Page 26 of Upside Down Magic

“Impressive, right?”

Shecovered her smile with a sip of her coffee. “So, what caused it?”

Itapped my fingers on the counter. “That’sthe problem.Idon’t know.AtfirstIthought it might be related to me or the shop, butShanehasn’t had any potion from me, andIjust checked the shop and there are no traces of dark magic.”Which, considering the history of the building, was quite something.

“Maybeit’s something to do withKey?”

“Maybe.Ianthought that as well.”

“Isense a ‘but.’”Hereyes narrowed. “Ifyou make a butt joke,Iwon’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Aww.Buttit was right there.”

“Hope!”

“Fine, fine.Yes, there is a ‘but.’Iancalled his mom to ask if she remembered anything like this happening inOlmedabefore and she said she heard about something similar happening a while back inMontel.Doyou remember any story like this?”

“Notreally.Isearched the online boards after you left, but didn't find anything.”

Igrabbed a cookie from the display and held it out toDru.

“What’sthis?”Sheplucked it from my fingers as if it were a poisonous snake.

“Independentthinking ought to be rewarded.Goodjob on searching all by yourself.”

“Oh, shut up.”Butshe bit into the cookie anyway.Somehow, she produced no crumbles.Ifit had been me, half the cookie would’ve ended up on the counter.

“I’mthinking of going toMontelto check with theCouncil’sarchives.Ifsomething like this happened before,Ibet they’ve got some sort of record.”

“Ifit only happened once before, it seems like an isolated incident.Mightnot be related withShaneandBrimstoneat all.Andif nobody else got sick, maybe whatever spell got them is done now.”

“Youcan’t count on that, though.Whatif it’s an escalation and it happens again next year?Ornext month?”

Sheconceded the point with a grunt.

“So…”Ileaned my elbows on the counter and sent her a coy look.

Hereyes narrowed again. “So?”

“Howare things going withMark?”

Asmirk of satisfaction curved her mouth. “Noneof your business.”

Isquealed in delight. “Oh, that’s great.Haveyou guys kissed yet?Hashe taken you somewhere romantic?”

“DoIask you aboutIan’skisses?”

“No, butIcan tell you if you want.They’reama?—”

Druheld her hands to her ears. “Nodetails, please.”

“That’snot very girlfriend-ish of you.”

“JustbecauseI’mnot interested in imagining you with your boyfriend doesn’t meanI’mnot interested in the rest of your relationship.”

“Youmean drama, don’t you?”

Shelet out an evil chuckle. “Maybe.”

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