“I would ask why, but I know better. Thank you.” He moved to another potion shelf.
Gisela started to tell her that there were too many to choose from when one small square bottle caught her eye. Unlike the others, it didn’t swirl. It was a static crimson. Picking it up, she frowned. “Dragon Fire?” It looked nothing like the larger bottle ofDragon Bloodshe’d seen.
Candara inclined her head. “That is a very special potion. When you throw it, it will consume its target and leave nothing behind save ashes.”
This could easily come in handy. “How much?”
“Nothing for someone who travels with my brothers, but be warned…using magic will cost you, and that’s a price I can’t name, as the magic will take what it wants from you.” She jerked her chin at the potion Gisela held. “What I do know about that one is that it will take its fire from your soul.”
That sent a shiver over Gisela. “Meaning?”
“I don’t know exactly. Again, I don’t pick the price. The potion does. Just a warning before you use it, as they never take the same thing. The cost varies per user and per use. Just remember that the price is never what you think.”
Xaydin shook his head. “She’s terribly vague and terrifying. It’s her most annoying quality.”
“You mean endearing, big brother. Any annoying or scary traits I might have were inherited from you.”
Gisela envied them their playfulness and camaraderie. She’d never been that comfortable with any of her siblings.
Masakage held his hand out and a bottle from the shelf to her left flew toward him. “I’ll take this one.”
Candara arched a brow. “I’m flattered. I thought you disdained my magic.”
“I disdain you selling it so cheaply. But I’m well aware of exactly how powerful you and your potions are. Respect.”
She ruffled his hair, then smiled at Gisela. “Any time your younger brother compliments you it is the highest form of praise.”
“I’ll take your word for that.”
Masakage tucked his unnamed potion into the bag at his side. “Are you sure we can’t pay you?”
She shook her head. “I make plenty. The love potions alone are worth their weight in gold. I’d never be so crass as to profit off the blood of my family…mother notwithstanding.”
“Have you seen her lately?”
She scoffed at Masakage’s question. “Not in years. We still don’t speak.” She turned toward Xaydin. “And I wish we spoke more often.”
“Talking is a useless endeavor.”
She shook her head at Xaydin. “How would you know? You so rarely do it.”
He grunted at her, then headed for the door.
Gisela hid her smile. She cradled her potion to her chest. “Thank you. I appreciate the gift.”
Candara inclined her head to her. “Remember what I said about using it. You may not be thanking me later. Godspeed.”
Masakage waited for them to leave so that he was alone with his older sister. “What aren’t you saying?”
“What you already know.”
He winced at her confirmation of what he’d sensed. “How do I get the Shadows off him?”
“You can’t. They’ve been sent for him, and I don’t know how to stop them.”
Masakage scowled at her. “All the potions here and you have nothing for banishment?”
“I have plenty of those spells and potions. But nothing for the Shadows. They’re insidious.”
