“That’s okay,” he said, a little tremor in his voice. “I shouldn’t have surprised him. I guess.”
Bruce looked around at the Coven witches with a sort of questioning gaze, as if wondering where his admirers had gone.
“If you don’t bother that spot, he’s fine,” Jade said. There was a sort of shuffle in the crowd and then people started coming forward, this time much slower, giving Bruce tentative touches. When Bruce resumed his relaxed posture complete with slitted eyes and deep breaths, it seemed like everyone, including Jade, relaxed.
Jade stood up, stepping away from Bruce, with Callie following suit, letting the Coven witches have their look at him.
“I guess I should take him to see someone, but I’m not sure if he should go to a vet or what. Maybe I could use a spell to make him a cream or something? Is there anything in the library on familiars getting sick?”
Callie paused, her face going frozen for a moment and Jade felt a flash of worry. As head of the library, Callie was the expert on all the books kept downstairs in the Covenstead’s former dungeon. If there was a book about familiars being ill, Callie would know about it.
“What? Do you know something?”
Callie shook her head, brushing imaginary dirt off her pants. “No, it’s just odd for a familiar to be sick, that’s all. I’m sure it’s fine. Maybe it’s just a dry patch now that he’s out of the sewer.”
“Yeah,” Jade said lowly, not entirely convinced. Bruce had rolled onto his back again, getting a belly rub.
“I’ll pick some books out of the library for you. You may even be able to help us update some of them once you get used to having him as your familiar.”
“Excuse me, do you think we could take him up to HR department?” asked another one of the witches. Jade didn’t know her name either. She was always better with office numbers and people’s jobs rather than their names. “I mean, if you don’t mind?”
Jade looked back and forth between Bruce and the young witch. “Uhhh, sure. If he wants to go.” Jade pursed her lips and looked down at Bruce. “So, go on with them for a bit. Have fun.” She made little shoo-ing motions with her hands. Bruce flipped back onto his stubby feet and started trotting away from Jade.
“Thanks!” said the witch brightly. “I’ll bring him back! I just thought everyone would like to get a chance to see him.”
Jade smiled, feeling the skin on her cheeks tight. “Sure. Make the rounds. He likes people food, so if anyone leaves their lunches out, he’ll filch. Be careful.”
Bruce tossed a look over his serpentine shoulder, eyeballing her for tattling on him. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out as she headed over to Henri’s desk. Henri glanced sideways as Bruce passed, trying to look like he wasn’t afraid and failing miserably.
“I know he’s your familiar, but he’s weird!” he said, voice a comical stage whisper. Jade laughed softly, seeing Callie smile as well.
“Yeah, he is. I mean, he’s a seventy-pound lizard thing that I found in the sewer. Weird doesn’t really even begin to cover it.”
“Can he do magic on his own?” Henri asked, his long neck craning as he hunched his body over his desk to watch Bruce labor up the stairs. It was definitely an exercise in physics - Bruce’s stout but lengthy body easily spanned about four or five steps. As he moved, his short legs weren’t always visible. It gave the impression he was gliding up the stairs.
“Uh, no,” answered Jade. “I mean, I don’t think so. He gets cold and I have to conjure up a little fireball for him to curl up around. I think if he could do it on his own, he would.”
“I’m going to have to read up on familiars,” said Henri. Bruce had finally made it to the top of the first set of stairs and disappeared around the corner. For all that Jade groused about having him, she missed the scaly beast when he was gone.
“Me too,” Jade said.
“Coffee at ten thirty in the caf?” Callie asked.
“Of course,” answered Henri quickly. “But if they’re making those cinnamon things again, we have to drink it somewhere else. They smell too good and I can’t keep buying one and pretending like I’m going to split it with Daniel when I get home. Once in a while is fine, but I passed that benchmark five cinnamon buns ago. And now my buns are paying for it.”
Jade made a kind of grumbling sound along with Callie, but she knew they were all in agreement. No more cinnamon buns for anyone.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Henri asked. “Daniel said you’re having a hard time keeping up during your runs?”
“Is nothing sacred?”
Henri snorted. “Stuff said in the sacred trinity of you, me and Callie is safe. But all your desperate secrets like your per mile pace and how many sprints you do a week is up for grabs. He mentioned last time you were sick and this time you struggled. You feeling okay?”
“Aw!” Callie said, interrupting. “I feel bad for making you go to Booty Yoga now!”
“Just now? You didn’t before?”
Callie smiled. “Nope.”
“Seriously, are you sick or is our resident heroine just tuckered out from saving the world?” Henri joked. Jade managed a wane smile.
“If we’re gonna take turns saving the world, it’s totally someone else’s next,” Jade said.
Callie laughed. “I promise the next time someone makes a deal with a demon or tries to take over the Coven, we’ll step up to the plate and take care of it.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Henri. “You know in thriller movies when they say to someone ‘Stay in the car!’ and that same dumbass gets out of the car?” He shook his head. “That’s not me. I’m staying the hell in the car. Let the professionals deal with it.” Henri regarded her for a moment with that far-off glazed look he got when he was reading auras. Jade’s shoulders tightened under the scrutiny. Aura-reading wasn’t something she’d ever tried herself, being far more interested in spell casting and demon magic. Henri was somewhat of an expert aura-reader and Jade never had the courage to ask him what he saw when he looked at hers.
This time, he frowned.
“Are you feeling okay? Are you sure you’re just tired?” he asked.
This could be it. Her opportunity to share some of her troubles. Weren’t Callie and Henri her friends? She liked them, liked spending time with them. Maybe Jade should take the plunge. Ugh, bad time to use that word. It made her think of water, which made her shudder. It was probably a bad idea to talk about it now anyway. In the foyer. Where anyone could hear. Jesus, she really was losing it if this was the moment she almost decided to tell the truth.
Jade shrugged. “Yeah, just tired. You know.” Maybe going crazy but whatevs, no biggie.
His eyes glazed over again with his far-off look as he examined her aura. Based on the look on his face, she knew he didn’t believe her.
Jade averted her eyes, nervous. “I should get going. There are some Counter-Magic things that Josef wants me to look at. I think he figures since the Coven’s magic is set to me, I might be able to sort some stuff out faster.”
“Must be nice to have some real work, hey?” Callie said brightly. “It’s tough when you’re new and you haven’t quite settled in yet, but now it seems like you’ve got some stuff on your plate that you’ll be good at.”
Jade managed a smile, her face feeling tight and a little brittle. “Yeah, for sure. Better than reading the training manuals over and over.”
Callie laughed. “Oh my God, those things are so old! I can’t believe they made you read them.”
“Well, gotta put the new girl through her paces, I guess.”
“Okay,” said Henri, wrapping up their conversation with a quick handclap. “Coffee in the caf at 10:30. First one there buys.”
“You say that and then you suspiciously always run late,” Callie said, eyebrows raised.
Henri looked shocked and outraged. “I can’t help it if I’m busy. Every time I try to get away from my desk, the phone rings.”
Callie rolled
her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, a smile on her lips.
“Fine, last one there buys,” Henri said, raising his own eyebrows to see if that was acceptable to Callie. Her smile broke out wide and bright.
“Deal!”
Jade spared one last look up the grand staircase, hoping Bruce faired well during his day trip to the Coven.
CHAPTER FIVE
Even though Jade had been drinking more coffee lately to make up for the lack of sleep, she still found her brain feeling foggy as she entered the Counter-Magic offices. At this point, she wanted to ask the cafeteria if they could jerry-rig kind of an upside-down latte. She could rest her head on the counter and they could pour milk and espresso down her throat. She just had to work on the fact that those drinks were usually made at something like one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit. It had potential, except for the scalding temperatures and likelihood of getting her face burned off.
But until that glorious day when they rolled out Upside-Down Lattes and Espresso Shots, all she could do was steel her spine and plaster on her best fake ‘I’m ready for the workday’ face. She stopped briefly outside the office and put on some dark lipstick. That usually tended to scare people off.
Daniel was already on the phone, typing away. He looked up from his cube when Jade came in, giving her a quick jerk of his head. He beat her into the office every day even though he had to drop her off after their run before he headed home. Jade blamed sexism. She had a lot more ‘working parts’ to her daily routine - hair, makeup. Daniel probably just hosed himself down and went back out the door.
Daniel got off the phone just as Jade sat down. “Isn’t that your werewolf haute couture outfit?” He looked her up and down.
“Yes,” she said. “Most comfortable outfit I’ve ever worn to a party.” In early January, she’d been invited to meet the local werewolf pack and celebrate their Wolf Moon. It turned out werewolves were kind of picky, not only about who they socialized with, but with what those people wore. They’d sent her some pure cotton, un-laundered black slacks and a shirt, letting her know she could wear her own boots. Jade had sort of been expecting some kind of fete with fancy dresses and high heels, but that wasn’t how the wolves rolled, at least not for the Wolf Moon. Instead she’d gotten to don a cute little wolf mask and go running with them in the woods. It had been fun. She’d also been offered a job by their Alpha, Lucia. Jade had turned her down, content to stay at the Coven and continue magic, but she kind of got the feeling that Lucia would bide her time and ask again. Jade wasn’t sure how many times she could tell the Alpha ‘no.’ “I’m a little short on clothes right now. Most of my stuff is still back at my old apartment.”
He made a face. “Are you kidding me? You haven’t you moved all your stuff to the Coven yet?”
Jade grumbled as Daniel shot her an incredulous look. She was going to get around to moving her stuff. She was. She just needed to… plan it out. Go and do it.
“You’ve been here months. You have a job. You have a house. You pay taxes.”
“I know,” Jade said. “I’m going to do it. I will! It just hasn’t been a priority, what with demons and rogue witches and stuff.” At his continued look she added, “I’ve been busy!”
“Do you need help? Henri and I can head back to your place and help you pack up.”
Jade glanced at him a dubiously and he smirked.
“Okay, so I can help you pack and Henri can sit there and drink lattes and tell us we’re doing it wrong. Seriously, is it that you don’t want to do it alone?”
“No,” she lied. Sort of. It wasn’t a total lie. It was mostly truthful. She wanted to go alone, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about being alone in the apartment, packing up all her things, all Lily’s things. She wouldn’t have any witchy stuff to distract her. No Counter-Magic Call Log, no coffee breaks with Callie and Henri, no Bruce padding around looking for a heat vent to sleep on top of.
Jade could probably bring Bruce with her but if she was honest, she’d need the space in her car to bring all her stuff back and a seventy pound lizard wasn’t exactly space-economical.
Oh, her car. She thought of it longingly. No more asking for a ride. No more feeling indebted. No more taking public transit to and from the Coven. No more trying to get groceries on the bus. No more needing a ride if Callie wanted to go for a drink. No more being stuck someplace because the bus only ran every thirty minutes.
“Fuck, I really need to get my stuff,” she said, swiping a hand over her face, mindful of mucking up her mascara.
Daniel gave her a knowing look. “You really do. Pick a day, stick to it. If you need time off work, I’m sure Josef will give it to you.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m serious about the offer. If you want or need help, let me know.”
“Thanks.” Jade felt all kinds of awkward. Daniel really did mean it and she didn’t quite know how to accept that kind of generosity.
“No problem.” He looked around the office, focusing on the area by her feet. “Where’s your lizard.”
Jade rolled her eyes. “Ugh, he’s Mr. Popularity. Some witches asked to take him up to HR and show him off.”
Daniel laughed at her tone. “He doesn’t mind being away from you?”
Jade shrugged. “I guess not. I mean he hangs out at home when I’m not there and he seemed okay to trot off this morning.”
Daniel placed a hand over his heart, batting his eyelashes. “Ah, they grow up so fast. I remember when you pulled him out of the sewer and he howled when you left.”
“Well, thankfully he seems to have grown out of that. Callie said she’s going to look for some books in the library on familiars so I can read up. I may have to take him to a vet or something. He’s got this dry patch of skin.”
“A lizard. With dry skin,” Daniel deadpanned.
“His scales are normally very soft! And this patch just sort of showed up!”
Josef, her boss, came over to where she and Daniel stood next to Jade’s desk, casually interrupting.
“I see you two are working hard,” Josef said with a wry tone.
“Hardly working,” Daniel said back with a sharp wink.
“I thought you were bringing your familiar in today?” Josef asked.
“He was stolen for show and tell. I think he’s making the rounds,” Jade answered. “He’ll either make a break for it and escape when they aren’t looking or they’ll start feeding him and I’ll lose him forever.”
Josef crossed his arms in a casual pose while he stood by her desk. “Did I hear you say you wanted to take him to the vet?”
Jade felt embarrassed now. It was probably nothing. “Yeah, he’s got this scaly patch and I don’t know why. I thought maybe he would need some kind of lizard cream or something? Do they make that, do you think?”
Josef frowned and Jade felt wary at his expression.
“What? Is that bad? Do you think he’s sick?”
Josef shook his head. “No, I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just… well, familiars don’t generally get ill or have ailments. Their health is usually quite robust.”
“Oh, well maybe it’s just because he doesn’t live underground anymore or something.”
“Of course,” Josef replied. “I’m sure it’s something simple like that. Let me know when he arrives, I’d like to see him.”
“I’m sure you’ll know. Just leave your lunch or a cup of coffee on the ground and he’ll find you.”
Josef chuckled at bit at her statement, but before he left, he added, “I know you’ve been working on re-configuring some spells. I’ve been getting good feedback on them. I think you’re ready to advance to more complex ones. I’ve had a couple of complaints come in that I had to put off because I couldn’t rework the spells myself. Think you’d like to give them a try?”
Wow, that sounded way more interesting than reviewing minor spells and tweaking them like she had been. “Yeah, I can totally do that.”
“I’ll forward you
the emails and notes I’ve gotten. When you’re done, type up the new spells along with a report and send it back to me.”
Jade nodded enthusiastically. “Definitely. I can do that.” She felt a little thrill at the idea of starting a new project.
“I imagine it will take you some time to go through the spells. If you need any ingredients, you know where to find them.” He gestured at the large back area of Counter-Magic that held cupboards, cabinets and shelving. While Jade had used some items from there, it had always been after someone had gotten them for her. Josef was pointing to the area now and indicating she could go get stuff herself.
Jade couldn’t stop nodding her head and even though she didn’t mean to speak, she found herself blurting, “Yep. I can do that,” she repeated.
“I know you can,” Josef said kindly and she winced wryly at herself. She was obviously a little eager. “And bring your familiar by when you get a chance.”
She smiled and it felt more natural and genuine than any other expression she’d had all day. “Okay.” As Josef walked away, Jade took a deep breath and then settled down at her desk, almost trying to will the email from Josef to pop into her inbox.
#
It was almost lunchtime when Paris was distracted by an unfamiliar sound. He paused working on his computer to look up and around his office, trying to place the noise. It stopped and then started up again - a scritching-scratching sound coming from outside his office. Paris pushed his chair back and padded over, opening the door and poking his head out.
In a flash, Jade’s lizard familiar darted inside his office, nearly bowling him over. Looking down at the front of this door, Paris could see claw marks marring the formerly pristine wood. Jade’s lizard paused in the center of Paris’ office and did a strange sort of shimmy - his entire body going through some kind of a wiggle that started from his nose, worked its way through his Elizabethan Collar and then ended with his long, serpentine tail whipping back and forth. He looked up at Paris expectantly, as though he were waiting for something.
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