Page 49 of Uncharmed

While Ruby stayed chatting to Faye and Pari, the Fortune Four took elegant and poised position at the window, Romily whispering something as they sat down that made Vivienne snort and Harmony squeal with laughter.

Although self-conscious, strangely sure that the comment had been about her or her bakery, Annie had to admit that they looked ethereally beautiful as the afternoon sun streamed in and lit them all in the golden hour.

One of many tricks up Romily’s sleeve was a spell for always finding flattering lighting wherever they went.

The sight of their glow gave Annie that itch again, the longing to revert back to old ways, to be perfect once again.

Perfect enough that she blended in alongside them.

‘Tell us all about it, then,’ Romily purred with concentrated eyes on Annie as she sipped at the delicate china mug (Annie had given them the very best of her vintage collection).

She felt her brows raise of their own accord at the reality of Romily Whitlock asking yet another genuine question about her life and whereabouts that didn’t involve some kind of gossip fodder.

She smiled, surprised and touched. Every so often, Romily showed glimpses of the old version of herself whom Annie had grown up with.

It felt exciting and heartwarming, like rediscovering a lost favourite toy.

‘It was...’ Annie struggled to find the words that wouldn’t make the girls shriek with judgement and laughter.

‘Wonderful. Rewarding. I was looking after a teenage you-know-what who was struggling to rein in her...“confidence”.’ Annie explained, before mouthing the word ‘magic’ to a slightly baffled looking Harmony. She got a drawn-out ‘ohhhh’ in return.

‘Well, look at you. Should we have brought an apple for teacher?’ Vivienne said dryly, adding a spoonful of sweetener into her cup.

‘What was the girl like? A total nightmare? A right little witch, I bet,’ Harmony asked, holding onto Annie’s forearm on the table with spilling sympathy.

‘What?’ Annie laughed, shaking off a rush of hot defensiveness for Maeve. ‘Not at all. I mean not the easiest kid in the world, but I’ve never known anyone with such a heart of gold. Apart from maybe the two that I work here with.’

‘Oh? And what are we? Rotten nightshade? Pickled newt liver?’ Romily said, with an air of offence.

‘And you three, of course. That goes without saying,’ Annie smiled. She felt her patience twitch in an unfamiliar, jarring way.

‘How did her magic seem? Did you get it under wraps?’ Vivienne asked.

‘We made real progress. She’s talented and so bright.

It didn’t take us long to realize that anything creative seemed to make it flourish, so we did all sorts of lovely activities to combine her art with her magic.

She’s a very special girl,’ Annie said, carried away on the memories of those happy days before she could rein herself in as she normally would around them.

As soon as she’d shared so much, she found herself regretting it.

‘A “special girl”, hey? Anyone would think you actually enjoyed yourself, holed up with some ghastly teenage girl with no manners and no money.’

Annie smarted and distracted herself by refolding the napkin on her lap. ‘Honestly, I did, Viv. I think she managed to teach me far more than I taught her in the end.’

‘Like what, how to prepare instant noodles and apply uneven eyeliner?’

‘She was quite extraordinary,’ Annie said, wanting to defend Maeve further from their harsh preconceptions. Their judgement felt all the more acute without the hex to blur her responses.

‘Yes, yes, very special. Very precious. An absolute darling, by all accounts. So where is she now?’ Vivienne said quickly. ‘Have they found someone else to palm little Maeve off onto?’

Annie opened her mouth to reply, then closed her lips, stumbling over an unwelcome, ugly thought. A thought that made her shoulders tense, her blood stop moving through her body.

‘I...’ She swallowed hard. ‘I don’t think I mentioned her name.’

Vivienne’s eyes glittered, but for only a fraction of a second. ‘Lucky guess,’ she said, followed by a neat shrug.

‘We heard mention of her at the first symposium, after you’d accepted the position,’ Romily explained quickly on Vivienne’s behalf. ‘You can’t expect a young witch to cause a minor disaster at school and for it not to make headline news at the club, Annie.’

‘But it’s nobody’s business. Perhaps the coven’s at a push, but...’

‘The Sorciety make it their business to always know the unfolding of magic. You know that.’

Annie felt chastised, silly. She had always known that. ‘Right. Of course.’

‘Was her magic as extraordinary as they’re all saying it was?’ Harmony asked hungrily, her voice rasping a little. Annie let the moment hold in the air for a second. The small pause was all it took to realize that the three girls were, for once, hanging off her every word. Something wasn’t right.

‘Did you only come here to ask about Maeve?’ she asked unsurely.

Romily laughed. ‘No offence, babe, but we don’t actually care all that much about the coven’s latest charity case.

We just wanted to hear all about the amazing things you’ve been doing and congratulate you on your achievements.

We’re your best friends, remember?’ she added, with a smile that made Annie soften.

‘We don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to,’ Harmony said.

‘Indeed. I might suffocate myself with one of these cheese scones if we don’t talk about something more interesting soon. And you know how I am with dairy,’ Vivienne drawled.

Annie reeled herself back in. She was overreacting.

Exhausted. The protective streak that she’d developed towards Maeve was running away with her, even when the girl was a million miles away.

She was not hers to look after any more.

Annie suspected that abandoning the spell was starting to make her instincts go a little haywire.

It was almost doing the entire opposite of everything that it used to do.

To test her, to spite her, to try to lead her back towards one more night’s brew.

‘What have I missed? Oh, pardon me there, shuffle up, will you, pal?’ Ruby said, squeezing herself in beside Vivienne in the bay window and earning a look of pure loathing in return.

‘Annie, I’m so excited to hear all about your time away.

I just got chatting to your colleagues, they’re so great!

And did you make these? They’re changing my life,’ she asked, brandishing a maple pecan cupcake topped with crunchy, salty pretzel pieces.

‘When you’ve quite finished walloping yourself across the table,’ Vivienne drawled to Ruby, her mouth pinched.

‘We were just about to tell Annie the big news,’ Romily said, a little kinder, but with a sharpness to her eyes.

‘Oh, fun! Sorry, Viv, my bad. You’ll be there, Annie, right? I know you’re not a gal who’d miss an excuse to get dolled up,’ Ruby grinned.

‘Sorry,’ Annie shook her head, slightly baffled. ‘Be where?’

‘The Samhain Ball!’ Harmony squealed.

‘Oh,’ Annie said, taken aback. With everything that had happened, she’d entirely forgotten about one of the biggest All Hallows events in the Sorciety calendar to welcome in the beginning of winter. ‘I’m not sure I’m invited.’

‘Annie, don’t be so modest. Of course you’re invited. Mummy specifically asked me whether you’d be there,’ Romily said. ‘You didn’t hear it from me, but I may or may not have heard rumour that your Crescent status is part of the celebrations.’

Harmony gave a squeal and squeezed Annie’s hand. Even Vivienne seemed pleased by the news. Ruby gave a sort of upturned frown, contemplating the revelation for herself.

Annie was so taken aback, she couldn’t quite find the words.

An invitation to a Sorciety ball, the biggest of the year, specifically from Glory Whitlock, the Supreme Herald.

And, finally, the fully fledged membership she had always longed for.

She had finally done enough to please them. She was finally good enough.

‘You must come,’ Romily went on with the same uncharacteristically encouraging, keen tone.

‘It’ll be fun. I mean it won’t be all that fun.

But Mummy has vowed for opulence above all else this year, with no expense spared, so at least the Tempest will be in all of its finery and we can wear some killer dresses. ’

‘We’ll look better than everyone – and that’s always enjoyable,’ chimed Harmony.

‘The drinks should be flowing, if nothing else,’ Vivienne added.

‘Yeah, c’mon, Annie. You have to come along,’ Ruby said, dusting cupcake crumbs from her fingers without realizing that they were tumbling into Harmony’s handbag. ‘I have some wicked dance moves that need to be seen to be believed.’

Annie smiled, touched again by the way that they really did seem to have missed her.

Coming back to her old life had felt like a rip in the universe, uncomfortable and jagged.

But this had to be proof that she had made the right choice.

It was all falling into place as it was supposed to. She had to stop questioning it.

‘I’d love to go.’

They never included her as actively as this, not properly since her father had made his mistakes.

Over the years, even with the spell to appease her feelings, it was always her, tugging at the ends of Romily’s cloak, bargaining and promising her way into their plans in exchange for whatever she could give them.

But here she was, going to the Samhain Ball with her best friends.

Just like old times. The prospect brought the same hallowed thrill that she’d felt at fifteen.

Old habits did die hard. Her heart reacted in the exact same way, like a trained animal responding to a call.

She would have to make sure that she was as perfect as she could be.