Start here: The Alchemist. Then, Aqua Vitae. Scent Notes: Pumpkin spice incense, bright pink peppercorns, an early dusting of snow. One boring Wednesday, Laura the alchemist was hanging around in her small shop. She’d had two customers that morning, and since then, she’d busied herself cutting and drying herbs, doing tarot spreads, and just staring out the window, daydreaming. One of her cats, a small black one named Crowley, went sprinting around the shop, meowing as loud as he could. “Crowley, hush!” she said, but the cat would not quiet down, nor would it stop. After quite a few laps around, Crowley finally flopped over onto his side, looking up at his mom with a “pet my belly” face, as if that wasn’t the oldest trick in the cat book. Laura got up and lit some incense, a favorite scent of hers that was a warm mix of pumpkin and pipe tobacco. As the smoke filled the air, she heard Crowley hiss as the door to the shop opened. Laura turned, and there was a woman holding a very sick-looking kitten in her arms.... Click here to read the rest of the story!
