Page 112 of Bright Dark Curses

“This is kind of cool,” she agreed with no small amount of respect.

Brimstone gave her a flat stare. “It will not work as blackmail material.”

Dru’s smile turned into a smirk as she passed the phone along. By the time it made it back to me, I was feeling a little guilty.

“I’m sorry,” I told Brimstone, silently adding, please don’t burn my shop down?

He sighed, clearly succumbing to his fate. “I am not ashamed of my past, but I prefer people to focus on my present.”

I lifted my soda can in salute. “Wise words.” And since we were here and all… “I heard you have a food vlog channel?”

“Over fifty thousand subscribers.”

That was a lot. “Maybe you could feature the Tea Cauldron sometime?” I asked, hopeful.

His smile was not nice. Not nice at all. “Maybe I could get free lifetime potions and coffee. And muffins.”

“You got it.”

Totally worth it.

Four weeks later.

The early December morning was cold as I made my way back to the Tea Cauldron. A heavy, dense fog had settled over the streets the last few days, forcing delivery trucks to switch their lights on and turning the world into a strange ball of cotton. I shuddered in my jacket as tendrils of wet chill attempted to sneak down my spine and hurried up my pace.

It had been twenty minutes since Ian had reluctantly let me go, and I was regretting not spending another half hour with him in his warm, comfy bed. He sometimes spent the night over at the shop, but my bed was tiny compared to his.

Last week, I’d caught him measuring my bedroom. Probably to see if there was enough space for a bigger bed.

November had been blissfully free of paranormal criminals, Thanksgiving with the strays had been a complete success, and I couldn’t wait to celebrate Christmas with Ian.

The thought made me smile and wish I had brought Bee-Bee. It would’ve allowed us to spend some extra time together this morning.

Unfortunately, today was Natalia’s first shift, so I needed to be at the shop bright and early to get everything ready. Apparently, she needed money for a new phone, and her ex-crush now turned nemesis was working at the shifter stores.

I was nothing if not willing to help my beloved community.

The fog was so thick today the other side of the street was barely visible. Sharp Claws and the Corner Rose surfaced eerily into full view as I crossed over to the shop. Norman still made it his daily habit to stop by for a breakfast tea and muffin, and his demeanor hadn’t changed from bright and friendly. But how could that be when his gallery had so much upsetting stuff in it? I hadn’t caught him doing anything weird, but my suspicions remained. Dru agreed. There was something off about him and the place.

“About time,” Bagley complained from the windowsill as I came into the first-floor kitchen. “You know how boring it is to watch this fog all night?”

“As boring as hearing you say the same thing every morning.”

She snorted. “Please. At least there are usually birds or something. What about you leave me at your living room window tonight?”

“You already had your front street view day this week.”

“Goddess, what did I do to end up like this?”

“Murder and dark witchcraft?”

She chuckled. “All worth it.”

“And this is why you only get one front street view day a week.”

“Fine. Not all worth it. Just parts of it. Better?”

Absolutely not. But sometimes change came in small increments. “I’ll wear you down one day, Ms. Bagley. Wait and see.”

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