Page 46 of Upside Down Magic

“Myguess is that her power wasn’t enough, either.”

Oh, boy.Bagleywas going to love that.

Icouldn’t wait to tell her.

“Wemight have some leads about old spells,”Isaid.

“Tellme.”

Iexplained the rumors about a similar situation happening before, what we had found out inMontel, and our initial plans to look up the families of everyone involved.

“Adark coven like that would definitely have the combined power to do such a spell.Itmight be they never got to finish it before it was disbanded, or they meant it for something else but they never came around to triggering it.”

“Ora descendant from the coven who knew about it has come back to trigger it,”Iansaid.

“Orthat,”Liliansaid, a happy note in her voice.Sherubbed her hands. “Thisis all so interesting.Ilove myself a good mystery.”

Forsomeone whose magic wasn’t working right, she seemed quite upbeat.Greencheck mark on the suspect column—would she be so happy about things if she wasn’t sure she could reverse the spell at a moment’s notice?

“Youtwo seem to work together well,”Liliansaid, then added in a mutter, “Unlikehalf of my raid group.”

“Wedo,”Isaid proudly, forgetting all about her being a possible suspect.

“Youtwo should do as you planned and follow up on the dark coven leads, figure out if any of the families are still around.Checkon that victim’s family as well.”

“Ihave to make another potion for you and the other paranormals affected first,”Isaid. “That’llknock me out for a bit.”

“Noneed.”

FIFTEEN

Iwas taken aback.Shewanted to remain like this? “Why?”

“Weneed to wait until we know more about the kind of magic that did this.Anypotion we make might make the spell worse or interfere with recovery.Noneof the paranormals affected are in a bad condition other than their magic, yes?”

“Asfar asI’maware it’s just their magic that’s acting up.”

“Good, then they can stay as they are for a bit longer.Giveit some time to see if the effects disappear without the need for magic.”

“Okay,”Iagreed reluctantly. “Whatwill you do while we look at the families?”

“Iwill consult some of my friends to see if they have any ideas.”Sheinclined her head toward the bathroom door. “I’malso running some tests on my blood to see ifIcan figure out if it’s a potion or a ward spell.”

“Butyour magic…”

“Ibrought some potions with me.”

Ianstepped away from the wall and brought out a freezer bag from his back pocket with a bloodied gauze inside. “Thisis from the affected shifter.Willit help?”

Whatcould only be described as total, utter delight filledLilian’sface. “Oh, my, yes, indeed, it will help.”Shenudged my side. “Youare a lucky one.Noteveryone is considerate enough to bring me blood presents.”

“Ah, sure.”Istood and stepped away from her. “Ian’sthe best.”

ButLilianwasn’t listening, she was studying the bag withShane’sbloodied gauze with an intensity that made me shudder.

Vampires.TheBigfootof the paranormal world.Couldthey be witches too?

“Let’sgo,”Iansaid with a low chuckle, accurately guessing my train of thought.

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