I turned to make sure she was still there.
Behind the counter, she was biting her lip and leaning into her hip, staring at me.
A dark cloud seemed to hover over her features when she said, “Nethermind feels like you’re already dead, but your soul forgot to leave. Almost lethal. Like unrequited love.”
Jolie was a beautiful girl. Youthful skin, a long neck, thick brows, smoky upturned eyes, and heart-shaped lips any girl would kill for. Today, her black hair was bundled on top of her head, and a thick black choker wrapped around her neck.
“Sounds dramatic,” I whispered, caught in her gloom.
“It happens in stages. First, your tongue swells, then your words start to stutter and slur before your throat closes up. Then your arms and legs feel like they’re being pulled down into the underworld. Next thing you know, you’re paralyzed. All you see is him, and you have no control over anything.”
Were we still talking about witherbane?“Him?”
Her eyes grew wide. She shook her head. “You know what I mean.”
I squinted, walking toward her. “How do you know what witherbane feels like?”
“I was six when I ingested it in my mother’s night garden. I’ve never seen her so scared.” She let off her hip and settled back into place. “What’s it for? Did you get a rash?”
“A rash?”
“Sorry.” Her face scrunched up. “Since it can help with most skin conditions and breakouts, I assumed this was why you needed it.”
“Yes!”What an excellent excuse and boldface lie. “Alice mentioned it. I’m getting these splotchy bumps on my hip, and I wanted to get them cleared up before the wedding.”
“The wedding. Right.” Then Jolie slid a set of keys off the counter. “I’ll be right back.”
She pushed through the swinging door into the back room.
I stood on my tiptoes, looking through the small window in the door. A glass case the size of a sideways fridge stretched across a wall. It looked like a fish tank, but a night forest was growing under black light instead of water.
Jolie unlocked the tank and removed a vial before locking it up again.
When she started to come back my way, I landed on my feet and fixed my eyes in front of me. “Got time?” she asked, pinching a tiny apothecary jar-like vial between her fingers. “I’ll need a few minutes to mix it for topical use. I only have it pure in liquid form.”
“Oh, that isn’t necessary,” I rushed to say, reaching for the vial.
Jolie clutched the vial and pulled her arm back. “This stuff can be dangerous.”
I dropped my head to the side. “I’ll be careful.”
“Remember, do not ingest this. Even by accident. My mother would kill me.”
“Jolie,” I said sweetly, maybe for the first time ever. “I know what I’m doing.”
She hesitated, then handed it over. “If for any reason you ingest it, try to relax and just let it pass without panicking. If you panic, it will only make it worse. Kind of like getting trapped in a current.”
“Okay,” I said, pushing bills across the counter, ready to get out of there.
Jolie snapped her finger. “Pistachio nuts,” she blurted.
I didn’t get to take a single step. “Excuse me?”
“Pistachio nuts,” she repeated, dropping and disappearing behind the counter. “I have a pouch. Eat a few a day; it’s heavy on iron and will counteract the side effects, worst case scenario.” She popped up again. “You can never be too careful.”
She slid a velvet drawstring pouch to me, and her hand accidently knocked into her purse that was lying on the counter. An amber vial rolled out of a pocket and rested on the counter between us. Her eyes opened wide, and she rushed to grab it, but I snatched it out from under her hand.
“It’s not what you think it is,” she immediately said.
