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“You can come back another time without the amulet, and we can talk. I don’t want it near me. It’s wrong. It’s dark magic, and it’s going to pull everything in my shop apart. There’s too much hatred and resentment and pain that comes with that thing.”
I blinked at her.
“Go, Oaklee.”
I stood. I wasn’t welcome here anymore. At least she’d helped me fix my defenses, which I hadn’t known were down.
What could have rattled my spell? What could have put me in danger?
If I didn’t know, how could I stop it from happening again?
I left the store. Autumn shut the door behind me and locked it again without flipping the sign back to OPEN. I glanced through the glass into the shop, but I couldn’t see anything.
Finally, I turned toward home. I walked there rather than use the bus.
When I got home, I deadbolted the door and drew the curtains so that no one could come in or see what I was doing. I lifted one of the floorboards in my apartment and carefully put the amulet back into its hiding place.
When it was safely hidden away, I opened the curtains again, but I didn’t unlock the door.
The spell was firmly back in place, but I didn’t feel safe. I felt like I was being followed, and I rubbed my arms when goosebumps ran down them.
I was just being paranoid now.
Autumn’s voice echoed in my mind.
The magic in that thing is stolen.
How was that even possible?
10
OAKLEE
“Did you get the signed documents I sent you?” I asked, popping my head into Jameson’s office. It was almost five in the morning, and everything was quiet. The patrons had left for the night, the club was empty, and the essence of sex was all that remained after what had happened between these walls.
I was getting used to my new routine. After three weeks of working here, I was more at home, and the graveyard shift was something I was starting to enjoy. Foxes were nocturnal, after all.
“I don’t know.” Jameson stretched until his back popped. “Let me have a look.”
I waited for him to check his email before he nodded.
“Got it. Thanks for getting on this. With Serena running around like she is, no one’s getting around to this. You’re really good at your job.”
I shrugged. “I do what I can.”
“You’ve done something like this before?”
I gave a quick nod.
Jameson shut off his laptop. “I can’t think anymore. I think I’m done for tonight. I have so much paperwork to go through for the expansion, I’m starting to go cross-eyed.”
“Expansion?” I asked.
“I think I want to expand,” Jameson said simply. “The place behind us isn’t doing too well, and if I can buy them out, we can open a whole new section.”
He stood and walked around the desk.
“Is it expensive to buy them out?” I asked.
