Chapter 1
Potionscouldfixalot of things, but the challenge lay in deciding if they were worth the risk—especially when it came to giving one to your ex-boyfriend.
“Come on, Kitty.” Elaine pushed open the door and walked into Mansfield Book Haven.
I clutched my purse, which held my cell phone and the potion-laced cookies I’d brought from my family’s bakery, and followed my friend out of the crisp autumn air into the bookstore. The bell over the door chimed softly as we entered, and the scent of old paper and wood polish wrapped around me like a favorite sweater. A happy sigh slipped out as I took in the shelves stretching from floor toceiling, packed with colorful books with worn spines. Despite the many enchanted shops and buildings in Austen Heights, the bookshop was a favorite of mine—that and the lighthouse.
Elaine glanced at her watch, then lowered her voice as we passed a woman stretched across the loveseat near the front window, enjoying her book and sipping from a mug. “You’re sure Graham is supposed to work at 2:00 today, right?”
I double-checked the text from Graham’s roommate. “That’s what Jaxon said.”
“I knew giving him the cookie at the bookshop was the way to go.” She smiled and glanced at me. “And you have the cookie?”
“Yup.” I pulled out the bag of baked goods from my purse, which now smelled like vanilla and sugar. I’d brought two of each cookie in case something happened; one could never be too careful when dealing with potions.
“Then you should be good to go.”
Good to go wasn’t exactly how I’d describe myself, considering I still wasn’t even sureifI should give Graham a cookie. It wasn’t too late to call this off. I could throweverything in the trash and head home to do some statistics homework, something with nice, clear-cut answers. But if I did that, I’d never learn the truth.
“I think you should choose just one cookie.” Elaine glanced at the bag in my hand. “More than that and you might look like you’re trying too hard.”
“Yeah, I was only planning on giving him one.” The question waswhichone. Elaine insisted the love potion was the way to “make him fall in love with me again,” which would mean giving my ex-boyfriend one of the bat-shaped red velvet cookies with buttercream frosting. I was pretty sure I didn’t want Graham to fall in love with me again and instead was leaning toward the veritas potion I’d put in the ghost-shaped sugar cookies so I could finally find out the truth of what happened before our last breakup. “But now that we’re here, I’m unsure if I should,” I said.
“Shouldn’t you be the poster child for love potions and baked goods considering your bakery sells them?” Elaine asked.
“That’sexactlywhy I’m not sure if it’s a good idea.”
Elaine grinned and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, claiming a spot behind a bookshelf where we could keep an eye on the door. “Because of what happened with Mr. Jenkins?”
Despite my worries, my lips curled up at the corners. Last week, Mr. Jenkins bought a slice of our mystic midnight pie for his wife and a love potion to spike it with, claiming he wanted to up the romance for their anniversary—something I tried not to think too hard about—but somehow their cow had eaten the pie instead. For a week, Miss Butterbelle had followed him around town, mooing nonstop whenever he was out of sight.
“You know why,” I said. Mom had just gotten in trouble for abusing her magic, and while this wasn’t nearly as serious as what she’d done, it still made me uneasy.
“It’ll be fine, Kitty. You’re worrying too much,” Elaine said. “Besides, your mom was already released.”
If only I could brush off my mother’s arrest as easily as Elaine did. Elaine was Unmarked—the slightly obnoxious word the Marked used for humans untouched by magic—and didn’t feel the gravity of the situation since she was more removed from it. Every time I turnedaround this past month or two, it seemed like my family was caught up in some sort of scandal. And considering we were the only half-witch, half-fae family in town, we were already treated differently. All I wanted to do was peacefully get through my last year at Austen Heights Community College while saving up some money from my part-time job at Cupid’s Confections. Was that too much to ask for?
I chewed on my lower lip. “Maybe it’s better if I just let it go.”
Elaine whipped her head around to face me. “Why wouldn’t you want to get back together? Since your last breakup, you’ve told me multiple times how much you miss him.”
“I’m not sure Graham is right for me.” I thought I missed him, but the more time that passed, the more I suspected I actually missed Mom not nagging me about being single.
Elaine scooted down the row so we could have a better view of the door. “Because of how your magic reacted before your breakup?”
“Sort of. Yeah.” My chest squeezed at the reminder of that moment when my magic had hinted that something was up with Graham, that the balance in our relationship had subtly shifted. It wasn’t long after that that we broke up.
“I thought you talked to Graham about it, and he said there was no one.”
“He did.” But that didn’t stop the doubts, even if it should have.
To avoid Elaine’s piercing blue eyes, I dropped my gaze to the overstuffed armchair by one of the massive bay windows where the owner’s cat curled up in the chair, soaking in a sun puddle.
“This could be your chance to start fresh.” Elaine took my hand. “This love potion will help him fall in love with you once more. Plus, if he eats it, you’ll never have to worry about him cheating again.”
I blew out a breath. Elaine was wrong about the love potion—that wasn’t how they worked—but she was right about one thing. Thiswasmy chance to start fresh. I’d give Graham the veritas potion and find out whether he cheated. If I could confirm that in the next twenty-fourhours before it wore off, I’d know if my magic was still stable or if something had happened. Then I’d move on permanently. No more on-again, off-again relationship with Graham.
“Okay, I’ll give him the cookie.” I didn’t specifywhichcookie as I pulled a veritas-laced ghost cookie from the bag and put it on a small pumpkin napkin. Then I closed the bag up with the rest of the cookies inside and put it back in my purse. “Thanks, Elaine.”
