The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

Author:Breanne Randall
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

The house was silent the next morning when Sadie rose with the sun.

“I changed my mind,” Seth groaned when she tried to wake him. “I don’t want to help you.”

“Too bad,” she said, yanking the covers off him. “Meet me in the garden.”

The brisk air brushed against her skin, waking her up fully. It was the coldest morning of the season so far, and she exhaled hot air into her cupped hands before rubbing them together. Excitement brushed along her skin like confectioners’ sugar. This was it.

She settled an old quilt on the cold ground and lined up the herbs: bay, fennel, and a clove from the bulb of garlic. The crushed blackberry thorns were in a small glass vial, and the Mount Diablo buckwheat next to it. The small piece of amber and stick of selenite glinted in the dawn light. And there, in a butter-soft leather pouch was the knot of Isis. Shaped like an ankh but with its arms curving down, it symbolized life and would be the talisman she bound the spell to.

The crunch of gravel heralded Seth’s arrival.

“Look at this,” he complained, breathing out a puff of air and pointing to the icy mist that formed there. “It’s too cold.”

“You volunteered as tribute, remember?”

“Yeah, well, I’m a dumbass.”

“You said it, not me. And there’s one more thing we need,” she told him.

“Let me guess, dragon tears? Maybe a phoenix feather?”

“An egg,”

“Chimera egg? Do we need to go to Siberia to get it? I hear their ghosts there are a little friendlier.”

“Shut up,” she said, but she laughed. “We need a fertilized crow egg. Life from death, remember? The egg represents life and crows symbolize death. And”—she took a breath—“lucky for us, there happens to be a crow’s nest in that tree.” She pointed to a live oak just at the edge of the wood.

“Nope” was all he said.

“Come on,” she wheedled. “You used to climb those trees all the time!”

“When I was younger. Which I’m not anymore. And my fingers have actually turned into popsicles, which I hear aren’t great for gripping onto things.”

“You have the skills. I don’t! You’d never let me climb them when we were younger.”

“Have you seen yourself walk? Try to ride a bike? Of course, I wouldn’t let you climb them. You’re a fucking menace to gravity. And out of curiosity, if I hadn’t offered to help, exactly how were you going to get that egg down?”

“Necessity is the mother of invention, and all that.” She shrugged, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t thought of a way. The tallest ladder they had wouldn’t even reach a third of the way up.

Seth sighed.

“I guess the good news is that if I fall to my death, the sacrifice will be paid.”

“Stop being dramatic. You’re not going to fall. Now go on—we need to do the spell before the sun reaches its apex.”

He gave her a look.

“And also because I need to get to the café,” she admitted.

“There it is.” He sighed. “Good to know my life is weighed against the measure of your business.

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