Page 8 of How to Charm a Coven (How to Flirt with a Witch #2)

The Impossible Task

T wo months to catch all the chimeras or I lose the next five years of my life in the coven’s underground cells. Ugh, this is like the world’s worst Pokémon game.

My stomach revolts as Natalie drives me to Hazel’s place, and I roll down the window to let the cool spring air hit my face. Don’t be sick, don’t be sick. This will all work out.

Natalie’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel, the veins in her forearms bulging as she grips it too tightly. She hasn’t said much since we left, but she’s practically radiating anger, like standing next to a bonfire. Her jaw is clenched so hard that a muscle jumps in her cheek.

“You don’t deserve this,” she finally says, her voice rough. “You did the right thing, and they’re too stubborn to see it.”

I reach over and squeeze her thigh, my throat so tight I can’t speak.

Now could be the time to tell her how I feel—to let her know exactly what she means to me before everything gets even more complicated. But what if saying the words makes this harder for both of us? What if knowing I love her makes the thought of my imprisonment even more painful for her to bear ?

“This is my fault,” she growls, jerking me out of my thoughts. “I should have never brought you into all this.”

“Don’t say that,” I reply, barely audible. “Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Natalie’s scowl deepens. “Was it? Look where it’s gotten you.”

My eyes burn, and a lump forms in my throat. “Please don’t think that way.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t understand. I’ve spent my whole life in the coven, and I know how they operate. They’re setting you up to fail because you’re not one of us.”

The words sting more than they should. “Not one of you?”

Natalie winces. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Isn’t it, though? I’m just the non-magical girlfriend you’re not supposed to have.” I pull my hand back, staring out the window as the world passes in a blur. “Be honest. Would any of this be happening if I were a witch?”

Natalie’s silence is answer enough. When I look back at her, her expression is sour. “The coven has always been protective of its secrets. Outsiders are…complicated.”

“Outsiders,” I repeat, the word a sigh.

“I hate that they see you that way. But I can’t change centuries of lawmaking overnight.” She switches lanes, falling back into a moody silence.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I say.

She blows out a breath. “Your trial would have gone differently if you were a witch, yes.” She reaches over to squeeze my hand, her fingers warm and strong. “But that doesn’t mean I want it any other way.”

Before I can decide whether I believe her, she adds, “There’s been something on my mind lately. For weeks, and maybe longer.”

She parallel parks in front of Hazel’s apartment building and turns off the car .

My pulse quickens as I stare at her, wondering what she’s going to say. I can’t tell if it’s good or bad.

She doesn’t meet my eye, swallowing hard.

“Natalie, you’re scaring me,” I say.

“I don’t want to live in C.S.A.M.M. anymore,” she blurts.

The words hang between us.

My heart stops. “What? But that’s… You can’t…” A hundred scenarios rocket through my head at once—Natalie wanting to give up magic forever, to stop being a witch, to move out of the country.

“I still want to work there,” she says quickly, maybe seeing my panic.

“I’ll always be a Guardian. But I want to shut work off when the day’s done.

I want a whole separate part of my life that isn’t about being a witch.

I want…” She looks down at our entwined hands.

“I want to spend evenings and weekends doing normal things. Dinner parties and… I don’t know, hiking? Gardening? What do normal people do?”

My eyes sting. Between the emotion of everything and my lack of sleep, I could burst into tears. This doesn’t fit with the future I envisioned for us—the one where I move in with her and we spend our free time here in the lounge and courtyard. The one where I could maybe one day be a witch too.

Does she feel this way because of me? Have I impacted her life so severely that I’m making her question her identity?

“Don’t…” I swallow around the lump in my throat, trying not to sound like I’m about to cry. “Don’t make any decisions you can’t reverse. Everything is so messed up right now, but once we clear my name…”

She shakes her head. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I want to step back from the coven’s rules and be my own person. I want this for us—and for me.”

I nod, trying to understand. Given the way the coven is treating me, I get why she’s disillusioned. “I feel like this is my fault,” I say quietly .

“It’s not. You helped me see the darkness that was already there.” She tips my chin up so I meet her eyes, which are also full of tears.

Is she right? I recall what she once confessed to me: “Being in the coven…it’s like our whole identity.” I just never imagined this.

Through the window, the front door of the apartment building flies open. A dishevelled young woman bursts out with Ethel in her arms, wearing an oversize red sweater that comes to her knees, pajama pants, and fuzzy slippers.

“Hazel,” I whisper.

Natalie and I break apart. We’ll have to finish this conversation later.

Hazel’s face crumples, and by the time I climb out of the car, tears are spilling down her cheeks.

We collide in a fierce hug. Ethel meows and purrs between us, clambering for me. For a fleeting moment, I let myself pretend everything is normal—like this is another reunion with my bestie, not the aftermath of a verdict that could destroy my future.

“I really didn’t expect to return to a coven that hates me,” I say into Hazel’s shoulder, my throat tightening.

“They don’t deserve you.” She squeezes tighter. “Anyway, you’ve got me and Natalie on your team, and we love you.”

There’s a pause as the word love hangs in the air. Maybe I’m the only one to notice it.

Around us, the day is mockingly normal. Weak afternoon sun glints off the windows on the modest brick building, a breeze carries the scent of the ocean mixed with Kitsilano’s ever-present coffee shop aromas, traffic hums in the distance, and pedestrians and cyclists pass by on their way home from work.

We break apart, and I squish Ethel against my chest, burying my face in her soft fur. “I’m so screwed. Think they’ll let me do some interior decorating in my cell? A bean bag chair and some posters? ”

“We’ll get you out of this,” Natalie says. She leans against her car, her hands in the pockets of her gray suit, wearing the same numb, solemn expression she’s had since we left. Like she’s still processing how quickly everything went wrong.

“Natalie’s dad should be able to help,” I tell Hazel. “He captures feral magic for a living.” My voice is hollow and devoid of hope. Because first we need to free her dad from wherever the Madsens have him captive. If that’s even possible.

Hazel nods, her eyes glossy but her jaw set. “You can do it, Katie. I’ve seen you trap a rabid demon kitten under a laundry hamper.”

I almost crack a smile but am too tired and scared to let it form. Though her faith in me warms my chest, she doesn’t understand. One kitten, no matter how possessed, is nothing compared to fifty-six chimeras. Fiona only agreed because she knew I’d fail.

I furrow my brow at the mention of my old kitten, recalling the chaotic morning that became my introduction to magic. “Natalie, didn’t you say Lucy was bio magic? Why could I trap her so easily?”

I don’t dare to hope… But if I have a rare magic-sensing ability, then…?

Natalie shakes her head. “She was already harnessed and had a curse placed on her. She wasn’t a feral chimera.”

My stomach sinks. “Ah.”

Deep breaths. Don’t puke.

“Hazel, your map might still come in handy,” Natalie says.

“It was you,” I say. “Hazel, that map was brilliant.”

“Didn’t work, though,” she grumbles.

“It helps us track all the chimeras’ last-known locations,” Natalie says. “We can still use it to hunt them down.”

Hazel flushes, and a dimple appears in one cheek. “Then I’ll keep working on it.”

I let out a shaky breath, overwhelmed by their support. “Thank you. Both of you. ”

“Get some sleep, Katie.” Natalie steps forward and pulls me into a hug, her strong arms encircling me.

“Chimera-hunting tomorrow?” I ask.

She presses a kiss to my temple, her lips lingering against my skin and her soft hair tickling my face. “First, I need to make a plan with Sky for rescuing Dad. Just settle in, help Hazel get ready for her new job—”

“Settle? Job ?” I exclaim, pulling back. The thought of doing normal things is baffling.

“There’s not much you can do until we find Dad. I’ll call you, okay?”

I blow out a breath. She’s right. I should try to uphold the normal life I’m fighting so hard for—and I can start researching chimera sightings in the meantime.

I nod, and she pulls me in again. Her familiar earthy scent wraps around me, and I let myself melt into her.

Her heartbeat pulses against me, and her breath catches ever so subtly when I press closer.

The solidness of her body grounds me like nothing else can—and for this moment in her arms, I’m completely safe.

Hazel has already turned her apartment into a sanctuary.

It smells like home-cooked food, her belongings are unpacked and tidy, and music streams from her laptop.

Warm light pours through big windows that overlook the buildings across the street, and there’s a glimpse of the ocean between them.

Ethel scampers to the windowsill, apparently having found her favorite spot for birdwatching.

In the center of it all, blooming bright on the kitchen table, are the flowers from Natalie.

My throat tightens at the thought of my best friend and girlfriend working together to free me from that cell. I reach for the wall to steady myself, light-headed as the reality of my situation crashes over me again. Five years in prison. A formative era of my life, gone.