"I have to close up," he said going to the front door and flipping the lock. He turned the open sign over to closed and pulled down the shade.

Patrick walked to the alcove curtain and motioned for them to follow. Evan grabbed Sasha's hand and walked ahead of her. When they reached the curtain, he squeezed her hand and spoke softly so that Patrick couldn't hear.

"If this gets too weird we'll leave, ok?" He watched her from the corner of his eye as she nodded..

They walked into a dimly lit storeroom in the back of the shop. It had shelves rising to the ceiling stacked with cardboard boxes of merchandize. The room wasn't large and at the rear there was a metal door.

The door led to a nondescript hallway and Patrick locked the door behind them as he motioned for them to move down the corridor. Evan stopped and waved Patrick to lead them up a wooden staircase.

"You first," he said to Patrick who threw back his shoulders and marched up the stairs.

As they climbed the creaky stairs, Sasha worried that she'd made a mistake. She had a nagging feeling like she'd missed something. It was when her pendant lit up like a firecracker. It had to mean something but she was at a loss to explain the phenomena. It had never happened before and she was ignorant about magic. Her mother made sure of that.

Sasha didn't want to let anxiety freeze her. She fought back her fear breathing deeply and ascended the stairs behind Evan. He was still holding her sweaty hand.

Patrick unlocked a wooden door at the top of the stairs and disappeared from sight. Evan hesitated before following.

"It's ok Evan," Sasha said. "I can keep us safe if we are in danger."

She knew the blue sparks would appear. She was at least confident in that a.s.sumption because she had tested the theory. Evan had a question in his eyes. She didn't say anything more and pushed him lightly to move forward.

They walked into a gloomy, smoky room that strangely didn't smell like anything. An elderly man sat in a burgundy upholstered hardback chair in front of a table of gleaming candles. His hair and long beard were white and he was clothed in grey pants and a long flowing white shirt. There was nothing distinct about him except he was mumbling under his breath and didn't stop when they came into the room. Patrick led them to a wooden bench normally seen in a park.

Sasha and Evan slowly lowered themselves to the hard wood. Evan collected Sasha's hand and held it in his lap. He stroked her palm with his thumb and traced the lines. The feeling was electrifying and distracting. She smiled at Evan and pulled her hand away. She needed to focus on everything that was going to happen.

She opened her mouth to speak and Patrick put out a hand to silence her. He put a finger against his lips, the universal sign to be quiet. Sasha clenched her mouth shut obeying the request.

The old man finally stopped his strange muttering and looked at them. His gray eyes were surprisingly clear and the skin around his eyes was smooth despite his white hair and long white beard that gave him the appearance of being old. Sasha could not pick an age for this man. He white hair told her he was in his seventies. The smooth skin said he was still in his forties.

The man smiled and still no wrinkles appeared on his face. Maybe the guy was a fan of Botox. Sasha didn't smile back. She didn't know if this curious man was friend or foe.

"Thank you for coming Sasha," the man said. "I am Gus."

"How do you--," he cut her off before she asked how he knew her name.

"It's not important," Gus said as if answering the question she never got to ask. "I am here to help you."

Sasha eyed him quizzically. How was he going to help if he didn't let her ask questions?

"How?" She finally asked after thinking for a minute.

"I can tell you how to break the curse," Gus said. "A piece of hair please."

Patrick walked over to her as she put her hands on her head to stop him from taking a hair.

"Why do you need my hair?"

"I need to know what kind of curse Vania cast on you," Gus said.

"You seem to be all knowing, can't you tell me already?"

Gus laughed heartily. The girth around his middle jiggled like a bowl of Jell-O.

"I am good," he said. "That's how I know Nefar has come for you."

Sasha felt a chill run down her spine. Gus said Nefar's name as if he were a friend of his rather than a dangerous killer. Was this a trap?

"Don't worry," he said. "I am no friend of Nefar's."

Suddenly it struck her. "You are reading my mind," she said.

Gus smiled widely. He was trying to put her at ease but Sasha was still wary.

"Was I that obvious?"

"Yes," she said. "You also haven't told me anything that I don't already know."

Gus laughed again and picked up a green candle. "I will tell you more if you give me a piece of hair."

Reluctantly Sasha pulled a strand from her skull. She handed it to Patrick who delivered it to Gus. The hair was placed in a pottery bowl and Gus poured a liquid on top from a narrow, orange gla.s.s bottle. He touched the candle to the surface of the bowl and there was a yellow flash and smoke. Gush waved the smoke in a circular motion as if he were trying to conjure up a smoke vision.

He waved a slim stick around as if it were a wand and mumbled something she couldn't hear. Gus was surrounded by smoke for several minutes before he spoke.

"Unfortunately I have bad news," he said. Sasha wasn't surprised. She had been feeling the doom and gloom since she came into the shop. "It's a killing curse."

Sasha shook her head in denial but she believed Gus. She knew he was speaking the truth. It explained much.

"But why send Nefar after me?" she asked.

"Maybe a plan B just in case the curse didn't work?" Gus guessed.

"Do you know why it hasn't worked yet?"

"No," Gus said lighting a cigarette. "It's not important. You need to know how to disable it."

"Can I do that?"

"Of course," Gus said. "No curse is impregnable."

"How?"

"A killing curse can only be accomplished with a biological item from the intended victim," he said. "So Vania must have something of yours. Sometimes it's a lock of hair or an organ."

"An organ?" Evan asked incredulously.

"Yes," Gus said. "We don't need every body part we have. People lose eyes, kidneys, ears. It can be anything biological. If you have all your body parts it's probably a lock of hair."

"How do you know Vania cast the spell?"

"I don't," he said. "You told me that. Isn't that what Nefar said to you?"

"Yes," she said disappointed. She thought he had more independent information.

Gus told them they needed to find the talisman and burn it. It was the only way to get rid of the spell. Once the item is destroyed by fire it will break the spell.

"Where is it?" Evan asked.

Gus grimaced. "Well that's the hard part," he said. "These types of curses are rare and can only be performed by masters of magic. I a.s.sume the spell caster would be an expert at hiding the talisman."

Sasha deflated like a balloon quickly losing air. She didn't even know Vania let alone have any clue as to where she would keep this talisman.

"You'll have to travel to Tysseland to find out," Gus said.

"Where?" Evan asked.

"Tysseland," Gus said. "That's where Vania lives."

"I've never heard of it," Evan said. "Is it a different country?"

Gus laughed heartily again. "It's a different world. You'll need to find someone who can open a portal for you."

Sasha shook her head having a hard time absorbing everything she'd heard. A portal?

"I can't open portals," Gus said. "But you know someone who can."

Sasha and Evan glanced at each other and then looked back at Gus. "We do?" they said in unison.

"He's in your mother's inner circle," Gus said.

Sasha didn't have to think over that remark very long: Dominic.

Sasha stood. "Thank you," she walked to Gus with her hand outstretched. "You've been very helpful."

Gus stood taking her hand in his. His hand was pleasantly warm.

"I hope I was able to help," he murmured.

"You have," she said. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing, now," Gus said. "I'll ask for payment later."

Sasha froze in surprise but quickly recovered. She was hardly in a position to argue.

They followed Patrick from the room back to the front door of the shop.

CHAPTER FORTEEN.

The moment Sasha stepped out of the shop she realized she'd forgotten to ask Gus about the pendant and blue sparks. She turned to reenter the store when she heard a loud crack and sharp pain she's never experienced before seared through her shoulder.

She stumbled forward and landed on her knees not quite understanding what happened. She glanced at her right shoulder that was throbbing and saw a growing red blot on her shirt. She didn't remember staining her shirt.

Her brain hadn't registered what happened until after she collapsed in the doorway of the shop and heard another loud crack of a gunshot and the wood around the trim of the door splintered and wood bits flew in several directions. Sasha tried to roll away as a piece of wood hit her face but her body would not obey her commands.

Evan was behind her on his knees and dragged her into the dark coolness of the store. She heard more bullets striking the shop exterior as the gla.s.s windows of the shop shattered.

The edges of her vision grew dark as if she were developing tunnel vision. She saw Evan's head above hers and his hands were pressing against her shoulder. She could see his fingers were bright red and she wondered if he'd hurt himself or been shot too. He was folding fistfuls of those terrible kiddy black cloaks and pressing them against her chest to stem the flow of blood.

Sasha heard voices and then ear piercing sirens wailed. The edges of her vision narrowed considerably until there was just a pinp.r.i.c.k of light and she couldn't see Evan anymore. She hoped he was ok and hadn't been shot. She wondered why the blue sparks hadn't come. This time she really needed them.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

A nurse was checking the bandage around her shoulder when Sasha's father came into the hospital room. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and rushed to her side when her eyes opened.

Sasha tried to sit up but the pain was overwhelming. She flopped back to the pillows exhausted.

"Don't move," the nurse barked.

Sasha gave her father a weak smile.

"How is Evan?" she asked afraid of the answer.

Her father put the flowers in a cheap plastic vase and sat them on the windowsill.

"He was in the hallway a few minutes ago; you want me to go find him?"

"In a minute," she said as the nurse wrote on her chart and left the room.

"What happened?" she asked her father. Her memory was cloudy. She was leaving the shop and that's it. She had no memory after that.

"The police said it was a drive-by shooting," her father said. "The shooters and the intended target got away. I hope they get the people who did this."

Her dad leaned over and gently kissed her cheek. "I love you honey."

"I love you too Dad."