Page 38 of Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #7)

W hen Finn knocked, Mia swung open the apartment door. “Come on in, lunch is ready. And I made oatmeal cookies.”

“It smells amazing in here.” Finn stepped in and reached out a hand to steady herself.

“Are you alright?” Mia saw the fatigue in the girl’s face that hadn’t been there even a few hours ago.

“I’m not sure what’s happening to me, but all of a sudden—” She lurched to a chair and sat. “Sorry, I thought I was going to faint. Anyway, I’m worn out.”

Mia recognized the signs. There was no doubt in her mind about Finn’s magical connection now. She was a witch, and she had dragon breath. She must have been around Buddy too much. She needed to call Grans and Abigail. “I’m going to get you a cookie and some milk.”

Grans called before she could find her phone. “What’s happening? Your aura’s going all over the place. You realize I have a lot of things to do here, right? Your tracker can’t be going off like this all the time. Are you sick?”

“No, but Finn is. She needs that shot I got for dragon breath.” Mia stacked cookies on a plate, then poured a glass of milk.

“So she is coming into her talents,” Grans said thoughtfully.

“Not the most important part of this conversation, but yes. How do we get that shot?” She held the phone between her shoulder and ear, stacked the glass and plate, and headed to the living room.

Finn lay passed out on the floor.

“She’s out. What do I do?” Mia set down the cookies and put her grandmother’s call on speaker. She felt for a pulse and checked for breathing. Finn was still alive, but Mia wondered for how long.

“Take her to my room. I’ll call Abigail, and someone will be there in a few minutes,” Grans said and ended the call.

“Sure, pick her up and carry her to your room,” Mia grumbled, then saw Trent’s truck pull into the driveway on the security camera. “Thank the Goddess.”

She hurried down and waved him in. “Hurry, we need to move Finn!”

He ran from the truck. “I was reading in the den. Then Cerby started barking at my keys. He dragged over that blanket you made him. I tried to call, but you were on the line. I’m glad I didn’t misunderstand his warning. What’s wrong with Finn?”

“Dragon breath.” Mia held the door open, then followed him upstairs. As she did, the alarm for the parking lot went off again. “Put her in Grans’s room. I’m checking to see who’s here. It might be her cousin.”

A car Mia didn’t recognize pulled into the lot, and as she stood at the front door, a woman got out. It was Cleo from the coven headquarters.

“Miss Malone, nice to see you again. Abigail Majors called regarding a situation?” Cleo came to the door, a black bag in her hand.

“You’re a doctor?” They went in the house, and Mia shut the door behind them, leaving it unlocked just in case someone else showed up. “She’s upstairs. We moved her to a bed. It looks like dragon breath. I had it last week.”

“I remember, but you must not remember me being here.” Cleo smiled as Mia’s face reddened.

“I’m not quite a doctor, at least not by AMA rules, but I’m aware of the situation.

No worries, I’ve been friends with Abigail for years, and I’m very discreet.

Who knew we’d have a dragon breath problem in our lifetime?

The good news is, the coven is very faithful to their vaccination schedule.

It’s all these outliers who are being affected this week. Your dragon is getting around.”

“I guess we didn’t think about that.” Mia wondered if Christina needed a shot as well. “I have a friend . . .”

“Miss Adams has been vaccinated. I did it myself on Friday before the party. Didn’t you notice how oddly she was behaving?

Or did you think she was drunk? For some people, like you and this Finn girl, it knocks them out.

For others, they want to run and play. Levi had quite a night keeping her from doing anything dangerous on Friday.

” Cleo paused in the living room. “Very cute. Let me know when you’re ready to rent it out.

I might have someone who would be perfect. ”

Mia was past asking how people knew things in Magic Springs. “She’s in the first room on your left.”

“I will just be a minute, then she’ll sleep until tomorrow morning and this will be all taken care of, unless she reacts badly to the medicine. Which we should know in a few minutes.”

Mia followed Cleo into the room, where Trent was sitting in a chair, watching Finn. He stood and greeted Cleo with a kiss on the cheek.

“Give me a few minutes, and she’ll be as good as new.” Cleo waved them out of the room, and they went to the kitchen.

Trent stirred the soup. “Do you mind? I haven’t had lunch yet.”

“Please. I made food for me and Finn. Now it will be just me. Unless Cleo’s hungry.”

Trent looked at her oddly, then let it go. “I’m glad she was here and not out with her cousin somewhere hiking. I feel bad that Buddy’s causing this.”

“Your dragon isn’t causing this. Coven policy is to blame.” Cleo came into the kitchen. “Your soup smells divine.”

“Do you want to stay for lunch?” Mia asked.

Gloria giggled, and Cleo shot the doll a withering glance.

“No, dear, I don’t usually eat. But it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the way food tantalizes our senses.

Your friend is asleep. No reaction. She’s taking the shot like a full-blood.

This leads me to believe that she must have a sibling who took the wand, so to speak. Do you know her family?”

“Her stepmom lives in Nampa. I’m not sure about her birth mother. Her dad’s dead.” Mia updated Cleo on what Finn had told them. “She was led here to Magic Springs. A pull.”

“She might be from another coven. Maybe Dad had another family before he died. Whatever it is, she’s coming into her magic. And according to coven law, that shouldn’t be happening.”

“One witch per generation,” Mia repeated what she’d learned.

“Exactly. I’m afraid the things the coven knows to be true may not be inclusive enough.

I’ll keep my promise not to tell anyone, but you all need to find out what’s happening.

Why are the laws dissolving?” She glanced at her watch.

“Mia, I’ll be in the office at eight a.m. sharp.

Please don’t be late. Blake will have a cow if I keep you and you don’t arrive at work in time for the meeting. ”

“Eight a.m., I’ll be there.” Mia set the table while Trent walked Cleo out. Then she realized she hadn’t told Cleo she needed to look up the reports. She’d known. And she’d known Mia’s work schedule.

After Cleo had left and Trent had come upstairs after seeing her out and locking the front door, Mia dished up soup in two bowls. “There are sandwiches in the fridge if you want to get them out.”

As they were eating, Mia pulled out her planner again. Now she had an actual time to go to the coven headquarters. “Mark, well, Sarah thinks that if we find who requested the investigation, that might tell us who wanted Howard out of here.”

He took a bite of the sandwich, then set it down. “Wait, what?”

She told him about her conversation with Mark and then how Cleo knew she was visiting. She mentioned Gloria’s giggle about Cleo but didn’t mention his silence. “So Cleo’s not just a coven member, is she?”

He shrugged, picking his sandwich back up after Mia cleared his confusion. “Not my story to tell. But rumor has it, she was one of the original coven members. We’ve been here almost two hundred years now. You do the math.”

She decided to leave that puzzle alone. She had enough going on with a sick teenager who didn’t know she was a witch sleeping in her apartment. “I guess we’re going to have to tell Finn about all this.”

“I don’t know who you mean by ‘we’,” Trent said as he looked up at the security monitor. “Are you expecting someone?”

“No, but Finn was. That’s her cousin. I’ll go down and tell him she’s not feeling well. Hopefully he won’t want to check on her.”

“All he’ll see is a sleeping girl. Don’t worry so much.” Trent refilled his soup bowl. “Want me to go down with you?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be right back up.”

Hurrying down the stairs, she opened the door, then when no one got out of the car, she walked over and opened the passenger-side door. James Holder sat in the front seat, looking at his phone. “Get in. I’m late for a meeting.”

“James, what are you doing here? Are you Finn’s cousin?” she asked, confusion clouding her mind.

He looked up and saw her. “I think we’re busted. Where’s Finn? She’s going to be late for her shift.”

“She’s cooking for you at the Lodge,” Mia stated, understanding. “But she didn’t want us to know because she was afraid we’d fire her.”

“That’s what she told me. She’s a whiz in the kitchen. She only works shifts that don’t interfere with Mia’s Morsels work. But she’s good enough that I’ll deal with working around her other job.” He tucked his phone in his pocket. “Sorry, she asked me not to tell you.”

“One, we wouldn’t have fired her, and you should have known that.” She squatted down to be face-to-face with James. “And two, she’s sick today. What’s her next shift?”

“Tomorrow dinner.” James took his phone out again. “I need to find someone to cover her, then. I’ve got a date.”

“She’ll be back tomorrow, but I’m telling her that I know. She can work at McDonald’s from midnight to eight, I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t interfere with what we have going. I know Abigail can’t give her full-time hours yet.”

“I knew you were a good kid.” He finished a text message. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell Finn she still has tomorrow’s shift. I hope she feels better.”

“See you at the staff meeting on Monday. I’ve got an appointment at eight, so I’ll be running in hot. Pour me some coffee, will ya?”

Upstairs, Trent was still eating. Mia finished her soup and told him about James being Finn’s fictional cousin. “Well, he’s not related. She was just saying that so we wouldn’t know she’s cooking at the Lodge.”