Page 12 of Awakened Ash and Alchemy

“You shouldn’t give up on men.” Claudine laughed as she poured tea, then handed Angela a cup. “Drink. Before you do anything else.”

“Do I—”

“Ah. I insist.” Claudine pushed the cup closer to make her drink as if she were a child, then studied her over the rim of her own cup. “You look terrible.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

Angela sipped her cup, it tasted minty at first, then green tea and apple, with a hint of pomegranate. It was Claudine’s latest tonic replacement for fruit juice.

“I had a nightmare.” Angela rubbed at her temples where the headache hadn’t quite gone away. “Don’t ask. I can’t remember it. Thanks to the vodka.”

“Ooh, I’ll make a tonic for the headache, hon.” Claudine headed for the apothecary counter.

Angela opened her mouth, then closed it again. Resistance was pointless when it came to this family and their herbal remedies. “While you whip up some witchy woo-woo,” she said, reaching for her purse, “I’ll grab breakfast from Mr. Chang’s.”

“Get something greasy,” Claudine called after her. “Trust me, it works like magic.” Her aunt’s tinkling laugh followed Angela out the door.

Sliding on her sunglasses, Angela stepped into the street. The wind carried a bite that whipped against her face as the sunlight stabbed through her skull, while traffic noise pressed in on all sides. It was so bad she nearly ran back inside to crawl onto the office couch and hide her head under some cushions.

But then—

It stopped.

The headache vanished, and the tension drained like water down the sink, leaving the world blissfully silent as a calmness settled over her.

When underneath…

Oh, it was him.

“Zarek.” It felt like he was close. It was so weird, as if she could feel his energy coming from across the street, that she turned to search for the source.

But when she faced the street corner, it was empty. There was no man from the shadows in dark leather armor, loaded with weapons like a hero from a fantasy novel. Just everyday pedestrians, streetlights, and storefronts.

That’s when the noise rushed back all at once, the wind snapped at her coat, as engines roared loudly, making Angela wince.

“I’m losing my mind.” Imagining things, sensing the presence of people who shouldn’t exist.

How was it that she’d forgotten her nightmare but couldn’t forget the rest of last night? When she wished she could, even if it meant forgetting Zarek.

This had to be some lingering residue from the nightmare she couldn’t quite shake, amplified by the vodka still sloshing through her system, and the fact she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s lunch because she got stood up for dinner!

But thankfully, the headache didn’t return. Wait… The nausea was gone, too.

She frowned, glancing back toward the shop. “What was in that tea, Auntie?”

FIVE

Zarek materialized across the street from The Alchemist’s Apothecary, where his cloaking kept his kind hidden within the mortal realm. He rarely lingered in this loud and unclean world, that was annoyingly fragile, but also his battleground, nothing more.

And yet he was here because this is where he felt her.

He took one step toward the bookstore, but the world… declined? Not violently or defensively. But there was a soft, spongey barrier that refused to let him step any closer.

It was a ward. A strong one at that.

Now, why would a bookstore be warded?