Page 60 of Upside Down Magic

“I’ma good person, not theWickedWitchof theWest.”

Wehurried through the dimly lit hallway.Thisearly in the afternoon, we had the place to ourselves. “That’sthe creepy nature room.”

Ianglanced at the insects, brains, eyes, and multi-colored chicken on display, eyebrows slowly rising. “Impressive.”

Isuppressed a gasp. “Ian!Isthis your first time here?”

Heflashed me a grin. “Maybe.”

“Closeyour eyes.”Iwent on my tiptoes and put my hands over his face. “Don’tlook.”

Hishands wrapped gently around my wrists. “Hope, what are you doing?”

“Thisis prime date real estate.Youcan’t see any of the displays until we come back on a real date.Promise!”

Hechuckled, the deep sound turning me into a pile of goo once again. “Ipromise.”

“Okay.”Ilowered my hands. “Remember, don’t look.”

“Iwon’t,” he said, amusement in his voice as he tilted his head down and focused on the dark carpet.

“Good.”Itook his hand and led him to the entrance of the room.Thekeypad was obvious now thatIwas searching for it, although the outline of the door was easy to miss. “Herewe go.”

Iput in the numbers and the door snicked open.Immediately, my heart doubled its beat with excitement.Wouldwe find the key we needed to fix the spell here?

Ianpushed the door open the whole way, and went in.Agentleman would’ve allowed me to go first, but a sexy, handsomebounty hunter checked for any threats before his girlfriend came in.

“CanIlook at this room?” he teased, glancing at me over his shoulders.

Ipushed him playfully. “Yousure can becauseI’mnot saying that stupid code line again.”

Anothergrin, then he concentrated on studying the items on display asIjoined him.

Theroom was square and bigger than expected, especially considering the size of the other exhibitions.Ithad the same dim lighting coming from recesses in the ceiling as the rest of the place, with spotlights on the items on display.Aglass case contained the supposed altar of the dark coven, which was nothing but a setup copied from the usual representations you saw onTVand movies, animal skulls and bloody runes included, and a second case displayed several individual items: a couple of athames, a stone mortar and pestle, different crystals, pouches of herbs, jars full of animal eyes the witches supposedly used in their potions.

Gross.Nowitch worth their salt would use animal eyes, not even dark witches likeBagley.

“Hope,”Iansaid from the other side of the room.

Ijoined him by another display case, this one holding an old thick tome opened in the middle.

Thelight wasn’t the best, but the tome appeared real enough—hardbound, hand-stitched, the two pages on display written in faded ink with words wrapping around an illustration of a potion-making circle indicating the position for different crystals and herbs.

Myexcitement grew.Couldthis be the actual coven spellbook?Ifit were fake, they’d have gone with more grandeur, like they had with the altar—a giant book, probably a fake skin cover, and drawn the devil on the page.

“Thismight be the real thing,”ItoldIan.

Hewas studying the pages closely. “Canyou read what it says?Ithink it’sFrench.”

Ihovered my phone over the pages, but the translation app was no match for the scrawling handwriting.Closingthe app and turning on the flashlight,Iinspected the outside of the display case.Athick band of sealant kept the glass box glued to the small pedestal, with the back closed with a small lock.Awire went from a tiny pad applied to the glass to under the book’s black velvet cradle.

Curious,Ichecked the other displays, but none had similar wiring.

“Ithink the case is alarmed,”Isaid, pointing at the pad and wire. “Thatcould be proof that it’s the real thing.”

“It’sproof that it’s something,” he agreed. “Canyou detect any magic?”

“Goodidea.”Iset my hands on top of the case and awakened my magic.

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