“Who me?” Gillian forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m holding it together.”
“Come with me for a minute.” Natalya pulled her away to a quiet corner and made sure they were alone. “Try to act as natural as you can. We don’t know who’s watching. There are some extra uniforms parked outside for added security.”
Gillian sighed. “Okay, got it.” The news should’ve made her breathe easier, but somehow it didn’t.
“This nightmare’s going to end soon.” Natalya held up the potion and swirled the pink liquid in the cup. “Does this stuff actually work?”
“It depends. Is there someone you’re attracted to?”
Natalya’s eyes grew wide and a furious blush spread across her cheeks. “Oh no. Hell no.” She made a face and put the cup back on the tray. “I’ll be in the reading area,” she mumbled and walked away.
“Whatever you say.” Gillian couldn’t help but think there was a story behind that denial.
Saje broke away from a group of browsing customers and snuck behind the counter to reach for an oval mirror and dried flowers. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you.” She glanced over at Gillian, and a gleam appeared in her eyes. “Talk about putting on one hell of a show last night,” she whispered. “You two were giving off some serious pheromones. I went back to Nick’s place after the party and banged the hell out of him.”
Gillian gave a half-hearted laugh that felt as hollow as it sounded. “Glad I could help.” After last night, talking about sex might just careen her senses into overload.
Lucky for her, they closed early today. She was running on fumes. Tossing and turning for hours, she hadn’t slept a wink. She’d been restless and edgy, and now twelve hours later, her body was still on fire from something as simple as a kiss.
But that wasn’t just any kiss. No. Garrett’s kiss had been hot and sensual…and totally addicting. She’d replayed the scene in her mind, ruminating over every last detail, how he smelled, how he tasted, the softness of his lips. And she wondered if Garrett had ruined her. How could any male compare after that? It didn’t help to have him so close, in the next room, only a breath away. It was making her lose her mind. But at least it helped her from obsessing over Brooke. She welcomed the distraction.
“Earth to Gillian? Mind telling me where you just went?” Saje’s voice pulled her from a host of images, one more erotic than the next.
Gillian placed her hand on her chest. “Sorry, I zoned out for a minute. I guess I’m still a little sleep deprived. You know you were right, by the way, about Garrett having a thing for me.”
“Well, I usually am, especially when it comes to sex and relationships.” Saje grinned. “What happened? Did you two lovebirds finally have sex?”
“No, and I’m not going to for now.” Not to say she wasn’t tempted. “The truth is I’m just not sure where this could go. And I can’t think of anything until Brooke’s found. On that note, did you find a spell in one of the Grimoires?”
“I did, but it wasn’t easy. I searched through the entire coven library and finally came across one. If it’s invoked properly, it should do the trick. I brought the book with me so we could look at the spell together. It’s in the back.” Saje angled her head toward the storeroom.
Gillian glanced at the customers milling around the store. “It’s too busy now. Let’s try and sneak away when things calm down.”
Between Gillian, Delilah, and Saje, the three spent the better part of the morning reading tarot cards and invoking a variety of incantations that ran the gamut from keeping a lover with a roving eye to succumbing to temptation, to bringing a couple back together after a separation.
They waited for a lull in the crowd and left Delilah to man the front. Gillian followed Saje into the storeroom and shut the door. Immediately, Gillian spotted the thick, leather-bound tome propped up on the desk. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this. What did you find?”
“There’s a spell along with a potion that acts as a kind of antidote to a blood blond.” Saje waved her hand over the amethyst encrusted on the front cover. “Show me vampire curses.” The brass buckles clicked and unlocked. The pages flipped to a section for Protection Spells against Otherworldly Forces. A picture of a symbol Gillian had never seen before appeared across the page. “This is the closest thing I could find. I’m afraid there’s a catch.” Saje glanced at the book, refusing to look Gillian in the eye.
Her stomach did a little flip. “What kind of catch?”
“The potion needs to be administered before the full moon or the bond can never be severed.” Saje’s shoulders sagged forward. “Hey, we still have time.”
Gillian sucked in a harsh breath. “Then let’s get to work.” She ran a finger over the faded text. “It looks like we’ll need dried garlic cloves, crushed henbane leaves, and vervain for the potion. The spell requires black candles and pagan beads.”
“We’re covered on the vervain and we have henbane leaves here. I’m sure Ellen has some beads lying around the coven. I can get started, even without the water.” Saje pulled out her phone and took a picture of the page. “I’ll forward you a copy. You’ll need to memorize the spell.”
Gillian read over the rest of the spell and froze. “Hold on, it says to add seven drops of familial blood at the end as the final ingredient.”
Saje glanced at the page. “The way I understand it, you’ll need to mix your blood with Brooke’s and get it into the potion somehow.” Saje went to one of the shelves of various magickal tools and picked up a small, sheathed ritual dagger. She walked back to where Gillian stood and passed the leather-bound handle to her. “You might want to hang onto this. Mixing your blood with hers is the only way to free her from the bond.”
“How exactly am I supposed to do that?” Gillian reached for her purse off the back wall hook and shoved the dagger into the front pocket then zipped it shut.
“A small cut on both your hands should suffice. I think the hard part will be getting the potion down her throat if she resists. But Brooke needs to drink every drop or it won’t take effect.”
Gillian blew out a shaky breath. Assuming she could find a way to get Brooke alone once they did find her, how was she going to get seven drops of their blood into a potion and force her to drink it without puking? This wasn’t going to be easy by any stretch. “I think we’d better go over this again.”
The rest of the day went by in a whirlwind. Still no texts or calls from Garrett. She wondered if he managed to get his hands on the water. She tried to pass off the incessant checking of her phone by faking a smile and a positive attitude; although, in truth, it became harder by the minute. When Gillian finished with her last reading of the day, which involved using a deck of Tarot Love Cards, along with rose petals and a green candle, she handed out the last of their potions. After she finished, she set the empty tray on the counter and started to clean up the mess from earlier.
