Grasp Heart

Chapter 18: What do we do with witches?

"Dang, Sara, you can put away food," Trevor exclaimed, leading the way out of the restaurant.

"Neither Mason nor Kira have leftovers either," I pointed out, "It's not my fault the lot of you can't finish what you start."

A heavy mist had rolled in, dimming our field of view while somehow making the sky a diffuse white. The tops of the taller urban trees obscured when I tried to squint up at them.

"Alright," I interlocked my fingers and rolled out my back in a thorough stretch, "Where-to, Catalina?"

"We're headed to a metaphysical shop, right?" Kira checked.

I neglected to answer, gravitating toward Mason instead. No need to sound overeager about the supernatural.

"O-oh, yes, right," Cat tittered, fishing her phone out of her pocket, "It's a little east of here. Er, about five blocks or so."

"The place that has all the spoooky trinkets," Allie said, wiggling her fingers at Trevor.

Catalina led-on, walking side by side with Will. Allie, ever so subtle, pointed wildly at the pair while Trevor walked just a step ahead of her. Her lapse in holding the boy's attention cost her. He caught up to Will and Cat to begin chattering at Will, oblivious to the little invisible bubble that had formed about the pair of them. Allie was quick to follow.

"Poor Cat," I sympathized.

"Poor Will," Mason countered and I glanced questioningly, "He's been trying find a moment alone to ask her out."

"How can you tell?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kira's hand blur out to prod Mason in the shoulder.

"He seems rather enamored with her," he hedged quickly and I turned away, feigning interest in an abstract metal sculpture. "It's just deductive reasoning."

"Mm."

Kira fell easily into step beside Mason and I with an air of unconcern. I narrowed my eyes at her, but she just rubbed her nose and stared off absently. At least Leo, in his hard-headed pursuit, showed remorse for crossing lines.

Weren't you the one who crossed a property line in the first place?

Mason glanced at the sound of my teeth snapping together.

"Here!" Catalina called, stopping in front of a skinny storefront.

Violet paper with silver-outlined flowers plastered the inside of the small front window. The entirety of the little glass storefront was coated aside from a tiny rectangle of space holding a small display. Catalina peered in, inspecting the little array of crystals, incense sticks, and oils chosen for presentation.

"What's with the weird symbols?" Trevor piped up.

I gravitated forward. Etched over the door were a collection of knot-like symbols in dark brown ink; I didn't quite recognize them by name, but they looked Celtic in origin.

"Creepy, right?" Trevor nudged me with an elbow.

"Superstitious at least," I agreed half-heartedly.

Trevor held open the door.

"We'll wait out here," Kira said in a light voice, already having plopped onto a metal bench opposite the little store, "I've got to cap-off my shopping at some point!"

"Oh c'mon, you seem like you'd be super into this kind of thing," Allie protested, lower lip jutting into a pout.

"Sorry!" Kira said with a ring of finality.