Chapter 170
Fiona
“Thank goodness there’s an index because I wouldn’t know where to start if there wasn’t,” I mumble to myself. I flip to page seventy-two and find a second recipe for anti-nausea tea. I write down the recipe in my notebook.
“Do you think you have enough?” Isla asks skeptically as she peers over my shoulder.
“I wanted to give myself options,” I grumble, listing the last ingredient on my paper and close the big book. Eleven ingredients. Seven recipes.
So far, I’ve found one recipe for an herbal scrub that detoxes your body, two anti-nausea herbal tea recipes, three recipes for headaches- two topical ointments and one tea. Lastly, I found one recipe that makes heartburn tablets. It looks more complicated than the others, but I can’t keep waking up from the burning in my chest.
If I’m not puking, my chest is burning.
The medicine Nurse Sherri gave me worked but it doesn’t last long. It instructed me to take no more than one a day, which wasn’t really helping when the nausea came back at night.
So, I’m willing to try anything.
“Ready to go?” Isla asks, jingling her keys. I nod, push myself off the couch, and tuck my list into my pocket. Don’t want to lose that after searching and reading through the book for two hours.
The drive to the market is short, quiet, and comfortable as Isla bops her head to the low music from the radio. While we ride, I try to think of ways to thank Isla. I thought I could make dinner every night for a while so she doesn’t have to do it, or I could get her car breaks replaced so she doesn’t have to listen to that god-awful screeching when she drives. There’s also the garden that needs weeding and the lawn that needs mowing.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
I look to my left and jump back since her face is only inches away from mine.
“Ever heard of personal space?” I huff jokingly, shaking my head. One thing Isla hates is being ignored, which I didn’t mean to do.
She grins and leans in quickly, kissing my cheek. “You know you love me.”
I laugh and shake my head again, “Yeah. I do. Now let’s go in and find these ingredients.”
“This is ridiculous,” Isla huffs. “What the heck is Icori Root? I’ve never heard of that before, and what about this? Fieldcress Leaf? Amisia? Is this even in English?”
“I’m not sure either. I can’t find those or some of these other ones anywhere,” I answer, looking down the spice aisle again. We’ve gone through every isle in the market twice and haven’t found more than half of the ingredients I need.
The only things I’ve found are ginger and lemons, which means there are still nine ingredients left.
“Do you think they may be at another store? Maybe the Asian market down the street?” Isla questions, crossing her arms over her chest. I can tell she’s trying to hide her annoyance, but I also know her too well.
“Maybe, but I have a better idea.”
Pulling my phone out, I open it and go to my contacts. I scroll down to Sophie’s name. If these ingredients are foreign, maybe Sophie will know where we can buy them because there’s no way she’d give me the book without having a way for me to get the things inside it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sophie. This is Fiona. Do you have a minute to talk?”
I’m aware it’s the middle of a workday, but even still, I cross my fingers.
“Absolutely. What’s up? Is everything okay?” She asks quickly, her tone turning a bit pinched and worried.
“No, everything is fine. I just had a question for you. I want to make some of the teas and recipes from the book you let me borrow, but I can’t find the ingredients,” I explain. “Is there somewhere around here I can go to purchase things like Eclipse Orchids, Bloodroot, and several other herbs and ingredients that might be from the West?”
A pregnant pause fills the phone’s speaker, making me think for a second that the call was disconnected. That is, until she asks, “Which market are you at?”
“Eden Mart off of Twenty-Third Street,” I tell her, leaning against the buggy I’d gotten.
“Good choice. Lucky for you, I’m on my way there to pick up a few things while on lunch, so if you’ll give me a minute, I’ll help you out,” she says joyfully. Lucky and coincidence.
“I don’t want to bother you. Maybe I should ask a worker so—”
“They won’t be able to help you. There’s a secret market underneath Eden Mart that most of the human workers don’t know about.”
My mind goes blank and runs with a million questions at the same time. Secret market? What the heck is going on?
“Like black market?” I whisper, glancing around me. Isla perks up at that and gives me a questioning look.
“No.” Sophie laughs. “It’s not illegal. It’s just a little something that a few of the Western immigrants set up to sell to those of us who are over here temporarily so we don’t miss home too much.”
Isla’s eyes jump over my shoulder, and when I turn, Sophie waves, “Hi!”
I wave back, but Isla, who is less than amused, doesn’t wave. She’s not very happy with anyone connected to Ethan, but I can’t put the blame for what Ethan did on Sophie. That wouldn’t be fair.
“So where is this secret market?” I ask softly, not wanting to break an unknown rule if someone overhears.
“Follow me.” She grins at both of us and then begins walking toward the back of the store. It feels a bit odd, knowing we’re about to go to some secret underground market where goods from Ethan’s home are sold, but at the same time, a little zing of excitement jolts through me. I’ve never done anything like this, and honestly, I probably won’t get a chance ever again.
Sophie turns down the last aisle and there, at the end, is an older woman sitting on a chair by a door. She smiles when she sees Sophie then frowns when she sees me and Isla trailing after her.
“Hi, Margerie. I’m here to pick up an order,” Sophie says, then she motions to us. “And these are my friends. This here is Fiona, Alpha Montgomery’s mate and my future Luna.”
“A human?”
“Yes. A human, and she’s been feeling unwell, so we’re here to get a few ingredients to make her some remedies,” Sophie explains. The older woman looks me over, raising an eyebrow. “We won’t be long, and I’ll stay with them the entire time, so you don’t—”
“I’m not worried about them, honey. Make sure she gets some Eclipse Orchid for that nausea, and…” the old woman’s nose turns up a bit, knowing eyes rolling over me. “She’ll need some Moon Moss. We just got a fresh shipment this morning.”
That wasn’t on my list, but by the way Sophie smiles and thanks the lady, I guess it’ll be something good for me.
Ethan told me that Lycans have amazing senses of smell, so maybe they can smell things like sickness too. I don’t know what Moon Moss is or what it does, but if this lady can smell that I’ve been nauseous, I’ll take her word for it.
“Thank you,” I tell the woman as we pass by. She smiles kindly, and before I can say anything else, Sophie is pulling me down a set of stairs into a low-lit, colorful room with lines of stalls and vendors who are selling all sorts of items and goods.
A sense of comfort falls over me as I look around at the cozy little market. It feels warm and welcoming, the soft lights and vendors waving their hellos as we pass by.
“Do you have a list?” Sophie asks, stopping when we get to the first stall. Nodding, I pull out the list I’d made and pass it to her. She looks over it and nods. “We’ll find everything on the list, but we’ll start with Moon Moss since it’s most likely to sell out quickly.”
Sophie then surprises me by turning to the homely woman in the stall and saying, “Could I get a sixteen-ounce jar of Moon Moss?”
“What is Moon Moss?” I ask. I hadn’t seen anything in the book called Moon Moss, but I also hadn’t read the entire book. I could’ve easily missed it.
“It’s a plant that grows under the moonlight in the West Sea. It’s good for vitality and health,” Sophie answers. However, it doesn’t squash my curiosity, especially when the woman in the stall grins.
She has the same knowing smile that the old woman did, like she knows an important secret. She grabs a jar of what looks like light green goo and asks, “Is that all you need? My sister’s stall down on the left sells Moon Stones. They’re pure and clear. Good for health, protection, and blessings.”
“Thanks, but Fiona already has a Moon Stone.” Sophie motions to the necklace I’d forgotten I was wearing.
My hand flies to the necklace, and a sense of warmth and calm seeps into me as I rub it between my fingers. I can’t believe I forgot to give it back to Ethan, but then again, he didn’t ask for it back.
“I see that,” the woman says. “If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you,” I murmur. “Have a good day.”
She bows her head respectfully as we walk away, her eyes following me with a look I can’t quite decipher.
