Witchful Thinking

by Kristen Painter

  And even though it was probably the dumbest thing her heart had ever done, she was falling for him. The witch and the witch hunter. So help her, when she made bad decisions, she really went big.

  She turned the pages, skimming the spells for something as harmless as possible. Hard to do when the book was filled with things like a hex that set the skin on fire, a curse that gave the victim boils on their tongue whenever they spoke, another spell that caused metal to become molten liquid, and a ritual that gave the performer’s touch the ability to change raindrops into shards of glass.

  When would that ever be useful?

  None of these were anything she wanted to try. How had she thought keeping this book was a good idea? Of course, that was before she’d looked through it.

  Another spell offered transmogrification from human to lizard. Charlotte thought Millie probably knew that one already. Turning the page revealed a spell to turn time back by a day. She thought about that one for a moment until she read on and realized it would only work with a blood sacrifice.

  Um, gross.

  Yet another spell promised to turn the air into acid. She shuddered at the illustration of the spell in action.

  “Now, Ms. Fenchurch,” Stillwell said.

  She looked up at him. “Would you like to pick a spell from this book? Because I have yet to find one I’m willing to risk. Maybe Walker doesn’t mean anything to you. Maybe you don’t care if I accidentally cause him to be swallowed up in a pit of quicksand, or if he suddenly grows a tail—”

  “So, a second tail?” Walker shrugged. “I could deal with that.”

  She made a face at him. “This isn’t easy.”

  He came closer so he could lean over her shoulder. He pointed at the page she’d just turned to. “What’s this one?”

  She knew he couldn’t see the words. She gave it a quick read. “It renders the subject mute for…” She read further. “Looks like until the subject bends to the wishes of the spell caster.”

  He nodded. “I can handle that. There. Spell chosen. Cast away.”

  Stillwell’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t think you can fake it, either. I can sense magic being used.”

  She sighed. “Got it. Real magic. Just let me read it through one time.” She also had to figure out what she would require of him. Had to be easy in case she was actually able to cast the spell. She glanced up. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  He took a few steps back. Stillwell did too.

  She stretched out her hand and read the spell. “Your voice be silent, your tongue be still! But grant my wish and all be nil. My wish is for a chocolate milk shake from Chickadee’s.” That was easy enough to make happen.

  There was no burst of magical sparks from her fingertips. No weird smoke that floated around Walker. Nothing to indicate the spell had worked, but sometimes magic happened like that.

  “Well? Can you talk?”

  “I don’t know—okay, I do know. Didn’t work.” Walker grinned and looked at his boss. “There you go. She can’t use the book.”

  Stillwell shook his head as he walked toward Charlotte. “But she just proved she can open the book and read the spells. It’s too much of a risk. The witch comes with me.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Walker stepped in front of Charlotte. “No, she doesn’t. She’s not going anywhere. The FOL doesn’t need her. You don’t need her.”

  Stillwell’s eyes narrowed. “Black, you’re overstepping.”

  Walker didn’t move. “You can have the book. You can have the other two witches at the judge’s house, but Charlotte goes nowhere. This isn’t open for debate.”

  “Your mission was—”

  “To get the book and the witches involved in using it for evil purposes.” Walker could feel the big cat coming awake in him. Rising. Stretching. Preparing. “I did that.”

  Stillwell wasn’t backing down. “She can open the book.”

  “So what? She won’t have the book. It’ll be deep in the bowels of whatever FOL vault you secure it in.”

  “Too much of a risk.”

  “I disagree.” Walker shifted into his in-between form, letting his eyes take on the full beast within. Claws sprouted from his fingertips and his voice dropped to a husky growl. His eyes would be glowing, too. Not that any of that would frighten Stillwell. “And I suggest you leave now. Before this goes further.”

  “Enough,” Charlotte said.

  But Walker couldn’t let this go. And he knew Stillwell wouldn’t.

  Stillwell’s eyes took on the slitted pupils of his own inner beast, and his words rounded with the menacing hiss of his kind. “Are you threatening me?”

  “I’m stating facts. And telling you I will defend her.”

  “This is a line that cannot be uncrossed.” Tiny scales appeared over Stillwell’s cheeks and across the backs of his hands. He was preparing for a full shift into his cobra form. Preparing to attack.

  Just like Walker was. “If taking in an innocent is what the FOL requires of me, then I am no longer interested in being part of the FOL.”

  Behind him, Charlotte snorted. “Oh, for Pete’s sake. I think I know how to solve this once and for all.”

  He turned just as Stillwell’s attention shifted to her too.

  She held the book out and whispered a single word in Latin. “Ustulo.”

  The book went up in a burst of white hot flame and vanished in a puff of ashes. They drifted to the floor like dirty snowflakes.

  “Finally, that was good for something,” she muttered. She brushed her hands off before planting them on her hips. “There. Done. Nothing left to talk about.” She pointed at Stillwell. “You, get out. I’m clearly not going with you and I’ve had a long day and I want to go to bed. Someone has to open the library in the morning.”

  Then she turned to Walker. “You make sure he leaves.”

  Walker’s inner beast lay down. He nodded. “Will do.” Then he turned to Stillwell. “You heard the lady.”

  Stillwell shook his head. “You’re done at the FOL.”

  Walker watched Charlotte trundle off to bed. As she disappeared from view, he looked at his boss and smiled. “I’m good with that.”

  “I need those ashes. I need proof the book was destroyed.”

  “I’ll mail them to you. Now go.”

  Stillwell snorted in disgust. “You’re a witch hunter. You really think she’s going to want you around?”

  Charlotte stuck her head around the hall entrance. “I already do.”

  “How did you do that?” Stillwell asked. “How did you destroy something that powerful?”

  She shrugged. “I guess it listened to me. It had already picked me as its keeper, so why wouldn’t it? Now seriously, get out of Walker’s apartment or I will zap you again.”

  Stillwell left to the sound of Walker chuckling.

  He locked the door as soon as his former boss was through it. “Charlotte Fenchurch, you are one amazing woman.”

  She yawned and leaned against the wall. “Thanks. For saving my life. And for defending me. I’m sorry you lost your job.”

  He shrugged as he walked toward her. “I’m not.”

  “But the FOL is all you’ve known.”

  “I heard the sheriff’s hiring…”

  “No.” Charlotte’s brows went up. “Please don’t become the next deputy of the month.”

  “What is that all about anyway?”

  “I’ll explain tomorrow. Right now, I need to lie down before I fall down.”

  “Let me help.” He scooped her into his arms, taking advantage of her closeness to kiss her forehead and fill his senses with her perfume.

  She leaned into him and sighed out the weariest breath he’d ever heard. “I can walk,” she whispered.

  “I know.” He couldn’t imagine how exhausted she was after everything she’d been through. She’d been brave and strong and incredibly tough.

  A new, surprising realization hit him. He wanted this woman beside him always.r />
  He carried her back to the guest bedroom, nudged the door open with his elbow and walked into the room. Edgar Allan was curled up on one side of the bed, fast asleep.

  “Hey, big man. Make room for your mama,” Walker whispered.

  He laid Charlotte down on the other side. She mumbled something, but her eyes stayed closed.

  “Shh. Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” He pulled the quilt over her, turned out the light, and snuck across the hall to his bedroom.

  He shut the door and leaned against it as the reality of everything that had just happened sank in.

  Charlotte was right. The Fraternal Order of Light was all he’d ever known. It had been more than a job. The FOL had been his family. His home.

  From this point on, he would be starting over. It was daunting. But he’d faced worse. And he wasn’t going forward alone. He had Charlotte. Just the thought of her made this new road seem walkable.

  He tugged his shirt off over his head, plans already forming for tomorrow. He’d never really had a girlfriend. Or a reason to stay in one place for more than a month.

  This was going to be fun.

  * * *

  Charlotte woke up feeling like she’d been run over by a truck. She struggled to a sitting position, trying to unkink the stiffness in her body. Edgar Allan was nowhere around, but the smell of coffee told her Walker—and her cat—were probably in the kitchen.

  She checked the time. Plenty early. Still in her pajamas, she stumbled out to see if her guess had been right.

  It had been. Walker was setting the table. He looked entirely too chipper. Was he a morning person? Please don’t let him be a morning person. That might be a deal breaker.

  He greeted her with a smile. “Hey, you’re up.”

  She nodded. She hadn’t bothered to look in a mirror, but she had a pretty good idea of what she looked like, so she gave him points for not recoiling in horror. “Sort of.”

  He pulled out a chair. “You need coffee. And sustenance. Sit.”

  She trudged over and took the seat. Edgar Allan was scarfing something down. “You fed my cat?”

  “Is that okay? I cleaned the litter box too. I’ve never done that before. It was…interesting.”

  “It was gross. You can say it.” She rubbed her eyes. The smell of coffee got closer. She pulled her hands away to see Walker filling her cup.

  “Yeah, well, it’s not going on my list of most favorite things, but I like Eddie, so I’m okay with cleaning up after him.”

  “Eddie?” She dumped sugar into her coffee, followed by creamer. Where had that come from? She didn’t remember seeing half-and-half in his fridge.

  “We talked about it. Sort of. He thinks Edgar Allan is fine as a given name, but it’s a little formal for every day.”

  She stared at Walker. “You talked to my cat? He talked to you? Were you a leopard when this—you know what? I need caffeine more than I need that story right now because without it, the story isn’t going to make much sense anyway.”

  “I’ll just say it’s not talking so much as it’s more of a feeling he gives off.” Walker laughed and went to the counter. “I’ll tell you all about it when you’ve had your coffee.”

  She took a few long sips of the coffee. It was good. Really good. She was already starting to feel more human.

  Then Walker put a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of her, along with a paper coffee cup full of maple syrup.

  She thought that might be the moment she really fell in love. “You made pancakes?”

  “No, sorry. These are from Chickadee’s. I got takeout.”

  “You went to Chickadee’s.” Maybe being a morning person wasn’t so bad. “Before I got up.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  Okay, yes, she was in love. He’d gotten up early to get her breakfast. Pancakes and bacon, no less. “Will you marry me? I realize that’s a bit hasty, but this feels like a situation I need to lock down.”

  He laughed, hard. “Maybe you should eat something before you make any big decisions. And drink the rest of that coffee.”

  She was too busy devouring a strip of bacon to answer.

  He joined her with a plate for himself. “I guess you’re going into work today?”

  She nodded and drizzled syrup over her pancakes. “I’m on the schedule. Plus, Millie obviously won’t be there, so someone has to open up.” She sighed as she cut into the fluffy stack with her fork. “It’s going to be nuts with her gone. No one will know why, I won’t be able to explain it and—”

  “You won’t have to. It’ll be handled.”

  She drank some coffee to wash the pancakes down. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean the FOL doesn’t leave threads untied. When you get to work this morning, you’ll find it’s not the mess you’re expecting. If anyone asks, which they probably won’t, just tell them Millie went to Canada to discover herself.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “It would be nice if it was that easy.” She ate some more pancakes. They were delicious and completely not on her diet. But today that seemed like the least of her concerns. “They’ll have to hire a new head librarian. I really hope it’s me, but if it’s not, then I at least hope they find someone nicer than Millie.”

  “That wouldn’t take much doing, would it?”

  She smirked. “No, it wouldn’t. Hey, you need to get your truck.”

  “I’ll ride with you to work. Cool?”

  “Cool.” He was awfully happy for a man who’d just left his life behind him. She looked at him a little harder, trying to see if his eyes were hiding something. She couldn’t tell. “You okay with all this?”

  “Breakfast? I love breakfast.”

  She frowned. “You know what I mean. You’re starting over. That’s scary. Or at least it could be.”

  He shook his head slowly. “It’s all good. Unless you suddenly decide you don’t want to be friends anymore. I was kind of counting on having you around to help ease the transition.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at that. “I’m not going anywhere.” But he might be. She sat up. “Who paid for this place?”

  “The FOL. But it’s paid through the month, so I’m not about to be homeless.”

  “That’s good. I was trying to figure out how we were going to make it work in my one bedroom.”

  He stared at her without saying anything for a long moment, a forkful of pancakes lifted toward his mouth, but froze. “You were…going to invite me to move in with you?”

  “I didn’t think you’d have anywhere else to go. And you’re out of a job. Hard to rent a place without one.” She ran the end of a bacon strip through the syrup on the plate. “You have to live somewhere and after what we’ve just been through, I think I know you pretty well.”

  He smiled. “That’s incredibly sweet of you. Also generous and kind. I’m going to work on my housing situation today. I’ll let you know how it turns out when you get home tonight. Unless you were planning on going back to your place?”

  She sighed. “I’ve been trying not to think about that. I need to ask the sheriff if I can go back, which I’m sure I can, I just figured I’d better get the official word. It’s such a mess.”

  “I said I would help and I will. I’ve literally got nothing better to do.”

  She laughed. “Okay, let me see how things go today.” She got up. “I’d better get ready.” Then she hesitated. “Hey, do you think I still get my wish? From Middian’s, I mean? With the book destroyed, I wasn’t sure.”

  “I’d say probably not. Was there something you were hoping for?”

  She smiled. “Isn’t everyone always hoping for something? It’s no big deal.”

  But getting the job of head librarian would be nice. Even nicer would be keeping Walker here in Everlasting. Without a job or a place to live, that felt like a very unsettled outcome.

  An hour later, they were pulling into the library’s main parking lot. “I guess I could
park in the back in Millie’s old spot, seeing as how she won’t be needing it anymore. Except her car is still in it.”

  “No, it’s not. Like I said, the FOL cleans up after itself. Drive on around, you’ll see. Plus my truck is still back there.”

  She headed around to drop him off so he could move his vehicle. Millie’s old spot was empty, just like he’d said it would be.

  “See?” He kissed her cheek before getting out of the car.

  “You were right,” she called after him. She pulled into the space with an odd mix of feelings. It was weird to park there, but she’d only have it until they sent a new head librarian, so she might as well enjoy it.

  Walker was already in his truck when she got out of her car. He put down his window and leaned out. “I’ll meet you at your place right after seven and help you clean up. Unless the sheriff tells you differently. Text me, okay?”

  “I will. I hope you have a nice day.”

  “You too.” He winked at her.

  She gave him a little wave and watched him back out. The last few days seemed surreal, but Walker was most definitely flesh and blood. And he seemed to like her as much as she liked him. Which meant she had a boyfriend.

  That word shouldn’t make her giggle like a high schooler, but it kind of did. A boyfriend. She unlocked the back door and went in. A really hot boyfriend.

  She flipped the lights on and started going through her opening routine. A few minutes later she heard knocking on the front door. She went to see who it was and found Norm Poole.

  She unlocked the door. “What are you doing here? Today’s your day off.”

  “I got a call from the head office telling me my schedule had been changed starting immediately. Apparently, I’ve been bumped up to full time until further notice.”

  Charlotte knew it wasn’t the head office that had called him. “Are you good with that?”

  “Sure. Could always use a little extra money.”

  “Great. Come on in. I’m happy to have the help.” She liked Norm. He was easygoing, never complained, and knew his books.