else, but shifters can smell the magic on it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Also, not having a scent is weird and I move too much like a shifter not to be one. Other shifters pick up on that super quick. So I was thinking, could you make me a beta?”
“A beta?” Poppy echoed.
“My dad will look for an omega, not a beta,” I explained. “It’d need to be seamless, though.”
Poppy nodded and wrote something on a pad of paper next to the register.
“I’ll need to put in a quick call to the council,” she informed me.
“This kind of magic is restricted, like your talisman, but I reckon with your history that they’ll allow it.
” She picked up her phone and tapped out a message.
I nodded, expecting that answer, and went back to the other thing she’d mentioned. “As for a glamor, like a talisman, shifters can smell them, so that’s out.”
“Seriously?” Poppy repeated, looking dumbstruck.
“Yeah, not so easy to tell when it’s on a witch or fae. You guys already smell of magic, but on a shifter or human? Absolutely. Magic has this… I dunno, a spicy scent. It tingles my nose.”
“Well, fuck!” She gave a semi-hysterical laugh.
“I know, right? I just have to hope that I looked vastly different now than I did at twenty. He last found me but didn’t see me, just two years ago.
I just have to hope no-one took any photos as they watched me.
I already dye my hair. It’s lucky my eyebrows and lashes and uh…
down there,” I pointed at my crotch, “were brown anyway.”
“That’s not your natural color?” Poppy asked, confused.
“Nah, more of a reddish-brown, so we went for a deep brown color and I used this creamy potion that got rid of my facial hair since it had a bit of red to it. Makes me look younger too. I get carded all the time.”
“Huh, hair removal potion?”
“Yeah, the council had a witch help me adjust my appearance. They had to put my face back together after the beating I took.”
I felt more than saw the comment land and winced as Poppy blanched.
It was thoughtless to speak so carelessly about something so horrific.
A witch and a fae had rebuilt my face with their combined magical healing.
If I’d been human I would have died, but my wolf was stubborn, demanding we hold on because we hadn’t met our mate yet, and kept us holding on until Papa could get us help.
Closing the distance between us, I put my hand on her arm, “sorry Poppy, it’s a lot, my past.” I turned her to face me properly, “but look, I’m fine.”
She assessed me, “are you though?”
“Pft, of course, I am!” I said and then I tried to change the subject, “so about that beta smell? What did they say?”
Poppy let me redirect her, but not before she gave me a strange look. I needed to stay on task, though, because I was exhausted and still had to drive home before I could sleep.
Scanning her phone screen, she nodded. “As I thought, they gave the go-ahead. It’s a simple enough potion to put together, but it’ll be a few minutes.
I need to see if we have everything in stock.
Take a seat, Kade.” Poppy disappeared into the back room muttering to herself and clutching the pad of paper she’d written notes on.
I moved over to the armchair in the window, a sudden wave of dizziness making me glad I could sit down.
A pain lanced through my head, a feeling akin to an ax coming down on me I imagined, and I slumped into the seat clutching my head.
Breathing through the pain, I waited for it to stop and the world to straighten out.
Several deep puffs of air later, everything settled, though there was an echo of the pain and my hands trembled.
Watching the street without really seeing, I got so lost in my swirling thoughts I didn’t hear Poppy return with a bag and I let out a yelp when she touched my arm.
“Shit, sorry!”
Clutching my chest and feeling my rapid heartbeat, I just about managed a weak laugh. “No, I’m sorry. Was in my own world there.”
Poppy patted my arm soothingly. I missed regular touch. “Okay, I’ve got a week’s supply here. Take it daily, when you first get up in the morning. I made a couple of spares for emergencies, but I want to see you here next week so you can let me know if there are any issues, okay?”
“Sure thing. Daily with some spares. Come back next week. Got it.” I tried to sound sure of what I was doing.
“Now, I want you to take one just now so I can see if there’s any reaction. That alright?”
“Yeah, no problem.” I reached into the bag she gave me and pulled out a small blue vial stoppered with a cork. Removing the cork carefully, I raised it to my lips before saluting Poppy with it and downing the tincture in one go.
I swallowed, but fuck was that vile and I gagged, “holy fuck! That’s rancid!”
Poppy had the nerve to look sheepish. “Yeah, sorry about that. There’s no way to make it taste better without damaging the potency.”
We waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened. “How do we know it worked?” I finally asked.
She glared at me. “When has one of my potions ever not worked for you, huh? Your anti-scrying still works and you’ve never complained about the taste.”
“That’s because it’s once a month and it tastes like lemon, Pops. I wonder if we can find a shifter on the street and ask.”
We both leaned to look out of the window, “There!” Poppy pointed, “that’s one right, I dunno what though.”
I looked at the woman she was pointing at and observed the way she walked, like she was floating. “Bird,” I said firmly and Poppy looked at me questioningly. “Most shifters in the city are either birds in the Aviary or cats in the Pride. She moves like a bird, I’d even say swan shifter.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, let’s ask!”
We dashed to the door and opened it just as the woman was about to pass by, “excuse me?” Poppy called, “could you help us for a second?”
The woman looked between us, looking at me more warily than Poppy, and decided we weren’t about to harm her on an increasingly busy street. “Sure, what can I do?” her voice was high and melodic.
“Sniff him and tell me what you think he is,” Poppy said, pointing unnecessarily at me.
I was more sure that she was a swan as she stepped closer, giving us both an amused look.
Her fire-engine red lips twisted into a smile.
We stepped away from the door as she wrinkled her nose at the smell of all the magic.
Then she took a few breaths of the air surrounding me.
“Beta wolf, I’d say,” she said finally and firmly.
“Thank you,” I said, “and you are an omega swan?” I had to go by instinct since I couldn’t smell a thing. I put it down to spending the last half hour in the magic shop and dismissed my worries.
“Correct. Now I must be going. Did I get it right?”
“You did,” Poppy assured her, “thank you for your time.”
Together, we re-entered the store, and Poppy dropped into my vacated chair. “Wow, that’s so cool!”
I laughed, the sound light and free. The relief was staggering, and I felt myself smile. This potion changed everything.