Evie held out the hand not holding the box as if she wanted me to shake it.
Oh, no. Not one ofthose.
I backed away, putting my own hands behind my back. "No, I won't predict your death for you. I'm not a psychic or a fortune teller. Please, just leave. Now."
Her eyes widened to a scary degree, and she looked horrified. "No! No, I'm so sorry, I didn't think, of course you don't want to touch me, I just wanted to say hi, I mean, hello, and any friend of Molly's is practically a legend to me, and, anyway, here's my music box, it's old, is it valuable? I need money for travel expenses."
When she got through that torrent of words, she stopped and sucked in a huge breath. "Sorry. It's just an honor to meet the woman who has been such a defining force in Molly's creative life."
I blinked.
"A defining force in Molly's creative life," I repeated dryly. "Molly? Are you making stuff up for interviews again?"
Molly Chen had been my best friend since we were children. We'd survived adolescence together, and she'd supported me when I'd gone through such an awful time with my new 'gift.' In return, I'd been there for her through all of her life's ups and downs. Her band had been taking off lately, and I couldn't be more proud of her.
She was tiny, gorgeous, extremely talented, smart, and a badass, and she had a wicked sense of humor. In short, she was amazing, and I felt so lucky to be her friend.
Except when she made stuff up about me and told it to interviewers.
Now I was evidently a 'defining force.' I'd also been her 'role model,' her 'muse,' and 'the humble business owner with a huge heart' that she compared herself to everyday (she'd been drunk).
She never mentioned the times we'd lain around at Aunt Ruby's house and compared hangovers or skin breakouts…
"Just going to put this pizza in the back room," my formerly best friend mumbled, dodging both my question and her groupie—er, motivated follower.
I turned just in time to see Molly flee through the door Jack was holding open for her.
"Problem?" He raised an eyebrow.
Evie stared at Jack, made a sort of swoony sound, and sighed. "I think I have to move to Dead End. Everybody'ssobeautiful here."
Before I could feel even a little bit flattered by that, she looked at me and leaned forward. "Is that whyyoumoved here?"
Ouch.
Before I could answer her question or Jack's eyebrow, the music box she held started to shake and then started playing The Archies.
"Sugar, Sugar."
"'Sugar, Sugar'?" Interested despite myself, I looked at the box, which was beautifully carved wood. Looked like walnut. Clearly older than The Archies. "That doesn't make sense."
Evie sighed and looked almost ordinary instead of like a crazed fan for a moment. "Yeah, it calls me Sugar. It's annoying."
"It… what?" I glanced at her and then back at the box. It calls her Sugar?
So much for ordinary.
"It's enchanted," she said flatly. "Yay, go magic, blah blah blah. My great, great, however-many-greats grandmother made it back in 1822, and she was Fae, and she enchanted it. It's sentient, sort of. It likes to comment on my life, and I'm sick to death of it. But itlovesme, and it shows up wherever I am. My mother told me that if I officially sell it, it won't be able to do that anymore."
I took a step back. I'd had the Doltar in my shop—a magical fortune-telling figure that only gave bad news. I didn't need anything else like that, enchanted or not, no matter how beautiful it was.
"No. Sorry, but no."
"Please? I'mdesperate."
I glanced at it again, despite my own common sense. The carvings…
I suddenly realized I was reaching out to touch it, and yanked my hand back. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm the right person—"
