Chapter 14
Lily
My apartment looked almost normal again.
I’d cleaned up most of the mess from the break-in, thanks to a body-doubling cleaning spell that mimicked everything I did several feet over.
It was like having two sets of hands to sweep and two sets of hands to tidy.
Shadow had finished everything in the food and water bowls outside, so I refreshed those as well, hoping to catch a glimpse of her today.
But even with the shattered glass gone, the furniture upright, and Shadow’s bowls refilled, the place still felt… off.
It felt like everything was out to get me.
I wanted to crawl back to Julian’s place, especially after the lazy Sunday we’d just had, but I’d probably already overstayed my welcome.
He wasn’t the relationship type, and we’d already spent the whole weekend together.
Sure, it was because my place had been unlivable and he was being a good friend, but it still smacked a little too close to relationship territory.
I wanted to keep things between us casual, and I couldn’t do that if I accidentally caught feelings.
I’d hate it if I had to avoid Delerium because things were complicated between us.
There were other nightlife choices in Darlington, but nothing was quite the same.
I tried to ignore the fact that it might already be a bit too late to avoid feelings.
I shoved thoughts of the sexy incubus aside and focused on my home.
Unlike Griselda’s place, which practically dripped with personality and witchy charm, mine was a sad little shrine to procrastination.
I’d lived here for years, always telling myself I’d make it my own…
one day. Just like I kept telling myself I’d start my own business.
Spoiler: neither happened. The furniture was cheap, mismatched, and about as inspiring as a soggy saltine.
The only thing I’d ever taken pride in was my shoe collection. At least my heels had flair.
I’d just finished resetting the last of the wards when my phone buzzed. Penny.
“Open sesame,” she said, and before I could respond, a portal shimmered into existence in the middle of my living room. Through it, I could see her living room and Prax waving at us. I waved back. She stepped through alone, which was perfect. I needed some one-on-one girl time with my friend.
She had a T-shirt with a cartoon hammerhead shark on it and the words It’s Hammer Time written in bold across the back.
“This place looks so much better than the picture you sent me earlier. But you look exhausted,” she said.
“I am,” I muttered.
I’d already laid down a new ward, channeling the energy I’d put into Julian’s gold chain into the spell. But I knew it wasn’t enough. My old one hadn’t stopped whoever had broken in. In fact, I hadn’t even known until I got home that it had been breached.
That was why Penny was here. Our magic compounded when working together. Add Gigi to the mix, and we bordered on formidable. But Gigi was still at her café, so it was just us for now.
As we worked, Penny glanced at me. “So what’s the plan? You going to fix up your resume? Apply for something in your field? Or finally start that business you keep talking about?”
I winced. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to continue doing what I do, but I also don’t know what else I could do to make a living.
I mean, it was easy for you and Gigi. You struggled with learning magic when you were younger, so you’re the perfect person to help those struggling now.
And Gigi brews the best coffee in the city.
I don’t know what I’m good at. I mean, I like my tech and gadgets, but I’m not sure that’s something I want to make a life out of. And besides, I’m kind of scared.”
“Of what?”
“Failing. Not being good enough. I already screwed up the whole witchcraft thing by ignoring my magic talent for years. That’s why I buried myself in tech. It was easier to be good at something that didn’t care how I felt.”
Penny frowned. “That wasn’t really your fault.
Your parents made you suppress it as a kid.
And when we met I was a lot weaker than you were.
You had to help me a lot. If it weren’t for you and Gigi, I would’ve quit trying to control my magic years ago.
” She kept weaving her energy into the ward, her fingers glowing faintly.
“Helping you figure out your magic helped me a lot,” I said quietly.
We kept working, tossing around job ideas while channeling magic into the protective barrier, layering our magic into the spell until it pulsed with quiet strength.
“Tech consultant for magical security,” she said. “You could help witches connect tech with their magic. Kind of like what you did with me and Gigi’s place.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I couldn’t even protect my own place. How can I help someone else? And what if my stuff failed? I don’t wanna be responsible for someone getting hurt.”
“You could freelance for the EA,” she added. “They’re always short on people who understand both tech and spell work. And helping them solve cases and mysteries is fulfilling work.”
That could work. I already had an in since we’d helped them control The Breach. And that had me thinking of Julian, Delerium, as well as all the missing witches again. “Did you find anything useful on the forums about the missing women?” I asked.
“Aside from the fact that the witches were all there that day, which you already figured out? All the missing witches lived alone. And one of the missing witch’s friends said she started talking to that EA rep from Rome who’s researching the contained portal.”
Interesting. “Does she know what they talked about?”
“Something about improving the containment spell, without draining any more magic.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Dunno. But apparently, they met at a café. She eats lunch there every day.”
A sharp crack split the air, and the plate with my half-finished BLT burst into flames. Penny jumped, I swore, and we scrambled to smother it before it spread. Smoke curled upward, and I stared at the scorched spot, heart thudding.
“Again?” I muttered, coughing.
“What do you mean, again?” Penny asked as she continued to fan the air with my notepad.
“This keeps happening. I melted most of my jewelry trying to build a protection charm at Julian’s place and set his table on fire.”
Penny blinked. “You what?”
“Yeah.” I picked up Julian’s gold chain, which luckily was still shiny and pristine. “I had to borrow this from him?”
“I was going to say, that doesn’t look like what you usually wear accessories-wise. When did this start?”
I knew she wasn’t going to react well, but she had to know. “After that spell at Delerium.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” She looked pissed, and she had the right to be. If something like this were happening to my friend, I’d expect her to tell me too. But I’d honestly forgotten about it.
“Because I thought it was over. I haven’t had any problem casting since then. And I kind of forgot about it.” I left out the part about topping up my magic with Julian. Though, of everyone I knew she would probably understand best.
She stepped closer, eyes narrowing. “I’m not as good as Gigi, but let me check something.”
She placed her hands near my aura, eyes closed, lips moving silently. It tickled a little, even though she wasn’t technically touching me.
“There’s something attached to you,” she said. “A thread.”
“What?” I suddenly imagined a hundred little crawling insects on me. I ran my hands over my arms as if I’d be able to feel this magical thread she was talking about. But I couldn’t.
“It’s thin. Almost invisible. I can barely see or feel it, and the only reason I know it’s there is that I was looking for something. No wonder we missed it.”
“Do you think we can track it?”
“I’ll try.” She blinked. “Crap! I just lost it.” She kept her hands moving as if trying to find it again. She brightened. “There. Let me try again.”
I stayed stock still. But after a moment, Penny swore again. “It fades a few yards from your body, like it gets too thin to detect.”
We tried severing it first, then unwrapping it from my aura. Neither worked.
“I don’t like this,” I said. “It feels like I’m being marked.”
Penny nodded. “We need Gigi.”
We sent her an SOS through our group chat.
As we waited for her to close up shop early and come straight over, a pawing sound at my balcony door caught our attention.
“Hey, is that the stray you’ve been feeding?” Penny asked.
Shadow stared at us through the glass.
“Yup. Let’s see if I can get her to come in finally.
She still doesn’t trust me fully.” I went over to the counter and picked up the can of tuna I kept around for just this occasion.
Then, with the can open and smelling of fish sitting several feet inside my home, I opened the balcony door, hoping she was in the mood to socialize.
“Why don’t you try your talent on her?” Penny suggested.
I’d never actually tried using my talent on an animal before. Would it actually work? It didn’t hurt to try. I focused my talent on the little black cat.
She hesitated at the threshold, so I nudged the can closer. She let me pet her last time, but that was outside. Coming inside would be a big step.
She eyed Penny, but she must have decided that she was harmless because she stepped past the threshold into my home and went straight for the fish.
Penny and I exchanged matching grins.
Shadow was still chowing down when a portal opened up in my living room and Gigi stepped through. Shadow spooked and ran back outside, though she didn’t go far. I kept the door open a crack just in case she changed her mind.
But Gigi couldn’t unravel or sever the thread either. She did ascertain that it was wizard magic.
“So what now?” I asked. I wanted that thing off me now.
“We call in the big guns,” Gigi said. “The biggest, smuggest, most annoying wizard we know.”
We all said his name together.
“Seth.”
Too bad we couldn’t just call him into existence by chanting his name three times. In fact, we couldn’t even get a hold of him at all. But we did manage to reach Liam, who told us that Seth was with Desmon on a work trip out of town. So we thanked him and told him to say hi to Hazel for us.
We were on our own for now.
“If we can’t unwrap or sever it, then why don’t we hide it?” Penny suggested.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Remember when I cast that spell that sent me a bunch of unsuitable suitors?”
“How could we forget?” Gigi muttered.
“Well, I used a concealment spell to hide myself from unwanted attention. And if it hid me from something magical like a wonky love spell, then maybe it would block this one too.”
“That might work,” I said, nodding along with Gigi.
I’d much rather have it gone completely, but hidden was the next best thing.
“We can make it strong together. It’s not a solution, but it will hold until Seth gets back.”
The sound of eating alerted us that Shadow was back in my kitchen and chowing down. It was quick work with all three of us together. And since I had both of my friends' attention, I decided to bring up one thing that I’d been mulling over.
“I was thinking now that I actually have time, we could finally make our coven official,” I said, watching their faces to see their reaction.
Official covens were run like businesses with proper budgets, reports, quarterly meetings, all that jazz.
It was a lot of work, but there were kickbacks.
Recognition as an official coven meant access to protected archives, priority for rare ingredients, and even funding for community spells or warding projects.
It was like incorporating a business, but with more candles and fewer tax audits.
We’d talked about it often in the past, back when we thought we’d have time to organize our lives like responsible witches.
The plan had been to make our coven official, get registered, maybe even host seasonal gatherings.
But then life happened. Penny moved away to be with family, Gigi started her business, and I did that whole corporate thing. Life got hectic, and we’d let it slide.
Now I had time to jump through the hoops needed to organize everything, Penny was back in town, and Gigi had employees to help out at her coffee shop.
Maybe it was time to stop pretending we were just a group of friends who occasionally cast spells and did witchy things and start admitting we were something more, something bigger.
The old excitement and joy I used to get when talking about becoming a real coven returned.
“Ooh! That’s a great idea,” Penny said, a spark lighting her eyes. “I know I resisted it before because of my family, but I don’t kowtow to them now, so I say we go for it.”
“I’m up for getting properly registered,” Gigi agreed. “We’re listed as coven sisters anyway. Technically, the EA already has us on file, and Desmon knows about us. But isn’t it, like, a whole lot of work? Like a website and logo? Proper meeting notes?”
“Yup. But I kind of have a shit ton of time on my hands right now.”
“Then let’s do it,” Penny said.
And so it was agreed that our little coven of three was going official.