Page 39 of Christmas Magic

From inside the shop, Molly watched her fiancé and Cora stroll down the sidewalk toward the bakery.

Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to give in to them. Hard not to, though, when Lucian had left early without her that morning, and then she’d found him fawning over Cora.

He’d also called the white-haired woman, who was retirement age at least, ‘Fair Maiden.’ With affection. In the manner of a medieval knight.

At least he hadn’t taken his sword with him. It was still on the shelf under the store counter, where he normally kept it. Still, what was going on?

Also, what had set off the alarms and the dark magic antiques? Lucian had silenced them, but they didn’t activate without a reason.

Black Cat Antiquities was protected by spells bearing the hallmarks of The Experts, William, and Lucian. Still, could Lucian have gotten into some kind of trouble? Maybe he was suffering a delayed consequence of their battle with Agnes—a side-effect that had lurked for months, like a dormant virus, and only now emerged.

“Lucian’s lost his mind!” Galahad howled.

“He definitely has.” Marigold shook her head. “Did you see the way he looked at Cora?”

Rose growled. “Unbelievable.”

Petunia flicked her tail. “Lucian clearly isn’t himself.”

“I agree.” Her heart aching, Molly watched until Cora and Lucian strolled out of view. “I wonder….”

“He must be caught up in an enchantment,” Rose meowed. “That’s the only explanation.”

“How could he have been enchanted?” Marigold asked. “He’s a sorcerer. He would have detected the magic, wouldn’t he? Why didn’t he thwart it?”

“Very good questions.” Molly’s gaze settled on Galahad. “Will you please tell us what happened?”

The fluffy cat put a paw to his chest. “Me?”

“Yes, you. You left the house with Lucian earlier. You’ve been with him ever since.”

Galahad’s ears went back. “I took a nap.”

Rose hissed. “Some help you are.”

“How did I know something important would take place right when the store opened?” the squire groused.

Molly fought for patience. “Try to remember. Even the tiniest detail might be significant. Do you recall any unusual bursts of light? Noises?”

“Apart from the nauseating sound of Lucian wooing Cora like a knight courts his lady? Nope.”

Molly’s grip tightened on her phone. She must find the source of the magic and free her fiancé from its thrall. While The Experts would have noticed the flare of magic from a few moments ago, it was Lucian’s duty to handle such incidents in Cat’s Paw Cove—and normally, he’d do so.

He’d fought to get her a place with The Experts; risked his own career by standing up for her in the summer. It wouldn’t bode well for her, Lucian, or William if she had to tell Julius that Lucian was enchanted and ask for help. Better to resolve the situation herself—and quickly.

“Let’s check the readouts. Maybe they’ll enlighten us.” With the cats running alongside her, Molly headed for the rear room.

She scanned the data on Lucian’s laptop. A dull ache throbbed at her temple. He’d been patient when teaching her how to interpret the information, but there was so much of it.

As she reviewed the readouts from the past five minutes, she gasped.

“I hate to say this,” Galahad meowed, “but—”

“Something unusual happened when Cora was in the store,” Molly said.

“Yep.”

She fought the tightness in her throat. “I don’t understand. How would Cora be connected to magic? She doesn’t have supernatural abilities.”