Strings of Fate

4/4 Strings of Fate Cam 12- Arranging and avoiding | work the bar while | wait for Harrison to make the delivery. Despite the address they leftbeing only about fifteen minutes away it takes him an ENTIRE HOUR. What, did he stop for dinner and a show along the way? I'm relieved when my phone rings. | quickly hand over the drink | was making and answer my phone. (One of the bright sides of being the boss here is that no one can telloff for taking calls at work.) “Hello?” “Hi, this is Ryann. I've got Harry here with a bottle stuck to his hand which is hilarious by the way. What do we need to do to get the bottle off of him? | mean, | could make him carry it around indefinitely but | think even with a spell on him he would find a way to lose it if we leave it too long.” | burst out in a rather undignified snigger.

“That's fair. Well it’s an easy enough spell to break. | made the magic dissolvable and of course | used something | had handy as the trigger. So all you need to do is tip a little whiskey over it.” This time, Ryann is the one who laughs.

“Oh | like you. Thanks Cam. For the spell and the free entertainment.” “No problem.” | answer cheerfully “You sound like you're working. I'll let you get back to it. Seeya!” Ryann hangs up and I find that my mood is soaring. It's nice to be appreciated. Although my good mood is dulled a little bit with guilt as | remember Harrison's parting words. | really didn’t trust him and that was probably a little unfair of me. I do my best to banish the guilt from my mind. Even when Harrison turns up again about half an hour later I just continue working and make him yet another awful drink. He doesn’t bring it up again so neither do I.

Sunday | just turn off my phone. | know my mother and probably my grandmother will be callingand demanding to know why | didn’t turn up to their matchmaking lunch and | just cannot be bothered to deal with them. Sunday afternoons are usually quiet at work and I am not enjoying it. | need something to distractfrom the worry and every tsomeone comes in through the door I flinch thinking that it might my mother or grandmother storming in to berate me. For the first t| can honestly say | am relieved when Harrison turns up.

He might be annoying and loud and flashy, but he is also VERY distracting and for 1/5 Arranging and avoiding once it’s a very welcdistraction. | can feel his eyes onthroughout the rest of my shift, but if he suspects that I'm acting strangely he doesn’t say anything. He just continues on as he usually does. Flirting outrageously, making inne whenever possible and drinking whatever | put in front of him. I start off by giving him all sorts of crazy concoctions. Making them is fun and a good way to keep busy. But at the end of the night | make him a drink that he might actually enjoy. As usual, he immediately takes a sip but unlike usual he pauses and raises an eyebrow.

“This is... really good?” he sounds confused and his words cout as a question. | just shrug.

“You sort of unintentionally dida favour tonight. Consider this my thanks.” | answer quietly. Harrison flashesa knowing look and a sad smile before enjoying his drink in silence. Right, so he did know that something was wrong and he was keepingbusy on purpose. There is one thing | can say for him, when Harrison is around | am rarely bored.

The next few weeks pass quickly. | work and keep experimenting with potions like | usually” do. Harrison keeps turning up and hovering around at my work or barging into my work room where he insists on playing the role of my assistant. Even when I'm doing inventory or sother task where | won't let him help he just hangs out.

After an afternoon of him watchingwork where | snapped at him for staring at me, he began bringing a digital tablet and stylus and then he would sit and work on projects that he refuses to showuntil they're completed. | have to admit he is pretty talented at what he does. | have taken to keeping my phone on silent all the tbecause my mother and grandmother message and callso much. The first few days after | skipped their matchmaking session were the worst but it hasn't improved much. | don’t even read their text messages anymore other than a quick glance to check that they're not actually sendingsomething important. | might be mad at them but if there were actually something wrong, like if they ended up in the hospital or something | would feel terrible if | ignored them. | end up attending a meeting with the Alphas and their friends about looking for the missing girl. Harrison ended up following me. to the meeting too. Honestly | had nothing to contribute but | appreciated the invitation and the chance to get to know them a little better. Not too long later Ryann contactsfor more information about the tracking spell because she’s decided to give it a try. When the day comes for her to use the spell | spend my tcleaning. | scrub the entire bar, | disinfect every seat. | thoroughly clean the floors and when | run out of things to clean, | move into my workroom and start creating spells and potions that | can sell to Ella. I've made them plenty of times in the past but they're not the most simple spells to create so they take a lot of focus which is exactly what | need. I'm so anxious. What if | got the spell wrong? What if 2/5 Cam 12- Arranging and avoiding they don’t manage to find the child? What if they do and something goes wrong? | wonder if there is anything | can do to help. What might Kiara need when they find her? | try to imagine what kind of treatment someone who has been abused or neglected might need. Potions for nutrition, healing injuries and bruising, maybe blood replenishment? | make potions to assist with broken bones, injured organs, headaches and just general pain killers. | make potions for dreamless sleep, sedatives in various strengths and even snumbing potions. | make every potion | can think of. | only stop when | quite literally begin to run out of supplies. | stop and look at the array of colourful little vials and I'm surprised to find that | made so many. | can’t usually do that much magic on my own and certainly not so fast. | suppose | was very determined. Completely exhausted, | send a message off to Ella.

Cam- Hey Ella, | had sfree ttoday so | made a heap of new potions. | probably made a few too many. If you want to cand grab sI'll sell them to you at cost.

Ella- On my way.

When Ella arrives | let her back into my workroom and she looks at my pile of potions with a raised eyebrow.

“A few extras?” She asks dubiously. | shrug.

“I was worried about the child. | wanted to be sure that you had everything you might need.” | admit. Ella’s eyes soften and she picks up a greenish potion.

“Sof these are new. | don’t recognise them.” She comments.

“Yeah, you mostly have ones at a dosage for Shifters. | made a few variations. They're more appropriate for Humans and Witches. | don’t know what the girl is but that’s why there are versions with different strengths.

They're colour coded. The brighter the colour, the stronger the dose. | wrote down what they all are. | haven't given you all of these before.” | explain, handing her a scrap of paper with details for each potion. Ella seems impressed.

“People underestimate you Cam. You're a very talented Witch. If | had ordered this many potions from a coven it would have taken at least a week.” She points out.

“I'm not that great. I'm okay at potions, but my spellwork int great.” | sigh. Ella rolls her eyes.

3/5 Arranging and avoiding “You are not bad at spellwork. You are extraordinarily good at potions which makes your spellwork seem average in comparison. You just don’t realise how talented you are because that family of yours never gave you the credit you deserved.” She lecturesangrily but | know I'm not the one she’s mad at. She’s made it clear several times in the past how she feels about my family. Not wanting to think about it right now, | change the subject.

“Can you afford the potions today?” | ask. Ella shrugs.

“I'll charge the Alphas for them, we will pay the proper cost too, none of this discount nonsense.” She grumbles.

| smile happy. Ella’s phones and she flicks it open, says a few words then closes it.

“Load my bag up missy. They found the girl and I'm needed.” Ella demands. | hurry to pack away all the spells for her and see her out. A couple hours later | hear from Ryann.

Ryann- We did it, the spell worked. We found her. She's safe and is going to be okay, physically at least. Thank you so much for your help. It really did make all the difference. | don’t know what we would have done without you. If you ever need anything and | can help please don’t hesitate to ask. | totally owe you.

Cam- Don’t be silly, you don’t oweanything. I'm so glad she’s safe. I'm sure that with you there to take care of her she will pull through. Kids are resilient like that. | would love to meet her sometwhen she’s ready. | think it would be reassuring to see her for myself.

Ryann- | completely understand. | would feel the same. I'll let you know when she’s up for guests, or maybe I'll bring her by the Witches Booze for dinner snight. She's staying with aus until we figure out something long- term for her.

Cam- | can’t think of a better place for her. Thanks for updatingand congratulations.