𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. ── 𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬

AELLA POV

AELLA SHOOK HER HEAD AS THE remnants of the charmspeak floated out of her head. Before she could completely come to her senses, Piper practically flew at her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think—" Piper panted.

"It's ok. You're not alone now. I've got you." (a/n— AELLIPER?)

Jason and Leo trotted over to the living furs aisle, aided by the Witch Princess.

"You want them shopping for their deaths?" Piper demanded, on the verge of tears.

"Mmm." The princess blew dust off a display case of swords. "I'm a seer, my dear. I know your little secret. But we don't want to dwell on that, do we? The boys are having such fun."

Aella's eyes blazed. "No, they're not. They're being charmspeaked by you, you witch."

The Witch Princess giggled uncharacteristically. "Well who said anything about charmspeaking? And look how happy they are, Aella O'Connor—Jackson, daughter of Hermes."

Aella clenched her fists and looked over at Leo and Jason.

Leo laughed as he tried on a hat that seemed to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. Its ringed tail twitched, and its little legs wiggled frantically as Leo walked. Jason was ogling the men's sportswear. Boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they were under an evil spell.

Piper glared at the princess. "Who are you? You're not getting any creepier, lady."

"I told you, my dear. I'm the Princess of Colchis."
Aella stomped over to The Witch Princess. "Where's Colchis?"

The princess's expression turned a little sad. "Where was Colchis, you mean. My father ruled the far shores of the Black Sea, as far to the east as a Greek ship could sail in those days. But Colchis is no more—lost eons ago."

"Eons?" Piper asked. The princess looked no more than fifty, but a bad feeling started settling over Aella—something King Boreas had mentioned back in Quebec. "How old are you, Freakcess?"

The princess laughed. "A lady should avoid asking or answering that question. Let's just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. My patron finally brought me through. She made all this possible." 

The princess swept her hand around the department store.

The great prophecy's words echoed in Aella's brain. "Your patron..."

"Oh, yes. She doesn't bring just anyone through, mind you—only those who have special talents, such as me. And really, she insists on so little—a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. In exchange for a new life? Really, it was the best bargain I'd made in centuries."

Piper turned to Aella. "Aella, I'm not getting a good feeling about her..."

Run, Aella thought. We have to get out of here.

But before she could even turn her thoughts into words, Jason called, "Hey, check it out!"

From a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple T-shirt like the one he'd worn on the school field trip—except this shirt looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.

Jason frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"Jason, it's like yours," Piper said. "Now we really have to leave." 

But Aella wasn't sure he could even hear her anymore through the princess's enchantment.

"Nonsense," the princess said. "The boys aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular—tradeins from previous customers. It suits you."