Page 8 of How Not to Hex a Gentleman (Witches of Edinburgh)

Chapter Eight

KENNEDY

I spend hours at the bookstore and hours stewing over the audacity of Bennett. What kind of a name is that anyway? Who names their kid Bennett? It's so annoyingly posh.

Okay, I'm really not concentrating on the right thing here. I need to focus on the actual problem at hand. That maybe…possibly…magic isn't some horrible thing that will make me burst into flames if I use it and I'm part of a magically tattooed trio who was anointed by a fountain. Not how completely disorienting it was to be pressed tightly against his broad chest.

I didn't even know they made them like that anymore. He looks like he stepped right off a magazine cover in his dark blazer and pressed slacks. He looked put together, except for that messy mop of brown hair that I really wanted to run my hands?—

No, focus, Kennedy . You are much too disciplined to be mooning over an annoying guy who apparently can't look where he's going . Yes, that's much better. Focus on his lack of manners.

But his accent? It’s gloriously Scottish and?—

Ugh! Focus!

When I step into The Black Cat hours later I'm no closer to figuring anything out—or getting Bennett out of my mind—which is quite frustrating.

"Kennedy!" Olivia greets me from behind the counter where Lily is leaning against it.

"You weren’t kidding! This place is incredible," Lily says, beaming at me.

"Did you know that Olivia is into the mystical ?" Parker comes out from the back, carrying a cup of coffee. My heart immediately starts beating fast with anxiety at Parker's talk of magic, but I breathe through it. One thing I did decide while I was leafing through the book on the history of witches is that I need to be better at controlling my learned responses. I thrive on control, so I can do my part in controlling my automatic reactions. Taking a deep breath, I raise my eyebrow at her blatant bombardment of Olivia's place.

"I sincerely apologize for her rudeness," I say, turning to Olivia. "This girl was clearly raised in a barn."

"And it was a glorious barn at that." Parker winks at me and I almost don't feel like rolling my eyes at her.

I don't want to admit it, but she's getting to me.

"You've come at a perfect time," Olivia says, just as Petunia jumps on the counter, staring at me. "And clearly Pet thinks so as well."

"You named your pet...Pet?" Lily asks and Olivia chuckles.

"No, her name is Petunia."

"Incredible," Parker says, coming over to stare at Petunia, whose eyes don't leave mine. "She really seems to like you, Kennedy."

"She does," Olivia agrees, and I glance up to find the cat studying me. I reach over to Petunia, letting her sniff my fingers before she butts her head against my hand for pets, to which I oblige immediately. "She's not typically big on letting anyone pet her."

"Maybe she can sense I need it," I say before I can think too much of it.

"Is everything okay?" Olivia asks immediately, and I realize my mistake. I told the girls I didn't want strangers in our business so I can't exactly be spilling my guts now.

“Yes, but it's been a long day since I saw you last. Could I please get a caramel latte?"

Olivia doesn't question the change in subject and turns to make me my coffee. The girls and I converge on the same table I sat at this morning.

"This place is incredible. It's witchy, don't you think?" Parker says, not bothering to keep her voice down.

"Parker," I hiss, leaning over the table. "Can we not?"

"Sorry, I just think Olivia would be open to the discussion. She has the coolest and most diverse collection of oracle and tarot cards I've ever seen. And she's been around here for a while; she might know things."

"Please tell me you didn't just go snooping?"

"Hey, I asked. She saw my bracelets." Parker holds up her hand and her collection of bracelets, pointing to the three light green ones. "She was curious about these ones and why I have so many shades. This is green aventurine and I wear a lot of it."

"It provides strength and confidence, right?" I ask, the seemingly random knowledge I learned years ago springing to mind. At least that's something I can be grateful for. Just because I've never been allowed to use my magic, doesn't mean I didn't do my due diligence and learned the basics. The few lessons my aunt actually taught me were more about how not to do magic, but the basic information is the same.

"The girl knows her crystals." Parker grins, looking quite proud of the fact.

I grin, very pleased with myself. "I'm a scholar of many subjects."

Lily and Parker laugh at that, just as Olivia comes over with my coffee.

"You girls are more than welcome to stay as long as you like," she says. "I have some things to take care of in the back, but I'll be out if a customer comes in."

"Thank you so much," I say.

The way she's looking at us, I have a feeling she's doing this to give us some privacy, and I'm grateful. Once she disappears to the back, I turn back to the girls. Before I can say a word, Petunia jumps into my lap, curling up on it immediately.

"Wow, this cat really likes you," Lily comments.

I scratch behind Petunia's ear and am rewarded by a little purr. The tension in my shoulders dissipates immediately.

"So what did you find?" Parker asks.

I sigh deeply before I reply. "Nothing, everything. I have no idea. I completely forgot the libraries are closed today, so I opted for a bookstore, but that just yielded more questions. There is so much lore surrounding the magic in Scotland. I could sit there for days and not even make a dent. Which is quite frustrating. I actually love research, and it's partially why I'm here in the first place, but it's like the more I tried to figure out what this thistle tattoo means or what I did in the apartment, the farther away from the truth I was actually getting. I've never been allowed to access so much of the…power, and it's making my head spin. The fact that I'm not alone in this and there are others like me who aren't terrified of it…and it's not like this is something that goes away with a few antibiotics. This is in us for life. And it's quite the conundrum, and I am completely helpless to come up with any kind of a solution. Or even the beginning of one. Which is very disorienting for me and I don't like it."

The words leave me in a rush before I even realized what I was going to say. Once I'm done, I take another deep breath as the girls stare at me from across the table.

"Feel better?" Lilly asks.

"Yes, actually," I reply. It does feel like I'm bottling things up, but it's hard not to when I'm surrounded by strangers and trying to come to terms with the fact that not everyone thinks magic is terrible or that we will be burned at the stake for using it. Even though my aunt has been my only living relative since I was five years old, I'm used to taking care of life on my own. She's too scared of it and I try very hard not to imitate that response as well.

"Here." Parker reaches over and tugs a necklace over her head, presenting it to me. It's a simple silver chain with an inverted pyramid pendant. "This is amethyst. It will help."

I don't even question it when she reaches to place it over my head. Once it drops to my chest, Petunia raises her head and butts at it, giving me another purr before settling back down on my lap.

"Thank you," I say, oddly touched.

Lily reaches out a hand, taking one of mine, and without hesitation, I reach for Parker. The moment we lock hands a sense of peace washes over me. At the same time, my wrist tingles, and I glance over at the thistle tattoo residing there.

"You feel it too right?" Parker whispers and all I can do is nod.

"Why does it feel so...right?" Lily asks.

"Because, my dearest darlings,” —we twist around to see Olivia is back in the room with us— "you are magic and you have finally found each other."

BENNETT

"Are you ill, mate? You look a mess," Nicholas says as I drop down in the seat across from him at one of our favorite coffee shops in town. My friend looks like he's stepped out of a meeting with the king, while I look like a haggard mess. The weather decided to be typical unpredictable Scottish and warmed up too many degrees on the rush over here. And I might've speed-walked…up a hill.

Or maybe I'm just running hotter since the run-in on the staircase. I can't get that interaction with the beautiful stranger out of my mind. I shrug out of my jacket, running a hand over my face.

"Maybe? I've met the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life and she hates me."

"Well, I suppose that makes her the smartest as well."

"Shut up." I drop my head into my hands, trying to figure out what I could've done to offend the beautiful creature. I mean, I am not as smooth as Nicholas is, but I'm not terrible either. Not usually. Running into her and almost ruining her phone wasn't my finest moment, but she seemed to dislike me already.

"Okay, lad. Tell me what's troubling your weary soul."

"Bugger off." I sit up straight as he chuckles. My stomach rumbles, adding another layer of discomfort and I need to get food in me fast before I become as whiny as a puppy.

"I return early from my trip just for you and this is the welcome I get?"

"What do you mean?" I look at him appalled. "We're downright cuddling at this point."

I shake my head as he belly laughs and a few people glance over. Nicholas has always been the kind of guy who commands attention and it's so much worse when he's laughing. Girls swarm him any time we go out, nearly swooning at his feet. It doesn't help that the guy is built like a model—one of those rugged-looking ones who know how to use their hands for something other than moisturizing. His hair is much darker than mine, nearly black, and his eyes are that amber color that looks like honey. I've heard a woman describe him as a forbidden sweet dessert once and he hasn't let me forget it once.

"Come on, mate. What happened? Your text sounded like the end of the world and now this?"

I forgot I even texted him about my paper, but even so, I don't start there. I start with the girl. "You know that flat below me?"

"The abandoned one?"

"Apparently not abandoned. A girl walked out of it this morning, and I was so distracted I ran right into her, sending her phone flying. When she lunged for it, I saved her from plummeting down the stairs, but apparently she hates me for it? Or maybe for something else I did because the moment she saw who I was she got on the defensive."

"Oh, I like her already."

"Come on, man." I send him a glare.

"What? Your pretty boy puppy persona can be taken down a peg or two. Not everyone loves you the moment they meet you."

"That's not what your ex-girlfriend said."

"Yeah, she had terrible taste, didn't she?"

"She did date you, so can't argue with that."

Nicholas chuckles because his last girlfriend was kind of nuts with her stalker tendencies and all that. After I met her, she thought she could have both of us. The moment she made her move, I told Nicholas and he broke up with her immediately. She didn't take it well, but we do give each other a hard time about it now and then anyway.

"Laugh all you want, but this girl sounds like she's a good one if she didn't automatically fall for your charms."

I ignore the comment and glance over at the chalkboard of options near the counter.

"I'm getting a coffee," I announce, getting up.

Nicholas isn't even fazed, and I bypass a server bringing him his coffee. He clearly ordered before I got here. I order mine and grab a cinnamon bun before I head back to the table to find him grinning at me.

"What?"

"Lana texted me and told me just how amazing you are," Nicholas says, turning his phone around so I can see the message. She makes sure to make Nicholas feel bad for not being there, but then sings my praises for being her knight in shining armor.

"Wait!" I grab Nicholas' phone and scroll up a bit to Lana's earlier message. "The suitcase. That's why. Ugh. Of course."

"Full sentences, mate."

I sit down just as my coffee is brought over and I thank the server before I meet Nicholas' inquiring gaze. "When I raced to meet Lana, I bumped into someone coming up the stairs. Their suitcase slid back down but I was so distracted, I didn't even stop to help. You know how crazy with worry Lana makes me; I can't believe I completely blocked that moment from my mind."

"That's true. You forgot to put on trousers that one time Lana called from school after the easel incident. You should really work on that."

I huff at him but don't comment. I can't believe I forgot about that until now, but Lana was hysterical on the phone and my mind was on a worst-case scenario when it came to her. We really never know when it's her hyper-anxiousness acting up and when something truly horrible has happened. It's not only that her mother made her this way—we've been through an actually terrible experience—so I think both Nicholas and I are more sensitive to her now.

"But, yeah, mate, that girl is going to hate you forever. Those stairs are difficult to navigate without the suitcases." Nicholas takes a sip of his coffee, nodding a little.

"Not helping, Wellington."

"Not trying to, MacKay."

There has to be a way that I can make it up to her. In any other situation I would've stopped and helped, but Lana's message sent me into a worst-case-scenario mindset, and since I was going on two hours of sleep, I was already on edge. None of these are excuses, but it is something that could've happened to anyone. She can't hate me forever, not if I find the right way to make it up to her.

"Are you listening to me?"

"No," I reply before I grin up at my friend.

"Just apologize and then be extra aware of your surroundings. She'll appreciate that." Nicholas raises his coffee cup to salute me with it.

"I did apologize. Well, I didn't know what I was apologizing for, so I will do it again, but I need to do something else too."

"Scrub her windows?"

I glare at him. He thinks he's hilarious. I'm about to make another quip, but this does actually give me an idea, which I'm not going to share with him. He's going to think I'm crazy, but I think I might need to be to earn my favor with her.

Then maybe she'll tell me her name.

"Anyway, can we talk about my project now?" I ask before I take a bite of my cinnamon bun.

Nicholas chuckles, "Yes, we can."