Page 51 of It All Started with a Bite

“What?” He thumped his tail irritably against the door.

Luckily, we pulled up outside Mystical Moments. The shop looked exactly as I remembered it, sitting between a bookstore and a beauty salon in Sycamore Grove: all crystal displays, glowing objects, and dream catchers in the windows. A Closed sign hung on the door.

I could see movement inside.

“How about we wrap up this interview in time for lunch?” Didi said briskly as she gathered her files. “Stake My Shake is having a crab special today.”

Gavin brightened. “I like their crab special.”

I swallowed a sigh. It was becoming clear the employees of Hawthorne & Associates prioritized gossip and food above all else. I exited the car with the witch and the dragon newt and did my best to ignore the irresistible siren call of the impending full moon as we crossed the sidewalk.

Didi rapped sharply on the shop’s front door.

Footsteps approached a moment later. A middle-aged woman with graying blonde hair and sharp green eyes appeared behind the glass. She frowned at the sight of Didi.

“We’re closed for business today.”

“We’re from Hawthorne & Associates.” Didi flashed her ID card.

Mrs. Owens stiffened. A bell jangled as she unlocked the door and hastily ushered us inside. Her gaze found me. She froze.

“Abby?!”

“Hi, Mrs. Owens.”

This was going to take some explaining.

The witch stared. “What are you doing here?”

“I work for Hawthorne & Associates,” I said awkwardly.

Didi, Gavin, and Bo watched our exchange with a mixture of curiosity and secondhand embarrassment.

The way Mrs. Owens stiffened told me she’d just gotten a whiff of my scent. Her tone cooled. “You’re the new Hawthorne luna.”

“Yeah.”

Mrs. Owens hesitated. “So, it’s true? You really got bitten by Hugh Hawthorne?”

I scratched my cheek self-consciously. “We, er, found him out cold on the front steps of our apartment building three nights ago. Ellie suggested we bring him inside so he could sleep off his hangover.”

Mrs. Owens frowned. “That girl has zero common sense.”

“To be fair, we were both drunk.”

Bo sniffed the air curiously. “This place reminds me of Mrs. Chen’s apartment.”

There was definitely something otherworldly about the shop’s atmosphere now that I knew what to look for, besides the fact that its owner was a witch.

“Wait.” I stared at Bo. “You’ve been inside Mrs. Chen’s apartment?”

Bo swished his tail. “Yeah. She makes a mean steak sandwich.”

“Your dog talks?” Mrs. Owens asked leadenly.

“It’s a long story.” I was beginning to realize Bo had a much better handle on the supernatural community than I did.

Mrs. Owens led us inside the shop. “About Ellie.” She glanced at me over her shoulder. “It wasn’t just the skull incident that made me fire her. She doesn’t know this, but she recently sold a human customer a love potion that was actually a foot treatment for pixies.”

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