Page 108 of Elora and the Crow

Elora took her hands, squeezing them gently. “Honey, I know you’re upset about something. Please talk to me.”

“You have enough to worry about right now,” Cece said.

“I want to know what’s wrong,” Elora said.

Cece sighed. “Bren had two shifters, bear shifters, I think, take you out of the hospital while Tori and Judd staged a distraction. But I didn’t know that. So, when I saw them take you, I chased after them and confronted them. I told them to return you to your room, but they refused. And then the one, he… he touched me and my magic…”

“What?” Elora asked.

“My magic went -”

Elora’s phone chirped, and she groaned. “I’m sorry, Cece. It’s Charissa’s ring, though, and she might have some information on Malencia.”

“Answer it,” Cece said.

“We’re tabling this discussion for now,” Elora said as she pulled her phone from her pocket, “but we’re coming back to it.”

Cece just nodded before glancing at her hands again. Elora answered the call, listening quietly before saying, “We’ll be right there.”

She ended the call, and, excitement brewing in her belly, Elora said, “Charissa has someone at the shop who can help us find Malencia.”

CHAPTER34

“Holy shit.”

Elora blinked at the surprise in Charissa’s voice.

“What?” she asked as she took off her jacket and tossed it over the counter. Jonah and Cece did the same as Charissa turned the open sign to close and locked the potion shop’s door.

“Your aura is much more noticeable,” Charissa said. “Is your magic stronger?”

“A little,” Elora admitted.

Charissa gave her a look that told Elora she knew she was lying, but she let it go. “Come with me. She’s in the staff room.”

“How did you find her?” Elora asked as she, Jonah, and Cece followed Charissa past the beaded curtain leading to the employee-only area.

“My cousin’s coven,” Charissa said. She paused in front of the staff room door and lowered her voice. “Agnes is very old and powerful. She also has a short temper and,” her gaze flickered to Jonah, “isn’t fond of men. Stay quiet, all right, Jonah? If we piss her off, she won’t help us.”

Charissa’s aura had turned a deep green. She was nervous, something Elora had never seen before, and it sent Elora’s magic pulsing and shimmering through her in response, lighting up her body like a lightning strike.

Charissa opened the staff room door and ushered the three of them into the small space.

Elora studied the ancient witch sitting at one end of the loveseat that dominated the tiny room. Her aura was the strongest Elora had ever seen, a blue shimmer the colour of the ocean that surrounded her in a thick haze. Her scent brought forth images of crackling wood fires burning in the cold night air. The witch returned her look, peering out from a face so wrinkled it resembled an apple left to shrivel in some forgotten basket, her rheumy eyes sweeping Elora from head to toe.

Ignoring Jonah and Cece, she said, “Your magic is strong, but you have little control over it. At your age, you should have more control.”

Elora ignored the barb. “My name is Elora. It’s nice to meet you, Agnes.”

“I know your grandmother. I’m surprised she hasn’t done a better job of teaching you to control your magic,” Agnes said.

Elora sighed inwardly. She was not going to let this go. “My magic has just recently grown stronger. I am still… adjusting.”

“Right,” Agnes said. “Sit with me, Elora.”

Ignoring the trepidation she felt at being close to the old witch - the power radiating from Agnes made her twitchy and tense - Elora sat beside her.

Agnes didn’t say anything, and after a few minutes, Elora’s anxiety turned to annoyance. Working hard to keep it from her voice, she said, “Charissa said you know where Malencia is.”

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