Page 7 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
Andie didn’t answer. I rolled my eyes and followed her to where she was talking to another young woman, the two of them speaking in low tones. I tried not to eavesdrop, but it was tough not to in such a small store.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”Andie asked, holding tight to a book the younger woman had given her.
I looked the blonde up and down, not recognizing her, though that didn’t mean anything. Niagara Falls was a tourist town, and even in the downtown area, which saw less tourism, we still had all sorts of folks coming and going who weren’t local.
“Yes, I’m sure,” the woman replied. “It’s time he paid.”
My eyebrows rose slightly at that, especially as I caught a singular word on the spine of the book she wanted.
Voodoo.
Remind me never to get on your bad side, lady.
In the past, I would have laughed off the young woman's efforts. After learning the truth about the world around me and what wasreallypossible, I now felt sorry for whoever was on the other end of her wrath. Hopefully, they actually deserved it.
I stood by as the blonde paid and then made her exit, a determined look etched onto her features.
The door chimed as she left, and I turned back to Andie. “I want to learn more,” I said, making my decision.
“About what?”
“Magic,” I said bluntly.
“You’re not blessed with the talent,” Andie said.
I shook my head. “Not what I mean. I want to educate myself. What is it? What can it do? Who can use it? How is it used? I don’tknowanything about it. I only learned of it recently when—”
“When what?” Andie asked, pressing.
I shook my head. My lips pressed into a flat line. Talking about it was still too uncomfortable. The memories of that night …
“Very well,” the elderly woman said in soft understanding. “It can be a lot sometimes.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’d never encountered it at all until recently. Now, this is twice in a matter of weeks. Is something going on? Should I be worried that magic is spilling over into the real world or something?”
Andie laughed. “Oh, darling. Magicisthe real world. It’s always been there, around you, around us. That hasn’t changed, no more, no less.”
“Then what’s changed?”
A wrinkled finger stabbed in my direction. “You have. You’ve seen it. You’ve been exposed to it. Now that you know it’s real, you’ll see it more and more often as your mind accepts what it sees instead of trying to explain it away.”
“Oh. Is it really that, um, popular? Err, prevalent?” I corrected, choosing the right word.
“Not all over,” Andie explained, leaning on the counter. “But Niagara Falls here is full of it.”
“Why is that? What’s so special about the Falls?”
“You know earthquakes? Fault lines?”
I nodded.
“Well, dearie, Niagara Falls is on one of those fault lines. One that’s made of magic. Runs from here to New Orleans, it does. One of the biggest in the world. Lots of magic gathers here naturally, and that, naturally, draws those who can use it. Like yours truly,” she cackled, waving a hand at herself.
“Is there anything I can do to, you know, like, protect myself against it or something?” I asked, making a face, feeling silly about it.
“No,” Andie said gently. “Not with your budget.”
“My budget?”
