Page 15 of Love’s a Witch (The Scottish Charms #1)

CHAPTER TEN Sloane

Despite my misgivings, last night’s cèilidh had been surprisingly fun even with the lack of attendees.

Except for one notable moment.

Why did he have to wear his kilt?

Honestly, I’d forgotten the punch of a man in a kilt, having been away from Scotland for years, but seeing Knox stride into the party last night had conflicting emotions rising inside me.

Objectively, I could admire a drop-dead gorgeous man.

Yet when said man was insistent on running you out of town, it certainly leveled up the annoyance factor.

“It’s a good thing it’s not too bright in here, as your beauty lights the room.”

I played his words back to myself, shifting under the blankets, as Blue snored at my feet.

For just a moment, I wanted to savor the compliment, like a delicious dessert enjoyed slowly and paired with a perfect glass of wine.

He’d meant it too. It wasn’t a reflexive comment, one thrown off the cuff to be polite.

Those blue eyes had pierced me, and he’d visibly swallowed as he’d taken my dress in.

I’d done that to him.

I wasn’t used to playing the part of bombshell, but when Lyra had insisted that fire engine red was the way to go, shoving a dress in my hands and refusing to hear my insecurities about how it hugged my curves, I’d given up and gone with it. Now I was glad that I had followed her directive.

There was something about putting a man like Knox on his back foot that made me feel powerful.

I rolled over and looked to where I’d plugged my phone in across the room. Wind gusted against the window, making me burrow more deeply under the covers, and I realized that now I didn’t have to get out of bed in the cold to go get my phone to check my messages.

I could just use my magick to bring it to me.

A little thrill of excitement shot through me.

So what if Mandy Meadows thought I was a basic witch?

This magick was still mine, and I would be proud of it.

Two days ago I couldn’t lift things with my mind, and now I could.

Which was more than the majority of the world’s population could do. Far from basic, in my estimation.

I’d spent much of the day yesterday practicing my levitation skills, and frankly, I was quite chuffed with myself. I had my magick under my command, and I could quickly use it as needed.

Pushing my hair back from my face, I focused on the phone and reached for the magick that shimmered through me.

I realized, now, that it had always been there.

Though I’d started to notice its presence more in the years approaching my twenty-fifth birthday, this spark had always been inside me. My very essence, I supposed.

Or, my sparkles, as Lyra called it.

She was going to take to coven life like, well, a charm.

I smiled to myself. Lyra had always been a girls’ girl.

No matter where she went, she collected friends like handbags, and ingratiated herself quickly into any new community, while Nova and I were more cautious in our approach.

Nova didn’t much care about appeasing anyone, aside from her clients who commissioned her art for digital prints and tattoos, and she’d spent most of the night discussing the best running routes around Briarhaven with Tam.

Broca had stayed home with Blue, insisting that she was happy to do so, and I was glad that I didn’t have to leave him alone.

Aside from Knox reminding me I was unwanted, and most of the town not showing up to the party in protest of our arrival in Briarhaven, I’d had a really nice night.

Reaching my hand out, I pulled at a thread of magick and invited my phone to come to me.

The curtains covering the window behind the phone promptly burst into flames.

“Shite!” I screeched, startling Blue, who toppled off the bed and caught himself just before he reached the floor, and flew awkwardly across the room. Whipping the blankets off the bed, I kept screaming as I beat the curtains with my blankets, trying to tamp out the flames.

“Watch out!” Nova shouted at my back, and then she was there, fire extinguisher in hand, and foam exploded across the window.

In seconds, the fire was out, and Lyra stood in the door, gaping at us, while Broca cried out from below.

“Everything’s fine.” Lyra turned and padded down the hallway. “I’ll go to her.”

Blue threw his head back and howled, and I automatically lifted my arms for him. He slammed into my chest, still not great with his landings, and I cuddled him as I stared at the curtains. My heart thundered in my chest, and a bead of sweat dripped down my back.

What the hell had just happened?

“What the hell was that?” Nova demanded. “Was that Blue’s fault?”

“No, not at all.” Blue whimpered in my arms, and I hugged him more tightly.

“I… I don’t know. I just was going to float my phone to me, so I didn’t have to get out of bed.

I have no idea what happened.” I flailed one hand helplessly in the air, blinking at the foam spray that crusted my window.

Gingerly, I put Blue down on the bed, and he pawed at the blanket, burrowing his nose in.

Stepping across the room, I wiped some of the foam off the window and peered out.

My neighbor lifted two fingers from across the street, where he shoveled his walk. I waved, less enthusiastically today, but still, we had a thing, didn’t we?

“Let’s go talk to Broca. Don’t try to levitate anything else.”

“Good shout.”

“And then we’ll clean this up.” Nova shook her head at the mess of my bedroom wall. “I don’t like this.”

“Yeah, cause I’m a huge fan?” I tugged my Keep Calm sweatshirt over my head, and put a pair of wool cottage socks on, before scooping Blue up and following Nova downstairs.

Blue snuffled at my neck, and then licked my chin, and I smiled despite my apprehension.

He was trying to calm me, in his own way, and I hugged him more tightly to my chest. I hadn’t known how much I needed Blue until I had him.

Something of my own—that wasn’t my sisters—to take care of.

“How did the fire start?” Broca asked as soon as we entered the living room. Lyra had helped her to her armchair, and she wore a dressing gown in acrid lime green with feathers at the wrists.

“It was me,” I said, plopping onto the couch and cuddling Blue close.

Nova went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, and Blue popped his head up, torn between comforting me and the possibility of cheese.

“Go on,” I said, loosening my arms, and he took off from my lap, wheeling his way through the air to Nova.

“Walk me through it.” Broca clasped her hands together, her eyes steady on mine.

I took her through what had led up to the curtains exploding in fire. Lyra curled up next to me, braiding my hair like she used to do as a child when she needed something to focus on and calm her nerves.

“Let’s try it again.” Broca nodded toward a blue-and-white ceramic vase tucked on a side table by the front window. “Can you bring me that vase?”

A shiver of unease rippled down my back.

“What if it explodes or something?”

“I’m ready for it, Sloane.” Broca waved a hand in the air. “Give it a go.”

Biting my lower lip, I focused on the vase and reached for my magick, like I’d done countless times the day before, all with the desired results.

The vase lit on fire and cracked in pieces.

I didn’t even know ceramics could light on fire.

Tears pricked my eyes, frustration filling me, and Blue threw his head back and howled, the sound morose and pulling at my heartstrings.

Broca muttered something under her breath, and the fire winked out.

Abandoning his cheese, Blue flew to me and plopped down in my lap, desperately licking my face as though he could take my worries away with his kisses.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, crestfallen.

“We’ll have to see how tomorrow goes, but if this is what I think it is, well, I guess I’m not entirely surprised,” Broca said.

“What is it, Broca?” Nova brought a tray of bagels and cream cheese over to the coffee table and put it down, and Blue turned toward the food, his eyes hopeful.

“Is it the curse?” I asked, my mind whirling. I couldn’t go around lighting things on fire left and right. Already I had to watch out for Blue, who was still inadvertently torching things at random. We’d burn the house down before the day was over, at the rate we were going.

“It might be, if it is what I think it is. I’ve only known one other witch in our family to have this particular… affliction.”

I flinched.

“?‘Affliction’?” I repeated. I raised an eyebrow. “I’m diseased?”

“I… That’s not quite the right word.” Broca sighed and smoothed a crease in her dressing gown. “It’s still a gift, but you’ll have to make the best of it.”

“Please stop talking in riddles and just give it to me straight.” I closed my eyes and waited, butterflies churning in my gut.

“It’s entirely possible that every day you will wake up with new magick.”

“What?” My mouth sprang open, and I gaped at Broca.

“Like a reverse Groundhog Day ?” Lyra asked.

“Badass.” Nova air-cheersed me with her bagel, and Blue almost fell off my lap to try to get a bite.

“Yes, like a reverse Groundhog Day . It’s been known to happen before, though it is quite rare. Which means that just when you get a handle on your magick, you’ll be given new magick the next day… the old one gone.”

“But… but…”

“Oh, Sloane’s going to hate that,” Nova mused, crunching on her bagel. “She’s a planner.”

“Oh goddess, she’s going to be a nightmare,” Lyra agreed, and my head swiveled between the two.

“That’s what you’re concerned about at the moment? Not that I’ll burn the house down around us?”

“Doubtful. Broca’s got this place charmed to the high heavens, don’t you?” Lyra peered around me at Broca, who nodded.

“Who was the other witch?”

“The other witch?” Broca looked away pretending to not know what I was asking. I felt the ground drop out from under me.

“It’s Mum, isn’t it?” I asked.