Chapter Twenty
If you’d told me ten years ago that my best friend would turn out to be a haughty, fashion-obsessed, argument-in-witch-form named Wanda Depraysie, I would have laughed you out of town.
If you’d gone on to tell me that I’d trust my safety and the safety of the whole damn town to a group of witches, I’d have thought you were on something.
And if you’d had the audacity to tell me I’d end up a spiritual sister of sorts to the whole damn race of witches?
I would have thought you needed to be committed.
Yet here I was, in the coven house and acknowledging (if only to myself) that it was my home away from home.
Setting up my things in Maverick’s brewing station felt a lot like making myself at home in a brother’s bedroom.
He would have been annoyed to find me here using his things, but he also would have tolerated me. Why? Because we were family.
The wards hummed faintly under my hands as I let myself in, a sleepy murmur of protection that recognized me and fell still again. The floorboards creaked familiarly beneath my weight, echoing too loudly in the otherwise quiet.
I made for the kitchen, thinking I might as well clean up while I waited.
A few empty mugs littered the counter, and someone had left an herb bundle drying by the window.
I wiped away the film of dust that always gathered after spellwork.
I was saved from having to further clean when the door at the far end of the hall creaked open.
A figure shuffled in, wrapped in a patchwork robe.
“Up late again, little sparrow?” Olga asked, voice somehow seeming thicker with sleep.
“Early, actually. I’ve got too much on my mind. I thought I’d make coffee before the morning chaos.”
Olga blinked at me through the dimness. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” I said. “Same as always?”
“Ja,” Olga replied, sliding onto a stool at the counter.
I measured the sugar, poured the cream, and stirred until the mixture looked just right.
Then, with a soft whistle, I poured a second cup into a tiny mug, just the right size for the raccoon perched on the edge of the counter.
Franz, Olga’s familiar, sniffed eagerly at the sweetened cream, whiskers twitching.
“You said you were done with the translation?” I asked as I wiped a stray coffee dribble from the counter.
Olga nodded, eyes sparkling. “Ja, every note from German to English. Zee translation is all ready if you vant to review it.”
“Tell me what you found,” I said eagerly.
It took everything I had not to lunge at the notebook she’d set on the kitchen table, because I desperately wanted to understand this legacy I’d been gifted. I had a feeling that it was the answer to protecting the people I loved.
“It’s rudimentary stuff, for zee most part.
A few of zee more popular elixirs for your traveling alchemist to peddle.
I can tell zis Klaus Schwarzkopf had to hawk magic for survival.
It’s vy he vas so jaded about zis mortal magic.
Alchemists are too human for zee monsters, and too monstrous for zee humans. ”
“But aside from his life’s tale of woe, what else did you find?” I pressed.
She laughed. “Like I said, zee spells are elixirs. Standard first lessons. Brews for vitality, love, and good fortune. Best brewed around crowds already enjoying zemselves. Absorbing zee ambient heat of good vibes into crystals, zat sort of zing. It is similar to vat you do now but... more.”
I raised an eyebrow, because I was slightly confused. I wasn’t sure if it was Olga’s thick accent or what. “Are you saying I need to brew while I’m in the middle of a party?”
“Did someone say party?”
The door to the kitchen swung open again, and Wanda stepped in, her heels clicking softly as she crossed the room. She sashayed into the kitchen, immediately reaching for the coffee pot and poured herself a steaming mug. And, of course, she was dressed to the nines.
The blouse hugged her curves in all the right places; the neckline dipping just enough to be daring, while her pencil skirt emphasized the long line of her legs. I smirked, setting my mug down on the counter.
“Wow. Trying to get your husband hot and bothered this early in the morning?”
Wanda laughed. “Maybe,” she admitted, taking a careful sip of coffee. “But can you really blame me?”
“I can when I’m sleeping a few doors down.”
Wanda and Lorcan slept at the coven house a few times a week as a show of good faith. After all, most High Witches lived at their coven houses. But Wanda being Wanda wanted more than just one house.
Wanda’s smirk broadened, wide and unrepentant. “I can’t help it if he’s yummy.”
“While Lorcan is definitely ‘yummy’, can you try to keep it in your pants for another few hours, at least?” I asked with a laugh. “I think I’ve figured out how to get myself out of your hair.”
“Oh?”
Olga nodded sagely, tapping the notebook. “If Poppy ist correct, zee owner of zis manual is after it.”
“Didn’t you say the books were Smith’s?” Wanda asked.
I nodded. “Well, they were. But I’m thinking maybe it was whoever owned them before he did and that person wants them back.”
“Ve can’t afford to vait vith a kobold on zee loose. Ve have to set a trap, vith Poppy and zee books as bait. To zat end, ve vant to brew an elixir.”
“An elixir?” Wanda repeated.
Olga nodded. “Ja. A celebratory coming-of-age party for Poppy as she graduates into her full power.”
“Will there be drinking involved?” Wanda asked.
“Probably,” I answered. I mean, really, when wasn’t drinking involved?
“I’m sold,” she said breezily. “So, what does this ritual entail, exactly?”
“I’d like to try the Good Fortune Elixir,” I answered. “I mean, I’ve had a crummy string of luck lately, so I think it’s time I changed it. I think I’ve figured out how whoever is doing this is getting into my house and my shop. So, I want to spring a trap for them.”
“And by brewing recipes from within the book, whoever it is will think you’ve mastered the translation?” Wanda asked as I nodded. “And then…what? They’ll want to keep you quiet?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “I think we have a party at my house during which I brew one of the elixirs in the book—I imagine that will alert the owner of the books and hopefully he or his kobold come calling.”
Wanda nodded again. “And then we smash him like the little insect he is. What do you need from me?”
I flinched, glanced down at my hands, and had to suck in a deep breath, because I wasn’t sure she’d like this next part. “I think… I have to lead the ritual, Wanda, not you.”
She frowned. “Usually it’s the High Witch—”
“I know,” I interrupted and then wasn’t exactly sure how to say this next part because I didn’t know how Wanda would take it. “I’m pretty sure I saw… or was visited… by the goddess.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What goddess?”
“Your goddess, er… our goddess.”
“Vat?” Olga nearly had a heart attack right there. “But zat is unheard of!”
I nodded. “I know. I thought it was pretty crazy too. But, I have… a new power.”
“A new power?” Wanda repeated, and her expression was still one of shocked amazement.
I nodded. “I was able to heal Andre,” I answered. “Though I’m not quite sure how to use the power again.”
Or how to use it without having sex. It had seemed perfectly natural to join my life force to Andre’s. Doing it with anyone else was theoretically possible, but felt... wrong. And it was out of the question.
Only mortals insist that their souls remain separate. Joining is an option other species choose.
Even so, the thought of dissolving into that golden light, burning up in it until I no longer remembered the concept of self, was terrifying.
“Fine,” Wanda said impatiently. “Discussions about the goddess appearing to you aside for now—but, we will return to it because I need to know what in the hell you’ve been drinking, what do we need for this ritual of yours?”
“The coven. Taliyah. Anyone magical who we can scrounge up that can add to the goddess-infused portion of my magic. We’re going to need all the help we can get if another alchemist is out there.
I need someone to run to the store, someone to monitor me while I brew, someone to keep an eye out for the kobold, and someone who can explain the spells to me. Would you do the honors, Olga?”
“Ja.”
“I guess that leaves me to plan the party,” Wanda drawled, pulling her phone from her pocket. “One spur-of-the-moment mixer coming right up.”