Page 80 of Upside Down Magic

“Areyou sure the dark coven are the ones who did the spell?”Keyasked.

“Byall accounts the coven leader practiced very powerful magic, and she wouldn’t have accepted weak members into her group.Ifthe spell is old and has somehow survived all these years, there is a high chance it was one of them who put it there.Ifthe spell is new, it might be connected to the coven.”

“Andif it’s not?”Alexasked.

“Thenat least we’ll have crossed that off the list.”

Iangrunted in agreement.Iwanted to fall to my knees by his side and throw my arms around him and bury my face in his chest and never let him go, butIhad to help him andShanefirst.Hugginglater, investigation now.

Ibrought out my phone and calledDru.

“Thepotion isn’t working anymore,”Itold her as soon as she answered. “AndIanis sick now.”

“That’snot good,” she said after a moment.

“Youshould close down the shop and go home, in case,”Isaid.

Afew moments of silence followed as she pondered that. “IfIwere in danger, wouldn’tIhave been affected by now?You’refine and you live there.”

“Weshouldn’t risk it.”

Shelet out a sigh. “Okay.Yougot a plan to fix this, right?”

“Ofcourse!Kindof.”

“Let’shear it.”

Itold her about tracking down the families in the coven’s spellbook.

“Givethem to me.I’llsee whatIcan find.”

Isent her the list of names, then forwarded it toKeyandAlexas well.Keyhad taken a seat byShane’sside;Alex, like me, wastoo wired to sit down.Weall immediately began searching on our phones and the room fell silent but for the occasional doggy noise and whine.

Aftera few minutes,Alexlooked up from his phone. “Hey,IthinkIfound something.”

"What?”Iasked eagerly.

“Thisdude,Caswell, works at some insurance company.Ifound him on a jobs site.”

“Whichcompany?”Iasked eagerly.

“OlmedaCombinedInsuranceGroup.”Histhumbs flew over his phone. “Theirmain office is downtown.”

Ipocketed my phone. “Perfect.”Ihesitated, unable to tear my gaze offIanand the dogs.Therewas nothingIwanted more than to stay with him, but that wouldn’t help any.Icouldn’t just sit and do nothing and trustLilianandTammywould find another way to break the spell.Itmight take days, or they might never find a way.

Ianmanaged a small smile. “It’llbe okay.”

“I’llstay here,”Keysaid firmly.

Mytension abated somewhat.Shecould keep researching while watching out for our shifters.

“Let’sgo, boss,”Alexsaid from the front door.

IgaveIana quick kiss, hating the way his skin was feverishly hot to the touch, then grabbed theSUVkeys.

“Wait,”Iansaid. “TakeRufus.”

Excellentidea; we might need to intimidate someone.AlexandIdidn’t exactly screamconfess you put a dark magic spell on my shop or we’ll kick your ass. “Rufus, come.”Ipatted my thigh.

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