Page 37 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“Situation?”

“Well, it seems odd that all this is happening now. Your sister went missing around the same time Jeffery died. This Beetle guy is after me. You’re not just my mate but myprotector.I’m no Nancy Drew, but even I can connect dots.”

“Simone, I’m liking this less and less.”

“Already beat you to it. But the events have been put in motion.”

“Because you went to Monnie's.”

Uh… no. “I’d be careful going down that road of accusation if I were you. The day we met, you told me Luc told you ‘something’s up’ or something close to it, and he’d sent you to that abandon building. I hadn’t contacted Beetle yet. Whatever this is, it’s bigger than you and me.”

“It can’t be bigger than you and me with us at the center of it.”

I spun my finger in the air. “Semantics. The point still stands.”

“Get your shoes on. We’ll grab ice cream before we head out to Agatha’s place.”

“Connor Baghest, I’m going to say this once and if you bring it up again, I’ll deny it until my death, but you are amazing.”

He laughed, pulling me in for a hug and kissing the top of my head. “I’ll never bring it up.”

“Bull,” I countered.

“Okay. You’re right. Be prepared to deny it until your death.”

That was fine. I’d suck it up for ice cream. We pulled our shoes on, grabbed my keys, and headed out to the jeep. Connor had a truck. A nice truck, but he must have sensed that I needed my jeep. The purple. He didn’t have to fully get it to get it.

He drove us through the drive thru at Dairy Queen and we both got Blizzards. Mine, strawberry cheesecake with chocolate chips. His was an amalgam of M&Ms, Reece’s Pieces, Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, and chocolate chip cookie dough.

We reached the address Agatha had given us about a quarter to midnight. She stood in the open door, anticipating us. Her witchy powers were so cool. As we stepped inside, I noticed Connor’s nose wrinkle as the air hung thick with incense, a highly flowery scent. It might not have been my jam, either, but clearly, Agatha needed it to get this party started, so to speak.

As it appeared that she grew several plants and dried them here, I wondered if she came to the shop more to connect with other witches than for my actual products.

“You’ve got quite the green thumb,” I pointed out.

She dipped her head sheepishly. “Okay, I’ll admit, I went to your store the first time because I was drawn to it, not because I actually needed anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I haven’t been able to figure out what drew me. So I kept coming back, figuring that the reason would present itself. Today, when you stopped me in the store, it presented itself. I’m supposed to help you.”

“Well, I hope after tonight, you’ll still come visit me, even if you don’t buy anything. I look forward to our Wednesday chats.”

“You do stock bark and leaves from trees we can’t grow here.”

I’d like to think that was her way of saying she enjoyed our Wednesday chats, too.

She ushered me over to a recliner. The soft, brown leather looked well-loved. “Please sit,” she said, then she looked to Connor. “You can take any of the other seats.”

We waited for Connor to get comfortable before Agatha walked over to the hearth, where she had an overly large, scuffed and dented tea kettle that I’d bet money had been passed down in her family for years. She used the hem of the apron she wore to lift it from the handle that it hung from over an open flame, bringing it over to the white mug sitting on a table made from a tree stump. She poured the bubbling liquid into the mug, set the kettle down to drizzle honey into the cup before dropping a tea ball into the drink, then brought the mug over to me.

I watched the brown from the tea swirl through the water in a very unnatural fashion. Once it stopped swirling, Agatha pushed the mug up to my lips. “Drink. Drink it all.”

Steam rose up from the surface of the tea. I blew on it so as not to burn my mouth and sipped carefully. It tasted of warm spice, something bitter, and the honey.

“What is this?”

“Shh… drink. I can’t start until you finish.”

---