Banishment and Broomsticks

by Kali Harper

  “Yes, well, hair isn’t really a specialty we need.”

  “I think it’s up to her to decide. Making her choose magic over what she loves—and who she loves—will only chase her away. Trust me, I know from experience. I was a teenager once, and whatever my mother was against, I ran toward it. Don’t force her into making bad decisions, even if you don’t agree with those she’d make on her own.”

  “I’m not going to. I realize now I can only help her when she asks. I was a teenager, too. My mother was the same way.”

  “Speaking of parents, how are we going to explain this to Izzy’s folks?” Not to mention Darby’s.

  “An innocent spell,” Mark said. “It’s harmless, I promise. It will only erase their memory of the girls missing the last handful of days. I, uh, actually did it before when I brought Darby up here for her first trial. It makes it easier for everyone. The parents don’t worry, Darby gets to advance her skills, and there’s no love lost between us.”

  “It isn’t temporary?”

  “Not as a spell, no.”

  I nodded gently, deciding to drop the subject completely. “Well, so long as it doesn’t hurt them.”

  “Never.”

  Glancing around the room, I couldn’t help noticing there was someone missing from our small group. “Where’s Maggie?”

  Lucy shook her head. “She ran off when I told her about Mark’s proposal. I was going to ask her to be one of my Maids of Honor but I didn’t get the chance.”

  “I’ll find her.”

  Excusing myself from the room, I stepped outside to find Sammy rolling around on the lawn. It was times like these when everything seemed so normal, I almost forgot I was a witch. I had normal anxieties to consider now.

  My home was full of love and laughter, my cat was laying out on the front lawn, and I had my first date in who-knows-how-long. There was no magic, no curses to break, or charms to unlock. Normal, everyday things, and while many of these things made me sick to the stomach, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  Crossing the lawn, I was about to open the front door to Maggie’s house when I spotted her hovering over the garden. From where I stood, I could see she’d been crying. Teak streaks soaked her face.

  “I thought I’d find you here,” I told her, sitting in front of the small garden. “So, Lucy’s getting married, huh?”

  Maggie nodded, choking back a sob as another tear rolled down her cheek.

  “It’s a happy event, right?” When she nodded again, I continued. “Then why are you so upset?”

  Maggie settled beside me, folding her hands in her lap. “She’s going to ask me to be a Maid of Honor.”

  “She is,” I agreed.

  “But I can’t be a Maid of Honor,” Maggie argued.

  “Why not?”

  “Because… look at me!” She gestured to the nightclothes she was stuck in much of the time unless I conjured her a new look, one only I could see. “How am I supposed to join her on her special day if I’m a ghost?”

  “You could possess Ginger,” I offered, hoping it would make her feel a little better. It didn’t.

  Her face fell. “But that isn’t me. I want to be present for these things, Astrid. If not her wedding, yours.”

  “I think it’s too early to worry about that,” I said, staring at my lap. “Lance asked me out for coffee. Did Sammy tell you that?”

  “He did,” she said, glancing at the familiar from across the lawn. “He’s having a field day with it, let me tell you.”

  “And what do you think?” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “It’s just coffee, right?”

  “Oh, Astrid, it’s never just coffee.”

  “I figured as much.”

  She smiled then and nearly touched my hand with hers, stopping short of doing so. “Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

  “Yes, yes it will. And don’t worry. Once I meet with Morpheus and get a few more trials under my belt, I’ll conjure something for you to have all to yourself.”

  “Before Lucy’s wedding?” Maggie asked hopefully.

  “I’ll do my very best.”

  Thank you so much for reading.

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  Find out what happens next in Witching For A Cure.

  Coming August 17th.