Dangerous Thoughts

Chapter 17

Over the next several hours, several other men and women stopped by their small stall to make purchases. By late afternoon, Juliette had sold all of the potions James had given her, and Charles had sold four memories—a good day's worth, considering how expensive his wares were.

At this point, Charles decided it was best to call it a day, so together they folded up their small table and left the market.

When they finally arrived home, Juliette kicked off her shoes and darted up the stairs. "I'm gonna tell Lillian about our day in the market!" she shouted, disappearing upstairs.

Charles wanted to stop her—he didn't know what was going on with Lillian and didn't love the idea of the young mage hanging out with her all the time—but James suddenly appeared, poking his head out from the kitchen. "Let her be," he said. "Lillian's been up in that room with her mother all day. I'm sure she'd appreciate Juliette's company."

Charles joined his brother in the kitchen. There was a set of vials lined up on the counter with baby blue liquid inside: freshly brewed sleeping potions. It seems James had finished his potion brewing for the day and had transitioned into making dinner, which filled the kitchen with mouthwatering scents that made Charles' stomach growl. "It looks like you had a productive day," he commented.

James nodded, then saw that Charles was holding a bag. "I was going to say the same to you, but now I see that bag in your hand, and I have to wonder if you actually sold anything or just went shopping all day."

"Funny, James," Charles said, placing the bag on the table. "We actually did a fairly good job. Sold all of your potions, and I sold four memories. But yes, I did make a little excursion at the end." Charles reached into the bag and pulled out a set of four drinking glasses. "We passed a glassware stall before I left, and I couldn't resist. Look." Charles picked up one of the glasses, and ceremoniously dropped it to the floor. However, it didn't shatter. Instead, it simply bounced off the ground, as if made of rubber, and returned to Charles' hand. "It's enchanted! It'll never break. Which means we can finally get rid of those old cracked glasses we have."

James looked mildly mortified. "But I love those glasses! They're the first glasses we ever bought."

"And they look that way," Charles said. "It's embarrassing when company comes over."

"They have character," James said, "and they make for a good story."

Charles rolled his eyes. "Fine," he acquiesced. "I won't get rid of your favorite glasses. But if company comes over, I'm reaching for the new ones."

"Whatever makes you happy, Charles," James said, looking over at the food on the stove. "Speaking of company, Mister Davis stopped by while you were out."

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, James. I hope he didn't give you too much of a hard time. I still haven't found that flying memory for him."

"Actually, it was quite a quick visit. He wanted to let you know that he found a mage who could fly."

"He found someone? Where?"

"Last night. At the Monroe's. Apparently he was waiting in line to use the restroom, and the man in front of him was hovering--literally floating two inches off the ground. So he tried to draw him into a conversation, to see if the man would be willing to meet with you to copy a flying memory, but apparently the man was a bit standoffish and refused to speak to him."

"Or perhaps Mister Davis was being his usual pushy self and frightened the poor guy."

James laughed. "That's more likely. Anyway, Mister Davis wanted to know if there was any way you could find out who this man was, perhaps from Cecilia since she helped manage the guest list? He thought you might be able to convince him to part with the memory."