AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you find the cure, that’s great,” I said. “If not, no stress. I’m just happy to spend some time with you.”
Her mouth formed a little O and I wanted more than anything to bend down and kiss it, so I did. She melted in my arms and kissed me back, tasting of mint and chocolate from the mocha drink sitting on her coffee table.
I pulled away reluctantly. “I’ll go grab my stuff.”
Chapter 9
Sybil
Itappedmyhandson the steering wheel rhythmically to the dark electro and industrial beats playing from the speakers. It was a bit overcast today, but I didn’t mind. It was the perfect day for a road trip: not too sunny, but not raining either.
It was just a drive out to the country, not a full-on interstate road trip, but I’d take it.
I’d always loved going on the road, though I usually only did that with my ratty babies and Great Granny Syl. We used to go and hunt for magical artifacts in antiques stores and estate sales. It was how her house had ended up filled to the brim. And now I was on my way to clear it out. A bit sad, really.
Zayn sat next to me in the passenger seat with Salt and Pepper’s carrier in his lap. He was nodding to the music just as I was. We had very similar musical tastes and both gravitated toward something with a darker sound.
But his appreciation for the aggressive beats wasn’t all that surprised me. Salt and Pepper were perfectly calm, even though Zayn was a naga, and…well…snakes ate rats. Then again, his silver constrictor was huge, and I doubted it saw my rats as worthwhile even for the smallest of snacks. Maybe they were picking up on that.
He did occasionally send his tongue out to scent the air, but I didn’t know if that was just something he did normally, or if it was special for me or my rats. He had said he was worried his serpent would hurt me. And while I’d initially thought he was trying to eat me that day when I found him in his home, I now believed I was mistaken.
If he’d wanted to squeeze me to death, he’d have done so. I wouldn’t have had the time to cast my spell. All the same, I didn’t want to take the chance in case I was wrong, and planned on casting a protective barrier again when he shifted, just in case.
I spotted the big box store at the edge of Darlington, the last stop before we got out into the boonies, and pulled into the parking lot.
“We need to pick up some groceries,” I explained after turning down the music.
Sylvana had planned her passing, choosing to go when she did because she’d deemed me finally ready to take over the business. While it was forbidden to transfer lifeforce from one living thing to another, there were still plenty of spells magic users could call on to extend their natural lives if they were still strong enough to cast them. And that’s what she’d done.
Great Granny Syl had lived a very long time, just like her contemporaries. Witches and wizards of her caliber had many tricks up their sleeves, extending their lives for decades. Too bad it didn’t work that way for my four-legged babies. With how short their natural lifespans were, extending a rat’s life to its maximum potential only bought a few months, maybe a year at best.
I took the small animal carrier from Zayn and let Salt and Pepper out. They’d gone through this routine many times already and headed straight to my purse. I opened it and they crawled in.
Zayn gawked. “How do they fit it there?”
I opened my bag wider and showed it to him. My purse was spelled, and it led to the inside of a cabinet back home at the condo. I’d put Salt and Pepper’s favorite toys in there, and hung up a hammock for them to nap in. There was even a tray of woodchips at the back if they needed to go potty, and snacks if they got hungry.
“Oh, it’s magic,” he said. “Of course.”
“I used to take road trips a lot with Great Granny Syl. It was just easier to have a safe place for them to go. Most people still think rats are dirty and spread the plague—which is completely wrong, by the way. It was the fucking fleas.”
Zayn grinned. “Yeah. Snakes have a bad reputation, too.”
“True! I kind of like them, myself. If I didn’t choose rats to begin with, I’d probably have a ball python. A wizard friend of mine has one.”
“I thought wizards didn’t have familiars.”
“Seth is modern like that. He blends witchcraft with wizardry,” I said. “About time, too. Magic is stronger when you don’t limit yourself to a single discipline.”
Zayn’s hand went to the watch as we walked through the parking lot, probably thinking about his snake. He did that a lot, and I suddenly wondered if it was uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, is that bothering you? Do you want me to take it off?”
Surely his snake could handle a short grocery trip.
“No,” he said quickly. “I’m just making sure it’s on tightly.”
“You don’t trust him at all, do you?” It was strange to refer to his snake in the third person, but Zayn did it so often I was picking up the habit.
