Shift

Bonus: Blaze's Birthday Pt. 2

The air outside was still crisp and Kayden zipped her jacket higher up her neck to keep the chill out. She hadn't been prepared for the dip in weather. But even though Helio was currently living in Los Angeles, he looked a lot more prepared for the weather than she was. He wore a dark sweater, and wound around his neck was black plaid scarf.

"So is this place just out in the open, or is it glamoured?" Kayden asked, staring at the buildings as they strolled down the sidewalk together. There were a lot of cute stores in this part of the city—small boutiques, family owned restaurants, quaint coffee shops—and she wondered if the store was magicked to look like one of the buildings around her. Or maybe it's invisible, she thought with a thrill of excitement.

Instead, Helio pointed diagonally across the street to a small store. Kayden squinted her eyes. It took her a moment to read the sign painted on the glass: Potted Petunias. It was a plant store.

"So," she said, a bit confused as they darted across the street. "You're taking me to a magical plant store?"

"No. It's a normal plant store. But there's a secret back room with all the magic stuff. That's where we're headed." To Kayden's surprise, Helio opened the door for her, and after a quick murmur of "thank you," she stepped inside.

Kayden had never been inside a store dedicated to selling plants. The closest she had ever gotten was the flower section of Home Depot. And even though Helio claimed the plant portion of the shop was normal, it still felt a bit magical. Outside was cold and crisp, but inside the shop it was warm and muggy, full of large ferns and smaller displays of succulents. Some of the plants were arranged in cute little ways, filling mason jars of dirt or hanging in old light fixtures from the ceiling. Other plants were more utilitarian, sitting in green plastic pots waiting to be purchased and replanted. There were also strange accessories for sale: petrified moss, pouches of smooth stones, bags of black volcanic ash...

"This place is really cool," Kayden said, squinting at a small cactus with a red flower near the front entry.

Helio shrugged. "I mean, I guess if you like plants." He scanned the aisles until he noticed a curtain hanging in the far back of the shop. "There. That's the room back there. I suggest you just make a beeline for it as quickly as you can. It feels like they put a confusion spell in that corner of the room to prevent non-ers from stumbling in there by mistake. But if you walk over there with purpose, it shouldn't affect you too much. Just focus on the curtain and walk briskly."

"Okay," Kayden said. She inhaled deeply, as if she was about to swim across a pool in one breath, and she started walking.

Unfortunately, she found it nearly impossible to navigate the store quickly and surely. The aisles were full of dripping plants, and she tried not to step on any of the delicate leaves or vines that had draped their way down the shelves to the floor. But whenever she stopped to reorient herself, she could feel her mind go a little foggy, as if it were late at night and her brain could no longer function.

"Tricky spell," she thought, willing herself forward. She nudged into a fern, slid past a woman who looked dazed, and was about to reach the curtain when a man suddenly stepped in front of her.

"Hello miss," he said with a grin. His name tag read "Michael." "What can I help you with today?"

"Um... I..." Suddenly Kayden couldn't quite remember why she had come into the store. "I needed... a plant I think."

The man smiled and turned her around, guiding her back to the front of the store. "What type would you—?"

"Excuse me." A sharp voice cut through the fog in her mind and Kayden saw Helio appear at her side, a small notebook in his hands. "She's with me and we need to go back there." He gestured at the curtain, looking a bit peeved. "Also, could you have made that confusion spell any stronger? It reeks from across the room. You're practically begging for someone to stumble and break a pot in here."

The sales guy blinked and stared at Kayden, who had gotten her senses back enough to remember why she was there. She glared at him and he winced, realizing his mistake.

"So sorry," he whispered, "I thought she was a non-er. My mistake. And I'll ask my manager about the confusion spell." Then, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one else was looking, he held open the curtain and said, "Please, go on in."

Once they stepped through the curtain, Kayden felt the fog in her head lift. "Geesh, that sucked," she said, massaging her head. It was pounding. "That spell didn't affect you at all?"

"It actually did," Helio acknowledged, sliding his notebook back into his pocket. "A bit too strongly. I actually had to stop and draw a rune in my notebook to clear my head. That's why I wasn't right behind you." He shook his head. "Honestly, it's a lot easier to use a glamour, but some people just like confusion spells. The problem is that they affect everyone. It just seems like shitty business practice to me."

"Do potestas women get annoyed by this?" Kayden asked, thinking about the guy. "He just assumed I was a non-er—which, I mean, was the right assumption—but what if I were a psychic or a potestas. I feel like having people always think you're a non-er would get super annoying."

"It does," Helio said, "which is why there is a new trend right now where potestas will wear this necklace. It's a sort of 'fuck off' to people who assume you're a non-er. It's a pain to get one—they have to genetic test you and everything to make sure you have some magic in you—but it seems to make their lives a bit easier. And I guess it sort of bands them together. It's so rare to be one that it must be nice to just go underground and see someone else like you on the train."

Kayden thought of Lexi and wondered if she had heard of these necklaces. She figured she'd have to give her a call soon and see.

"Anyway," Helio said, sweeping his arm around the back shop. "Welcome to a real magic store! Now what do you want to get Blaze?"

- - -

Hi guys! Hope you liked this little extra snippet I wrote as a continuation of Blaze's Birthday. The final part (part 3!) is in the next chapter! 

I also wanted you guys to know that I have another completed book called "Devil in the Details." If you like Shift, you might like this one as well! It's a bit of teen fiction with some magic and humor filtered in. And, of course, a little bit of romance! You can get to it via my Wattpad page.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter. Do you have any questions for me? Any thoughts regarding Devil in the Details? Please let me know! And thanks for being such awesome readers! <3 

~Bdicocco