Page 104 of Upside Down Magic

Ian’sface came into focus, his strong features and sharp green eyes showing no trace of illness.Thepotion had worked.Thespell was broken.Hewas sitting next to me.

Lifewas good.

Ismiled up at him. “Ilove you.”

Hesmiled back and traced my cheek. “Ilove you too, angel.”

ThenIpassed out again.

THIRTY-TWO

Twoweeks later.

Myhand reached out to change the music channel as we drove toMontelinIan’sSUV.

“Nochannel changes,”Iansaid with mock severity. “Ithasn’t been twenty minutes.”

Pouting,Ireturned my hand to my lap as the latest pop sensation’s song filled theSUV.Fluffybarked in unison with the chorus, andIcouldn’t help but sing along with her.I’dhave reached over to pet her, but she was in one of those dog carriers attached to the back seat.Byher side,Rufuslooked out of the window, almost as tired of my constant changing of music stations asIanwas.

Hehad put the twenty minute limit in place five minutes after we’d left the cemetery.

TosayIwas fidgety was an understatement.

Butwhat was a witch to do when theCouncilrequested a meeting out of the blue?

Ianreached over, squeezed my leg, encased in my best dark green suit pants to go with my white shirt and only blazer, thenreturned his hand to the steering wheel. “It’sgoing to be okay,Hope.”

Igurgled a sort of agreement, even though insideIwas shaking in my boots.Doyle’scrisp, professional voice over the phone had been hard to interpret, andIhadn’t had the foresight to record the call soIcould play it forIanorDruto help me guess what the problem was.

Ianhad insisted there was no problem.Druhad asked ifI’dforgotten to turn in paperwork.

OfcourseIhadn’t.

Atleast,Ididn’t thinkIhad.Ihad e-mailedDoylemy report on the vase and how we had nullified the spell, and she had e-mailed back that everything appeared to be in order now and to go ahead and open the shop again.Butwhat ifTammyhad complained?Whatif she was affronted my potion had worked where hers had failed?Tammywas at the top of the witch hierarchy—one word from her and my tenure as a witch shop owner would be over.

Coldsweat formed on my lower back.Grandma’sand my dream couldn’t end this easily, right?Surelyfixing things and saving the day had to trump ego-driven complaints, right?

“Focuson what you can do, not what’s out of your hands.”

Foronce, the advice had come fromIanrather than my bottomless collection ofGrandma’swise words and affirmations.Iwas thankful—he was right.Ineeded to focus on the good things, not the what-ifs.

Afterthe police’s arrival at the art gallery,Normanhad been able to convince them that everything was all right whileHuttonandDrusneaked me back to my shop through the back alley.Herpowers restored,Lilianhad used one of my witch-detecting kits to testNorman, and he had turned out to have some power, as we’d guessed.Beinga spirit witch, he wouldn’t have known it without someone telling him—unlike elemental mages, it wasrare to accidentally use spirit magic.Aperson could spend their whole lives without knowing they were a witch, asIwould have ifGrandmahadn’t left me her spellbook and letter.

Aftertalking withNormanand getting a better background on the vase,Lilianhad surmised that the original coven member inNorman’sfamily had meant to do a spell that siphoned other people’s magic but it had backfired, as dark magic tended to do.Hertheory was that the intent had been to use it on the other coven members, but the coven had been busted before they could use it, and the family had taken the vase away.Oncethe vase had been returned toOlmeda, the spell had activated on its own, causing all the issues with people’s magic.

Itwas scary to think spells that powerful and damaging were possible.

Butit was also a great relief to know that good magic could always defeat evil.Evenif it took a couple of tries.

Asfor the rest of those involved in the break-in and the second potion, rumors had spread fast and everyone had reached minor celebrity status within the paranormal community.Dorsey’sbed and breakfast was booked solid for the next six months,Alexhad been offered a new remodel job,Aprilhad landed a new position at a prestigious law office,Wyatt’sbar was apparently the place to be (much to his irritation), and theTeaCauldron’sclientele of local paranormals had doubled in size, not to mention my potions being the new hot commodity in town.

EvenSoniahad dropped in to praise my actions and thank me.

Thankme!

Andshe was alone, too, noBrimstonehovering nearby forcing her to say nice things to me.

Totop it all off, theChristmasevent was running smoother than honey.Thecards and stickers had been printed in time, thetreasure hunt aspect was a hit among families—even countingWyatt’slast-minute lemonade and chicken wings stand in front of his bar—andMei’sChristmastree cookies were perennially sold out.

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