Page 9 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

“Blessed be,” I told her and waved as she left.

Only once Hattie was safely gone, did I return to where Dex was waiting in the back. “That’s a nasty hex someone laid on that girl.”

Dex nodded in agreement. “I felt it as soon as I touched her hand. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see who exactly had cast it.”

“I’d bet a female,” I said. “An envious relative with their nose out of joint about the gown, or maybe even an ex of the groom’s?”

“Whoever it was is skilled enough to block me from seeing them. Curses like that leave a trace, an energetic signature...I should have been able to follow it. It concerns me that I wasn’t able to.” Dex brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. “Think you should consult the Magistra?”

I shook my head. “No. There’s no need to bother them. I can handle this. Those energetic spider webs were new to me. But now I know what to focus on when I work to break the hex.”

While I spoke, I zipped the garment bag closed. Once the gown was covered again, I glanced up and jolted. Dex had moved closer and was now standing right next to me.

Our eyes met, held, and I froze.

For a heartbeat I stayed where I was, locked in his gaze. Then I caught myself. Taking a deliberate step back, I tried to make the movement appear casual. “Again, I appreciate your insight.”

“Hey, Kate,” Taylor called out. “I’ve got the closing reports all finished if you want to take a look. Drawers counted down too.”

“On my way,” I called to her. I turned back to Dex. “Gotta go.”

Dex brushed his hand gently down my arm. “See you,” he said, and then he walked away.

I’d managed not to jump out of my shoes, but my stomach had flipped in surprise. Dex had never touched me before—not even casually. So why had he just then?

“Kate?” Taylor called.

“Coming,” I said. Shaking it off, I walked straight to her.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Taylor said, “but it’s not hard to figure that something is up. Is Hattie going to be okay?”

I moved to look at the screen to see the sales reports for the day. “She will be,” I said. Then after a moment I added, “Obviously I don’t talk about any of this type of thing in front of the customers during business hours.”

“Right.” Taylor nodded. “I understand. Good grief, there’d be a line out the door of all sorts of people wanting you to fix whatever metaphysical problems they think they might have.”

“Exactly,” I said, checking the cash in the deposit bag—I found that all of the bills were facing the same direction— and nodded in approval. “This is one of the many reasons I enjoy working with you Taylor. You’re discreet, detail oriented, smart, and although you are not a practitioner, you have an innate comprehension of magick.”

Taylor tucked a brown strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve picked up a lot working here with you and Circe for the past year.”

That made me smile. “I’ll tell you what,” I said, zipping the deposit bag closed. “I’m springing for dinner. With sales numbers like these I think we need to celebrate. How ‘bout I order a couple of pizzas, have them delivered to my apartment.”

“I wouldn’t say no to pizza,” Taylor said.

“Did somebody say pizza?” Circe materialized before my check out counter.

Taylor flinched at her sudden appearance; I did not. I was too used to my cousin’s tricks to give her the satisfaction of reacting. “What, no puff of smoke?” I asked.

“I was thinking more like a ‘cloud of glitter’ but knew you’d bitch at me about getting it all over the floor,” she said.

“Damn right I would,” I assured her.

“Kate’s ordering us pizza,” Taylor said as her sister Toni arrived—by conventional means. She walked over from the candle store.

Circe smiled. “Awesome! I’ll supply the wine.”

“I have soda,” I told Toni, who wasn’t old enough to drink yet.

“Can we get some breadsticks too?” Toni wanted to know. “I love breadsticks with the garlic dipping sauce.”