Page 26 of Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #7)

“I didn’t say”—Mia stopped herself before she lied to Abigail. Not saying something was different from completely fibbing to save her feelings. “I still need one more for my circle.”

“We can use Thomas or Steve if it comes to that. Don’t worry, you’ll have your seven. The Goddess will provide.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get Christina up and going. We’re going to have a busy day ahead. Finish your roll. Did you write your speech yet?”

“What? No one told me I’d have to give a speech. What am I supposed to say?” Mia asked to Abigail’s back as she left to wake Christina.

“Nothing earth-shattering, believe me. You need to thank the Goddess for your gifts and pledge to always work toward the light. Think of it as an answer for a beauty queen contest. Working for world peace is always the right answer,” Grans answered Mia’s question as she walked in the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee.

“I want you to come into the library with me today. Something’s been off with the connection, and I need to see if I can fix it. I need you to watch my back.”

“The ghosts giving you a bad time?” Mia asked.

“Maybe. They’re messing with my notes.” Grans waved her away as Mia’s phone rang. “Go answer that, but you can’t leave the house again until tomorrow morning. No excuses.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Mia stared at her grandmother as she answered the phone. “Good morning, Mark. What’s going on?”

“Why do you sound stressed? Oh, never mind, it’s that thing we’re coming to tonight, right? Your launch? Or is it more of a debutante thing? Do you get to wear a poufy dress?” Mark teased.

“You’re in a good mood.” Mia stepped out of the kitchen so her grandmother could blend her shake. Somehow she was ignoring Abigail’s cinnamon rolls.

“I have a lead.” Mark was almost jubilant.

“Do you want to go to the outdoor sports store with me in Sun Valley today? We found a receipt for a bunch of swimwear and hiking clothes in his room. None of it was there, of course. And a backpack was on the receipt, and it’s not in his room or rental car.

Trent didn’t find one in the woods, did he? ”

“Not that I know of, but I can ask. Can we go tomorrow?” Mia wasn’t going to break Grans’s trust. Not today.

“The guy who sold Howard the stuff is leaving for a rafting trip tomorrow. It’s fine, I can go by myself. I just thought you might have more insight.”

Mia translated Mark’s words. “You wanted me to see if this guy was a witch so I could ask more pointed questions.”

“Now, that sounds stupid, but yes.” Mark chuckled. “Look at that, we’re communicating.”

“Sorry, I’m stuck at home today. Grans has forbidden me to leave the house. Something about the ceremony tonight. I’m vulnerable. And no, I don’t think even the Magic Springs police chief could protect me if something went awry. Besides, I hate it when Grans says ‘I told you so’.”

“No worries. I’ll call on my way back if I have cell service. Do you know a Harper Johns?”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell, but I’ll look him up and see if he’s part of the coven. Did Sarah know him?”

“No. So, maybe he’s just a normal guy who sold a half leprechaun a bunch of vacation gear.” He chuckled. “I’m sure it happens all the time.”

“Be safe, Mark.” Mia ended the call, then grabbed her laptop and looked up Harper Johns. There was one link that showed he’d been featured as a local whitewater specialist. It was his passion, according to the article. She texted Mark.

Be sure to ask who Howard was going rafting with.

Had he hired a guide? Most newbies don’t go down the River of No Return without a guide.

Thomas had a no-show client that Friday, so we’re thinking it’s him, but that’s a guess.

And where did he rent his raft? Maybe this will lead us to the friend he was supposed to meet.

The answer came quickly. Leaving now. All good questions. You have a knack for this if you ever want to leave the culinary field.

She smiled and texted back. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.

Grans came into the living room. “Ready to go?”

“Sure, let me leave a note on the whiteboard for Abigail. Just in case.” Mia made a note about going to the library and the time. She might as well stay busy since she couldn’t leave the academy. She sent good thoughts to Mark and went to join her grandmother in the library.

Two hours later, Grans said she thought she was close to having the link fixed.

Mia sighed and walked around the table one more time, looking for even a strand of ectoplasm or fog. She’d missed the last one, and the link to the archives had snapped when the ghost attacked, pulling Grans out of the spirit world and back into her body.

Mia could see the effort this in-and-out-of-the-archives work was causing her grandmother.

She’d have to nap soon so she could run the ceremony later.

At least, Mia thought her grandmother would be running it.

She’d never asked. One more thing that would be a total surprise to her if she was wrong.

But at least, after tonight, she would have her life back.

No more hiding in the school worried about what some deranged witch would do for more power.

The one thing Mia didn’t want to be when she grew up was someone’s battery. Either metaphorically or in real life.

That’s why she’d felt so comfortable in her relationship with Isaac.

She’d thought their ability to have full lives outside of the relationship was a sign of maturity.

Instead, it gave her ex-fiancé the time and space to cheat.

She and Trent’s lives were as intertwined as hers and Isaac’s had been, but they were on the same page with the relationship.

Sometimes a little too closely entwined, though, especially like tonight, when his dad and brother would be at her ceremony.

A flash of white brought her out of her thoughts, and she stepped in front of the materializing ghost, blocking her from affecting the archive connection. Mia swung the sage wand. She’d already burned through one wand. “Oh, no, you don’t.”

A moan, and the ghost disappeared. Another formed to her side. This was like the Whack-a-Mole game. She swung again, but the ghost dodged and went straight to the connection feed. Mia dove across the table and shoved the sage wand into the middle of the male ghost. He groaned and faded away.

Mia stood from the table. She rubbed her elbow, which she’d hit on the way down.

She might have a bruise before long. The wand was burning down, and she didn’t have the time to run to her potions lab to get another one.

They’d thought Grans would be done before one burned out.

The second one had been for backup. Life Lesson Number 498: Always be triple-prepared.

Maybe she should write these lessons down for future kitchen witches as they were going through their learning stages. She could even publish the book on Amazon. Humans would think it was satire, but the witching world might not find it as funny as she’d hoped.

“Get me the candy bar from my tote.” Grans was out of the trance and watching her.

She looked like she could sleep for a week.

As she ate the chocolate, she told Mia what had happened.

“A ghost must have gone through my connection during the last time or so I was connected. With him lost in the archive, I had to find him, trap him, and bring him back through. Did you see him?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve been fighting off a lot more ghosts than we’d planned for. I was almost out of sage.” Mia wanted to make sure her grandmother knew she hadn’t been just sitting around, waiting for her to come out of the archives. “Why were they trying to pass through?”

Grans finished her candy bar. “I don’t think they wanted to go anywhere. I think they wanted to keep me from seeing something over there. Now I have to find out what that was.”

“I have to ask. This isn’t normal, right?” Mia ground the fire out of the sage wand and put it with the other in the cauldron they’d brought from the potions lab.

Grans gathered her things. “No, this isn’t normal at all. Which is why it has me worried. I need to take a nap. Wake me up in two hours for lunch. Then we can dissect what happened this morning and why. Maybe you can see what I’m missing.”

There seemed to be a lot happening that shouldn’t be. Mia’s spinning plates in her head clicked up to the next speed. Whatever was happening, Mia was going to crash when they figured this out.

Unless there was another crisis.

And it seemed like there was always another crisis.