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‘Nothing wrong with that. Your parents and mine both found it. And so have you with Ophelia.’

‘I love Phe, I really do. But our relationship wasn’t always smooth – you know that. And you know there were a lot of frogs before I found her.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m done with my amphibian phase,’ Mia grumbled, making Katie giggle. ‘I’m ready for my own head-over-heels, sparkling fireworks and roses moments.’

‘You deserve it, and more. Let’s hope the universe is listening.’ She chinked her mug against Mia’s. ‘To your overdue happy ever after!’

‘Good morning, Rayenne,’ Aiden called as the woman walked into the store. After a couple of seconds, he cleared his throat and tried again. ‘Morning.’

‘Oh, hello, Aiden.’ Rayenne gave him a quick hug as she breezed by, a rainbow of scarves and patchouli following her. Utterly cliché, but completely and entirely Rayenne. ‘Are you well?’

‘Getting fed up of this fog, but otherwise good.’

‘I’m sure the fog has good reasons for being here,’ Rayenne replied. ‘And I’m good also. The moon’s current phase is pleasing.’

‘Glad you’re enjoying it.’ As much as he liked Rayenne, and appreciated the time she was spending teaching him all about reiki and energy healing, he still felt like he struggled to understand her, and her dreamy, odd ways.

‘Hmm. It is lovely.’ She smiled distractedly, staring across the store at something he couldn’t see for a few moments before suddenly blinking and snapping her grey gaze back to his. ‘I have some clients this morning. And a delivery due. Could you keep watch for it?’

‘Sure. Do you want me to unpack it too?’

‘That would be wonderful.’ She smiled warmly. ‘I’m going to go check in with my sparrows and see what news there is.’

The huge box arrived later that afternoon, and Aiden hefted it onto the shop counter and started unpacking it, carefully placing the crystals, books, cards and statues to one side ready for pricing up. He pulled out the bundles of sage and rosemary – ready to be used for smudging – and packets of lavender and thyme, along with jars of other herbs that needed decanting for sale and stacked them all along the counter.

He priced up the crystals quickly, referring to the inventory list and Rayenne’s checklist, then reached for one of the sage bundles while still reading. It rolled away. Not far, but enough that his fingers closed on empty air instead of the dried herbs he’d expected, making him look up. He reached for it again, and it… scooted… rolling over. He stared at it, surprised, then grabbed it and studied it. It seemed perfectly normal, so he tossed it into the basket. The bundles were neatly tied, but the nature of them meant they were uneven and not designed to balance.

He reached for the jar of lemon balm and froze when it wobbled on the counter. It was almost imperceptible – even watching for it, he wasn’t sure it had actually happened, because what he thought he’d seen was too ridiculous for words. Then it slid a couple of inches when he reached for it.

‘The counter must be crooked,’ he muttered.

‘Mweep.’ Mist was watching him from across the shop. When he looked back at the jars, a couple of them had slid forward a little more.

‘I’m going to have to bring in my toolbox to try and fix this.’ When he reached for the packet of lavender, there was a slight crackle, and a tingling sensation jumped across his knuckles as he yanked his hand back.

‘Everything OK, Aiden?’ Now Ophelia was watching him too.

‘Yeah… just some static electricity.’

Mist chirruped something and Ophelia made a strange sound like a half-choked hiccup. ‘Right. Static.’

There was another hushed sound behind him, almost exactly like the noise you’d get if someone gently slid a packet of dried herbs across a wooden surface. Mist twitched her tail twice then leapt onto the counter, scattering the packets and jars. She smacked one down with her paw and held it there, wobbling it back and forth.

‘Think you’ve made a friend.’ Ophelia smiled.

‘Aww, Mist and I have an understanding.’ Aiden petted her gently. ‘I make sure her food stays well stocked, and she occasionally lets me pet her.’

‘What makes you think I was talking about Mist?’ She smiled softly. ‘Sometimes things get lively as people are waking up.’

‘Mweep! Moweeweeeoww.’ Mist sounded worried and demanding.

‘But it’s been…’

‘Mweep.’

‘But you saw…’

‘Mwew!’