Page 65 of Bright Dark Curses

“Tonight, then.”

“Now that that’s settled, let’s go over to Tanya’s.” She gestured toward Rufus, who was sitting stoically, and Fluffy, who was straining to get to me. “Grab the dogs.”

I crouched to pet Fluffy, then unwound their leashes from the mailbox. “Tanya’s?”

“She works at the insurance office by Balton Square. Her parents are mages, but she hasn’t gotten much power. I haven’t talked to her in months.”

“What makes you think she’ll give you her vote if I’m the one who talks to her? I’ve never met her.”

“She doesn’t like me very much.” Dru looked me up and down. “But she’s into the whole positivity stuff. She’ll like you.”

I brightened. “Really?” I’d yet to meet someone here who truly understood the power of positivity and affirmations. Olmeda’s citizens tended to be on the sour side. Present company excluded, of course.

“Yep. Chop, chop, get a move on. I’m getting hungry.”

Now that she mentioned it… I rubbed my stomach. “Should we get something on the go?”

“Tanya first.”

“I need to get back to the Tea Cauldron soon,” I warned.

“After Tanya.”

The buildings grew crowded together and the street traffic increased as we approached the heart of Old Olmeda. As always, the lively atmosphere recharged me like nothing else could. There was power in being among people enjoying their vacations and listening to the mismatch of music pouring out of the different establishments. Here, it wasn’t as bad as on Guiles and Romary but?—

My gaze fell on a figure walking our way and I froze in place.

The Council witch.

And I was, once again, not in my shop.

NINETEEN

I thrust the leashes into Dru’s hands and darted into the nearest shop.

With any luck, the Council witch hadn’t seen me.

The shop was small but had an unencumbered big open window next to the door. I huddled at the corner with the wall and peeked into the street, focusing on the people walking through. The moment the Council witch came into view, I turned my back and tried to cover the green streak in my hair. From now on, I was putting on a hat whenever I left the Tea Cauldron.

After counting to thirty and hearing neither the shop’s door open nor my name being called out, I dared another peek. Dru was looking at me like I’d lost my mind, but there was no sign of the Council witch.

The relief made me light-headed. I didn’t want to know what the witch would tell the Council if she were to find me out and about walking my dogs instead of tending to the shop, but it wouldn’t be anything good.

Thanking the universe for my close escape, I faced the inside of the shop to find four pairs of eyes staring at me. Two by the counter, and two behind. The smells of delicious cooking batter assaulted my nose, and I registered the different cut fruits under a glass display. One pair of eyes belonged to a child, a large folded crepe in their hands.

“Oh, how delicious,” I exclaimed.

The child chewed slowly. The mother passed her card through the card reader, never taking her gaze off me. One of the men behind the counter sniffed the air, looked down and cursed, then hurried to scrape off a crepe from the hotplate.

Two minutes later, I walked out of the shop with a slightly burned folded crepe filled with banana slices, whipped cream, and drizzled chocolate.

I took one good bite and sighed in bliss.

“This is so good.” I offered Dru the crepe. “Want a bite? You should go inside and get one.”

“What was that?” she asked in three short, curt, pointed words.

I swallowed my bite of crepe. “Maybe you should’ve gone into the dessert business.”

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