Page 15 of Upside Down Magic

“Doesthis happen to shifters?”IaskedAlex.

“Neverhappened to us before,” he said, rubbing his face. “I’veheard of shifters instinctively changing during a fight or huge argument, but they can always shift back.”Helooked at me, pleading. “Whatdo we do?Isit some kind of spell?”

Wasit?Brimstone’sicy fingers came to mind, but the connection seemed far-fetched. “Letme try a cleansing spell.”

Idipped into the kitchen to grab the spray bottle of moon waterIkept upstairs, and approachedShane.

“Staystill,”Itold him.

Heplanted his butt on the floor and watched me, full of hope.

Theamount of trust he put in me made my chest constrict.IfShanewas in trouble,Iwould leave no stones unturned, would not sleep until he was back to normal.

Butno need for extremes yet.

Isprayed some moon water over his fur, then knelt by his side and sank my fingers into it and concentrated.

Cleanse.

Ipoured a good amount of power into the spell, and felt my magic tingle down my arms and into his body.Themoment the spell was done,Idropped my butt to the floor, feeling instantly weak.Knowingme enough by now,Aleximmediately retrieved a can of energy drink from my fridge and handed it over.Iaccepted it gladly and took a large sip.

“Areyou good now?”AlexaskedShane. “Canyou shift back?”

Shanenarrowed his eye, then growled in frustration, a snarl pulling his mouth back.

“Crap,”Alexsaid. “Idon’t think he can.”

No, he definitely couldn’t.

“Whatdo we do now, boss?”

Itook out my phone. “Nowwe call the big boss.”

Ianagreed to cut his client meeting short and rush home, and we agreed to smuggleShaneback to the cemetery.Thevan would make for a great cover; we just had to get him downstairs and outside without anyone noticing.

Ipeeked into the hallway downstairs.Itappeared empty, the muted sounds of conversations and soft background music drifting from the shop.IgaveAlexandShanea thumbs up and started down the steps.

Thedownstairs bathroom door opened, and a woman stepped outside, drying her hands with a handkerchief.

AlexandIfroze on the stairs.Shanescrambled backward, his nails clacking on the hardwood floor.

Luckily, the woman didn’t notice us and simply pushed the bead curtain aside and returned inside the shop.

“Thatwas close,”Alexwhispered.Shaneagreed with a reproachful whine.

“Thebathroom door is always closed,”Iwhispered back, somewhat affronted. “HowwasIsupposed to know?”

“Don’tyou have some connection with the house?”

“Witch, not psychic innkeeper.”

Shanelet out a wolfish snort and took the steps down, nudging me to keep going.

“Fine, fine.”Itook the rest of the steps, taking care to be as silent as possible, then positioned myself by the archway to the shop, trying to block as much of the view into the hallway as possible. “Go, go, go,”Iurged.

AlexandShanehurried into the hallway, then plastered themselves to the wall all the way to the back door.Alexopened it, andShanesnuck through.

“Wasthat one of the pack?”Nataliaasked behind me.

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