Throwing the pack over my shoulder, I slowly pulled myself up and out of the carriage. I stopped, gasping with effort on top of the coach, staring around me. The carriage door was lying a good six feet away, as if it had been torn clear from its hinges and thrown. The horses were nowhere to be seen.
We had been attacked.
My eyes lifted to find the fence marking Ambrosia’s territory, and the tree stump portal.
“Damn it all,” I said, spitting out a gob of blood. I’d bitten my cheek in the chaos of the attack. But at least I knew who was likely responsible.
The sun hadn’t risen too far, so I couldn’t have been out long. Ambrosia’s territory was large, but I might be able to track our assailant. I wouldhaveto. This job was too important to let Auggie slip away so easily. With any luck, I would be able to catch up to whoever had whisked Auggie awaybeforethey reached the witch.
“Broom,” I said out loud. “I need a broom.”
I used the portal at the edge of Ambrosia’s territory to return to my potion shop. I was disappointed to find the shop empty. David sat still in his chair, as dusty as ever. The spider that had taken residence in his eye socket had created a beautifully elaborate web.
“I suppose the blood moon is still a ways off,” I murmured to myself, brow furrowed as I wondered at the absence of customers. But I couldn’t afford to let myself become distracted just now.
Aside from my broom, I would need to know where Auggie was within Ambrosia’s territory, or I would have no chance of finding him.
Retrieving a few ingredients from a cabinet, I sprinkled gold dust and crushed fae wings into a water basin. I gave it a counterclockwise stir with my right index finger before squishing a newt’s eye between the fingers of my other hand, dribbling the contents over the water. “Ostende mihi,” I said, closing my eyes and conjuring Auggie’s face. His stupid, brave face with his jaw set, dark eyes defiant.
I nodded to myself and watched the water darken and whirl. It would take a while for the spell to zero in on Auggie, and I took that time to give myself something for my throbbing head, then made my way to the closet at the back of the room, throwing it open to reveal my broom leaning against an old, tarnished mirror. It had been too simple a broom for my tastes, so I’d painted it a deep purple with a magic that made it shimmer in the light. There was no need to travel without style, after all, and so the bristles were likewise painted a metallic gold.
Narcissa stood before the broom on her haunches, staring up at me with a glower, as if expecting I would return for it.
I lifted an eyebrow. “What’s this? I don’t have time to take you for a ride just now.”
Narcissa mewed disapprovingly, refusing to budge as I came closer.
Reaching over her, I snatched the broom and was lifting it over her body when she leapt up and grabbed the handle, pulling her back legs up to wrap herself around the broom completely.
I shook the broom, but Narcissa only hissed in return.
“What has gotten into you?” I demanded, frowning. “If only I could….” A thought occurred to me.
I rushed to the fireplace and threw a handful of sulfur and phoenix droppings into the logs beneath the cauldron. Immediately upon impact, a fire roared to life. I scoured my cupboards for the ingredients I would need next: tail of a chupacabra, toenails of a yeti, and the shed skin of a cobra. Adding them to the boiling water, I stirred in a good amount of green algae. As I waited for the potion to bubble over, I opened my bag to let out Therese.
Therese appeared indignant, frowning up at me with reproach.
“I apologize if it gets cramped in there, but I hardly know how else to transport you without losing you,” I said. “And anyway, I’m making a potion that will allow you to communicate with me for a short time. Won’t that be nice?”
Therese hopped in a semicircle, showing me her backside.
I snorted in response, then eyed the cauldron as it began to boil over. In another minute, I’d ladled a portion of the lightly steaming liquid into a cup and approached Therese with it. “Okay,” I said, setting it down before her. “Now, just take a sip, and I’ll be able to understand what you’re trying to say.”
Therese eyed the cup with trepidation. But before she could take a sip, Narcissa shot out and shoved her face into the cup, lapping at the liquid with wild abandon.
“Hey, now, that’s not for you,” I protested, yanking her away and tossing her aside. I scowled at the spilled potion on the countertop, but Therese didn’t seem to mind. She flung out an overly-long tongue and retrieved it with some of the potion. Deeming it tasty enough, she approached the puddle and stooped down to sip at more.
“That potion should have been mine anyway,” a girl’s haughty voice said in my head at the same time Narcissa mewed at me. “I’m the one who gave you the idea.”
I turned to Narcissa with narrowed eyes. “And why do you wish to speak to me? So you can gloat about how you destroyed those lovely orchids I brought in for you?”
Narcissa ignored the latter question. “Because you are going to bring me with you on this expedition, of course.”
“Bring you with me?!” I chuckled. “I hardly think so.”
“I am your familiar,” Narcissa said, puffing herself up. “You made an agreement with me. I am to aid you in your witchly duties, and this most certainly counts. I tire of merely running superfluous errands for you, like dropping off your letter for that girl’s father. Such chores are beneath me. It’s time you take me seriously. I can be useful.”
I considered, watching Narcissa’s tail swish back and forth behind her, as if she was anxious. Perhaps I had been too dismissive of her over the years. “This is too dangerous,” I protested.
