The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop Read online

  Also by Abigail Drake

  Dark Blossoms

  Tiger Lily

  Legacies of the Amazons

  The Bodyguard

  Passports and Promises

  Saying Goodbye

  New Heights

  Flying Solo

  Delayed Departure

  The Passports and Promises Series Boxed Set

  The South Side Stories

  The Enchanted Garden Cafe

  The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop

  The Dragonsong Law Offices

  The Tink Holly Chronicles

  Rebel Without a Claus

  Standalone

  Starr Valentine

  Love, Chocolate, and a Dog Named Al Capone

  Traveller

  The Reformed Pantser's Guide to Plotting

  Lola Flannigan

  Watch for more at Abigail Drake’s site.

  PRAISE FOR ABIGAIL DRAKE

  First Abigail Drake grabs you with her fresh writing, then she keeps you in the throes of her story with an incredible voice and a gifted talent for spinning tales that will amaze and delight. I am stunned. Tiger Lily will consume you, and before you know it you are fighting for air yet begging for more. You've been warned!

  NY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR DARYNDA JONES

  This is one of those hidden gems that you long to come across. It has a little bit of everything in it; romance, paranormal, mystery and lots of action. There are so many twists and turns. A book that packs a punch you'll never see coming.

  Absolute perfection!

  DARK RAVEN REVIEWS

  THE HOCUS POCUS MAGIC SHOP

  ABIGAIL DRAKE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Abigail Drake

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Art by Najla Qamber

  Edited by Ramona DeFelice Long and Lara Parker

  In memory of my nunny, Florence Lonnett Riddel, and my amazing great-aunt, Alvida Pisani Lonnett, for all the lessons you have taught me and all the love and laughter we have shared.

  Ti amo.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

  Chapter 2

  I read a book on helium once. I couldn’t put it down.

  Chapter 3

  If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.

  Chapter 4

  He was hotter than a Bunsen burner set to full power.

  Chapter 5

  “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances:If there is any reaction, both are transformed.” - C. G. Jung

  Chapter 6

  You can’t force chemistry to exist when it doesn’t, nor can you deny it when it does.

  Chapter 7

  What did the thermometer say to the graduated cylinder? At least I have a degree.

  Chapter 8

  Chemistry is like cooking, but don’t lick the spoon.

  Chapter 9

  Keep calm and put your lab coat on.

  Chapter 10

  You must be a carbon sample, because I really want to date you.

  Chapter 11

  Do these protons make my mass look big?

  Chapter 12

  Fluorine, Uranium, Carbon, Potassium.

  Chapter 13

  Lust starts with chemistry, but love requires trust and respect.

  Chapter 14

  Friction is a drag.

  Chapter 15

  I had a super busy day converting oxygen into carbon dioxide.

  Chapter 16

  You can’t B. cereus.

  Chapter 17

  You make my dopamine levels go all silly.

  Chapter 18

  You can fake many things, but you can’t fake chemistry.

  Chapter 19

  If I could be an enzyme, I’d be DNA helicase, so I could unzip your genes.

  Chapter 20

  I study chemistry because ‘Badass Intellectual Goddess’ is not an official major.

  Chapter 21

  Lab Rule #1: If you don’t know what a button does, don’t press it. Ever.

  Chapter 22

  Love is in the air? Wrong. Nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are in the air.

  Chapter 23

  If it squirms, it’s biology. If it doesn’t work, it’s physics. If you can’t understand it, it’s mathematics.

  Chapter 24

  What is love? A neuro-chemical con job.

  Chapter 25

  If at first you don’t succeed, try at least two more times so your failure is statistically significant.

  Chapter 26

  Hey, girl. Those goggles and gloves look great on you. I love how you always think of safety first.

  Chapter 27

  Resistance is not futile. It’s voltage divided by current.

  Chapter 28

  There is the good kind of chemistry that makes things like gummy bears, and the bad kind that causes explosions

  Chapter 29

  According to chemistry, alcohol is a solution.

  Chapter 30

  When life gives you mold, make penicillin.

  Chapter 31

  A chem lab is like a wild party. Some drop acid, others drop the base.

  Chapter 32

  If at first you don’t succeed, try black magic and mad science.

  Chapter 33

  Billy was a chemist’s son, but Billy is no more. What Billy thought was H₂O, was H₂SO₄.

  Chapter 34

  I’d never try to poison you,” said the evil chemist. “Now shut up and eat your Pb and jelly sandwich.”

  Chapter 35

  If you have chemistry, the only other thing you need is timing, but timing is a bitch.

  Chapter 36

  What did the mass spectrometer say to the gas chromatograph? Breaking up is hard to do.

  Chapter 37

  “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy.” - Miss Frizzle

  Chapter 38

  Roses are red, bromothymol is blue (above pH 7.6 at least), there is no endpoint to my love for you.

  Chapter 39

  What was the charge when NaCl was arrested? A salt.

  Chapter 40

  “Everyone you meet will know something you don’t.” - Bill Nye

  Chapter 41

  You are the most perfect little arrangement of atoms.

  Chapter 42

  The universe is made up of protons, neutrons, electrons, and morons.

  Chapter 43

  Are you composed of barium, silicon, carbon, bismuth, technetium, and hydrogen? Because you are a BaSiC BiTcH.

  Chapter 44

  Summary of organic chemistry: Carbon is a whore.

  Chapter 45

  Keep calm and blind them with science.

  Chapter 46

  Magic is science we don’t understand yet.

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Abigail Drake

  CHAPTER 1

  NEVER TRUST AN ATOM. THEY MAKE UP EVERYTHING.

  Dr. Lewis, head of the chemistry department at the University of Pennsylvania, sat stiffly at his large, imposing desk. The
sun made the wood in his office take on a honeyed glow, and it illuminated the words etched in the stained-glass window behind him.

  Sapientia et Veritas. Knowledge and Truth.

  They seemed like very important words all of a sudden.

  “Do you have anything you’d like to share with me, Ms. O’Leary?” he asked.

  My heart pounded as I struggled to figure out where this was leading. I’d worked as his teaching assistant for the last two years, but he’d never once looked at me with such animosity in his expression, and I’d never heard such an undercurrent of fury in his voice.

  “No. Is there a problem?”

  He slid a manila envelope across the desk, avoiding direct contact with my hands, like he couldn’t bear to get too close to me. Frowning, I opened the envelope, revealing the answer key to the test I’d given in my organic chemistry class yesterday. My initials clearly marked the bottom of the page, and my full name, Grace O’Leary, stood out in large block letters across the top. This looked like my copy, but I knew with absolute certainty I’d tucked my answer key into my briefcase last night, putting it, as always, in the spot right next to my laptop.

  I lifted my briefcase onto my lap and rummaged through it, growing more panicked by the minute. When my long red hair fell forward, blocking my face like a curtain, I shoved it behind my ears and resumed my search, but the answer key wasn’t there.

  My gaze shot to Dr. Lewis, but he refused to meet my eyes. “Where did you get that answer key?” I asked.

  “A student found it on the floor of the classroom following the exam yesterday afternoon. According to him, you gave it to several of your students prior to the test to ensure they passed. Additional evidence, acquired during confidential discussions, supported this accusation.”

  “Confidential discussions with whom?” I asked. My throat tightened, but I needed to remain calm. Getting upset would only make the situation worse.

  Dr. Lewis’s expression grew even more shuttered. “I’m not at liberty to divulge such information, but I can tell you the student who found your key is the son of one of our wealthiest contributors.”

  “You’re talking about Seth Billings, aren’t you?”

  Seth’s father, a famous chemist and a prominent Penn alumnus, donated millions of dollars every year to the school. He had even more power than Dr. Lewis, and Dr. Lewis was like a god on campus.

  “Yes, Seth Billings,” he said. “He demonstrated great bravery by stepping forward with this information. I commend him for it, in fact.”

  “He’s lying.”

  Dr. Lewis’s eyes narrowed. “It’s your word against his.”

  I knew one way to be certain this was the answer key I brought home with me last night. I opened it to the third page, fumbling in my haste.

  “I always review the key before grading the tests. Yesterday, I found a mistake, two transposed numbers, and I corrected them at my apartment last night. If Seth found this key right after the test, it wouldn’t have these corrections on it.”

  He glanced at the answer key and then waved his hand dismissively. “Did anyone actually see you make those corrections?”

  I shook my head, numb. My boyfriend Jonathan Gottfried, a TA in the same department, hadn’t been around when I looked over the answer key. I’d eaten a quick dinner and left for the lab soon afterward. Most evenings followed the same schedule. As I worked on the final stages of my PhD thesis, I spent a great deal of my time at the lab. I got home later than usual yesterday, after Jonathan had already fallen asleep, so no one could corroborate any part of my story.

  “Well, I guess we’re done here. Good day, Ms. O’Leary. Leave your security fob with my secretary on your way out.”

  I clenched my hands into fists. “This isn’t fair. You’ve reached a preconceived conclusion without studying the evidence, the opposite of everything you’ve taught me, Dr. Lewis. You’re ignoring half the variables in this equation.”

  “Untrue, Ms. O’Leary. I’m following procedure, and I am always fair. A review board made up of your peers will make a decision on this matter in two months’ time. Until then you are persona non grata, suspended both academically and as an employee of this university. Roger will take over your classes.”

  “But I’m only months away from finishing my PhD…”

  “You should have thought of that before handing out answer keys.” Dr. Lewis stood and packed up his briefcase, his tone hard and unyielding. “I repeat, good day, Ms. O’Leary.”

  I managed to rise to my feet and stumble out the door. Roger, another TA in the chemistry department and Jonathan’s best friend, waited outside, a cruel smirk on his face. I ignored him. I walked home in a fog, hardly registering the brisk chill in the air or the colorful leaves crunching under my feet.

  Two months signaled a death knell for my PhD work, but this encompassed more than my studies and my reputation. It unjustly sullied my character as well. I’d never cheated in my entire life. Raised by my detective father and teacher mom with a firm hand and a healthy dose of Irish Catholic guilt, I followed the rules, respected authority, and kept my nose clean. This made no logical sense. Someone had obviously set me up, but who could have done this…and why?

  When I got back to our apartment, Jonathan stood next to an open suitcase on our bed. His blond hair stuck up in a disheveled mess, and a muscle worked in his jaw.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  He’d emptied his side of our closet and now dug through the chest of drawers, his movements erratic and angry. Twin spots of color bloomed on his pale cheeks.

  “How could you, Grace?” he asked, his voice dripping with disgust.

  I sank onto the chair in the corner of our room. Normally, Jonathan covered it with his laundry, but today he’d thrown the whole pile into his suitcase. One positive aspect to the fact that he appeared to be leaving me. At least I wouldn’t have to yell at him to pick up his laundry anymore.

  “I assume Roger told you what happened.” My voice sounded tight and strange, even to my own ears. He responded with a curt nod. A giant lump formed in my throat, making it hard to swallow. “And you believed it?”

  “Dr. Lewis thinks you did it, which is all I need to know.” He slammed his suitcase shut. “This is terrible. Did you ever once consider how your actions affected me?”

  I stared at him, dumbfounded. “No, I did not. Please enlighten me.”

  Jonathan hefted the suitcase off the bed and carried it to the front door. I followed him. “Unlike you, I’m not the darling of the department, but I am on track for a permanent teaching position. My thesis is nearly done, and I have to present it soon. How would it look if they knew about my association with you? It’s not worth the risk.”

  We’d lived together for six months, and dated for several years, but right now a complete stranger stood in front of me. “You mean I’m not worth the risk.”

  His expression softened, and for a second, I saw the man I’d fallen for more than two years ago. “I care about you, but this job is my life. I’m in a vulnerable position. I can’t risk it for anything, not even you. I hope you understand.”

  In a funny way, I did understand, but I needed his support right now, both as a boyfriend and a colleague. “Maybe if you stood up for me—”

  He interrupted me. “You know I can’t play Russian roulette with my career. I’m moving in with Roger for now. They gave him all your classes, by the way. If that isn’t the biggest slap in the face…”

  I never realized what a selfish and weak human being Jonathan was until those words came out of his mouth. I wanted to throw something at him, but composed myself, donning a mask of cool, politeness.

  “I’m so sorry to inconvenience you.”

  Jonathan missed the sarcasm in my words. He ran a hand through his thinning hair. His premature balding brought me an absurd amount of satisfaction at the moment.

  “If the charges are dismissed in November, maybe we can resume our relationship.”
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