The Last Apothecary

Chapter 26.

Soon, the four of us were packed into Dustin's car, with me one seat away from Blyke in the back, and the middle dedicated to a huge, badly-covered package with more tape on it than wrapping paper.

"Why did you... attempt to hide the launcher?" Liesel asked, although I wasn't sure if she was questioning his choice, or his ability to wrap it in the first place. "Wait!" Her eyes grew wide as her fingers rubbed together nervously. "Am I the only one who already knows what it is? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the surprise."

"Nope!" Blyke jumped in excitedly. "Everyone knows what it is, but what I sent Crow was just the barrel. I made sure the rest of it looked really cool, so I'm keeping it a secret until the big reveal."

"Well, we're here, so I hope you're ready," Dustin said, bringing the car to a stop. Instead of heading through the front door though, he led us to the side of the house, pushing past a white fence surrounded by flowering bushes and vines until we were finally into his backyard.

"Who's that with you?" The mature voice sounded like a girl's, no doubt Dustin's sister, but I couldn't see her at first.

"My friends, Crow, Liesel, and Blyke. We're going to test out a launcher he built," he answered cheerfully.

As I followed Dustin along the stepping stone path further into the property, I could see her sitting on a back porch, cup of tea in hand. Blond hair flowed down her back, long enough that she probably would have been sitting on it if it wasn't for the sage green, fabric headband she was wearing. Her gaze lifted from the cup's waft of steam, studying us with silver eyes. They would have perfectly matched Dustin's own, if they were as sharp as a kitchen knife, ready to stab us through the second we rubbed her the wrong way.

"Oh my gods! It's you! Broom girl!" Blyke shouted, brushing a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean, Broom girl?" Liesel turned to him. "Dustin can't use... well, I mean–" She caught herself with a gulp, talking faster as she rushed to elaborate. "He's Human, so his sister has to be too, right? How would she ride a broom?"

"No, not that. Do you remember our first day in Basics to Magik, when she had to run in and get Dekoran to stop a wayward broom, and we left class to... you know." He got fidgety.

"Yeah," I whispered in his ear. "The one you thought was hot."

The blush only spread further across his cheeks, but the girl didn't seem to notice as she nodded at us. "Oh... you're the two idiots Dekoran yelled at right after he stopped that kid from falling." A little laugh escaped her, breaking up the stiffness of her posture as she sighed a bit. "What a day... Yeah, I remember you guys. Troublemakers."

"Thank you, I try. Anyways..." Then he trailed, looking between the siblings with a grin. "Wow, you guys sure do look alike. Almost like twins."

"We are twins," she answered, sipping her tea again. "I'm Gwen."

"Crow," I responded before turning back to Blyke.

"So, about the gun?" I hinted at it none too subtly as he continued to stare, like rose petals floated in the very air she sat in. Gods, he better not stay like this. If I was here, I was not about to put up with any mushy stuff. I got enough of that in my cup of ramen last night, thank you very much. "Blyke! Gun."

"Oh yeah!" He snapped his fingers, clicking back into action. "So get ready for this." He lay the frankenstein-ed package on the table, yanking at the string hastily tied around the tape. The brown paper pulled off with a harsh crinkle, and I could hear Liesel gasp next to me.

"Ta-da!" He held up the handle, spray-painted a dark grey. From there, it curved up to a rounded base with glass bubbles on the sides like a kid's jungle gym at an indoor restaurant. Two wires came off the frame, one attached to the main barrel, the second off another, smaller nozzle attached on top, each one hooked up to a separate trigger. The very end held an open port, empty at the moment, and finally the PVC shaft led up to the end he'd taken a picture of.