Page 17 of Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #7)

T rent was parked in front of the door Tuesday afternoon when Mia left work. She climbed into the truck and leaned over Cerby to kiss him. “This is a nice surprise. I could have walked.”

“Mom says that you shouldn’t be alone or walking by yourself until after Thursday’s ceremony,” Trent said as he pulled the truck out to the street. Cerby cuddled on her lap, his head on the door, looking out the window.

“Why, is she afraid someone will kidnap me?” Mia joked, but when Trent didn’t respond, she turned to stare at him. “Seriously? Has it happened before?”

“Unfortunately, it has happened with several witches who weren’t even as powerful as you are.

There is a process, a dark spell, that if used before you have the power transfer ceremony, it can siphon off your essence.

It also kills you, but first, the one performing the spell gets a portion of your power. People will do weird things for power.”

“Then why did the coven announce to everyone and his dog my test results?” Mia asked as Cerby licked her arm.

“It’s a good thing that I took the rest of the week off.

Blake’s being weird, and there’s nothing on the schedule.

I can do reports and field calls from home.

I don’t think I’ll be leaving the house until after Thursday. ”

“Now, that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say lately. Did Baldwin call?” Trent turned the truck down the road to the house. He was watching something in his rearview mirror.

“He was parked on a couch inside the Lodge when I showed up.” Mia turned and looked behind them. A black van with no side windows was turning off the road toward the ski resort. “Are you expecting trouble?”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “It wouldn’t be trouble if you knew when to expect it. I’m being cautious. I’m ecstatic you’re taking the rest of the week off. I was going to try to talk to you about that.”

“Life was a lot easier when all I had to deal with was a job that needed me fifty or sixty hours a week and a cheating fiancé. Oh, and a grumbling Christina. The girl was never happy growing up. So much different than she is today.” Mia smiled at the memory.

“As long as you get her after ten in the morning. Levi had to wake her up to go do deliveries with Mom and Finn today. She almost bit his head off.”

Mia chuckled. “Christina needs a very loud alarm or Levi to make sure she’s awake before he leaves for work. Has he found anything in Portland yet?”

“He’s on a hiring list as a temp for an EMT service.

He wants to get in with a fire station, but he has to test for those positions.

He’s got tests and interviews set up for the next month.

He might be going back sooner than Christina.

” Trent pulled the truck into the parking lot.

“I’ll be the last kid in the family standing here in Magic Springs. I didn’t plan on staying here.”

“I thought you wanted to live here.” Mia unbuckled her seat belt but didn’t move. “Do we need to talk about future planning? Like, where we see ourselves in the next five or ten years? I could do the business anywhere.”

“I’m sure Seattle or Los Angeles would be a perfect place to raise a dragon.” Trent pointed out as he nodded to Buddy, who had dropped out of the tree where he’d been sleeping and waiting for Cerby to come home.

“I think he might fit into those towns. In Los Angeles, people would think it was a promotional event if they saw him. Now, if we’re looking at Houston or Boston, we might have a problem.” Mia rubbed Trent’s arm. “Seriously, if you want to live somewhere else, we can make it happen.”

“Then who watches out for your grandmother or my parents when the time comes?” he asked.

He picked up Cerby and opened the door. “Don’t mind me.

I’m just feeling a little trapped here with my circumstances.

Being around Steve always brings out my grumpy side.

He makes me feel like I chose a smaller life.

It has nothing to do with us. Come on, Mom probably has dinner ready for us. Everyone’s here again.”

That must have included Trent’s older brother Steve because his BMW was parked on the other side of the lot. Under the tree where Buddy liked to hang out. She wondered what dragon poop would do to a car’s paint.

Trent put his arm around her, then looked her in the eye. “For someone who was in such a serious conversation, you’ve got a huge smile on your face. Want to share the joke?”

“Nope.” She leaned on his chest as they walked. “So, did you talk to Mark?”

Trent unlocked the door and called Cerby to come inside. The little Maltese was talking to Buddy at the side of the yard. “Not yet. I called, but he said he’d told the coven he’d wait for their investigation, so he’s waiting. Badly waiting, but waiting.”

Steve Majors was coming downstairs. “There you are. Mom sent me down to tell you that dinner’s ready. You’re not talking about Chief Baldwin, are you?”

“No. Just pillow talk.” Mia took Trent’s arm, then kissed him.

The public display of affection made Steve squirm. “Well, anyway, food’s ready.”

He turned and almost ran up the stairs.

“Huh,” Trent said, smiling at Mia. “You figured out how to get my older brother out of my business. And it’s a fun way too.”

“It won’t always work, but he is a little squeamish around PDA, so I thought I’d use it.” She smiled at Trent. “I know he’s your brother, but he bugs me. Too much like the guys Mom was always trying to hook me up with during college.”

“Tall and ruggedly handsome?” Trent asked.

She laughed. “No, arrogant and unable or unwilling to listen.”

“Okay, I’ll give you both points.” He opened the apartment door, and Cerby went tearing inside. “Time for the madhouse. Welcome home.”

Christina and Levi sat in the living room, looking at something on her laptop. From the glaze across Levi’s eyes, it was either wedding venues or dresses. Cakes would have at least gotten a bit of a spark from him. Cerby jumped on the couch and cuddled into Christina’s lap.

As Mia walked farther into the apartment, she heard Thomas and Steve talking to Abigail. The only person she didn’t hear was her grandmother. And Finn. Was she still in the building?

“Mia, I’m so glad you’re home safe. I started worrying as we finished off our deliveries.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of the problem sooner.

” Abigail was stirring something on the stove.

“Sit down, we’re going to have to eat in shifts.

Maybe when it’s all of us, I should cook in the downstairs kitchen. ”

“Whatever you want.” Mia nodded toward the hallway with the bedrooms. “Grans in her room?”

“No, she’s in the library. I was going to go get her as soon as you arrived.”

“I’ll do it. What about Finn?”

Abigail sighed. “She went to eat with her cousin again. I think she’s afraid she’s interfering with our lives. I tried to tell her she was invited for dinner. I hate to think she’s wasting her money on food when she should be saving for an apartment.”

“I think it’s a bad week to look welcoming around here.” Mia looked around the room. “Why do we have so many bouquets? Are these for Friday’s party?”

Abigail looked at Trent, who shrugged as he answered his mother’s unasked question. “I didn’t tell her. We had other things to talk about on the way home. Like why I was there in the first place.”

Abigail turned back to Mia. “These are for you. There are more downstairs. I’m surprised you didn’t see them coming in.

And there’s a lot of food. I put everything in the main kitchen and did a decontamination spell on the batch.

We don’t need any problems because we let some roses get the best of us. ”

“People are sending flowers and food because of the test results? This is crazy town.” Mia reached out to touch a daisy in one of the arrangements. “They’re pretty, though. I suppose I’ll need to send thank-you notes?”

“Don’t you dare!” Abigail’s eyes widened.

“Our tradition is to only thank the people you plan on letting into your new witch life. If you send notes to all of them, well, you’ll be bombarded with people in your circle.

Remind Mary Alice that you need to finish your initial circle invites before the ceremony on Thursday.

She’ll talk you through the process. I hope I’ll be one of your invitations. ”

“Of course.” Mia felt confused. Now she understood why her grandmother insisted that she take this week off from the Lodge. Her phone rang. Glancing at the display, she answered, “Hi, Mark, what’s going on?”

“Why is he calling you?” Steve stood and reached for her phone. “Give me that.”

“Hold on a second.” Mia held out her hand, and Trent blocked his brother’s advance.

She threw Steve a What do you think you’re doing?

look as she stepped out of the apartment.

She moved away from the door and stood between the apartment and the library.

“Sorry about that. The house is filled with people and a little crazy right now.”

“Steve Majors doesn’t want you to talk to me. I get it.” Mark didn’t even beat around the bush. Somehow he knew what Mia was dealing with.

“Don’t tell me you planted a bug in a bouquet of flowers today so you could keep an eye on me.” Mia was half-joking.

“No, but from what Sarah told me when I took her to lunch, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few were sitting in your house.

Beware of friendly gifts.” He sighed. “I can’t believe we’re even talking about these things.

In small-town Idaho. I took this job because I didn’t want the peculiarities of a big city.

Anyway, the dead guy found in Trent’s yard, according to your friends, had a heart attack.

He was older than he looked, from the reports. ”

“Probably older than what was on the report too.” Mia imagined a half leprechaun had a completely different life cycle.