"I thought you might need it after last night." Dax leans on the wall and takes a sip from his drink as well. "What's the plan? The quicker we address it the better."
That's true, but I was hoping to live in denial a little longer. "I can't spell with water any longer. I don't want to chance killing and bringing someone back again."
"It's not like you meant to." Charlie sits up and runs a hand through his hair. "That has to count for something."
Yeah, I'm not sure that it does. A chill runs through me, so I take another sip of my drink; the coffee warms me as I enjoy the sweet taste. Hot damn, Dax sure can make a cup the way I like. Cream and sugar to help mellow out the bitterness.
"You can still spell things like you had planned but deal more with the ones for crop growth and things like that." Dax scratches the side of his nose and glances out the window.
Huh, I hadn't thought of that. It would prevent the whole issue and still help me acclimate here. "That's true."
Charlie takes the cup from me and takes a sip. "Good idea. That solves your problem completely." He hands it back to me and winks. "Your coffee is too damn sweet first thing in the morning."
"That's why Dax made it for me, not you." I stick my tongue out at him and laugh. It feels nice to act lighthearted even if it's just for a moment. I'm thankful we have a plan now, and it should calm Ria down.
"As enjoyable as this is, you should probably go to the market. We're already running late, and Ria probably thinks we're hunting for the artifact." Dax purses his lips and shakes his head. "The sooner the better."
The fun has vanished from the room. "You're right. Let me go change and get over there."
"Give me a minute." Charlie stands and grabs a pair of pants and shirt from the closet.
"I'm going to head on out." Hell, I'm still in my clothes from yesterday, and they aren't that dirty. "Dax is right. I need to get there fast."
"Seeing as I didn't sleep any last night, I'm ready to go, too." Dax takes a huge sip of his drink then heads to the door. "Let's get going."
"Fine. I'll meet up with you all in a little while." Charlie kisses my forehead and grabs a towel. "I need a shower to wake me up since I didn't get any coffee."
"Well, if you were cuter, I might have made you a cup," Dax calls out from the kitchen.
"Sometimes I can't tell whether you guys are friends or not." I step into the hall and point at him. "It's like it changes every few minutes."
"We're fine." Charlie chuckles and glances in the direction of the kitchen. "We have one common goal, and that's to keep you safe and alive."
That might be true, but I'm not so sure it's going to work. I am still clueless as to where the artifact is kept. "All right, I think we all want that. See you soon?"
"Of course." Charlie reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. "I'll be there right after my shower."
"Love you." I walk back into the room, slip my shoes on, brush my hair, and check to make sure the amulet is still on me. I need to be somewhat put together. I'm glad we have a plan and it’ll still give me an excuse to work with the water to help locate the artifact.
Within ten minutes, Dax and I make our way to Melody's table.
She is rearranging her spells and grins when she sees us approach. "Hey, how are you today?" Her eyes cut to me. "The rumor is you were the cause of the earthquake last night."
Great, so it seems as if the whole world was affected by my meltdown. "Yeah, sorry. My power got away from me a little last night."
"Maybe if you used it for some of my spells, you wouldn't have that problem." She places a hand on her hip and arches an eyebrow. "I mean you made a huge impression yesterday, and I could use your help."
Shit, she hits me up first thing. "Well, I don't feel comfortable with spelling any healing spells anymore."
"Why not?" Her eyes widen, and her hands drop to her side. "I mean you saved someone."
Dax clears his throat and glances at me. "Yes, but she didn't know what she was doing. She's afraid she could take a life as easily as restoring it."
Thank God he's here with me. I'm not sure I could have figured out an answer otherwise. "Right, but I'm willing to help with the other ones if you're willing to have me."
"Girl, that's fine. I'll take you any way I can get you." She smiles and motions to her table. "I bet you can do miracles for crops, too. You can spell all those while I focus on the healing ones."
It's as if a weight has lifted off of my shoulders since she didn’t fight me more on this. "Great. I'm glad that we could work that out between us."
"Well, you better get to work then." Dax scans the table and picks up a jug at the end of the table in the crop section. "This one looks like it might take a while."
"You've been at it for an hour nonstop." Melody laughs and stands beside me. "Why don't you take a break? I think we have a good inventory for now."
Wait... it's been an hour? Where the hell is Charlie? He should have been here a while ago. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You going to be okay by yourself?"
"I've
