Hex on the Beach (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 1) (14 page)

“What are these?” I held up a pair of sunglasses that belonged back in the eighties. Large, circular lenses were surrounded by heart-shaped frames made of a shiny pink plastic.

“They’re sunglasses.” Poppy looked at me as if I were an idiot. “You put them over your eyes.”

“I know how to wear them.” I slipped on the shades and found a mirror on a spinning carousel filled with more out-of-style sunglasses. “But I thought we were shopping for weapons.”

“Not necessarily weapons.” Poppy handed me another pair. “Try these. More like defense tools. You’ve already almost killed one person. I don’t think it’d be a smart idea to put a weapon in your hand right now.”

“I didn’t kill anyone!” I ripped the shades from my face. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“This anger I’m sensing”—Poppy raised a hand and made circular motions in front of my body—“this is the reason we’re not giving you weapons.”

Zin rolled her eyes. “She’s not going to kill anyone. She’s far too honest.”

“I’ll, uh, take that as a compliment?” I shrugged. “I suppose.”

“It wasn’t meant to be one.” Zin frowned.

“Zin
thinks
she likes dangerous, but she’s just trying to overcompensate for her inability to shift into something beastly like a saber-toothed tiger-bird,” Poppy said with a smirk.

“First of all, that’s not a real animal,” Zin said. “Second of all—”

“The sunglasses,” I said, interrupting their tiff. We’d never get out of here at the rate these two bickerers were going. “Why do I need them?”

“They’re Uncloakers.” Poppy pursed her lips, selecting a pair of green shades in the shape of four-leaf clovers. Leftover St. Patty’s Day paraphernalia, if I had to guess. “They allow you to see straight through any basic illusion.”

“Awesome!” I slipped on the pair. “What else you got? And… I’ll go with those plain black ones. The least conspicuous of the bunch, please.”

“Boring.” Poppy handed over the least obnoxious rims. “Next, let’s get you some perfume.”

Walking behind my cousins down the supply store, a place that could be described as a cross between an ancient library and a cluttered storage barn, I tried to discreetly sniff my armpits, but I didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary.

“Perfume?” I scurried to catch up. “May I ask for what purpose?”

“Well, we sell all sorts of stuff. For you, I was thinking of the EvilAway,” Poppy mused. “What do you think?”

“That’d be good, or we could go with a TruthTeller.” Zin pursed her lips as she eyed me up and down. “We definitely don’t want to mix and match.”

“What do they do?” I asked, scanning the piles upon piles of baskets and barrels, bookshelves and drawers, bottles and canisters, and sprays, spritzes, and sprucers. If my cousins hadn’t been there to guide me through the maze of boxes and stacks, I’d never have found a thing.

“They do exactly what they say.” Poppy waved before selecting a teensy black bottle. “Ah. EvilAway. All it does is avert those with ill intentions toward you. These are light spells, so they won’t keep away an exceptionally determined person. But it’s easy, cheap, and better than nothin’.”

“Here’s the TruthTeller.” Zin took a sniff. “This one smells nice. Fruity, essence of orange, I think. It
encourages
those nearest you to tell the truth. Much like EvilAway—and all perfumes, really—it’s not perfect. The determined liar will be able to detect and press through the spell, but it’s a bit more draining for them.”

“Can I smell?” I leaned in to take a whiff at the same time Zin depressed the squirt bottle. A shot of the stuff went straight into my face, cloaking the air around us.

“You have ugly underwear,” Poppy blurted. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she glanced wide-eyed at me. “I didn’t mean to say that, sorry. It’s the TruthTeller acting up.”

“How would you know?” I stood, waving the perfume out of my face.

“Well, your dress kind of hiked up high when Ranger X showed up,” Poppy said almost apologetically. “Maybe next time you’re going to run into him, think
lace
. He seems like a guy who appreciates the finer things in life.”

“I don’t have plans to see him again,” I growled. “Especially not romantically.”

“Well, you can’t do much worse than you already have.” Zin clasped a hand over her mouth. But even a hand couldn’t stop the effects of the spell; she continued to babble.

“It wasn’t on purpose!”

“It’s the TruthTeller, darlin’,” Poppy said. “We can’t help it. Anyway, let’s go with that. Seems to be working great.”

“Plus, it’s already all over my face.” I took a few deep breaths. “In fact, I think it’s burned off most of my nose hairs. By the way, Poppy, you’re nice. Zin, you’re rude. But I wish I looked as cool as you.”

“Yep, it’s working…guess we don’t even need to buy it.” Poppy waved an arm. “You’ll be able to make it on your own soon enough, once you get the hang of mixing perfumes. Now, let’s get out of here.”

“I’ll be able to make it?” I asked as soon as we’d checked out and added the sunglasses to Poppy’s ever-growing tab. I’d offered to pay, but she waved it off and said we’d sort it out later. “I’ve been meaning to ask you guys more about that. Seems like some of the witches here just snap their fingers and things happen. Will I be able to do that someday?”

“Neither of us are witches,” Zin said. “In case you forgot.”

“How could she forget your cute little chipmunk chompers?” Poppy pinched Zin’s cheek then leapt out of the way before Zin could retaliate. “Witches tend to have a strength. Like Zin said, we don’t know from experience. But we’re related to enough of ’em to have an idea.”

“What’s your—
our—
grandmother’s strength?” I asked.

“Ah, you had the pleasure of meeting Hettie, eh?” Zin’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s a joy, huh?”

“She’s interesting,” I said cautiously.

“Interesting.” Poppy snorted. “Your political correctness will wear off very quickly. She’s bonkers.”

“She seemed nice,” I argued.

“She’s not particularly nice, but we love her anyway.” Poppy shrugged. “Suppose that’s family, huh?”

I shrugged right back. I certainly wasn’t the expert on family dynamics. I’d grown up an only child with a dad as helpful as a cardboard cutout. I’d take Hettie any day. She’d even complimented me already, which was more than I could say for my dad. He’d never once told me I wasn’t a tomato. “Anyway, about these special talents?”

“Well, Hettie has never told us,” Poppy said, seeming grateful for the change of subject as she led us toward the lower bridge. “But we all have assumed she has Seer tendencies.”

“Like… psychic powers?” I slid the sunglasses onto my head, not feeling the need to see through illusions at the moment.

“Sort of. Like I said, she’s not a full-on psychic—she’s a witch with Seer tendencies, meaning I suspect she has hints or glimpses of impending events,” Poppy said. “But it’s hard to say for certain because as big of a mouth as Hettie has, she likes to keep certain things private.”

“Like her house,” I agreed. “It was a bear to get through The Twist. I don’t think I could do it alone.”

“You could, but it takes time,” Zin said. “I got lost for three days the first time I went in alone.”

My jaw dropped. “Nobody rescued you?”

“Well, I also sort of ran away from home and stormed off in a huff. I think my mom thought it’d teach me a lesson,” Zin said.

“Plus, she was sixteen,” Poppy said with an eye roll. “Plenty old enough to take care of herself. She realized she couldn’t control her shifting powers like she should be able to, said she was going to Gran’s, then just stormed out of the house. With seven kids running around, I don’t blame Trinket for not being able to keep track of ’em all.”

“My mom’s not the most sympathetic,” Zin said, her eyes darkening. “Life with six younger siblings isn’t always
easy
.”

“Yeah, she decided to go the
rebel
route instead of the overachiever route, right, Zin?” Poppy winked. “That’s why we get along so well.”

Zin scowled.

Poppy ignored the glare. “I wanted a sibling for a while, but it was more of a phase than anything else. Zin and I grew up together, and she had enough siblings for the both of us. At my house, it’s just me and Mimsey.”

“I don’t know how to ask this politely,” I said. “But is it normal here to live with your parents even when you’re… you know, almost thirty?”

“I live with my mom because it’s just the two of us. My dad took off when I was little, and I didn’t have the heart to leave my mom alone.” Poppy shrugged. “I’d move out if I had a reason to—it’s not as if she’s holding me hostage. But for now, it’s not so bad. Zin stays at home to help with her siblings. But she’d probably move out too, if the opportunity arose.”

“You guys could always live at the bungalow with me if you want. There’re extra bedrooms.”

Poppy raised an eyebrow. “That’s a thought I like thinking about.”

Zin raised an eyebrow. “Living with you two? I’d consider it. As long as we lay down some ground rules first. I can’t live with Poppy being so happy all the time. She’d drive me nuts.”

I grinned. “You don’t have to answer now. Just a thought. By the way, what are your moms’ special tendencies?”

“My mom’s is yelling and color-coding every Tupperware container in our house,” Zin mumbled. “She’s a rock star at that.”

Poppy frowned. “Your mother has a talent for auras. That’s how she knows how to hit everyone’s weak spots. And frankly, it’s how she can manage seven kids.”

Zin grudgingly nodded. “It’s true.”

“See, here’s how magic works. We can all get to the same outcome, we just have to discover our own talents to get there.” Poppy gestured to the large Isle. “For example, say we’re going to have a tsunami tomorrow, and we all have to figure out how to survive.”

“We’re not really going to have a tsunami, are we?” I glanced up at the cloudless blue sky.

“This is an example,” Zin snapped. “Of course not. We have protective spells against storms. And you don’t find tsunamis in the
sky.
”

“She didn’t know,” Poppy said. “Anyway, I have a better example. One time, Zin decided to sneak out of the house at night, despite Aunt Trinket’s strict curfew.”

I looked at Zin. “True story?”

“No,” grumbled Zin at the same time Poppy said, “Yep!”

“Hettie knew Zin was going to sneak out before she did it, since she can see the future. Aunt Trinket, however, knew Zin was up to something because she had a black aura with a red outline, which signals a liar.” Poppy glanced in my direction to see if I was following. I nodded, and she continued. “My mother has a penchant for ghosts. So all she had to do was chat with the departed to find out that Zin was off sneaking into The Forest, hoping for a glimpse of a Werewolf.”

“A saber-toothed tiger,” Zin corrected under her breath. “It had been spotted in the woods around our house.”

“Then, there’s you.” Poppy scanned me up and down. “You still have to discover your tendency—nobody can do that for you. But if I had to guess, it’d be something with Mixology. You could’ve whipped up a Frothy Forecaster for a hint at the future, or a Truthful Tea to get Zin to spill the beans.”

“Wow, I never expected witchcraft to be so complicated,” I said. “Then again, I never expected it to be real either.”

“It’s really not that complicated,” Poppy said. “It’s quite simple once you figure out your tendencies. It’s kind of like that college thing you human folks believe in, though I don’t understand that. Explain to me how you expect an eighteen-year-old to decide—out of all the options in the world—what they want to do for the rest of their life?”

“That is a great question.” I bit my lip. “And I don’t have an answer. But if I wanted to get started, how would I go about figuring out my tendency?”

“I’m a vamp, and she’s a shifter who can’t figure out her form.” Poppy looked at me with a smile. “We’re the last people you want to ask. We can ask my mom later. For now though, we’re almost back to the tea shop. Shall we go in?”

I shook my head. “Would you girls mind if I went in alone? I don’t particularly want to, but I feel like it should be me. By myself. It’s not you guys he has a problem with.”

“We’re not supposed to leave your side.” Zin pulled a small switchblade from her pocket and balanced it against her chin. “And I take my defensive duties seriously.”

“She wants to become a Ranger,” Poppy whispered. “But they don’t let shifters become Rangers until they find their Final Form.”

My heart twisted a bit as Zin’s face fell.

“I’m sorry,” I said, wanting to reach out to her.

“I don’t want your sympathy,” Zin said. “I didn’t ask for this babysitting job. You do it, then, Poppy.”

I hung my head, looking at the ground as Zin’s footsteps faded into the distance. “I didn’t realize I was such a burden. I’m sorry, you can go… I never meant to, uh, bother you guys.”

“We were having a good time,” Poppy said, her voice soft. “I shouldn’t have said that stuff to her. I meant it as a joke, but sometimes I take things a little too far. I should apologize. The Rangers rejected her latest application just last week, so that was a cheap shot on my part.”