Page 111 of Fresh Old Bounties

“Chris. That thing you were looking into for me? You can drop it. Yes. You still owe me one.”

He hung up and dropped the phone in the cup holder, then started the SUV and pulled into the street.

“What was that about?” I asked, curious.

“A nearly wasted favor, thanks to Bagley.”

Delight filled me, all reminders of being mad at him long gone. “You did ask your contacts for me.”

He shrugged, focused on the driving. “Is the shop doing so badly that you need Bagley’s money?” he asked, effectively destroying my burgeoning mood.

“I wanted to use it for the Corner Rose. Besides, people keep paying somewhere I can’t find. Fake dark magic potions still need supplies, and there’s the magical expenditure, not to mention a mental health cost.”

“Why don’t you give them a new account to pay into?”

The question stunned me.

Why hadn’t I simply opened a new account and given it to Brimstone and Destruction and Hutton?

I watched the houses go by.

“I guess… I guess it felt somehow wrong to take money for selling dark magic.”

“But it’s not real dark magic,” Ian pointed out.

“But they think it is.” I stared at my hands. “It’s…tainted.”

“You told me you wanted to convert Bagley’s clients into good magic users.” Ian’s voice was gentle, coaxing.

“I do. But…” How to explain this strange feeling in my heart? That while they were paying into Bagley’s accounts, I could remain separated from her sick business like some sort of substitute witch. I had stepped in out of necessity, but was not part of it.

“What would you do with the money you get for the fake dark magic potions?” he asked.

“Help Dru.” An image of Fluffy and Rufus flashed through my mind. “Donate to animal shelters.”

“You’d put it to good use.” When I remained silent, he said, “You’re a smart woman, Hope.”

He didn’t add anything else, and I wished he did because at that moment I wasn’t feeling particularly smart.

“Thank you,” I whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“For what?”

“Having my back.” Always having my back, even when I was mad at him.

His right hand moved to touch my thigh for a moment.

“It’s what I do.”

Yes, but he only did it for a select few. Following a sudden instinct, and making use of a straight patch of road with no traffic, I carefully hugged his right arm and leaned my head against his shoulder for a few heartbeats, letting him know I appreciated him, and I’d be kissing him senseless if he weren’t busy driving.

Unfortunately, knowing I could count on him didn’t fix much.

We might’ve buried the bounty on Grandma’s spellbook, but nothing felt resolved.

Mystery Man was still out there, suffering no repercussions. The chance that he might sell or act on the information down the road hovered like an anvil above my head, and I still had no idea why anyone could’ve thought Grandma had owned a spellbook about alchemy.

“Why wait twenty years to get the spellbook or try to get your ex-partner’s files?” I asked in a murmur.

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