Page 59 of Charmed, I'm Sure

She cuts her eyes at me. “You’ve been to see my sister, have you?”

I tilt my nose up. “I did have a free reading card in my basket. Someone,” I look at her, “told me to look through my welcome basket.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Didn’t know you would take me so literal, good to know.”

“I take everything you say to heart,” I say before I swivel back to stare at Nyx. The resemblance is uncanny. As if he lived all these centuries without aging a bit.

Nyx’s whiskers twitch. He doesn’t break eye contact.

“What are you doing?” Bellamy says as she leans over my shoulder.

“Waiting,” I tell her. “And I’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Right, well I’m going to clean up before I head home.”

Looking over my shoulder, I watch her move around her table, grabbing different things as she goes. I wonder if I can prod her for some information. See what she knows.

Pointing to my eyes, then to Nyx, I swear I see him smirk. I walk over to where she’s mid-reaching the top shelf when I grab the item and place it for her.

“So…what do you know about curses?”

Her forehead scrunches. “Why?”

Chapter Nineteen

Costume Crisis: Werewolf Edition

Miles

Imight have stayed up way too late reading over Ivora’s diary. There might be the imprint of a leather cover on my cheek, but I know the answers are there. My neck protests as I sit up, a stark reminder that I’m not a young pup who can’t get away with sleeping on the couch.

The coffee table is littered with the late-night scribbling of a mad man determined to solve a mystery. Feeling more like a detective and less like a wolf, I can’t seem to move beyond the question plaguing me. Which is why, in less than an hour, I find myself standing at Bellamy's shop, still sporting bed hair, or in this case couch hair.

Bellamy is in a winged back chair by the hearth when she peeks over the massive, ancient book she was reading, I think. “Did you fight with one of the squirrels this morning for your mail?”

“Uh, no? Why?”

She shrugs her dainty shoulder. “You look like you did.” She goes back to reading her book.

Walking over to where she’s sitting, I read the title of her book: The Stages of Decomposition and What They Mean.Yikes.

Thankfully the chair next to her is empty and there’s already a stack of books next to it. Grabbing the one on top,I read the title to this one. Banishments and More.

I flip the book open, not paying attention to the words on the page. Trying to keep the tone light, explorative. She hasn’t been receptive yet to this question. But, it won’t hurt to try again.

“You know, I hear that curses are one of the hardest to perform. Something about the witch having to give up something. I think it’s about how all magic has a cost?”

Her eyes flicker to mine before returning to her book again. She has one hell of a poker face. I’ve yet to get more than a glance from her when I ask these questions. It’s been a few days since Elora gave me the diary, and yet, Bellamy hasn’t divulged anything more.

Lady Bandit and Nyx are both staring at me as if they both think I’m an idiot for even trying. Well Nyx looks like he’s wondering why I’m here at all. Flicking my fingers between my eyes towards him, I remind him I’m still waiting for him to slip up.

I flip a few more pages, trying and likely failing to make it seem like I’m not here just to learn something from her. As if I’m not prodding her for what she knows.

“Bellamy,” I say as I roll my eyes towards her.

Her eyes flick to mine, boredom shining clearly in them.

“How exactly is a familiar gifted to a witch?”