Page 7 of Heart Shaped Wreckage
“She’s not a potion maker, Dandy.”
“Anyone is better than you.”
“Your vote of confidence is like a warm hug,” I reached up and stroked his feathers. “You know I need one of these, right?”
“I know.” He shook his wings and muttered something under his breath. A small feather fell onto the table.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t die, or kill us both.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
I picked up the feather and set it to the side. Each ingredient had to be added in a particular order, or the potion would just be a smelly mess of nothing, or worse, something that could blow up and kill us the way Dandelion feared.
A quick flash of black from the other side of my peripheral vision caught my attention. I turned so quickly that Dandelion flew from my shoulder, so he didn’t fall.
“Asshole.”
“I thought I saw something.”
“It’s the fumes.”
I looked around the basement, and Dandelion flew back onto my shoulder. “I swear I saw something.”
“Nothing.”
A black cat stepped out from behind my altar and jumped up onto it. He sat on his haunches and mowed at me.
“Really? Nothing?” I scolded Dandy.
“Oh, yeah. Moon Cat, I know him. I forgot he was here.” Dandelion shrugged.
“Hi, fella. Are you someone’s familiar?”
The cat mowed again and then licked one of his claws. He was beautiful with a white crescent moon on his black fur. “Is that why they call you Moon Cat?”
“Can he talk?”
“Not your language. But animals can understand him.”
I walked over and slowly scratched his head, ready to flinch away if he tried to scratch me. Instead, he lay down and purred as I stroked him.
“Potion,” Dandy nipped at my ear.
“Ouch! Dude!”
“You’re right…” I hurried over and added the mummy dust I had previously measured. The potion turned a darker purple.
I glanced at the list. I was almost done. I threw in Dandelion's feather, and the potion whirled with a black mist that hovered above it. I checked Annelise’s notes. The potion looked as it should. Only three ingredients left.
I chopped the mandrake root into a paste and rolled it into a small ball. “Dimentica ciò che ti causa dolore.” I threw the sticky ball into the potion, and as it melted, tendrils of white swirled through the purple. The black mist slowly fell into the potion, and it slowly turned a dark blue.
Moon Cat mowed loudly and jumped off the altar and rubbed himself against my legs.
“Shit… Dandy? The tooth of a predator. I think I have shark’s teeth. Fuck! Can you?”
