Narcissa tilted her head. “You’re an escort. That should hardly be dangerous. But you’ll have the opportunity to see the world along the way. Why shouldn’t I get to share that with you?”
“It’s more than just an … Auggie has already been whisked away into witch territory. I need to rescue him.”
“All the more reason for my aid.”
A smaller voice added her own to the chorus in my head as Therese’s frog form squeaked. “Mr. Witch, amIto go with you? It really would only be fair to bring your familiar along.”
I sent an exasperated look in Therese’s direction. “I see how it is. You two are ganging up on me.”
“She’s always been so kind to me,” Therese said, frog eyes blinking at me slowly. “She could watch over me when you’re too busy with Augustus.”
“She’s more likely to eat you,” I muttered, then paused. “Unless….”
“Unless?” Narcissa asked suspiciously.
I sent her a wide smile that clearly made her uneasy. Good. I sauntered over to the cupboards and pulled out an array of ingredients: cicada husks, a portion of a paper wasp nest, dried kraken tentacle. Narcissa watched with skepticism as I ground the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle, then added goat urine. I pushed the resulting potion toward Narcissa.
“I’m not supposed to drink that?” Narcissa said, giving it a sniff and turning up her nose.
“It’s my condition of you joining the party,” I told her.
“And what does it do?” She reached a tiny paw out to the mortar and batted the liquid tentatively.
“It will make you sick if you even think of eating a living creature.”
“No living creature?” Narcissa’s eyes widened, and she stood ramrod straight. “What will I eat? You’ll let me starve to death?”
“You’ll still be able to eat meat. You’ll be fine. And this way, Therese will also be fine.”
“You don’t trust me.” Narcissa skulked.
“No, I don’t.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Witch,” Therese said. “She doesn’t have to.”
“See?” Narcissa agreed. “Even the frog-child wants me to eat her.”
I sighed as Therese gulped loudly. “It’s this, or David is your sole companion for the next fortnight.”
“Fine, fine,” Narcissa growled, lifting herself up along the lip of the mortar and bringing her face close to it. She yowled dramatically before taking two small sips. Clearly it wasn’t terrible, for she drank it rather steadily after that.
Satisfied, I opened the cupboards to return the ingredients, but Narcissa leapt onto the shelves ahead of me. She pushed her face into a bowl of bat wings and tossed one out onto the countertop. Next, she got ahold of dragon scales.
“Whatever are you doing?” I demanded, crossing my arms. “Is this the sort of tantrum I can expect if I take you along?”
Narcissa chortled. “Hardly. You want me to be useful on your trek, don’t you?”
I tilted my head curiously as she pulled out a tail snipped from a puppy. I winced at the sight. I knew it was a necessary evil, but some ingredients were unsavory. I only hoped they were harvested ethically. It was probably for the best that I didn’t know. “What exactly are you driving at?”
“I’m your familiar,” she said. “I’m very observant of what you do in your kitchen. I could make some of these potions in my sleep if I had hands.”
I continued to watch until she seemed satisfied with what she’d collected and pushed the ingredients into three separate piles. “There,” she said. “That should do it.”
I examined the first pile. Ingredients to sharpen smell. That would be useful actually, in tracking down Augustus. Begrudgingly, I nodded to Narcissa. “Very well.” I looked at the next group with more trepidation, finger lingering on the bat wing. “You want to fly?”
“What if I fall off that broom of yours?” Narcissa demanded with a loud sniff. “It’s for my own safety. Anyways, I will be able to get around more freely with wings.”
I grumbled in agreement. The effects could be reversed when we returned.
