Page 44 of Love’s a Witch (The Scottish Charms #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Sloane

Mandy Meadows was already at my house, in pink snow pants and a pink jumper with Après Ski knitted across the front. The rest of the Charms gathered around the dining room table, including Broca, who had left her lounge chair to join the meeting. Felicity’s absence was louder than her presence.

Blue flew to his pile of blankets in the corner and dug his nose in, burrowing until he found a perfect spot, ready to warm up after being out in the cold.

“Sloane, you’re bleeding.” Lyra jumped up, concern on her face, but I just waved her away.

“Not mine.” Toeing my boots off, I stomped to the kitchen sink and rinsed my hands under the hottest water I could, not even noticing when my tears joined the blood that ran in thin rivulets down the drain.

An arm came around my shoulder. And another around my waist.

My sisters. Forever at my side.

“We heard,” Lyra said softly.

“I’m so sorry,” Nova said.

“I think we need to leave,” I choked out.

I hated saying it, I hated admitting defeat, I hated uprooting everyone.

But this was why I never let myself hope.

This was why I never let myself get too attached.

It just hurt, impossibly so, when inevitably we had to move on.

I don’t know who we were kidding this time around, but nothing had changed.

Nothing.

“Broca has called an emergency meeting of the Charms.” Mandy Meadows sniffed, her disapproval clear, as she tucked a piece of blond hair behind her ear and eyed the tray of biscuits in front of her like they were crack.

Drying my hands, I took a seat at the table with my sisters and tried to gain control over my feelings. But still, tears tracked down my face.

“So I did. I’d like to introduce an emergency ordinance. Like the one we did for my daughter years ago.” Broca smiled.

“I’m certain I don’t know of which you speak.” Mandy Meadows sniffed and stared harder at the plate of biscuits, ignoring eye contact with Broca.

My magick escaped, unable to stay tamped down with my swirling emotions, and the tray of biscuits exploded into a pile of frogs, leaping every which way.

Mandy Meadows screeched as one landed directly on her face, its little webbed legs splayed out across her cheeks, holding on for dear life as she clawed at her face.

Tam laughed, catching one and putting him on her shoulder.

“There’s a good lad.” She booped another on its nose and bent to gather them up.

Raven pressed her lips together and spoke sharply when Mandy Meadows went to slap one off the table.

“You’ll do no harm.” Muttering under her breath, Raven gathered the frogs, and then Broca raised her hands over them.

In moments, they’d returned to biscuits, though I was certain nobody would dare take a bite of the snacks now.

“As I was saying, I’d like to invoke Ordinance 33.3, wherein the Charms band together to help one of theirs in need. In this case, four of us in need.” Broca swept out her hand to encompass all of the MacGregor witches sitting at the table.

“Wouldn’t this be the time to focus on helping Felicity?” Deidre asked, tapping away at her phone.

“What could you possibly be discussing right now?” Surprising us all, Nova shot out of her seat and swiped Deidre’s phone from her hand. “There’s no way in hell you’re selling real estate in this snow. For once, just focus.”

“My, my, this witch doesn’t even have her power yet and she’s getting mighty feisty.” Deidre focused on the phone in Nova’s hand.

“Ouch,” Nova hissed, dropping the phone to the floor, and shaking her hand. “Stupid witch heated it.”

“That was dumb,” Lyra said, smiling at Deidre. “You’ll likely just melt the internal components.”

“Worth it,” Deidre muttered, reaching into her bag.

“I swear to the goddess, if you pull out another phone I don’t know what I will do. Remember, we can’t trust my magick.” I slapped a hand on the table, and Deidre stopped, glaring at me.

“ Brilliant to have you all back,” Deidre muttered, and I winced. Making more enemies was probably not the best idea for us at the moment.

Mandy Meadows beamed, delighted with the exchange, and it was hardly any wonder why. She’d been pretty clear about not wanting to help us from the start.

“Deidre’s right. We need to figure out a collective way to help Felicity, not to invoke some ancient ordinance that requires us to put in unnecessary work.”

“Felicity is going to be fine.” Raven held up a hand, stopping Mandy Meadows from talking over her. “I healed her internal bleeding. She needs some help from the doctors, but the intense healing is done.”

“Och, you poor thing. Why didn’t you tell me?” Tam sprung up and went to her bag, rummaging around until she pulled out a vial. Coming back, she poured a few drops in Raven’s tea. “Drink.”

“Thanks.” Raven gave Tam a grateful look, as did I, because within two sips, color had returned to Raven’s pale skin.

“Tell us about this ordinance?” Lyra asked, turning to Broca.

“We used it once before. Back when Mandy wasn’t a part of the coven,” Broca said, adjusting her red glasses. “For the first time in decades, the MacGregor witches had been able to stay in one place without bringing harm to anyone. But it did require sacrifice on behalf of the Charms.”

“What kind of sacrifice?” Tam leaned back and quirked an eyebrow. “Human?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Broca looked directly at Mandy Meadows.

“Savage,” Lyra said under her breath.

“The ordinance requires not only that the Charms meet each week, but we also must do withholding spells each week. On top of that, wards must be placed around the town, checked, and recharged on a biweekly basis.”

“What does the withholding spell do?” I blinked at Mandy Meadows when she sneered at me.

“Withholds the curse from landing on our town?” Mandy Meadows spoke as if I were a toddler who was still learning my words.

My lip curled in distaste. “As you can see, this will be an incredible amount of work, not just on behalf of the Charms, but even more so on the Charms who already have their magick. We’ll be picking up the slack of those who aren’t yet of age.

” She sniffed in the direction of my sisters.

“You’re saying there is a solution, but it just takes hard work?” Tam shrugged a shoulder. “So what?”

“It’s tedious, time-consuming, and with very little benefit.” Mandy Meadows took a small sip of her tea, sitting rigid in her seat.

“I beg to differ, Mandy. A full coven has a huge benefit, particularly for the leader. If I remember correctly, won’t a full coven amplify your powers tenfold?” Broca leaned back in her chair and took her own small sip of tea. All eyes bounced back to Mandy.

“Goodness, while that sounds lovely and all, I’m already quite powerful.” Another sip of the tea accompanied by a rigid smile.

“As am I,” Broca said. She sipped. “A factor you should consider. Without my help, those beauty spells of yours might slip a bit.” Another small sip.

“I don’t use beauty spells.” Something flickered in Mandy Meadows’s eyes, but she took a measured sip of her own tea. “Though I’m sure you must need plenty of them.”

I sucked in a breath.

“Luckily, I don’t. I’ve been blessed with good genes. Strong genes. Remind me about your mum again, Mandy? Why didn’t she make it into the coven?” Broca’s eyes were steely behind her glasses, and she took another long sip from her mug.

The head of our coven stilled, her face a mask.

“We’ll put it to vote,” Mandy Meadows finally said, her voice as cold as the storm that raged outside.

“Please, by all means.” Broca waved a hand to the table, ever gracious, and then took another small sip of her tea as if to punctuate the win.

“All in favor of enacting Ordinance 33.3, please raise your hands.”

Everyone at the table raised their hands except for Deidre and Mandy Meadows. Mandy smirked.

“Unfortunately, without a unanimous decision, the answer to your motion is a resounding no.”

“Hardly resounding,” Nova muttered.

“Wait, doesn’t the majority win? Isn’t that more democratic?” I asked, confused. We finally had a real solution, and it was just being ripped away from us before we’d even had a chance to explore it.

“A coven is not a democracy.” Mandy Meadows stood and picked up her pocketbook.

“And, frankly, we shouldn’t have even called a vote, as one of our members is currently in the emergency room.

As president of the Charms, I declare the motion denied, and also that no other motions may be called until we are once again all present. ”

“What happened to your motto, ‘never harm, always charm’?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m not the one harming people here, Sloane.” Mandy Meadows slanted me a look as she strode to the door, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “It’s your curse that put Felicity in the hospital.”

“Och, come on, Mandy. That’s hardly fair,” Tam called, but the slamming door was the only answer.

My heart dropped. Mandy was right. We were hurting people by being here.

“Give it a few days. Felicity will be feeling better, and we’ll call another vote. It’ll be okay.” Raven stood and stretched.

Nova opened her mouth, but Broca raised a finger, effectively shushing her. The Charms hurried out, the meeting over, and I limped to the couch to hug Blue.

“Blue, buddy, I think we may need to leave Briarhaven,” I spoke into his ear, sadness filling me.

I wondered if it would be better if I left him with Henry, so he could be happy with his magickal buddies here.

Otherwise, I’d always be hiding him, and he’d constantly have to wear a jumper to hide his wings.

No. Stay.

“But what if I can’t?” I wrapped my arms around where he’d buried himself in the blankets.

Knox will figure it out.

“Yeah, you both seem pretty confident about that.” I sighed and rolled over, looking up at my sisters standing in front of me.

“If they won’t invoke Ordinance 33.3…” Lyra said, her hands at her heart.

“Then we need to disappear,” I finished, hating the sadness that swept across their faces. “Even if just for a bit, to give the town a break from this awful weather.”

“It’s never just a break.” Nova kicked her toe at the couch, her face sullen. “We never end up going back.”

“I know.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, my heart was breaking too.

“Ladies, it’s late. It’s been a big day, lots of high emotions. Let’s table this for tonight. Another day or two of snow won’t destroy the town, and knowing Knox, he’ll have an alert out that everyone takes extra caution. There’s nothing more to be done tonight but to rest.”

With that, we all retired to our rooms, and Blue was soon snoring at the foot of my bed.

And still I couldn’t bring my brain to rest. My mind kept flashing back to Felicity’s blood on my hands, and when I finally did sleep, I slipped into a gnarly dream where I was ripping Knox’s heart from his chest and kicking it across the pitch like a football.

By the time I jerked back awake, sweaty and crying, I’d made my decision.