Page 49 of Destiny of the Dragons

She sighed and got up to find Tikka some treats.

There had to be a way to get her magic back to normal. Dragon shifters were powerful magic users, but in the end, it was still just magic. Having a familiar to channel magic helped, but it wasn't enough.

The door to the back room opened, and her mother walked in.

Mia stiffened, bottled the essence from the bog water.

Her mother scowled. “You’re supposed to be making the Dead Man’s Hand.”

Mia gestured at the green hand on her workbench. It glowed faintly with magical energy.

“Someone going to buy that fairy ointment, or are you just wasting magic and resources?”

Mother paused with her usual complaints and looked at her. “You’ve been using a lot of magic lately.”

Mia leaned against the workbench, pretending to be more drained than she actually felt.

Mother could never know her magic was stronger. The blood magic was bad enough.

“Just trying to be useful.” Mia added mint and rosemary to the water. It would take a few days to become fairy ointment. “I was going to mention concern about the fey around Mrs. Merriweather.”

Her mother’s face lit up with avarice. “That old broad takes to a suggestion like a puppet on a string. She’ll be demanding fairy ointment by the case.”

It was dirty for her to set up a customer like that, but after the spells she had been doing it felt like small potatoes.

She still felt the echo of the Lover’s Pain spell Cross had bought from her. The backlash had been severe, but not enough to kill him.

More’s the pity.

Cross promised to help her find her family’s old spellbook, but so far there was nothing but crushed hopes and dead ends.

She carried the receipt in her locket, like a talisman. Mrs. Ryder owned the bookstore before it went out of business and if she could track the woman down, Mia might have a real chance.

With the spellbook, her family wouldn’t need her anymore. They could perform their own blood magic, and she would be free to pursue the life she chose.

An image of Jace and Smoke rose up in her mind, their faces a study in opposites. For a few days, she had almost everything she wanted.

But life wasn’t a fairy tale. It ended, and she was here now, making her own goals a reality.

Her mother puttered around the magical items, almost like she was fidgeting. Since her mother never fidgeted, just told the person how things were going to be, something was up. Something big.

Mia braced herself. It was probably another awful spell. Her mother wanted her to kill someone and cut their heart out. Or hex their worst enemy with a hundred years of bad luck.

Mother huffed and gestured at the small table. “I have important business to discuss with you.”

Oh, it was really bad. Mia sat, her palms clammy. Here was another line in the sand she thought she would never cross. Somehow her mother always forced her over them, and the line washed away with the tide of her mother’s determination.

Mother would do anything, sacrifice anything to find their spellbook and regain their lost power.

“Yes?” Mia licked her lips, despite knowing it would irritate her mother. She couldn’t help it. Her stomach twisted, her mind running through what was so serious her mother didn’t just order Mia to make it happen.

Mother looked at her, assessing. “I’ve made a deal. The first real progress to finding our spellbook in years.”

The last bit was said with disgust. Mia didn’t tell her mother about the receipt, in case it was a dead end.

Also in case, it panned out.

Mia pasted a look of cautious hope on her face. “Oh?”

---