1
Raven
“What’s she doing here?” Nova nearly dropped a box of potions at the sight of me lurking behind Willow. I tried to smother my grin, but the excitement of being allowed out for the first time in ages bubbled up inside me like fizzing candy.
“Adam said she could come and help. Tally isn’t feeling well.” A small snort escaped my lips. Willow squeezed my fingers hard in warning. She knew I’d added some slivers of a green-spored parasol mushroom to Tally’s dinner last night. The symptoms didn’t take long to manifest. I wasn’t usually a vindictive person, but Tally deserved it.
Nova’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Adam left yesterday afternoon.”
Willow shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, but he mentioned in passing that if we needed extra people, Raven could come. He told me she needed to know how we did things on market day.”
“Really? Because the last time I suggested it, he said—”
“Hey, do you have any of the…um…love potions this week?”
We all turned to see a teenage girl with long, shiny blonde hair standing at the entrance to our tent. She tapped her foot and chewed gum impatiently, even though our stall wasn’t officially open yet.
My senses prickled. Her green-gray aura didnotlook healthy.
Most people I met, apart from Tally, whose sickly yellow aura matched her vile personality to a tee, had pastel-colored auras. Light and sweet. Like Willow with her pretty lilac aura, and Nova with her pale pink aura.
“We do,” Nova replied with a practiced smile. “Do you know how they work?”
Willow tugged me to one side as Nova began her sales spiel. I watched from the back of the tent as the girl listened and then frowned. “So the potion can’t make someone love me if they don’t like me?”
“No, it simply makes it easier and speeds things up.”
“But I want him to loveme, nother!” The girl’s polite mask slipped, and her aura darkened. I shivered.
Nova’s eyes widened when the teen swept her arm across our table in a temper, knocking a row of potions to the floor. Thankfully, none of the small bottles smashed, but still.
“Hey!” Willow yelled. “Stop that now!”
The girl turned on her with a furious hiss. “Freaks! Y’all shouldn’t be allowed to come here!” Nova gasped at the venom in the girl’s voice. “It’s all bullshit anyway,” the teen continued with a sneer before kicking over the painted sign by the door as she stormed out.
My blood sparked in response to the perceived threat before the magic in me faded away. I touched the amulet around my neck. The black gem burned against my skin, reacting to my anxiety. Willow saw my expression and shoved me out the back of the tent while Nova cussed up a storm.
“Stay calm and keep your head down while I smooth things over,” she said in a low voice. “If Nova calls Adam, we’re both in the shitter.”
“That girl…” My voice trailed off. I wasn’t sure how to explain my sense that something was wrong with her. Like me, Willow had magic, but unlike me, she couldn’t read auras.
“Yeah, she’s a bitch. We see that kind of attitude a lot. Humans fear what they don’t understand.” She rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t stop them asking for hexes to piss off their exes or fertility potions to help them get pregnant. Now go before Nova comes looking for us.”
I chewed my lip for a moment. Willow was right. While Adam probably wouldn’t punish me for leaving the compound, he wouldn’t show Willow the same leniency. Adam’s punishments hurt while leaving no visible marks. It was why I usually did as he asked, even though I hated I couldn’t leave the compound while the others were free to come and go as they liked.
“Check out the market stalls, but don’t wander too far,” Willow warned. “I’ll come find you once we finish setting up. Mary-Lou will be here shortly with the rest of the stock.” I nodded in agreement, eager to escape before Tally locked me in the van and ruined my adventure. “Here, go buy a drink or something.” Willow pushed some money into my hand with a grin.
I stared at the grubby note. While I understood in theory how money worked, I had no practical experience of actually buying anything. “What can I get with this?”
Willow’s blue eyes softened. She’d long campaigned for Adam to give me more freedom, but he always insisted the world was too dangerous for me to leave the compound. What those dangers were, he never elaborated on. Not to me, at least.
“This is a ten-dollar note. It’s enough money to buy a hot drink.” She pointed to a brightly painted yellow and blue trailer in thedistance. “Go buy a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I promise you’ll love it.”
Willow was right. My hot chocolate drink was well worth the wait. I’d skipped the marshmallow but said yes to the cream and sprinkles. It tasted like heaven in a cup. Literally the best drink I’d ever had.
Sipping my delicious drink slowly so it would last longer, I wandered through the throngs of people exploring the market. A few stared at me, but most gave me a wide berth. Their auras ran the gamut of pink, buttercup yellow, sage green, sky blue, and lilac. Some were paler than others. Only one person had a darker, more malignant aura, and I ducked inside a tent full of paintings to avoid him.
The day had dawned hotter than Tally’s ancient cauldron, but I ignored the discomfort in favor of soaking up everything like a sponge. This might be the last chance I had to see the world before Adam locked me up again, and I planned on making the most of it.
