Page 32 of Demon and the Raven

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning if she learned about the tools—and her shop was filled with some beautiful crystals and stones—then when people got those things from her, they could incorporate them into their own practice, and that’s shared universal magic.”

“So maybe she sold something to a real witch, and that tool, in turn, became truly magic because it became the possession of someone with—you know, I can see you scowling at me. What’d I say wrong now?”

“Everyone has true gifts,” I corrected him. “If you believe you’re a witch, then you are, but sometimes, you have to wake things up.”

“Like how you make all those spell bottles, and they all have potential, but you do that last step and tell them what they’re supposed to do.”

“Exactly.”

“But when you make something, like the witches ladders that you sell at the harvest festival, those are actually magical because you are.”

“Yes, and conversely, if I got something at Kathy’s store and took it home, in our cottage it would become magic even if it wasn’t to begin with.”

“So inherently magical things, like crystals, become more powerful in a witch’s home.”

“It’s like your police utility vehicle,” I began, and he waggled his eyebrows to tell me I’d done well calling it what it was. “I put that rowan cross on your mirror, and didn’t you tell me it feels different in there now?”

“Yeah, but…no offense to magic, but when I look at it, it reminds me of you, and I feel better going about my day.”

“Which I love,” I sighed, “but that is a very powerful charm on its own that I’ve further imbued with my power, all in the name of keeping you safe.”

“Okay, I got the tools thing, and that the whole world is full of magic that some people are aware of and most aren’t, and⁠—”

“That’s not what I said. What I⁠—”

“No, I know, but can’t something like wheat simply be wheat and not whatever it is to you?”

I scowled at him.

“Can’t it?”

“Yes, but if there are bundles of wheat at a supernatural store like the Witch and Wild, then it was meant to be bought and placed in your home to bring in abundance and prosperity. There was a specific purpose.”

“Which is again, the universal, all around us, passive kind.”

“Yes.”

“What’s the difference between someone who says they’re a witch and someone who is?”

I crossed my arms and glared at him.

“I know you’re standing in solidarity with all your fellow magical folk, but humor me. What’s the difference between you and a person like Cordelia Wormwood?”

“Actually, less than I thought before.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve always thought she didn’t believe in magic at all. That it was just a con for her. I saw her doing things I never would to make a buck.”

“Like?”

“Like dyeing stones and selling spell kits that were ridiculous and couldn’t possibly work based on the ingredients in them.”

“But you’ve changed your mind?”

“I’ve never been in here before, and though there’s nothing beyond universal magic that I can perceive, from the things I see on the walls, she was clearly a believer.”