Page 79 of Upside Down Magic

Ipicked her up and put her within petting distance.Iantook her from me and settled her against his chest.Fluffylicked him once, then settled down, peering up at him with her huge black eyes.

Theywere picture perfect except for the fact thatIanwas sick.Gettingsicker by the moment.

Andthe potion wasn’t working.

Iswallowed the giant knot of panic in my throat and calledLilian.

TWENTY-FIVE

Lilianpickedup on the second ring.

“Thepotion isn’t working on the shifter, and nowIanis sick too,”Isaid without preamble.

Therewas a deephmm. “Areyou sure?”

“Yes.”

“Didyou give them more?”

“Yes.”

“Onemoment.”Apause followed, then a curse.

“Yourmagic isn’t working anymore either,”Iguessed.

“Itappears so.”Shesounded irked. “Nochange in the shifter at all?”

Ilowered the phone and spoke toKey, who had followed into the living room along withAlex. “Shanehad no change whatsoever when drinking the potion, not even a small shift?”

Keyshook her head.Shanelet out a small growl to remind me that he was in the room.

“Sorry,”Iwhispered to him before talking into the phone again. “Nochange whatsoever.”

“Well, this sucks,” she said dryly.

“Itreally does,”Iagreed, briefly amused by her tone.Theamusement didn’t last two seconds before being replaced by anxiety again. “Whatdo we do?”

“Ineed to talk this over withTammy.I’llcall you in a few.”

Sheended the conversation, andIbit my lip, taking inShane’spitiful expression andIan’ssorry state.KeyandAlexwere looking at me likeIhad all the answers in the world, andIan’sgaze held an amount of confidence in me that humbled me at the same time that it boosted.

“Liliansaid she’ll consultTammyagain.”

Key’sshoulders slumped, andAlexmade a face.

“But,”Icontinued, resolve filling me with the strength of a thousand grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches, “I’mnot going to wait.”

“Oh?”Iansaid in a rough voice that would’ve usually sent shivers down my spine except for the fact that it was rough because he was sick and not in a sexy mood.

“LilianandTammyknow a lot more about spells and potions thanIdo.”Ibegan pacing the empty space in front of the fireplace and theTV. “Butthat’s not the only way we can figure out how to break the spell.Ifwe go back to finding who did it, it might give us a clue on how to break it.”

“Howdo we do that, boss?”Alexasked.

Shaneyipped in agreement.Fluffyscooted away fromShaneuntil she was practically alien-huggingIan’sface.Hedidn’t seem to mind too much, even though his breathing was shallow and sweat had formed on his temples.

“I’llexplain in a moment.”Itook the stairs two steps at a time and returned with a hand towel. “Wehave the family names from the dark coven spellbook.”

Ipressed the towel toIan’sforehead until he took it from me and wiped his sweat.Fluffywhined in distress andIanwinced,soItook her off his chest and neck and settled her on the rug.Rufusimmediately bent to rub his head against hers.

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