Page 51 of How to Flirt with a Witch

“But—” Can I just abandon my place? It’s not like my roommate will notice, but I have a life to live. “What about school? Term starts in a couple of days! I have a full timetable!”

Natalie casts me quick glances between concentrating on the road. “I’ll go to class with you. This is my fault, and I don’t want to put your career in jeopardy because of it.”

We turn onto my street, and I blink at her, a struggle happening inside me. “Natalie, you’re telling me I’ll be in danger if I sleep in my own bed tonight, and now I need an escort to bring me to class. Will you please tell me what’s going on?”

Her scowl softens, and she suddenly looks younger, like a teenager getting in trouble.

We screech to a stop in front of my place, and she shuts off the car. She draws a breath, drops her hands into her lap, and clenches her fists as if bracing herself. “I’m a witch.”

Chapter 13

The Secret Life of Natalie Zacharias

Finally, the truth. WhileI dump socks and underwear into my suitcase, Natalie gathers my textbooks and laptop, and my brain frantically works in the background to process this bombshell.

“That was magic you were doing?” My words come out sharp as urgency tightens my throat.

“Yes. I’m sorry you had to see it.”

“I’m not. It saved both our asses.” I grab all my clothes, hangers included, and throw them into the open suitcase. Reality crumbles around me, leaving everything cracked and distorted.She’s a witch. I just witnessed magic.

But it all fits. When she opened the vial to get rid of Rebecca, the amber goo floated out without her touching it. The utter weirdness was overshadowed by everything else going on, but the way her palm hovered over the substance to draw it out…

She was controlling it with magic.

While we race around, Ethel watches from the bed, her tail swishing.

“Freddie can do magic too?” I ask.

“No. But the Madsen family has been trying to get their hands on curses for decades.” The floodgates have opened, information spilling out of her lips.About time. All it took was me nearly getting abducted.

“That’s why he was there?” I ask.

“His family has a knack for showing up to sites where we’ve been called to neutralize one.”

I sit on my luggage to close it, my heart pounding hard. “When you saywe... How many witches are there?”

She stuffs Ethel’s food, bowls, and toys into a cloth shopping bag, stalling. It’s like her instinct to deflect my questions is fighting for dominance. “Known? A few thousand around the world. The real number is higher because some choose to live in secrecy.”

“Unlike what you’re doing, living like an open book?” I say sarcastically.

“Keeping ourselves hidden from the public is another matter. My career is dedicated to regulating and controlling dangerous forms of magic. Same goes for everyone I work with.”

I gather my plants, which I refuse to leave here to die. I can’t believe I’m abandoning my place. But after what I saw, what I felt, I can’t stay here alone. My arm throbs where Freddie grabbed it, my cheeks tingling where Wyatt’s hot breath washed over me.

I want to be skeptical. Witches aren’t real. But nothing can explain the way Natalie made the ground quake and split. And it was clear Freddie couldn’t retaliate the same way.

“If the Madsens have been trying to get their hands on cursed items for so long, have they ever succeeded?” I ask.

“Enough to keep us on our toes,” Natalie says tightly.

“But…” I shake my head, bewildered. The memory of the boils all over my skin hasn’t faded, along with the scorpion, snake, hatching spiders… “Why would anyonewantthat?”

She takes a moment to answer. “Magic has its temptations.”

“How vague of you.” I dump the basket from the top shelf of my closet, where I keep scarves, mittens, and hats, and race to the bathroom. Filling the basket with toiletries and makeup, I shout, “It just doesn’t make sense that they would want something that brings bad luck and like… health problems.”

Natalie pauses. “You’ve only seen the start of a curse. They’re a force in themselves, and the Madsens don’t have anything good planned with that power.”