“What?”
“Y-you can actually do magic?”
He rolls his eyes slightly before glancing around, making sure no one is here to witness whatever it is he’s about to do. From his pocket, he pulls out two little baggies. “Do you have your dad’s lighter on you?”
“Yeah?” I pull it from the pocket of my jeans and hand it over.
Matthias fetches a book from the shelf behind him, dropping it on the counter, then dumps out the empty can of corn we use as a pen cup, pens and pencils rolling out onto the counter and off onto the floor. He sprinkles a bit of each baggie into the can, flips the lighter on, holding the flame down into the can, taps the book on the counter twice, and says, “Sort.”
My eyes widen as the book lifts and zooms back into its correct spot on the shelf.
“Holy shit.” I glare at him. “That issocheating! Do you use that when you’re shelving?”
Matthias chuckles. “Not always, but I have. So, you believe me?”
I gesture between the bookshelf and the counter, like that should be answer enough. “I believe you.”
We spend the rest of our shifts going over the spell. He has a list of graveyards nearby where he likes to do spells. It’s weird, but weird is what I need right now. He said he already has belladonna on hand, but he’s as lost as I am when it comes to procuring the amber blood. Matthias has heard of it before, onlyvaguely. He says it’s something that can hurt mystical beings, though it was always assumed to be a weapon toward beings of light. I didn’t want to ask, but I think he meant angels. I don’t want to know about angels.
Considering this information, I believe I know where to get this. The Black Market. Only problem is, I have no idea how to find the Market and the place is riddled with demons and other beings and is so totally out of my depth. We will definitely get murdered if we go to the Black Market.
But it might be our only option.
thirty-five
. . .
“Kit said the Market moves?”Matthias asks as we climb into my car after our shifts end.
“Yeah, but he didn’t say how frequently.” I buckle my seatbelt. “There’s a chance it could still be at the location I visited.”
“You remember how to get there?”
I pause. “Generally.”
“That sounds like a synonym for ‘no.’”
“I can figure it out,” I stress. He tooka lotof turns, but I trust I can do it.
Matthias offers a lift of his shoulder. “Whatever. We may as well drive around and look.”
I put my car in drive and head for the highway. My eyes scan the dark road as I search for anything familiar. Then I see the exit we took. I veer to the right. Once we get off the exit, I turn left. It feels correct.
I’m wrong.
I backtrack and go to the right. After a few more mis-turns, followed by several correct turns, I spot the warehouse. I pull into the empty lot, uneven pavement making my car jolt and bounce as I come to a stop. It appears deserted, but that’s what I thought last time, too. We get out of the car, and I march toward the doors. Matthias stops me with a hand on my arm.
“Hold my hand,” he says, offering his open palm.
“Are you scared?”
His face falls flat. “No, but you reek of normie. I’m a witch and can blend. You cannot.”
“Rude,” I mutter. “Do we really need to hold hands? I can’t just stand by your side?”
He chuckles. “What? Is your demon boyfriend going to be jealous?”
“Yes,” I say honestly, thinking back to how Kit always acted around Matthias or if he ever got brought up. Matthias looks absolutely tickled by that answer. I grab his hand with a grumble and pull him along inside.
