Page 25 of Bright Dark Curses

The first thing I did the next day was play the audiobook for Bagley. Mostly because I needed to get that over with before Brimstone came for his morning shift. I had saboteur suspects to catch and paranormal business owners to convince to vote for Dru, which meant I might have to leave the shop for long amounts of time, and I wouldn’t leave Bagley unsupervised in the open for that long.

I was hopeful of her eventual conversion into a good witch, but I wasn’t reckless.

“No eating the ivy, Fluffy,” I reminded her as I let her and Rufus out to roam free in the backyard. I pointed at Rufus. “You better make sure she doesn’t eat the evil witch’s vampire plants, young man.”

Rufus let out a low woof, which I took to mean he was on it.

“Good boy.”

I closed the door and got the shop ready for opening. Brimstone arrived at nine on the dot, and I would’ve asked him about his video log except that Dru arrived right behind him. The excitement in her expression was all I needed to know she’d found something.

An answering wave of eagerness filled me as I all but dragged her into the back.

“What did you find?” I asked as soon as we were in the kitchen and out of hearing from Brimstone. “Do you know who put the curse on Olmeda?”

She put a hand up. “Coffee first, goodies after.”

“On it,” I exclaimed, running back into the shop and preparing Dru’s favorite type of coffee: dark like the bottomless pit of her gossip knowledge.

Once she took a few sips and hummed in satisfaction, she deigned to put me out of my misery.

“We’re visiting someone who might know about all the curse stuff.”

My mouth drooped slightly. “That’s it?”

“It’s more than you have, isn’t it?”

Fair enough. “It is.”

I heard the tinkling of the front door. We didn’t usually have customers right at opening time unless they were paranormals looking for a potion, so I leaned back to peek outside the kitchen and into the shop.

Brimstone’s deep, ominous voice reverberated through the building: “Hope Avery. You have a visitor.”

A clap of thunder underscored the words.

He really should’ve gone into theater.

Dru arched her brows. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know.” I wasn’t expecting anyone.

We returned to the shop to find a short, thin man standing by the counter. He looked to be in his midthirties with thinning hair, a small mustache, and the biggest grin this side of me after talking with Ian on the phone.

Brimstone pointed at him. “Visitor.”

Dru immediately sat on one of the stools to enjoy the show while finishing her coffee.

“Thank you, Jeremy,” I said, sparing him with a pointed where are your manners look. I offered my hand to the newcomer. “Hello, I’m Hope Avery. How can I help you?”

“Wonderful,” the man exclaimed, taking my hand with both of his and shaking vigorously. His grasp was warm and thankfully sweat-free. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’m Norman. Norman Moore. I’m the new owner of the Corner Rose.”

Dru choked on her coffee and began coughing. I fixed a welcoming smile on my face and slapped her on the back. “That’s, ah, great. I’m glad we’re finally meeting.”

“Yes!” The sudden energy contained in the word made me jump and Dru stop coughing. “I’m sorry it’s taken this long—completely my fault. With one thing and the other, it never seemed like the right moment. But today I woke up and looked outside the window at such a lovely November day and knew it was time to introduce myself.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said honestly. How could I not in the face of so much morning enthusiasm? “I’ve been curious about what you’ve done with the place.”

His eyes widened with delight. “Oh, my. Really? What about going now? I would love to give you a tour! It’s not quite ready for the opening, but I already got some of the items ready for?—”

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