“Can I… is there something I can help you with?” I asked, a little nervously. I wasn’t technically allowed to sell things out of the upper level of the shop yet, but if it was something simple…
“No, I… I just really needed to talk to her. That charm she sold me the other day, I…shit, I’m late,” Leila said as she glanced at her watch. “Just… just have her call me?”
“Okay, sure thing,” I called after her retreating back. “Um… I’ll let her know!”
I watched Leila hurry away, and felt a pang of uneasiness. Persi was known all over Sedgwick Cove for her charms and spells she sold out of the top level of Shadowkeep. Had one of them gone wrong somehow? There was no time to worry about it. If Persi had customer issues, that was her problem to deal with—I had bigger issues at the moment.
I hurried to unlock the door, turn on the lights, and prep the store for opening. No matter how quickly I moved, it wasn’t fast enough; as soon as people in the street saw that there were signs of life inside, they started lining up out on the porch, queueing all the way down through the gate and out onto the sidewalk. I was beginning to regret offering to open on my own, but at least it would keep me busy and distracted until my friends got there.
Finally, I unlocked the door and let in the excited horde, bracing myself behind the counter. Unlike the other days when dealing with the tourists, I found myself watching them closely, and wondering if any of them, like Jess, were not what they seemed. Did any of them know there was more to this place than met the eye? Did any of them have magic, or come from covens outside of the borders of Sedgwick Cove? Always, my eyes were peeled for Veronica Meyers, though I knew she would have to be out of her mind to show her face here again. Then again, she didn’t have to show her face, did she? I understood enough about glamours to know that she could disguise herself against detection. But that would only work for a short time—all witches had the ability to see through a glamour if they thought someone might be using one, and I was nearly always on alert. I was so distracted examining the faces in the crowd and trying to sense glamours, that I didn’t even notice when two very familiar faces appeared at the counter, right in front of me.
“Earth to Wren? Come in Wren!” Eva said, as she waved her hand frantically in front of my face.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I’m kind of?—”
“Freaking out? Losing your ever-loving shit?” Zale suggested.
“I was gonna say distracted, but sure,” I said. I looked over their shoulders, and felt my heart sink a little. “No Nova?”
Eva’s grin faded into a sad half-smile. “Yeah. She bailed.”
“She told us to apologize for her, but she didn’t actually sound sorry, so…” Zale looked over his shoulder. “Where do you want to talk? No offense, but this seems like the literal worst place to have a private conversation.”
I rolled my eyes. “I realize that, but I’m stuck here for a while, and I didn’t want to lose any time. You can wait for me upstairs. Come behind the counter,” I said, dropping my voice. They ducked under the side of the counter, and popped up beside me. I went to the door and, making sure no one was paying too much attention, opened it for them to enter.
“I’ll be up in a few minutes,” I whispered after them, checking my watch. “Rhi should be here any minute, and I can take a break.”
They nodded at me and ascended out of sight.
It felt like forever, but only about five more minutes passed before Rhi finally shoved her way through the door and across the crowded store to the register.
“Goddess above!” she gasped, raising her baskets above her head to maneuver her way through the throng of customers. “This is crazy, even for Samhain!”
“You’re just in time,” I told her, and pointed to the glass jars on the counter. There was now one lonely cookie left inside beside the pair of tongs.
“I’ll get these refilled,” she said with a sigh.
“And I’m taking my break,” I said. “Just gonna pop upstairs.” And I disappeared up the stairs before she could question me.
I found Eva and Zale wandering around and examining the shelves upstairs. They both dropped what they were holding, and joined me at once at the round table in the corner.
“We have to keep this quick,” I told them in a low voice. “I don’t want Rhi getting suspicious. You can both slip out down the outer staircase when we’re done.”
“Wren, seriously, what is going on?” Eva asked, and for once she looked anxious instead of intrigued. “That woman, Jess?—”
“Is fine,” I said. “She’s safe outside of town and laying low for the moment. I’m going to tell you everything I can. I’m going to have to leave some stuff out, and it’s gonna seem like important stuff, but it’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because I trust her and I gave her my word.”
“You trust her?” Eva asked, narrowing her eyes at me. “A woman you just met?”
“Yes,” I said. “I should probably start there.”
As quickly as I could, I explained about Asteria’s message, and about the grimoire. Their reaction to the reappearance of the grimoire was exactly the same as Nova’s.
“Will you please keep it down?!” I hissed. “Do you want Rhi to come up here?”
Zale said something unintelligible, because his hand was now clamped over his mouth. I was looking at Eva, however.
“Nova doesn’t want to get involved because… well, it’s the Source. And the Claires?—”
