“So why are you back, then? What are you hoping to find?” Draven asked.
That was a good question. I wasn’t sure I knew the answer myself. I had everything I could want in life. A profession I loved. Wealth. Status. Yet something was missing. Maybe I thought coming here might help me find it.
Another squeal pierced the air, making me wince.
Draven tipped his head as the cart rolled to a stop in front of his tavern. He owned the largest manor in Thistlegrove. The only manor. It was an impressive ten-bedroom mansion on the other side of Thistlegrove Forest. Draven had always seemed to have a distaste for his home, spending most nights in the little apartment above his tavern. He was the wealthiest witch in the Witchlands, though you wouldn’t know it. He didn’t need to run a tavern to make money—he already had plenty of that because of his family—but this was the life he chose. I didn’t exactly understand it, but Draven wasn’t forthcoming when it came to his feelings. Though he didn’t seem to mind digging into mine.
He leaned forward to open the door. “Are you ready for this?”
I steeled myself and nodded. He swung open the door, and screams erupted from the crowd who’d been following us since we entered the village.
“Move,” Draven yelled, shoving through the admirers and making his way to The Brewhouse. He threw the door open and stomped inside.
“Riven, Riven!”
I waved and gave my most charming smile to the crowd of revelers.
A witch stuck out her arm and shoved up her ruffled sleeve. “Sign it, please?” She stuck out her bottom lip.
I grabbed my wand and muttered the spell for ink. A golden light emitted from my wand, swirling to her arm, and my signature scrawled across her skin. Her eyes rolled up into her head as she squeaked and fainted backward into the crowd. A few witches lunged forward to catch her.
More cries rang out as Karl, my orc driver and bodyguard, stomped in front of the crowd and shoved a few members back. “Get back,” he shouted, voice gruff. He managed to shove the door closed. I slumpedback in my seat, exhausted just from that interaction. I needed a break. Badly.
“Where to, boss?” Karl asked from outside the cart, where he sat in the driver’s seat. I settled back into my seat and smiled. “Arcane Creatures Emporium.”
Chapter Five
EMMA
Steeped in Love was packed. Customers filled the space while trays floated above, landing on tables and serving tea of all varieties. Smoke curled into the air from tea cups, all different colors depending on the flavor of tea. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows in the back, filling the shop with a golden hue.
“You know, I can do more than just light a fire,” Herman said from the back counter, where he blew fire under kettles sitting on iron grates, the water boiling. “Besides, you know the kettles heat themselves.”
“But doesn’t it feel nice to be useful?” I asked, bustling to fill individual tins with leaf combinations from orders placed.
I sprinkled green tea leaves into one tin, followed by dried blueberry, dried lavender, and curls of lemon peel. In another tin, I combined hibiscus flowers with dried cherry, cranberry, and cinnamon. It smelled like cherry pie. I’d have to try that combination at some point.
Layla, Morty’s niece, moved with ease from to table to table, taking orders and providing more hot water if needed.
I continued to put the trays together. I swiped an arm over my brow, damp with sweat.
I’d been running the shop for two weeks now, and despite news ofMorty’s retirement spreading, the shop still remained busy. Morty had handed over her grimoire with all her tea spells. It was all incredibly useful. She also left a new grimoire, one for me to write my own spells. I hadn’t done so yet. I hadn’t had time to even think about writing new spells.
“Emma!” I jolted, looking up over the bar top at Layla.
She flipped her black hair over her shoulder, giving me a timid smile. The young girl, maybe only twenty or twenty-one, was nothing like her aunt. She was shy, soft-spoken, unsure of herself. She twisted her hands together. “You wanted me to tell you when it was midday?”
I jumped. “Yes, thank you.” I came around the counter while Herman harrumphed behind me, muttering something about wasting his talents on this place.
Layla met me at the end of the counter, the door only a few feet from us. “Will you be able to handle things while I’m gone? I’ll just be a few moments.” I needed to pop across the street and visit the Arcane Creatures Emporium to check on my father. Make sure he’d taken his medicine today. I bit my lip, wondering if I’d even put it out for him this morning like I meant to.
“Yes, of course.” Layla’s green eyes brightened. “I’ve been thinking about a few things for the shop...”
I glanced out the window at my father’s shop across the street. The glare of the sun bounced off the windows, blocking any view I had of the inside.
The chime over the door tinkled as it swung open, a hooded figure coming inside, distracting me.
I couldn’t see his or her face, but they were large, wearing leather brown boots, brown trousers tucked into them. My gaze trailed up the stranger’s body to their soft green tunic with long sleeves, a brown vest buttoned over it and hanging down to their thighs. The stranger marched up to me, and I took a few steps backward until my back pressed into the counter.
