my feet into high-heeled ankle boots, and hung big hoop earrings from my ears.
“The stone is going to be overkill for you tonight,” Diesel said. “You’re not going to have any trouble finding true love in those jeans and that sweater. In fact, you might find it if you stayed home.”
A horn beeped outside.
“That’s Clara,” I said. “She’s picking me up. She’s the designated driver.”
Diesel went to the door with me. “Be good.”
I grabbed my jacket and my shoulder bag and ran to the car.
“Do you have it?” Glo asked when I got in.
“It’s in my purse.”
“Can I see it?”
I hauled the stone out.
“It’s sort of ugly,” Glo said. “It’s just a plain old rock. Are you sure it’s special?”
“Yes. And we have to guard it with our lives. And we can’t tell anyone we have it.”
Clara drove out of Marblehead and took Derby Street to Bum’s Sports Bar. There were lots of televisions playing various sporting events that no one was watching. High-top tables and stools. And a long bar that was packed with zombies and werewolves. We elbowed our way into the bar, and Glo and I got a beer, and Clara got a Coke.
“Okay, so here’s the deal,” I said. “I’m not sure what the stone is supposed to do, so I guess we stand here and see if it radiates anything from inside my purse.”
“I think I’m feeling something,” Glo said. “I might be in love with the werewolf next to me.”
Clara and I looked over at him.
“He seems like your average werewolf,” Clara said.
The werewolf picked up on our attention and turned to us. “Arwoooh,” he said. “Are you looking for someone?”
“Sort of,” Glo said.
“Well, how do you feel about dogs? I can go from furry to naked in 1.3 seconds.”
“Now I remember why I never do this,” Clara said.
“How about you?” Glo asked, turning from the werewolf to me. “You’re the one carrying the stone. Do you have romantic feelings for any of these zombies?”
“Not yet.”
I didn’t have feelings for the zombies, but I was feeling cuddly for someone I couldn’t completely identify. Diesel, maybe. Or possibly Brad Pitt.
We stuck it out for another twenty minutes. There was a lot of hooking up going on, but not for us.
“I think the stone is a dud,” Glo said. “I have better luck on my own.”
“Maybe it’s that the stone finds true love, and our true love isn’t here,” I said. “If it was still the Luxuria Stone inspiring lust, we’d be in the right spot.”
“This is sort of embarrassing, but I had some lust for Wulf today,” Glo said.
“I had lust for Andy Sklar,” Clara said.
Glo chugged her second beer. “Isn’t he the guy who comes in every day and gets a banana muffin?”
“Yeah,” Clara said. “I think he’s cute.”
They looked at me.
“Diesel,” I said. “I have a lot of lust for Diesel.”
They both knew I couldn’t do the deed with Diesel.
“Forbidden fruit,” Clara said.
We left the bar and stepped outside, where the Halloween crazies were parading up and down the sidewalk.
“There are more trolls than usual this year,” Clara said.
I was relatively new to Salem, and I had a hard time telling trolls from ghouls. For that matter, I had a hard time with the whole Halloween obsession. I mean, I like Halloween, but this was Halloween gone gonzo.
“The Exotica Shoppe is open late tonight,” Glo said. “It’s only a block away. Could we check on my frickberry?”
We walked the block to the Exotica Shoppe, and I held tight to my handbag the whole way. I was feeling the responsibility of the stone, thinking I’d done a dumb thing. What if I was attacked by a purse snatcher? What if Anarchy somehow discovered the crystal wasn’t the SALIGIA Stone, and she was out looking for me? What if my absorption of the stone’s power hits critical mass and I find my true love? And now for the really scary part-what if it’s Wulf?
We entered the store and found Nina asleep with her head on the counter next to the register.
“Hello,” Glo said. “Anybody home?”
Nina picked her head up and blinked at us. “I must have dozed off. It’s been slow tonight. Lots of people outside, but no one coming in.”
“Well,
“Yes. I have it here with your name on it.” Nina reached under the counter and pulled out a small bag. “Remember not to overdo this. A pinch is all you need.”
“Do you have any arcane cookbooks?” Clara asked.
Nina adjusted her bejeweled princess crown. “I have a couple in the book section in the far corner, behind the Harry Potter wand and feather boa display.”
We all migrated to the book section.
“I could spend the whole night here looking through books,” Glo said. “
Clara was paging through a small leather-bound book. “This is a replica of a book printed in 1534. It’s an entire book of marzipans and sweets.”
It was difficult to see the front of the store from where we were standing, too many free-standing shelves in the way. I heard the front door open and close and the tap of high-heels on Nina’s wood floor. Curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked around a shelf to see the vampire, zombie, witch, or whatever who had just entered.
It was Anarchy. She was still dressed in the black leather body suit. Her makeup was still fright-night. From where I was standing, I could see that Nina’s back had gone rigid. Obviously, she recognized Anarchy from the last time she was in.
“I need something to enhance power,” Anarchy said to Nina. “I recently acquired some new skills, but they seem to be leaking away.”
“Were these skills the result of a spell or potion?” Nina asked.
“No. They were the result of physical contact. Does it matter?”
“It might.” Nina pulled a small bottle off the rack behind her. “This is a performance enhancer. Very effective, I’m told. It contains a small amount of steroid.” She selected a second bottle. “This is organic powdered hoof of unicorn, and it’s frequently used to enhance abilities. It can also be used to make aspic.”
“There’s no such thing as a unicorn.”
“That’s what it says on the label.” Nina showed her the bottle. “It’s a very reliable company.”
“Fine. Wrap them up,” Anarchy said. “I’ll figure it out later.” She looked around. “I’m planning on world domination and mass chaos. I might need large quantities of hallucinogenic substances. Can that sort of thing be ordered by bulk?”
“Of course,” Nina said. “We special-order all the time.” Nina looked in my direction and did a whirly index finger next to her head.
Anarchy examined the jar of unicorn hoof. “How long does it take this to work?”
“It works pretty fast,” Nina said. “Mix it with a little orange juice. And you might want to add frickberry to prolong the effect.”
“Great. Give me some frickberry.”
Glo and Clara were spying on Anarchy, too, at this point.
“It’s a shame I didn’t have frickberry when I froze her,” Glo whispered.
Anarchy unscrewed the jar of unicorn hoof. She stuck her finger in and tasted some of the powder. “If this
