"Wait." Next to me, Seph stopped me from picking up my fork, her brown eyes narrowed at our plates. "Want me to teach you a quick spell to see if it's poisoned or been tampered with?"

I tore my gaze away from the vat of butter that sat in a black cauldron that I so wanted to swim in. "Why?"

"Back home in Old Haita, we do it all the time, because we have to." The candlelight danced over her tattooed features, giving the swirl design more of a skull-like appearance. ...