The Blood Legacy (The Lost Heir Book III)

A Little Magic

"Please, Lana. You have to help me with this. Colin took us to lunch with her then they went off somewhere to talk like they were old buddies. Neeta didn't bother sticking around, and Cleo doesn't seem to care," Isabella said after a woman from Maine and her young son and daughter checked out with two bags full of beach items and Foxworthy hotel souvenirs.

"She was a big fan of your family's," Lana remarked, referring to the customer.

"And of Serena Silver's. She had her book in her bag. I think people are here waiting for her to expose something about us."

Lana shrugged as another customer stepped up to buy a bag of chips and a diet soda. She rung him up, as Isabella waiting patiently to continue.

"Have a nice day," Isabella said as the man left.

"That guy didn't have one of her books," Lana quipped.

Isabella rolled her eyes and her friend. "Come on. You know it's true. This Silver woman has everyone under her spell except well, us."

"How do you know I'm not under her spell?" Lana smirked. "I think she's a nice enough person."

Isabella tilted her head and slid knuckled fingers to her hip. "Seriously?"

"Okay. I think she's a phony creep, and her books are mediocre at best."

Isabella laughed. "You don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"Well, the phony creep part was real. Her writing really is amazing."

"Fine, but that's not the issue. She is trying to get dirt on my family and hypnotizing Colin into letting her into our secret..." Isabella stopped and looked around, "practices."

"Maybe he knows more about her than you do. You said yourself she's clearly an empath."

"I just need a number two on this."

Lana sighed. "Of course, I'll help you, Izzy. What are best friends for?"

"Thank you!" Isabella let loose an uncharacteristic squeal of relief before running around the counter and squeezing her friend tightly.

"Watch the bone crushing!" Lana squeaked, having a difficult time breathing from the bone crushing embrace.

Isabella came back an hour later when Lana finished her shift to make sure she wouldn't get distracted by someone popping in like Evie Kim, who seemed to be on a best friend-stealing mission lately. She and Lana had a blast on their double-date last night.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" asked Lana as they made their way to the lobby elevators to head up to Isabella's apartment suite. "To get her to leave?"

"To find out what she's up to and get her to admit it at least. If it's a bad thing, the next step would be to get her to stop, then get her to leave."

"And you have a plan on how to go about this?" Lana asked knowingly.

The elevator dinged and the golden doors swept open. "I don't know. Maybe the book has something that could help us."

Lana's eyes widened as they stepped inside. "As in the book?"

Isabella ignored the scolding sound in her friend's voice. Everyone kept warning her to not take the book Colin had given her so seriously, but it was the key to their world. She couldn't treat it as if it were just a reference book from the library. "Don't you remember me telling you there was something like recipes in the back?"

As the doors opened on Isabella's floor, Lana responded in disbelief at her best friend's intentions. "Isabella Foxworthy, you know they aren't recipes. They're brews!"