“Whatever you say, princess,” he mumbled. His ear flickered lightly. “Good to see you, Fiella,” he said a little louder, flashing a tusk-bearing grin at the vampire as he turned and weaved his way back to the bar.
Fiella just stared at me knowingly.
“What? Is there stew on my face?” I asked, self-consciously wiping at my chin.
“Nothing, nothing. Never mind.” She stared at me for a few seconds longer before diving into her next goblet of cider. She was being very ominous today. It was annoying.
CHAPTER 4
Kizzi
Morning light filtered beautifully through my shop’s arching windows, begging me to crack them open and let the fresh air in.
I resisted the urge, though. There was a heavy, charged quality to the air that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I was determined to figure out what it was.
It was probably the damned sprites messing around again… but I needed to be sure.
“You little fuckers can leave whenever you want, you know,” I called out into the seemingly empty shop. I couldn’t see the sprites, but I knew they were lurking. “You don’t have to keep harassing me. I’ve been punished enough for whatever moral crime I must have committed. I’m cured of my wrongdoings. I’m not above bribes, either, if you’re receptive to that.” I waited for a few seconds, but nothing changed, so I let out a frustrated huff and got back to work.
Of course I had tried speaking to the sprites. I spoke to them so often that a fly on the wall would probably think I lost my mind. But they never spoke back. They never communicated with me in any way that I could understand, besides endlessly messing with me and my shop.
Little shits.
I worked methodically through the apothecary to determine the source of my unease, starting at the front door and making my way to the back—shelf by shelf, basket by basket. I trailed my fingers over everything, keeping my senses open and letting any lingering traces of magic register in my mind.
Everything was normal… until I got closer to the cauldron I had shoved into the corner and tried to forget about.
The giant cast iron bowl reached all the way to my hip. As I neared, my eyes began to water, and a vaguely sick sensation settled in my stomach. My ears flattened back to my head.
Gods, this feels weird. This feelswrong.
I could have sworn I left the cauldron covered with a sheet, but that sheet was now neatly folded on the floor a few paces away. Had I folded it up and just forgotten about it? I bent down to pick up the fabric. The remnants of magic that leached into my fingertips were stronger than I expected.
A shiver crawled down my spine—a seed of fear taking root in my chest and threatening to bloom.
“Come on, Kiz, don’t be a baby. Just look in the cauldron,” I murmured to myself in an attempt to steel my nerves.
I took a few deep breaths, feeling like an absolute idiot, while I mentally hyped myself up. Surely, there was nothing abnormal in the cauldron. Surely, the sludge would look the same as the last time I saw it.
Surely, I was overreacting.
With one last deep breath that pulled in as much air as my lungs could hold, I leaned over the rim of the cauldron and peered inside. My heart galloped in my chest.
What I saw was… exactly what I expected. Just thick, viscous liquid filling about two thirds of the pot, slowly gurgling. It had a purple sheen that I hadn’t noticed before but nothing about it was remarkable in any way.
I had freaked myself out for nothing. “Old Gods spare me,” I sighed as I gripped the edge of the cauldron and fought to still my racing heart.
Waves of magic traveled through my fingers and up my arm in shuddering, unsettling pulses. I snatched my hand back and clutched it to my chest. I examined my palm to make sure I hadn’t been burned, but my skin was the same shade of olive green it always was.
A fleck of sludge clung to my thumb, which I hastily wiped onto the sheet I was still clutching.
Well, that answered that question. I knew I put a little extra oomph into my last brew, but I didn’t think I’d putthatmuch extra magic into it. The thing was practically radiating magical energy, setting the air abuzz.
I covered the cauldron with the sheet again, paying extra attention to weigh the corners down with selenite crystals so it wouldn’t slip off. I didn’t know how strong the sprites were, or if they were the ones who removed the sheet in the first place, but I hoped the crystals would be too heavy for them to dislodge.
Only the fates knew what would happen if anything else was added to the cauldron. I really needed to clean that out sooner rather than later.
I tossed the windows open as wide as they would go, hoping some of the trapped magical energy would dissipate and relieve the uneasy feeling lodged in my stomach. A mild breeze flowed in, fluttering a basket of dried butterfly wings and rustling hanging herbs.
