Page 15 of The Nowhere Witch
“You usually this busy?” I asked, guessing it was otherwise.
“Never.” His dull eyes twinkled. and his thin lips parted for a crooked smile.
This Zark was even less inviting than the harsh, unhappy version of yesterday. This one looked like we were co-conspirators. This one might want to stuff me and prop my body up in the corner, like some twisted taxidermy display. Zark was also the only one willing to hire me, so he was my best friend for now.
“What should I do?” I asked, throwing more enthusiasm into the question than the gawking crowd instilled.
“I’ll show you around the bar,” he said, leading the way. “It might take you a while to learn all the drinks, but there’s a book right here.” He patted a fat leather tome sitting beside a cash box piled halfway up with coin.
“Most of my staff have been high-level Whimsy or low Middling witches and warlocks. I’m guessing this will be easy work for you. Shouldn’t even break a sweat.”
Magic? This job required the use of magic? I thought I’d be just slinging drinks. I smiled. If he got the impression that meant I agreed with him, at least I hadn’t lied. He’d made his own assumption and gauged my reaction accordingly.
A man stepped up to the bar, gave me a nod, and then said to Zark, “Can I get two dragon breaths?”
“We’ll bring them right over.” Zark grabbed two tall glasses and handed them to me. “Magic-infused drinks are more expensive,” he said under his breath. “See those bottles? Put some of the red, a little blue, and a little of that dark green, equal parts in that order.”
The colors layered on top of each other as I filled them. This wasn’t too bad.
“All good?” I asked.
“Good. Now you just need to infuse them a little. I’ll do this one. You watch, and then you do that one.” He covered the glass with a little tin, and then shook it and said, “Ardere.”
He took off the lid and set the glass down. It had morphed into a lava lamp appearance, with steam rising from the top.
I took the lid, put it on the top of the other drink, and shook it.
“You need to say the word as you do it,” Zark said.
I’d already figured that out. I just didn’t want to.
“Okay.”Please, let this work out. Let my magic do something smoothly for once. Don’t let it go badly.
He was watching, waiting.
“Ardere,” I said as I shook it.
I placed it on the bar as he had, and it looked perfect. It was identical to his lava lamp.
“Knew you’d have no problem,” Zark said.
I nodded. Yep. Easy.
“Should I bring them over to the table now?”
“Tell them I’ll add them to the tab.”
I carried the drinks over and presented them to the two men at the table as if I were presenting them theMona Lisa. It was how I felt about it too. They were both perfect, even mine. It looked every bit as good as Zark’s. Hawk could go screw. I belonged here, as a barmaid, a clerk, a whatever. It didn’t matter.
Just as I got back to the bar, there was a low growl and then a scream. Then a hush filled the place, along with the smell of burning hair.
Zark, the only one I could see, had his lips parted and his eyes wide open. He hit his forehead before dropping his hand and smothering his face for a moment.
I turned, knowing there was no avoiding the situation. The customer, the one who’d received my drink, was sitting at his table, and his full beard had become stubble.
He stared right at me, perplexed.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”