Page 2 of Elora and the Crow

Still clutching the charm bag, he pulled a tattered piece of paper from his pocket. “Uh, I’m looking for marshmallow root, dried rosemary, and bloodroot. It’s for a folk magic spell.”

Again, not surprising. Most apprentice witches only practiced folk magic. Some blood witches looked down on them for it, which, in Elora’s opinion, was ridiculous. Folk magic could be a powerful magic in its own right, and both humans and paranormals benefited from it. Which, in turn, helped the witch community. A lot of witches and warlocks made their living from creating folk magic spells and potions for the humans and paranormals.

“We have all three of those,” Elora said. “Is it for a specific spell?”

“Yes, it’s for a healing spell,” he said. “An, um, skin healing spell.”

Elora frowned. “You shouldn’t need bloodroot for that.”

He glanced at the paper again, scratching absentmindedly at his chest. “Maybe I wrote it down wrong?”

“You probably need burdock root,” Elora said. Wings flapped behind her, and Lilianna landed with a soft thump on her shoulder. The warlock took a step back, giving Lilianna a nervous look.

“That’s the biggest crow I’ve ever seen.”

“Don’t worry,” Elora said cheerfully as Lilianna groomed her hair, “she’s harmless.”

“Right,” the man said but continued to keep his distance.

Honestly, it was probably for the best. Lilianna didn’t like men, and Elora’s statement about Lilianna being harmless was a rather bold lie. She had, after all, once watched Lilianna pluck out the eyeball of a jaguar shifter and eat it. Of course, said jaguar shifter had been about to kill Elora, so Elora certainly wouldn’t judge Lilianna for her eyeball plucking.

The warlock studied his paper. “I think you’re right. I think I wrote it down wrong, and it is burdock root I need.”

“Probably,” Elora said, “but if it isn’t, as long as you haven’t opened the packaging, you can return the burdock root for a full refund.”

“Okay,” the warlock said. “I’ll take the burdock root, then.”

“Perfect.” Elora helped him gather what he needed and was happy to see that Deirdre was gone when she walked him to the counter. Charissa rang it through, and Elora put the herbs and powders into a brown paper bag.

The warlock thanked them and headed for the door, nodding to the tall, dark-haired man who walked in just as he was leaving. A warm smile crossing her face, Elora hurried out from behind the counter as Lilianna cawed softly.

“Bren!” She hugged him hard. Lilianna made a disgruntled caw when Bren’s hand brushed against her, and she flapped her wings at him before flying back to her perch behind the counter.

“Nice to see you too, Lilianna,” Bren called.

Lilianna snapped her beak in more of a ‘you annoy me’ way rather than an ‘I’m about to pluck out your eyeball’ way. She leaned forward on her perch and rubbed her beak along Charissa’s hair until the witch turned and petted her head.

“You need a haircut,” Elora said to Bren.

He laughed. “You sound like Kaida.”

“How is she doing? Oh my God, did she have the baby?”

“She’s only four months pregnant, and you just saw her last week,” Bren said.

“Sure, but she looked ready to pop already, and it seemed rude to ask how long a dragon’s pregnancy lasts,” Elora said.

“Actually, it is shorter than a human. Only seven months,” Bren said.

“Wild,” Elora said. You’ll be a dad in three months, Bren.”

Bren’s smile turned impossibly big. After Cece, Bren was her best friend, and Elora couldn’t be happier for him. Before he met his mate, Kaida, Bren had lived in the apartment across from Elora and her grandmother, Helen. Helen took an immediate liking to him, even though he was a human and a detective, and she spent months trying to make him and Elora fall in love, even going so far as to dose him with an illegal love potion.

It hadn’t worked. Bren was good looking, funny, and smart as hell, but Elora had never once felt anything for him beyond friendship. And Bren felt the same way about her. Helen had been more than disappointed, but when Bren fell in love with a dragon shifter, she’d given up. Elora’s grandmother might have been one of the most powerful witches in the city, but even she wouldn’t mess with a dragon.

“So, what’s up?” Elora asked.

“I was in the neighbourhood and thought I’d pop in,” Bren said.

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