Brewing Trouble Read online

  “Yeah. Seems like Dad’s car accident was related to some kind of fight between spirits. He didn’t have any magic himself, but he was sensitive to it, and got distracted,” Sarah agreed. She remembered when it happened. Her mother was devastated. She closed off all her emotions after two days of sobbing, and never really opened back up again.

  “But… She loved you before your dad died and she still loved you after. She just wasn’t good at showing it in a healthy way. She was afraid for you. My mom was afraid of me. I don’t think she ever really liked me to begin with, not once I started talking and it was clear I somehow knew things I shouldn’t. She realized I was different and that killed any love she had for me. Dad didn’t care, but…” Gabe shrugged, and he took a deep breath. “I think that your mom’s trying, at least, but she’s still scared. I’m no expert or anything, but that’s my guess.”

  “Is it a guess or do you know something?” Sarah asked. She leaned forward again and propped her elbows on the edge of the desk next to Gabe’s leg.

  “It’s just a guess,” he said. His shoulders hunched a bit and a small frown sat on his face when he looked at her. Sarah stood and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

  “Thanks, Gabe,” she said. “I don’t care if you see things about me. You'll tell me what I need to know, and you’ll keep anything else safe. I trust you.” She felt him relax in her arms and lay his forehead on her shoulder.

  “You know I can keep a secret,” he said after a moment. “But I’m glad I’m getting more control over the visions. You have no idea how nice it is to get a hug without being afraid of suddenly spacing out and learning all about someone’s secret life.”

  “Well, I’m happy to hug,” Sarah grinned and let Gabe go. “Let’s get this wrapped up and we can head out.”

  “So, what kind of job would your mom consider a real job anyway?” Gabe copied the heavy air quotes again. Sarah rolled her eyes and finished the entry before shutting down the computer for the night.

  “She means some office job where I can sit at a desk and look attractive to some dull businessman who will marry me and whisk me off to my new life as a socialite and charity board member,” Sarah answered. They left out the back door and she set the alarm, locked the door, and did a quick check on the wards. Everything was as it should be, and the two started walking towards the Village.

  It was a beautiful evening out. The air was soft and still warm from the summer day, but something about the air tonight kept the harsh hot-pavement smell down in favor of the scent of the not too distant San Francisco Bay. It still shocked Sarah when she could smell the water from so far away, but she supposed that if she could drive there in half an hour it wasn’t all that far. That’s certainly close enough to catch a hint of it on a summer evening breeze.

  “I can’t see you sitting at a desk all day. You’d have to wear heels. I totally can’t see you in heels,” Gabe shook his head.

  “I have plenty of them in a storage unit back in New York,” Sarah grinned. “And suits. I was an executive assistant for years. Did a little office management, too. I’ve got a business degree, you know.”

  “Seriously?” Gabe’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Yep. No prize if you guess who picked my major,” Sarah shrugged. “I was thinking about what you said the other day. About the GED thing and not wanting to push your luck. I think I’ve been feeling the same way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I guess I just expected to be alone in Gran’s house for a month or two when I first came out here. Instead I spent about two days alone, then I was suddenly surrounded by spirits and magic and the wight problem, and I just found this whole new life here. It was like the universe said ‘welp, it’s time for you to have all these things. Here you go’ and I was given the gift of all these amazing people, and a whole new skill set, and… I just felt like I didn’t want to push my luck, either.”

  Gabe raised an eyebrow at her. “I sense a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

  “Yeah, well,” Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. Yesterday being so bonkers, then Mom’s email today… I guess I’m just thinking about it now. What my future looks like. What I want it to look like.”

  Gabe nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

  They walked in comfortable silence until they were almost back to the Village. Sarah’s phone chimed and she smiled before even taking it out of her pocket.

  “Tell Seb I said hi.” Gabe grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “You are the brattiest little brother I never asked for,” Sarah bumped his shoulder with her own.

  “Happy to oblige, big sis I never thought of having.” Gabe grinned and bumped her back.

  “Yes, it is Sebastian. He’s waiting by the gate with our pho,” Sarah answered.

  “Good, I’m starving!”

  6

  They carried the containers of pho with them till they reached Doc’s door and knocked, unsurprised when they didn’t get the usual friendly grousing from the other side. Doc was sick in bed, she wasn’t likely to tease them about dropping by unannounced.

  Sebastian knocked again after a few minutes. “Maybe she’s asleep?”

  “I hope she’s feeling better. Her fever was getting worse last time I talked to her. I checked in with her but she said she was actually feeling a bit better.” Sarah frowned at the door.

  “This is Doc we’re talking about. She’s a terrible patient. She might not go to work, but she’ll definitely pretend she’s better than she really is if it’ll get people to stop fussing at her.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. More minutes passed while the three of them chatted about what they’re like when they themselves were ill.

  “Guys? I’m getting a bad feeling. Maybe try to call her?” Gabe said after they’d been standing there almost ten minutes without a sound from inside the apartment. Sarah pulled out her phone and counted the rings.

  “It went to her voicemail,” she said, lowering her phone.

  “I heard it ringing in there. Hang on, I’ll get the master key,” Sebastian said, and dashed off down the hallway.

  “Do you see anything, Gabe?” Sarah asked. She chewed her lip and frowned at the door again. Now that Gabe had said something, she felt nerves creeping along her skin. He pulled his brows together and started to speak, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  “It’s fuzzy, like there’s interference or something. But she’s really sick. I see her in a hospital bed. And I see you talking to some lady I don’t know, arguing about something. And a pile of books. That’s all I got that made any sense.” Gabe shook his head to clear it before turning worried eyes back to her. “I think Doc’s in a lot of trouble.”

  “That’s all the reason I need,” Sebastian said, jogging back to them with a jangling keyring. He quickly sifted through the keys for the right one and unlocked the door.

  Doc’s apartment smelled like it always did: like the back room at The Apothecary. Grassy and herbal and somehow just like home, even though it was like no home Sarah had ever lived in before moving to California. There was an underlying hint of lemons from the cleaner Doc used here, which always made Sarah smile. She’d started using it herself, and while she wasn’t sure why the scent of lemons always equalled clean to her mind, she knew she wasn’t alone in that.

  “Doc? It’s Sebastian. I have Sarah and Gabe with me and we brought you soup. Please answer!” Seb called out. He put the bag of soup supplies on the kitchen counter, then abruptly spun and sprinted to the bedroom.

  “Doc!” he gasped from the door, and when Sarah joined him she gasped, too. Doc lay in the bed like a used washrag. Limp and lifeless, her skin had a yellowish, waxy look to it, and her eyes, though open, were glassy and unfocused and bruisy in her face. Sarah felt like Doc knew they were there— had actually managed to answer Sebastian— but couldn’t put enough energy behind her responses to be heard by Sarah and Gabe’s merely human ears. The three of them stared at the woman on the bed, stunned to silence
by the change in her.

  “Gabe, go to the other room and grab the big medical kit. Seb, I—” Sarah’s voice hitched and he pulled her into a fierce hug.

  “I’ll call Jennifer. Kai has medical power of attorney and Jennifer is Doc’s attorney,” he said. She sniffled into his shoulder, taking the comfort and strength he offered, then stood and nodded. The next few minutes were a scramble of Sarah doing her best to make Doc comfortable and trying to alleviate the worst of the symptoms. She sent Gabe to the bathroom, as well, to see what sort of over the counter medicines Doc might have taken.

  Jennifer rushed in and she and Sarah got Doc into fresh pajamas and her coat and shoes, then Sebastian carried her down to his car. Jennifer hopped into the back and Gabe stayed at Doc’s apartment, with orders to put the soup away and lock up behind them.

  Doc roused a bit in the car, but only enough to agree that a hospital was probably the best idea at this point. She looked like she had something to add, but then shook her head and let Sebastian carry her inside. At the hospital, Jennifer stepped into lawyer mode and took over. She got Doc checked in and onto a bed quickly thanks to it being a slow night in the ER and the fact that Doc was in no shape to sit in a chair. That didn’t mean they saw a doctor anytime soon, but at least they knew she was comfortable as they could make her, wrapped up in blankets and propped up slightly in the wheeled bed. Kai walked in about five minutes after they got her settled.

  “Sorry to make so much trouble for everyone,” Doc wheezed, fully awake now but not very enthusiastic about it.

  Sarah perched on the side of her bed and took Doc’s hand. “Don’t apologize. What else are friends for?”

  “Nothing wrong with getting help when you need it,” Kai winked. “Whether you ask for it or not.” Sarah caught Sebastian rolling his eyes at that statement, and both Jennifer and Doc sighed in exasperation. It had taken Kai far too long to accept anyone else’s help, and almost ended up with him dead, but the reaction was probably exactly what he’d aimed for. The mood among the friends was less oppressive and frightened now.

  “How’s the shop?” Doc asked, so Sarah launched into a discussion of all her adventures trying to patch folks up the day before while Gabe tried to keep Meg busy out front. And Sebastian added in how much whining Gabe did later about having to listen to Meg go on and on about her spells and magic and her coven and her gushing about the ever popular Coven Leader.”

  “I swear, as much as Meg talks about the woman, we still don’t know if she has a name,” Sarah groaned.

  “I bet it’s something like High Priestess Moonbeam Wolfwhisper or something,” Seb snickered.

  “Meg isn’t that bad,” Doc said, but her grin and the eye-roll gave away her own exasperation. Still, Sarah agreed with Doc. Meg was actually pretty sweet, and a hard worker to boot. If she’d just lay off the constant stream of adoration for her mentor then they’d have no complaints at all.

  “You’ll be relieved to know that Meg has her whole coven sending healing energy to you and plans to ask her esteemed coven leader to cast a spell to ensure your rapid recovery if you’re not back in the shop in a day or so,” Sarah said, putting as much gravitas into her tone as she could and keeping her face as humorless as possible before they all broke into laughter. Even Doc grinned and the twinkle in her eyes did more to make Sarah feel better than all the tests the hospital could run.

  “So…” the curtain around Doc’s bed was pulled back and the doctor glanced up from the digital chart in her hand, and took in the five sets of nervous eyes that turned to her. “Susan Barnes? What seems to be the trouble?” It took the group a moment to remember that Doc’s given name was Susan. Nobody ever called her that anymore, and to hear it now made the situation feel more dire somehow.

  Doc opened her mouth to answer and instead started coughing. She waved her hand at Sarah and turned away to cover her mouth with her arm.

  “She’s not as chatty as usual, we’re all here to help,” Sarah turned to answer. The doctor frowned slightly and glanced around at them.

  “Which of you should I be speaking to?” she asked.

  “I’m Jennifer Anderson, Ms. Barnes’ attorney, and this is Kai Russell. He is able to speak for her on medical matters. These are Sebastian Russell and Sarah Richards. They are both close friends of Ms. Barnes and were the ones who brought her in.” Jennifer shook the doctor’s hand, then Kai did the same and gestured at Sarah and Sebastian who nodded from where they were. The doctor seemed to be satisfied with that answer and a small smile replaced the frown.

  “Well, I’m Doctor Zahra Collins. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Dr. Collins glanced down at her tablet before moving to check many of the things the nurse had already checked, and Sarah had a brief thought about how handy technology could be in these situations. Still, she went over Doc’s quick slide into illness and how just last night Doc had been talking like it was a bad flu.

  “I don’t know if she took any flu medicine today, but we’re both big fans of tea. She owns The Apothecary tea shop in Los Gatos. Anyway, she had these medicines in her bathroom, but like I said, I don’t know if she took any,” Sarah handed the list Gabe scribbled out to the doctor, who took it and nodded.

  “Well I can tell you that this doesn’t sound like flu I’ve come across myself, but it’s definitely still on the table.” Dr. Collins picked up her tablet and started typing notes into the file. “Do you know offhand what sort of tea she drank? What she ate?”

  Sarah racked her memory to come up with everything she saw Doc eat when she started getting ill. She had to guess at the teas Doc might have picked for herself, but she dutifully let the doctor know her thoughts on it. Sarah glanced at Doc for confirmation of her guesses on the tea, and when their eyes met she almost thought Doc looked… proud?

  “Did I miss anything?” Sarah turned to Doc who shook her head.

  “I haven’t had much at all today. Some toast this morning, but I mostly just slept,” Doc said.

  “Well none of that sounds like it would have any negative impacts with the medicines you took,” Dr. Collins frowned at the tablet, then back up at Doc who watched through heavily-lidded eyes. She hadn’t said anything at all since her coughing fit, allowing Sarah to speak for her, and that made Sarah nervous. Doc was fading back to the exhausted and almost unresponsive woman they’d found at her apartment.

  “Are you comfortable with Mr. Russell making decisions for you?” Dr. Collins asked Doc directly. Sarah almost laughed when Doc started to raise an eyebrow and slid her gaze to Kai.

  “I got you, Doc. Don’t worry,” he answered and reached to hold her hand for a minute. “I should mention, by the way, that Marcus and Cassie send you strict orders to get better. I know you’re smart enough not to get on Cassie’s bad side.”

  They all grinned, and an amused gleam appeared in Doc’s eyes, as well. Dr. Collins raised an amused eyebrow at the group, but just kept checking off her notes on the tablet.

  “That seems settled, then. I have some tests I want to run, so I’m going to go ahead and get this party started. We’ll figure this out, Ms. Barnes,” Dr. Collins said with a firm nod before stepping back out of the curtained area they huddled in.

  “Looks like you’re going to be here for a while,” Sebastian said. “You’ve made it pretty clear that talking isn’t your favorite thing right now, but is there anything we can do for you?”

  Doc nodded and frowned, taking a deep breath. He leaned down, close to her and tipped his ear to catch anything she said, before straightening and looking at Sarah with a look of concern.

  “She says to check the wards.”

  Sarah blinked.

  “On the Village or the shop? Or both?” she asked, glancing at her mentor. Another deep breath and Seb repeated his process.

  “Both.”

  7

  Sarah leaned her elbows on the counter, her feet and back aching as she looked around the half empty shop. Not too bad for a Sunday afternoon. It
was grey outside, but not oppressively so, just enough that some folks felt they’d rather stay cozy at home rather than venture out into the world, and after this past week, Sarah was glad of the slower business.

  It had been four days since Doc was installed in a room at the hospital. Dr. Collins was stumped. She’d brought in a few specialists, as well and every time they thought they had it pinned down, Doc developed a new symptom that made no sense, or a key symptom that confirmed their theory suddenly cleared up. Sarah had taken long lunch breaks so she could go in to visit a couple of times, but she had to stay available at the shop since neither Gabe nor Meg were capable of managing for more than an hour or two. Maybe it was a good idea to train Gabe for that. It would take the pressure off of her to be the only person available in case of emergency.

  A cup of tea clanked softly on the counter in front of her, the warm spiciness of turmeric and pepper curling up in the steam.

  “You look like you could use something to perk you up,” Meg said. She smiled at Sarah and nudged the mug closer to her hand.

  “Thanks, Meg, this smells amazing,” Sarah took a long sip and the warmth spread through her, comforting as a favorite blanket.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I cast a spell over it, too. For energy and healing,” Meg turned to lean her hip against the counter. “I figured we could all of us use a little boost right now.” She sighed and Sarah noticed that Meg’s usual bubbly chatter had been oddly lacking all day.

  “Hey, you okay?” Sarah asked. Meg nodded and shrugged.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just getting really worried. I’ve been coming in here since high school, and Doc and Miss Rosie were both here. It was…” Meg scrunched up her face for a moment, searching for the right words, maybe. Or deciding how much to say. “My folks were getting a divorce and it was just really good to have someplace to come and just be. When Miss Rosie passed away, I almost felt like I’d lost my grandmother—” Meg gasped and rushed on, “Not that I was trying to steal her away or replace you or anything—” Meg’s eyes got wide and horrified, but Sarah had to laugh.