Page 59 of Secrets & Spells
I clear my throat, uncomfortable. “Yes. About that. It seems my niece decided to try enchanting the costume you bought from us. Do you mind?” I ask, reaching for the hem of the long black and red vampire cape she’s wearing.
“Go ahead.”
Taking the silky material between my fingertips, I quickly undo Eve’s spell. “Fangs too please.” Rain drops the plastic fangs she’d been wearing into the palm of my hand, and I repeat the process before giving them back. I do another quick scan of her body to make sure there’s nothing else I missed. “Alright, I’ve removed the enchantments, so these are perfectly safe now. I’m so sorry about this. I don’t know what Eve was thinking.”
“Would you like to file a complaint?” Neith asks.
Raine shakes her head. “No, that’s OK. It sounds like this was all just a stupid teenage prank gone wrong.”
“Alright. In that case, I’ll be going.” Neith leaves without another word, and my shoulders slump in relief. While I’ll sure as hell be giving Eve a serious talking to, I’m glad this idiotic stunt isn’t going to impact her future.
“Thank you. I promise I’ll talk to Eve about this. There will be consequences.”
Raine gives me a wobbly smile. “I know you will and it’s OK.” She looks up at Audrey. “We were all young and dumb once.”They share a knowing look and Audrey presses a kiss to her mate’s temple. “Could you do me a favour though?”
“Absolutely.”
“Can you check Audrey’s costume to make sure it’s not spelled too?”
Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that. “Of course.” Jared passes me their discarded shopping bag and I can feel Eve’s magical signature before it even touches my hands. “I’m going to kill her.”
Raine chuckles. “She got that one too, huh?”
“Yes.”
Eve must have done this after I left her alone in the shop last night. I’m going to have to check all our stock, and warn anyone who bought costumes from us between now and then. I remove the enchantment from Audrey’s ghost costume—I dread to think what that would have done to her—then set the bag down between us.
“I really am sorry about this. When you’re feeling better, stop by the shop and you can each choose any piece of enchanted clothing you want, free of charge.”
“That’s very generous of you, thank you,” Audrey says.
“It’s the least I can do. I’ll let Dove know not to expect you for your shift today, too. I don’t foresee there being any problems, but it’s best you keep an eye on Raine for the rest of the day just to be safe. Call me if anything comes up.”
“I will, thanks.”
Jared accompanies me on the walk back to Threads of Magic but I’m too angry to enjoy the little pocket of extra time together. My mood only worsens when we get to the shop and a quick scan with my magic tells me Eve’s tampered with every single human-safe costume and accessory.
“I’m going to kill her.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Jared asks.
Biting my lip nervously, I rack my brain for an idea of how to fix this colossal mess. “Could you post something on The Chronicle’s website telling everyone who’s shopped with us since yesterday at five-thirty to bring their stuff back to the shop so I can remove Eve’s spell?”
“Of course. I’ll do that now.” He wraps me in his arms and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “You’ve got this.”
“Is everything OK?” Gwyn asks, stepping out from behind the till.
Jared gives me one last squeeze then says, “I’ll leave you to it.” Then he’s gone and I’m left to break the news to my sister.
“I can’t believe she’d be so reckless.” Gwyn sinks onto the chaise near the fitting area, stricken.
Taking a seat beside her, I wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders. “We’ll fix it.”
“That’s not the point though, is it?”
“No.”
“You said Jared’s putting an announcement on the paper’s website?”
