Page 3 of The Iron Hex

“Hi there!” Eira said cheerily, not letting her rabbit getting a bit spooked deter her from giving a good customer experience.

“Hello,” he said, his voice deep and gruff.

“Welcome to the Potions Patisserie.”

He was tall; had she noticed that already? With rich brown hair, a scruffy beard, and golden tanned skin. A pink scar climbed up his chin, a stark contrast to his natural tawny undertone.

“Can I help you with anything?” Eira managed to stumble out a few words, desperately trying not to let her mouth fall open at how attractive she found this man. Shereallyneeded to be courted. Thirty years old and finding a stranger who came into her store to be this jaw-droppingly handsome? She was sure that she didn’t need to start shopping for a husband among hercustomers—surely her social life, such as it was in a small town like Cilirien, could result in a fruitful partnership.

The man did a quick turn around the store, large hands behind his back, before stepping up to the counter and silently perusing her wares.

Eira watched, taking in the man’s wavy hair and the well-tailored jacket he wore, and then smelled the sandwich that she’d started to eat, causing her stomach to grumble—loudly.

She furrowed her brow, desperately hoping the man hadn’t heard the grumble from where he stood, but it was a pointless dream to think that he hadn’t. What a great first impression.

“Confused about something?” the man said, finally speaking, a smirk creasing the serious set of his mouth ever so slightly.

Eira snapped out of her stomach-grumbling spiral to see the man standing directly in front of her, no longer perusing her potions and poultices, but instead watching.

“Not at all,” Eira exclaimed, jumping back slightly at the sudden closeness.

He raised a dark eyebrow and Eira watched his hazel eyes narrow slightly. “I’ve heard you’re the go-to witch around these parts,” he said.

He wasn’t wrong.

“Whoever told you that must be one of my lovely customers,” Eira said, reaching her hand over the table to shake his. “I’m Eira Eckhart, potions witch.”

He met her hand with his and shook, almost too firmly. A shock ran through Eira as their skin met, a feeling of comfort briefly washing over her before she realized she was holding on to this handshake for too long. Eira pulled her hand away, a blush creeping onto her cheeks out of sheer embarrassment. Had she truly gone so long without touch that holding a man’shandhad her flustered?

“It’s lovely to meet you, Eira,” he said, and she detected an odd tone in his voice that she couldn’t quite place. “I’m Hugo Venton.”

“Are you in need of the go-to witch in Cilirien?” she asked, brow raised.

“Believe it or not, I am.” He smirked as his hazel eyes looked her up and down.

“Well, aren’t you lucky that you came to my store,” she said, blushing lightly.

“I am lucky to have found you,” he said, “but I fear nothing that I’m looking for can be found on these shelves.”

Eira tilted her head and looked at her potions, snapping out of her flirtatiousness. Nothing was out of stock. Her confidence, sleep, and prosperity potions were her most popular and they were all in abundance. The less popular picks in the store even had stock, and she’d even been motivated to create more lately. There were new spell workings available for the first time in a long time, things that she’d either forgotten she could brew, or that she’d been trying to figure out how to perfect, that had finally made their way onto her shelves.

“This is the most robust selection of potions and poultices you’ll find within three towns in any direction.” Eira had no clue if what she was saying was true, but sometimes white lies needed to be told to make a sale.

“And yet, none of them are what I am searching for.” He watched her intently as he spoke.

A bead of sweat formed on her brow—was he asking for illegal magic? She hoped not. Eira did not want the attention of the Iron Retinue. They’d killed enough witches for no good reason, and Eira wasn’t going to be one of them if she could help it.

“As a potions witch I can find a spell for anything you need help with that can be solved with alchemical magic,” It was the safe answer—just in case.

Hugo looked at her askance as he took a step back, crossing his arms across his wide chest and tilting his head as if he were considering her offer. “Anything?Really?” he asked skeptically, keeping his arms crossed.

Well, that was a little bit rude.

“That’s what I said,” Eira said, fighting the urge to be snappy and short with this customer, their once-flirty interaction taking a swift turn. He was handsome but he wasn’t very polite, and politeness went a long way with Eira Eckhart.

“All right,” he said, “I will be back when I have a better sense of what I need. I believe you when you say that you have the skillset I need. You’re very adamant, after all.”

“If you can tell me a little bit about the result you’re hoping for I can perhaps guide you in the right direction,” she offered, putting on her best sympathetic customer service voice.