Page 11 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Delilah and Briar had both been in good spirits as they’d gathered their travel bags in the living room that morning, seemingly unaware of Kieran chewing his lip and staring at the phone in the kitchen.

He had been waiting for it to ring for days as he worked out the logistics of their trip, from putting in his resignation notice at the coffee shop to working out payment details with Klaus.

Whenever he returned home, he’d ask Delilah or Briar if the phone had rung, and aside from Delilah getting a few calls from her cursebreaking clients, it hadn’t.

It seemed that Sebastian had decided not to take the job offer.

Kieran told himself it didn’t matter. They’d be just fine with their usual crew—Delilah and Briar were capable witches, and they had a skilled pilot, to boot, but it would have been nice to have Sebastian’s insider knowledge.

And those diamond-cutting cheekbones, a traitorous voice in his brain offered.

Not that I care about those, he argued with himself. Ash’s cheekbones are just as nice, obviously.

“Hey!” Delilah said, breaking Kieran out of his thoughts. “There it is!”

Kieran looked up to find their old aeroship parked on the frost-covered grass.

The aeroship was shaped like a traditional sailing ship, with two massive red balloons attached to the top.

Its metal wings hung off the sides, with springy webbing between them that helped push air down during takeoff.

The crow’s nest, Briar’s favorite former haunt, looked out over the airfield and miles beyond.

“There they are!” came a familiar voice from the top deck. A short, round-faced person with chin-length black hair and gold-toned skin waved at them. They wore an oil-stained vest over a rumpled white shirt—their usual uniform. “Long time no see!”

Kieran craned his neck to see the ship’s pilot—and new owner—Ariel Zhang grinning at him.

After they’d broken the curse, Kieran had sold Ariel the ship he’d initially stolen from his parents.

While the sale wasn’t technically legal—Kieran would have needed the official paperwork for that—he’d had little interest in trying to maintain the thing after the curse broke, and Ariel had always wanted their own ship to travel the world.

Ariel had paid him enough to help him start his life in Gellingham, then took off into the skies for a new adventure.

Kieran had been lucky they’d been willing to sign on as the pilot for this quest. Granted, he’d offered a sizable salary from Klaus’s money, but still.

“Ah, our little friends have returned!” cried a second voice. A tall, tan-skinned man with a carefully manicured undercut leaned over the edge of the ship, his big brown eyes bright and his smile warm. “Oh, how I’ve missed locking my liquor cabinet.”

“That was one time!” Briar shot back from below.

Santiago Luna, the Pelumbra family’s former personal chef and Ariel’s partner, let out a booming laugh. “Glad to see you haven’t changed, Briar.”

Shortly after, Ariel and Santiago extended the gangway, and came out to give their friends hugs and express how much they’d missed them.

Ariel ruffled Briar’s hair, commenting on how it had grown out, and Santiago clapped Delilah on the back.

Seeing them made the trepidation that had begun to churn in Kieran’s stomach subside somewhat.

While Ariel and Santiago were only in their mid- to late twenties, they were as close to parents as he, Briar, and Delilah had had on their cursebreaking journey last spring.

He’d found himself missing being able to ask them questions like how to make scrambled eggs or not shrink wool sweaters in the wash.

Santiago squeezed Kieran’s shoulder. “I heard you got yourself into a bit of a situation, my friend.”

Kieran sighed. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“Let’s head in—you can tell us more while I get us in the air,” Ariel said, gesturing toward the gangway. “I had Santiago set up your old rooms with clean sheets—”

“Kieran—hold on a moment.”

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, the five of them turned just as someone crossed the frosty grass, headed in their direction.

At first, Kieran didn’t recognize him. He wore a gray woolen coat, his hands in the pockets, and a pair of leather shoes that would have looked more appropriate at a business meeting.

On his back was a large pack, clearly meant for travel.

As he came closer, he brushed dark hair from his face, revealing a black eye and a bruised jaw.

“Sebastian?” Kieran said, taken aback by the boy’s sudden appearance. “You came?”

“Wait, the Sebastian?” Briar asked. “This is the guy you saved?”

“Oooooh—now I get it,” Delilah said. She lowered her voice and leaned closer to Kieran, whispering behind her hand conspiratorially. “He’s very pretty.”

Kieran shot her a wide-eyed look as his cheeks flushed. “That’s not—”

As Sebastian came to a stop, Kieran’s words stopped behind his teeth.

Up close, he saw a cut through Sebastian’s eyebrow crusted with dried blood, and more of it stuck in his hair.

Kieran had assumed the injuries were left over from the attack in the woods, but now that he looked closer, it was clear these had happened within the last few hours.

“Goodness—are you all right?” Kieran asked, rushing up to meet him. His eyes darted over Sebastian’s body, looking for more wounds. The coat and long pants covered most of his skin, but he did seem to be walking with something of a limp. “What happened to you?”

Sebastian swallowed thickly. His lower lip was busted and swollen. “Nothing of import.”

“ Nothing of — You look like you’ve been through a meat grinder!” Kieran reached out, unsure of whether a touch would be comforting or unwelcome, and wound up pulling back. “Who did this? Elias?”

At the sound of the man’s name, Sebastian flinched. He quickly recovered. “That’s beside the point. Though it’s safe to say I’m no longer working for him. As such, I came to accept the job, assuming the offer still stands.”

“Job?” Santiago asked, eyebrows nearly at his hairline. He shot a look at Kieran. “Perhaps we should be focusing on getting our new friend a first aid kit and some stitches instead of employment?”

“I offered Sebastian a position on the ship since he’s worked with Elias,” Kieran explained. “I figured we could use all the insider information we can get. That said, I didn’t expect Elias to react to Sebastian’s resignation like this. ”

Sebastian shook his head. “It looks worse than it is.”

“Like hell,” Briar scoffed. “Look, I’ve been in my fair share of fights, and those aren’t light injuries. You must have really pissed someone off.”

Sebastian winced, and his fingers instantly went to his neck, where Kieran could see the slimmest line of purple bruising poking out from under his collar. Kieran wondered how much worse the injuries were beneath his coat.

“Please,” Sebastian said, seeming to fight to keep his voice even. He was doing a good job of it, but nonetheless, Kieran had to assume he was in a great deal of pain. “I swear I can be useful. I won’t let this get in the way.”

It took Kieran a moment to realize what Sebastian was getting at. Did he really think that Kieran would rescind the offer just because he was injured?

“Oh! Of course you’re still welcome. As long as no one has any objections.”

There was a long pause as the rest of the crew exchanged looks, and Kieran found himself waiting for one of them to chime in.

But Briar was silent, and Santiago and Ariel were too busy whispering to each other about how they were going to treat Sebastian’s injuries with the supplies they had on the ship.

Delilah, meanwhile, covered her wrinkled nose with her hand.

Kieran cocked a brow at her, but she didn’t seem to notice; she was staring at Sebastian as if he’d sprouted a few extra eyes.

Kieran made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Finally, it was Briar who piped up: “It’s up to you, Kieran. It’s your Calling.”

Kieran chewed his lower lip. It seemed obvious that Sebastian needed help, but Delilah’s reaction seemed strange—did she know something he didn’t?

But then again, nothing about the boy’s words seemed untrue.

Technically, it was possible that Elias could have sent him to be a spy.

He could have hurt Sebastian intentionally to make his leaving seem more convincing, sure.

But at the same time, Kieran doubted injuries as severe as Sebastian’s were merely intended to be a cover-up.

Like Briar had said, they looked like they’d been inflicted by someone who was livid, not calculated.

Plus, Sebastian genuinely seemed like he wanted to help them beat Elias and pay Kieran back for saving his life.

And he’s also probably one of the most attractive boys I’ve ever laid eyes on, he thought. Not that that matters, of course. Boyfriend and all. Ex status pending.

He sighed. If this bites me in the ass later, I’ll just have to deal with it then.

“Okay,” Kieran said, nodding. “Consider yourself the newest member of the crew, Sebastian.”

Sebastian let out a breath. “Thank you, Kieran. Truly. Once again, I owe you.”

“Well,” Ariel said, jutting their chin toward the ship, “on that note, let’s get this kid some bandages and this aeroship in the sky. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

Exchanging looks, the crew nodded, then boarded the ship for departure.

Returning to the aeroship after six months away felt a bit like coming home.

As the engine kicked on and the metal wings beat, lifting them into the air, Kieran quickly settled into his old room.

Delilah and Briar elected to share Briar’s old one.

Sebastian took Delilah’s old room, kitty-corner to Kieran’s.

Once Kieran had finished unpacking his trunk of clothes and other items, he went straight to Sebastian’s door.