When we last joined Blake and her family Lucina and Melanie were dealing with an unwanted guest, Melanie's ex-husband that she just found out she's still technically married to. He was a vile man that not only bought and tortured Melanie as a teenager but he recently branded Tallia just as he had done Melanie. Luckily, Blake was able to change her brand so that she was no longer under his ownership, which was something new they discovered about Blake among other things. 

However, when Lucina brought the evil man to the council they nearly arrested her along with him. They believed she was working with Adam and the only way they were able to separate them was to prove she didn't have his brand anywhere on her body.  They performed a strip search, body and mind (With magic of course). They saw that she had no relations or partnership with Adam or anyone else in his group whether it was on her own or forced through a brand. 

When Lucina returned Melanie hugged her like she hadn't seen her in years. Melanie had been crying over the time Lucina had been gone, she didn't realize how long it had been until she asked Melanie what was really going on. Turns out she was gone for nearly a month in the real world but to Lucina, it felt like a few days at the most. 

Lucina calmed Melanie down and reassured her that Adam was in the hands of the council and they were safe now. She, unfortunately, she also had to tell her about why he knew Blake and Tallia. Needless to say, Melanie wanted to go to the school immediately and see her but Lucina had to remind her that it would put her education in jeopardy if they did so. 

It took Lucina a while to calm Melanie down but after she did they talked about seeing Blake soon. They both missed her more than either of them could say and with this intense information they got on Blake's first time away from home was making it worse. 

To pass the time, Melanie has been keeping her mind and time on the magic shop. She upgraded the ingredients and even brought it upon herself to do a bit of advertising. The shop had never been as busy as it was now. Lucina even had the idea to bring in a few more things for mortals to buy to keep their sales up. 

Melanie only said yes to the more mortals idea because she knew that Blake would want that. She would want her mother to broaden her horizons and try to get along with people she didn't like. 

So they've been selling healing and protective crystals and smaller non-magic things for the mortal customers. Plus there was a spell over certain things so they were not able to see some of the actual magic things.

Currently, Melanie was watching the shop and reading a magazine when Lucina walked through the door that was attached to their home next door. 

"Did you finish the orders for today?" Lucina asked Melanie while looking over the jars of ingredients to see if they were getting low or not.  

"There was only two and one has been picked up already. Waiting for the next person to do so. I think a mortal ordered this one actually." With a hint of surprise in her voice, she answered Lucina's question. 

"Really? Mortals usually just buy the crystals or sage to rid their house of spirits. Or at least what they think are spirits." Melanie could have sworn she heard a bit of disdain in Lucina's voice but maybe she was wrong. 

As if on cue, the door to the shop dinged, signaling there was a customer walking through the door. The two of them looked up at the medium height man and for a second they thought they both had seen him somewhere. Lucina walked back behind the table next to Melanie while they both thought about where they could have seen this man before. It was easy to tell that he was mortal, he didn't have the same glow or stature a using or magic would have. 

From his light brown hair that was disheveled down to his borning hazel eyes, they couldn't place where this guy is from. 

The mortal walked up to the counter and looked at the two of them with wide eyes. Apparently, he knew where he had seen both of them.

"It's you guys, you took our daughter from us almost fifteen years ago!" He shouted they knew where they had seen him before now. This was Blake's bio father and somehow he ended up in their shop. 

"You have us mistaken with someone else. We do not know who you are and you do not know us. Now, can I help you?" Melanie asked through gritted teeth while Lucina laid a calm hand on her arm to keep her from hurting the man in front of them. 

"Maybe I am going crazy...This isn't the first time I've accused someone like you two for this. It was the worse day of my life and our marriage hasn't been the same since. That's why I ordered the herbs from this shop, we can't have children and the one that was taken from us was the only child we've ever had. I don't know why I'm telling the two of you." He took in an exhausted breath and looked back up to them with tired eyes. 

His face weathered the years of pain and torture that he has gone through with his wife. They had nearly gotten divorced over the subject three times and at this point, they hated each other.

"Name please," Lucina asked so they could get his order and info correct for his pick up. 

"Dale Brooks." He answered in a tired tone. Lucina walked to the back of the store and grabbed the fertility herbs he had ordered for himself and his wife. Before she walked the order back out to the customer, and her actual brother that she only found out about only a few months ago, she gave it a little bit of her own magic. True, they were only herbs and they would probably not work for them if they've been having that much trouble. But if Lucina put a very small spell on these herbs then it might be the little push that could help them.

It was illegal, but Lucina had a soft spot and it was being pushed by her long-lost brother and his troubles that she had a hand in creating. She was just happy her father, Jerome, was in the other world and not here to mess things up. 

Walking back out to the counter she smiled and handed the bag to Dale. He placed the money for the items on the counter and turned to take his leave. Melanie turned to Lucina and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. 

"That was close. We don't need him in Blake's life, plus it would be against the rules for her bio parents to have any contact with her. What's wrong?" She asked when Lucina wasn't looking at her when she was talking. 

"Nothing, just glad to have him out of the shop. I guess we can't run away from our dealer days." She covered with a quick lie and started inventory again since there were no longer any customers in the shop. Melanie took her lie at face value and didn't pry anymore. She had secrets she needed to keep and she knew that Lucina did too. 

She was counting down...Continue Reading