Page 78 of Upside Down Magic

“Hope,”Keysaid tightly.

“It’sgoing to be okay,”Isoothed.

“Theboss…”Sheglanced toward the kitchen table.Ifollowed to findIansitting on one of the chairs, his skin pale and sweaty, andAlexhovering a couple of paces away, arms crossed and shifting from foot to foot in obvious distress.

Ianfrowned. “I’mfine.”Thenhe blinked hard and rubbed his face.

Abolt of panic hit me in the chest. “Ian?”Scramblingacross the floor,Iknelt by his side. “What’shappening?Areyou sick?”

“Justa little nauseated.It’snothing.”

“It’snot nothing,”Isaid, feeling his forehead.Itwas hot to the touch.Ianleaned into my hand, as if it brought him some comfort.

Oh, but this was so bad.Shiftersdidn’t get sick unless they were poisoned.Washe being affected by the same spellShanewas?Hadhe been infected before we cleansed the shop?I’dknown it had been a bad idea to do the potion there!

Igrabbed the second vial of potion and pressed it intoIan’shands. “Drinkup, mister.”

Hesmiled faintly, then uncorked the vial and chugged down the contents.

Myhands curled against his thigh asIwatched hisAdam’sapple bob up and down.Ifsomething happened toIan…

No,Iwouldn’t go there.

Hefinished drinking the potion and put the vial down, his piercing green eyes holding my concerned stare.

“Better?”Iwhispered.

Hewaited a few moments, then shook his head slightly.

Shanehowled behind me.

Alexdug his hands into his long blond hair. “Whatare we going to do, boss?”

“Giveit a few more minutes.Itmight have a delayed reaction.”

Alexpointed atShane, who was howling again. “Hedrank it earlier and nothing’s happened yet.”

“Idon’t get it,”Keysaid. “Whydid it work on that witch but notShane?”

Andwhy wasn’tIantransforming into a wolf likeShanehad?

Ianpicked up on my thoughts. “I’maffected differently.Why?”

“Idon’t know.Maybebecause you don’t shift as much asShanedoes?”

Herubbed his face again and blinked fast. “IthinkIneed to lie down.”

Iblinked myself, trying to stop tears from forming.Ihad to figure out why the potion wasn’t working and how to make it work.

Ianstood, wobbled, and acceptedAlex’shelp.Theymoved into the living room, and settledIanon the couch.Helay down immediately and closed his eyes.Hewas turning a little green around the corners of his mouth.

Shanefollowed and lay down by his side, whining softly.Ianreached down and gaveShane’sneck a reassuring squeeze.

RufusandFluffy, getting over their fear ofShane, approached the sofa cautiously.

“It’sokay,”Ianmanaged in a deep, gravelly voice. “Shanewon’t hurt you.”

Rufusmade it to the arm of the sofa and head bumpedIan.Fluffyhuffed anxiously by his side, too short to reach over.

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