Page 84 of How to Flirt with a Witch

Sky’s face is clammy, her eyes puffy. But she hasn’t lost her fire, and I feel X-rayed as she scrutinizes me. She has the same dark eyes as Natalie, which should put me at ease, but it doesn’t. I shift my weight, waiting for her to speak.

“What room are you staying in?” she asks.

“133.”

She nods, her expression neutral. “I’ll have a long debrief tonight, but I’ll be by in the morning. I want to talk about something.”

A wave of unease rolls through me. It’s ‘we need to talk,’except it’s coming from Natalie’s sister who is a witch assassin. What could go wrong?

I nod, and she turns on her heel and walks away, leaving me under the stares of everyone in the vicinity—Agnes, Will, and the group of high schoolers among them—and a lot of questions roaring through my mind.

At nine the next morning, I’m in the passenger seat of Sky’s SUV, a nervous tremor racing up and down my spine. She hasn’t said much since she knocked on my door, just handed me a parka and scarf as a disguise and invited me to leave the building to talk in private.

“It’s about your ability,” she said, and that was all it took.

Now, as we drive away from Gastown, she graces me with a smile, the warmth in her eyes putting me at ease.

“Do you believe me?” I ask. “That I can pick up on curses?”

Her jaw works in a way that reminds me of Natalie. “Nat told me about the lab test and the thrift store.”

The knot in my stomach tightens at the memory of my failures.

“But she also told me about the kitten and the doll.” Sky stops at a red light and turns to study me. She looks less tired today, even energetic. Her smokey eye makeup is flawless, her cheeks rosy, her shaved head freshly trimmed. “I want to see what you can do, and not in a lab setting.”

Her words erupt through me like fireworks. Finally, somebody agrees that a real-world test would be more valuable. “Are you serious?”

She presses her lips together and faces forward as the light changes, her cheeks dimpling.

“Sky, thank you!”

“Well, we’ll see.” She shoulder-checks and switches lanes, heading toward the Cambie Street bridge. “There’s this pet store. It’s been oozing signs of a curse for a year, but nobody’s been able to pinpoint what, exactly, is cursed. Could be anything—a budgie, fish food, a squeaky toy, a hat for a guinea pig…” She shrugs. “Figured you might crack the case. It’s driving us nuts.”

“I’m in,” I say at once, tamping down the urge to do a victory dance.

“Thought you might be.”

This is all I wanted—one person to have faith in me. “It’s lucky Natalie got a callout this morning so we could—oh.”

I flush as Sky raises her eyebrows mischievously. I should’ve guessed when we left CSAMM unimpeded that the urgent call from a vet’s office was a decoy.

“Will Fiona be okay with this?” I ask, my nerves cranked tight as I imagine her fury over us going behind her back. It’s one thing if I get myself in trouble, but now I’m dragging Sky down with me.

Sky grins. She has the same dimpled smile as Natalie. “She will be once we get back with the good news.”

I grimace.No pressure, then.

“I hope she doesn’t scare you,” Sky says with a glance at my expression. “She’s only a hardass because of the oath.”

It’s the second time someone’s mentioned that word. “Oath?” I ask.

“Nat hasn’t told you? Witches have to swear an oath to work for CSAMM. It’s not like a normal job where you just get fired if you mess up. Directors are pretty much guaranteed prison time for breaking it.”

Holy hell. “What’s the oath about? Keepingmagic a secret?”

“Something like that. Which is why I can’t tell you. But I just want you to understand that Fiona’s life mission is to make sure it stays under strict control. Nat was ballsy to bring you to us.”

That’s becoming clearer by the day.