“I’m going to go work with Kas and Asmo to see who Mara has possibly possessed next. I think it’s best for you two to stay at home. If you need to leave for any reason, will you please let me know?”
“Yes, I can do that,” I say, as I snag a piece of bacon off of his plate. I dip it in my river of syrup before taking a bite.
“You’re sure you’re okay and don’t need me to stay?”
“I’m sure.”
We finish the rest of breakfast. The silence is terse and awkward. I’m not sure why Stevie feels uncomfortable. Maybe she heard us fucking, or the fact that she knows I killed my mother. Dax probably doesn’t know what to say after unloading on me what he most likely thought was a bombshell. I almost blurted it out, took Stevie’s advice, and told him everything. But after hearing the softness in his voice, how he wishes he would have been better, how he didn’t allow himself to love Ryan, I couldn’t do that. How can I possibly be responsible for hurting Dax. So, today is going to be for potions, experimentation, and the start of setting the world back on its axis.
I walk Dax to the front door once we finish our breakfast. Both of his large palms cradle my jaw. “I’m going to fix everything. I just need you to promise me you will stay safe.”
“I promise,” I say as he places a tender kiss on my lips, his thumbs gently circling my face.
“Remember to let me know if you leave the house.” He gives me a stern look that does things to me.
“I will not leave the house. Go catch that psycho bitch who is trying to body snatch me.” He glares at me before he creates a portal and steps in it from my front yard.
I walk back to the kitchen where Stevie is sitting, hands perched under her chin. “What’s the plan?”
“Create a potion that makes people forget, test it on Clover and then give it to Ryan so he will forget me.”
Stevie sighs and nods her head. “You sure you don’t just want to tell him the truth?”
“After last night, there’s no way. He told me about how much he would like to be human, so he wouldn’t feel the way he does about having a son.”
Stevie gapes at me as she takes down her grimoire, leafing through the pages. “You know this is something that will get you in trouble with the council, right?”
“It’s worth the risk,” I say. Leaning over her shoulder.
Her pointer finger follows a few lines of texts. “I think if we modify this potion for reinstating someone’s memory, we might make it work.”
“I knew I could count on you,” I say as I start collecting some of the ingredients. Lavender, alder cones, elderberries, frankincense, graveyard dirt. “I gotta say, I’m impressed you already have all of this shit in the kitchen.”
Stevie is unmoving, with her hip propped against the counter. “I think we should talk about last night.”
“I thinkweshould forget about it.”
“Blair, you killed your mom. You used death magic on another witch. Something else that can get you in trouble with the council. You might not care about your life the way you’re going about things. But I fucking do. I need you to care. I need you to take care of yourself.”
I place the jar of graveyard dirt on the table and look over at my cousin, her red hair a mess, bags under her eyes. “She tried to kill me first, and she was going to do it again. She rendered you unconscious, for fuck’s sake. What was I supposed to do?”
“I’m not saying it was unjustified. I’m saying you’re being careless and acting like it doesn’t affect you. I don’t even know how you’re up walking after using a spell like that.” Stevie looks me up and down, like maybe my flesh is falling off or there’s some sign of wear that she can’t see.
“I’m fine, Stevie.”
“That’s the whole fucking point, Blair! You shouldn’t be fine. Not after killing your mother, both psychologically and physically.”
“I’m sorry that I’m not weeping in a corner or that my soul isn’t tattered into shreds, Stevie. This is who I am. Now, are you going to help me with this potion or not?”
“You know what, do it yourself. If you can’t find it in yourself to care about your safety, why should I?” Stevie turns on her heel and goes up to her room. It’s the first time I’ve seen my cousin genuinely pissed at me and it feels like acid down my throat and stomach. But I’m too stubborn to apologize. Potions might not be my specialty, but I can make this work.
Grumbling and irritated, I pull the cauldron from underneath the sink and place it over the stove. It’s 2022 but you still have to use a fucking cauldron, riddle me that. An electric stove is fine, but if you don’t use an ancient conduit like this thousand year old hunk of junk, you might as well not bother brewing anything. I follow the directions. Adding in the flowers, moon water and a drop of my blood. Once it comes to a boil, I add the dried ingredients like the graveyard dirt, elderberries, lavender, and alder cones.
The directions say to let it simmer for fifteen minutes, not touching or stirring anything. I make sure the stove isn’t too hot and watch as it bubbles and slowly turns a disgusting shade of olive. Frankly, the potion looks like shit. At least I have the perfect test subject in the basement to administer the potion to. It will be beneficial to all of us if Clover forgets her little mini vacation here.
After fifteen minutes, I have to do some incantation over the potion. “nunc obliviscere me, obliviscere me in aeternum.” I repeat the chant five times as instructed before straining the potion into a glass container. Honestly, it seems too easy, but I’m not about to ask Stevie for her help.
Clover is crying in the basement, huddled up on the bed, when I open the door. “Well, Clover, I hate to break it to you, but today is eviction day.”
