“Of course not,” Morgana agreed, moving toward a display case. “But when I chose this stone, I knew that I would want it to belong to just the right person. Here.” She took a slender blue wand attached to a thin silver chain out of the case.

“I can’t take that. It must be valuable.”

“Value’s relative. You don’t wear jewelry.” Morgana slipped the chain over Mel’s head. “But think of this as a talisman. Or a tool, if you like.”

Though she’d never been particularly attracted to the things people hung from their ears or crowded on their fingers, she lifted the blue stone to eye level. It wasn’t clear, but she could see hints of light through it. In length it was no longer than her thumbnail, but the hues in the stone ranged from pale blue to indigo. “What is it?”

“It’s a blue tourmaline. It’s an excellent aid for stress.” And it was also an excellent channel for joining love with wisdom. But Morgana said nothing of that. “I imagine you have plenty of that in your work.”

“My share, I guess. Thanks. It’s nice.”

“Morgana.” Nash poked his head out of the storeroom door. “Oh, hi, Mel.”

“Hello.”

“Babe, there’s this nut on the phone who wants to know something about green dioptaste on the fourth chakra.”

“Customer,” Morgana corrected wearily. “It’s a customer, Nash.”

“Yeah, right. Well this customer wants to expand his heart center.” Nash winked at Mel. “Sounds pretty desperate to me.”

“I’ll take it.” She gestured for Mel to follow.

“Know anything about chakras?” Nash murmured to Mel as she walked through the doorway.

“Do you eat it or dance to it?”

He grinned and patted her on the back. “I like you.”

“There seems to be a lot of that going around.”

Morgana walked into a room beyond. Mel studied the kitchenette, where Sebastian had made himself at home at a wooden table with a beer.

“Want one?”

“You bet.” There was the smell of herbs again, from little pots growing on the windowsill. Morgana’s voice rose and fell from the next room. “It’s an interesting shop.”

Sebastian handed her a bottle. “I see you picked up a trinket already.”

“Oh.” She fingered the stone. “Morgana gave it to me. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Very.”

“So.” She turned to Nash. “I really didn’t get a chance to tell you before. I love your movies. Especially Shape Shifter. It blew me away.”

“Yeah?” He was rooting around in the cupboards for cookies. “It has a special place in my heart. Nothing like a sexy lycanthrope with a conscience.”

“I like the way you make the illogical logical.” She took a sip of beer. “I mean, you make the rules—they might be really weird rules—but then you follow them.”

“Mel’s big on rules,” Sebastian put in.