Page 170 of The Demon's Spell

I had no magic to speak of, so that wasn’t going to help me get inside. I was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. I went over to a nearby rock bed and grabbed the biggest rock I could find. I aimed it at the door and threw it as hard as I could. The glass shattered, and I winced as the sound echoed off the buildings around me.

The owner had left this place completely defenseless—no wards, no alarms, nothing. I worried that I wouldn’t find what I needed.

I was already this far. I wasn’t turning back now. I kicked glass aside as I entered the shop. The shelves were bare, except for a few supplies piled in boxes behind the counter. I hurried over to them and flipped them over, looking for labels, but there weren’t any.

“Fuck,” I growled under my breath.

I placed the first box on the counter and quickly tore it open. There were all kinds of herbs packed in here, along with other medical devices. I found nothing labeled scaleweed, but I found a knee brace. I tucked it into my back pocket; I was definitely taking that for Nadine. I tossed the box aside and moved on to the next one. It was nothing but junk, but I found a puzzle box I thought Nadine would like, so I shoved that in my pocket, too.

I tore open several more, until I reached the last box. This shit better be in here.

I tossed herb packets aside, until I reached the bottom. My heart leapt when I saw a single pouch labeled scaleweed.

Thank the Goddess! This better be enough for the brew.

I shoved the packet in my pocket, but a voice out front made me jump. I ducked behind the counter. “Hey!” someone shouted.

Fuck, they’d found me!

Wait, no... I’d come in through the back.

I peeked over the counter, and I saw several police officers run by the window. “You vandals better stop, or I’ll shoot!” an officer yelled.

The guys hanging the skeleton must’ve gotten themselves into trouble. I had to get out of here now.

I turned to slip out the back—and my heart stalled in my chest. A ghostly figure hovered in front of me. He was a middle-aged man dressed in modern clothing. His dark eyes were sunken in, and there was a big bloody wound out one side of his head. It looked like he’d been hit with an intense spell. I wasn’t the kind of warlock to see ghosts, which mean this one had to be fucking strong.

“You dare steal from me!?” he screamed.

Aw, fuck. This guy didn’t even know he was dead.

I held up my hands in surrender. “Please, I came to save my friend—Everly Hall. You might know her. She’s a Seer with a shop just a few doors down. She’s been infected by a—”

The ghost let out a high-pitched scream unlike anything a living being could produce. I threw my hands over my ears, and the front windows shattered.

“Over here!” the police shouted.

Fuck.

I took off sprinting toward the back door. I caught my pant leg on a glass fragment as I jumped through the broken frame, and my jeans tore. I tripped and rolled across the pavement. When I looked back, I saw two officers racing through the shop toward me. One raised a gun to me, and another pointed a wand in my direction. I knew that if I ran across the parking lot to the car, they’d shoot me before I made it.

I scrambled to my feet and made a break for the first escape I could find. I yanked on the door to a nearby shop, and it swung open, to my relief. I quickly pulled it shut and turned the lock, then ducked around the corner.

“Where’d he go?” one of the officers yelled. I peeked around the corner to see the officer glancing around like I’d just vanished into thin air. Idiots.

“There’s the vandals!” the other officer shouted. They took off running in the other direction.

I sank to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. When I looked around the shop, I realized I’d ducked into the jewelry shop. The looters had knocked over the displays, and glass lay shattered everywhere. All the jewels were gone, and the lights above my head flickered.

A whimper came from across the room. I curiously got to my feet and followed the sound. An old man crouched behind the counter. He held his hands up and shied away from me. “P—please, don’t hurt me!”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I told him.

He lowered his hands. “You’re not?”

I helped him to his feet. “You were in here this whole time?”

He nodded, and his whole body shook. “They took everything… everything but this.”

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