Chapter 7
CLARA
I hummed along to the radio as I moved around the workroom of my uncle's shop while brewing a new batch of sleeping potion.
It had become our best seller ever since I'd started working here, which wasn't a huge surprise.
I'd always been gifted with potions, and it was good to put those skills to use every day.
Between the thoughts of making the potion came flashes of memory from last night, but I pushed them out of my mind.
I shouldn't be thinking about it, or I'd want a repeat.
Not only was that not possible when I was in the middle of my family shop, but it couldn't happen again anyway.
I was going to have to make do with my memories.
The deep purple potion bubbled over the low flame, filling the room with a calming smell that reminded me I was in the middle of doing something, and that I shouldn't be thinking about last night.
The song on the radio changed to a new upbeat number by Mimi, and I sang along despite not knowing what any of the Chinese lyrics meant. It didn't matter, it was still a lot of fun, and I loved to hear music from around the world.
I summoned magic to my fingertips and used it to swirl the potion around. The top of it shimmered in response before settling down to the deep purple colour once more.
The bell above the door of the shop rang, breaking me out of my potion-making flow.
"One moment!" I called out, looking at my potion and wondering what to do with it. I couldn't really leave it boiling while I dealt with the customer, that could lead to disaster. But leaving it for longer than a few minutes would mean that it would be ruined.
"It's only me," my cousin's voice came from the other room.
I let out a sigh of relief and didn't touch the potion. "You know where I am."
Daisy appeared in the doorway of my workroom with her coppery hair tied up in a ponytail and a denim jacket over a casual dress. "I figured you'd be here," she said.
"Where else would I be?" I asked as I picked up a jar of ground lavender and sprinkled some over the top of the potion.
"You might still have been at your mystery woman's," she responded. "So tell me about it?"
I shrugged. "Not much to tell. I went through with the old-fashioned way of getting over someone."
"Mmhm. Get under someone new. And?"
"You don't seriously want to know this, do you?" I added a dash of water to my potion.
"Good point." Daisy wrinkled her nose. "Why does it smell like soap?"
"Because you've had too many bad gift baskets from elderly relatives," I said. "When used properly, lavender has great soothing properties. You shouldn't underestimate it."
She laughed. "So I'm guessing that if I ask you for a sleep potion, then you're going to give me something with lavender in it?"
"You can have this one, if you want? It's a fresh batch."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to deprive you of wares for your customers."
"It's fine, I'll just make another," I promised. "We've got all of the ingredients for me to make more. What do you need a sleep potion for?"
She leaned back against the counter and ran a hand over her face.
"My gallery opening is coming up, and I'm stressing about it," she admitted.
"It's stopping me from sleeping, and that makes me irritable.
I'd much rather have a boyfriend and a business still when the reveal is still over, so getting sleep is necessary. "
I laughed. "I doubt Thor is going to break up with you over something as small as lack of sleep."
"I'm sure he wouldn't." A small smile pulled at her lips, reminding me that she was very much in love. "But I also don't want him to have to deal with the consequences of me being tired all the time. And it's an important opening. There'll be people with a lot of money there."
"Understandable. So, do you want this one?" I waved my hand towards it.
"If you don't mind."
"Of course not." I flashed her a reassuring smile.
"Thanks, Clara. You're the best."
"No problem. I like making them. And I'm thankful for you taking me out last night. I had a good time."
"Even so, I'm grateful."
"Anything for family. Except for Uncle Jeremy," I joked.
She snorted. "That's because Uncle Jeremy would just ask for more rather than admitting he'd had a favour. Speaking of, if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."
"Unless you're secretly a necromancer, or you know one, I don't think there's anything I need at the moment," I responded as I searched over a shelf for the right receptacle to put the potion in.
I'd previously set a few to the side, but they were for the sleeping potions we sold in the shop, rather than giving them to my cousin.
A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "I might know a necromancer who could help. What do you need one for?"
"I'm trying to create a potion that will allow the person drinking it to dream of a dead loved one," I responded. "But I'm not getting very far. Maybe it needs some necromancy, or maybe it just needs some information that I don't have, but a necromancer would."
"Is there much demand for a potion like that?" she asked curiously.
"'I'll find out once I've managed to create it," I admitted, a pang of sadness going through me as I thought about dreaming of my dad.
He's been gone for so long that he's rarely in my dreams anymore, and I wanted to change that.
It was a selfish reason to create a potion, but sometimes it was good to do things for myself.
"Let me see what I can do," she said. "I might be able to find you a necromancer. I'll let you know if she agrees."
"Ominious. Who is this mysterious necromancer?"
"Thor's niece," she responded. "Don't worry, she's like seven hundred or something like that."
"I assumed as much. Though I should study up on my Norse mythology if you're going to continue dating Thor. The last thing I want is to insult one of his relatives by not knowing who they were."
Daisy laughed. "You'd be fine. I didn't even think that Thor was Thor at first. I figured he was using it as his business name." She smiled as if remembering something good. "Luckily, he didn't think badly of it."
I snorted. "Yeah, everyone who watched the show you were on knew that. It was so obvious that the two of you were hooking up."
"We weren't for most of it," she muttered. "And I knew that he was Thor-Thor by that point. Anyway, maybe you should come to the gallery opening? It's being sponsored by the Jinx Dating Agency, so you know the food and drink are going to be good."
"I've never had a reason to go to a Jinx event. They're expensive."
"True. But this one isn't one you'll have to pay for. You'll come as my guest. You can bring a date if you're seeing the woman from last night again..." From her expression, I could tell that she was waiting for me to provide more information.
"I'm not," I said firmly. "That was a one time thing with the intention of getting over Clemmy, nothing else."
"Did it work?"
I shrugged. "Not much to get over. It wasn't meant to be.
That's neither of our faults. It's better that she's with someone she loves, and for me to find someone I love.
" I turned off the flame under the cauldron and started ladling it into a glass jar for Daisy.
I was only partially lying. I was hurt by things ending with Clemmy, but it was mostly because of all the time I'd put into the relationship.
Which told me everything I needed to know about how I really felt about her.
"You've always dealt with these things so well."
"What's the point of dwelling on it?" I asked.
"You say that as if you aren't trying to make a potion to dream about the dead."
"That's different. I don't want to dream about them for bad reasons, but so I can remember the good things. It's about remembering, not moving on from," I responded.
"Fair enough. I guess I've not really experienced grief like that before. Though Thor has talked about it."
"I imagine that immortality comes with a lot of grief," I mused.
"Probably more than we can imagine, though I think Thor is hinting at me potentially becoming immortal at some point."
"Is that even possible for witches?" I asked curiously. Maybe there was some kind of potion that I didn't know about that could help achieve the position.
"It's possible for anyone if they know a god willing to grant it," she responded.
"And Thor is talking about doing that for you?"
She grimaced. "He's not exactly talking about it, but he's hinted at it potentially being an option."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"I'm not sure. It's a big commitment to make to someone. And it's not like it can be undone. I mean, the relationship part can, but the immortality is kind of a forever situation. Which is definitely something I should have thought about before I started falling for a god."
"The heart wouldn't have listened anyway. And fate knows what it's doing. It'll put you in the path of the person it thinks is right for you, at the right time."
Daisy sighed. "Maybe. But I can give you the advice to be careful if you find yourself with the potential to be in the arms of a goddess. Think about the forever part first."
There was no stopping the laugh that broke free from me. "I'm not in the position to meet a goddess, never mind date one."
"I imagine that there'll be some at the gallery opening," she said.
"Then I suppose I might end up in one's arms if fate has that in mind for me." I stoppered the bottle of sleep potion and held it out to her. "A teaspoon an hour before sleep. No more than that."
"Thanks, Clara. How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing." I smiled at her. "Especially not if you're able to get me into contact with a necromancer."
"I'll see what I can do," she promised. "And I'm really grateful for this."
"Any time."
She waved and headed out of the store, leaving me pondering my potion for dreaming about the dead.
Usually, it doesn't take me long to figure out a new potion, but this one was proving to be more of a challenge.
But I'd get there, especially if I was able to talk to Thor's niece.
No doubt a necromancer would know everything I needed to know about the dead and interacting with them.