Page 24

Story: Blood Rains Down

“Are ye back for more Valarian root?” she asked as she pulled on the string holding her hair on top of her head. A mixture of snow white curls, dreadlocks, and braids cascaded down her back and over her chest as she removed the tie, the ends brushing against her hips.

I smiled as I stepped up to the counter.

“Actually, I was hoping this time to find some kind of sleeping drought that could stop a person from dreaming.” I tapped my fingers against the glass counter as her brows furrowed.

“Ta stop a dream is ta close ze minds eye.” I rolled my eyes in her direction and her finger shot up and pointed at me. I jumped back at her quick movement as her finger shook in my direction.

“I may not ‘ave me sight, but I see ye clearly, girl.” The words were sharp as they left her lips.

What the fuck does that even mean?

She lowered her finger slowly as a quiet chuckle escaped her throat and she began digging through boxes stacked on the shelves behind the counter.

I leaned my elbows on the glass, studying the rabbit’s feet and petrified bat wings inside the casing as I cleared my throat.

“Can I ask you a question, Madam Shath?”

“D’na call me zat. I ‘ave told ye a million times, Madam Shath is me mother, n’ ze old ‘ag refuses to die.” I smiled to myself at her words, the bluntness of them.

That’s what I liked about her, there wasn’t a moment spent in her presence that wasn’t honest.

“Okay,Yenne. How do you know it’s me when I come into your shop before I’ve even spoken?” Aren’t you . . . blind?” I asked, blowing hot air onto the glass in front of me and sliding my finger through it.

She tapped two fingers on her forehead and then ran them to the tip of her nose and tapped it twice.

“Sight issa ‘indrance ta what truly lies in front of us.”

I stifled another eye roll, almost nothing she said made sense.

“Now, get ye grimy ‘ands off me glass,” Yenne snapped, dropping a wooden box in front of me as I pulled my fingers away just in time. “Zis potion is going ta cost ye. Ze ingredients are pricey n’ me fee goes up for magic I d’na like.”

“How much?” I asked, studying the contents of the box.

“Six ‘undred coin.”

My eyes darted from the box to her. “Six hundred coin? That is absurd.”

“I told ye, zere issa price for closing ze minds eye.” She reached out and flicked my forehead and I swatted her hand away, rubbing the skin her fingers had connected with.

“How long will it take to make?”

“S’pose I could ‘ave it done before ‘morrows moon.”

I nodded, pulling my hood back over my head. “Thank you, I’ll be back. In the meantime, I will take a dose of Valerian root for the night.”

Yenne swiped her hand over the glass and a perfectly wrapped package the size of a small stone appeared underneath it. She picked it up and held it out to me with a smile.

“I knew ye would’na leave without it,” she said as I plucked it from her hand, shoving it into the pocket of my jacket.

I dropped the coins into her palm that was still outstretched.

“Zere issa man waitin’ for ye outside,” Yenne stated as I turned to leave. I groaned, dragging a hand over my face.

“And you know this, how?” I asked, turning back to look at her and scanning for any alternate exits.

She grinned back at me, saying nothing as she tapped her forehead twice and flicked her fingers toward the door and opened it on a phantom wind.

Chapter nine

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