Page 83 of Upside Down Magic

“Wateryour sources well and you shall reap the rewards,”Iwhispered.

Alexchuckled.

“Whatwas that?”Aprilasked.

“Nothing.Actually,Iwanted to ask you about something.”

“Ooh!What?”Herhappy eagerness was contagious, and it eased some of the tension clamping my chest.

“I’mlooking for some families that used to live inOlmedaa while back.Theinternet isn’t being very helpful, butIthought maybe you’d know about some of them.”

“Sure.Whatare the names?”

“Onesecond.”Iswitched to the notes application and the preview for theChristmasevent list caught my eye.Almoston its own accord, my index finger brought it forward.Thereit was, the crème de la crème of the lower echelon of businesses inOlmeda.Theunderdog shops, the ones at the bottom of the ladder banded together with some exceptions.

HadIthought callingAprilwas a good idea?Ithad nothing to the absolute stroke of genius that speared my brain asIread the list.

“Hey,April.I’lltext you the names, okay?Igotta go.”

“Sure,” she said.

Iended the call and stared at the list again.CouldIbe right?

“What’sup, boss?”Alexasked.

Rufusbarked from the back seat, intrigued byAlex’squestioning tone.

Iturned toward them, excitement rising like the ocean waves in a meteorite crash movie. “IthinkIknow how to fix the spell.”

“How?”

“Whatif the spell causing all these problems works likeGodzilla?”

Alexfrowned, trying to follow my logic.Hemight’ve not watched the movies.NotthatIwas a connoisseur—I’djust watched one withIanlast month. “Howdo you mean?”

“Whatif feeding it powerful magic makes it stronger?Thinkabout the people who have gotten sick—Brimstone,Shane,Ian,Lilian.”

“Isee what you mean,” he said thoughtfully. “They’reall top of the line paranormals.”

“ThepotionImade forShaneandBrimstonelasted almost two days, but the potionTammydid with everyone’s luxury blood and her power lasted minutes.Whatif it fed off it, making the spell even stronger, and that’s whyIangot sick?”Iswallowed. “Evensicker thanShane?”

“Youmight be onto something, boss,”Alexsaid. “Butthen how can we stop it?”

Imulled that. “Weneed enough magic to mess with the spell but not enough that it feeds off it.Ithink the potion basisLilianandTammyused are still good in theory, but the problem is the, uh, quality of the ingredients.”

“Sowe need wilted herbs and weak paranormals’ blood?Alosers’ spell?”

“Anunderdogs’ spell,”Icorrected primly. “Powermight be on a scale, but the scale is horizontal, not vertical.”

“Whateveryou say, boss,”Alexsaid with a grin. “So, how do we make this spell?”

“Ihave the herbs and crystals at the shop, but we’ll need to get the paranormals’ blood.Oneof each type, likeTammydid.”Iheld his gaze. “Areyou up to it?”

Heoffered his fist. “Hell, yeah,Iam.”

“Good.”Ifist-bumped him. “Wegot witch and shifter.Drucan be our demon.”

“Witch, shifter, demon.”Alexticked us off with his fingers. “Needmages and a zerker?”

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