“Before we start on games, you should wear the trash hat we made for you,” Britta said, producing an object that looked like something between a garbage can and a garden. With a proud smile, she placed the item on my head and gave the top an extra tap for good measure.
Everyone scrutinized me.
“It looks…nice,” Begonia said tentatively.
I didn’t have the heart to tell them that these types of hats were usually made during the shower from paper plates and other accessories.
“Thank you,” I said, with as much sincerity as I could muster.
“And now for the games.” Agnes retrieved a bottle from the table behind her. “Goddess Bounty, anyone?”
I balked. “A drinking game?”
Agnes eyed me. “Why not? It’s a party, isn’t it?”
I shot a glance at Laurel. “Maybe we can do that game later.”
“Spoilsport,” Agnes grumbled.
Petra Grey attempted to remove the bottle from Agnes’s tight grip. “Here. Hold this for you, I will.”
Agnes held firm. “I don’t need help from you, Cyclops. I can hold a bottle just fine.”
Millie raised her wand and performed a spell that replicated the sound of a buzzer. “One-two-three. All eyes on me.”
The room quieted and everyone turned their attention to Millie.
“Our first game is Purse Raid,” Millie announced. “I was in charge of this one, so it should exceed expectations.”
“As though we had any doubt,” Lady Weatherby said.
“I wanted to call it Handbag Hoopla,” Agnes grumbled. “But there was no arguing with that one.” She jerked her thumb toward Millie.
I fought the urge to laugh. Leave it to Millie to overpower the senior witch’s will.
“Listen up, everybody,” Millie said, clapping her hands loudly. “I’m going to read one item at a time from a list. If you have the item in your purse, let us know.”
“Handbag,” Agnes said loudly, disguised as a cough.
Millie ignored her. “The one who ends up with the most items on the list wins a prize.”
Excitement rippled through the guests.
“You mean we can get gifts even though it’s not our special event?” Marisol Minor asked. The entire harpy contingency was present and accounted for.
“Only if you win,” Millie said. “First item on the list is easy. Lipgloss or lipstick. Either is acceptable.”
A majority of the guests raised their lipsticks in the air. Since I was the guest of honor, I opted to watch the game instead of participate. It was far more enjoyable that way.
Britta waved a chapstick. “Does this count?”
“I’m afraid not,” Millie said primly.
“But it tastes like strawberries,” Britta objected.
Millie observed the Valkyrie coolly. “An item that tastes like strawberries is not on the list.”
“Well, maybe it should be,” Britta muttered.
“Next item is a wand,” Millie said, clearly ready to move on.
“No fair,” Phoebe complained. “Only fairies and witches will have wands. You’ve already narrowed the field.”
“There’ll be plenty of items and not everyone will have them all,” Sophie said. “Don’t count yourself out yet.”
Phoebe took a begrudging sip of lemon fizz. “I don’t taste any alcohol.”
“That’s because you’re already drunk,” Octavia shot back.
Several fairies and witches twirled their wands in the air.
“How about a cat treat?” Millie asked.
When all of the witches admitted to cat treats, I cast a suspicious glance at Agnes. “You don’t have a cat.”
“Not anymore,” she said. “But I still carry treats when I go out. Habit.” She popped one into her mouth and chewed. “Plus, they’re delicious.”
“A receipt for a latte from Brew-Ha-Ha,” Millie said.
Althea waved hers in the air. “I’ve got a million of these.”
“No doubt,” I said with a laugh. “You should probably throw them away.”
“They’re work expenses,” Althea replied. “I need to keep a record. Gareth taught me that.”
“Tweezers,” Millie called.
Octavia Minor plucked a pair of tweezers from her purse and held them aloft. “For those stubborn chin hairs you discover in the middle of the market.”
“You don’t even wait until you get home to remove them?” Lady Weatherby asked, aghast.
“Why put off until later what you can do right away?” Octavia mused. “I use the reflective glass on the sunglasses for a closer look.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Lucy said.
“That’s because you don’t have to worry with that flawless skin,” Octavio griped. “And you could always just use magic to get rid of yours.”
It suddenly occurred to me that I never needed to use a razor again if I didn’t want to. There had to be a spell I could use to remove unwanted hair on my legs. What an epiphany!
“This shower is amazing,” I declared.
“You’re welcome,” Agnes said.
Millie snapped her fingers to get everyone’s attention. She was loving her role as game show host. “Next item is a figurine.”
Surprisingly, more than one guest copped to having a figurine in a purse.
Althea held up a small garden gnome with a bright orange hat. “Amanda gave it to me yesterday and I haven’t had a chance to put it in the garden yet.”
Begonia held up a pinky-sized figurine of a begonia. “It was one of the first gifts Demetrius gave to me. I carry it around with me all the time now to remind me how lucky I am.”
The women reacted with soft cooing sounds. I always suspected Demetrius was a romantic at heart and now I knew for sure.
“Mage Mace,” Millie said.
Half the guests pulled out the same small bottle—the magical equivalent of pepper spray.
“Does Enchanted Irritant count?” Calliope Minor asked.
“Sure,” Millie replied.
“Who would use such a thing?” Dr. Hall inquired. “If you need a good defense, just magic yourself a set of fangs.” She displayed her own and Calliope winced.
“If I was desperate enough, I’d shift into harpy form,” Calliope said. “The spray is a deterrent.”
Dr. Hall examined her. “Yeah, you ladies are downright scary when you want to be. Good for you!”
“Something borrowed,” Millie called. “If you borrowed an item and it’s in your purse, you get five points.”
Agnes pulled a second bottle of Goddess Bounty from her handbag. “I may have borrowed this from the liquor shop on the way here.”
I smacked my head. “You didn’t pay for it?”
“How could I?” Agnes asked. “I didn’t have any coins on me.”
I shook my head. “Agnes, we have to go back today and pay them. Otherwise, I’ll end up defending you in court.”
“A pair of underpants,” Millie yelled.
“That one was my idea,” Lucy said, giggling. She’d been so serious lately, learning the mayoral ropes. It was nice to see her having fun.
Phoebe Minor fished a pair of green lace underpants from her handbag and held them up for all to see. “Don’t ask,” she said. “Or if you do, be prepared to hear things you wish you hadn’t.”
Octavia’s eyes rolled skyward. “Sometimes I wonder how I managed to produce a harpy like you.”
“Pure and simple good luck, I guess,” Phoebe said.
Althea laughed heartily and pulled a pair of underpants from her own bag. “I took these from Amanda, too. I thought it was a headscarf.” The blue and yellow polka dot underpants were similar to the headscarf she’d been wearing for the past week.
“You win a gift card to Glow,” Millie said. “Congratulations, Althea.”
Althea hurried to the front to collect her prize. “Ooh, honey, I can sure use that, although some of the fairies there are a little nervous ar
ound the girls.” She patted her head.
“Next game is ‘I Never,’” Agnes announced. “The remedial witches are distributing shot glasses. Sophie’s going to read the list.”
I inclined my head toward Laurel. “She’s too young for this.”
Agnes waved me off with her elongated fingernails. “Bah! You should’ve seen what I was up to at her age.”
“I’d rather not imagine it,” I said.
Sophie raised her voice. “I’m going to name an activity I’ve never done. Every time I name one you have done, you drink.”
“Can I drink either way?” Agnes asked.
“I doubt we could do much to stop you,” Lady Weatherby said tersely.
“I never had an owl as a familiar,” Sophie said.
I looked at the shot glance in my hand. “Oh, I see how this is going to go.” I tipped the glass back and Dr. Hall immediately replaced it with another.
“Just like our sessions,” the vampire said with a fanged smile.
“I never fell in love with an angel,” Sophie said.
Millie raised her hand. “Does a crush count?”
“Sure,” Sophie said.
Half the room drank, including me.
“I never discovered I was a sorceress,” Sophie said, not bothering to hide her cheeky smile.
“Hardy har,” I said, and drank again. Although the liquid burned my throat, the taste wasn’t unpleasant.
“I never stood up to Lady Weatherby,” Sophie said, and elbowed Millie. “You can drink for this one.”
“So can Emma,” Millie said.
“That was only when she was turned into a little girl by the youth spell,” I objected.
“I don’t have that excuse,” Agnes said, and sucked down the amber liquid.
I sipped mine, finding it difficult to finish. If I kept going, I’d be too ill to enjoy the delicious-looking cake.
“I never retrieved the horn of a sacred unicorn,” Sophie said.
“Okay, but this is the last one,” I said. I forced the last shot down and prayed the contents of my stomach obeyed me.
When I burped, everyone applauded.
Lucy fluttered over to me with a stack of presents.
“There are so many,” I said in awe. It didn’t help that my head was spinning from the shots.
“More residents sent presents than were invited to the shower,” Lucy explained. “We kept it relatively small, but everyone who heard about it wanted to send a token of goodwill.”
“You’re the unicorn horn hero,” Meg said. “That’s going to generate a lot of goodwill in this town.”
“I only hope it helps,” I said. The coven was under so much pressure now to break the curse. Even without a deadline, the proverbial ticking clock was hard at work.
“We’re working together,” Laurel said. “If that doesn’t work, then nothing will.”
And no one wanted to contemplate the latter part. Before the mood dampened, I swung into action and summoned a large knife.
“Who’s ready for cake?”
Chapter 16
Rochester sat at his desk, eating a mozzarella, tomato, and basil panini. He had a napkin tucked into his shirt collar, a look that was reminiscent of my grandfather when he ate spaghetti. He always tucked a large white napkin into his shirt to avoid stains because he tended to splatter tomato sauce when he sucked up the strands of spaghetti. Although he showed me how to roll spaghetti around my fork, he was firmly in the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do camp.
“Emma Hart, what a pleasant surprise,” the wizard said. “I haven’t seen you since the last committee meeting. Speaking of which, I don’t seem to have the next one on my calendar. When will we resume talks on the sentencing guidelines?”
“After the wedding,” I said, sitting down across from him. “We’ve hammered through most of the details at this point. I think it’s just cleaning up the proposal before we submit it to the council.”
Rochester nodded. “I’m looking forward to that day.” He finished the last bite of his panini and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I have to tell you, Emma. You’re a real force of nature. I don’t think sweeping changes ever would’ve happened if you hadn’t come to town.”
My cheeks warmed. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I only expedited things, that’s all.”
“What brings you here today?” he asked. “Do you need to reschedule the trespassing trial?”
“What I’d actually like is to get the charges dropped and cancel the trial,” I said. “I’ve tried to convince the Akers to talk to you, but they’re not budging. I think they’re worried about setting a precedent—that they don’t care who comes on their property.”
Rochester crumpled the panini wrapper and tossed it into the bin. “He was spotted on their property on three separate occasions. Technically, we could charge him with three counts of trespassing.”
“I know, but he was never put on notice,” I said. “The owners didn’t say anything because they were afraid. Tomlin says there were no obvious signs of ownership.”
“Not everyone needs an oversized ‘Keep Out’ sign to put trespassers on notice,” Rochester said. “You know that as well as I do, Emma.”
I sighed. “I know, but I feel sorry for Tomlin. He lost his neighbor. He’s trying to pick up the pieces of his life after his girlfriend left him. He’s making an effort to make his life better and I feel like we’re making it harder.”
Rochester smiled. “And it seems unfair to you.”
“Of course it does. We should encourage those who want to do better. To be better.”
Rochester tapped the pads of his fingers together. “I’ll tell you what. If you can show me that there was no reasonable way your client could have known he was on private property, I’ll drop the charges.”
My heart soared. “Are you serious?”
“As a vampire funeral parade. Consider it an engagement present.”
“I don’t want you to do it for me,” I said. “I want you to do it because it’s fair to Tomlin.”
“Sure,” Rochester replied. “Slap on whatever reason you want.”
“Thank you, Rochester. You have no idea what this will mean to Tomlin.”
“I hope it means he does better next time. That it makes him a better citizen of Spellbound.”
I cracked open a huge smile. “Me, too.”
“You should know that Mayor Knightsbridge petitioned to have her sentence reduced,” Rochester said. “She wants to end her house arrest early for good behavior.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “And what was the outcome?”
“Still pending, but I thought you should know.”
“I guess it’s hard to demonstrate bad behavior when she’s under house arrest,” I said. “She can’t do much damage from there.”
“I’m thinking about paying her a visit,” Rochester said. “I’d like to gauge her mindset. See if she still holds a grudge against you.”
I bristled. “I’m sure she does. I’m responsible for sending her daughter to prison.”
“No,” Rochester said firmly. “Only Elsa is responsible for Elsa’s imprisonment and don’t you forget it.”
“Do you think she’s trying to get out early because she’s heard about the wedding?” I asked. What if she wanted to sabotage it?
“I wouldn’t put anything past her at this point,” Rochester said. “But, rest assured, no one’s taking anything she says at face value. She broke faith with all of us and we won’t soon forget it.”
“Will you let me know how your visit goes?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Now on to other matters,” Rochester said. “Tell me how the wedding plans are coming along.”
“Everything’s good,” I said. “I thought it would be more stressful, but I have so much help. It makes all the difference.”
“Sharing the load always makes a difference,” Rochester agreed. “No one paranormal should bear all the weight, even for a happy occasion
like a wedding.”
“The same idea applies to magic, too,” I said. I told him how I’d been struggling on my own to retrieve my mother’s letters using the manifestation spell. It was only when I harnessed the power of the remedial witches as well that I was able to complete the task successfully.
“I’m happy for you,” Rochester said. “It must be an incredible feeling to hold a letter that your biological mother wrote.”
“The horrible part is that I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been able to finish reading them.”
“You should definitely make time,” Rochester said. “You’ve been waiting for this moment.”
“Dr. Hall thinks part of it is fear. That I’m afraid I might read something I don’t want to know, so I’m dragging this whole thing out.”
Rochester gave me a patient smile. “It’s a reasonable assumption, but you’re strong, Emma. You’ll dig deep and get through it, no matter what the letters say.”
“Thank you, Rochester,” I said. “I appreciate the support.”
“You’ve been so supportive of everyone here,” he replied. “The least we can do is support you in your time of need.”
I wanted to hug the kindly wizard. “You’re coming to the wedding, right? I haven’t done the invitations yet, but I promise you’re on the list.”
He placed a warm hand on my shoulder. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Do we have to do this? Sedgwick complained.
You don’t have to, but I do, I said. I shivered as the sun disappeared behind the canopy of trees. Up ahead, the boneyard cottage set my teeth on edge. No matter how many times I visited Raisa, the feelings never subsided.
How about I wait out here? Sedgwick asked.
She keeps a jar of mice for you, I said. Now that’s a good hostess.
Plenty of rodents out here in the forest, Sedgwick said. Besides, I prefer the thrill of the chase.
Really? And here I always thought you were lazy.
Sedgwick flew off without another word and I banged my fist on the door of the small cottage. It creaked open and I stepped inside.
“Have you ever considered redecorating?” I asked.
Raisa stood at a table, mixing herbs into a bowl. “Why bother? No one visits me anyway.”
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