Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,69

in the bright light. It snarled, its paws planted between Blossom and me, but it wouldn’t actually attack until Blossom gave the order. I took a slow, cautious step backward—but that incensed the dog, who flew forward until he was a foot away from my waist, barking in a low, terrible voice. I automatically shifted my weight, ready for a fight, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him by force.

“Call him off, Blossom,” I said over the sound.

“Witch,” she spat. “Necromancer. Don’t know what you’re mixed up in, Luther, but I want no part of it. Get out of my store.”

I didn’t have time to absorb the fact that Blossom knew at least something about the Old World, not when the dog was snarling at me like that. “Not without something to stop the guy,” I said back. “Or the stones. We had a deal.”

“Deal’s off. You think I don’t know what’s happening here? Some poor slob takes a stand against necromancers, and now you want me to help you squash him? Get out of here before I let Raven tear you to bits.”

At the sound of his name, the dog snarled again, the fur on his glossy back standing rigid. I sighed. “You’re not thinking it through, Blossom,” I said. “If I’m as evil as you think, wouldn’t I be able to stop the dog? Please don’t make me hurt him. Call him off.”

“Fat chance, white girl. You’ve got three seconds to get out of here.”

I weighed my options. I really didn’t want to hurt the dog, dammit. I could try the same thing I’d done with the fox, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to de-escalate him without outright killing him. On the other hand, if I walked away empty-handed, how was I going to stop Emil?

I made the decision: I would find another way. “You have to back up so I can get out,” I called over the dog.

Slowly, Blossom moved backward, giving the dog a short command to do the same. I moved forward out of the storeroom, looking around in desperation. There was something in this room that would help me fight Emil, but I had no idea what it was or what to do with it. I also wasn’t going to kill a dog to find out.

In the main storeroom, Blossom and Raven backed up, Blossom’s rigid finger pointing me toward the purple curtain. “Please,” I tried one more time. “If I can’t get this guy out of town, Charlie’s going to be vulnerable.”

That brought her up short for a second. “Vulnerable to what?” she demanded.

Please, I prayed. Please let this be the right choice. “Charlie’s a null. I’m trying to protect her.”

Blossom stared at me in wonderment. The dog, sensing the change in his mistress, turned his head to look at her. There was a breathless moment of suspended time while we both waited for Blossom to make a decision. “Wait there,” Blossom finally said. She edged around me warily, disappearing into the back storeroom. When she returned a moment later, she had a crystal in one gloved hand. “Mahogany obsidian should protect against psychic attacks,” she said gruffly, thrusting a chunk of bronze-and-black-streaked stone into my hand. I felt the little zing of vibration again. “Look up how to care for crystals online,” Blossom barked. “Now get the hell out of my store.”

It was only later, when I was nearly back in Boulder, that I realized that Blossom must have been really upset, because she hadn’t even charged me for the stone.

I called Simon and Lily on the way back to town to tell them what Blossom had said about the two casts. They had moved Maven, although I warned Simon not to give me the location over the phone, just in case. The investigation was at a standstill until we could either see the bodies or find Emil. “Maybe he’ll just leave town,” Lily said hopefully. “Cut his losses.”

I shook my head at the phone. “Maven’s still alive . . . ish,” I said. “He’s gonna want to finish what he started. And I think he wants something from me, though I’ll be damned if I know what.”

When I hung up the phone, it was not even one o’clock, but I had no idea what to do between now and sunset, not without Quinn. He let me take the lead in a lot of situations, but investigating was his thing. I was just a soldier with a