Page 29 of How to Charm a Coven (How to Flirt with a Witch #2)

Katie vs. The World

T he lobby feels more like a war room than the magical haven I once thought it was. As black-cloaked figures gather beneath the wrought-iron lanterns—ten Shadows that Sky assembled for the mission—fear grips my throat. I’m positive tonight will end in a bloodbath.

The enchanted net drags behind me—one of two pieces of magic I’ve been granted. The other, the gauntlet, sits cold and hard on my hand. The thought of using either tonight makes me nauseous.

I follow Natalie across the lobby, my heart beating fast. “I need to talk to you about all this.”

“We’ll be okay,” she says, misreading my panic. “The Shadows have a plan. This is exactly what we needed to secure your freedom.”

She’s way more excited than I am—and I get it. Before I knew the truth, I would have been excited too about trapping all these chimeras at once.

But Lucy’s voice resonates in my memory: If your witches attack us again, we will not show mercy.

“We’re putting everyone in danger for something that’s my responsibility,” I say. “And the chimeras…”

We are spirits of the wild, keepers of ancient magic.

I grip the net tighter, torn. Everything would be simpler if I could just believe trapping them is the answer.

But I’ve heard Lucy’s voice and felt their fear, and I’ve come to recognize something within myself that’s been here since the moment I first sensed magic.

During my time in the coven, I’ve seen the difference between trying to control magic and trying to protect it.

And I feel in my soul that whatever is happening here isn’t right.

Natalie puts both hands on my shoulders and holds my gaze. “I know you’re scared, but we’ve got this. You’re not going to prison on my watch, and that’s a promise.”

Her stubborn loyalty makes my eyes sting. She doesn’t get it.

And the worst part is that I don’t know how to explain. If I tell her I think I’m descended from ancient Guardians, she’ll think I’m being naive and grasping at nothing.

A scoff behind us makes us turn.

“That net is valuable C.S.A.M.M. property ,” Agnes says, her fawn pigtails swinging as she shakes her head. She’s holding a clipboard and pen, though what she could possibly be taking notes on, I have no idea. “It’s not some trinket for you to mishandle. Stop dragging it on the ground.”

Natalie sighs. “Don’t you have some…checklist to check?”

“ And —” Agnes ignores her, her wide-set eyes scanning me up and down. “You should be wearing a proper cloak. Why don’t you have one?”

“Ask Fiona,” I mutter.

She scoffs again and turns up her nose before walking away. “I will. No sense of tradition around here… Things are changing for the worse… Greg, get out!”

She chases the French bulldog from the lounge, waving the clipboard, leaving me to let out a breath and try to refocus .

The volume of conversation rises, the team of Shadows putting on their cloaks and backpacks as they prepare to go. My own backpack is slumped in a booth, practically empty except for the hiking essentials from last time.

I hold up the enchanted net. “So how are we supposed to catch that many chimeras with just one of these?”

Natalie looks past me. “Time to go, Sky?”

“All set,” Sky says. She’s favoring the leg that got bit, but she looks as ready for action as ever.

Sweat prickles on the back of my neck as the ambush ticks closer. “Natalie, did you know there used to be witches who protected the chimeras? Guardians, before Guardians became dedicated to neutralizing curses?”

Natalie’s brow furrows. She looks at me properly, her excitement morphing into confusion.

Heels click, and Fiona marches over wearing her red traveling cloak and a satisfied smile. My stomach clenches, and I avoid meeting her eye like a solar eclipse.

“This is your chance, Miss Alexander. If we trap all the bio magic tonight, you’ll earn your freedom—and maybe more. I hear your ability proved useful in catching the last one.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just nod. Big change of heart from when she wanted me to catch chimeras alone.

“It’s hard to find good Trackers these days,” she continues. “There may be a place for you in that guild if your talents align.”

Her words trickle through me, easing the tension in my head.

It’s not the first time I’ve been promised a place in the coven if I prove useful.

She kept her word last time, letting me be a Guardian with Natalie for weeks before I blew it.

Could tonight fix everything? We could put this mess behind us, and I can move forward as part of the coven, ready to continue keeping the world safe from dark magic.

“Thank you,” I say, unsure how to feel .

As she walks away, a jitter rolls through me, and I tighten my grip on the net.

God, it’s tempting. If I can forget about the voices in my head and whatever I learned about the ancient Guardians, I can accept her peace offering and move on—because in truth, this is all I’ve wanted. A place in the coven with Natalie.

But this isn’t just about my freedom anymore. This is about purpose, and morals, and what kind of person I want to be.

Is there any winning? Either I betray what my heart is telling me and we trap these chimeras, or I somehow sabotage this mission and spend five years in prison. There’s no middle ground.

Sky raises her hands for quiet. “Listen up!” she shouts, her voice strong. “I know this falls outside our expertise. But this is a critical opportunity to trap the bio magic that escaped in February, so we need to give it our all.”

I appreciate the way she said ‘escaped’ and not ‘set free by this dumbass over here.’

“You should have all had a chance to review the enchantment by now,” Sky continues. “If not, come see Hayley.”

“What enchantment?” I whisper to Natalie, unease crawling up my spine.

On Natalie’s other side, Fiona leans forward. “We won’t be able to catch them one-by-one, so we’re doing what we should have done long ago: destroying them altogether.”

My blood runs cold. “What?”

“We’re going to end bio magic’s existence so a disaster like this never happens again. We should have done it right from the start instead of setting up those damned cages.”

“You can’t!” I cry, and a few Shadows look back at me.

Natalie touches my arm, dropping her voice to barely a whisper. “It’s okay, Katie. ”

“Bio magic causes nothing but pain,” Fiona says.

Her gaze burns into me, full of that heaviness that’s been there since she intercepted me at the airport.

“Think of your loved ones before you ask us to leave this power feral, Miss Alexander. Think of someone’s niece playing in the park, or their sister walking home alone at night. ”

I pull my arm away from Natalie. “But destroying it isn’t the answer! These chimeras are a natural wonder. You can’t just eliminate them.”

At my rising voice, Sky stops talking, and every Shadow turns to look at us.

“A natural wonder? Don’t be absurd.” Fiona addresses everyone listening in. “Okay, let’s move. Remember, no magic goes free.”

My chest tightens. Do I tell her I had an actual conversation with a chimera, or would that make everything worse? Will anything I say convince her not to destroy them, or am I basically standing in front of a high-speed train right now?

Unless…

“Millie and Sebastian are there,” I blurt. “If we storm in, they’ll get hurt or killed.”

The entire room goes still. I can’t look at anyone, least of all Natalie. Not only have I betrayed Millie’s secret, but I’ve also admitted to keeping this huge secret from Natalie.

But I had no choice. They need to know human lives are at stake before sending in the cavalry.

“What are they doing there?” Natalie asks, breaking the silence.

“Millie tried to consume bio magic, and she’s…unwell. They’re trying to fix it.”

There’s a furious glint in her eyes that tells me we’re in for an argument later. My stomach plummets—but I can’t think about that right now. I just need to stop this massacre from happening.

“If they get in the way, they’re the only ones to blame,” Fiona says .

With a jerk of her chin, the Shadows move toward the steam clock exit, a dark tide of cloaks.

I rush to grab my backpack and follow Natalie down the hall, my heart beating out of my chest. No, no, no. This is a huge mistake.

But what am I supposed to do? I can’t stop an army of witches!

Dad’s words echo in my head: Alexanders don’t give up.

My brain whirrs frantically, my feet clumsy as I let Natalie guide me with her hand on my lower back. Think, Katie!

What could possibly take the Shadows away from this mission? Is anything more important than the chance to trap a hundred chimeras at once?

I can think of one thing. An extremely high-priority target.

I pull out my phone, hating myself for doing this to Hazel.

Katie

SOS. Need intel on the Madsens. Whatever you’ve got.

We pile into the van, and I end up wedged between Natalie and Hayley on the floor. I stare at my phone as we wind through Vancouver’s dark streets toward the park, waiting for Hazel’s reply, desperately trying to come up with another argument.

At last, my phone buzzes in my hand, and my breath hitches.

Hazel

Sophia’s place.

With it comes a pin on a map.

Holy shit. She did it.

This is how I derail the mission.

As I’m staring at the pin, another text arrives.

Can we talk before you share it with the witches? I feel like a terrible person for doing this. Call me in the morning ?

But we don’t have time to talk first. She doesn’t realize how urgent this is and what’s at stake tonight.

I’m sorry, Hazel, but this is life-or-death.

I jump to my feet, hitting my head on the roof. “Ow—stop!”

Sky keeps driving, but everyone else turns to stare at me, their faces ghostly and unreadable in the street lights flashing by beyond the windows.

My hands shake as I hold up my phone—my last, desperate hope. “I know where Sophia Madsen is.”