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“What do you have in mind?” This question was posed by Lina, who stood by the door, arms crossed, as if she was ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

“I’m not sure,” Mrs. Francis admitted. “I don’t know enough about magic.”

“Do you even believe in it?” Lina narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Had the witch been able to read her mind? Mrs. Francis didn’t know, but she also didn’t think that lying to a witch was advisable. “If I’m honest, no. I don’t know if I believe in magic.”

“Then why come here at all? Desperation?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Francis replied. “Desperation. Maybe it’s because I have just buried my husband, maybe it’s because we didn’t have kids to continue his line, but the town …” She took a deep breath. “The town will not survive if they keep coming like this.”

“We’re agreed on that,” Helena said. “I promise you, Mrs. Francis, my daughter and I will do everything in our power to make sure that your town, our home, doesn’t see another attack. Ever.”

“You can do that?” Mrs. Francis was breathless, holding her hands to her mouth in hope.

“We can, yes. It’ll take a whole lot of magic, but we can do it. Before we talk about the magical semantics, we do need to tell you something. Something that must stay in this room forever.”

Mrs. Francis’s heart turned cold, her mouth going dry. “Oh? Are you really going to try to extort me? You know the town isn’t exactly rich. We just spent all of our money on building the infrastructure for the residents.”

“I know,” Helena assured her. “I would never extort you. It’s not my style. Actually, we’re going to share a secret with you.”

“A secret?” Mrs. Francis repeated. This conversation was definitely not going in the direction she had expected. She straightened in her seat, more than a little scared. Her little rabbit heart beat so fast, she was afraid she’d pass out.

“A secret, yes. You see, witches don’t usually live away from their kind. We tend to live in covens, much like you shifters like to live in packs. My daughter and I are witches without a coven. We need a safe place to hide, and that’s why we came here. The lake, the forest, the mountains, all of it builds the perfect defenses for us.”

“Are you on the run?”

Helena inclined her whitening redhead. “In a manner of speaking. We cannot be out there in the world without protection.”

“Why?”

Helena flinched, but it was Lina who spoke out. “Do you really need to know? Can’t you just trust us that we are not a threat to your town?”

“I would prefer to know, yes,” Mrs. Francis answered. “Especially if you bring trouble to our door.”

“We would never do so intentionally, but our help is contingent on you accepting our truth,” Helena admitted sadly.

“Which is?” Mrs. Francis questioned, even though she could tell how much this pained the witches.

“My daughter is special,” Lina sighed. “The kind of special that only comes once in a lifetime.”

“Oh.” It was only then that Mrs. Francis noticed the small wooden cradle in the corner of the room. It was hidden behind gauzy curtains that draped from the ceiling. “How is she special?”

Helena and Lina exchanged a look as if the mother and daughter were making a last-minute judgmental call about her. They must have decided that Mrs. Francis was trustworthy because Lina uncrossed her arms with a mournful sigh.

“It’s because of me. Of her father. He believes that Alana is this great sorceress who has come to the world to rid it of mortals.”

Mrs. Francis gasped, her hands covering her mouth. “Is she?”

“Maybe,” Lina admitted. “There is no way to know for sure who my daughter will become. It’s my wish to raise her away from all talk of those prophecies. I want her to be a normal little witch. I want her to have a good and normal life that isn’t plagued by her father’s ambition.”

“And where is this father? Is he magical? Dangerous? Do we need to protect ourselves from him?”

“Of course, we have to protect Alana from him, and if he were to find us, you may rest assured that he would destroy us.” Lina’s breath caught on the words. “All I want is a safe place where I can raise my daughter to be whoever she chooses to be. I won’t have her life be dictated by an old prophecy that some madman believes to be true.”

“We don’t want to rid the world of mortals,” Helena continued. “We’re not violent or evil. We just happen to have magical powers, just like you happen to shift into animals.”

“And how will this spell protect the town and your child from her father?” Mrs. Francis had come here in the hopes of assuaging all her fears. If this kept up, she would leave Wixx with way more fears than she had ever thought possible in her lifetime.