"Have you ever gotten the impression that the people know they're marked?"
"Doesn't seem like it." As she finishes with each ingredient, she places them into the bag and checks them off my list. "I asked Mrs. Chen if she was feeling all right, and she looked at me like I was being weird."
Asher and Orion join us at the counter.
With the order assembled, she circles three items on the list and opens a brown leather ledger. "I'll source these out, and if you give me your phone number, I can let you know how much they'll be before I order them."
"Order them regardless of the cost." Hearing those words coming out of my mouth is mind bendy. I pick up a pen and jot my number on the page next to my name in the ledger. "You can let me know how long it'll take or when to pick them up, though."
She sets the ledger aside and totals the bill for the items we are able to take home today. "That'll be sixty-seven fifty."
I hand over cash, watching as she carefully packs everything into a canvas bag. When she gives me change, our hands brush. A rush of magical energy tingles in my fingers and across my skin.
Her magical signature is lovely. Subtle and gentle.
Izzy looks up and meets my gaze with a smile. "Be careful, Poppy. There's a lot going on in Emberwood right now, and a lot of it seems to be focused around you. Namaste."
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say to that, so I accept the bag and dip my chin. "Namaste. It was nice meeting you, Izzy."
Outside, the orange glow of the afternoon sun has morphed into the mauve of early evening. There are more people on the street now, heading home from work or maybe out for dinner with friends.
I count three more sigils in the span of a block. "Wow, this is bad.”
Orion follows my gaze and frowns. “Agreed.”
Asher frowns, looking around. “But what flavor of bad? Are we talking apocalypse bad or Emberwood Thursday night bad?"
“I’d say we're quickly trending toward apocalypse bad," Orion says.
"We need to figure out what that sigil means." I pull out my phone and pretend I'm taking a selfie, but instead I snap a few pictures of the guy walking across the street toward us. "Does the coven have anyone who studies sigils? Or maybe someone from the Arcana Academy?"
Orion has something to say, but hesitates.
"What? Who are you thinking?"
"Well, the best person I know for sigils around here is Wylder, but the two of you seem to be having some sort of silent fight, so I'm not sure that's helpful."
"We're not having a fight… are we?" Sure, Wylder's been avoiding me since finding out about the blood contract I made with Tharuzel, but that's different from fighting. For us to be in a fight, I'd have to know what he's thinking and why he's mad.
Which I don't. Not really.
Then again, I didn't really know what he was thinking when he kissed me, either. He said we were going to talk about it, but then everything got complicated and there's been no talking at all.
And sadly, no kissing either.
I sigh and glance around. There aren't any sigil-marked citizens around at the moment, but we saw at least half a dozen in the past hour. That's more than enough to push me past awkward or hurt feelings.
Getting my thumbs moving, I type a quick text.
Poppy:Need to talk. Magical issue. I'm in town and something's happening. Can you come over?
I hit send before I second-guess it. "He wouldn't avoid me at the cost of witch business, would he?"
Orion shakes his head. "He tutored you when he hated you and blamed you for his mother's death."
"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel much better."
He rolls his eyes. "My point is that he can bury his feelings for the sake of duty."
