Going through the Potions

by Samantha Silver

  My mom didn’t have an answer to that, but I could see her mouthing a prayer to Rhea.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re alright. Do you need anything? I can stop by home and get you whatever you need.”

  I shook my head. “Honestly, I’m exhausted. I think I’m just going to get some sleep.”

  Mom nodded. “Alright. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  Mom took my hand as I leaned back and closed my eyes. I found myself sound asleep within seconds.

  Who knew near-death experiences were a great sleep aid?

  Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, mom was still there. “They tried to give you the salve last night, but you were sleeping, so I made them wait,” she told me. “I’ll go let the Healers know you’re ready now.”

  Mom left the room, and a minute later the curtain was pulled back, with Leda and Willow entering the room. Willow had a large cauldron in her hand. I smiled at them both, a weary, grateful smile.

  “I’m glad you’re not dead,” Willow said. “Though from what I hear, it was touch and go for a bit, there.”

  “Certainly closer than I was comfortable with,” I admitted as Leda came over and gave me a big hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re ok, Ali. Mom only called me this morning to let me know what had happened; she didn’t want to wake me up.”

  “That’s fine,” I said with a smile. “I mostly just slept last night, anyway. I was pretty sleepy.”

  Willow began carefully applying paste on my exposed leg, and warmth immediately passed through it.

  “This will speed up the healing process, but it still won’t be instant. You’ll need a cast for about a week. And we need to catch up. You need to tell me the whole story.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  “She needs to rest some more first,” Leda said. “Look at her. She’s exhausted.”

  “Right,” Willow agreed. “You’re staying here for at least another twenty-four hours. Get some rest.”

  I nodded as the two of them left, Willow promising to bring me by some food that was far more palatable than what the hospital served for lunch.

  I drifted in and out of sleep for a while, completely losing track of time. Eventually, however, I woke up and found two dragon shifters standing in front of me. I recognized them; they were Blaze’s parents.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said. “And I’m sorry for…” I drifted off. How did you apologize for proving their daughter killed their son and was now going to spend the rest of her life in prison?

  “Thank you, dear,” Blaze’s mother said, her eyes watering immediately. She swallowed hard and continued. “Chief Enforcer Loeb came to see us today. As difficult as the news was to hear, we believe it. Bridget was always so concerned with the family, and our reputation, but I never thought she would go to these lengths. Goodness, I can’t believe it. That poor witch. And, of course, my baby boy.”

  “Did you have a problem with their relationship?” I asked, and Blaze’s father grimaced.

  “I think we would have come to terms with it eventually, had we known. We did raise the children to believe that they had to be in a relationship with other dragons only, so I can’t help but believe this is partially our fault. I didn’t realize we had inadvertently raised Bridget to be so passionate about it.”

  Blaze’s mother began to sob then, and his father took her in his arms. It was a sad sight; I couldn’t begin to imagine how they felt. After a moment, Blaze’s mother composed herself and pulled a piece of paper out from her purse.

  “This is the reward money. We wanted to give it to you. We wanted to thank you for finding our son’s killer. It was the worst possible outcome for us, to lose both our children, but for the safety of everyone in town, it is best if Bridget is prevented from ever doing this to anyone again.”

  I nodded. “Thank you. Blaze was a good dragon. He will be missed.”

  “Yes, he will,” his mother replied in a quiet voice. “I’m glad his killer was found. I’d rather it had been anyone else, but at least now we have some closure.”

  The two of them left soon afterward, and I opened the paper to find it was, in fact, a check to the tune of half a million abras, made out to me.

  The sight of it literally took my breath away. I had never seen that much money in my life.

  I shoved it under the pillow and fell back asleep.

  When I woke up again, Jack was standing over me, smiling.

  “Ugh. Can you take me back out to the forest and leave me to die?” I asked, closing my eyes. Jack just laughed.

  “Still mad at me, huh?”

  “Take a wild stab in the dark.”

  “I just wanted to check on you and make sure you’re ok. Honestly, I’d have been more worried if you were suddenly nice to me. This all seems par for the course, so I think you’re fine.”

  I threw my pillow across the room at him, then groaned when he easily caught it and refused to give it back. I guess I’d earned that.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Andy, anyway?” I shot back. “I thought you and him were together. As in, lovers together.”

  Jack grinned. “I know. I saw you jump to conclusions faster than LeBron James the instant you saw us.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I figured it would be more entertaining if you figured it out yourself.”

  “Yeah, well, joke’s on you. You weren’t there when I did figure it out and make an idiot of myself,” I retorted.

  Jack laughed heartily. “Well, at least it happened. Anyway, I know you don’t want to see me, so now that I know you’re fine, I’ll leave you alone. Rest up, and let me know if I can do anything for you.”

  “I won’t,” I muttered at his back, irrationally annoyed that he wouldn’t just hate me back. It was easier to be mad at someone when they weren’t still perfectly nice to you.

  I was released a day later, feeling a little bit more rejuvenated, with strict orders from the Healers to rest up and let the leg heal. I figured my brain needed to do a bit of healing, too.

  Bridget admitted to everything, I found out, and was going to spend the rest of her life in prison.

  Willow popped by every day to bring me food, which I was eternally grateful for, as it was harder than I thought it would be to move from my main living quarters of the couch over to the kitchen. And trying to handle a knife without chopping off a finger while standing on one leg was also more challenging than I had expected. My phalanges were especially grateful for Willow’s visits.

  “What are you going to do with the money?” Willow asked, and I shrugged.

  “So far, I’ve deposited the check and I’ve been happily looking at the balance every day,” I said with a grin. “But I’m not sure. I want to be able to keep at least half of it so I can buy my mom the kind of house she deserves. You’re not allowed to tell her that, though. It’s a secret.”

  Willow motioned a zipper across her lips.

  “I think I’m just going to try and keep living frugally off the rest of it while I try and find another job. Though I am looking forward to my next stab at the magical fixer training role in six months.”

  Willow smiled. “I think that’s a good plan. Take a bit of time to find yourself. And maybe try not to solve any more crimes.”

  I laughed. “Don’t worry. One experience was enough. My crime-solving days are behind me.”

  Little did I know just how wrong I was.

  Book 2: Get with the Potion: Ali finally feels like she's got a bit of breathing room in her life. She's got a bit of cash to get by and is just waiting to take the test and embark on her new career. Plus, it helps that she's in everyone's good graces after solving a murder a few weeks earlier.

  But when a witch Ali had a run-in with the previous day is found dead, everything changes. Ali finds herself going from local hero to pariah overnight, with the whole town believing her to be the killer. Never one to sit around and wait for things to happen, Ali
decides the best way to take charge in this situation is by finding the killer herself, and clearing her own name.

  Of course, the list of people who think this is a good idea has exactly one name on it: Ali's. Willow and Leda are sure Ali is going to end up getting arrested - or worse - in the course of this investigation, and Ali keeps on running into that hot new enforcer for some reason, even though she's doing her best to avoid him.

  But as Ali digs deeper into the case, with the help of some new friends from Pacific Cove, she realizes not everything is exactly as it seems. Will she be able to get to the bottom of things and solve the case before the killer gets to her first?

  Click or tap here to preorder Get with the Potion now – release date November 2nd, 2019

  Also by Samantha Silver

  First of all, I wanted to thank you for reading this book. I well and truly hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I loved writing it.

  To be the first to find out about new releases, please feel free to sign up to my newsletter to receive an email every time I release a new book. To sign up for my newsletter, click here now.

  If you enjoyed Going Through the Potions I’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment and leave a review for the book on Amazon, to help other readers find the book as well.

  Want to read more of Ali’s adventures? The second book in the Pacific North Witches Mystery series, Get with the Potion, is now available for preorder on Amazon, set for release on November 2nd, 2019. Click here to preorder it now.

  Other Pacific North Witches Mysteries

  Get with the Potion (Pacific North Witches #2)

  Other books by Samantha Silver

  Western Woods Mysteries

  Back to Spell One (Western Woods Mystery #1)

  Two Peas in a Potion (Western Woods Mystery #2)

  Three’s a Coven (Western Woods Mystery #3)

  Four Leaf Clovers (Western Woods Mystery #4)

  Five Charm Fire (Western Woods Mystery #5)

  Seven Year Witch (Western Woods Mystery #7)

  Behind the Eight Spell (Western Woods Mystery #8)

  Magical Bookshop Mysteries

  Alice in Murderland (Magical Bookshop Mystery #1)

  Murder on the Oregon Express (Magical Bookshop Mystery #2)

  The Very Killer Caterpillar (Magical Bookshop Mystery #3)

  Death Quixote (Magical Bookshop Mystery #4)

  Pride and Premeditation (Magical Bookshop Mystery #5)

  Wuthering Homicides (Magical Bookshop Mystery #6)

  Willow Bay Witches Mysteries

  The Purr-fect Crime (Willow Bay Witches #1)

  Barking up the Wrong Tree (Willow Bay Witches #2)

  Just Horsing Around (Willow Bay Witches #3)

  Lipstick on a Pig (Willow Bay Witches #4)

  A Grizzly Discovery (Willow Bay Witches #5)

  Sleeping with the Fishes (Willow Bay Witches #6)

  Get your Ducks in a Row (Willow Bay Witches #7)

  Busy as a Beaver (Willow Bay Witches #8)

  Pacific Cove Mysteries

  Dark Chocolate and Death (Pacific Cove Witches #1)

  White Chocolate and Wands (Pacific Cove Witches #2)

  Chocolate Truffles and Trouble (Pacific Cove Witches #3)

  Cassie Coburn Mysteries

  Poison in Paddington (Cassie Coburn Mystery #1)

  Bombing in Belgravia (Cassie Coburn Mystery #2)

  Whacked in Whitechapel (Cassie Coburn Mystery #3)

  Strangled in Soho (Cassie Coburn Mystery #4)

  Stabbed in Shoreditch (Cassie Coburn Mystery #5)

  Killed in King’s Cross (Cassie Coburn Mystery #6)

  Ruby Bay Mysteries

  Death Down Under (Ruby Bay Mystery #1)

  Arson in Australia (Ruby Bay Mystery #2)

  The Killer Kangaroo (Ruby Bay Mystery #3)

  Moonlight Cove Mysteries

  Witching Aint’s Easy (Moonlight Cove Mystery #1)

  Witching for the Best (Moonlight Cove Mystery #2)

  Thank your Lucky Spells (Moonlight Cove Mystery #3)

  A Perfect Spell (Moonlight Cove Mystery #4)

  Beat Around the Broom (Moonlight Cove Mystery #5)

  California Witching Mysteries

  Witches and Wine (California Witching Mystery #1)

  Poison and Pinot (California Witching Mystery #2)

  Merlot and Murder (California Witching Mystery #3)

  About the Author

  Samantha Silver lives in British Columbia, Canada, along with her husband and a little old doggie named Terra. She loves animals, skiing and of course, writing cozy mysteries.

  You can connect with Samantha online here:

  Facebook

  Email

  Join Samantha Silver’s Fantastic Fans reader group on Facebook as well for sneak previews, cover reveals and more!