Page 54 of Death Wish

“What?” He laughed. “Just because it’s been a slow couple of months doesn’t mean I don’t still have a good savings.”

Cole parked his beat-up Jeep a few streets away from the Divine Magic shop. It made a terrible puttering sound when he threw it in park. I was about to say something about putting that hefty pocket change of his into something useful, like fixing up his car, but I held back. It took a lot out of me to keep my mouth shut, but I did it. Go me.

On the way over to the shop, we discussed the plan. I was to go inside, act like a tourist, and browse. I had to somehow get behind the counter to the back room without Marla seeing me and grab the herb. That part would have to be all me, and I was going to have to be creative. Marla would know I wasn’t a witch like her right away since all magic wielders can sense the magic in each other, and I was bone dry in that department. So I couldn’t just ask her about the herb outright. She’d know I was up to something.

I was going to have to be clever.

And of course, Cole would be sitting pretty in the getaway car, waiting for me to come out. Lucky bastard.

The storefront was smaller than Kay’s with a single curtained-off window and door. Anyone could miss it walking by if they hadn’t been looking for it. As I walked up to the entrance, I was surprised to see the sign hanging from the door turned to Sorry, We’re Closed.

Now what?

But before I could turn around, movement in the shop behind the sign caught my eye. A short woman with a housewife-type bob and friendly smile opened the door to me. She was a full foot shorter than me and looked more like the president of the PTA with her ruffled pink blouse, jeans, and matching costume jewelry than a powerful level three witch. I don’t know what I had expected Marla to look like… Maybe a Hansel and Gretel type hag? Definitely older than the woman in front of me now. She couldn’t be any older than forty. Thirty-five if I was feeling nice.

“Hello!” she chirped with a board, straight smile. “You must be my ten o’clock.”

My eyes widened. I still had to get used to this whole people-being-able-to-see-me thing.

My first instinct was to say no, but I swallowed it. I needed a way to get in, and this was it. An appointment.

I nodded.

“Come in! Come in!” She ushered me inside, like an old friend welcoming me into her home for tea. “I have your order all ready for you.”

An overwhelming cloud of different scents hung in the shop, coming from the variety of perfumed incenses and displayed candles for sale. The smells were so powerful, the inside of my nostrils burned with every breath in. On tables and shelves, there were neat displays of colored stones claiming to bring good luck and fortune, crocheted scarves and purses, and different types of handmade metal jewelry. Even a designated section full of flavored teas to help with everything you could think of—from curing a hangover, to making one’s hair grow, to even helping with fertility or erectile dysfunction—sat by the front table and register.

The shop screamed tourist attraction, catering to humans with an innocent interest in Wicca or pagan-based religions. The fact that Divine Magic was actually run by the most powerful type of witch around who sold dangerous and actual magical relics and trinkets to the highest bidder in some kind of magical black market was completely hidden behind this frou-frou façade.

It was a clever cover-up. I’d give her that.

Marla walked behind the counter, but before she could step behind the glittery curtain, where I assumed the real magical items were stored, she gave me a pageant-like smile. “I assume Mr. Johnson will be transferring my payment directly, like usual?”

That took me aback a little, but I kept my surprise off my face. Mr. Johnson had to be an alias, right? Like John Smith or Jane Doe. The name seemed too generic for the circumstance.

If I were in the dealings of stolen magical artifacts, I wouldn’t use my real name either. It was easier to fly under the radar that way. So whoever this Mr. Johnson was, he had obviously had many transactions before with Marla by the way she spoke about him. If Marla assumed I was one of his associates meant to pick up, I had to play the part. But at the same time, not say too much to reveal myself as an imposter.

I had to be cool and collected, yet find a way to get on the other side of that curtain without getting my ass blasted by an energy bolt or whatever other spells this witch had up her cardigan’s sleeves.

“He has everything handled.” I made sure to say it firmly, like I knew what I was talking about. Truly, Mr. Johnson could have been a little old man in need of some medical herbs for his dying wife and paid in pesos. There was no way for me to know really, and I wasn’t planning on sticking around long to find out what Mr. Johnson’s dealings were really about anyway.

Marla’s grin widened, seeming happy with that answer.

As she stepped into the back room, I got a glimpse of what lay beyond. A closet-sized space with about half a dozen shelves, all congested with different jars, challises, and rolled-up scrolls. Some dried plants hung from the ceiling, and for a moment I wondered if one of them could be the Breath of Life herb I was looking for, but would someone really store something so rare and desirable out in the open like that? Not if they were smart, and Marla—although far from a stereotypical witch—didn’t strike me as stupid. Especially if she had survived in this business this long.

Nothing else in the small back room appeared spectacular or alarmingly dangerous. The items stored in there didn’t even seem hard to get to if I wanted them, to be honest. It was all pretty lackluster, like Marla herself. Unexpected. Innocent.

Deceiving.

That had to be it. It had to be staged. Or maybe even an enchantment to make it appear ordinary to deter robbers. It was very possible the room was booby-trapped, too. If Marla was really a level three witch, like Cole had claimed, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had pulled out all the stops to protect her hoard.

As I crept around the corner, a tingle of magic caressed my skin. It froze me dead in my tracks. I wasn’t a witch by any means, so if I was able to detect magic at all, it meant Marla had laid out some powerful stuff to protect her precious back room. Just as I’d predicted.

So that meant strolling in there, taking Marla off guard enough to knock her out, or grab what I needed and run. Neither was the wisest of plans. But hell, I had known that the moment Cole had thought of it back in the Jeep. Outsmart and out-magic a level three? I should have known better.

“I’ll be right there!” Marla’s voice echoed from somewhere beyond the curtain. Even though the room had appeared small, she sounded farther away, only confirming my suspicions of magic being involved.

I hurried back to the safe side of the counter. Had I triggered some kind of invisible trip wire to warn her I was close? Probably. It was time to abort the mission and regroup. I needed to get out of here before raising too much suspicion and let Cole know this wasn’t going to be as easy as he assumed it would be.

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