“I’m uninviting you to the house,” I said stubbornly. Maybe there was a kind of thing where supernatural beings couldn’t cross a threshold without a direct invitation. That’d be cool.
When Meredith Munn didn’t disappear before my eyes I decided maybe not.
She folded her arms across her chest and sniffed. “Nice try for an amateur.”
“Who demanded that my meeting be moved up? I’m kind of busy at the moment,” I explained.
Munn gave Jasper a judgy look. Then she looked again and her eyes widened. Her head snapped from me to him and back to me again.
“He looks familiar,” she said, frowning.
“Small town,” I said, shrugging.
She gave me a stern look to see if I was lying. I tried very hard to look casual, but since I was in fact lying, at least by omission, it was difficult.
“You are summoned early at the command of Dame Geraldine,” said Munn, who was clearly hoping the old woman’s name would bring some authority to the proceedings.
“I knew it!” I breathed.
I had thought it was strange that I hadn’t seen her earlier today. I had half expected her to confront me about being a witch. Now, come to find out she was going through official channels.
That was frustrating. I had been hoping to avoid the Witches’ Council meeting altogether, and Dame Geraldine involving herself was a serious complication.
“She was quite angry when she found out we’d summoned you, but I suppose you knew that,” said Meredith.
“Huh? How would I know she was angry?”
Meredith gave me a look that said I was the biggest idiot she’d ever seen. I bristled.
“The sky? The strange weather yesterday? That was the Dame arriving. You know you’re in trouble then,” said Meredith in a shaky voice. If even the Witches’ Council was afraid of angering the Dame, I knew I’d best be careful.
“Why would she take such an interest in me?” I said.
“How should I know? I certainly don’t understand it. I argued not to have you before the Council in the first place. Why give you an opportunity to flout witches’ rules, just as your grandmother always did?” Meredith rolled her eyes, looking decidedly unimpressed.
“Then who was it who wanted me to come before the Council?” I asked. Meredith was giving me a glimpse into the divisions and factions among the witches, but I knew I wasn’t getting more than a sliver of the whole picture. I had been told we were a solitary lot, but to see it in action was fascinating.
“I can’t say,” she said evasively, her eyes straying to Jasper again. He remained motionless, but she was clearly uncomfortable with his presence.
“You want me to come before the committee in a week?” I clarified.
Meredith nodded. “Like I said, your timeline has been moved up.”
“But you won’t tell me why anyone wants to talk to me or why this is so important?” I asked.
“No, I most certainly will not. Who ever met someone who liked to ask so many questions! Now if you’ll excuse me . . . ” With a scowl and a spin, Meredith Munn disappeared as suddenly as she had come.
I glanced at Jasper, and relief flooded me when I saw that he still appeared to be frozen. My new boyfriend could never know who or what I was. That much was clear to me. We would just have to keep a couple of secrets from each other. He must have one or two of his own. For example, was he a Witch Hunter?
It was hard to tell, and more importantly, I didn’t want to know.
The sun was sinking low as the other witch left, and despite my exhaustion my stomach was grumbling for dinner. Hopefully Jasper wouldn’t take too long coming to, because I wanted to eat something. Still, it was nice that Meredith’s appearance had frozen him; it saved a lot of trouble.
“When were you going to tell me?” Jasper asked.
My head whipped around while the rest of my body froze. Not to be too dramatic, but every hope inside of me died.
He hadn’t been frozen at all.
“How did you . . .” I gasped.
Jasper was frowning at me.
“I don’t know. Was I supposed to be frozen there? I wasn’t. I just thought I’d see what happened if I didn’t move.”
And now he knew.
I squared my shoulders. It was time to tell Jasper the truth.
The sun was just starting to sink in the sky. The warmth hadn’t left the air, but another stunning Maine day was drawing to a close, along with another phase in my life.
“You found out I’m a witch. And you’re a witch hunter.”
Our relationship was going to be complicated.
The End
~
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By Addison Creek
Witch of Mintwood Mysteries
Witch Way to Mintwood
Witch Some Win Some
Spell by Midnight
A Witch on Mintwood Mountain
Witch Raising Situation
Witch Way Round
Witch Way Round (Witch of Mintwood Book 6) Page 20