Page 63 of Upside Down Magic

“Nostealing the spellbook,”Iadmonished. “You’rean air mage, remember?”

“Sure.”

Shekept looking at it, though, andIcould see the gears turning as clearly as if her skull was transparent. “Nostealing, and no calling on witch friends, either.Ifsomething happens to it,Ianwill know it’s you and drag you to jail.”

Dorseylet out a disgruntled sound, whichItook to mean an agreement.Ifocused on the list of names.

“Whywould they list the names for everyone to see?”Ianasked.

“Away to make sure everyone was full in,”Iguessed.

“Toblackmail them later on,”Dorseysaid.

“Andprobably that.”Iwiggled my eyebrows at her. “Evilpeople like to do evil things.”

Shesniffed and tried to look at me down her nose. “Arewe done here?Ihave a business to run even if yours is in shambles.”

Iantapped one name on my phone beforeIcould toss it aside and do something toDorseythat would shame generations of theOakes-Averyline. “Iknow this family.Theymoved out ofOlmedaabout the timeIcame back.”

Whichdidn’t mean they hadn’t left a “gift” behind for the community to find.Maybethey’d had a beef withBagleyand now the rest of us were paying the consequences?Iwent down the list of names to find no mention ofLeeman.

“Canyou move the pages back to a random one?”IaskedDorsey.

“Idon’t see why—”Shebroke off asIanleaned in and pinned her with a cold, hard stare. “Fine, fine.Lord, what a pair you two are.”

Thepages moved again, less springily this time, until the book lay open on some drawings of different herbs and a few explanations inEnglishabout their properties.Iread through them quickly, but there were no mentions of uses for evil.

“Thiswill do,”Iagreed.

“Gee, thanks,”Dorseymuttered. “Youbetter give me to someone good forSecretSantaafter all this.”

“That’snot howSecretSantaworks,Ms.Dorsey.It’srandom.”

“Randommy ass,” she said under her breath.

Ichose to ignore that and we went back to the bed and breakfast inIan’sSUV.Currenthappenings might have me on edge, butIwasn’t soulless enough to make her walk all the way back after spending a big chunk of her magic.

Backin the bed and breakfast,Dorseytook her seat behind the reception counter while we beelined up toLilian’sroom.Ihad no doubt the moment we were out of sight,Dorseywould follow to try to listen in our conversation.

Ifshe hadn’t done us a solid with her magic,Iwould’ve considered leaving a warning ward on the door.Nothingterrible, of course, maybe a tiny zap of magic, or turning her ear blue, or giving her hives.

“Don’tlet the evil forces surrounding you drag you down to their level.”

“Thinkingof hexingDorsey?”Ianasked knowingly.

“Grandmawould not approve.”

“Sometimes, we need to be our own person.”

“IanCavalier,”Isaid with mock censure, “are you proposingIturn into a mean girl?”

Hebarked a laugh. “Alchemythat powerful doesn’t exist.”

Myanswering smile was so wide it threatened to split my face in two, andIwas tempted to have my way with the man right there in the hallway.Reluctantly,Iknocked onLilian’sdoor.

Spellsto fix,ShaneandBrimstoneto help.Thereminder was like a bucket of ice, and all my focus snapped instantly to the problem at hand.Notime to flirt withIan.Icould do that later when people’s magic wasn’t at stake.

Lilianopened the door and ushered us in.

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