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The rest of the team was right behind her.

“Nothing.” I tried not to look at the larger-than-life banner of Kato.

But Bronte wasn’t fooled. “Who could forget him?” She smiled at the banner. “He saved us all in the Garden. He’s a true hero.”

“Just don’t tell him that. It will make his head grow even bigger.” Eris nudged us forward. “Now, getting moving, Apprentices. Remember: this Quest is being scored!”

CHAPTER4

SWEET ESCAPE

Ahandcrafted wooden sign hung over the door.Miss Christie’s Magical Curiosities, it read in thick, carved letters. Finally, we’d made it.

Bright yellow flowers grew beneath the display windows. A puppy dressed in a pink tutu lay on a fluffy mat in front of the entrance. At least the shop looked cozy and friendly.

“Come on. Let’s slay this Quest!” Kylie said, pumping her fist in the air.

She was first to the door. She pulled it open and stepped into the shop. The rest of us weren’t far behind her.

As soon as I was inside, I tallied up how many other people were here and exactly where they were standing. Just in case there were any thieves lurking around. Ok, so maybe those bandits at the mall had left me a little paranoid. And very rattled.

Keeping my eyes and ears open for signs of movement, I joined my teammates. They were browsing the shelves for the ingredients on our shopping list. Eris stood back, observing us in silence.

My team quickly found the everlasting flame, the vial of Crimson Coast sand, and the dandelion dust. But we were still missing the unicorn hair.

“I don’t see it anywhere on the shelves,” Bronte said.

Neither did I. So I decided to try my luck at the front counter.

“Miss Christie?” I asked the young man standing behind it.

“Funny.” But he didn’t look amused. “Miss Christie is my aunt.”

I blushed. Well, in my defense, magic could make people look like different people. So that man could have been Miss Christie in disguise.

“Do you have any unicorn hair?” I asked the shopkeeper.

He glanced over his glasses at the ingredients my teammates had deposited on the counter. “An everlasting flame, sand from the Crimson Coast, dandelion dust…and a unicorn hair.” His gaze snapped up to meet my eyes. “Do you know what that recipe makes?”

“A bath bomb.”

The words burst out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying. I had no idea where they’d come from, but somehow I knew they were true.

“That’s right,” he replied, his lips tight. “A bath bomb. A bubbly, sweet-smelling, magical bath bomb that you drop into the water to relax your muscles. What an epic waste of magic.”

The Knights had sent us on an errand to buy bath supplies? I almost laughed. But given how annoyed the man already looked, I decided to hold back the chuckles.

“You can get the unicorn hair out back.” He handed me a very tiny wax paper bag.

I blinked at it. “I suppose that means we’ll be fletching the unicorn hair ourselves.”

“How astute of you,” he said drily.

“I once visited a shop where you had to pick your own flowers,” Bronte commented. “I guess this is the magical equivalent.”

Somehow picking flowers sounded easier than extracting a hair from a living unicorn.

“Unicorn hair needs to be fresh,” the shopkeeper told me.