Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
“I’m so glad we could finally do this!”
Despite how often I’ve cursed the existence of Coffee, Charms, and Crystals since it opened, sitting here with Teagan, I can’t help but feel relaxed in her presence. She’s warm and friendly and full of a buoyant, likable energy.
“You saved my ass the other day with the rush order of lepidolite. This is the least I could do to thank you.”
Teagan parts her lips, a question in the rise of her brow, but the server swoops in with the platter of appetizers we ordered in lieu of a regular lunch: Parmesan-crusted zucchini, buffalo-fried cauliflower, and the creamiest guacamole with crispy house-made tortilla chips.
After the server leaves, we each pile up our small plates with the assortment of apps.
“So, what did you need the crystals for?” Teagan asks before popping a piece of zucchini into her mouth.
“Have you heard of the new B&B in Oak Spires?”
“The haunted one?”
I lean over the table toward her and pitch my voice to a whisper. “I’m the one who haunted it.”
“No shit? That’s incredible! And lepidolite helps with that?”
“The large pieces work as a ghost transport.”
“And the garden quartz?”
I grin, feeding off her excitement. “That helps make ghosts visible. I used it in the summoning circles and in these ghost goggles I invented. They replicate the function of amplification sigils so the B&B guests can easily communicate with the spirits.” I dig a chip through the guacamole.
“The only downside is they’re ugly as hell.
Heavy, too. And they need to be recharged constantly. ”
“Hence the selenite charging plates Deanna purchased,” Teagan adds, easily putting the pieces together. She tries a bite of fried cauliflower, thinking as she chews. “Why didn’t you use a modified summoning sigil on the glasses?”
“What do you mean?”
“I use it all the time for magical jewelry and talisman creation. You modify a traditional summoning sigil, so instead of drawing ghosts into a prepared circle, it summons a steady stream of magic to keep the original spell active.” Teagan sips her ice water like this is totally normal information and not a mind-blowing revelation.
I seriously underestimated this witch. And, I can only assume, her store, too.
Fuck, I feel like an asshole. I’ve spent months blaming her for my business’s decline, secretly scoffing at her for peddling bullshit trinkets to mundanes. Yet all this time, she’s been the real deal.
Delight brightens Teagan’s expression when she realizes I’m staring at her dumbfounded. “Wait, did I seriously introduce you—the Pippa Ainsley—to a new application of magic? This might be the best day of my life.”
A prickle of anxiety creeps up my spine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Teagan shrugs, but her fair skin goes rosy as a blush spreads across her cheeks. “Nothing. It’s just…You’re sorta my idol.”
“I’m your what?” Shock settles over me, leaving me off balance as I stare at the younger witch. “I didn’t realize you knew that much about what I do.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been following you for years! When that article came out about your magical experiments, and how you wished your mom would make space for new kinds of magic in NACOW, it was like you gave me permission to accept who I am. To accept the kind of magic I do.”
Teagan’s excitement cools, and she runs a hand across the short undercut at the back of her head.
“I assume that article didn’t go over well with your family, since you don’t use your original last name anymore, but it meant a lot to me.
I was a junior in college back when it first came out.
I tried to keep track of you, but you disappeared.
“But then a year later, one of my friends told me about a witch who helped her soundproof her apartment. She was having a terrible time studying. Her roommate had a very active sex life. When she showed me your website, I realized who you were. Watching your business grow and succeed these past few years is the whole reason I started C3.”
Her words settle over me, and it’s uncomfortable, taking credit for something I didn’t do on purpose. “I didn’t intend to be part of that article,” I admit. “The guy I was talking to never told me he was a reporter.”
“Oh my god. That’s—”
I hold up a hand as horror streaks across her face. “But I’m glad it helped you. And I’m sorry for brushing you off the first time you suggested we get together.”
She settles back in her chair, smoothing the worried look from her face. “It’s totally fine.”
“It isn’t, though. I misjudged you. I got it in my head that you were trying to drive me out of business. When I saw you were opening a second location in Oak Spires, I nearly lost my mind. It was like you were following me everywhere.”
Her hazel eyes go wide. “Not at all! I swear, I’m not trying to take over your business.
If anything, I’d hoped we could work together.
I had this whole dream where we became friends and sent each other business.
I figured I could supply you with all the crystals and things you need, and if I had a customer who wanted something complicated, I could send them to you.
Like I did with that hexed CEO. Colin or something. ”
“Callum?” I ask. “The real estate guy?”
“Yeah! I take it he called you?”
“He did. I got him all sorted before I left for Oak Spires.” We settle into comfortable silence for a few minutes, working our way through the plate of appetizers.
I let everything I’ve learned about Teagan push aside the false assumptions I’d made.
“If you’d like, I think being friends who collab sometimes would be nice. ”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I pull out my phone and scroll past all the photos of the kittens until I find a picture of the ghost goggles. “You said you do a lot of craft-based magic? Beyond the modified summoning sigil, could you make these glasses less bulky and hideous?”
She takes my phone and zooms in on the picture, brow pinched with concentration. “How did you attach these crystals?”
“Hot glue?”
Teagan throws her head back as she laughs, a warm sound that invites me into the joke with her.
We spend the rest of the meal sharing tips about our unique brands of magic, and I’m fascinated by the way Teagan has learned to manipulate materials to embed magical properties into mundane items. I tell her about the spirit boards and share stories of the different ghosts I encountered over the past month.
As we share and laugh and bond as a pair of entrepreneurial, experimental witches, I realize that I’ve spent so long afraid of being hurt that I’ve guarded my heart against false threats. I’ve isolated myself from the people who could get me.
A small part of my heart whispers that I should call Elle. That Xander was right when he suggested that the only thing keeping us apart is our mutual fear of getting hurt again. But she told me to go. She told me not to call. I didn’t make that up.
The next time I visit Midnight Manor to see Xander, I’ll see if she’s there, too. By then, maybe I’ll know what to say. For now, I can’t encroach on her grief. Not when it’s this fresh.
By the time Teagan and I are finished with lunch and I’ve paid the bill, we part as friends. We even set a date for me to visit her shop next week to begin our collaborative work on an upgraded version of the ghost goggles.
There’s a new warmth in my chest despite the chill in the air that threatens fresh snow, and I point myself in the direction of home. As I’m passing my old office, a For Rent sign in the window, my phone rings.
Elle, I think, and my heart leaps in my chest, but it’s Xander’s name on the screen when I pull the phone from my pocket.
“Miss me already?” I tease. “It’s been less than a week, Xan.”
“We have a problem,” Xander says in lieu of a greeting. “But before I tell you what it is, I need you to know that whatever you decide to do, you’ll always be my best friend.”
I stumble to a halt a few feet shy of the intersection. “Well, that’s not ominous or anything.”
“Sorry. I just want to make sure you know that I care about you more than this favor. You can say no, and it won’t affect how much I love you.”
“Xan, you’re freaking me out. Tell me what it is.” I walk the final few steps to the intersection and hit the crosswalk button.
His sigh is loud over the phone, and I get an intuitive flash of him running his free hand through his hair in an attempt to soothe some of his stress. “We got a letter from NACOW.”
Dread pools in my belly. “About what?”
“I sent in the registration paperwork for the new magic like Sebastian said.” Xander pauses, and I see him in my head, pacing in his bedroom where the guests won’t see his worry. “Apparently, NACOW has ethical concerns about the application. They’re sending out an auditor in two weeks.”
Fuck.
“Pippa, the letter said they could shut us down. They could send Laney and Betty and everyone else away.”
The crosswalk light changes, the green pedestrian in motion, but I stand frozen in place.
A flurry of emotions erupts inside me as the first snowflakes of the season start to fall.
It figures that NACOW would assume anything new is dangerous.
That invention is something to stifle rather than encourage and celebrate.
From my conversation with Xander last week, the ghosts love being at the B&B.
This is a good thing. Yet my mother and her cronies want to ruin it.
A chill works down my spine that has nothing to do with the snow gathering in my hair. “Xan? Did you use my name on the form?”
“I had to. The paperwork requires the name of the witch who developed the magic. It had to be registered under your name.” He pauses, and I smash the crosswalk button again. “You can absolutely say no, Pippa, but is there any way you could talk to them?”
This time, when the crosswalk sign indicates it’s time to walk, I hurry across the intersection. “Flora’s the director of that department.” My sister’s name feels strange on my lips. Numbness settles over me.
“Oh, Pip. Forget I asked. You haven’t talked to your sister in years. I can’t ask you to face her again over this.”
For Elle, he’s not saying. For him, too.
Memories of my childhood, happy memories, push their way to the surface. And in all the times I felt loved as a child, it was because of my sister. Because of Flora. Maybe seeing her again won’t be terrible.
“I’m not doing it for you.” I hurry down the next block, my mind racing. “If Flora denied the request because my name was on it, then I need to handle this. I finished the creativity spell last night. I won’t let her and NACOW ruin my business by rejecting ideas simply because they’re mine.”
“Pippa…”
“Say ‘thank you,’ Xan. I’ve made up my mind.”
I can hear the grin in his voice when he echoes my words and bids me goodbye.
When I get back to my apartment, I scoop up Cocoa and snuggle into her fur. “Now, what do I wear to face my family?”